Vivo Could Be The First Chinese Manufacturer To Use Snapdragon 652

By

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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.

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

Buy 1byone Shiny Antenna Super Thin Amplified HDTV Antenna

Cubot S550 Coming Soon with MT6735 & 2GB RAM

By

Joel Joseph

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Dec 22, 2015

Cubot has stepped up its game recently releasing some beautiful looking smartphones in the past few months. Now, the company is all set to release another device, with a good looking design called as the Cubot S550. The phone features thin design with slim bezels. The large front features 2.5D curved glass. The exterior is polished looking, thanks to CNC machining.

The Cubot S550 comes with MT6735 quad-core processor with 2GB RAM and 16GB of ROM. The storage is further expandable via MicroSD slot. There’s a large 5.5-inch 720p display which translates into a decent pixel density of 320 ppi. At the back there is a 13MP camera sensor with LED flash, while up front, there’s an 8MP shooter. Both these cameras are interpolated. You will also find a fingerprint sensor at the back.

As for the software, the phone comes with Android 5.1 Lollipop OS out of the box. There’s a large 3000mAh battery on board, which is quite enough for a day’s long of usage. Its also good to see that the company managed to put in such a large battery inside a 7mm thin body. The phone supports 4G LTE networks and supports dual SIM dual standby.

Overall, the phone looks like a great addition to the existing lineup of cheap good looking smartphones from the company. We still don’t know the pricing or release details of the device, but we will keep you guys updated with that information in the coming days.

You can keep yourself updated with news about Cubot from their official facebook page.

ZOPO’s Deca-Core Smartphone In The Works, Will Release Early Next Year

By

Joel Joseph

-

Dec 22, 2015

We have been hearing about the deca-core ZOPO smartphone for the past few months. After the initial exciting period, things slowed down for the company and we haven’t heard much about the device. However, yesterday the company revealed some information about the development of the deca-core phone.

ZOPO revealed in a company blog post that it takes a lot of time and efforts to design a remarkable phone. In fact, the company has been investing a lot of time into the phone’s design. In the blog post, ZOPO revealed a number of prototype designs that were rejected by the company till date. You can check out these dummies in the pictures above. So, we now know that the phone won’t look like this. However, what it will end up looking is something that we don’t know for now.

As for the release, ZOPO says that the deca-core phone should be announced sometime early 2016. So, we can expect the phone to be launched around Q1-Q2 2016. Lets hope that the company sticks to the schedule as we are all excited to see a 10-core smartphone.

Ulefone Offers USD149 Be Touch 3 for Christmas Deals

By

Shine Wong

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Dec 21, 2015

With Christmas getting closer, Ulefone will launch a series of deals to promote their products, the first of which is Ulefone Be Touch 3 for minimum price of USD149, compared with the original price of USD199.99.

As the third model in Ulefone’s “Touch ID flagship” series, the device has adopted their component supplier’s latest generation of fingerprint scanner, promising faster recognition by partition process. Other specs include MTK6753 Octa-core 64-bit chipset, 5.5-inch Full HD display, Sony IMX214 13MP camera, 3GB RAM, 16GB expandable storage, 2550mAh battery.

In addition, Ulefone plans to offer a special version of light ROM next week where only some indespensible apps will be kept. The version is expected to improve software smoothness greatly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=978wMO8X0Qs

http://ulefone.com/lp/xmasbetouch3.html

Morefine M1+ Review – World’s Smallest Windows 10 and Android PC for $99!

By

Linus

-

Dec 21, 2015

Do you remember those days when we all had the desktop PC’s and we were okay about its size? It turns out we can now have the full computer in the palm of your hand… and it has Windows 10 and Android for the price of $100. Stay tuned for a full review.

Thanks to Morefine official for sending Morefine M1+ Dual Boot Mini PC for a review.

Morefine M1+ Dual Boot Mini PC Review: VIDEO REVIEW

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SdNzFekuyI[/embedyt]

Morefine M1+ Dual Boot Mini PC Review: UNBOXING

The Morefine M1+ mini PC comes with the power plug, HDMI extension cable and USB OTG cable.

Morefine M1+ Dual Boot Mini PC Review: DESIGN

As far as design, we are looking at a tiny piece of kit which is about double of size of a regular USB flash drive.

The Morefine M1+ is made entirely of plastic and it doesn’t necessarily scream premium but doesn’t feel cheap neither.

On the front we have ventilation grills as the device has a dedicated vent to handle the heat that’s coming out of the chips inside the mini PC. Right next to it there is an LED indicator, which lights up once the device is powered on.

On one side there is a power button, the cutouts for air intake, a power input port and the USB port.

On another side we have one more air intake cutout, micro USB port and the microSD card slot for storage expansion up 128GB.

Morefine M1+ Dual Boot Mini PC Review: SETUP and FEATURES

The setup of the Morefine M1+ is very easy. All you have to have is the monitor with the HDMI port, a keyboard and the mouse.

Firstly, you have to connect the power plug, then you can use the HDMI extension cable optionally or just plug in the mini PC to the monitor as it is.

Secondly, you should connect the mouse either via the USB port or via the Bluetooth if you have a Bluetooth mouse. Finally, do the same with a keyboard, hit the power button and you are good to go. See the video review for more detailed instructions.

One of the key features is that this mini PC has two operating systems – fully licensed Windows 10 and Android 4.4, and you can choose either of them once the PC is booting up.

