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

By

-

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?

Get $10 OFF TCL M2U Smartphone With MT6752 Chip & 3500mAh Battery

By

Joel Joseph

-

Dec 16, 2015

TCL is a well-known brand around the world. The company has a lot of smartphones under its belt, and its TCL M2U is currently available for purchase for just $149. Instead of the usual price tag of $159, you can purchase this MT6752 powered smartphone for just $149, i.e. $10 OFF the retail price. Just use the coupon TCLM2U during checkout to avail the discount.

The M2U is a good looking smartphone and comes in gold as well. I have added more pictures of the device, down below.

The TCL M2U is a pretty good smartphone for its price. It is powered by the powerful MT6752M 64-bit chip clocked at 1.5GHz with 2GB RAM and 16GB of expandable storage. The phone features a 5.5-inch display with 720p HD resolution. At the back, it comes with a 13MP camera while, up front, you will find an 8MP shooter. One of the highlights of the M2U is its battery on board, which is of 3500mAh capacity. That’s pretty large in comparison to other mid-range smartphones and will easily last you for more than a day. The phone supports 4G LTE networks. Unfortunately, it runs on Android 4.4 KitKat OS out of the box.

Overall a decent phone for just $149!

Check out more details from the link given below.

Buy TCL M2U for $149

1 of 21

Blackview Offering Crazy Discounts For Its Best Sellers This Holiday Season

By

Joel Joseph

-

Dec 15, 2015

Blackview has announced some interesting smartphones in the past few months, in a number of categories like budget, mid-range and even rugged segments.

If you were planning to buy a Blackview device, this might be the right time because, the company in partnership with Everybuying is offering crazy discounts for its best selling products this holiday season. The discounts are only applicable till the 1st of Jan 2016, so make sure you check them out before that.

Blackview Omega Pro

The highlight of this month’s deals is the Blackview Omega Pro smartphone. It comes with MT6753 octa-core chip with 3GB RAM and 16GB of expandable storage. There’s a 5-inch 720p display with Corning Gorilla Glass protection. The rear camera is of 18MP (13MP interpolated) and front camera of 8MP (2MP interpolated). The phone runs on Android 5.1 Lollipop OS and supports dual SIM 4G LTE networks.

The phone is currently available for sale at just $128, down from $139. You can check out more details from the link down below

Buy Blackview Omega Pro for $128

Blackview BV5000

The company’s rugged offering, the Blackview BV5000 is also available at discount this holiday season. The phone comes with a shock proof, waterproof and dustproof body making sure that you don’t have to worry getting the device damaged in your everyday activities. Apart from its rugged features, the phone comes with a decent MT6735 quad-core chipset underneath with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of expandable storage. The company has included a large 5000mAh battery inside, which will easily last you for a couple of days long. As for the display, you get a 5-inch compact screen with 720p resolution. At the back, there’s a 12MP camera (8MP interpolated) and a 5MP shooter up front (2MP interpolated).

Overall a pretty decent rugged smartphone that currently costs just $124. That’s $20 OFF the regular price tag, so this might be a good time to get one for yourself.

Buy Blackview BV5000 for $124

Blackview BV2000

If you are looking for a really cheap 4G LTE smartphone, then you should consider the Blackview BV2000. Despite its super cheap pricing, the phone is built well and looks good as well. Specs wise, it’s pretty good for a $64 device, featuring the 64-bit MT6735 quad-core chip with 1GB RAM, 8GB of expandable storage and a 5-inch 720p display. There is a decent 5MP camera at the back and a 2MP front-facing shooter. As for the battery, it’s of 2400mAh capacity, enough for a day’s usage. The phone is one of the cheapest 4G LTE smartphones around that also runs on Android 5.0 Lollipop version.

Buy Blackview BV2000 for $64

There are deals and discounts offered on other smartphones like Blackview Zeta, Alife P1 etc as well, which you can check out from the retailer’s promotion page.

Also, check out more details on the company’s smartphone lineup from here.

The SmartWatch Zeblaze Cosmo shown in new teasers

By

Frank Tu

-

Dec 15, 2015

Zeblaze want to end the year on a high, or so suggests to us the teasers of its latest wearable, the Zeblaze Cosmo, a SmartWatch with the look of a classic watch but with some other feature that makes it “intelligent” .

Instead of having a round or square screen, the Zeblaze Cosmo has a rectangular panel of 1.61 inches with a resolution of 256 x 320 pixels. In addition to its use is not uncomfortable, the display has a large curvature of 1.4mm and perfectly adapted to the wrist, and best of all is that despite having this way, the screen has a viewing angle 160 degrees.

From the pictures that we took the company has released the Cosmo Zeblaze have a full metal body, a leather strap, and an identical crown of traditional watches button. We assume that the button will be used to move through the menus SmartWatch, although it is noteworthy that this is a mere assumption unconfirmed for now.

The official price and release date have not yet been revealed, but apparently the Zeblaze Cosmo should be available for purchase before the end of the year.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Review – The Best Budget Smartphone. Redefined

By

Linus

-

Dec 15, 2015

It seems that it hasn’t been long since Xiaomi released the Redmi Note 2 and a lot of us thought that it will lead the Note lineup for quite some time. This is what we are used to and this is what the company usually follows. However, Xiaomi decided to pleasantly surprise us by releasing the 3rd generation “budget Note” – the Redmi Note 3. Find out more in our full review.

Thanks to Giztop for sending Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 for a review.

Buy Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 from Giztop

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Review: VIDEO

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaVYx2Iah6k[/embedyt]

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Review: SPECS

Display	5.5″ 1080p (Full-HD)
Processor	Mediatek MT6795 Helio X10, 64-bit, octa-core (up to 2.0GHz)
RAM	2GB/3GB (review unit is a 2GB model)
Camera	5MP Front/13MP Back, PDAF
Connectivity	Bluetooth, 3G, 4G, GPS, WIFI, GSM,EDGE, GPRS, UMTS, HSPA, HSPA+, dual-SIM.
Battery	4.000 mAh (non-removable)
Dimensions	150 x 76 x 8.7 mm (5.91 x 2.99 x 0.34 in) / 164g
OS	MIUI 7 (v. 7.0.16.0) (based on Android 5.0.2)
Storage	16GB – 2GB RAM model (our review unit), 32GB – 3GB RAM model

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Review: UNBOXING

We see a slight change in terms of packaging. We have already got used to seeing the recycled paper boxes that come with Xiaomi phones but this time around the company made a better looking presentation.

The contents that come with the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 include the charging brick, USB cable, documentation and a SIM ejector pin.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Review: DESIGN

It wouldn’t be a Note series if we had a small display. Well, it is not big either as 5.5″ panels have already become a standard. Still, you have to keep in mind that the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 is not the most compact phone.

