Xiaomi Mi 5 Will Probably Feature Fingerprint Sensor On The Front

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Nov 11, 2015

Despite other manufacturers freely incorporating fingerprint sensor on their mid-range and high-end devices this year, Xiaomi is yet to release such a device. The Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 Pro is expected to be the company’s first smartphone with fingerprint sensor at the back. The phone will reportedly be launched before the end of this month. But we are most concerned about the second Xiaomi device to feature a fingerprint sensor, most likely the Xiaomi Mi 5 flagship.

According to new rumors, the fingerprint sensor on the Xiaomi Mi 5 will be located up front. The person who revealed this information adds that Mi 5 will feature Qualcomm’s latest Ultrasound 3D Fingerprint scanning technology. So, front would be the ideal location to place the sensor instead of the back, where users won’t be able to see it.

On the other hand, he says that for low end and budget devices, the fingerprint sensor would still be located at the back. Well, the Redmi Note 2 Pro leak that we saw a few weeks back had the sensor on the back. Its basically the same as the Redmi Note 2 with the addition of an all metal body and fingerprint sensor.

As for the specs of the Mi 5, it is said that the phone will feature the newly announced Snapdragon 820 chipset with 4GB of RAM, 16MP camera, 5.2-inch 1080p display and 3000mAh+ battery. As for the pricing, you can expect it to retail around $314. The Mi 5 is expected to meet us sometime before December end this year.

Ultimate Best Chinese Smartphones 2015 Camera Comparison

By

Linus

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Nov 11, 2015

Ultimate Best Chinese Smartphones 2015 Camera Comparison: VIDEO

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQaVwqn-5vA[/embedyt]

Camera is definitely one of the most important features on smartphones. A lot of Chinese manufacturers stepped up their game in the optics department. However, how do they stack up against each other? This is a 6-way camera comparison between the OnePlus 2, ZTE Axon Elite, Letv Le 1 Pro, Meizu MX5, vivo Xshot and the only non-Chinese flagship – Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge.

The full comparison review of the first 4 Chinese flagships is coming soon but this time around I want you to be the judge and let me know what you guys think in the comment section below the video.

Before we dive in to the actual comparison, let’s compare the camera specs of each device.

The OnePlus 2 uses a 13MP Omnivision (OV13860) sensor with f/2.0 aperture, OIS, singe tone dual LED flash and laser-assited auto-focus system.

The ZTE Axon went with the 13MP Sony IMX214 sensor and ZTE implemented a brighter f/1.8 aperture, single tone dual LED flash and OIS. In addition, there is an extra 2MP sensor, which is designed to collect depth information.

Letv Le 1 Pro uses the same Sony IMX214 13MP sensor but it has f/2.0 aperture with OIS and dual tone dual LED flash. Just bare in mind that the current Le 1 Pro unit I have runs on the unofficial international ROM, which, however, performs worse than the Chinese one.

The Meizu MX5 has a 21MP sensor made by Sony (IMX220) and it is the same camera module that has been used on the Sony Xperia phones for years. It has an f/2.2 aperture, dual tone dual LED flash and laser-aided auto-focus system.

Next up in the camera battle is the old vivo Xshot. Although it was released quite a while ago, it was made as a camera-centric device. The Xshot uses the Sony IMX214 sensor with f/1.8 aperture, dual tone dual LED flash and OIS.

Last but not least I included the Samsung Galaxy S6 edge in the comparison since it has one of the best if not the best camera on any Android phone today. My review unit has a 16MP Sony IMX240 sensor (Samsung ships their Galaxy S6/S6 Edge with either Sony or Samsung sensor) with f/1.9 aperture, single tone LED flash and OIS.

Right now sit back, relax and don’t forget to like the video, comment, subscribe and see you in the full 4-way comparison review where I’m gonna say best camera choice.

DOWNLOAD LINKS FOR ALL FULL RESOLUTION CAMERA SAMPLES ARE COMING SOON (currently I’m in the location with the super slow internet….)

Elephone S1 for just $70?

By

shanos

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Nov 11, 2015

Elephone S1 for just $70?