Morefine M1+ Dual Boot Mini PC Review: HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE

The Morefine M1+ mini PC has a Quad Core Intel Bay Trail-T Z3735F chip with the clock speeds of up to 1.3GHz, 2GB of RAM and 32GB of expandable storage.

As far as Windows 10 performance, you can’t expect to play the high-end games on it but the Morefine mini PC is definitely enough for Internet browsing, editing documents, watching movies and any other daily tasks. The performance was smooth and I didn’t have any hiccups or lags. Well, maybe the internal flash storage is not that fast but, you know, I am used to using a very fast SSD disk on my daily laptop.

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As far as Android user experience, we have the outdated 4.4 version and hopefully we will see an update in the future.

Basically, what you are getting is a stock Android designed for tablets. Everything is running super fast and fluid, and it is kind of cool to see Android on a big screen. A great thing is that you can control a lot of things using a keyboard too.

A tried playing Asphalt 8 on it and it was a fun experience. The graphics actually look pretty good and honestly, it is much more fun playing this game using a keyboard. Most importantly, the gaming performance was good with just a few minor skipped frames.

A really cool feature is that you can easily switch from Android to Windows with a simple click.

Overall, the user experience on both Windows and Android platforms is mostly positive but if you asked me which operating system is faster, I would say Android as it just flies through everything given the nearly stock build and powerful hardware.

Morefine M1+ Dual Boot Mini PC Review: CONNECTIVITY

When it comes to connectivity, the dual-band Wifi worked great although the range was a bit worse than on the iPad but I cannot say it was poor. As far as Bluetooth, it worked absolutely fine with a few different keyboards and the mouse I tested with.

Morefine M1+ Dual Boot Mini PC Review: CONCLUSIONS

All in all, the Morefine M1+ dual boot mini PC is a great idea and it is mostly well implemented.

I love the fact that it can actually replace your laptop and a tablet and all you need to have is the monitor, keyboard and the mouse.

I was happy with the overall performance of it and the fact that you can easily switch between two operating systems. Also, the microSD card slot lets you expand the storage up to 128GB and you can also use the USB port for addition storage or accessories, if needed.

However, I was disappointed that the device ships with the outdated Android 4.4 as we always want the newest version of Android.

Also, the mini PC is pretty loud as the embedded ventilator is constantly working. Well, it is not as loud as the full-fledged desktop PC but it could definitely be more silent.

All in all, the Morefine M1+ is worth the price of $100 considering the feature-rich and versatile package you are getting. However, you should take a few shortcomings into consideration before making a purchase.

Buy Morefine M1+ Dual Boot Mini PC

Zeblaze Cosmo Details made official : Uses MT2502C Chip

By

Frank Tu

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Dec 21, 2015

Chinese smartwatches are all the rage right now. With all the features they offer for a very affordable price, and the large selection of designs to choose from. It’s an overall very good market. However, it’s been very stale when it came to the processor these smartwatches from various manufacturers. Almost all of them use the MediaTek MT2502A chip in their watches.

Their design might vary, and the user might get a lot of options to choose from, but the performance side of things has not improved in any manner whatsoever. Zeblaze, a very well known smartwatch manufacturer wants to change that with their upcoming smartwatch, the Zeblaze Cosmo.

Zeblaze is still using the industry-standard MT2502 platform, but, is using an improved version of the MT2502A, the MT2502C. The new MT2502C has improved performance and power effiency making it a suitable upgrade.

Zeblaze also released a few details about the manufacturing process of the Zeblaze Cosmo. The device is made out the 316L grade Aluminum, combined with an Anti-Rust element. The new Aluminum takes 42 stages of CNC machining to make the completed product from raw materials.

There is no word on what the Zeblaze Cosmo’s price will be just yet. Stay tuned to GizmoChina for more details.

Meizu sold over 20 Million Smartphones In 2015, Growth Rate Impressive!

By

Joel Joseph

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Dec 21, 2015

Compared to rivals like Xiaomi and Huawei, we can say that Meizu was late to enter and make a mark in the smartphone industry. This is clearly evident from the fact that the company managed to sell only about 4.40 million units in 2014, as compared to rivals, who easily sold in double figures.

However, that doesn’t mean we can rule out Meizu from the competition as the company has shown tremendous promise this year. Since the launch of the low cost yet attractive Blue Charm series, the company’s sales have been growing pretty well.

Now, Meizu revealed in an event that the cumulative smartphone sales of the company has surpassed 20 million units in 2015. This is a 350% increase in sales year over year, which shows that the company has done well in the past 12 month period.

Given such a growth in the sales in just a year, we would be thinking Meizu has big targets for 2016. However, that’s not the case, as Li Nan, Meizu’s VP has revealed that the company will control the sales next year and it should exceed around 25 million units.

While this is a surprising strategy from the company, it makes sense to some extent. The company is still tiny as compared to giants such as Samsung and Apple. So, if they try to get into the rat race of sales numbers, they will most likely lose the product quality. But they cannot afford to lose that since Meizu is often considered as an affordable yet quality smartphone maker. So, if they manage to limit the sales to 25 million units next year, it would be easier for them to focus on the quality of the smartphones produced next year.

Of the expected sales next year, the ratio of Meizu MX series to Blue Charm series should be 3:7. This means that, about 30% of the 25 million units sold is expected to be an MX series phone and the rest 70% to be a Blue Charm device.

What do you think about Meizu’s strategy to control the amount of sales in 2016?

Meizu To Release A New Phone In April 2016, Will It Be The Pro 5 Mini?

