Honor 5X vs Redmi Note 3 (Snapdragon version): See Why Xiaomi Wins This Battle!

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Jan 28, 2016

Huawei broke its own record last year when it sold more than 107 million smartphones worldwide. And more than 40% of its sales were in markets other than China, which shows the company’s hold in international regions. India is one of the important markets for this Chinese giant, and the company just recently unveiled the two budget models in the country, namely the Huawei Honor 5X and the Holly 2 Plus models. These two devices are decently priced and come with pretty good specs. In India, it goes on sale in February at Rs. 12,999 and Rs. 8,499 respectively. However, if you were to directly compare these models to the recently unveiled Xiaomi Redmi 3 and the Redmi Note 3 (new version), you would realize that these models are still way behind the new Redmi series, which features better specs and cheaper price tags.

Since we expect both, the Redmi 3 and the Redmi Note 3 to hit the Indian subcontinent in the next few months, it becomes necessary for us to compare which offers more value for money. So, if you are willing to wait for a couple of months more, you may end up with a better deal.

Hence, let’s take a look how these newly announced Honor models stand up against the new Redmi series. In this first article, we will compare the Honor 5X vs Redmi Note 3 (Snapdragon version).

Honor 5X vs Redmi Note 3

Huawei’s Honor 5X is a pretty good smartphone, featuring an all-metal body and mid-range specifications. It comes with a 5.5-inch IPS LCD display with FHD 1080p resolution. Under the hood, the phone houses the mid-range Snapdragon 615 octa-core 64-bit chipset with 2GB / 3GB RAM options. As for storage, you get 16GB on both the RAM variants. The camera is of 13MP but without PDAF. The front camera is of 5MP. The battery on board is pretty large, of 3000mAh capacity. Other features include a fingerprint sensor, Android 5.1 with EMUI 3.1 skin on top, 4G LTE support and dual SIM dual support. All these specs for Rs. 12,999 is pretty aggressive.

However, when directly compared to the cheaper Redmi Note 3, the phone looks under-powered. As you can see the comparison below, the Redmi Note 3 is powered by the powerful Snapdragon 650 processor with a newer and faster Adreno 510 GPU. You have a larger storage option (3GB RAM + 32GB storage) as well as a better camera (16MP) on board. Plus, you get the fast PDAF for the rear shooter. Now, coming to the best part, the Redmi Note 3 beats the Honor 5X in the battery department, thanks to its massive 4000mAh capacity battery. Also, if you are searching for a phone with an infrared port, the Redmi Note 3 has this port as well.

While Xiaomi hasn’t officially unveiled the Redmi Note 3 in India, this Snapdragon 650 powered device is expected to hit the market in the next couple of months. When it does, it will probably be cheaper than Huawei’s Honor 5X, making it a much better deal. However, if you can’t wait for that long and are looking for a good smartphone, the Honor 5X is quite decent too. Well, end of the day, its your personal choice.

To make this comparison easier, check out the table below.

	COMPARISON
No.	SPECS	Honor 5X	Redmi Note 3
1	DISPLAY	5.5-inch IPS LCD 1920 x 1080p (72.2% STB Ratio)	5.5-inch IPS LCD 1920 x 1080p (72.4% STB Ratio)
2	CPU	Qualcomm Snapdragon 615	Qualcomm Snapdragon 650
3	GPU	Adreno 405	Adreno 510
4	RAM	2GB / 3GB	2GB / 3GB
5	STORAGE	16GB + MicroSD slot (upto 128GB)	16GB / 32GB + MicroSD slot (upto 128GB) (uses SIM 2 slot)
6	CAMERAS	13MP f/2.0 dual LED dual tone flash5MP f/2.4	16MP f/2.0 PDAF dual LED dual tone flash5MP f/2.0
7	BATTERY	3000mAh (non-removable)	4000mAh (non-removable)
8	OS	EMUI 3.1 (Android 5.1)	MIUI 7.0 (Android 5.1)
9	DIMENSIONS	151.3 x 76.3 x 8.2mm WEIGHT: 158 gms	150 x 76 x 8.7mm WEIGHT: 164 gms
10	NETWORK	4G LTE (Band 1/3/38/39/40/41)	4G LTE (Band 1/3/7/38/39/40/41)
11	ADD ONS	Fingerprint	Fingerprint, Infrared

So which one would you pick, considering all factors such as specs, pricing and availability?

Xiaomi Mi 5 Retail Box Leaked, Reveals Four Different Colors

By

Joel Joseph

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Jan 28, 2016

Thanks to the numerous leaks and teasers, we know a lot about the upcoming Xiaomi flagship, the Xiaomi Mi 5. Now the latest leak gives us a look at the phone’s retail box. This is different than what we saw a couple of days back, which showed off the Mi 5 in a traditional recycled brown box. Given that the company has stopped using the brown box in its recent releases, it’s possible that the box leaked today is the real one.

While a box simply doesn’t tell much about the specs of device, what it does reveal is that the design will be like the renders that we have seen recently with a physical home button up front. Also, it shows us that there will be at least four different colors available for the device, including golden and pink apart from the usual black and white shades. This once again confirms the shades that we saw in the renders that were leaked a few days back.