Is the Elephone S1 for just $70 a complete bargain or is it too little tech for 2015’s consumers? coming off the back of the moderately successful S2 and S2 phones, Elephone are about to add 2 new models to the S series phones, the S1 and S1 Plus.

The Elephone S1 will come with a 5 inch screen whilst the S1 Plus will come with a 5.5-inch screen, resolution for the screens is as yet unconfirmed but for this price I think the best we can hope for is a 720p unit.

Styling wise the handset renders for the S1 look very good, featuring glass rear panels and chamfered metal chassis, hopefully they will launch with Corning Gorilla Glass like the latest versions of the S2 and S2 plus.

Judging by the renders its safe to say that Elephone are aiming for a premium styling, at budget pricing.

In order to keep the price down so low some sacrifices will need to be made, the inclusion of the lower end quad core Mediatek MT6580 chip, is one such compromise, unless Elephone couple it to a separate LTE modem the S1 and S1 Plus will be strictly 3g handsets.

I guess the type of people looking at a phones with a price tag as low as $70 (£46), may still on a 3G data plan rather than a more costly 4G LTE plan.

What do you think? in 2015 and on in to 2016 will there still a market for non 4G LTE handsets? are Elephone playing a blinder that may see them clean up at the bottom end of the market? or is it just too little power in a market full of 4G handsets?

As always please leave any comments or questions below

Regards Shanos

Original article posted at Gadgetz.tv

Vivo X6 Will Come In An All Metal Body With Atleast Three Color Options

By

Joel Joseph

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Nov 10, 2015

Vivo has been teasing new features of the upcoming Vivo X6 flagship for the past couple of weeks. Now, the latest teaser from the company reveals a few information about the phone’s body and color options.

According to the teaser posted by Vivo earlier today, the Vivo X6 will come in an all metal body. The company has stressed that almost 98 percent of the entire body of the device has been made out of metal to give it a premium look. The body will be made out of an alloy of magnesium and aluminum to make sure that the phone is sturdy enough to avoid any bending issue. This can be a grave problem for super thin smartphones, which we expect the X6 to be.

The phone will come in at least three color options, Gold, Silver and the favorite, Rose Gold. The back will feature a smooth finish. Unfortunately, we can only see a portion of the back, so we can’t really confirm a rear placed fingerprint sensor like the one we saw yesterday.

As per the previous teasers, the Vivo X6 is confirmed to come with 4GB of RAM, a fast fingerprint sensor that supports payments as well as a fast processor. In the coming days, we expect to hear more about the device, so stay tuned!

Qualcomm Officially Unveils Snapdragon 820 With Custom Kryo Cores

By

Joel Joseph

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Nov 10, 2015

After months of teasers, Qualcomm has finally made the Snapdragon 820 chipset official. This is the next generation version of the existing Snapdragon 810 chip and the company has a lot of expectations from this new age chip.

The Snapdragon 820 will use custom Kryo cores instead of the standard ARM ones. While the company had been using custom cores for some time, in Snapdragon 810, Qualcomm decided to go with standard ARM cores. That clearly didn’t work out well for the company as its back with custom cores for its new generation version.

The 820 is a quad-core Kryo CPU which comes with the company’s Symphony System Manager, an intelligent resource management tool for Snapdragon that extends control of task scheduling and power management across the entire processor. The custom cores promises up to twice the performance as compared to the cores inside the Snapdragon 810. Also, they are going to be much more efficient, translating into better battery life. The efficient Hexagon 680 DSP should further help in increasing the battery life of the device powered by the 820 SoC.

In the GPU department, Qualcomm went with the new generation Adreno 530 which promises 40 percent improvement in graphics performance and efficiency as compared to the previous generation Adreno 430. The new chip also comes with the Spectra ISP which now supports sensors up to 28MP in size.

In the connectivity department, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 brings the latest X12 LTE modem which supports Cat. 12 download speeds (600MBps max) and Cat.13 upload speeds (150MBps). This is made possible thanks to the tri-carrier aggregation for downloads and dual-carrier aggregation for uploads. The chip is also the first commercial CPU to support the latest LTE-U technology which enables it to access LTE connections in both licensed spectrum and unlicensed spectrum. Finally, for Wi-Fi, the chip supports the 2×2 MU-MIMO 802.11ac connections.