By

Joel Joseph

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Dec 20, 2015

We have been hearing rumors about a small sized smartphone in the Meizu’s Pro series. The phone is said to come with the powerful deca-core Helio x20 chipset. Now, it looks like we might have an approximate release time for the device.

According to a leaked picture taken during a PPT presentation at the China Mobile’s conference, Meizu will release a new smartphone in April next year. The picture also shows that the pricing of the device is expected to be between 1500-3000 Yuan i.e. between $231 and $463. While, the presentation failed to mention the name or model of the device, it’s quite likely that this is the Meizu Pro 5 Mini handset.

A few weeks back, Meizu VP, Li Nan had revealed that they are considering the launch of a new device with a 4.7-inch screen under the Pro series lineup. The device was said to launch in the first half of 2016 with a pricing of around 2499 Yuan. Considering the details revealed today, we feel this phone could launch sometime in April.

According to rumors, the Meizu Pro 5 Mini smartphone will come with a 4.7-inch FHD 1080p display with Helio x20 deca-core chip on board. The phone have a 16MP rear camera and 3GB of RAM. The phone is said to follow an all metal design scheme with fingerprint sensor as well. So, it looks like, the phone going to be very powerful for a device with the “Mini” tag. Except for the display, rest of the specs are going to be pretty high-end.

For now, this is all we have on the Meizu Pro 5 Mini handset. Stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks.

Is OnePlus Merging With OPPO?

By

Joel Joseph

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Dec 20, 2015

UPDATE: OnePlus has revealed in an official statement that they have no plans to merge with OPPO. The company said that OPPO and OnePlus have no relationship and will not become a sub-brand of the company.

However, the company did say that they will be cutting short the R&D personnel in China.

Although OnePlus is doing well in the international market, it’s not as popular in the home country of China. Thanks to a number of competitors in the domestic market, the company looks to be struggling there. As a result, there are reports that OnePlus is merging with OPPO.

The reports have surfaced as a result of a recent change of the official corporate name of OPPO. The new name contains the word OPPO and Plus, which many users think is because the two companies have merged together. Since OnePlus hasn’t been doing so well in China, many believe that the two smartphone companies, who have long been rumored to be related, have merged together. In this regard, it is even said that the HydrogenOS of OnePlus will be cut off.

Anyways, we are not quite sure just by a name change, we can say that both the companies are merging together. They may have a common investor, but things may not be that bad for OnePlus to initiate a merger.

Let’s wait for an official statement from the company to clear things out.

Letv Le 1s Review – Le Superphone or Not?

By

Linus

-

Dec 20, 2015

Letv is a new player to the smartphone game but it has already proven that it can make some great phones. This time around we have the Le 1s. Find out more in our full review.

Thanks to Giztop for sending Letv Le 1s for a review.

Buy Letv Le 1s from Giztop

Letv Le 1s Review: VIDEO REVIEW

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

Letv Le 1s CAMERA Review (in-depth):

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TFKWoZb4wM[/embedyt]

Letv Le 1s Review: UNBOXING

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Gone are the days of premium looking packaging that came with previous Letv devices and this time we have a more simple and cheaper looking box. The contents include the instruction manuals, power plug, which has some fast charging capabilities, USB Type -C cable and the SIM ejector pin.

Letv Le 1s Review: SPECS

Display	5.5″ 1080p (Full-HD)
Processor	Mediatek MT6795T Helio X10, 64-bit, octa-core (up to 2.2GHz)
RAM	3GB
Camera	5MP Front/13MP Back, PDAF
Connectivity	Bluetooth, 3G, 4G, GPS, WIFI, GSM,EDGE, GPRS, UMTS, HSPA, HSPA+, dual-SIM.
Battery	3.000 mAh (non-removable)
Dimensions	151.1 x 74.2 x 7.5 mm / 169g
OS	eUI 5.5 (based on Android 5.0.2)
Storage	32GB (non-expandable)

Letv Le 1s Review: DESIGN

When it comes to the design, Letv used some premium materials in its budget phone. The Le 1s is made almost entirely of metal (except for the top and bottom parts on the back for antennas) and it definitely feels premium in the hand.

On the front we have a borderless (not bezel less) 5.5” display, which by itself makes the device huge.

The top side is where you can find a 5MP selfie shooter, notification LED light and other usual stuff. On the bottom there are 3 nicely backlit capacitive keys we’ve already seen on previous Letv phones.

As far as optics, we have a 13MP camera, with the support of 4K video recording and single LED flash.

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Just below the shooter there is fingerprint scanner. I have to say that it is very easy to setup, fast and accurate to use.

We have the usual control buttons on the right, which are also made of metal and are very clicky.

On the left, there is a dual SIM card slot.

The top side is where you can find a headset jack and the IR blaster and on the bottom you can find a mic, USB type-C port and the speaker grill.

Overall, the phone definitely looks and feels great. All-metal build adds a lot of premium properties but if we compare it with higher-end Le 1 Pro, it is not that precisely made.

I know that I’m being picky again but if you look at the bottom plastic part, it is not perfectly aligned. It is absolutely not a deal breaker and I still say that the Le 1s is is well built and high quality device.

Letv Le 1s Review: DISPLAY

The 5.5” display is brilliant to look at. It is a bit brighter than the one found on the Le 1 and has a slightly better sunlight visibility. Also, the panel has natural looking colours and deep blacks for and LCD display.

Letv Le 1s Review: UI

When it comes to the user interface, we have the LeUI 5, which is built on top of Android 5.0 Lollipop.

