ZTE Nubia Buys nubia.com Domain Name For $2 million, Looking for International Expansion?

By

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Dec 28, 2015

In this internet age, domain name is the face of the company. Its the name which consumers will use to check out the company products, announcements and other updates directly. As a result, companies are willing to shell out a lot of money for the right domain name.

The latest company to shell out a lot of money buying the right domain name is Nubia. I am sure almost all of you know that Nubia is ZTE’s suibsidiary, focusing on the smartphone industry. We have seen some great smartphones from this brand till now, including the bezelless Z9. But it looks like the company is now taking a step further, by purchasing the domain name, Nubia.com. The company reportedly purchased the domain name for $2 million USD which comes to around 13 million Chinese Yuan.

Now why would the company shell out so much money for purchasing another domain name? It already has two main domain names, namely nubia.cn and nubia.com.cn. So, if the company is paying so much to get the nubia.com domain name, it could only mean that the company is preparing to launch its products globally. Its products are mainly sold in the domestic market, with limited models available internationally. But that may change in 2016, which could be why Nubia decide to purchase the .com domain name.

The brand has a lot of interesting smartphones in its lineup, including the Z9, and the X6. There’s even rumors about the next generation Z11 that will hit the markets next year. So, these products could be launched outside of its home country in the coming months.

This is not the first time we are hearing a Chinese smartphone company has paid a lot of money to get the right domain name. Back in 2014, Xiaomi paid $3.6 million to get the compact “mi.com” domain name.

At the time of publishing this article, I couldn’t connect to the nubia.com website. But the above pictures seem to be what the site looked like before.

Blackview BV2000 Review – A $70 Smartphone

By

Linus

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Dec 28, 2015

Blackview has released quite a few devices lately. This time around we are taking a look at a super cheap (around $70) Blackview BV2000. Find out more in our full review.

Thanks to the Blackview official for sending Blackview BV2000 for a review.

Blackview BV2000: VIDEO REVIEW

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73k_QFo-I5k[/embedyt]

Blackview BV2000: UNBOXING

The phone comes with just a power plug and the USB cable.

Blackview BV2000: DESIGN

The device is very compact as it has a 5” display and the phone is made of plastic. My review unit comes in pink colour but it has a lot more other colour options.

On the front top there is a 5MP snapper along with other usual stuff. On the bottom you can find a physical home button and nicely backlit capacitive keys.

On the back you can find an 8MP shooter with dual LED flash and the speaker grill.

The buttons are located on the right side and they have a great tactile feedback.

Under the hood, there is a removable 2400mAh battery, two SIM card slots and the microSD card slot.

Overall, the phone is well built and I have no complaints at all.

Blackview BV2000: DISPLAY

The Blackview BV2000 has a 5” 720p panel, which is pretty sharp, it has decent colour reproduction and it is a good display overall for such a cheap phone.

Blackview BV2000: UI

The phone runs on Android 5.1 with the Blackview’s skin on top of it, which removes the app tray without any reason but it adds a lot of customisation options and other features for a budget phone.

You can customise the device using the dedicated theme store, change wallpapers, adjust launcher settings and so on.

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As far as extra features go, you have some typical gesture and motion controls. They all work okay and gesture recognition is pretty accurate. However, I found them to be kind of slow to work.

When it comes to day-to-day performance, I can’t say that everything is running smoothly. There is occasional stutter and even a little of bit lag. To make the situation even worse, the stutter kicks in even when you are just scrolling through menus. Hopefully, this issue is only due to an early software build and we will see an update to fix that.

Blackview BV2000: HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE

The Blackview BV2000 is not going to be your next powerhouse device. It has an MTK6735 64bit Quad Core 1.0GHz CPU, 1GB of RAM and just 8GB of expandable storage.

The 3D gaming experience is kind of terrible. There is a lot of stutter and lag, and basically this phone is not the best choice for the hardcore gamers out there.

Blackview BV2000: CAMERA and IMAGE QUALITY

As far as camera, the 8MP shooter does not impress. Even the daylight shots don’t look good. There is a low amount of details, there are focusing issues and the images look terrible.

The low-light shots…. They do not impress either as the images lack in every aspect you can imagine.

Same can be said with the 720p video quality.

Download full resulotion camera samples

Blackview BV2000: MULTIMEDIA

Consuming HD content is an okay experience as the playback is smooth. However, the sound that is coming out of the rear mounted speaker is kind of tinny. Well, this is what you should expect from such a cheap phone.

Blackview BV2000: CONNECTIVITY

As far as connectivity, everything is working fine as I had no issues with the Wifi, GPS, Bluetooth, call quality or signal reception.

Blackview BV2000: BATTERY LIFE

When it comes to the battery life, it is good but not great. The 2400mAh unit can last you a full day of usage but it will give you only around 3 hours of screen-on time.

Blackview BV2000: CONCLUSIONS

The Blackview BV2000 is indeed a cheap phone and you can get it for around $70. It has a decent design and good build quality and a pretty good display for such a low price.

However, the UI performance needs some polishing as it is not smooth all the time. Also, this phone is definitely not for gamers out there as the most graphically intensive games have a lot of lag.

In addition, the camera is kind of disappointment and the battery life could be a little bit better.

All in all, Blackview BV2000 is not a perfect device in general but it’s okay for the price. If we see a software update to make the UI faster along with other possible improvements, it can be a decent phone for $70. At the moment, you have to take all the shortcomings into consideration before making a purchase.