The Snapdragon 820 chip comes with the new Quick Charge 3.0 technology which is four times faster than traditional charging methods and up to 38 percent faster than Quick Charge 2.0.

On paper, with the custom Kryo cores clocked at 2.2GHz, Adreno 530 and X12 LTE modem, the Snapdragon 820 turns out to be a powerhouse. However, we will have to wait for a couple of months at least to see its real life performance given that the first 820 powered smartphones will only meet us by early next year.

GIVEAWAY: Win A Free BlitzWolf 10400mAh Quick Charge 2.0 Power Bank

By

Joel Joseph

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Nov 10, 2015

For the past few weeks, we have given away one or sometimes even two products in a week. While most of the giveaways have been smartphones, this time around we are giving away a brand new BlitzWolf 10400mAh Quick Charge 2.0 Power Bank courtesy of Banggood.com. So, you have a chance to win this large powerbank which comes with QC 2.0 support for fast charging.

BlitzWolf 10400mAh powerbank supports Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 2.0 standard which means you can charge devices a blistering speeds of 5V/ 9V and even 12V. Moreover, if you are using a QC 2.0 charger to charge the powerbank, then it will be fully charged 75% faster than traditional chargers.

The powerbank comes with 18 months warranty and features LG batteries and an intelligent control chip from Texas Instruments.

You can check out the product link from here.

Blitzwolf 10400mAh QC 2.0 Powerbank

You can check out the full specs from here:

Specification:

Brand	BlitzWolf
Model	BW-P1
Capacity	10400mAh/37.44Wh
Battery Type	LG 2600mAh Li-ion Battery * 4
Input	5V/2.1A 9V/1.8A
Output	5V/2A (Universal)
	5V/2.1A 9V/1.8A 12V/1.35A (for Android QC2.0)
	5V/2.4A (for Apple)
Size	10276.821.5mm / 4.023.020.85in
Weight	270g±10g
Certification	CE,FCC,CEC,Qualcomm QC2.0

In order to participate in the giveaway, just follow the steps given in the gleam widget. The Giveaway starts today and will end on November 18.

Good Luck!

BlitzWolf 10400mAh Power Bank GiveAway

Vivo X6 With Rear Fingerprint Sensor Spotted In An Image Posted By Harper’s Bazaar Magazine

By

Joel Joseph

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Nov 10, 2015

Its no secret that Vivo X6 flagship will meet us soon. We have been hearing a lot about this upcoming device, both via official sources as well as leaks. Earlier today, the Vivo X6 was yet again spotted in an image, showing off a similar design as its predecessors but with a rear placed fingerprint sensor.

This time around, the Vivo X6 flagship was seen in an image posted by Harper’s Bazaar magazine on its official Weibo page. The image which was released early morning shows off the Vivo smartphone. The title of the image is about the backstage passes for the Victoria Secret’s Fashion Show, but we can clearly see Vivo phones besides those passes. We haven’t seen a Vivo smartphone with such a rear placed fingerprint sensor yet, which makes us believe that this is indeed the Vivo X6 flagship. Further, the image was posted using the Vivo X6 flagship. So, this could be our first official look at the device.

As for the other specs, the smartphone will feature 4GB of RAM inside with a fast fingerprint sensor that even supports fingerprint enabled payments. The company is yet to confirm other specs such as processor, internal storage as well as camera, but we can expect more details pretty soon.

As for the release, it looks like Vivo X6 will launch sometime early December. Stay tuned for more details in the coming days.

CEO Confirms ZUK Z2 Flagship Launching Next Year, Android 6.0 Coming Soon

By

Joel Joseph

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Nov 9, 2015

Since the ZUK Z1 flagship turned out to be so popular, everyone is left wondering whether we will be seeing a second generation version of the device, ZUK Z2 anytime soon. Another common question in the minds of existing ZUK users is when will the Android 6.0 update be available for them. A few hours earlier, ZUK CEO answered both of these questions.