I would say that the Redmi Note 3 has the most drastic design change in the series. It sports a great build quality and it uses all-metal unibody design, which I personally like. That means that gone are the days of a user-replacable battery and even the microSD card slot. It may be a deal breaker for some, especially for the power users.

On the bright side, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 is the first Xiaomi’s phone ever to sport a fingerprint scanner, which is easy to setup, fast, accurate and works from a standby mode.

On the front we have a 5MP selfie snapper and a customisable LED light. On the bottom, there is a usual set of capacitive buttons, which also have a nice backlight.

When it comes to optics, we have a 13MP camera with dual tone dual LED flash and PDAF system.

The buttons, which are located on the right feel nice and they are made of metal too. On the left we have a dual micro SIM card slot.

1 of 2

Besides the usual ports, it is really cool that Xiaomi adds the IR blaster in their budget phones lineup. The setup of it is pretty straightforward and I was able to control my old LG TV in a few minutes.

Overall, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 looks and feels like a premium handset. It is well constructed, it uses mainly metal in its body and no one would ever tell you this is a cheap phone. I have to say that I love the evolution of cheap devices and the current trend – premium look and feel for a low price.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3: DISPLAY

1 of 1

The 5.5” 1080p panel is brilliant to look at. It is sharp, vivid, it has good viewing angles and you can adjust the colour temperature within the display settings menu.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Review: UI

1 of 10

When it comes to the user interface, we have MIUI 7 out of the box, which is build on Android 5.0.2.

First of all, we are really happy to see a huge improvement over the MIUI 6 in terms of speed, performance, power and RAM management.

Everything is running smoothly with lots of apps running in the background, there are no major hiccups or lag. There have been a few times that apps loaded a bit longer but it hasn’t been much of an issue worth complaining about.

1 of 10

If you are not yet familiar with the MIUI, it has tons of customisation options, which include a wide choice of themes, wallpapers, fonts and so on. Also, you can customise the LED light, assign different tasks to capacitive buttons and so on.

All in all, I have to say that Xiaomi finally got the it right and although the Redmi Note 3 is not yet perfect but the overall user experience is mostly positive.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Review: BENCHMARKS

1 of 16

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Review: HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE

As far as hardware, the lower end model of the Redmi Note 3, which is our review unit, has an octa-core Mediatek Helio X10 chip with the clock speeds of up to 2.0GHz, 2GB of RAM and only 16GB of non-expandable storage.

This combo of hardware is absolutely enough to run the most graphically demanding tasks like gaming. The graphics don’t look that stunning like on the flagship phones but they still look great. Also, there are no hiccups whatsoever and this is a top-notch performance for a budget phone.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Review: MULTIMEDIA

When it comes to multimedia consumption, Xiaomi implemented a pretty good loudspeaker with a decent amount of depth. The quality of sound via earphones is decent too.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Review: CAMERA

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkGFqdLt82k[/embedyt]

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 has a 13MP camera with PDAF and dual-tone dual LED flash.

The camera app is fast and easy to use and there are a few shooting modes and settings to play with.

I have to say that I spend a lot of time testing this camera. First of all, I’ve tested it with the V. 7.0.7.0 software, which is still the only one available to download via the OTA update (I live in the EU). The results came out pretty terrible and I couldn’t believe what I saw.

That’s why, I went to the MIUI forums and flashed the newest version (V. 7.0.16.0) of software manually and re-tested the camera. Keep in mind that the latest update is still not available via OTA for some unknown reasons, at least in the EU region.

These were my initial thoughts with the V.7.0.7.0 software:

“The picture quality kind of shocked me. In short, it is terrible and it is obvious that this is a software related issue as an older Redmi Note 2 has a much better camera.

Most of the daylight images have a soft focus in some parts or in the whole picture despite the fact that I held my hands as steady as possible. Also, there is a lot of noise and the camera doesn’t capture a lot of details. The good point is that camera’s woes end when it comes to the macro shots as the images look pretty good. Finally, you may get some decent looking images on some rare occasions.

Low-light shots do not impress either. Well, they are not the worst we’ve seen in this budget phones category but the level of details and brightness could be higher, and amount of noise could be lower”.

Image quality conclusions after V.7.0.16.0 software update:

1 of 15

The daylight images produced by the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 are pretty good and definitely one of the best in this price range of phones.

The images have a good amount of details, colours look natural most of the time and most of the shots will definitely look great.

However, the camera isn’t perfect since some of the images have softer focus on the corners or uneven focus within the image. Also, some of the shots are underexposed, especially if you are taking pictures during the cloudy day. A good thing is that the HDR mode does a pretty good job to solve this issue but you have turn this mode on manually. Finally, colours may look a bit oversaturated in some shots but I guess it’s okay since a lot of phones do that as the images look better for the majority of users.

1 of 22

The indoor shots look a bit worse but they are still pretty good for a phone of this price category. There is a bit more noise, less details but the most of the images still look good overall.

1 of 13

As far as the night shots, it would be unfair to expect much from a budget phone. The images turn out not bad at all. While the level of details is lower and the noise levels are higher than daylight pictures, the night photos shot by the Redmi Note 3 are definitely one of the best in class.

The embedded dual-tone dual LED flash is pretty powerful and it illuminates the scene with a natural looking light. Thus, you may get a pretty good image in low-light/pitch dark environment.

1 of 3

The front facing camera will do the trick for social media as most of the times you will get a pretty good looking image. However, softer focus issue may kick in from time to time.

When it comes to the video recording, it is mediocre as on most of the budget phones. However, if we compare it with other cheap devices, the Redmi Note 3 does a pretty good job overall. See the video review or download the original video camera sample from the link below.

All in all, while being not perfect, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 has one of the best camera in this price range of phones.

NOTE: camera was tested with the both MIUI V7.0.7.0.LHNCNCJ (MIUI7) and the MIUI V7.0.16.0.LHNCNCJ (MIUI7) (not yet available via OTA, the ROM was flashed manually). The results have proven that there is a significant change in picture quality between these two updates. 90% of the images taken using the old software had some major focus issues.

Download full resolution Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 camera samples (Part 1)

Download full resolution Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 camera samples (Part 2)

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Review: CONNECTIVITY

All the connectivity options like Wifi, GPS and Bluetooth work absolutely fine. Also, the call quality and signal reception were great.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Review: BATTERY LIFE

1 of 6

The Redmi Note 3 has a 4000mAh battery and I have to say that it performs very well. I could get almost 5 hours of screen on time (hereinafter – SOT) even though I used the phone quite intensively. If you are a light user and you mainly do basic tasks, you may even get over 6 hours of SOT.

Finally, a great battery performance was confirmed by Geekbench 3 battery test as the phone managed to achieve over 10 hours of SOT with dim screen feature off (I accidentally turned the benchmark test off at 26% which adds 2 hours and 36 minutes of SOT).

