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

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Dec 20, 2015

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

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

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

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

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

Is OnePlus Merging With OPPO?

By

Joel Joseph

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Dec 20, 2015

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

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

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

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

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

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

Letv Le 1s Review – Le Superphone or Not?

By

Linus

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Dec 20, 2015

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

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

Buy Letv Le 1s from Giztop

Letv Le 1s Review: VIDEO REVIEW

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

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

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

Letv Le 1s Review: UNBOXING

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

Letv Le 1s Review: SPECS

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

Letv Le 1s Review: DESIGN

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Letv Le 1s Review: DISPLAY

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

Letv Le 1s Review: UI

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Letv Le 1s Review: BENCHMARKS

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Letv Le 1s Review: HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE

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

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

Letv Le 1s Review: MULTIMEDIA

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

Letv Le 1s Review: CAMERA

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

Letv Le 1s Review: IMAGE QUALITY

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Download Letv Le 1 full resolution camera samples

Download 1080p video sample

Download 4k video sample

Letv Le 1s Review: CONNECTIVITY

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

Letv Le 1s Review: BATTERY LIFE

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

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

Letv Le 1s Review: CONCLUSIONS

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

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

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

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

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

Buy Letv Le 1s from Giztop

Patented Xiaomi Drone Could Be Controlled Via Its Mi Band Wearable

By

Joel Joseph

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Dec 18, 2015

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

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

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

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

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

Huawei Ships More Than 100 Million Smartphone Units In 2015!

By

Joel Joseph

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Dec 17, 2015

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

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

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

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

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

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

By

Linus

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Dec 17, 2015

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

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

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

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

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

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

Deal summary:

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

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

Coupon Code: DACMYB2V

Original price: $16.99 Discounted price: $9.99

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

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

By

Joel Joseph

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Dec 17, 2015

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

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

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

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

See the similarities?

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

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

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

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

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

By

Joel Joseph

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Dec 17, 2015

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

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

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

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

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

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

Smartisan T2 Posters Leaked Before Launch, Specs & Design Confirmed

By

Joel Joseph

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Dec 17, 2015

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Qualcomm Rebrands Its Newly Announced Chips As Snapdragon 650 & 652

By

Joel Joseph

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Dec 16, 2015

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

By

Joel Joseph

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Dec 16, 2015

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Let me know your answers to the above two questions.

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

By

Joel Joseph

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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

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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

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Blackview Offering Crazy Discounts For Its Best Sellers This Holiday Season

By

Joel Joseph

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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.

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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

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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

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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.

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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

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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:

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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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:

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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?

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

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

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

Letv Le 1s Review: VIDEO REVIEW

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

Letv Le 1s Review: UNBOXING

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

Letv Le 1s Review: SPECS

Display

5.5″ 1080p (Full-HD)

Processor

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

RAM

3GB

Camera

5MP Front/13MP Back, PDAF

Connectivity

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

Battery

3.000 mAh (non-removable)

Dimensions

151.1 x 74.2 x 7.5 mm / 169g

OS

eUI 5.5 (based on Android 5.0.2)

Storage

32GB (non-expandable)

Letv Le 1s Review: DESIGN

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Letv Le 1s Review: DISPLAY

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

Letv Le 1s Review: UI

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Letv Le 1s Review: BENCHMARKS

Letv Le 1s Review: HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE

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

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

Letv Le 1s Review: MULTIMEDIA

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

Letv Le 1s Review: CAMERA

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

Letv Le 1s Review: IMAGE QUALITY

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Letv Le 1s Review: CONNECTIVITY

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

Letv Le 1s Review: BATTERY LIFE

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

Letv Le 1s Review: CONCLUSIONS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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