First of all, CEO confirmed that the ZUK Z2 flagship will be meeting us only by next year. So, anyone who wished to see the rumored Snapdragon 820 powered Z2 before 2015 would be disappointed to hear this. But it does not come as a surprise given that if ZUK Z2 indeed featured Snapdragon 820, then it could only be available by next year. Unfortunately, the CEO failed to give out an exact time frame for the launch in 2016. But we are expecting it to be sometime in the first quarter.

Secondly, ZUK CEO also revealed a few details about the new ZUI version based on Android 6.0. According to him, the work on the new OS is going well and it will soon enter the closed beta stage. Releasing a new version of the OS involves a lot of aspects like modifying source code, adding manufacture specific features as well as compatibility testing. But, if everything goes well, users could get the new ZUI based Android 6.0 update for the ZUK Z1 (beta version) as soon as December end.

ZUK co-founder ChenYu had a more conservative estimate, saying that the final Android 6.0 will release by March 2016. As for the international version, the ZUK Z1 running on CyanogenMod will also be upgraded to Android 6.0, but only by early 2016.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 Price Cut Down To 699 Yuan ($110)

By

Joel Joseph

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Nov 9, 2015

Xiaomi is on a roll this month! The company has just announced that it will start selling the popular Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 smartphone for just 699 Yuan, a direct 100 Yuan drop from the already cheap pricing. This translates into a $15 cut down in price, which essentially means, the phone now retails for just $110.

The specs to price ratio is just amazing. At $110, you will get the Helio X10 MT6795 processor with 2GB RAM and 16GB of internal storage. There will be a 5.5-inch FHD 1080p LCD display up front which offers great visibility even under direct sunlight. At the back, there’s a 13MP camera with PDAF while up front, you get a 5MP OV camera. Other specs of the Redmi Note 2 include a large 3060mAh battery, 4G LTE connectivity and an infrared port up front. Overall, a great device for $110. Hopefully, third party retailers will start offering the device for a cheaper price tag in the coming days.

In the past few days, we have seen Xiaomi aggressively cut down the price of its popular devices for the 11/11 sale day. For example, the Xiaomi Mi Pad will sell for just 1099 Yuan ($172), Mi 4C at 1299 Yuan ($204) and the enhanced Redmi 2A version with 2GB RAM at 499 Yuan ($78).

Buy Xiaomi Redmi Note 2

Huawei P9 Max Spotted On AnTuTu With Kirin 950 & 4GB RAM

By

Joel Joseph

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Nov 9, 2015

Although all our eyes are towards the Huawei Mate 8 flagship which will launch on November 26, its looks like the company is preparing for another smartphone launch, the Huawei P9 Max. This will be the next generation model of the P8 flagship which was announced back in May.

The Huawei P9 Max was recently spotted on AnTuTu featuring high-end specs (model number P950S). According to the benchmark listing, the phone will feature the latest Kirin 950 chipset, probably the second device to use it after Mate 8. Further, there will be 4GB of RAM inside with 64GB of internal storage. This is going to be a true phablet since the listing reveals that the P9 Max will feature a large 6.2-inch display. What’s even more interesting is that the resolution is going to be 2K (2560 x 1600 pixels) which goes against Huawei’s principle of 1080p being enough for smartphone displays. Plus, the phone was running on the latest Android 6.0 OS.

With such high-end benchmarks, the Huawei P9 Max managed to score well above 73,000 points on AnTuTu. But the 3D graphics score was 16,822 points which is below many flagships like the Meizu Pro 5. In fact, you can compare the P9 Max with Kirin 950 and Pro 5 with Exynos 7420 side by side from the images below.

Apart from today’s benchmark leak, previous rumors have said that the Huawei P9 Max will come with dual cameras at the back with a side mounted fingerprint sensor.

Xiaomi’s 20,000mAh Mi Powerbank Can Charge Your Macbook More Than Once!

By

Joel Joseph

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Nov 9, 2015

A couple of days back, we had spotted the Xiaomi 20,000mAh Mi Powerbank. Now, Xiaomi has made this high-capacity powerbank official.