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Review: CONCLUSIONS

So, there you have it, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3. For the price of just around $180, this is a really great phone for a lot of reasons, yet it is not perfect.

The Redmi Note 3 has a great design and all-metal build, and the phone definitely looks great. Also, the 5.5” display is nice to look at, the MIUI has been improved as the user interface performance is mostly fast and fluid.

Also, this budget phone can easily handle even the most graphically intensive games, all the connectivity options work great and the battery life is very good.

Furthermore, the camera is one of the better ones in this price range of phones.

However, you may get some images with softer focus if you do not hold your hands steady and the video quality could be slightly better.

All in all, Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 is definitely great and one of the best budget smartphones of the year for many reasons. Although it may may not be perfect but there is nothing significantly better on the market at the moment and this phone is one of your best bets in this price range.

Buy Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 from Giztop

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 gallery:

1 of 40

6.1mm Thin Cubot X17 Available At $10 OFF From Lightinthebox

By

Joel Joseph

-

Dec 15, 2015

Anyone who’s into thin smartphones would have heard of the name Cubot. The company has released a couple of smartphones which have been extremely thin, including the new Cubot X17. Now, lightinthebox is offering the Cubot X17 for just $149.99 ($10 OFF) this holiday season [COUPON: BLACK12510]. This turns out to be a pretty good deal for those who are looking to purchase a sleek smartphone that’s less than 6.1mm thin!

The Cubot X17 features a metal body with a super-thin design. We have seen some good looking smartphones from this Chinese company and the X17 definitely includes in the list. But the phone is not just about the looks. It features pretty good specs as well to justify the price.

Under the hood, the Cubot X17 comes with MT6735 quad-core chipset which is pretty decent for an entry level mid-ranger. However, what really powers the device is the presence of 3GB RAM on board which will help in multi-tasking. The phone is pretty compact as well, featuring a 5-inch display with FHD 1080p resolution. As for the camera, you get a 13MP shooter at the back and a 5MP front-facing shooter. Despite its thin profile, Cubot has managed to pack in a 2500mAh battery which is quite decent for a 5-inch device.

The entire package looks quite attractive for $149. Do check out their site for more details like connectivity support.

Buy The Super Thin Cubot X17 For $149 [COUPON: BLACK12510]

Golden Ulefone Paris Promoted with USD30 Discount and USD20 Free Gifts

By

Shine Wong

-

Dec 15, 2015

As expected to happen, Ulefone starts to promote the Ulefone Paris in golden, with a USD30 discount off the original price of USD129.99, plus a flip cover and a tempered glass screen protector as free gifts worth about USD20 in total.

Similar to the white and grey Paris, the golden version will also feature 5-inch HD on-cell screen, MTK6753 8-core 64-bit chipset, 2GB RAM, 16GB flash storage, 13MP OV13850 camera, 2250mAh battery and android 5.1. With enough items in stock, Ulefone promises to ship in 48 hours. Besides, users will probably be able to upgrade their golden Paris to newest software on arrival, given that Ulefone plans to release the 5^th update for the Ulefone Paris model before yearend.

We can see on the Ulefone official promotion page that the white and grey versions of Ulefone Paris are also listed, with the special price of USD129.99, but without free gifts. So you if you like to use your phone naked, this is apparently the smarter choice.

Get more details about the flash sale, please visit ulefone official site. Thanks

UMI Zero Gets CM 12.1 Based On Android 5.1 via RootJoy

By

Joel Joseph

-

Dec 15, 2015

Back when UMI Zero was released, it came with Android 4.4 KitKat OS out of the box. The company had promised an update to Android Lollipop after the release, but the release was delayed considerably. However, now UMI, staying true to its promise has just released the CM 12.1 version for the UMI Zero handset. This means the users can now upgrade their phones to Android 5.1 Lollipop. The process is made simple as the update can be flashed using the company’s RootJoy software.

It’s good to see a small time manufacturer supporting its year old products. Most Chinese handset makers often forget their smartphone once launched and more often than not, you may not get an update for the device after a couple of months. UMI seems to be breaking that trend. The company’s RootJoy app further simplifies the process of flashing a new ROM, making backups or even managing applications.

Even UMI Iron has received an update to its Flyme OS ROM. Users can access and install both the ROMs directly from the RootJoy app.

Further, the company is has launched the Make A Wish Campaign on over 6 different websites. You can read more about that from the UMI Community.

LeTV Max Pro HD Renders Surface, Features Gently Curved Front

By

Joel Joseph

-

Dec 14, 2015

It didn’t take much time for the Chinese media giant, LeTV to make its mark in the domestic smartphone industry. The company’s Le series has received tremendous response in the home market in just a matter of seven months and now the company is eyeing other big markets like India.

After the launch of the value for money LeTV 1S, all our eyes are set on the high-end flagship that’s going to debut next year, namely the LeTV Max Pro. We have already seen the handset a couple of times on benchmarking apps revealing it’s powerful specs, and now, we have spotted some HD renders of the device. Of course, at this moment, there’s no way to confirm that these renders are the real deal, but from their design language, it seems to be a continuation of the design followed by other Le series phones.

According to the renders leaked today, the LeTV Max Pro will feature a slightly curved front. The curve is actually at the bottom region, and could possibly feature a fingerprint sensor (Qualcomm’s 3D Ultrasonic Fingerprint Sensor?). We don’t see a sensor at the back, hence, it’s possible that the sensor is under the front glass. All LeTV high-end models came with fingerprint sensor, so there’s no reason why the company would abandon the feature in its new flagship.

As for the back, it’s pretty clean except for the camera and the flash. The design is quite similar to existing LeTV phones, with the speaker grill located near the bottom region. Like the other models, the phone is expected to feature an all-metal design.

Like mentioned above, we already know the possible specs of the LeTV Max Pro. The phone is said to come with Snapdragon 820 on board with 4GB RAM and 64GB ROM. There will be a 5.5-inch display with 2K resolution. The back will feature a 21MP camera while, up front, it looks like there will be a 4MP Ultrapixel sensor. Finally, for software, you can expect the latest Android 6.0 Marshmallow version.

Snapdragon 820 along with these specs definitely make the phone a high-end device. That’s kind of confirmed by the recent benchmark scores revealed by AnTuTu. The phone managed to score about 133K on the AnTuTu benchmark test, which is much higher than anything that we have seen recently. So, the phone could turn out to be a real powerhouse.

So, what do you think about the renders? Do you like the design?

Xiaomi Notebook May Come In Three Display Variants

By

Joel Joseph

-

Dec 14, 2015

We have been hearing a lot about the upcoming Xiaomi Notebook PC. In fact, we have already come across the detailed specifications of a 15.6-inch model, which will be powered by the fourth gen Intel Haswell Core-i7 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760M.

