Last year, Doogee unveiled a new brand of smartphones called as the HOMTOM which focused on large batteries. Given that phones which can last for a couple of days on a single charge are popular among customers, the HOMTOM smartphone lineup seems like a practical brand at the moment.
The latest smartphone model in the lineup is the new HOMTOM HT7 Pro which brings pretty good specs and value for its super cheap $89.99. Even the overall design is pretty good for a budget phone, featuring a classic brushed metal back cover. The phone’s also thin, measuring just 7.9mm in thickness.
As for the specs, the HOMTOM HT7 Pro comes with the decent MT6735 64-bit quad-core processor under the hood with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of expandable internal storage. These are good specs for a sub $100 device. As for the display, you have a large 5.5-inch IPS screen with 1280 x 720 pixel HD resolution.
Cameras are also standard, featuring a 13MP sensor at the back and a 5MP sensor up front. Connectivity features include 4G LTE support, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS. Also, you get Android 5.1 Lollipop OS out of the box.
Finally, for battery, which is the highlight of the device, you get a large 3000mAh capacity battery pack on board, which should power the device for a couple of days easily. As you can see, the specs are pretty good and the overall design is also attractive. Looks like you have got yet another good looking budget smartphone to consider.
Check out more details like supported bands and shipping from the link given below. The phone is currently up for pre-order at lightinthebox for $89.99 in black and silver color options.
As we near the launch of the Xiaomi Mi 5 flagship, which is on February 24, more and more details about the device are getting clear. We already know that the phone will use Snapdragon 820 quad-core chipset on board, thanks to the confirmation from the company’s Senior VP, Liwan Jiang. Now, it looks like the same executive has revealed another important feature of the device, namely the display resolution.
Liwan revealed via his official Weibo page that the upcoming Xiaomi Mi 5 flagship will come with an FHD 1080p resolution display. This contradicts previous rumors which stated that the flagship will have at least one variant with Quad HD 2K resolution. But given that Liwan has confirmed this today, it looks like Xiaomi has decided not to use 2K on its upcoming device.
While some fans may be disappointed to hear this news, it kind of makes sense. From what we have seen till now, the Xiaomi Mi 5 flagship is expected to come with a compact 5 / 5.2-inch display. Considering these two possibilities, the pixel density of the device goes up to 445 ppi in case of a 5-inch display and 424 ppi in case of a 5.2-inch display. In both the cases, the pixel density is quite impressive and given the right panel, the phone’s screen should be sharp and clear.
Plus, 2K displays take up much more power than 1080p panels, which means you get better battery life on the phone. So, sticking with an FHD display on a compact phone is actually not a bad idea. Remember what Huawei CEO Yu Chengdong had to say about 2K displays last year?
Also, Liwan adds that it won’t be a regular 1080p panel, so we can expect something new on the device.
Other features such as dual SIM dual standby, 4G LTE support and NFC have been confirmed so far. As for the other specs that are yet to be confirmed, it is said that the phone will feature 3GB + 32GB and 4GB + 64GB memory options, 16MP rear camera with PDAF and Laser Autofocus, 8MP front-facing camera, front placed fingerprint sensor and a large 3600mAh battery.
Stay tuned as we bring new information about the Mi 5 in the coming days.
Samsung has confirmed that the Galaxy S7 launch is scheduled for February 21. While rumors have given us a fair idea about the device, earlier today we spotted three new variants of the Galaxy S7 flagship on the Chinese 3C certification website. While 3C certification tells us very little about the phone’s specifications, it confirms different variants of the device as well as the potential launch in China. Once a model passes 3C and TENAA certifications, it’s only a matter of time until the phone goes on sale in the country.
The three models namely Galaxy S7 model SM-G9308, SM-G9300, and Galaxy S7 edge model SM-G9350 are confirmed for now. All the three phones support fast charging at 9V 1.67A and 5V 2A. Unfortunately, nothing more can be confirmed about the S7 models from this certification. But hopefully, a TENAA listing will reveal most of the specs of these devices.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3g3O94WALV8
The company has also released a teaser video for the Galaxy UNPACKED 2016 event to be held on February 21. Even the video is uninformative to a large extent, with the only feature that we can take from it is VR. So, it looks like the upcoming Galaxy S7 models could have some special VR-centric feature.
Anyways, since the models have passed 3C certification, we hope to see more details in the coming days. So, stay tuned.
LeTV, now known as LeEco showcased its new flagship smartphone, the Le Max Pro at CES 2016. It is the first Snapdragon 820 powered smartphone to be launched in the market. However at the event, the company failed to give out details about the phone’s availability or market release.
Now, it looks like, Le Max Pro is all set to enter the Chinese market as it has passed through TENAA, the Chinese equivalent of US’s FCC. Once a device gets TENAA certification, you can expect it to be available in China pretty soon.
TENAA listing reveals that the Le Max Pro will be powered by the quad-core 2.2GHz Snapdragon 820 chipset with 4GB of RAM on board and 64GB of internal storage. There will be a massive 6.3-inch display with 2K resolution. At the back, you will find a 21MP camera, while up-front, there’s a 4MP Ultrapixel camera.
Apart from being the first phone with Snapdragon 820, the phone also boasts of being the first smartphone with Qualcomm’s Ultrasonic fingerprint sensor, Sense ID. The sensor is located at the back of the device. Inside, you will find a decent 3400mAh battery on board with fast charging.