The 20,000mAh Mi powerbank comes with a special scratch proof body to ensure its durability. If you have used the previous powerbanks from the company, after a while, you would have seen a lot of scratches on it. To solve this issue, this particular device comes with a special textured body. There’s six high-density batteries from LG/ Panasonic taking the total capacity up to 20,000mAh.

The powerbank comes with two USB outputs which can charge devices pretty quickly, thanks to support for Quick Charge 2.0. This means that the devices connected to the powerbank can charge at (5V / 2A, 9V / 2A, 12V / 1.5A) with a maximum wattage of 18W. Given its large size, the 20,000mAh Mi powerbank will take about 5 hours to charge completely.

It can charge Mi 4 up to 4.5 times, iPhone 6 for 7 times, iPad Mini for 3 times and Macbook for 1.2 times. That’s not at all bad considering that the powerbank costs just 149 Yuan ($23).

Oukitel A29 Smartwatch presale

By

shanos

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Nov 9, 2015

Oukitel A29 Smartwatch presale is set to begin on online from tomorrow the 10th of November, the watch is priced at just $69.99 and works with Android and IOS devices or on its own using a micro sim card.

Judging by the renders it looks to be quite a stylish device and will be available in gold, silver and grey, looking at the provided render you can see what appears to be a Motorolla style flat tyre circular screen.

The Oukitel A29 Smartwatch presale will be available between the 10th of November through to the 20th of November.

Specifications for the Oukitel A29 Smartwatch presale device are listed below.

OUKITEL A29 Specs:

SIM Card: Support Micro SIM

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

Display Size(Inch): 1.22″ IPS capacitive touch screen, 240*206pixels

Languages: Support multi-language(14 language)

CPU: MTK2502C

Memory: 128MB ROM+64MB RAM

Connectivity: Bluetooth 4.0

Supported Operation System: Android , IOS

Sensor: Gravity Sensor

Smartphone assistant: Camera Control; Message Control, Media Control; Hand-Free Calls;

Fitness&Wellness: Community Share, Alarm Clock, Find My Device, Stopwatch, Timer, Sleep Tracker, Activity Tracker.

Please leave comments and questions below, we hope to get our hands on one to review soon.

Kind regards Shanos

Based on article originally posted at gadgetz.tv

Vivo X6 Will Feature Fingerprint Enabled Payment System

By

Joel Joseph

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Nov 9, 2015

After numerous months without a significant release, Vivo is all set to release a high-end smartphone, called the Vivo X6 in the coming few days. The company has been teasing the device via its official Weibo page since past week and the latest teaser reveals that the X6 will feature fingerprint recognition.

According to the teaser released on Weibo, the Vivo X6 will have a 360 degrees touch fingerprint sensor on board. Apart from basic functions like unlocking the device, the sensor will support fingerprint based payment system too. So, you will be able to make payments just like rival systems like Samsung Pay or Apple Pay. However, the company is yet to reveal the supported POS outlets in China, but we will probably get those details after launch.

At present, the company has confirmed that the phone will feature 4GB of RAM. This means you won’t have any trouble multi-tasking. However, apart from these two features, we have no concrete details on the specs. There have been rumors with pictures about the phone being super thin, somewhere around 4mm. But as of now, Vivo hasn’t confirmed it. Further, according to rumors, the phone will also feature 1GB of dedicated graphics memory.

Alleged image of the Vivo X6 — Alleged thin Vivo X6

Vivo X6 could turn out to be a powerful flagship. We still need more details on the processor and camera, so stay tuned to gizmochina for more details in the coming days.

Huawei Mate 8 Has Just Passed China’s 3C Certification Website, Fast Charge At 9V 2A

By

Joel Joseph

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Nov 8, 2015

Huawei has confirmed that the Mate 8 flagship will launch on November 26. While we patiently wait for the unveiling, the device has just hit China’s 3C Quality Certification website, revealing a few more information.