My review unit shipped with the unofficial international ROM, which has Google Play and multi-languages pre-installed, the Chinese apps removed but there are quite a few annoying apps that you can’t delete.

It is very easy to flash the original Chinese ROM back and if you want to see how it looks like, please check out the Letv Le 1 Pro review, where the phone runs on the official Chinese ROM:

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PZfjYK91OQ[/embedyt]

LeUI is a highly customised version of Android and it usually runs smoothly without any hiccups or lags.

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There are plenty of customisation options as it has become a standard on the Chinese phones.

Also, there are quite a few similarities with iOS, e.g. if you swipe from the top, you will open only the notification shade.

Pressing a left capacitive key triggers a window where you can access your recent apps or close them, quick settings menu, music player, shortcuts to some apps and so on.

All in all, LeUI is very fast and clean looking user interface with some great features and customisation options.

However, I’ve tried both official Chinese ROM (the only official version currently available) and this unofficial ROM. I have to say that you should stick with the official one.

The unofficial ROM is slower, it does not support OTA updates but most importantly it has some really annoying apps that you can’t simply delete like battery boosters, cleaners and so on, which simply slow your phone down.

Letv Le 1s Review: BENCHMARKS

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Letv Le 1s Review: HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE

Letv Le 1s has a really good specs sheet for the price. It has a Mediatek Helio X10 chip, 3GB of RAM and 32GB of non-expandable storage.

3D games work absolutely fine, there are no hiccups and the phone doesn’t heat up to uncomfortable levels.

Letv Le 1s Review: MULTIMEDIA

As far multimedia consumption, the Letv Le 1s is just a fantastic budget device. Besides having a gorgeous display, the phone has a decent loudspeaker and the sound via earphones is definitely one of the better ones in this price range.

Letv Le 1s Review: CAMERA

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When it comes to the camera app, we have the same app we’ve already seen on other Letv phones. It is fast and responsive and it is very easy to use.

Letv Le 1s Review: IMAGE QUALITY

Letv Le 1s CAMERA Review (in-depth):

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TFKWoZb4wM[/embedyt]

The 13MP camera is capable of producing some pretty good images in good lighting conditions. They look similar like the ones produced by the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 but I will tell my final opinion only after head-to-head comparison, which is coming soon.

The pictures have a good amount of details and colours look natural most of the times. However, you may get some images with softer details and softer focus on the corners. Also, colour reproduction may be off in some of the shots.

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As usual, the level of details decreases with less lighting but the camera can still produce some nice looking pictures with a decent amount of details but with more noise and less sharpness overall.

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The night shots are not the worst we’ve seen in this price category of phones but they do not impress. The level of details is quite low and there is a lot of noise.

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As far as front facing camera, it is pretty good and you can produce some nice looking selfies and the beauty mode is here to help to get that perfect shot.

When it comes to 1080p video, the quality is mediocre in general but it is pretty good for a budget phone. See the video review for the video sample.

As far as 4K video, I could not play it back on my MacBook despite trying out 5 different players, video converters and so on but it may only my laptops issue, so I will leave download links for 4k video samples down below.

Overall, the Le 1s has one of the better cameras for the price although it is neither the best nor better than its predecessor – Le 1.

Download Letv Le 1 full resolution camera samples

Download 1080p video sample

Download 4k video sample

Letv Le 1s Review: CONNECTIVITY

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

Letv Le 1s Review: BATTERY LIFE

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The 3000mAh battery could perform better. I could get only around 3 hours of screen-on time (SOT) in real life conditions while using the phone mainly for daily tasks. The SOT time is a bit better in the Geekbench 3 battery test, where the phone was able to achieve over 5 hours of SOT with max. auto-brightness and dim screen features off.

A good thing is that the phone supports fast charging feature and will love using it.

Letv Le 1s Review: CONCLUSIONS

So, there you have, the Letv Le 1s. I had really high expectations from this phone and it delivers in a lot of aspects.

The Le 1s has a great design and build quality, awesome display, great and constantly improving software (if you use the official Chinese ROM and install Google Play services manually), fast and accurate fingerprint scanner and good audio quality.

However, while the camera is one of the best in this price category of phones, it feels that there is a slight downgrade in terms of the overall image quality over its predecessor – the Le 1.

While the battery life it is not necessarily bad, the Le 1s will most likely last you a full day on a single charge but not more. Hopefully, this is what the Letv has in the priority list of software updates to improve that.

Finally, the Letv Le 1s is a great phone as it has a lot to offer for the price. However, the battery life could be better given the current state of software and it can’t be overlooked before making a buying decision. Well, unless you don’t mind charging your phone more often.

Buy Letv Le 1s from Giztop

Patented Xiaomi Drone Could Be Controlled Via Its Mi Band Wearable

By

Joel Joseph

-

Dec 18, 2015

We have been hearing rumors about a new Xiaomi drone for the past few months. However, up till now, there haven’t been any concrete leak regarding this product. Now, new patent documents reveal a few details about the company’s drone in development. The patent was filed by the company back in August.

According to the recently published patent documents from the Chinese Intellectual Property Office, the Xiaomi drone in development could be controlled via a wearable. For example, in the images revealed by the office, it looks like the user is able to make gestures to control the various functions of the drone.

The Xiaomi drone could be connected to Xiaomi’s own Mi Band wearable. Once connected, the user can perform simple gestures like a flick of a wrist to control the UAV. For instance, in one of the images, we see that a user riding a bike is performing some gestures to send some command to the drone above. Our guess is that the gesture could be a signal for the drone to hover above the user on the bike and start shooting a video.