Other features include dual SIM dual standby, bezelless design, 167×93.4×8.95mm dimensions, and Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS out of the box. As for the design, its almost similar to the design philosophy of the previous generation LeTV smartphones with an all metal body.
As you can see, the phone is quite powerful. But we will have to wait and watch whether upcoming smartphones like Xiaomi Mi 5 and the Samsung Galaxy S7 beat the Le Max Pro in terms of performance. Both the devices are expected to be unveiled in the second half of February with Snapdragon 820 chip on board.
Pricing is still unclear, but rumors say that the Le Max Pro will be priced around 3499 Yuan ($535) which is actually quite costly for a Chinese flagship. But this information is not official yet, so we better wait for some concrete details.
Huawei recently unveiled the Holly 2 Plus smartphone in India for a competitive price tag of Rs. 8499. It’s actually a pretty good phone for its price, with decent specs and a large battery. However, when we have a smartphone like Redmi 3 that was launched recently, it becomes necessary to compare the new model from Huawei to see how it fares against the powerful Redmi 3. So, without wasting anymore time, let’s move on to the Holly 2 Plus vs Redmi 3 comparison.
Holly 2 Plus vs Redmi 3
DISPLAY:
In the display department, there are hardly any surprises. You get the usual 5-inch 1280 x 720 pixel resolution IPS LCD screens on both the devices. So, the display quality should be more or less similar.
CPU & MEMORY:
In the CPU department, there’s actually one major difference. The Huawei Honor Holly 2 Plus comes with a modest MT6735 quad-core chip, which currently powers other low-end Chinese smartphones. On the other hand, Xiaomi has impressed us by using a much more powerful Snapdragon 616 processor with eight cores. This chip with Adreno 405 GPU will any day blow away Holly 2 Plus in performance.
As for the RAM, both the phones come with 2GB RAM on board. You get 16GB storage on both the devices, and both are expandable. However, the Holly 2 Plus is only expandable up to 32GB while the Redmi 3 can be expanded up to 128GB. There’s another catch, unlike the Huawei model, the Redmi 3 uses SIM 2 slot for MicroSD, so you will lose dual SIM function if you want to expand storage.
CAMERA:
We can’t really judge the camera quality without actually testing it in real life conditions. You can check out our Redmi 3 review for camera samples, but for the Holly 2 Plus, you will have to wait for some time.
On paper, Redmi 3 seems to have a better setup with PDAF (Phase Detection Autofocus). Both come with a 13MP rear sensor with LED flash. As for the front camera, you get 5MP shooters on both the models.
BATTERY & SOFTWARE:
In the battery department, both Huawei and Xiaomi have done a great job. The Honor Holly 2 Plus comes with a large4000mah battery and the Redmi 3 comes with an even larger 4100mAh battery. So, both the models should easily give you a couple of day’s battery life. Another thing to note is that both models support fast charging.
As for connectivity, you have the usual 4G LTE, dual SIM dual standby, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth etc. And for software, both come with Android 5.1 but with their respective manufacturer skins on top i.e. EMUI 3.1 for Huawei and MIUI 7 for Xiaomi.
PRICING & AVAILABILITY:
Honor Holly 2 Plus is priced at Rs. 8499 in India which comes to $125. On the other hand, the Redmi 3 is officially priced at $106 in China, but its launch in international markets is still unclear.
So, the Huawei model does have an edge as it is available to pre-order right now in India. On the other hand, you may have to wait for a few months more to get your hands on Redmi 3 officially. But then, if you are impatient, you have the option of third-party retailers as well.
To make the Holly 2 Plus vs Redmi 3 comparison easier, check out the table down below.
The phone comes with just a power plug and the USB cable.
Blackview BV2000s: DESIGN
The device is very compact as it has a 5” display and the phone is made of plastic. My review unit comes in white colour but it has a lot more other colour options.
On the front top there is a 2MP snapper along with other usual stuff. On the bottom you can find a physical home button and non-backlit capacitive keys.
On the back you can find an 8MP shooter with dual LED flash and the speaker grill.
The buttons are located on the right side and they have a great tactile feedback.
Under the hood, there is a removable 2400mAh battery, two SIM card slots and the microSD card slot.
Overall, the phone is well built and I have no complaints at all.
Blackview BV2000s in pictures:
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Blackview BV2000s: DISPLAY
The Blackview BV2000s has a 5” 720p panel, which is pretty sharp, it has decent colour reproduction and it is a good display overall for such a cheap phone.
Blackview BV2000s: UI
The phone runs on Android 5.1 with the Blackview’s skin on top of it, which removes the app tray without any reason but it adds a lot of customisation options and other features for a budget phone.
You can customise the device using the dedicated theme store, change wallpapers, adjust launcher settings and so on.
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As far as extra features go, you have some typical gesture and motion controls. They all work okay and gesture recognition is pretty accurate. However, I found them to be kind of slow to work.
When it comes to day-to-day performance, it is pretty good and I can see a significant improvement over the regular BV2000. The UI is running smoothly most of the times. There were just a few times when some stutter kicked in but there is nothing to be worried about.