The Huawei Mate 8 flagship is expected to come in three different variants, NXT-AL10, NXT-CL00, NXT-TL00. These three version will most likely be for the three different state-run carriers in the country, namely China Unicom, China Telecom and China Mobile. The listing reveals that all the three version of the flagship will support fast charging at 5V 2A and even at 9V 2A taking the maximum effective wattage up to 18W. Given that the phone supports fast charge at 9V 2A, we can expect a large battery (most likely 4000mAh+) on this device.

Other specs of the device are also expected to be pretty high-end. First of all, the phone will run on the newly announced Kirin 950 chipset, which according to the company’s own test rig, managed to score around 83,000 on AnTuTu, well above competitors. It is said that there will be two versions of the device, 3GB + 32GB and 4GB + 64GB. As for the display, you can expect a 5.7-inch screen with FHD 1080p resolution. At the back, there should be a 13MP Sony sensor, while up front, expect an 8MP shooter. Finally, for software, the phone will most likely come with EMUI 4.0 based on the latest Android 6.0 build.

Apart from the Kirin 950 chip inside, the company is yet to confirm the key specifications of the Mate 8 flagship. But from the recent rumors and leaks that we have been seeing about the device, the phone is going to be a high-end device for sure. Naturally, the pricing is also expected to be high, so you can expect it to be higher than $500.

Stay tuned for more details.

Meizu Unveils Over-The-Ear Metal HD50 Heaphones For 399 yuan ($62)

By

Joel Joseph

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Nov 8, 2015

Meizu has unveiled its first ever metal headphones called as the Meizu HD50. Its an over-the-ear headphone targeted at music lovers who want a great music experience without having to spend too much. The headphone is priced at just 399 Yuan which comes to around $62.

First of all, the HD50 comes with a metal body with artificial protein leather ear pads which are soft and comfortable to wear. There are two options for the ear pads, white or black. But it looks like you have only one color for the exterior body, i.e. silver.

The Meizu HD50 over-the-ear headphones utilize an ultra-fine bio-fiber diaphragm. The distortion less than 0.5%. The company reportedly invited a team of experts (who have worked with famous audio brands like SENNHEISER, AKG, Beats etc) to make sure that the distortion was as less as 0.5%. Further, the headphones come with a patented body chamber design to make sure that the output from the headphones is rich and strong.

The Meizu HD50 headphones will go on sale from November 11 for just 399 Yuan ($62). No information about an international release have been revealed by the company yet.

Enhanced Redmi 2A Version With 2GB RAM Priced Down To $78

By

Joel Joseph

-

Nov 8, 2015

Redmi 2A turned out to be one of the best selling smartphones from Xiaomi. We recently came to know that in the past few months, the company managed to ship over 10 million Redmi 2A units. Now, to celebrate the milestone, Xiaomi has cut down the price of the enhanced Redmi 2A version to just $78. That’s the same price as the regular version which usually retails for 499 Yuan ($78).

The biggest difference in the enhanced Redmi 2A version is the 2GB of RAM on board. Along with the increased RAM, the phone also upgrades the storage to 16GB. Lei Jun had earlier said that a smartphone needs at least 2GB RAM and 16GB storage for the best user experience, and this particular device will ensure that experience at just $78. In short, you get better RAM and storage for the same price as the regular version.

As for the other specs, the phone will feature a 4.7-inch 720p display with Leadcore LC1860 quad-core chip clocked at 1.5GHz, 8MP rear camera, 2MP front facing shooter and 2,200mAh battery. The phone also supports 4G LTE networks and comes with a dual SIM card slot.

The Enhanced Redmi 2A Edition with 2GB RAM will go on sale from November 11 in China.

Bluboo Shows XTouch’s FingerPrint ID Is Faster Than iPhone 6 In A Video

By

Joel Joseph

-

Nov 8, 2015

Bluboo managed a great comeback in the market with its new Bluboo Xtouch flagship. The phone features great specs for a price tag of just $179.99. It even comes with a fingerprint sensor on board. Now, in a video, the company has shown that the fingerprint ID on the Xtouch is a fraction of a second faster than the iPhone 6.