It looks like such gestures could really come in handy for adventure enthusiasts. Shooting from a drone opens up new angles and opportunity for such users.

Earlier rumors have said that the drone could be priced at around 999 Yuan ($154). If the Xiaomi drone does feature such gestures, would you be willing to shell out $154 for such a UAV?

Huawei Ships More Than 100 Million Smartphone Units In 2015!

By

Joel Joseph

-

Dec 17, 2015

A few months back, Huawei had revealed that it is ahead on schedule to break the 100 million smartphone shipment record in 2015. Looks like the company was right indeed, as today, Huawei has revealed via its official Weibo account that it has shipped more than 100 million smartphones as of December 18, 2015. This is a new record for the company, who is currently ranked as the third largest smartphone maker on the planet.

The company has upped its game in 2015, releasing new devices every couple of months. This way, the company covered each and every price point, from low-end Honor Play 4C, mid-range Honor 7 to the powerful Huawei Mate 8! Plus, its one of the few Chinese smartphone makers to establish a strong presence in a number of international markets in Asia and Europe.

So, there’s no surprise that the company managed to ship more than 100 million units in 2015. In comparison, Xiaomi, who also had a target of 100 million units, may end up selling only about 73 million units this year.

2016 will be even more interesting for the company as a recent teaser revealed that Huawei will enter the US market with mainstream smartphones, the Honor 5X and the flagship, Huawei Mate 8. Another thing to note here is that a lot of the phones shipped this year, like the Huawei P8 (Kirin 935), Mate S (935) and the Huawei Mate 8 (Kirin 950) are running on the company’s home-grown Kirin chipsets. Next year, we can expect the company to release more devices with its own chip inside.

Only a few smartphone makers have managed to achieve this feat (ship more than 100 mil smartphones in a year), so today, Huawei joins the exclusive club that features companies like Samsung and Apple.

Get $7 Off the 1byone Superspeed Aluminum USB 3.0 4-Port Hub

By

Linus

-

Dec 17, 2015

If you have several USB devices but do not have enough ports on your laptop (which is common nowadays), USB hub is probably the best solution. 1byone is offering some pretty good deals on Amazon, and the USB 3.0 4-port hub is one of them.

We have already reviewed the 7-port USB hub and we were mostly happy about it:

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7izwQ4Z7CA0[/embedyt]

The key aspect that makes this USB stand out from a wide variety of other products is that it is made of metal and it kind of resembles Apple’s design language.

The 1byone USB hub has a fast USB 3.0 interface that is also backwards compatible with older USB devices. In addition, it does not require any installation drivers neither for Windows nor for Mac OS systems.

Usually, the 1byone 4-port USB hub retails for $16.99 but the company has a limited time offer on Amazon and you can grab it for just $9.99, which is a generous $7 off.

Deal summary:

Start Date: 16/12/2015 0:01 AM

End Date: 23/12/2015 11:59 PM

Coupon Code: DACMYB2V

Original price: $16.99 Discounted price: $9.99

Buy 1byone Superspeed Aluminum USB 3.0 4-Port Hub for $9.99 with a COUPON CODE: DACMYB2V

ZTE Axon Max Is A 6-inch Phablet That’s Looks A Lot Like The Mate 8

By

Joel Joseph

-

Dec 17, 2015

ZTE revamped its high-end lineup with the new Axon series. We have already seen two major launches in the series, namely the ZTE Axon / Axon Pro and the ZTE Axon Mini. Now, the company is all set to announce another smartphone in the lineup, this time, a 6-inch giant, which will go by the name ZTE Axon Max.

Although the company is yet to officially announce the device, it already showcased the Axon Max at a China Mobile event earlier this week. Thanks to that, we know how the phone looks and what all specifications it comes with.

Looks wise, ZTE has surprised us all. The ZTE Axon series was actually quite good looking and unique in its own way. However, when it comes to the new smartphone in the lineup, the ZTE Axon Max, the phone seems to be heavily inspired from the Huawei Mate 8, which was just recently announced. The back, with the round camera sensor, looks identical to the Huawei flagship. There are a few subtle differences between the two phones, but it’s not significant enough to differentiate both the devices clearly.

Well, to make things easier for you, here’s an image of the Huawei Mate 8.

See the similarities?

As for the specs, the phone will be a true phablet. It features a 6-inch display with FHD 1080p resolution. Earlier it was said that the Max would feature Snapdragon 810, but the company has decided to go with a slower Snapdragon 615 chip clocked at 1.5GHz. There will be 3GB of RAM on board and 32GB of internal storage.

The cameras are quite powerful. There will be a 16MP sensor at the back with f/1.9 aperture and a front facing 13MP shooter. Given its large size, the company has managed to fit in a 4140mAh battery which also supports QC 2.0 fast charging tech. Like the other Axon series smartphones, the phone will support Hi-Fi audio as well. Other features include fingerprint sensor at the back, voice recognition like the Axon Mini, dual SIM dual standby with 4G support, and MiFavor 3.5 UI based on Android 5.1.

Although pricing is yet to be confirmed, the ZTE Axon Max will most likely retail for 2999 Yuan which comes to around $463.

As for the official release, we expect ZTE to announce the Max at an event that will be held later today. But we already know a lot about the device, so there probably won’t be any surprises at today’s event.