Buy Blackview BV2000

Buy Blackview BV2000 From Aliexpress

Smartisan T2 Leaked In All Its Glory, Physical Buttons Make a Comeback

By

Joel Joseph

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Dec 28, 2015

We will soon meet the Smartisan T2 flagship, but even before the official unveiling on December 30, we have got a good look at the upcoming smartphone. Thanks to a detailed leak, we now know how the phone looks like.

According to the pictures that were leaked yesterday, the upcoming Smartisan T2 flagship smartphone will still use 2.5D glass, both on the front as well as the back. You can see a metal frame around the body and the overall body could be made out of plastic. Interestingly, this particular device will feature three physical buttons up front, right below the display. So, you have the home button, the menu button as well as the back key.

Another interesting thing revealed by these images is that the Smartisan T2 may not feature a fingerprint sensor. The back is clean, and the home button up front doesn’t look like it has a fingerprint sensor. So, unlike other flagship smartphones, it looks like Smartisan is skipping this feature on its upcoming device.

Smartisan T2 Leaked Images

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Apart from these pictures, we already know the possible specifications of the device. The phone will reportedly come with Snapdragon 808 hexa-core processor with 3GB RAM and 16GB/ 32GB and 64GB memory options. The screen will be compact measuring 4.95-inches with FHD 1080p resolution. The rear camera will be of 21MP while the front facing shooter of 5MP. The battery is decent for a 5-inch device, with a capacity of 2490mAh. The phone will come pre-installed with the new Smartisan OS 2.5, which has become one of the highlighted features of the company’s smartphones.

You can expect the pricing to be around 1999 Yuan which comes to approximately $308.

Ulefone Power is official and features a massive battery pack at an affordable price

By

Frank Tu

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Dec 28, 2015

Lots of Chinese smartphone manufacturers are integrating large battery capacities in their handsets and Ulefone Power, the newly announced smartphone from the company happens to be one of those devices that has joined that illustrious club.

As the name suggests, the newly announced device comes with two primary perks of owning it; a 6,050mAh battery and an extremely affordable price tag (given below). The battery is a Sony non-removable lithium polymer one and according to the company, users will be able to rake out a total of four days of light use on a single charge.

Bundled with Ulefone Power is a 9V/2-3A charger that makes use of Pump Express Plus technology; Qualcomm’s Quick Charge’s latest competitor that will super charge the smartphone’s battery in just two hours and allow users to gain a total of 2 hours of call time after being plugged in for just 5 minutes. Despite featuring such a large battery, Ulefone Power measures only 9.5mm in thickness and weighs in at 190 grams.

The smartphone also does very well to put on a good impression since it has a 2.5D arc display that is reinforced with Corning Gorilla 3 glass, and features a solid metal frame, along with ‘halo’ touch buttons. Ulefone has stated that there will be a total of three colors to choose from, which are as follows:

White
Dark blue
White with a wooden back cover

A SIM card tray pops out that can accommodate either one of the following configurations:

Single SIM card with a microSD card

Dual SIM cards

In addition to possessing a large battery capacity, Ulefone Power is no slouch when it comes to performance because it features MediaTek’s MT6753 SoC, 3GB of RAM, and a very powerful Sony IMX214 13MP camera with a dual LED flash. As for its screen size, Power has a 5.5-inch AUO 1080P LTPS display.

The handset also caters to the security eccentric crowd thanks to a fingerprint scanner and it will be getting an Android 6.0 OS update in the future. So when exactly can you get your hands on Ulefone Power? The company has stated that the smartphone will start to ship from January 10, 2016 with Android 5.1 pre-installed and will come with a very affordable price tag of $209.99.

In February, the handset will receive an update to Android 6.0.

Le Max Pro Rumored To Feature Ultrasonic Fingerprint ID & Wi-Fi 802.11 ad standard

By

Joel Joseph

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Dec 28, 2015

After releasing the LeTV 1S mid-range model a couple of months back, we have not yet heard about a new smartphone from the Chinese media giant. However, thanks to the numerous rumors and leaks that have surfaced in recently, we know that the company is preparing a new device for launch soon, namely the LeTV Le Max Pro. From the naming scheme and the leaked specs, this device seems to be the successor to the phablet Le Max that was released back in April this year.

Now, a new leak reveals the specifications of the Le Max Pro, and it looks like the phone will be much more powerful than its predecessor. Apart from the usual specs, which we have already seen, thanks to its AnTuTu benchmark listing, the phone is now rumored to feature Wi-Fi 802.11 ad technology, which is the latest standard in wireless connectivity. Many of the recent flagships boast of 802.11 ac Wi-Fi technology, but it looks like LeTV is going to set the bar next year with this new age tech. This standard adds a new 60GHz frequency band and supports speeds up to 7GBps.

Apart from the new Wi-Fi standard, the phone will reportedly come with Qualcomm’s Ultrasonic Fingerprint Sensor. This will make it one of the first phones with this new sensor. One of the highlights of this sensor is that it can be placed under a number of materials like glass, aluminum, stainless steel, sapphire or even plastic. It is said that things like sweat, dirt, grease etc don’t affect it, which means the efficiency will be quite good.

letv max pro antutu scores — Le Max Pro scores 133K On AnTuTu

Apart from these new age features, the Le Max Pro will come with Snapdragon 820 quad-core chipset with 4GB of RAM under the hood. There will be 32/64/128GB of internal storage options. The display will be quite large, like its predecessor. So, you get a 6.33-inch WQHD 2560 x 1440 pixel screen up front. The rear camera is said to be of 21MP while, at the front, you can expect a 4MP Ultrapixel camera.