While there are some specs of the Mi 5 that are yet to be confirmed, what we know for sure is that the phone will feature the powerful Snapdragon 820 quad-core chipset with support for dual SIM dual standby and NFC. Other features that are yet to be confirmed are its 5-inch QHD display, 3GB + 32GB and 4GB + 64GB memory options, 16MP rear camera with PDAF and Laser Autofocus, 8MP front-facing camera, front placed fingerprint sensor and a large 3600mAh battery.

Since the company is confirmed to be present at MWC 2016 in Barcelona, Spain, this year, we may see the smartphone launch in several new countries. However, for now, we cannot say much about the phone’s availability, so we better wait for some official details.

Also, we will be present at MWC 2016 to bring you live action from all the greatest launches in the tech world. So, stay tuned!

Xiaomi Mi5 Will Launch At MWC 2016 With Qualcomm 820

By

Shine Wong

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Jan 28, 2016

This year, Xiaomi is aiming big with its Xiaomi Mi5 flagship smartphone. The company CEO has already hyped up the device saying that the experience is beyond imagination, and we expect to see some great features on the device. Now, for the first time, Xiaomi could be looking at simultaneous launches of the Mi 5 at MWC, Barcelona and China. The company global VP Hugo Barra confirmed this via a tweet recently.

This will be the first time that the company is showcasing its new device at MWC (Mobile World Congress). MWC is one of the biggest tech expos of the year, and it’s a great platform to showcase the latest innovative gadgets from companies around the world. A launch at MWC could hint that Xiaomi is eager to enter new markets, probably even in Europe. With rivals like Huawei and ZTE expanding its international reach, it won’t be surprising if Xiaomi decided to extend its footprint into new markets in the region.

Xiaomi #Mi5 media preview in Barcelona on Feb 24—our first time ever hosting an event at MWC. Can't wait! pic.twitter.com/MU0GHsfIc3

— Hugo Barra (@hbarra) January 28, 2016

We will be present at MWC 2016 in Barcelona, Spain, so we will bring you the latest coverage of the launch of the Mi 5 as well as other gadgets from the event. As of now, the Xiaomi Mi 5 is confirmed to come with Snapdragon 820, dual SIM dual standby and NFC. Rest of the features are expected to be confirmed in the coming days. So, stay tuned.

Meanwhile, you can check out the screenshot posted by Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun yesterday evening from this article. Or you can check out the Mi 5 in its box, leaked recently.

Morefine Max1 Review – Beautiful Yet Affordable Smartphone

By

Linus

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Jan 28, 2016

This is a review of a phone that has been made by a company you have probably not heard of. It is any good? Learn more in the full Morefine Max1 review.

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Morefine Max1: VIDEO REVIEW

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gvs4oDI01TU[/embedyt]

Morefine Max1: UNBOXING

As usual, let’s start by unboxing and see what’s inside. The contents of the packaging include a nice soft TPU case, two screen protectors, some instruction manuals, a charging plug and USB cable.

Morefine Max1: DESIGN and DISPLAY

I was initially surprised by the premium design and great build quality of the phone that is built by a rather unknown Chinese manufacturer.

Morefine Max1 has a metal frame going around the device along with metal buttons and the 5” display makes this device compact, and manageable with one hand.

Speaking of display, it is surprisingly good for a the phone that costs $120. It is bright, vivid and colour look vibrant. Also, it has excellent viewing angles.

Just above the screen there is a bright LED light, which has a few different colours but it is not customisable. As far as front firing optics, we have a modest 2MP shooter.

The chin of the phone is empty since Morefine Max1 has on-screen navigation buttons.

The glass back is a ridiculous fingerprint magnet but at least it helps with a grip. Here we have only 8MP camera with a single LED flash.

The buttons, which are very tactile, are located on the left but I never liked this idea on any phone. It could be just me but I am used to pressing keys on the right side and the buttons on the left are just not right.

The dual SIM card tray, where one slot also doubles as a microSD card slot is on the right.

As far as the loudspeaker, it is placed on the bottom where you can also find you micro USB charging port.

Finally, on the top there is just a headset jack.

Overall, the phone feels solid, it is well constructed and it does not feel cheap at all.

Morefine Max1: USER INTERFACE

As far as UI, we are looking at a nearly stock Android 5.1 build. Day-to-day performance is very smooth even with lots of apps running in the background and I didn’t have a single hiccup.

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To be honest, there are not too many extra features to talk about. The only neat addition would be a conveniently placed notification shade button. It is not something new but it is a cool feature to have.

However, there are a few minor bugs that hopefully will be fixed with the future software updates.

Firstly, there is no way to see the battery status in percents except for going deep in settings menu. Secondly, the auto-brightness of the screen feature dims the display too much for my taste, so I had to turn this feature off.

Also, you cannot simply close all the apps that run in the background and you have to close them one by one.

Well, these are just minor issues and hopefully they will be fixed soon.

Morefine Max1: HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE

The Morefine Max1 is not a powerhouse device as it has a quad-core MTK6735 chip with the clock speeds of just 1GHz, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of expandable storage.

While daily perforance is nice and smooth, playing Asphalt 8 on the highest graphics setting is laggy. However, once you reduce the graphics to medium, playing a game can be actually enjoyable with just a few skipped frames but with no major lag.

Lastly, the phone does not have any overheating issues.