Snapdragon 820 Will End Up In Most High-End Android Smartphones Of 2016

By

Joel Joseph

-

Dec 17, 2015

Everybody knows Qualcomm messed up this year. The Snapdragon 810 was plagued with overheating issues, which is something that no customer is willing to tolerate. As a result, many Snapdragon 810 powered high-end phones released at the start of the year received bad reviews, and the sales were poor. Things were not looking good for the company, with poor revenues and earning falling short of expectations. So, the company had to make sure that its next generation chip had to be without these problems.

It looks like Qualcomm did a fine job with the new quad-core Snapdragon 820 as industry sources reveal that a majority of the high-end smartphones in 2016 are going to be powered by this new chip. The report comes from Digitimes who says that vendors such as Samsung, Sony, HTC, LG and Xiaomi have decided to use Snapdragon 820 inside their high-end flagship smartphones.

The sources further say that Qualcomm has managed to restore confidence among customers as it tackled the overheating issue on the new Snapdragon 820 chip and made it more efficient at the same time. The report adds that there are over 70 models in the works with this chip under the hood.

Samsung and HTC are expected to release the first Snapdragon 820 powered high-end models in the first quarter of 2016. It will be followed by vendors such as LG and Sony, with a release slated for second quarter. While the report says nothing about a release date for Xiaomi, we have heard that it should be after the Spring Festival in China, i.e. after February.

With the kind of scores posted by Snapdragon 820 phones lately, it looks like Qualcomm may once again regain its reputation in the industry next year. Of course, we can expect some small competition from rivals such as Mediatek (remember Helio X20?), but for now, things are looking bright for the company.

What do you think? Will Snapdragon 820 restore Qualcomm’s reputation in the industry as the leading chip maker?

Smartisan T2 Posters Leaked Before Launch, Specs & Design Confirmed

By

Joel Joseph

-

Dec 17, 2015

For the past few weeks, we have been hearing a lot about the next generation flagship from Smartisan, called the Smartisan T2. The phone will be announced on December 29, which is just a week away. Naturally, this means that we will hear a lot about the device in the coming days.

Earlier today, Smartisan T2 flagship posters were leaked on the Chinese social networking website Weibo, confirming the phone’s design. As you can see from the pictures, the design seems to be quite similar to the Smartisan T1 that was launched around March last year. The phone was out of the ordinary at that time, considering it focused on the high-end segment unlike other Chinese competitors.

Looks like the company is following the same tradition here but with cheaper price tag. The phone is said to come with 2.5D curved glass front with three buttons right below the display. The overall body looks quite robust with smooth curved corners, much like its predecessor.

Specs, wise, you can expect the same 5-inch display as the T1 with FHD 1080p display and a new generation of Gorilla Glass protection. The company has reportedly reduced the weight to 146 grams and the overall measurements are said to be as follows: 144.55 x 0.84 x 7.53mm. Unlike earlier rumors which said that we will see the quad-core Snapdragon 820 inside, the phone will most likely feature, the six-core Snapdragon 808 chipset with 3GB RAM.

As for the camera, you can expect a 13MP shooter at the back and a 5MP front-facing one. The battery is said to be of just 2500mAh, which if true will be a bit disappointing. But there’s QC 2.0. While these specs are good, what we are really looking forward to see is the Smartisan OS 2.5 based on Android 5.1.1. The previous generation OS managed to be simple yet attractive, and we hope the company continues with the same philosophy on the version, i.e. the Smartisan OS 2.5.

The first generation Smartisan T2 retailed for around $480, which was a lot to ask for a first-time company from China. However, the new Smartisan T2 is said to be relatively cheap, retailing for a price tag of around 1999 Yuan which comes to just $308.

Well, let’s see what the company has in store for us at the December 29 event. Stay tuned!

Qualcomm Rebrands Its Newly Announced Chips As Snapdragon 650 & 652

By

Joel Joseph

-

Dec 16, 2015

A couple of months back, Qualcomm officially unveiled the Snapdragon 620 and Snapdragon 618 chipsets. Despite coming from the 600 series lineup, both the chips were quite powerful as compared to its earlier releases like Snapdragon 615.

Looks like the company realized that naming these chips as Snapdragon 618 and 620 won’t really differentiate them from the other mid-range chips in the lineup. As a result, Qualcomm has officially rebranded both the chips as Snapdragon 650 (formerly called as Snapdragon 618) and Snapdragon 652 (formerly called as Snapdragon 620).

Here’s the official statement from the company regarding this change. “Because of this, Qualcomm Technologies is making minor adjustments within the product lineup to better reflect the positioning and capabilities of these two processors by renaming the Snapdragon 620 and 618 to the Snapdragon 652 and 650, respectively.”

It’s actually a clever decision by the company. Snapdragon 615 chips are found mostly in mid-range devices, and as compared with chips like the MT6752, it’s not very powerful. Also, the 618 and 620 SoCs are not really successors of this chip, instead, the recently announced Snapdragon 616 can be considered as the true successor. So, it’s always better to differentiate them properly in order to avoid any confusion.

Snapdragon 650 comes with six cores, two Cortex A72, and four Cortex A53 cores. The Snapdragon 652 is even more powerful, featuring four Cortex A72 cores and four Cortex A53 cores. So, it’s really not fair to consider them in the same range as the Snapdragon 616 series. Hence, the rebranding.

What do you think about this move? Do you think rebranding them as 650 series chips will help them = in the long run?

Xiaomi Mi 5 To Be Priced Around 2499 Yuan ($385)?

By

Joel Joseph

-

Dec 16, 2015

Just yesterday, Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun revealed that Xiaomi Mi 5 probably won’t be the first smartphone to feature Snapdragon 820, unlike earlier rumors stated. Now, a new comment from the Chief Engineer of the China Telecom Guangzhou Research Institute reveals a few details about the possible pricing of the upcoming flagship.