If true, the Le Max Pro would really set the bar for other flagships that will debut next year. It comes with the new Snapdragon 820 chip, Ultrasonic fingerprint ID and the fast Wi-Fi 802.11 ad standard (supports transfer speeds up to 7GBps) which are some of the features that could end up in a number of flagships in 2016.

We expect a LeTV to show off the Le Max Pro at CES 2016, but let’s wait for an official confirmation from the company.

ZOPO’s Deca-Core Speed 8 Flagship Will Be Unveiled At MWC 2016

By

Joel Joseph

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Dec 27, 2015

This year, ZOPO released its flagship Speed 7 which came with great specs at a mid-range price tag. The phone turned out to be quite popular, especially in Europe.

Recently, we have been hearing about a deca-core smartphone from the company, which will be powered by the powerful Helio X20 chipset. Now, ZOPO has just revealed that the phone will be the new Speed 8 flagship. It will be the successor to the existing Speed 7 and will be much powerful in terms of specs than the current model.

The company has also revealed the launch date of the device. The Speed 8 flagship will be unveiled at the MWC (Mobile World Congress) 2016 in Barcelona. The phone will be personally introduced by none other than the brand ambassador of the company, MotoGP World Champion, Jorge Lorenzo. The event will start at 10.30 AM on February 24 at ZOPO’s booth in the event, 7G50.

The company also reveals that the Speed 8 flagship will be one of the first smartphones to feature this powerful deca-core Helio X20 chipset. It will come with Android 6.0 OS out of the box and the company promises full support for future updates. So, it’s likely that the phone will get the Android N 7.0 update as well.

Apart from revealing new details about its deca-core flagship, the company also informs us that it has changed its motto and work methodology to “Tech It Easy”.

ZOPO is known for value for money devices, as a result, it’s really exciting to hear that we will soon meet the Speed 8 with Helio x20 on board. We can expect the other specs to be quite high-end to support the powerful processor.

For now, this is all the details we have on the ZOPO Speed 8 flagship. But we will update you with more details in the coming days.

The Blackview Omega Pro Flagship Available For Just $124.99 From December 29th

By

Joel Joseph

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Dec 27, 2015

Blackview has been carrying out a lot of promotions for its existing smartphones this holiday season. We have seen some great discounts being offered by the company in the past few days, and now, we have just been informed that the flagship Blackview Omega Pro will be available for sale at just $124.99 this specific holiday week. This is over $15 OFF than the regular price tag, which makes it a great deal.

The Blackview Omega Pro comes with dual side Gorilla Glass design with CNC Metal Frame. This makes the phone stand out, as it looks much more premium than the competitors in this price range. Its pretty slim too, measuring just 7.8mm in thickness. The phone is available in a number of colors, black, white and even gold.

When it comes to the specs, the Blackview Omega Pro doesn’t disappoint. The phone comes with MT6753 octa-core processor clocked at 1.3GHz with 3GB of RAM and 16GB of expandable storage. There’s a 5-inch display at the front with 720p HD resolution. The camera at the back is of 18MP (13MP SW Interpolated) while you have a 2MP front facing shooter.

Despite the thin size, the battery is pretty decent, of 2400mAh capacity which will last you an entire day. As for the software, you get Android 5.1 Lollipop OS right out of the box. The phone supports 4G LTE networks, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS.

At just $124.99, the Blackview Omega Pro turns out to be a great deal. Its powerful, good looking and comes with the new Android 5.1 OS, making it a great overall package.

You can check out more details about the device from the links given below.

Blackview Omega Pro (English Link)

Blackview Omega Pro (Russian Link)

Blackview Omega Pro (Spanish Link)

Xiaomi Mi 5 Video Leaked along with HD Pictures, Seems Like The Real Deal

By

Joel Joseph

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Dec 27, 2015

In the past couple of months, we have come across some great looking Xiaomi Mi 5 Renders. However, it looks like the one leaked recently could be the real Xiaomi Mi 5 as we have seen multiple leaked renders with the same design. But if you had some doubts about the machine being real, here’s a leaked Xiaomi Mi 5 video which will cast them away.

Looks like the Xiaomi Mi 5 with the oblong home button at the bottom could be the final design that we will see this February. The video shows off the smartphone running on MIUI 7, which was released a couple of months ago. The bezels are super thin and the phone looks pretty good. From the leaked Xiaomi Mi 5 video, it looks like the phone is quite large, somewhere around 5.5-inches, which will make it bigger than its previous generation which featured a 5-inch screen.

The overall design has an uncanny resemblance with the Xiaomi Mi Note series. Except for a few changes like the physical home button, design wise, they look similar. Hence, we can’t really be sure that this is the Xiaomi Mi 5. Even the Mi Note series is due for an update in January, and it’s possible that the device in the pictures as well as the video, is the new generation Xiaomi Mi Note 2. We can’t be sure of that at the moment, but its a possibility.

However, if this is the real Mi 5, then design wise, we know a lot about the phone already. It comes with 3D back cover, a larger 5.5-inch+ display and a physical home button that will also be a fingerprint sensor. Unfortunately, it looks like the company is continuing with a plastic design on the new flagship.

Apart from the video, we also spotted some HD pictures of the Xiaomi Mi 5. They confirm the same design as the one in the video and also reveals some of the colors that the phone could be available next year.