Morefine Max1: MULTIMEDIA

When it comes to multimedia, the Morefine Max1 has a decent quality sound output via earphones but if you want to listen to some tunes via the loudspeaker, it will not impress you as any other phone in this price range. The sound is tinny and it lacks depth.

Morefine Max1: CAMERA

You can’t expect much from a phone this cheap that has only 8MP camera, right?

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The daylight images look pretty okay but the level of details is not that impressive and there could be less noise in some images.

The indoor and low-light shots are actually not the worst I’ve seen and many of them are more than usable. However, some of the shots came out blurry and there is quite a low amount of details and lots of noise in each image.

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As far as 2MP selfie shooter, it is not really impressive but it will do the trick for social media, just make sure to take selfies in good lighting.

720P video is like on most of similarly priced phones. Although, the footage is not terrible, it lacks in details and sharpness. See a video review for a video sample.

Download full resolution camera samples

Morefine Max1: CONNECTIVITY

All the connectivity options work great. Call quality is okay and signal reception is excellent. Also, Wifi, GPS and Bluetooth are working fine.

Morefine Max1: BATTERY LIFE

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The phone has a 2150mAh battery and it performs surprisingly well for its capacitiy. I could get over 4 hours of screen-on time while mixing heavy and light usage and using various screen brightness settings.

Morefine Max1: CONCLUSIONS

So there you have it, Morefine Max1, the phone that looks great, it is compact and it sports some premium materials in its construction.

Also, Morefine Max1 has a decent 720P screen, the UI is very fast but it has a few minor bugs that have to be fixed.

The camera is pretty mediocre but it is capable of producing okay looking images in daylight.

The battery life is surprisingly good and overall, Morefine Max1 is a decent phone for the price of around $120 despite a few shortcomings.

Buy Morefine Max1

Xiaomi Mi 5 Will Launch At MWC 2016 in Barcelona, Global VP Hugo Barra Confirms

By

Joel Joseph

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Jan 28, 2016

This year, Xiaomi is aiming big with its Xiaomi Mi 5 flagship smartphone. The company CEO has already hyped up the device saying that the experience is beyond imagination, and we expect to see some great features on the device. Now, for the first time, Xiaomi could be looking at simultaneous launches of the Mi 5 at MWC, Barcelona and China. The company global VP Hugo Barra confirmed this via a tweet recently.

This will be the first time that the company is showcasing its new device at MWC (Mobile World Congress). MWC is one of the biggest tech expos of the year, and it’s a great platform to showcase the latest innovative gadgets from companies around the world. A launch at MWC could hint that Xiaomi is eager to enter new markets, probably even in Europe. With rivals like Huawei and ZTE expanding its international reach, it won’t be surprising if Xiaomi decided to extend its footprint into new markets in the region.

Xiaomi #Mi5 media preview in Barcelona on Feb 24—our first time ever hosting an event at MWC. Can't wait! pic.twitter.com/MU0GHsfIc3

— Hugo Barra (@hbarra) January 28, 2016

We will be present at MWC 2016 in Barcelona, Spain, so we will bring you the latest coverage of the launch of the Mi 5 as well as other gadgets from the event. As of now, the Xiaomi Mi 5 is confirmed to come with Snapdragon 820, dual SIM dual standby and NFC. Rest of the features are expected to be confirmed in the coming days. So, stay tuned.

Meanwhile, you can check out the screenshot posted by Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun yesterday evening from this article. Or you can check out the Mi 5 in its box, leaked recently.

Elephone W2 SmartWatch Up For Pre-order At $79.99

By

Joel Joseph

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Jan 27, 2016

Elephone released their latest smartwatch, namely the Elephone W2 watch at this month’s conference in China. The watch is unlike the traditional smartwatches which feature a display on board. Instead, it relies on your smartphone for displaying different data and analysis. While this may sound not so convenient, it really helps in improving the battery life of the device. Elephone claims that the watch can last for up to 3 months on a single battery, which is impressive considering it features some smart functions.

The Elephone W2 comes with a pedometer and sleep monitor on board. As a result, it will track the number of steps that you have taken, and calories burnt during the day. Also, you can monitor your sleep pattern with the device. It can also act as a remote control for the camera on your smartphone.

The watch is IP53 certified as well, so it’s protected from dust and water splashes. There are other handy functions as well, such as alarm, notification alerts etc. You can connect the watch to any Bluetooth 4.0 enabled device and connect to the companion app for controlling various functions.

Elephone has priced the W2 Classic smartwatch pretty aggressively at $79.99. You can read more details about the watch’s overall specs and shipping info from the link given below.

Buy Elephone W2 Classic Watch (Silver & Brown) at just $79.99

Buy Elephone W2 Classic Watch (Brown & Gold) at just $79.99

Gionee Launches Marathon M5 Mini For Low-Cost Large Battery Lovers

By

Joel Joseph

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Jan 27, 2016

Although the Chinese manufacturer, Gionee is not as famous as other counterparts like Xiaomi or Huawei, the company is slowly building its presence in a number of emerging markets. The company’s Gionee Marathon series phones are known for its large batteries and has garnered popularity in some markets. So, it’s not surprising to see that the company has announced a new low-end variant in the series called as the Gionee M5 Mini.