Blackview BV2000s: BENCHMARKS
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Blackview BV2000s: HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE
The Blackview BV2000s is not going to be your next powerhouse device. It has an MTK6580 64bit Quad Core 1.3GHz CPU, 1GB of RAM and just 8GB of expandable storage.
The 3D gaming experience is actually no bad. I played Asphalt 8 for extensive period of time on medium graphics settings. I didn’t have lags and there were just a few skipped frames. Still, I would say that the Blackview BV2000s is a good performer for the phone this cheap.
Blackview BV2000: CAMERA and IMAGE QUALITY
As far as camera, the 8MP shooter does not impress. Even the daylight shots don’t look good. There is a low amount of details, there are some focusing issues and the images will not impress you.
The low-light shots…. They do not impress either as the images lack in every aspect you can imagine.
Same can be said with the 720p video quality.
Blackview BV2000: MULTIMEDIA
Consuming HD content is an okay experience as the playback is smooth. However, the sound that is coming out of the rear mounted speaker is kind of tinny. Well, this is what you should expect from such a cheap phone.
Blackview BV2000: CONNECTIVITY
As far as connectivity, everything is working fine as I had no issues with the Wifi, GPS, Bluetooth, call quality or signal reception.
Blackview BV2000s: BATTERY LIFE
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When it comes to the battery life, it is pretty good. The 2400mAh unit can last you a full day and you will get around 4 hours of screen-on time on light usage.
Blackview BV2000s: CONCLUSIONS
The Blackview BV2000s is indeed a cheap phone and you can get it for less than $70. It has a decent design and good build quality, and a pretty good display for such a low price.
Also, the UI and even gaming performance is pretty good and I can see a noticeable upgrade over the previous BV2000 model.
However, the camera is kind of disappointment but this is what you get with the phones this cheap.
All in all, Blackview BV2000s is a pretty good offering for a very low price of just below $70. While it is not perfect as the camera does not impress but it does other things pretty much right and you simply cannot expect more for the price.
Huawei broke its own record last year when it sold more than 107 million smartphones worldwide. And more than 40% of its sales were in markets other than China, which shows the company’s hold in international regions. India is one of the important markets for this Chinese giant, and the company just recently unveiled the two budget models in the country, namely the Huawei Honor 5X and the Holly 2 Plus models. These two devices are decently priced and come with pretty good specs. In India, it goes on sale in February at Rs. 12,999 and Rs. 8,499 respectively. However, if you were to directly compare these models to the recently unveiled Xiaomi Redmi 3 and the Redmi Note 3 (new version), you would realize that these models are still way behind the new Redmi series, which features better specs and cheaper price tags.
Since we expect both, the Redmi 3 and the Redmi Note 3 to hit the Indian subcontinent in the next few months, it becomes necessary for us to compare which offers more value for money. So, if you are willing to wait for a couple of months more, you may end up with a better deal.
Hence, let’s take a look how these newly announced Honor models stand up against the new Redmi series. In this first article, we will compare the Honor 5X vs Redmi Note 3 (Snapdragon version).
Honor 5X vs Redmi Note 3
Huawei’s Honor 5X is a pretty good smartphone, featuring an all-metal body and mid-range specifications. It comes with a 5.5-inch IPS LCD display with FHD 1080p resolution. Under the hood, the phone houses the mid-range Snapdragon 615 octa-core 64-bit chipset with 2GB / 3GB RAM options. As for storage, you get 16GB on both the RAM variants. The camera is of 13MP but without PDAF. The front camera is of 5MP. The battery on board is pretty large, of 3000mAh capacity. Other features include a fingerprint sensor, Android 5.1 with EMUI 3.1 skin on top, 4G LTE support and dual SIM dual support. All these specs for Rs. 12,999 is pretty aggressive.
However, when directly compared to the cheaper Redmi Note 3, the phone looks under-powered. As you can see the comparison below, the Redmi Note 3 is powered by the powerful Snapdragon 650 processor with a newer and faster Adreno 510 GPU. You have a larger storage option (3GB RAM + 32GB storage) as well as a better camera (16MP) on board. Plus, you get the fast PDAF for the rear shooter. Now, coming to the best part, the Redmi Note 3 beats the Honor 5X in the battery department, thanks to its massive 4000mAh capacity battery. Also, if you are searching for a phone with an infrared port, the Redmi Note 3 has this port as well.
While Xiaomi hasn’t officially unveiled the Redmi Note 3 in India, this Snapdragon 650 powered device is expected to hit the market in the next couple of months. When it does, it will probably be cheaper than Huawei’s Honor 5X, making it a much better deal. However, if you can’t wait for that long and are looking for a good smartphone, the Honor 5X is quite decent too. Well, end of the day, its your personal choice.
To make this comparison easier, check out the table below.
BC Master, an underdog in the Smartphone charger industry has released a new USB car charger which can charge any supported smartphone/device which has Qualcomm QuickCharge technology upto 75% faster than any charger out there.
Everyone has at least one smartphone, a wearable or a tablet with them, and running out battery is the worst nightmare for users who rely heavily on the afformentioned devices. While one can just plugin the device to the charger which came with the device, or an after-market one, none of them can charge the device fast enough to get it up and running quickly.