You can check them out from below. You can read more about the Mi 5 and its specs from here.

So, what do you think about the video and leaked images. Is this the real Xiaomi Mi 5? Or do you think this could be the Mi Note 2?

1byone Outdoor Sports & Shower 4.0 Bluetooth Speaker Review

By

Linus

-

Dec 26, 2015

If you are looking for ultra portable yet powerful, rugged and waterproof Bluetooth speaker, 1byone speaker is one of the solutions worth checking out. Find out more in our full review.

1byone Outdoor Sports & Shower Bluetooth Speaker Review: VIDEO REVIEW

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwyKvIm2q0A[/embedyt]

1byone Outdoor Sports & Shower Bluetooth Speaker Review: UNBOXING

The device comes with a carbine, micro USB cable and instruction manuals.

1byone Outdoor Sports & Shower Bluetooth Speaker Review: DESIGN

As far as design, the 1byone Bluetooth speaker is very compact and it fits in the palm of your hand. It is well made and it uses rubber and metal in its construction.

On the right there are a bunch of buttons, which include answer calls, mode switch, skip tracks, play/pause and power/off buttons.

On the bottom there are micro USB port as well as microSD card slot. They are covered by a flap, which is, however, very hard close to get a perfect seal. However, I was told that this is only my review unit, which is of an early production nature.

Overall, I love the build quality, the choice of materials and the portability of this Bluetooth speaker.

1byone Outdoor Sports & Shower Bluetooth Speaker Review: SOUND QUALITY

When it comes to the sound, the speaker is very loud for the size. Also, it has a great amount of depth and punchy bass for a tiny speaker. However, make sure you don’t pump up the bass on your phone’s player as you will start hearing crackling noises at the highest volume settings.

1byone Outdoor Sports & Shower Bluetooth Speaker Review: TEST NOTES

The 1byone speaker has the hands-free feature and it works really well. The people on the other end were able to recognize the sound difference if we compare it to the phone’s mic but they were absolutely satisfied with the call quality.

As far as the Bluetooth range, I had no issues neither indoors nor outdoors.

When it comes to the battery life, I could get around 6 hours of music playback, which is pretty good for a speaker of this size.

As far as the music via the microSD card, it works flawlessly.

1byone Outdoor Sports & Shower Bluetooth Speaker Review: CONCLUSIONS

The 1byone outdoor Bluetooth speaker is a pretty good offering overall. It has a great design and build, and portability. Also, the sound quality and the volume output are pretty good.

However, the flap that covers the connectivity ports is kind of hard to close at least on my review unit and I hope that retail units don’t have the same issue.

In addition, although the sound quality is good for the size of the speaker, you may hear some crackling noises at the highest volume settings.

All in all, the 1byone Bluetooth speaker has a lot to offer for the price of $36 and it is a great device overall. However, you have to consider a few minor flaws.

All design pictures:

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Buy 1byone Outdoor Sports & Shower Bluetooth Speaker from Amazon US

Buy 1byone Outdoor Sports & Shower Bluetooth Speaker from Amazon UK

Elephone P9000 crowd funding turn $5 in to $50 + win prizes

By

shanos

-

Dec 25, 2015

Elephone have launched a P9000 crowd funding page for the Elephone P9000/ P9000 Lite

The page allows you to make a $5 or $3 contribution towards funding of the handset, in exchange you will receive a ten fold discount on your purchase so your $5 becomes $50 and your $3 becomes $30.

At the moment the price for the Elephone P9000 after the P9000 crowd funding $50 discount is applied, is showing to be around $200, with the P9000 Lite showing around $150 after the Elephone P9000 crowd funding discount.

Elephone have said that the more backers that commit, the lower the end price will be, but have not indicated what scale the discounts will be implemented too.

Not only will you receive a discount on your chosen handset, you will also get priority delivery, the $5 contributors getting the first available handsets and the $3 contributors getting the next round of handsets.

If you would rather not pay towards the Elephone P9000 crowd funding you can also claim a $30 discount, by downloading and installing the new Elephone App and posting a selfie (needs to include the Elephone Logo) using the App.

Whilst your on the App you can also try and win one of several prizes by entering the free Scratch & Win competition.

Details from the Elephone website can be found below.

So what do you think of the Elephone P9000 crowd funding promotion? its certainly different from the usual pre-sale promotional pricing.

I had a quick go on the Scratch & Win and ended up with a tempered glass screen and cover package if I purchase a P9000 🙁 I was hoping to get a $50 Ele Code but I guess I will end up donating $5.

Feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Regards Shane

Two ways to join it.

1.Enter Elephone official website, and sign in to get $50/ $30 ELE Code for P9000/P9000 lite.

Pay $5 Get $50 Voucher (12.25.2015-1.5.2016 )

Pay $3 Get $50 Voucher (1.6.2016.-1.15.2016 )

2. Download Elephone App, play “Scratch & Win” or post a selfie to get $30 voucher.

Time: 12.25.2015.-1.15.2016

Prizes:

W2 Smartwatch

10000mAh ELE Power

$50 ELE Code for P9000/ P9000 Lite

$30 ELE Code for P9000/ P9000 Lite

Leather case+ Tempered Glass Film

$5 ELE Code

QR code to download the Elephone App

Landvo XM100 Is A Good Looking Budget Phone That Costs Just $59.99

By

Joel Joseph

-

Dec 24, 2015

Landvo is known to release cheap smartphones. We have seen many value for money handsets from the manufacturer, but the company has been quite for the past few months. Now, they have just released a super cheap smartphone called as the Landvo XM100 which costs just $59.99.