In the video, you can see that the user has tried to unlock iPhone 6, OnePlus 2 and the Bluboo Xtouch at the same time. Surprisingly, this cheap smartphone managed to beat both the devices when it comes to unlocking the phone with its home button based fingerprint sensor. The difference is only of a fraction of a second, which wouldn’t matter much in real life, but its still its good to see that a $179 smartphone can compete with these two devices.

As for the other specs, the Bluboo XTouch comes with a compact 5-inch 1080p display with 2.5D glass and Gorilla Glass 3 protection. In fact, in a video we had seen that the phone survived under stressful conditions. Under the hood, there’s the MT6753 octa-core chip along with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of expandable storage. Even the MicroSD slot is unique, since it can take two SIM cards as well as an MicroSD card at the same time.

The rear camera is the Sony IMX214 13MP sensor while up front, you get an 8MP shooter. There’s a 3050mAh battery on board powering these specs. As for software, the phone runs on Android 5.1 Lollipop OS out of the box. The back cover of the device is also unique owing to its polygonal glossy texture, plus its printed using a 3D printer!

Overall a great value for money device. With great specs and fingerprint ID all for just $179.99, the XTouch turns out to be steal at this price.

Buy Bluboo XTouch

ZTE Nubia Z5 Review – Yesterday’s Flagship or Today’s Cheap Phone?

By

Linus

-

Nov 7, 2015

“Cheap phones are getting good and good phones are getting cheap” – MKBHD (Marques Brownlee). We have lots of budget phones that are worth your attention but what if we take a look at the flagship from 2013, which used to cost over $500 but now costs below $130. Which one should you choose? Today’s cheap phone or yesterdays flagship? This is what we are going to find out in a review of the ZTE Nubia Z5.

Thanks to Pandawill for sending ZTE Nubia Z5 for a review.

ZTE Nubia Z5 Review: VIDEO

ZTE Nubia Z5 Review: UNBOXING

You will notice the flagship grade quality as soon as to pick up the box, because everything just screams premium.

In fact, you are getting two high quality plastic boxes where all the contents are packed neatly. ZTE supplied the Z5 with a pair of good sounding earphones, charging plug along with the USB cable in one box and instruction manuals, SIM ejector pin and NFC tag in another.

ZTE Nubia Z5 Review: DESIGN

When it comes to the design, we are looking at what is becoming a rare phenomenon these days – a very compact device with a 5” display. It has a metal frame around the sides along with the metal buttons, which have a very good tactile feedback.

There is a volume rocker on the left, a power key on the right, the the micro USB port on the bottom and on headset jack along with the single micro SIM card slot on the top.

Back in 2013 selfies were not that big, so we have just a 2MP shooter on the front top.

On the bottom there are 3 nicely backlit capacitive keys and the home button also doubles as a pulsing notification light.

As far as optics, Nubia Z5 doesn’t seem to lag behind todays phones as it has a 13MP Sony camera, which, however, protrudes quite a bit from the glossy yet high quality plastic backplate.

When it comes to the sound, you can find a dual rear mounted speakers.

Overall, the Nubia Z5 is very well constructed and feels like a high-end phone even today.

ZTE Nubia Z5 Review: DISPLAY

As far as display, the 5” 1080p panel is sharp, vivid and bright enough to please your eyes and I have no complaints about it.

ZTE Nubia Z5 Review: UI

When it comes to the UI, the Nubia Z5 runs on the outdated Android 4.4.2 Kitkat with a highly customized Nubia’s skin on top of it.

As usual to the Chinese phones, there is no app drawer and all the apps sit on the home screens.

You are not getting a lot of extra features that you haven’t seen before. Still, some of them are quite useful like gesture controls while others like split screen feature on a 5” display sounds useless to me.

When it comes to customisation, you can select from a variety of themes, change the layout of the capacitive keys and so on.

Overall, the UI is running pretty smoothly but I have to say that there are some hiccups there and there while simply navigating.

ZTE Nubia Z5 Review: BENCHMARKS

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ZTE Nubia Z5 Review: HARDWARE and PERFROMANCE

At the time of the release, Nubia Z5 had a true flagship-grade spec-sheet. That includes a quad-core Snapdragon 600 chip, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage, which is not expandable.