Gionee could be looking to target the budget market with this device as the M5 Mini uses MT6580 quad-core chipset, which is pretty low-end. It comes with four Cortex A7 cores and Mali-400MP2 GPU. The highlight of the chip is its low cost, which means that the M5 Mini should be cheap. Unfortunately, the company is yet to reveal an official price tag for the device.

Other specs are also pretty modest. The Gionee M5 Mini comes with 2GB of RAM with 16GB of expandable storage, 5-inch HD 720p display and a large 4000mAh battery. At the back, the phone gets an 8MP sensor while up front, a 5MP shooter. Given the large battery in its compact 5-inch body, the thickness is about 9.6mm, which is a bit fat considering other budget devices, but still acceptable given its battery capacity. As for software, the phone runs on Android 5.1 with Amigo OS 3.1 on top.

The 4000mAh battery on board also supports fast charge. The company claims that 10 minutes of charging will give you two days of standby, 2 hours of music playback and 1.5 hours of talktime. You can even use the device as a powerbank for reverse charging other devices.

The phone seems to be a direct competitor to the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 with its large battery and entry level specs. However, in the processor front, MT6580 is no way near Snapdragon 616. As for the pricing and release details, the company has only revealed that the phone will be available in Nigeria for now.

Xiaomi Mi 5 Screenshot Posted By Lei Jun Confirms A Couple Of Features

By

Joel Joseph

-

Jan 27, 2016

We are all eager to meet the Xiaomi Mi 5 flagship, which will be launched next month. However, like tradition, Lei Jun has resorted to Weibo to tease some of the features of the handset.
Yesterday evening, he posted a screenshot of the Mi 5, which basically confirms two features on the flagship.

We can see a “N” icon on the taskbar on top, which should be for the NFC. Previously, we had seen from a leaked document that Xiaomi was bringing back the NFC feature to the new Mi 5 flagship, so this isn’t surprising. After removing the feature from its Mi 4 in 2014, it looks like the company feels NFC still has a lot to offer.

Another feature confirmed by the company is dual SIM dual standby. We can clearly see the two network icons with 4G LTE support on top, which means two SIM cards work on the device.

Apart from these two features, Lei Jun said in another post that there are a lot of surprises on the device. He has been using the phone for more than a month now and he says the overall experience is beyond imagination. Well, with Snapdragon 820 on board and 4GB RAM, the performance of the device will be nothing less than extraordinary. Plus, the Mi 5 is rumored to come with other top-end specs such as a 5-inch FHD display, 16MP rear camera, 8MP front shooter, Android 6.0 and a large 4000mAh battery.

The Xiaomi Mi 5 will officially release on February 24, which is still a month away. However, like tradition, expect a lot more details about the upcoming flagship via teasers, leaks and renders in the next couple of weeks.

Meanwhile, you can check out the leaked Xiaomi Mi 5 box from here.

ASUS ZENFONE MAX With 5000mAh Battery Now Available at $169.99

By

Joel Joseph

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Jan 27, 2016

ASUS Zenfone Max is one of the special smartphones in the market that cater to the needs of the large battery lovers. Given that the phone features modest specs, the phone should give you at least a couple of day’s of charge, which is quite good for a sub-$200 smartphone.

The Zenfone Max come with a large 5000mAh battery to keep your phone running all day long. It is powered by the modest Snapdragon 410 quad-core 64-bit processor with 2GB of RAM on board. While this isn’t a powerful chip, its pretty decent for an entry level device and will further aid in increasing the battery life of the device.

You get a large 5.5-inch display with 1280 x 720 pixel resolution IPS display. As for the optics, the rear camera will be of 13MP while the front shooter is of 5MP. You get 16GB of internal storage with the option to further expand up to 128GB via a MicroSD card slot.

As for the connectivity features, you have Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, 4G, GPS, GLONASS, A-GPS and dual SIM dual standby support. The support 4G bands are as follows TDD (B39 1900MHz), TDD (B38 2600MHz), FDD (B3 1800MHz), FDD (B1 2100MHz), TDD (B41 2500MHz), TDD (B40 2300MHz). Finally, for software, you get Android 5.1 Lollipop OS out of the box.

As you can see, the specs are just decent for its price. But what really sets the phone apart from the crowd is its large battery. So, if you are in the market looking for a phone that can last long, the Zenfone Max could be a good option. Check out more information from the link below.

Buy ASUS Zenfone Max at just $169.99

Here’s The Xiaomi Mi 5 In Its Box Featuring Thin Bezels & Front Fingerprint

By

Joel Joseph

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Jan 26, 2016

Xiaomi has confirmed that the Xiaomi Mi 5 flagship will meet us at the February 24 Spring Conference in China. After more than 1.5 years of waiting, fans will finally get to see the new flagship, which will reportedly be one of the best smartphones from the company till date.

However, even before the release, we had seen a few renders of the device, which showed us that the phone will most likely come with a front facing physical home button with fingerprint sensor. Now, the same phone has leaked once again, but this time in its box. The design seems to be the same as the earlier leaks, so this could be the real deal.

This leak further confirms that the Xiaomi Mi 5 will come with a 2.5D glass design. The bezels are also quite narrow, so the screen to body ratio should be impressive. One important thing to note here is that Xiaomi has ditched the traditional brown recycled box design in its recent smartphones, yet the new Mi 5 is shown in this box. So, this may not be the box that the phone will be shipped.