BC Master has been offering chargers for a lot of devices for a long time inside mainland China. Now, they have entered into the overseas market, with the US as its first target. To ensure their success BC Master is practically giving away these QuickCharge equipped chargers for free on Amazon.com right now. The chargers are compatible with all the devices which have been approved with QuickCharge and a few popular devices like the iPhones and iPads.
USB Car Chargers with QuickCharge technology are very rare, and so is getting one for free. If you are quick you can get one for free form Amazon.com right now. All you need is an Amazon.com account (Remember, the account needs to be created only on Amazon.com). Click the link below to go the product page of the BC Master USB Car Charger with Qualcomm QuickCharge 2.0, right now to get one.
Even if you can’t grab one of the free ones, you can still get these chargers for next to nothing. There is a massive discount on all of BC Master’s QuickCharge 2.0 Enabled Chargers on Amazon.com.
Last night, Xiaomi sent out a new update for the Redmi Note 3 smartphone. Like tradition, users immediately started upgrading their phones hoping for better performance from their devices. For some, the update was installed automatically.
However, just after the update, users started complaining about frequent Wi-Fi disconnections and connection problems. Given that we practically cannot live without Wi-Fi nowadays, it became a big issue for the users who updated their devices. As a result, many of them resorted to the online forums to voice their problems. Also, some even complained that their phones were bricked after the automatic update. Imagine you are asleep and your phone updates automatically and you wake up to find out that your phone is bricked.
This is not the first time we are hearing about Redmi Note 3’s Wi-Fi issues. Earlier, we had found that many users were facing issues with connectivity with their MT6795 Helio X10 powered devices. So, some blamed the chipset for the problem. However, later Mediatek clarified that Helio X10’s Wi-Fi chip is fine and it is actually the software that’s the real culprit. While we expected the new update to improve the Wi-Fi connectivity, it seems to have worsened it.
So, if you have the Redmi Note 3, you better skip this one and wait for the next update.
Xiaomi has been on a roll as they released quite a few smartphones lately and we have a few really interesting devices here – the Redmi 3 and the Remi Note 3. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the battle of Xiaomies.
Xiaomi Redmi 3 vs Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Comparison Review: DESIGN and DISPLAY
When it comes to the looks, both phones carry the same design language but what is obvious is that the Redmi 3 is a lot smaller as it sports only a 5” 720p panel whereas the Note 3 has a 5.5” 1080p one.
Speaking of displays, it is evident that the Note 3 has a better panel mainly due to its sharpness as it simply has more pixels. The Redmi 3 also sports a good display but it has only 720p resolution. On the other hand, it is slightly brighter and the white colour does not look a bit yellowish as on the Note 3.
On the front top both smartphones have 5MP selfie shooters and the Note 3 has a notification LED here whereas the Redmi 3 has implemented it near the home button, which is, the same as other capacitive keys, not backlit.
The Redmi Note 3 has an edge here as its capacitive buttons have a nice backlight.
Both Xiaomies are made almost entirely of metal (except for the top and bottom parts for antennas). As far as optics, smartphones have 13MP shooters with PDAF but only the Note 3 has a dual tone dual LED flash as the Redmi 3 has a single LED.
Another advantage that the bigger Xiaomi phone has – a fingerprint scanner, which is a feature that has become important for many users.
The buttons, which are located on the right on each phone feel nice and they are made of metal too. On the left we have a dual micro SIM card slot on the Redmi Note 3 but the Redmi 3’s one slot also doubles as a microSD card for storage expansion.
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 on each device and I was able to control my TV in a few minutes.
Overall, both Xiaomies feel solid and they are well-constructed devices. The metal build adds that premium look and feel we don’t see on all budget phones and this is what you are getting with either Xiaomi handset.
Xiaomi Redmi 3 vs Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Comparison Review: USER INTERFACE
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Xiaomi Redmi 3 comes with MIUI 7.1, which is built on top of Android 5.1 and the Note 3 has a very similar yet older Android 5.0 build.
The user interface is identical on each phone, well, they run the same MIUI after all. But what about performance? Well, it is really comparable. However, the Note 3 is just slightly faster at times, e.g. it may take a split of a second longer to open up the settings menu or do some other basic stuff on the Redmi 3. On the other hand, this phone still runs on a very early software build whereas the Note 3 has already received numerous software updates.
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. You can select from a few pre-installed ones or simply go to the online theme store where you will find thousands of different themes to suit everyone’s taste.
Also, you can highly customise the LED light, assign different tasks to capacitive buttons and so on.
Finally, MIUI runs fast and fluid most of the times on each device. There were just a few minor hiccups but they are not even worth complaining about. Overall, I’m happy with the way the user interface works on a daily basis especially if you consider a feature set and customisation options it offers.
Xiaomi Redmi 3 vs Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Comparison Review: HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE
Xiaomi Redmi 3 has a pretty good hardware as it sports an octa-core Snapdragon 616 chip with the clocks speeds of up to 1.5GHz, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of expandable storage.
The Redmi Note 3 is no slouch either. The lower-end model of the phone, which is my review unit, has an octa-core Mediatek Helio X10 chip with the clock speeds of 2.0GHz, 2GB of RAM and only 16GB of non-expandable storage.
Both phones have enough processing power, so you can have enjoyable 3D gaming experience without any stutter or lag, well, if you do not max out the graphics settings.
In addition, neither phone has overheating issues.