However, the new Xiaomi Notebook may have more than one display variant. According to reports, there are two other smaller variants as well, namely a 12.5-inch model, which will be made by Inventec as confirmed earlier and a 13.3-inch model made by Compal. The smallest version, namely the 12.5-inch Xiaomi Notebook should enter mass production sometime in April next year.

As for the 15.6-inch model, we already have the specifications of the device, thanks to an earlier leak. They are as follows:

Operating System: Linux
Processor: CPU series Intel Core i7 4th-generation family
RAM: 8GB
Screen size: 15.6-inches
Screen Resolution: 1920×1080
Screen technology: LED backlight
Graphics chip: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760M
Memory capacity: 2GB
Price: 2999 Yuan ($466)

As you can see, the specs are pretty impressive for the price tag. However, one thing we have to note here is that these chips are a couple of generations old. The Core i7 is from the fourth generation Haswell family. Currently, we have the sixth generation Skylake Core chips. Moreover, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760M graphic card was released way back in 2013, which means by next year it should be pretty old.

As a result, like Hexus pointed out, it looks like Xiaomi is going to use chips that are a couple of generations old to keep the price down. This should help the company cut down the cost of the laptop and price it aggressively. Plus, the use of Linux instead of Windows will help it avoid hefty licensing fees.

Moreover, it is said that the Notebook will feature Macbook like design with all metal chassis and a thin body. Good looks, powerful specs and a reasonable price should help the company make its mark in the PC industry.

Oukitel K4000 Pro detailed specifications and new pics

By

shanos

-

Dec 14, 2015

Oukitel K4000 Pro detailed specifications and new pics

Today we have received some really nice pictures from Oukitel showing the soon to be released Oukitel K4000 Pro, along with a detailed set of specifications for the phone.

The specifications can be found below, Oukitel have chosen to go with lower consumption for their choice of components, in order to ensure a decent amount of time can be spent enjoying the phone between charges.

The Oukitel K4000 Pro features 5V/ 1.5A quick charging technology, to fill the 4600mAh Li-Polymer battery reasonably quickly.

The new battery sees an increase of 600mAh over the original K4000 handset.

I am just finishing up a review of the Oukitel K6000, the phone is averaging around 2 and a half days between charges.

I would think that the K4000 Pro should also last for a similar amount of time, given the fairly similar components used.

Its good to see a manufacturer going out on a limb and making larger capacity battery phones, filling the void left by most manufactures who chose slimmer bodies over battery life.

2 colours options will be available on release, these are white and Black.

OUKITEL K4000 Pro Specs:

Display: 5 inch IPS-screen,720*1280 HD display

Screen: tough screen with 9H hardness and 1000Mpa stress value

Screen Type: G+F 5 points capacitance touch screen

Design: crocodile leather back cover, 2.5D CNC curved metal frame

CPU Brand: MTK

CPU: quad-core MediaTek MT6735P 1.0 GHz

Dual Cameras: Front Camera – 5.0MP; Back Camera – 13.0MP

Memory: 2 GB RAM + 16 GB ROM,32GB Expandable

Network: 2G Frequency: 850/900/1800/1900

3G Frequency: WCDMA900/2100

4G Frequency: 1/3/7/8/20

Built-in Battery: 4600mAh

Charger: 5V/ 1.5A quick charge

If you have any questions or comments please feel free to leave them below and be sure to check back soon for more information and news on the Oukitel K4000 Pro.

Regards Shane

You can purchase the original Oukitel K4000 for just under $110 (£73)

Article originally posted on Gadgetz.tv

Ele Cam 12 12 Deal and Elephone Official announcement

By

shanos

-

Dec 14, 2015

Elephone Official announcement and Ele Cam 12 12 Deal

We received the following announcement from Elephone today, things got very busy during their 12.12 event, with websites running slow due to the shear volume of orders being placed.

In order to prevent the same thing happening again, Elephone are putting measures in place ready for the next round of sales between the 16th and 18th of December 2015

Hopefully you will be able to grap a bargain or too before they all sell out again, with 20,000 units sold last time you are in with a good chance.

ELE Cam 12 12 Deal

Elephone are now including the ELE Cam Explorer to the growing list of tech in the 12 12 sales, the ELE Cam 12 12 deal comprise of a set of 1 hour time slots, with a different price each hour.

3pm – 4pm – $12.12

4pm – 5pm – $24.24

5pm – 12am – $69.99

12am onwards $89.99

Times are all GMT+8 hours

I will be posting a review of the ELE Cam soon, the Ele Cam shoots up to 4k Video at 15 frames per second, it will also shoot 1080p at 60 frames per second and 720p video at 120 frames per second, hopefully the review will show case the ELE Cam and also some amazing parkour skills too.

Copy of official Elephone announcement

Our big success on 12.12 event, 20K phones are sold!!

Our online sellers GeekBuying, PandaWill, ElephoneCC, ElephoneStore are alternatively online

Due to the high traffic, some delay on elephone official website and our seller websites has caused many people unable to complete their orders, which we are very sorry for.

But we have prepared sufficiently with our sellers to ensure this kind of situation will not happen on next event 16th-18th. .

Limited time&limited quantity. Users can go to our official website to choose the sellers.

Best

Please leave comments and questions below, be sure to let us know if you snapped up a bargain or if you missed out.

Regards Shanos

Originally Posted on Gadgetz.tv

Here’s All The Xiaomi Mi 5 Renders That We Have Seen Till Date

By

Joel Joseph

-

Dec 14, 2015

Xiaomi Mi 5 is coming real soon. But like any popular handset, many renders, leaks have already started circulating on the internet. In fact, we have been hearing about the company’s upcoming flagship for more than six months. Not surprising, considering that it’s been more than a year since we saw a new smartphone in the company’s flagship Mi lineup.

Up till now, we have come across a lot of Xiaomi Mi 5 Renders. As a result, I decided to get them all together in one place in order to compare and see which one turned out to be our readers favorite. I have added a poll inside this post where you can name your pick.

There have been four major Xiaomi Mi 5 renders we have seen recently. And guess what, three of them have a physical home button up front. I am not going to consider the ones that were leaked way back (early this year), but just ones that are new and were leaked in the past few months.

So, without wasting any more time, let’s take a look at the popular Xiaomi Mi 5 Renders that we have seen till date!

1. Xiaomi Mi 5 With Dual Camera Setup

Xiaomi has a huge fan following and it’s likely that one of these creative fans decided to make a render of the upcoming Mi 5 flagship. This particular render, as you can see in the image shows off the bezelless Xiaomi Mi 5 with a dual camera setup. It was the first time we heard about the flagship featuring such a design. After that, there hasn’t been much talk about a dual camera setup on the Mi 5, which probably means this design won’t actually make it to the real world.