As for the specs, the Xiaomi Mi 5 is expected to come with a 5-inch FHD 1080p display with 4GB RAM and 64GB of internal storage. Under the hood, it’s confirmed to feature the powerful Snapdragon 820 quad-core chipset. Other possible features include 16MP rear camera, 8MP front-facing shooter, a large 4000mAh battery, fingerprint ID and Hi-Fi audio.

The Coolest LED Desk Lamp?

By

Linus

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Jan 26, 2016

FULL VIDEO REVIEW:

[embedyt] https://youtu.be/0OJgSQ0GG74[/embedyt]

UNBOXING

The 1byone lamp may not be the only unique product of its kind but it is really cool for a few reasons.

It all starts with a presentation that I’ve never seen before. You are actually getting an eye chart whether you need it or not. Besides that there are some instruction manuals or USB cable for charging.

DESIGN

When it comes to the lamp itself, it all starts with a great minimal Apple-like design and top-notch build quality.

The lamp uses anodised aluminum in its construction and a cool thing that actually reminds Apple products is a glowing 1byone logo and it indeed looks nice.

The base part is made of quality rubber, which is very flexible, so you can use the lamp at almost all occasions.

The key feature is that the lamp is wireless and it has a built-in rechargeable 2000mAh battery. The lamp is said to last you from 3 to 30 hours depending on usage. I could get way over 15 hours, which is great considering how sleek and portable this device is.

You can turn the lamp on by gently tapping the power on/off switch.

On the front there is a little touchpad, which lets you choose from 3 different light colours – warm, cool or neutral white. A 6-level dimmer lets you adjust the level of brightness.

I’ve been using this LED lamp for quite a while now and it’s been working absolutely fine, and it looks really awesome on the table. My only complaint would be that it could be slightly brighter as I also wanted to use it for filming but it’s not a deal breaker at all.

While it is neither the cheapest nor the only good option available, it is a product worth checking out if you are in the market of LED desk lamps.

Buy 1byone Infinity Glow Lamp from Amazon US

Buy 1byone Infinity Glow Lamp from Amazon UK

OPPO Find 9 Certified In Indonesia?

By

Joel Joseph

-

Jan 26, 2016

Although OPPO has released a few handsets recently, the company is yet to update the famous OPPO Find series, which has garnered attention from users across the globe. We all are eagerly waiting for the release of the OPPO Find 9 flagship, now for more than a year, but as of now, officially, there doesn’t seem to be any clues as to its release.

However, earlier today, a new device from OPPO was spotted on the Indonesian Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, which is similar to China’s TENAA. The device had the model number OPPO X9009 and it is being said that it could be OPPO’s long awaited Find 9 flagship smartphone. The reason for this possibility is because the Find 7 came with the model number OPPO X9006, so a similar model could only mean a new device in the same series.

Since these devices have already been certified in Indonesia, its possible that the company will officially announce them soon. As for the specs, the OPPO Find 9 is said to come with a 5.9-inch 2K display and the powerful Snapdragon 820 processor under the hood. Another possible feature rumored to come on the device is a hidden fingerprint sensor. While we don’t have any more details about the device, we hope to update you guys with new information pretty soon.

The image above could be how the front of the OPPO Find 9 will end up looking as per the earlier leak. But let’s wait for more concrete details before getting too excited.

QICENT 6-Port 2.4A Smart Usb Charger Review

By

Linus

-

Jan 26, 2016

We have reviewed quite a few multi-port USB chargers lately and this time around we are looking at the QICENT 6-Port 2.4A smart USB charger. Find out more in our full review.

UNBOXING

The Qicent 6-Port USB charger comes in a neat packaging and the contents include some instruction manuals and a power cord.

DESIGN

The Qicent USB charger is very compact and it easily fits in the palm of your hand. It is made of glossy plastic, which does not not feel but it attracts fingerprints very quickly.

The star of the show here are 6 USB ports and each of them are capable of providing 2.4A of power output. In addition, each port detects the device you connected at charges it at the maximum possible speed.

The bottom is made of matt plastic (they should have made the top part matt too, in my opinion). Here you can find some specs. However, there is a major disadvantage. There are no silicone or any other pads, which would help the USB hub stick on the table and prevent it from sliding. Of course, it can be easily fixed by buying those pads but we believe each manufacturer should include them either already sticked on the USB charger or packed separately.

On one of the sides there is a power input port.

Overall, Qicent 6-Port 2.4A smart USB charger is sturdy, compact, well constructed and it does not seem to break anytime soon.

FEATURES and FUNCTIONALITY

Once you power the device up, a tiny LED lights up to let you know that the USB hub is ready charge your devices.

I actually needed to find all my USB cables to be able to use all 6 ports to charge my devices. The test results suggest that USB hub works flawlessly. While the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge did not reach the same charging speeds as with the original charger (the phone ships with a fast charger), other phones indeed charged quickly. In fact, Asus Zenfone 2, which charges extremely slowly with the stock charger, detected Qicent as a fast charger.

CONCLUSIONS

While the market is full of multi-port USB chargers and it may be hard to choose from the variety of them, Qicent is worth your consideration. It does all the things right as far as functionality goes and it indeed charges the devices fast.