Xiaomi Redmi 3 vs Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Comparison Review: CAMERA
As far as the image quality, I have made a separate camera comparison video, so you may want to check it out for more camera samples.
The daylight photos taken with the Redmi Note 3 usually have more details, a little bit less noise and they tend to be slightly brighter. However, some of the images taken by both Xiaomies are comparable.
It is a similar story with indoor shots and here the Redmi Note 3 shines in one more aspect – dynamic range. The auto-mode does a better job equally exposing the main object and shadows of the scene.
What is more, Redmi 3’s camera produced a lot more blurry shots, which led to quite terribly looking photos.
Finally, the Redmi Note 3 has a wider FOV (field of view) meaning that you can fit more into the shot.
As for night images, the Note 3 just blows the Redmi 3 out of the water. It produces images with much more details and less noise and the pictures just look much better overall.
The Redmi 3 also has a very annoying red tint in each night photo.
As for selfie shooter, the Redmi Note 3 is also better overall but the difference is not always significant.
1080p video recording is a department where the Note 3 shines again. It’s footage is not flawless as it is also a budget phone but the device’s camera captures more details, the footage looks sharper and last but not least the sound quality is much better.
Overall, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 is a clear winner in each and every aspect. Although some of the daylight images taken with the Redmi 3 can be comparable, its camera’s capabilities are much worse than the Note 3’s. Hopefully, we will see a few software updates to improve that.
As for multimedia consumption, the Redmi Note 3 is better mainly due to a bigger and higher resolution display. However, other aspects like sound via earphones and the loudspeaker are very close in terms of the overall quality and it is hard to choose a winner.
All the connectivity options work great on each device. Call quality is okay and signal reception is excellent. Also, Wifi, GPS and Bluetooth are working fine. However, I was disappointed that the Redmi 3 does not support 5GHz Wifi connection, while the Note 3 has this feature.
Xiaomi Redmi 3 vs Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 Comparison Review: BATTERY LIFE
The Xiaomi Redmi 3 has a huge 4100mAh non-removable battery. However, its bigger brother is no slouch either as it sports a 4000mAh unit. That sounds comparable but the Redmi 3 has to power a smaller display with lesser resolution and thus it leads to a better battery life.
Xiaomi Redmi 3:
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In fact, the power pack on the Redmi 3 is one of the best in class. I could not squeeze the battery out in one day even on heavy usage that involved gaming, installing lots of apps, watching a lot videos, taking pictures, browsing the web and so on.
I was able to achieve over 7 hours of screen-on time with max. auto brightness setting of the screen.
Redmi Note 3:
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The Redmi Note 3 is not that good but it still performs well. I could get from 5 to 5.5h of SOT under exactly the same usage.
So, there you have it, the Xiaomi Redmi 3 vs the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3. Both smartphones are great choices in their respective price categories.
However, the Redmi Note 3 is a better device overall. It has a bigger and better display, better camera and some extras like a fingerprint scanner, and backlit capacitive buttons.
On the other hand, the Redmi 3 is for those who want a compact phone, a better battery life and a storage expansion option via the microSD card slot. Finally, the Redmi 3 costs less. It can be bought from the third-party resellers for around $150 whereas the Remi Note 3 would cost you around $180.
At the end of the day, if you want a better device and you don’t mind its size, take the Redmi Note 3. If you love compact cheap phones but you can’t find a good one, take the Redmi 3 but make sure to consider its flaws.
Every year Mobile World Congress brings a lot of surprises and moments of enjoyments to cherish. This year it is going to be no different at the largest mobile trade show in Barcelona, Spain.
Device makers across the globe are preparing for this upcoming mega event and so is Oppo, the tech giant from China credited with numerous immensely successful smartphones. And if all goes as expected then Oppo is going to launch a camera centric smartphone that goes by the name of Oppo F1 Plus.
Oppo has released a teaser for the same which indicates that Oppo F1 Plus will be launched at this year’s Mobile World Congress in Spain.
This is the same smartphone that Oppo talked about on the India launch of Oppo F1, the first smartphone in the camera centric Oppo F series of smartphones. Though no information related to the specifications of the smartphone is available right now but we can expect few more things to uncover in the next few weeks leading up to the MWC.
It will worth watching what actually Oppo has in its arsenal for Oppo F1 Plus and is it going to be the only product from Oppo? Also, we are all eagerly waiting for some news about the Oppo Find 9 flagship. Hopefully the company will reveal some details about the device at the event.
Huawei broke its own record last year when it sold more than 107 million smartphones worldwide. And more than 40% of its sales were in markets other than China, which shows the company’s hold in international regions. India is one of the important markets for this Chinese giant, and the company just recently unveiled the two budget models in the country, namely the Huawei Honor 5X and the Holly 2 Plus models. These two devices are decently priced and come with pretty good specs. In India, it goes on sale in February at Rs. 12,999 and Rs. 8,499 respectively. However, if you were to directly compare these models to the recently unveiled Xiaomi Redmi 3 and the Redmi Note 3 (new version), you would realize that these models are still way behind the new Redmi series, which features better specs and cheaper price tags.
Since we expect both, the Redmi 3 and the Redmi Note 3 to hit the Indian subcontinent in the next few months, it becomes necessary for us to compare which offers more value for money. So, if you are willing to wait for a couple of months more, you may end up with a better deal.