Still, it looks pretty good, especially since the bezels are thin on the top as well as the bottom. It makes the phone look quite compact, despite its large display. From the image, it looks like a phone that features a display upwards of 5.5-inches, which is not something that everyone would like.

2. Xiaomi Mi Note Look-alike

The second render comes directly from Xiaomi’s official Weibo account. While promoting its Xiaomi Yeelight lamp, the company released a photo via its account wherein a user was controlling the lamp using a smartphone that we haven’t seen till now. Well, it looked a lot like the Xiaomi Mi Note, but the bezels were super thin, nearly non-existent, which caught our attention. While we still don’t know whether Xiaomi intentionally teased a new handset, which probably is the Xiaomi Mi 5, the render did look quite good.

There have been multiple reports about the Mi 5 being bezelless, so this might be a good design for the upcoming flagship. However, it does look a lot similar to the Xiaomi Mi Note, which probably isn’t a good idea if the company wants to clearly distinguish the two series.

3. Xiaomi Mi 5 With Rectangular Home Button

After the initial two leaks, we came across yet another render claiming to be the Mi 5. This time around, the image was much clear and detailed, allowing us to see the entire front of the smartphone. Once again, we could see a front placed home button which most likely incorporates a fingerprint sensor.

The image came just after an analyst revealed that the Qualcomm Sense ID Ultrasonic Fingerprint Sensor was not stable enough for using in a flagship like Mi 5.

The bezels are thin, but not non-existent as we saw in the earlier renders. In fact, it looks like this is the most believable render that we have seen of the Xiaomi Mi 5 till date. But, I personally wouldn’t want the same old design continue on the new flagship. So, I hope this is not the final design!

4. Xiaomi Mi 5 With Oval Home Button

A couple of days back, we came across another render of the Mi 5, this time, sporting an oval shaped home button up front. The design is a bit different than what we have seen on a Xiaomi phone till now, which makes things a bit more exciting.

As you can see, the corners are round and the phone looks a bit large as well, not like a 5.2-inch model as rumors suggest. Once again, the display is shown as bezelless. The bottom features dual speaker grills with the new USB Type-C port in between.

Overall, it’s quite different than all of the renders that we have seen till now. To support this render, we have seen the alleged front panel images of the Mi 5 similar to this design. So, could this be the final design of the Xiaomi Mi 5 flagship?

That’s all we have on the design of the Mi 5, at least for now.

So, which one would you pick as your favorite?

[socialpoll id=”2316136″]

I am sure in the coming weeks, we will get to see more such renders, and hopefully, one of them will turn out to be the real deal!

Xiaomi Mi 5 Will Feature NFC According To New Document

By

Joel Joseph

-

Dec 13, 2015

For the past few weeks, we have heard a lot about the upcoming Xiaomi Mi 5. Right from the specifications, design to the release, we have a solid idea about what to expect from Xiaomi’s long awaited flagship smartphone.

According to the latest information, the Xiaomi Mi 5 will support NFC (Near Field Communication) feature. There is often a debate about the usefulness of the NFC, some against it, saying it’s not a required feature while others for it, saying that they use it almost every day. Nevertheless, Xiaomi decided to remove the NFC feature on its Xiaomi Mi 4 flagship. While explaining the reason for this decision, CEO Lei Jun revealed that only 1% of the Mi3 and Mi2A customers actually made use of it.

Now, it looks like the company has decided that NFC is useful again. We got to know that the Mi 5 will feature NFC chip thanks to a document released by China UnionPay, also known as CUP which is China’s only domestic card organization. The organization recently released a new NFC-enabled payment system, “Cloud Lightening Pay” (translated) which enables the customers to make payments via their smartphones. The technology works similar to other mobile payment systems we have seen in international markets, and relies on the phone’s NFC chip.

In the document released by the organization, among the first 32 smartphones that support this payment system, Xiaomi Mi 5 made it to the list. This is only possible if the phone supports NFC payments, which means we are almost sure that the Mi 5 flagship will come with NFC chip on board.

I am sure many Xiaomi fans will be excited to hear that the Mi 5 has this feature. It definitely helps those users who rely on mobile payments and other NFC-enabled features.

As for other features of the Xiaomi Mi 5 like the fingerprint sensor, you can read more about it from here.

LeTV Max Pro Spotted On AnTuTu Again With Snapdragon 820, Scores Are Amazing!

By

Joel Joseph

-

Dec 13, 2015

A couple of weeks back, we spotted a new smartphone from LeTV, the Max Pro (X910) on the benchmarking app, AnTuTu. At that time, we managed to get the full tech specs of the device, which revealed that the Max Pro was going to be a high-end device. However, the leak only revealed the specifications of the device and not the AnTuTu Benchmark scores. Now, we have that information as well.

According to the leaked benchmark scores of the LeTV Max Pro, the phone managed to score a whopping 133,357 points on the AnTuTu benchmarking website. This is one of the highest scores we have seen till date, even beating the score posted by the Snapdragon 820 powered Qualcomm Developer device.

This clearly shows the true power of the Snapdragon 820 chip that powers the Max Pro model. However, we also have to remember that the scores of most SoCs have increased after the AnTuTu update to v6.0. A few changes in the way the scores are calculated have led to this increase. But still, it shows that despite having just four cores, instead of the traditional eight-core design, Snapdragon 820 easily beats most chipsets.

As for the other specs of the LeTV Max Pro, they are the same as we saw early December. This means a 5.5-inch 2K display, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage, 21MP rear camera, 4MP Ultrapixel front camera and Android 6.0 Marshmallow update.

An analyst recently said that LeTV could be the first smartphone manufacturer to showcase a Snapdragon 820 powered phone as early as CES 2016. However, when we consider the actual release of the first Snapdragon 820 powered smartphone, Xiaomi could be the first, thanks to its Xiaomi Mi 5 which is expected to be announced in January and released in February.

Get $3 Off the Most Powerful 1byone Car Charger

By

Linus

-

Dec 13, 2015

Charging our smartphones or other gadgets have become a daily routine for most of us. Gone are the days of old feature phones that could hold the charge for more than a week and thus we need to think more about charging solutions on the go. One of the options is the car charger and 1byone has a pretty could deal at the moment and it is one of the top sellers on Amazon.

One of the main problems with the car chargers is that we usually do not have lots of time to use them unless you spend much time driving. In any case, the 1byone car charger is designed in a way that it charges devices fast. It has 3 ports and all of them have a power output of 2.4A, and they can be used simultaneously.

Also, the charger has a great all-aluminum design, so it does not seem to break anytime soon. In addition, the embedded LED light indicates the charging process.