However, a glossy plastic finish attracts fingerprints and smudges easily and the lack of silicone pads on the bottom of the USB charger are a few disadvantages.

Still, the Qicent is well worth the price of just $16.99.

Buy Qicent 6-Port 2.4A Smart Usb Charger from Amazon US

Cubot S600 Review – Beautiful and Affordable

By

Linus

-

Jan 25, 2016

Today we are looking at affordable yet very nice looking Cubot S600. Is it any good? Find out in our full Cubot S600 review.

Cubot S600 VIDEO REVIEW:

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZ–_0FV2WQ[/embedyt]

Cubot S600 Review: UNBOXING

Cubot S600 Review: SPECS

Display	5″ 720p (HD)
Processor	Mediatek MT6735, 64-bit, octa-core (up to 1.3GHz)
RAM	2GB
Camera	2MP Front/16MP Back
Connectivity	Bluetooth, 3G, 4G, GPS, WIFI, GSM,EDGE, GPRS, UMTS, HSPA, HSPA+, dual-SIM.
Battery	2.700 mAh (non-removable)
Dimensions	14.650 x 7.130 x 0.750 cm / 5.76 x 2.80 x 0.29 inches
OS	Android 5.1
Storage	16GB (expandable via microSD card slot up 128GB)

Cubot included some nice accessories along with the S600 phone. The contents include a tempered glass screen protector, a nice soft TPU case, a charging plug, USB cable, SIM ejector pin and some documentation.

Cubot S600 Review: DESIGN and DISPLAY

As soon as you pick up the phone, Cubot S600 feels like an expensive flagship device. It uses a high quality metal frame around the device and 2.5D glass on the front and rear.

Also, the phone is compact due to the 5” inches display, which only has 720P resolution but it is a high quality panel. It is bright, vivid, colours look natural and it has exclellent viewing angles.

There is an 8MP selfie shooter and a highly customizable LED light on the front top. The capacitive buttons, which also have a nice backlight, are on the bottom.

The glass back is a ridiculous fingerprint magnet and if you hate all the smudges I suggest you going with the white or gold S600 models.

As far as camera, we have a 16MP Samsung shooter with PDAF and dual LED flash. Right below the camera is a fingerprint scanner. I found it to be very easy to setup and accurate to use. Also, it works straight from the standby mode. However, it could be slightly faster at times.

On the bottom there is just a speaker grill.

The buttons are located on the right, they are also metal-made and have a good tactile response.

The left side is where you can find two micro SIM card slots and a separate slot for the microSD card for storage expansion.

The headset jack is on the top and the micro USB port is on the bottom.

Overall, Cubot S600 sports a great build quality, it is nice to look at and hold in the hand, and it literally looks like an expensive handset. However, I don’t like a glass back as it attracts fingerprints and smudges very quickly.

Cubot S600 Review: UI

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Cubot S600 comes with Android 5.1 with a light Cubot’s skin on top of it. A great thing is that we still have an app drawer and overall the UI looks like a stock Android with just a few added features and minor design changes.

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A few notable features would be the ability to highly customise the LED light and assign different colours to different events. Also, the phone has some gesture controls and they work pretty well if you really care about them. However, I miss some more conventional gesture controls like double tap to wake up the screen and so on.

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There is one annoying bug that hopefully will be fixed with a software update. Almost every time you enter the camera app, it thinks you have opened it for the first time. Believe me, it is really annoying as it happened to me almost every time I wanted to take a picture.

Overall, the UI is running very fast and fluid, and this bug is my only complaint but I believe it will be fixed with a software update soon.

Cubot S600 Review: HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE

Cubot S600 is not going to be your next flagship device as far as sheer specs go. It has a quad-core MTK6735A chip with the clock speeds of up to 1.3GHz, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of expandable storage.

While these specs assure that day to day performance is nice and smooth, what about gaming?

Well, Asphalt 8 runs without lag but you have to keep in mind that there are quite a few skipped frames and a little bit of stutter. On the other hand, it is still possible to have an enjoyable gaming experience and Cubot did a great job optimising the software and hardware.

However, there is one bug that I haven’t seen on any other devices. The game interface gives a pop-up message saying that the keyboard is connected then it is disconnected and it happens randomly.

Cubot S600 Review: MULTIMEDIA

As usual, full-HD content plays without any issues. The sound via earphones is pretty good but nothing expectational.

As far as the loudspeaker, I would say it is above average. While it is not bad, it could have slightly more depth and the volume output is kind of low.

Cubot S600 Review: CAMERA

When it comes to the daylight image quality, they look pretty good as the pictures have a decent amount of details and colours look natural. However, some of the images don’t have even focus throughout the entire picture.

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Indoor shots are usually okay but when there is not enough light, you have to keep your hands steady to avoid blurry shots.

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Night shots are above average for the phone carrying this price tag. However, most of images are ruined by a slight purple tint.

1080p video looks pretty mediocre with just average amount of details but this is what you have to expect with most of the phones in this price range. See a video review for the video sample.

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As far as selfie camera, it will be enough to take pictures usable for social media.

Download full resolution camera samples

Cubot S600 Review: CONNECTIVITY

All the connectivity options work great. Call quality is okay and signal reception is excellent. Also, Wifi, GPS and Bluetooth are working fine.