Up till now, we have consistently heard that the Xiaomi Mi 5 will probably be priced around 1999 Yuan ($308). But according to Cheng Guifeng, the Chief Engineer of the Institute, Xiaomi will probably price the device somewhere in the 2000-3000 Yuan price segment. The upper limit should be around 3000 Yuan ($460) while the base price should be around 2499 Yuan ($385).

He adds that Xiaomi will look to improve the image of its premium brand in 2016.

Up till now, Xiaomi has been known as an affordable budget smartphone maker. The company has released a lot of devices this year, but mostly below the 1499 yuan ($230) price mark, which means there haven’t been many high-end devices from the company yet. The only models that were released that featured powerful specs were in the newly announced Mi Note lineup, but the sales didn’t impress. This could be because of better looking and high-powered devices from other manufacturers like Samsung, Apple and even Huawei.

Xiaomi is still being considered as a budget smartphone maker, mainly because the company has failed to release a good looking high-end device in the last 12 months. The delay of the Xiaomi Mi 5 doesn’t help this cause as more and more consumers are being lured by other manufacturers like Meizu and Huawei in the high-end segment.

Despite an announcement sometime around early 2016, you may get to see the handset in real life only around Q2 2016. Considering this delay and the possibility that it’s going to be priced around 2499 Yuan ($385), would you purchase the upcoming Xiaomi Mi 5?

This decision boils down to the answer to the follow two questions.

Are you willing to wait till Q2 2016 for your next flagship device?
Considering the powerful specs (Snapdragon 820 + 4GB RAM & more) are you willing to shell out around $400 for a Xiaomi flagship?

There are a lot of Snapdragon 820 phones that are coming in 2016, so it would be interesting to see whether the Mi 5 can take on these devices.

Let me know your answers to the above two questions.

This ASUS Z1 Titan Concept Smartphone Features Snapdragon 830 & Four Front Speakers

By

Joel Joseph

-

Dec 16, 2015

Often the real smartphones that we see in our everyday lives don’t satisfy our want for something new and advanced. Although smartphone technologies are progressing at a pace never seen before, design wise, they have pretty much remained the same. We may have the technology to make an exceptional smartphone, but monetary wise, it won’t be feasible. This is where concept smartphones come into the picture. It shows us a glimpse of what can be the future and often satisfies our desire to see something different.

Earlier today, we came across a concept smartphone designed by Hege, the ASUS Z1 Titan. The phone’s design isn’t drastically different from what we have seen till now, still it’s pretty interesting, especially considering the four speakers that lies right up front. If you are a person who loves gaming or someone who watches a lot of YouTube or movies on your smartphone, these four speakers can come in handy.

The top and the bottom region are slightly curved, which should help in the grip. The presence of a textured material further helps prevent accidental slippage. The overall design looks practical. The alert slider is on the top, volume and power buttons on the left and even a dedicated camera button on the right. Even the side bezels are thin which should reduce the width of the device. However, the top and bottom bezels of the concept are pretty large, and personally, I would have preferred thinner bezels on those regions.

The side bezels are also very thin which should reduce the width of the device. However, the top and bottom bezels of the concept are pretty large, and personally, I would have preferred thinner bezels on those regions.

Specs wise, the designer is expecting the best. This includes Snapdragon 830 chipset inside and 6GB of RAM along with 256GB of internal storage. Well, with this much storage inside, I couldn’t care less about a MicroSD card slot. So, there’s a 5.5-inch display with probably 2K resolution. Although we wouldn’t mind a 4K display, considering the Sony Xperia Z5 already boasts of such high resolution. Plus, there’s a Corning Gorilla Glass 5 display protection, which probably improves the glass strength to a whole new level.

As for the camera, the ASUS Z1 Titan comes with a 16MP rear camera with dual LED flash and a 5MP front-facing shooter with single LED flash. The phone will run on Android N 7.0 (called as the Android Nutella or Nougat?).

The design is not out of the world, which is actually good considering it’s realistic.

So, what do you think about this design? Love it or hate it?

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

Do you remember those days when we all had the desktop PC’s and we were okay about its size? It turns out we can now have the full computer in the palm of your hand… and it has Windows 10 and Android for the price of $100. Stay tuned for a full review.

Morefine M1+ Dual Boot Mini PC Review: VIDEO REVIEW

Morefine M1+ Dual Boot Mini PC Review: UNBOXING

The Morefine M1+ mini PC comes with the power plug, HDMI extension cable and USB OTG cable.

Morefine M1+ Dual Boot Mini PC Review: DESIGN

As far as design, we are looking at a tiny piece of kit which is about double of size of a regular USB flash drive.

The Morefine M1+ is made entirely of plastic and it doesn’t necessarily scream premium but doesn’t feel cheap neither.

On the front we have ventilation grills as the device has a dedicated vent to handle the heat that’s coming out of the chips inside the mini PC. Right next to it there is an LED indicator, which lights up once the device is powered on.

On one side there is a power button, the cutouts for air intake, a power input port and the USB port.

On another side we have one more air intake cutout, micro USB port and the microSD card slot for storage expansion up 128GB.

Morefine M1+ Dual Boot Mini PC Review: SETUP and FEATURES

The setup of the Morefine M1+ is very easy. All you have to have is the monitor with the HDMI port, a keyboard and the mouse.

Firstly, you have to connect the power plug, then you can use the HDMI extension cable optionally or just plug in the mini PC to the monitor as it is.