Finally, this car charger usually retails for $8.99 on Amazon but 1byone has a limited time offer, which gives you $3 off with a coupon code 9UAFS5AL. Keep in mind that the deal applies only to red and black colours of the charger.

Deal summary:

Start Date: 12/11/2015 09:00 AM

End Date: 12/18/2015 11:59 PM

Original price: $8.99

Discounted price: $5.99

You Save: $3.00

Coupon Code : 9UAFS5AL

Keep in mind that the deal applies only to red and black colours of the charger.

Buy 1byone car charger from Amazon

Elephone 12 12 sale get your hands on phones just $12.12

By

shanos

-

Dec 11, 2015

Elephone 12 12 sale get your hands on phones for just $12.12

If you head over to the Elephone site on the 12th of December you will have a chance to purchase selected phones at just $12.12, the Elephone 12 12 sale will be followed up by a second sale that will run from the 16th to the 18th of December.

A wide range of handsets will be up for grabs at just $12.12, with the choice of handset changing hourly.

Handsets including the P8000, M2，P6000 ProS2/S2 Plus and more will be available, so you could save up to $180.

This is is sure to be a crazy busy promotion, so make sure you get there early and keep checking in to see if you can grab a bargain or two.

Please leave comments and questions below.

Regards Shane

Huawei Made Nexus 2016 to feature Snapdragon 820?

By

Joel Joseph

-

Dec 11, 2015

This year, for the first time, Huawei manufactured a Nexus device, and it turned out to be quite a powerful handset. Although Google is yet to confirm the extension of the Nexus 2016 project to Huawei, rumors about the new Huawei-made Nexus device have already started to come in.

Now, analyst Pan Jiutang has just revealed a few information about the Huawei-made Nexus 2016 handset. It is said that the new Nexus device, which will most likely be made by Huawei, will come with Snapdragon 820 chipset.

Qualcomm unveiled the new chip in Asia at an event in China earlier today. The company revealed that there are over 70 devices in the pipeline that will be using this new age chip. So, it’s possible that the next Nexus 2016 smartphone comes with the powerful Snapdragon 820.

Apart from Nexus, there are a lot of other manufacturers who are keen on using this chip. The first Snapdragon 820 powered smartphone is expected to be the Xiaomi Mi 5. Even the upcoming Galaxy S7 flagship is said to come with this powerful chipset. Other possible manufacturers with Snapdragon 820 powered smartphones include Sony, LG, MOTO, LeTV, ZTE Nubia and even Meizu (according to new information leaked earlier today)! So, pretty much all the major smartphone manufacturers in the market.

Meanwhile, we have seen the initial performance of the Snapdragon 820 chip and it’s quite powerful as compared to competitors. You can read all about its AnTuTu benchmark test results from this article.

Snapdragon 820 Powered Prototype Scores 131K On AnTuTu, GPU Is Impressive!

By

Joel Joseph

-

Dec 11, 2015

Qualcomm officially unveiled the Snapdragon 820 chipset in Asia earlier today at an event in China. Like expected, the company showcased a prototype Snapdragon 820 powered smartphone at the event. This also meant that we could check out the initial performance of the chip on AnTuTu benchmark app.

Given the high-end specs of the smartphone, which includes 3GB RAM, 64GB of storage and 2K resolution display, the phone managed to score about 131,648 points on AnTuTu. This is much better than any other scores that we have seen lately, which tells us a little about the performance of this chip. In fact, it’s much better than the already powerful Huawei Kirin 950 chip. The chip manages to score about 97,000 in the same test.

mate 8 antutu benchmark — Mate 8 AnTuTu Scores

The CPU performance is slightly better on the Kirin 950, mainly because of the four extra cores, scoring about 33K points, whereas, the Snapdragon 820 scores only about 31K.

While the CPU performance is more or less similar, what really sets the Snapdragon 820 chip apart from Kirin 950 is the GPU performance, thanks to Adreno 530. As you can see in the AnTuTu test screenshots in the article, Snapdragon 820 blows away Kirin 950 when it comes to GPU performance. It’s more than twice as powerful as the Kirin chip which is really impressive. The Qualcomm chip scores about 54,000 points in the 3D test, where as Kirin 950 only scores about 21,000.

So, in the overall test, the Snapdragon 820 comes out on top. There are a lot of devices that are expected to be powered by this Qualcomm chip next year. We expect the Xiaomi Mi 5 to be the first phone with the chip, followed by other Chinese players like LeTV, ZTE Nubia and South Korean companies like Samsung.

ZTE Axon Mini Premium Review – Force Touch and Hi-Fi For the Masses

By

Linus

-

Dec 10, 2015

ZTE is definitely one of the most respectable Chinese smartphone makers since our reviews have already proven that the company is capable of producing high quality products. We have already reviewed the ZTE Axon Elite and even compared it to other Chinese flagships of 2015.

We were definitely impressed by an affordable yet premium handset and this time around we are looking at a little brother – ZTE Axon Mini. It turns out that it is not only another mini version of a flagship but it is one of the world’s first Android smartphones (along with the Huawei Mate S Luxury Edition) that has a force touch display technology. Find out more in our full review.

Thanks to the ZTE Official for sending ZTE Axon Mini for a review.

ZTE Axon Mini Review: VIDEO

[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyPrq1uyBDo[/embedyt]

ZTE Axon Mini: UNBOXING

1 of 3

The ZTE Axon Mini comes in a premium looking packaging where all the items are packed neatly. The contents include the charging plug, USB cable, a pair of earphones, which actually sound pretty good; SIM ejector PIN, some documentation and a soft plastic case, which is always a nice addition to have.

ZTE Axon Mini: SPECS

Display	5.2″ 1080p Amoled (Full-HD)
Processor	Qualcomm Snapdragon 616, 64-bit, octa-core (up to 1.5GHz)
RAM	3GB
Camera	8MP Front/13MP Back
Connectivity	Bluetooth, 3G, 4G, GPS, WIFI, GSM,EDGE, GPRS, UMTS, HSPA, HSPA+, dual-SIM: Card1:FDD-LTE:B1/3/7/8/12/17/20 TDD-LTE:B38/40/41 WCDMA:B2/5/8 GSM:B2/3/5/8 CDMA:BC0 Card2:GSM:B2/3/5/8
Battery	2.800 mAh (non-removable)
Dimensions	143.5 x 70 x 7.9 mm (5.65 x 2.76 x 0.31 in) / 140g
OS	MiFavor 3.2.0 (based on Android 5.1.1)
Storage	32GB (expandable via microSD card slot up to 128GB)

ZTE Axon Mini: DESIGN

As far as the design, we are looking a really premium and well-crafted handset. It is made almost entirely of metal except for those top and bottom parts on the back, which imitate a leather finish with some fake stitching. It is very subjective and many people may not like it but I have to say that they look okay to me. As a matter of fact, they have a somewhat rubberised finish, which definitely helps with the grip.