Cubot S600 Review: BATTERY LIFE

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Cubot S600 has an embedded 2700mAh battery and it performs well for its capacitiy but it is far from the best. I could get just over 3.5 hours of screen on-time when using auto max. brightness setting.

Cubot S600 Review: CONCLUSIONS

Cubot S600 costs around $130 and although it is not a perfect phone, it is definitely worth the price.

It all starts with a nice looking design and excellent build quality, and the fact that the device is compact and can managed with one hand.

Also, Cubot S600 has a high quality display although it is only 720P, it is very fast and responsive in daily use, the camera performs quite well in good lighting conditions and you can use 2 SIM cards and the microSD card at the same time.

However, the battery capacity could have been slightly bigger, the loudspeaker could be louder and the glass back is a huge fingerprint magnet.

Still, despite a few shortcomings, Cubot S600 is a reasonably priced smartphone that can be recommended and you can check out the product link down in the description if you are interested.

Buy Cubot S600

Entry Level ZOPO Speed 7C Smartphone Launching In February

By

Joel Joseph

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Jan 25, 2016

ZOPO has just revealed that the company will announce a new entry-level smartphone next month called as the ZOPO Speed 7C. From the name, it looks like the phone will feature similar looks as the Speed 7 flagship but with modest specifications.

The Speed 7C smartphone will feature a elegant wood or bamboo veneer back case to make sure that it stands apart from the crowd. So despite its modest specs, there will be a differentiation factor.
As for the specs, the ZOPO Speed 7C will with a 5-inch 720p display with a quad-core CPU and 2GB of RAM on board. For internal storage, you have 16GB. At the back, there’s a 13.2MP rear camera while up front, you get a 5MP shooter. The battery is also decent, as you get a 2500mAh capacity battery on board. Other features include Android 5.1 with Marshmallow update scheduled around March / April period, dual SIM support and 4G LTE.
As for the release, the Speed 7C will be first available in European countries like Spain, France and Italy in February.

Xiaomi Hybrid Dual Drivers Earphones Review

By

Linus

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Jan 22, 2016

It’s been a while since we reviewed any earphones on Gizmochina and thus we decided to take a look at Xiaomi hybrid dual drivers earphones. We were definitely impressed by the Xiaomi Pistons 3 earphones and this is a new and (hopefully) upgraded model. Find out more in our full review.

Thanks to Banggood for sending Xiaomi Hybrid Dual Drivers Earphones for a review.

Xiaomi Hybrid Dual Drivers Earphones Review: UNBOXING

The earphones are packed in quite a typical Xiaomi fashion were all the items stuffed in neatly. The contents include the earphones itself, extra sets of different sizes earbuds and instruction manuals in Chinese.

Xiaomi Hybrid Dual Drivers Earphones Review: DESIGN

When it comes to the design, Xiaomi earphones are very well made and uses high quality materials in the construction.

The earphones itself are made of metal and plastic, and they feel very sturdy. “HD Audio” is written on both earphones.

On the right earphones there is a remote control where you can find volume up/down, play/pause buttons. On the other side there is a mic for hands-free calling, which works pretty well if you move it away from your clothes or anything else that touches while walking. The conversations were clear on both ends and thus we could not ask more for the call quality.

The most part of the wire is made of kevlar, which was chosen to make the cable tangle-free. It sure works great but we are curious why the kevlar coating was not used for the entire cable. Therefore, the tangential part of the cable that goes to the earphones itself is made of rubber, which is quite easy to tangle. Anyway, this design is used on the majority of earphones and it may have something important to do.

The headset connector is made of plastic but looks like metal.

Overall, the design and build quality of the Xiaomi earphones is excellent. In fact, they look like a much more expensive pair of earphones.

Xiaomi Hybrid Dual Drivers Earphones Review: SOUND QUALITY

To put it simply, they sound amazing. I have been using Xiaomi Pistons 3 every single day for quite a while and I have already told that they were probably the best cheap earphones under $20.

This time around Xiaomi managed to do a couple of noticeable improvements. First of all, the dual hybrid earphones are slightly louder but that’s probably not the most important factor. Secondly, the sound is crispier and clearer and it may even have more depth in it.

As far as other aspects, the sound that is coming out of these earphones is very balanced, there is a huge amount of quality, punchy, soft and deep bass. In addition, the highs and mids sound equally pronounced for my taste but it may be subjective. Finally, there were no distortions at the highest volume setting on neither smartphone or laptop I tested (Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, MacBook Pro and Xiaomi Redmi 3).

Xiaomi Hybrid Dual Drivers Earphones Review: CONCLUSIONS

Xiaomi hybrid dual drivers earphones are without a doubt one of the best if not the best earphones under $20. We are very happy to see that the Xiaomi keeps on upgrading their audio accessories portfolio. The company already had some great products but they keep on releasing new and improved models.

My only wish would be that either Xiaomi or other company would start making tangle-free cables from the top to bottom of the earphones.

All in all, Xiaomi Hybrid Dual Drivers Earphones are probably the best earphones the money can buy if you are on the budget.

Buy Hybrid Dual Drivers Earphones from Banggood

The Wait Is OVER! Xiaomi Mi 5 Launching On Feb 24!