The phone comes with a quad-core MT6580 chipset along with 1GB of RAM and 8GB of expandable internal storage. At the back, there’s an 8MP (interpolated) camera with LED flash while a 5MP front facing shooter lies on top of the display, up front. The display is of 5-inches with a decent resolution of 960 x 540 pixels. Finally, for battery you have a 2000mAh capacity one, which with these specs should be enough for a day’s usage.

One of the highlights of the phone is the Android 5.1 Lollipop OS that comes right out of the box. These specs are not extraordinary, but then you can get the phone for just $59.99 which makes it a pretty good deal.

You can check out more details about the Landvo XM100 from the link given below.

Buy Landvo XM100 For Just $59.99

Xiaomi Mi3, Mi4 & Mi Note Soon Getting MIUI 7 on Android 6.0 Marshmallow

By

Joel Joseph

-

Dec 24, 2015

At the start of this month, we reported that Xiaomi was going to release Android 6.0 Marshmallow update for a few of its devices like Xiaomi Mi 4, Mi Note and even Mi 3. Now, the MIUI operations manager of Xiaomi has revealed that the update is in its final stages.

It’s like a Christmas gift for all those users who were waiting to get the taste of the newest Android 6.0 operating system on their devices. He revealed that the update validation is almost finalized and the version will soon be released. The release could be as soon as tonight. In this regard, he even released a screenshot showing off MIUI 5.12.24 update based on Android 6.0.

Back when Xiaomi unveiled the brand new MIUI 7 ROM, many fans were disappointed to see that most of the devices which were going to get the new update would be stuck on Android 4.4, instead of Lollipop. At that time, Xiaomi had said that users shouldn’t be worried about the Android version as the features of the MIUI 7 would be the same on all devices.

But it looks like many of the models will directly be updated to the latest version. Of course, this is just the beta stage, after which we can expect a developer version and finally, a stable release via OTA a couple of months later.

So, if you don’t want to risk your device with a beta update, you better wait for a few months more. Meanwhile, we expect other devices to be updated to the new version in the coming months. We will keep you updated with more information, as and when we receive it.

Xiaomi Mi 5 Patent Docs May Have Confirmed The Phone’s Design

By

Joel Joseph

-

Dec 23, 2015

Yesterday, we saw a new render of the Xiaomi Mi 5 flagship, with an oblong shaped home button. It was much wider than the buttons seen on initial renders. Now, it looks like the render could be the final design as a number of patent documents leaked earlier today come with a similar design. Further, we have seen a couple of real life images of the device with such a design.

First off, the patent docs reveal the overall design of the Mi 5 flagship. There seems to be a lot of similarity between the Mi Note series and Mi 5 flagship. The bezels on the sides are pretty thin, which is definitely a good sign. At the bottom, there’s the USB Type-C port along with dual speaker grills beside the port. Like previous rumors states, the phone looks to be made out of a metal body. Also, the overall body seems to be pretty thin as well. From the image above, it looks like the Mi 5 will have a curved back.

We have also got a couple of real life images of the Mi 5 flagship with the same design. So, could this be what the Mi 5 will end up looking?

Yesterday’s leak said that the fingerprint sensor on the Mi 5 will be the world’s smallest and fastest fingerprint ID. Well, whether this turns out to be true can be confirmed only after a couple of weeks.

As we near the launch of the new flagship smartphone from Xiaomi, more and more details are coming out about the device. The patent documents, as well as the real life images of the device, make this leak quite convincing. However, this could be an early prototype, and we can’t really confirm the design, at least not at the moment.

[socialpoll id=”2318746″]

EXCLUSIVE: Samsung Galaxy S7 & S7 Plus Cases Leaked

By

Joel Joseph

-

Dec 23, 2015

We all know that we will soon see the awaited Samsung Galaxy S7 flagship. Next year, it is said that the South Korean giant will announce another variant of the S7 called as the S7 Plus in addition to the Galaxy S7 edge. We have already seen some leaked renders of the device, but now, our sources have given us exclusive pictures of the first Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Plus cases.

These cases confirm the renders that we had seen a few days back, with a rectangular home button, raised rear camera sensor and a similar design to the current generation Galaxy S6. The volume rocker keys are located on the left while the power button is on the right. Most of the ports are located at the bottom, including the MicroUSB (can’t say its a USB Type-C) port, 3.5mm headphone jack and there’s a speaker grill as well.

On the other hand, the Samsung Galaxy S7 Plus comes with a larger display, and it’s much wider as well. But the basic design remains the same as the S7.

Although our sources have not given us exact measurements of the device, earlier leaks have pointed out that the phone will be quite large, with 163.32 x 82.01 x 7.82mm measurements. This looks to be the case, as these renders reveal that the S7 Plus variant is going to be huge, probably with a 6-inch display.

While we have not yet seen renders for the Galaxy S7 edge variant, our sources have said that there will be three models including a curved edge variant. So, in all, coming February, we will meet three new Galaxy models, the Samsung Galaxy S7, S7 Plus and the S7 Edge. Unfortunately, we still don’t know whether these models feature a MicroSD card slot.

As for the chipset inside, it is said that the S7 series will feature a variant that uses the latest Qualcomm flagship, the Snapdragon 820. The other variant will run on the Exynos 8890 chip.