Hence, let’s take a look how these newly announced Honor models stand up against the new Redmi series. In this first article, we will compare the Honor 5X vs Redmi Note 3 (Snapdragon version).
Honor 5X vs Redmi Note 3
Huawei’s Honor 5X is a pretty good smartphone, featuring an all-metal body and mid-range specifications. It comes with a 5.5-inch IPS LCD display with FHD 1080p resolution. Under the hood, the phone houses the mid-range Snapdragon 615 octa-core 64-bit chipset with 2GB / 3GB RAM options. As for storage, you get 16GB on both the RAM variants. The camera is of 13MP but without PDAF. The front camera is of 5MP. The battery on board is pretty large, of 3000mAh capacity. Other features include a fingerprint sensor, Android 5.1 with EMUI 3.1 skin on top, 4G LTE support and dual SIM dual support. All these specs for Rs. 12,999 is pretty aggressive.
However, when directly compared to the cheaper Redmi Note 3, the phone looks under-powered. As you can see the comparison below, the Redmi Note 3 is powered by the powerful Snapdragon 650 processor with a newer and faster Adreno 510 GPU. You have a larger storage option (3GB RAM + 32GB storage) as well as a better camera (16MP) on board. Plus, you get the fast PDAF for the rear shooter. Now, coming to the best part, the Redmi Note 3 beats the Honor 5X in the battery department, thanks to its massive 4000mAh capacity battery. Also, if you are searching for a phone with an infrared port, the Redmi Note 3 has this port as well.
While Xiaomi hasn’t officially unveiled the Redmi Note 3 in India, this Snapdragon 650 powered device is expected to hit the market in the next couple of months. When it does, it will probably be cheaper than Huawei’s Honor 5X, making it a much better deal. However, if you can’t wait for that long and are looking for a good smartphone, the Honor 5X is quite decent too. Well, end of the day, its your personal choice.
To make this comparison easier, check out the table below.
Thanks to the numerous leaks and teasers, we know a lot about the upcoming Xiaomi flagship, the Xiaomi Mi 5. Now the latest leak gives us a look at the phone’s retail box. This is different than what we saw a couple of days back, which showed off the Mi 5 in a traditional recycled brown box. Given that the company has stopped using the brown box in its recent releases, it’s possible that the box leaked today is the real one.
While a box simply doesn’t tell much about the specs of device, what it does reveal is that the design will be like the renders that we have seen recently with a physical home button up front. Also, it shows us that there will be at least four different colors available for the device, including golden and pink apart from the usual black and white shades. This once again confirms the shades that we saw in the renders that were leaked a few days back.
While there are some specs of the Mi 5 that are yet to be confirmed, what we know for sure is that the phone will feature the powerful Snapdragon 820 quad-core chipset with support for dual SIM dual standby and NFC. Other features that are yet to be confirmed are its 5-inch QHD display, 3GB + 32GB and 4GB + 64GB memory options, 16MP rear camera with PDAF and Laser Autofocus, 8MP front-facing camera, front placed fingerprint sensor and a large 3600mAh battery.
Since the company is confirmed to be present at MWC 2016 in Barcelona, Spain, this year, we may see the smartphone launch in several new countries. However, for now, we cannot say much about the phone’s availability, so we better wait for some official details.
Also, we will be present at MWC 2016 to bring you live action from all the greatest launches in the tech world. So, stay tuned!
This year, Xiaomi is aiming big with its Xiaomi Mi5 flagship smartphone. The company CEO has already hyped up the device saying that the experience is beyond imagination, and we expect to see some great features on the device. Now, for the first time, Xiaomi could be looking at simultaneous launches of the Mi 5 at MWC, Barcelona and China. The company global VP Hugo Barra confirmed this via a tweet recently.
This will be the first time that the company is showcasing its new device at MWC (Mobile World Congress). MWC is one of the biggest tech expos of the year, and it’s a great platform to showcase the latest innovative gadgets from companies around the world. A launch at MWC could hint that Xiaomi is eager to enter new markets, probably even in Europe. With rivals like Huawei and ZTE expanding its international reach, it won’t be surprising if Xiaomi decided to extend its footprint into new markets in the region.
Xiaomi #Mi5 media preview in Barcelona on Feb 24—our first time ever hosting an event at MWC. Can't wait! pic.twitter.com/MU0GHsfIc3
We will be present at MWC 2016 in Barcelona, Spain, so we will bring you the latest coverage of the launch of the Mi 5 as well as other gadgets from the event. As of now, the Xiaomi Mi 5 is confirmed to come with Snapdragon 820, dual SIM dual standby and NFC. Rest of the features are expected to be confirmed in the coming days. So, stay tuned.
This is a review of a phone that has been made by a company you have probably not heard of. It is any good? Learn more in the full Morefine Max1 review.
As usual, let’s start by unboxing and see what’s inside. The contents of the packaging include a nice soft TPU case, two screen protectors, some instruction manuals, a charging plug and USB cable.
Morefine Max1: DESIGN and DISPLAY
I was initially surprised by the premium design and great build quality of the phone that is built by a rather unknown Chinese manufacturer.
Morefine Max1 has a metal frame going around the device along with metal buttons and the 5” display makes this device compact, and manageable with one hand.