By

Joel Joseph

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Jan 22, 2016

After nearly 1.5 years of waiting for a new Xiaomi flagship, the company has finally confirmed that the Xiaomi Mi 5 will launch on February 24. We already had confirmation that the phone was launching next month from Xiaomi’s executives, however, now, we finally have a date to look forward to!

A few minutes ago, Xiaomi’s Senior VP Wanqiang Li, revealed via his official Weibo page that the company’s Spring Conference was going to be held on Feb 24. So, we can all expect to see the flagship Mi 5 at the event.

However, Mi 5 may not be the only device that could be unveiled that day. According to the leaked presentation images, the company has kept the main event for two hours long. If it was just for Xiaomi Mi 5’s launch, it should have been shorter. So, many are speculating that we might see more than one launch at the Feb 24 event. The leak reveals that the event will go on from 2 pm to 4 pm and later on, the attendees will be given a chance for a hands-on with the launched devices.

We still don’t know what could be the other announcements on Feb 24. However, at this moment, I am sure fans will finally be relieved to hear a date for the Mi 5 launch event. Mr. Li also added that more details will be revealed on Tuesday, i.e. January 26.

Stay tuned, as I am sure we will soon receive more details about the device, both officially and unofficially!

Meanwhile, you can read more about the recent specs and leaked images of the Mi 5 from here.

Snapdragon 830 Rumored To Use Samsung’s 10nm Process, Supports 8GB RAM

By

Joel Joseph

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Jan 22, 2016

Even before the Snapdragon 820 powered smartphones hit the market, rumors about its next generation, namely Snapdragon 830 have started making rounds. The latest rumor from Weibo states that Qualcomm will rely on Samsung for manufacturing its next-generation chipset.

The source states that Snapdragon 830 (MSM8898) will continue to use Kyro architecture. So, it looks like the rumors about the company ditching custom cores in favor of stock ARM cores may not be true. However, the chip will feature the upgraded generation Kyro architecture.

According to the rumor, Snapdragon 830 will use Samsung’s 10nm manufacturing process which will be even better than the current 14nm process used by Exynos 8890 and Snapdragon 820. In fact, Samsung recently revealed that it has undertaken the mass production of the Snapdragon 820 chipset this year. So, it likely that next year too, Qualcomm may ask Samsung to manufacture its chip, based on the company’s latest 10nm process.

If true, this will mean that next year’s chipsets will be even smaller than the current generation. It will be more powerful but efficient at the same time, which will significantly improve the overall performance of the chip. What’s more, the source states that the chip will be able to support up to 8GB of RAM on board, which means multitasking will be a breeze on the devices that end up with the Snapdragon 830.

The chip is said to release sometime early 2017.

This Is How Much Google Makes From Android!

By

Joel Joseph

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Jan 21, 2016

In case you were wondering how much Google makes from Android, here’s some idea. Thanks to an Oracle lawyer, we now know that Google has made $31 billion USD in revenue from its Android Operating System. From this, the company earned a profit of around $22 billion. So, this means the company’s profit margin for Android is nearly 70%!

Google does not reveal financial information about Android separately. So the company is not happy with the Oracle Lawyer revealing such sensitive information. It further states that the lawyer got this information from confidential internal financial documents which were never meant to be made public.

The two major sources of the company’s profits from Android come via advertisements on phones and Google Play store. So, it looks like the company is making a lot of money from its Android business.

However, if you consider that Android was launched way back in 2008, i.e. nearly eight years back, this figure is not that surprising. Apple generates this amount in iPhone sales in just a quarter. But the margin is what’s interesting here, as even Apple (although not directly comparable to Android) enjoys only around 40% margin on its iPhones.

So, what do you think about these figures for Android? Are you surprised?

Le 1S Receives More Than 100,000 Registrations On Flipkart In A Day, Breaks Record

By

Joel Joseph

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Jan 21, 2016

LeEco, formerly known as LeTV recently entered the Indian smartphone market with its budget Le 1S and high-end Le Max smartphones. Le 1S is going to be the first phone available to purchase in the country when it goes on sale on Feb 2. Like tradition, the company has already started accepting registrations for the event, from Jan 20. Now, the company reports that it has already received more than 100,000 registrations for the Feb 2 sale day in just one day.

This is a tremendous achievement for the company, who just entered the market just recently. Although LeEco has been marketing its brand throughout the country via its social media brands, the company launched its first three devices only this Wednesday.

With such tremendous response for the device, the company has managed to set a new record in India. It’s the first smartphone company to have crossed over 100,000 pre-sale registrations in 24 hours for a smartphone in the price bracket upwards of Rs. 10,000.

The phone is priced aggressively in the country, at Rs. 10,999 ($162) and goes on sale on Feb 2 at 12 pm. What’s more, if you have an Axis Bank debit card, you can further get a discount of 10% on this price, making the deal sweeter.

The Le 1S features Helio X10 Turbo edition with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. At the back, you get a 13MP camera while up front a 5MP shooter. The display is of 5.5-inches with FHD 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution. As for the battery, you have a 3000mAh capacity battery on board with fast charge that will give you 3.5 hours of talktime in just 5 minutes of charging. Moreover, you have a fingerprint sensor on the back as well.

So, it looks like a pretty good deal! With the company planning to launch 555 service centers throughout India, it looks like LeEco is planning to build a strong presence in the country.