The front top and bottom parts may give you an impression that the Axon Mini sports a dual stereo speakers setup. However, the top part is dedicated only for the earpiece, usual set of sensors, notification LED light and 8MP selfie snapper.

The bottom is the place where you can find a front firing speaker along with the main mic.

The ZTE Axon Mini keeps the same design language as its bigger brother but this time around it ditches the dual-camera setup and opts in for a more conventional 13MP shooter with dual-LED flash.

Underneath the camera there is a fingerprint scanner. I’ve setup it up since the first minute I had the phone and I have to say that it is super easy to setup, very fast and accurate to use. Also, the rear placement of the scanner feels much more natural than on the one found on the front. Again, this may be subjective.

On the top there is a headset jack and on the bottom – a regular micro USB charging port. On the right we have a power key and a dual SIM card and the microSD card slot for storage expansion. On the left, there is a just a volume rocker.

Overall, the build quality is top-notch and I love all-metal design of the phone. The Axon mini definitely feels great in the hand and I really appreciate the fact that it is easily manageable with one hand due to its 5.2″ display.

ZTE Axon Mini: Display

As far as display, we have a 5.2” 1080p Amoled panel, which is just gorgeous to look at. Honestly, it almost looks like an LCD display as it has all the good aspects like colour accuracy, brightness of liquid crystal displays but adds a little bit of punchiness and saturation, which is typical to Amoled panels.

ZTE Axon Mini Review: UI

The Axon mini comes with the MiFlavor UI, which is built on top of Android 5.1. However, the app drawer has been removed and we are not huge fans of it.

1 of 14

As usual to the Chinese skins, the MiFlavor has quite a few customisation options, gesture controls and a lot of little tweaks and extra features, which work pretty well but it depends on your habits if you will actually use them.

1 of 2

For example, the Axon mini has one of the best implementations of the iris scanner but I’m not sure if this feature is actually needed. Well, it may be cool to show it off to someone in the bar.

The Pressure Sensitive Display Tech: Features and Functionality

1 of 3

We’ve seen the latter features on other phones but the star of the show here is a force touch display technology and the Axon mini is one of the first Android phones to have it. Basically, it is a pressure sensitive display and, if we use Apple terminology, it works like peek and pop gesture as the panel recognises the amount of force of your pressure of your fingers.

1 of 7

The main question here: is it useful? Once you get used to it, definitely yes. Does it work well? Again, when you get used to it, it is. Most of the force touch features are associated with the built-in apps and gallery, and they work pretty well. If the app does not support this feature, the screen will just blink. However, you may have a few accidental touches there and there. Finally, if you asked me if this feature is really necessary, I would say no but it is definitely a fun and innovative way of interacting with your phone. Also, ZTE did a pretty good job with the implementation. We suggest you checking out the video review to see how this technology works.

All in all, the UI is running fast and fluid, and it is really impressive given the early software build of the phone.

ZTE Axon Mini Review: BENCHMARKS

1 of 8

ZTE Axon Mini Review: HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE

ZTE Axon Mini comes with an octa-core Snapdragon 616 chip with the maximum clock speeds of 1.5GHz, 3GB of RAM and 32GB of expandable storage.

The 3D games work well but you have to make sure that any power saving features are off. The graphics look great although not that spectacular like on flagship phones. I encountered with just a few skipped frames but nothing major.

Finally, the phone doesn’t have any overheating issues.

ZTE Axon Mini Review: MULTIMEDIA

As far as multimedia consumption goes, the Axon mini is just fantastic. The front firing speaker is loud and it has quite a lot of depth in its sound. Also, listening to music via earphones is just a blast. The integrated Hi-Fi audio chips really make a difference if you love high quality sound with lots of depth and rich tones.

ZTE Axon Mini Review: CAMERA

1 of 6

As far as the camera app, it is fast, responsive and easy to use. It has a few shooting modes to select but the settings menu works only in the portrait mode for some reason.

The 13MP camera can produce some nice and sharp looking images but it is inconsistent.

The positive side is that you will usually get a good looking image, which has a accurate colours, decent dynamic range and contrast.

If you are not lucky, you may take some daylight images with softer focus and not that impressive level of details.

1 of 17

When it comes to the low light shots, some of them are pretty good but again, the camera is inconsistent as some of the images have a huge amount of noise and the lack of details.

1 of 1

8MP selfie shooter is pretty good and will definitely do the tick for social media needs.

The phone can shoot videos at the max. resolution of 1080p. The most impressive thing is… the quality of sound recording. Other than that, the level of details is decent but the auto-exposure is too aggressive as it is jumping like crazy. Also, the footage looks shaky despite the fact that I tried to hold my hands as steady as possible. See a video review for the video sample.

All in all, the Axon mini has a good overall camera but hopefully we will see a software update as it needs some more polishing to show its full potential and be more consistent.

ZTE Axon Mini Review: CONNECTIVITY

The signal reception has been excellent and the call quality of the Axon phone is good. Also, other connectivity options like Wifi, Bluetooth, GPS work absolutely fine.

ZTE Axon Mini Review: BATTERY LIFE

The 2800mAh non-removable battery performs very well both in terms of active usage and standby. I could constantly get over 4.5 hours of screen-on time using max. auto-brightness setting, browsing the web, checking emails and social media, taking pictures and so on.

ZTE Axon Mini Review: CONCLUSIONS

So, there you have, the ZTE Axon Mini Premium with a pressure sensitive display tech. I have to tell you that there is a lot to love about this phone. It all starts with great design and all-aluminum-titanium body makes it look like an expensive handset.

Also, the Axon mini is very compact considering today’s standards as it has 5.2” display, which is just brilliant to look at and pressure sensitive related features are definitely a fun way of interacting with your phone if you get used to using them.

Also, the phone has a great battery life, a microSD card slot, good performance, fast and accurate fingerprint scanner and high quality sound.

However, while the camera experience is mostly positive and you may get some good looking images, we may want to see a software update to improve its consistency. Also, the video recording quality could be a bit better overall.

Finally, the ZTE Axon Mini Premium is definitely a great all-around phone despite a few shortcomings that may be even fixed with future software updates. All in all, given the current pre-order price of just below $300, it is easy to recommend it.