This is all we have on the Galaxy S7 series at the moment. Let us know whether you like the design on the Galaxy S7 and the S7 Plus.

Oukitel K6000 CM12.1 Rom available to download

By

shanos

-

Dec 23, 2015

Oukitel K6000 CM12.1

With Christmas nearly upon us, Oukitel have today sent over another Christmas gift for owners of their K6000 handset, the gift is a that of a Cyanogen mod Oukitel K6000 CM12.1

I am currently downloading the Oukitel K6000 CM12.1 rom and will get it installed as soon as possible to provide an over view of whats working and whats not.

But for now its nice to know that Oukitel are thinking about us over the festive season.

Please leave comments and questions below, if you have a chance to test the Oukitel K6000 CM12.1 rom it would be great to hear your views.

Regards and merry Christmas

Shane

If you fancy trying out Cm12.1 on the big battery phone, you can purchase the Oukitel K6000 here

Original article posted on Gadgetz.tv

Another Xiaomi Mi 5 Render Emerge, This Time With A Weird Looking Home Button

By

Joel Joseph

-

Dec 23, 2015

As 2015 comes to an end, Xiaomi fans are getting excited. Sometime early next year, probably as soon as January, Xiaomi is expected to unveil its newest flagship smartphone, Xiaomi Mi 5 more than a year after the release of its last model, the Mi 4. Much to the fan’s delight, we have seen many renders of the Xiaomi Mi 5 till now, and today, we can add one more to the list.

Earlier today, a couple of images of the Xiaomi Mi 5 surfaced on the Micro-blogging website, Weibo. Like one of the earlier leaked render, this set of images showed that the Mi 5 will probably end up looking like its brother, the Mi Note. In fact, from the image, we can say that the phone is just a smaller version of the Note series models which were launched back in January.

One of the highlights of the render is the home button below the display. Its not square or even perfect oval, rather a oblong shaped button, unlike anything we have seen before. Not really, the prettiest looking button that we have seen on a phone. However, it is said that the fingerprint sensor on the button is “The Worlds Smallest and Fastest Fingerprint Identification”.

Well, given the striking resemblance to the Mi Note series and the shape of the button, we don’t think its anywhere close to what the Mi 5 will end up looking. Further, there’s still a few weeks until we can confirm the design. So, we can expect more such renders to come up online before the launch.

As for the Xiaomi Mi 5 specs, you can expect the phone to feature Snapdragon 820 quad-core chipset with 4GB RAM, 32GB storage, 16MP rear camera and a large battery.

So, what do you think about this design? Also, you can check out this article to take a look at all the Xiaomi Mi 5 renders that we have seen recently.

Blackview R7 2016 Flagship Will Feature Helio P10 Chip, 4GB RAM & A Large Battery

By

Joel Joseph

-

Dec 23, 2015

In the past one year, we have seen some great smartphones from the manufacturer, Blackview. Now, the company has revealed its plans for 2016 and one of the first flagship devices of next year will be the Blackview R7. This is an important product for the company and hence, the company has made sure that the phone comes with pretty good specifications to justify its “2016 flagship” name tag.

The Blackview R7 comes with the powerful yet efficient Helio P10 MT6755 chipset. The P series Helio chips focus on performance and efficiency. So, the Helio P10 is expected to be mid-range flagship chip with eight Cortex A53 cores clocked at 2GHz. This will ensure pretty good performance without sacrificing on battery life.

There will reportedly be 4GB of RAM on board the device, which is at par with what most flagships offer. As for storage, you will get 32GB internal with an option to upgrade it via MicroSD up to 128GB. The display will be of standard flagship size, measuring 5.5-inches with FHD 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution. On top, you will have 2.5D curved glass.

Given the flagship status, the Blackview R7 comes with the Samsung 3M2 13MP sensor at the back with fast focus times of up to 0.3 seconds. Up front, there will be the OV5648 5MP sensor which will enable users to take good selfies. The phone reportedly comes with improved camera tech such as a perfect SWDR (smart wide dynamic range), great SNR (signal to noise ratio) which will help the user take better low light images as well.

The phone supports 4G LTE networks, but we are not yet sure whether it’s a dual SIM dual standby phone. As for software, the Blackview R7 will feature the latest version of Android on board, the Android 6.0 Marshmallow. The R7 is said to have Hi-Fi sound effect, but it’s yet to be confirmed whether they have incorporated a Hi-Fi chip. You get a powerful 360-degree fingerprint sensor on the back as well.

To power all these specs, the company has added a large 3500mAh battery inside, which will make sure that the phone runs for at least a day. Moreover, it supports fast charging at 9V 2.5A which means 5 minutes of charging will give you around 90 minutes of talk time.

Even the looks of the phone are impressive, with a metal frame that goes through 169 processes including 8 CNC machining, micron-sized sand blasting and anti-fingerprint coating. We can see that the phone will be available in at least one color, i.e. Gold.

Overall, the Blackview R7 looks like a great smartphone. We would really like to see the company price the device aggressively. But for now, we have no details on the pricing. We will keep you guys updated with more information in the coming days.

Meanwhile, let us know whether you like the upcoming flagship from Blackview.