Secondly, you should connect the mouse either via the USB port or via the Bluetooth if you have a Bluetooth mouse. Finally, do the same with a keyboard, hit the power button and you are good to go. See the video review for more detailed instructions.

One of the key features is that this mini PC has two operating systems – fully licensed Windows 10 and Android 4.4, and you can choose either of them once the PC is booting up.

Morefine M1+ Dual Boot Mini PC Review: HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE

The Morefine M1+ mini PC has a Quad Core Intel Bay Trail-T Z3735F chip with the clock speeds of up to 1.3GHz, 2GB of RAM and 32GB of expandable storage.

As far as Android user experience, we have the outdated 4.4 version and hopefully we will see an update in the future.

Basically, what you are getting is a stock Android designed for tablets. Everything is running super fast and fluid, and it is kind of cool to see Android on a big screen. A great thing is that you can control a lot of things using a keyboard too.

A tried playing Asphalt 8 on it and it was a fun experience. The graphics actually look pretty good and honestly, it is much more fun playing this game using a keyboard. Most importantly, the gaming performance was good with just a few minor skipped frames.

A really cool feature is that you can easily switch from Android to Windows with a simple click.

Overall, the user experience on both Windows and Android platforms is mostly positive but if you asked me which operating system is faster, I would say Android as it just flies through everything given the nearly stock build and powerful hardware.

Morefine M1+ Dual Boot Mini PC Review: CONNECTIVITY

When it comes to connectivity, the dual-band Wifi worked great although the range was a bit worse than on the iPad but I cannot say it was poor. As far as Bluetooth, it worked absolutely fine with a few different keyboards and the mouse I tested with.

Morefine M1+ Dual Boot Mini PC Review: CONCLUSIONS

All in all, the Morefine M1+ dual boot mini PC is a great idea and it is mostly well implemented.

I love the fact that it can actually replace your laptop and a tablet and all you need to have is the monitor, keyboard and the mouse.

I was happy with the overall performance of it and the fact that you can easily switch between two operating systems. Also, the microSD card slot lets you expand the storage up to 128GB and you can also use the USB port for addition storage or accessories, if needed.

However, I was disappointed that the device ships with the outdated Android 4.4 as we always want the newest version of Android.

Also, the mini PC is pretty loud as the embedded ventilator is constantly working. Well, it is not as loud as the full-fledged desktop PC but it could definitely be more silent.

All in all, the Morefine M1+ is worth the price of $100 considering the feature-rich and versatile package you are getting. However, you should take a few shortcomings into consideration before making a purchase.

UPDATE: OnePlus has revealed in an official statement that they have no plans to merge with OPPO. The company said that OPPO and OnePlus have no relationship and will not become a sub-brand of the company.

However, the company did say that they will be cutting short the R&D personnel in China.

Letv is a new player to the smartphone game but it has already proven that it can make some great phones. This time around we have the Le 1s. Find out more in our full review.

Letv Le 1s Review: VIDEO REVIEW

Letv Le 1s CAMERA Review (in-depth):

Letv Le 1s Review: UNBOXING

Gone are the days of premium looking packaging that came with previous Letv devices and this time we have a more simple and cheaper looking box. The contents include the instruction manuals, power plug, which has some fast charging capabilities, USB Type -C cable and the SIM ejector pin.

Letv Le 1s Review: SPECS

Display

5.5″ 1080p (Full-HD)

Processor

Mediatek MT6795T Helio X10, 64-bit, octa-core (up to 2.2GHz)

RAM

3GB

Camera

5MP Front/13MP Back, PDAF

Connectivity

Bluetooth, 3G, 4G, GPS, WIFI, GSM,EDGE, GPRS, UMTS, HSPA, HSPA+, dual-SIM.

Battery

3.000 mAh (non-removable)

Dimensions

151.1 x 74.2 x 7.5 mm / 169g

OS

eUI 5.5 (based on Android 5.0.2)

Storage

32GB (non-expandable)

Letv Le 1s Review: DESIGN

When it comes to the design, Letv used some premium materials in its budget phone. The Le 1s is made almost entirely of metal (except for the top and bottom parts on the back for antennas) and it definitely feels premium in the hand.

On the front we have a borderless (not bezel less) 5.5” display, which by itself makes the device huge.

The top side is where you can find a 5MP selfie shooter, notification LED light and other usual stuff. On the bottom there are 3 nicely backlit capacitive keys we’ve already seen on previous Letv phones.

As far as optics, we have a 13MP camera, with the support of 4K video recording and single LED flash.

Just below the shooter there is fingerprint scanner. I have to say that it is very easy to setup, fast and accurate to use.

We have the usual control buttons on the right, which are also made of metal and are very clicky.

On the left, there is a dual SIM card slot.

The top side is where you can find a headset jack and the IR blaster and on the bottom you can find a mic, USB type-C port and the speaker grill.

Overall, the phone definitely looks and feels great. All-metal build adds a lot of premium properties but if we compare it with higher-end Le 1 Pro, it is not that precisely made.

I know that I’m being picky again but if you look at the bottom plastic part, it is not perfectly aligned. It is absolutely not a deal breaker and I still say that the Le 1s is is well built and high quality device.

Letv Le 1s Review: DISPLAY

The 5.5” display is brilliant to look at. It is a bit brighter than the one found on the Le 1 and has a slightly better sunlight visibility. Also, the panel has natural looking colours and deep blacks for and LCD display.

Letv Le 1s Review: UI