Speaking of display, it is surprisingly good for a the phone that costs $120. It is bright, vivid and colour look vibrant. Also, it has excellent viewing angles.
Just above the screen there is a bright LED light, which has a few different colours but it is not customisable. As far as front firing optics, we have a modest 2MP shooter.
The chin of the phone is empty since Morefine Max1 has on-screen navigation buttons.
The glass back is a ridiculous fingerprint magnet but at least it helps with a grip. Here we have only 8MP camera with a single LED flash.
The buttons, which are very tactile, are located on the left but I never liked this idea on any phone. It could be just me but I am used to pressing keys on the right side and the buttons on the left are just not right.
The dual SIM card tray, where one slot also doubles as a microSD card slot is on the right.
As far as the loudspeaker, it is placed on the bottom where you can also find you micro USB charging port.
Finally, on the top there is just a headset jack.
Overall, the phone feels solid, it is well constructed and it does not feel cheap at all.
Morefine Max1: USER INTERFACE
As far as UI, we are looking at a nearly stock Android 5.1 build. Day-to-day performance is very smooth even with lots of apps running in the background and I didn’t have a single hiccup.
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To be honest, there are not too many extra features to talk about. The only neat addition would be a conveniently placed notification shade button. It is not something new but it is a cool feature to have.
However, there are a few minor bugs that hopefully will be fixed with the future software updates.
Firstly, there is no way to see the battery status in percents except for going deep in settings menu. Secondly, the auto-brightness of the screen feature dims the display too much for my taste, so I had to turn this feature off.
Also, you cannot simply close all the apps that run in the background and you have to close them one by one.
Well, these are just minor issues and hopefully they will be fixed soon.
Morefine Max1: HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE
The Morefine Max1 is not a powerhouse device as it has a quad-core MTK6735 chip with the clock speeds of just 1GHz, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of expandable storage.
While daily perforance is nice and smooth, playing Asphalt 8 on the highest graphics setting is laggy. However, once you reduce the graphics to medium, playing a game can be actually enjoyable with just a few skipped frames but with no major lag.
Lastly, the phone does not have any overheating issues.
Morefine Max1: MULTIMEDIA
When it comes to multimedia, the Morefine Max1 has a decent quality sound output via earphones but if you want to listen to some tunes via the loudspeaker, it will not impress you as any other phone in this price range. The sound is tinny and it lacks depth.
Morefine Max1: CAMERA
You can’t expect much from a phone this cheap that has only 8MP camera, right?
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The daylight images look pretty okay but the level of details is not that impressive and there could be less noise in some images.
The indoor and low-light shots are actually not the worst I’ve seen and many of them are more than usable. However, some of the shots came out blurry and there is quite a low amount of details and lots of noise in each image.
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As far as 2MP selfie shooter, it is not really impressive but it will do the trick for social media, just make sure to take selfies in good lighting.
720P video is like on most of similarly priced phones. Although, the footage is not terrible, it lacks in details and sharpness. See a video review for a video sample.
All the connectivity options work great. Call quality is okay and signal reception is excellent. Also, Wifi, GPS and Bluetooth are working fine.
Morefine Max1: BATTERY LIFE
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The phone has a 2150mAh battery and it performs surprisingly well for its capacitiy. I could get over 4 hours of screen-on time while mixing heavy and light usage and using various screen brightness settings.
Morefine Max1: CONCLUSIONS
So there you have it, Morefine Max1, the phone that looks great, it is compact and it sports some premium materials in its construction.
Also, Morefine Max1 has a decent 720P screen, the UI is very fast but it has a few minor bugs that have to be fixed.
The camera is pretty mediocre but it is capable of producing okay looking images in daylight.
The battery life is surprisingly good and overall, Morefine Max1 is a decent phone for the price of around $120 despite a few shortcomings.
This year, Xiaomi is aiming big with its Xiaomi Mi 5 flagship smartphone. The company CEO has already hyped up the device saying that the experience is beyond imagination, and we expect to see some great features on the device. Now, for the first time, Xiaomi could be looking at simultaneous launches of the Mi 5 at MWC, Barcelona and China. The company global VP Hugo Barra confirmed this via a tweet recently.
This will be the first time that the company is showcasing its new device at MWC (Mobile World Congress). MWC is one of the biggest tech expos of the year, and it’s a great platform to showcase the latest innovative gadgets from companies around the world. A launch at MWC could hint that Xiaomi is eager to enter new markets, probably even in Europe. With rivals like Huawei and ZTE expanding its international reach, it won’t be surprising if Xiaomi decided to extend its footprint into new markets in the region.
Xiaomi #Mi5 media preview in Barcelona on Feb 24—our first time ever hosting an event at MWC. Can't wait! pic.twitter.com/MU0GHsfIc3
We will be present at MWC 2016 in Barcelona, Spain, so we will bring you the latest coverage of the launch of the Mi 5 as well as other gadgets from the event. As of now, the Xiaomi Mi 5 is confirmed to come with Snapdragon 820, dual SIM dual standby and NFC. Rest of the features are expected to be confirmed in the coming days. So, stay tuned.