Here is the the Blackview BV2000s

Mediatek’s Helio X20 MT6797 Spotted On GeekBench, Multi-Core Performance Out Of the World

By

Joel Joseph

-

Dec 22, 2015

Although Mediatek was one of the first chip makers to announce its latest chip for 2016, the company hasn’t debuted it’s Helio X20 MT6797 deca-core chip on a smartphone yet. We know that the chip will feature 10-cores, of which two are Cortex A72 for high-end performance, four Cortex A53 cores clocked at 2.0 GHz for performance and efficiency and the remaining four Cortex A53 cores clocked at 1.4GHz for low-end tasks.

In the past few weeks, we had the opportunity to see the benchmark scores of the rival chips like Snapdragon 820 and Huawei Kirin 950. But things have been relatively quite about the Helio X20, until now.

Earlier today, a device powered by the chip was spotted on the benchmarking website, Geekbench revealing the true power of its deca-core setup. We haven’t seen the chip in action lately, hence, we were left to wonder about its capability.

According to the benchmarking website, the MT6797 chip reportedly scores over 7000 points on the multi-core test, which is one of the highest scores we have seen from a smartphone chipset. Looks like the deca-core setup really enhances the performance of the chip. In the single core test, however, things were quite normal, scoring about 2100 points. This is comparable and even a bit less than the scores posted by other chipsets.

Helio X20 vs Snapdragon 820 vs Kirin 950 vs Apple A9: Geekbench Scores

Since we now have the geekbench scores for all the four chipsets, its time to compare them to see which one comes out on top.

In the multi-core test, there’s really no comparison, with the Helio X20’s amazing score of 7000 points. Here are the scores of the other three chips in the multi-core tests.

Kirin 950: 6245

Snapdragon 820 (developer unit): 5400

Apple A9: 4578

On the other hand, the Apple A9 comes on top, in the single core test, with a score of 2576. The following are the scores posted by other chips in descending order.

Snapdragon 820: 2320

Helio X20: 2103

Kirin 950: 1871

From today’s benchmark visit, it looks like Helio X20 will be a powerful chip, at least on paper. However, these benchmarks only show us one aspect of the chipset and there are many other factors to consider before making conclusions. For example, we will have to see whether the chip overheats or whether its as effficients as rivals.

According to a company official, Helio X20 will enter mass production in the second quarter of 2016. We can expect leading Chinese manufacturers such as Xiaomi and Meizu to unveil a Helio X20 powered smartphone by that time.

Vivo Could Be The First Chinese Manufacturer To Use Snapdragon 652

By

Joel Joseph

-

Dec 22, 2015

After months of waiting, Vivo finally announced the Vivo X6 last month. But even before the phone’s release, we have been hearing rumors about the Vivo Xshot 3, the next generation version in the popular Xshot series. Now, we might have got some idea what chip to expect in this upcoming smartphone.

According to insider news sources, Vivo will be one of the first manufacturers that will use the rebranded Snapdragon 652 aka Snapdragon 620. We have seen reports which state that Samsung’s Galaxy A9 will probably be the first smartphone to feature this chip, however, when it comes to domestic manufacturers, Vivo should be the first one.

If that’s the case, then what better smartphone to debut this chip other than the Vivo XShot 3. We have been waiting for this particular flagship for quite some time now. Plus, Snapdragon 652 with Cortex A72 cores is expected to be as powerful as the Snapdragon 810 but without any heating issues. As a result, the Xshot 3 could turn out to be the perfect phone to feature this new chip.

We have already seen some alleged pictures of the XShot 3 a month back. The phone looked big, with a display around 6-inches and a basic design as the Vivo X6. Also, at the back, it had a fingerprint sensor like the X6. Given that the XShot series is known for its powerful camera, we can expect something great to adorn the back of the phone.

Vivo is yet to officially confirm any of this information, so we better wait for some more details before getting too excited.

Get $7 Off 1byone Shiny Antenna Super Thin Amplified HDTV Antenna

By

Linus

-

Dec 22, 2015

We probably all have TVs and a lot of us enjoy watching Full-HD content. However, it is not always possible to have the best signal reception if you live a bit farther from the TV tower… Of course, this applies only to those who rely on antennas to get the TV signal. 1byone has one of their best sellers on Amazon on sale, so you may want to keep reading.

The 1byone antenna has a powerful amplifier that boosts the signal up to 50 miles and that is one of the most powerful antennas on the market. In addition, the amplifier part is removable, if needed.

In addition, it comes with a 20-foot coaxial cable for greater flexibility. Thus, it makes it easier for you to place it in your house to get the best reception, especially for customers whose TVs are quite far away from windows.

The antenna is also flexible, so it gives you more freedom for mounting either on the walls, windows or other areas.

Thanks to the Blackview official for sending Blackview BV2000 for a review.

Blackview BV2000: VIDEO REVIEW

Blackview BV2000: UNBOXING

The phone comes with just a power plug and the USB cable.

Blackview BV2000: DESIGN

The device is very compact as it has a 5” display and the phone is made of plastic. My review unit comes in pink colour but it has a lot more other colour options.

On the front top there is a 5MP snapper along with other usual stuff. On the bottom you can find a physical home button and nicely backlit capacitive keys.

On the back you can find an 8MP shooter with dual LED flash and the speaker grill.

The buttons are located on the right side and they have a great tactile feedback.

Under the hood, there is a removable 2400mAh battery, two SIM card slots and the microSD card slot.

Overall, the phone is well built and I have no complaints at all.

Blackview BV2000: DISPLAY

The Blackview BV2000 has a 5” 720p panel, which is pretty sharp, it has decent colour reproduction and it is a good display overall for such a cheap phone.