Blackview Omega Pro

Blackview BV5000

Blackview BV2000

Thanks to Giztop for sending Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 for a review.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Review: VIDEO

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Review: SPECS

Display

5.5″ 1080p (Full-HD)

Processor

Mediatek MT6795 Helio X10, 64-bit, octa-core (up to 2.0GHz)

RAM

2GB/3GB (review unit is a 2GB model)

Camera

5MP Front/13MP Back, PDAF

Connectivity

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

Battery

4.000 mAh (non-removable)

Dimensions

150 x 76 x 8.7 mm (5.91 x 2.99 x 0.34 in) / 164g

OS

MIUI 7 (v. 7.0.16.0) (based on Android 5.0.2)

Storage

16GB – 2GB RAM model (our review unit), 32GB – 3GB RAM model

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Review: UNBOXING

We see a slight change in terms of packaging. We have already got used to seeing the recycled paper boxes that come with Xiaomi phones but this time around the company made a better looking presentation.

The contents that come with the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 include the charging brick, USB cable, documentation and a SIM ejector pin.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Review: DESIGN

It wouldn’t be a Note series if we had a small display. Well, it is not big either as 5.5″ panels have already become a standard. Still, you have to keep in mind that the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 is not the most compact phone.

On the bright side, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 is the first Xiaomi’s phone ever to sport a fingerprint scanner, which is easy to setup, fast, accurate and works from a standby mode.

On the front we have a 5MP selfie snapper and a customisable LED light. On the bottom, there is a usual set of capacitive buttons, which also have a nice backlight.

When it comes to optics, we have a 13MP camera with dual tone dual LED flash and PDAF system.

The buttons, which are located on the right feel nice and they are made of metal too. On the left we have a dual micro SIM card slot.

Besides the usual ports, it is really cool that Xiaomi adds the IR blaster in their budget phones lineup. The setup of it is pretty straightforward and I was able to control my old LG TV in a few minutes.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3: DISPLAY

The 5.5” 1080p panel is brilliant to look at. It is sharp, vivid, it has good viewing angles and you can adjust the colour temperature within the display settings menu.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Review: UI

When it comes to the user interface, we have MIUI 7 out of the box, which is build on Android 5.0.2.

First of all, we are really happy to see a huge improvement over the MIUI 6 in terms of speed, performance, power and RAM management.

Everything is running smoothly with lots of apps running in the background, there are no major hiccups or lag. There have been a few times that apps loaded a bit longer but it hasn’t been much of an issue worth complaining about.

If you are not yet familiar with the MIUI, it has tons of customisation options, which include a wide choice of themes, wallpapers, fonts and so on. Also, you can customise the LED light, assign different tasks to capacitive buttons and so on.

All in all, I have to say that Xiaomi finally got the it right and although the Redmi Note 3 is not yet perfect but the overall user experience is mostly positive.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Review: BENCHMARKS

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Review: HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE

As far as hardware, the lower end model of the Redmi Note 3, which is our review unit, has an octa-core Mediatek Helio X10 chip with the clock speeds of up to 2.0GHz, 2GB of RAM and only 16GB of non-expandable storage.

This combo of hardware is absolutely enough to run the most graphically demanding tasks like gaming. The graphics don’t look that stunning like on the flagship phones but they still look great. Also, there are no hiccups whatsoever and this is a top-notch performance for a budget phone.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Review: MULTIMEDIA

When it comes to multimedia consumption, Xiaomi implemented a pretty good loudspeaker with a decent amount of depth. The quality of sound via earphones is decent too.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Review: CAMERA

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 has a 13MP camera with PDAF and dual-tone dual LED flash.

The camera app is fast and easy to use and there are a few shooting modes and settings to play with.

I have to say that I spend a lot of time testing this camera. First of all, I’ve tested it with the V. 7.0.7.0 software, which is still the only one available to download via the OTA update (I live in the EU). The results came out pretty terrible and I couldn’t believe what I saw.

That’s why, I went to the MIUI forums and flashed the newest version (V. 7.0.16.0) of software manually and re-tested the camera. Keep in mind that the latest update is still not available via OTA for some unknown reasons, at least in the EU region.

These were my initial thoughts with the V.7.0.7.0 software:

“The picture quality kind of shocked me. In short, it is terrible and it is obvious that this is a software related issue as an older Redmi Note 2 has a much better camera.

Low-light shots do not impress either. Well, they are not the worst we’ve seen in this budget phones category but the level of details and brightness could be higher, and amount of noise could be lower”.

Image quality conclusions after V.7.0.16.0 software update:

The daylight images produced by the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 are pretty good and definitely one of the best in this price range of phones.

The images have a good amount of details, colours look natural most of the time and most of the shots will definitely look great.

The indoor shots look a bit worse but they are still pretty good for a phone of this price category. There is a bit more noise, less details but the most of the images still look good overall.

As far as the night shots, it would be unfair to expect much from a budget phone. The images turn out not bad at all. While the level of details is lower and the noise levels are higher than daylight pictures, the night photos shot by the Redmi Note 3 are definitely one of the best in class.

The embedded dual-tone dual LED flash is pretty powerful and it illuminates the scene with a natural looking light. Thus, you may get a pretty good image in low-light/pitch dark environment.

The front facing camera will do the trick for social media as most of the times you will get a pretty good looking image. However, softer focus issue may kick in from time to time.

When it comes to the video recording, it is mediocre as on most of the budget phones. However, if we compare it with other cheap devices, the Redmi Note 3 does a pretty good job overall. See the video review or download the original video camera sample from the link below.

All in all, while being not perfect, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 has one of the best camera in this price range of phones.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Review: CONNECTIVITY

All the connectivity options like Wifi, GPS and Bluetooth work absolutely fine. Also, the call quality and signal reception were great.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Review: BATTERY LIFE

The Redmi Note 3 has a 4000mAh battery and I have to say that it performs very well. I could get almost 5 hours of screen on time (hereinafter – SOT) even though I used the phone quite intensively. If you are a light user and you mainly do basic tasks, you may even get over 6 hours of SOT.

Finally, a great battery performance was confirmed by Geekbench 3 battery test as the phone managed to achieve over 10 hours of SOT with dim screen feature off (I accidentally turned the benchmark test off at 26% which adds 2 hours and 36 minutes of SOT).

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Review: CONCLUSIONS

So, there you have it, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3. For the price of just around $180, this is a really great phone for a lot of reasons, yet it is not perfect.

The Redmi Note 3 has a great design and all-metal build, and the phone definitely looks great. Also, the 5.5” display is nice to look at, the MIUI has been improved as the user interface performance is mostly fast and fluid.

Also, this budget phone can easily handle even the most graphically intensive games, all the connectivity options work great and the battery life is very good.

Furthermore, the camera is one of the better ones in this price range of phones.

However, you may get some images with softer focus if you do not hold your hands steady and the video quality could be slightly better.

All in all, Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 is definitely great and one of the best budget smartphones of the year for many reasons. Although it may may not be perfect but there is nothing significantly better on the market at the moment and this phone is one of your best bets in this price range.

Oukitel K4000 Pro detailed specifications and new pics

Elephone Official announcement and Ele Cam 12 12 Deal

ELE Cam 12 12 Deal