Elephone released their latest smartwatch, namely the Elephone W2 watch at this month’s conference in China. The watch is unlike the traditional smartwatches which feature a display on board. Instead, it relies on your smartphone for displaying different data and analysis. While this may sound not so convenient, it really helps in improving the battery life of the device. Elephone claims that the watch can last for up to 3 months on a single battery, which is impressive considering it features some smart functions.
The Elephone W2 comes with a pedometer and sleep monitor on board. As a result, it will track the number of steps that you have taken, and calories burnt during the day. Also, you can monitor your sleep pattern with the device. It can also act as a remote control for the camera on your smartphone.
The watch is IP53 certified as well, so it’s protected from dust and water splashes. There are other handy functions as well, such as alarm, notification alerts etc. You can connect the watch to any Bluetooth 4.0 enabled device and connect to the companion app for controlling various functions.
Elephone has priced the W2 Classic smartwatch pretty aggressively at $79.99. You can read more details about the watch’s overall specs and shipping info from the link given below.
Although the Chinese manufacturer, Gionee is not as famous as other counterparts like Xiaomi or Huawei, the company is slowly building its presence in a number of emerging markets. The company’s Gionee Marathon series phones are known for its large batteries and has garnered popularity in some markets. So, it’s not surprising to see that the company has announced a new low-end variant in the series called as the Gionee M5 Mini.
Gionee could be looking to target the budget market with this device as the M5 Mini uses MT6580 quad-core chipset, which is pretty low-end. It comes with four Cortex A7 cores and Mali-400MP2 GPU. The highlight of the chip is its low cost, which means that the M5 Mini should be cheap. Unfortunately, the company is yet to reveal an official price tag for the device.
Other specs are also pretty modest. The Gionee M5 Mini comes with 2GB of RAM with 16GB of expandable storage, 5-inch HD 720p display and a large 4000mAh battery. At the back, the phone gets an 8MP sensor while up front, a 5MP shooter. Given the large battery in its compact 5-inch body, the thickness is about 9.6mm, which is a bit fat considering other budget devices, but still acceptable given its battery capacity. As for software, the phone runs on Android 5.1 with Amigo OS 3.1 on top.
The 4000mAh battery on board also supports fast charge. The company claims that 10 minutes of charging will give you two days of standby, 2 hours of music playback and 1.5 hours of talktime. You can even use the device as a powerbank for reverse charging other devices.
The phone seems to be a direct competitor to the Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 with its large battery and entry level specs. However, in the processor front, MT6580 is no way near Snapdragon 616. As for the pricing and release details, the company has only revealed that the phone will be available in Nigeria for now.
We are all eager to meet the Xiaomi Mi 5 flagship, which will be launched next month. However, like tradition, Lei Jun has resorted to Weibo to tease some of the features of the handset.
Yesterday evening, he posted a screenshot of the Mi 5, which basically confirms two features on the flagship.
We can see a “N” icon on the taskbar on top, which should be for the NFC. Previously, we had seen from a leaked document that Xiaomi was bringing back the NFC feature to the new Mi 5 flagship, so this isn’t surprising. After removing the feature from its Mi 4 in 2014, it looks like the company feels NFC still has a lot to offer.
Another feature confirmed by the company is dual SIM dual standby. We can clearly see the two network icons with 4G LTE support on top, which means two SIM cards work on the device.
Apart from these two features, Lei Jun said in another post that there are a lot of surprises on the device. He has been using the phone for more than a month now and he says the overall experience is beyond imagination. Well, with Snapdragon 820 on board and 4GB RAM, the performance of the device will be nothing less than extraordinary. Plus, the Mi 5 is rumored to come with other top-end specs such as a 5-inch FHD display, 16MP rear camera, 8MP front shooter, Android 6.0 and a large 4000mAh battery.
The Xiaomi Mi 5 will officially release on February 24, which is still a month away. However, like tradition, expect a lot more details about the upcoming flagship via teasers, leaks and renders in the next couple of weeks.
Meanwhile, you can check out the leaked Xiaomi Mi 5 box from here.
ASUS Zenfone Max is one of the special smartphones in the market that cater to the needs of the large battery lovers. Given that the phone features modest specs, the phone should give you at least a couple of day’s of charge, which is quite good for a sub-$200 smartphone.
The Zenfone Max come with a large 5000mAh battery to keep your phone running all day long. It is powered by the modest Snapdragon 410 quad-core 64-bit processor with 2GB of RAM on board. While this isn’t a powerful chip, its pretty decent for an entry level device and will further aid in increasing the battery life of the device.
You get a large 5.5-inch display with 1280 x 720 pixel resolution IPS display. As for the optics, the rear camera will be of 13MP while the front shooter is of 5MP. You get 16GB of internal storage with the option to further expand up to 128GB via a MicroSD card slot.
As for the connectivity features, you have Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, 4G, GPS, GLONASS, A-GPS and dual SIM dual standby support. The support 4G bands are as follows TDD (B39 1900MHz), TDD (B38 2600MHz), FDD (B3 1800MHz), FDD (B1 2100MHz), TDD (B41 2500MHz), TDD (B40 2300MHz). Finally, for software, you get Android 5.1 Lollipop OS out of the box.
As you can see, the specs are just decent for its price. But what really sets the phone apart from the crowd is its large battery. So, if you are in the market looking for a phone that can last long, the Zenfone Max could be a good option. Check out more information from the link below.
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