Blackview BV2000: UI

The phone runs on Android 5.1 with the Blackview’s skin on top of it, which removes the app tray without any reason but it adds a lot of customisation options and other features for a budget phone.

You can customise the device using the dedicated theme store, change wallpapers, adjust launcher settings and so on.

As far as extra features go, you have some typical gesture and motion controls. They all work okay and gesture recognition is pretty accurate. However, I found them to be kind of slow to work.

Blackview BV2000: HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE

The Blackview BV2000 is not going to be your next powerhouse device. It has an MTK6735 64bit Quad Core 1.0GHz CPU, 1GB of RAM and just 8GB of expandable storage.

The 3D gaming experience is kind of terrible. There is a lot of stutter and lag, and basically this phone is not the best choice for the hardcore gamers out there.

Blackview BV2000: CAMERA and IMAGE QUALITY

As far as camera, the 8MP shooter does not impress. Even the daylight shots don’t look good. There is a low amount of details, there are focusing issues and the images look terrible.

The low-light shots…. They do not impress either as the images lack in every aspect you can imagine.

Same can be said with the 720p video quality.

Blackview BV2000: MULTIMEDIA

Consuming HD content is an okay experience as the playback is smooth. However, the sound that is coming out of the rear mounted speaker is kind of tinny. Well, this is what you should expect from such a cheap phone.

Blackview BV2000: CONNECTIVITY

As far as connectivity, everything is working fine as I had no issues with the Wifi, GPS, Bluetooth, call quality or signal reception.

Blackview BV2000: BATTERY LIFE

When it comes to the battery life, it is good but not great. The 2400mAh unit can last you a full day of usage but it will give you only around 3 hours of screen-on time.

Blackview BV2000: CONCLUSIONS

The Blackview BV2000 is indeed a cheap phone and you can get it for around $70. It has a decent design and good build quality and a pretty good display for such a low price.

However, the UI performance needs some polishing as it is not smooth all the time. Also, this phone is definitely not for gamers out there as the most graphically intensive games have a lot of lag.

In addition, the camera is kind of disappointment and the battery life could be a little bit better.

If you are looking for ultra portable yet powerful, rugged and waterproof Bluetooth speaker, 1byone speaker is one of the solutions worth checking out. Find out more in our full review.

1byone Outdoor Sports & Shower Bluetooth Speaker Review: VIDEO REVIEW

1byone Outdoor Sports & Shower Bluetooth Speaker Review: UNBOXING

The device comes with a carbine, micro USB cable and instruction manuals.

1byone Outdoor Sports & Shower Bluetooth Speaker Review: DESIGN

As far as design, the 1byone Bluetooth speaker is very compact and it fits in the palm of your hand. It is well made and it uses rubber and metal in its construction.

On the right there are a bunch of buttons, which include answer calls, mode switch, skip tracks, play/pause and power/off buttons.

On the bottom there are micro USB port as well as microSD card slot. They are covered by a flap, which is, however, very hard close to get a perfect seal. However, I was told that this is only my review unit, which is of an early production nature.

Overall, I love the build quality, the choice of materials and the portability of this Bluetooth speaker.

1byone Outdoor Sports & Shower Bluetooth Speaker Review: SOUND QUALITY

When it comes to the sound, the speaker is very loud for the size. Also, it has a great amount of depth and punchy bass for a tiny speaker. However, make sure you don’t pump up the bass on your phone’s player as you will start hearing crackling noises at the highest volume settings.

1byone Outdoor Sports & Shower Bluetooth Speaker Review: TEST NOTES

The 1byone speaker has the hands-free feature and it works really well. The people on the other end were able to recognize the sound difference if we compare it to the phone’s mic but they were absolutely satisfied with the call quality.

As far as the Bluetooth range, I had no issues neither indoors nor outdoors.

When it comes to the battery life, I could get around 6 hours of music playback, which is pretty good for a speaker of this size.

As far as the music via the microSD card, it works flawlessly.

1byone Outdoor Sports & Shower Bluetooth Speaker Review: CONCLUSIONS

The 1byone outdoor Bluetooth speaker is a pretty good offering overall. It has a great design and build, and portability. Also, the sound quality and the volume output are pretty good.

However, the flap that covers the connectivity ports is kind of hard to close at least on my review unit and I hope that retail units don’t have the same issue.

In addition, although the sound quality is good for the size of the speaker, you may hear some crackling noises at the highest volume settings.

All in all, the 1byone Bluetooth speaker has a lot to offer for the price of $36 and it is a great device overall. However, you have to consider a few minor flaws.

All design pictures:

Elephone have launched a P9000 crowd funding page for the Elephone P9000/ P9000 Lite

Oukitel K6000 CM12.1

Helio X20 vs Snapdragon 820 vs Kirin 950 vs Apple A9: Geekbench Scores

The 1byone antenna has a powerful amplifier that boosts the signal up to 50 miles and that is one of the most powerful antennas on the market. In addition, the amplifier part is removable, if needed.

In addition, it comes with a 20-foot coaxial cable for greater flexibility. Thus, it makes it easier for you to place it in your house to get the best reception, especially for customers whose TVs are quite far away from windows.

The antenna is also flexible, so it gives you more freedom for mounting either on the walls, windows or other areas.

Currently, 1byone has a a deal on this antenna and you can get it with a $7 discount.

Deal summary:

Start Date: 2015.11.21 3:00am

End Date: 2015.12.27 11:59pm

Coupon Code OXQRGXZX

Final price: 22.99