Can it still handle 3D gaming? Well, yes. It still does better than a lot of cheap phones but don’t expect premium experience either. The max. graphics on the Asphalt 8 can be set to medium. Well, it is the same as with the Mediatek Helio X10 chip. The overall performance is good but not great as there is occasional stutter and some skipped frames. The good point is that the phone does not heat up whatsoever.

ZTE Nubia Z5 Review: MULTIMEDIA

Watching HD content is a great experience on a sharp full-HD display and the loudspeaker is really good except for the distortions at the maximum volume setting.

The sound via earphones is pretty good too.

ZTE Nubia Z5 Review: CAMERA

When it comes to the camera app, we have a pretty simple interface and there are not too many features or settings to play with in the auto mode but the included pro mode gives you a bit more freedom.

The shutter speed is pretty slow in general but it is faster than many of the sub-$130 phones.

ZTE Nubia Z5 Review: IMAGE QUALITY

The 13MP camera on the back is a hit or miss. Sometimes you can capture decent looking images but other times the sensor struggles with focusing, the colours are not always accurate and some shots are underexposed. On the other hand, other shots look pretty good and they may even rival some of the today’s mid-rangers.

The night-shots are… pretty much terrible but they are still better than lots of cheap China phones I’ve recently tested.

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A 2MP selfie shooter is actually not bad at all despite having a low-resolution which leads to less details.

When it comes to the 1080P video, we see the quality that is comparable to today’s low-end phones as it lacks in details and the video could look sharper overall.

Download full resolution camera samples

ZTE Nubia Z5 Review: CONNECTIVITY

As far as connectivity goes, I have no complaints about the call quality, signal reception or wifi but GPS is kind of disappointment. It was slow to get a lock speed and it was simply inaccurate during my testing.

ZTE Nubia Z5 Review: BATTERY LIFE

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The sealed-in 2300mAh battery is kind of another let down of this phone. I could barely pass 2 hours of screen-on time on the daily use, which didn’t involve any gaming.

ZTE Nubia Z5 Review: CONCLUSIONS

So there you have it, ZTE Nubia Z5, the flagship from the past. It has a great design, excellent build quality, vibrant display, decent gaming performance and it is very compact.

However, the UI is not the most fluid out there as there is occasional stutter, the camera is unreliable and the battery life is a disappointment.

How does it stack up against today’s low-end phones that have similar price? Well, pretty good I would say. For the price of $130, Nubia Z5 will most likely have a better build quality, display and audio quality. However, the difference may not be that significant and you may find some newly released low-end phones with a faster UI performance including a newer Android version, more reliable camera and much better battery life.

At the end of the day, you have to decide what are your personal preferences.

Buy ZTE Nubia Z5 from Pandawill

Xiaomi Mi Band 1S Official With Heart Rate Sensor for $15

By

Joel Joseph

-

Nov 7, 2015

Late yesterday, Xiaomi had hinted that it could unveil the Xiaomi Mi Band 1S today. And now, the company has promptly made the wearable official. This is the new generation version of the company’s popular Mi Band which sold in millions in the past few months.

The Mi Band 1S does not come with a display, hence you will have to rely on your smartphone to check out all the data. But you can connect it to any iOS or Android smartphone.

The new Mi Band adds a heart rate sensor which means you can keep a check on your heart. Other functions are similar to its previous generation. So, you can track calories, count the number of steps taken, or even check out the amount of calories that you have managed to burn. Like the earlier model, it can also measure the quality of sleep. Further, the new band can unlock your Xiaomi device as well vibrate when your phones receives a new notification. Finally, its IP67 certified which means it will survive under water up to 3 feet for as much as 30 minutes.
With the new Mi Band in the market, the old one can be yours for just $11. However, we will have to wait and see if its available in plenty. The band will go on sale on November 11 for just $15.

Hands on video Elephone P9000

By

shanos

-

Nov 6, 2015

Hands on video Elephone P9000

This hands on video Elephone P9000 shows off the P9000 with its 5.5″ FHD LG LTPS incell bezel-less display, the phone is really coming along nicely.

With Android 6.0 Marshmallow on the phone out of the box and decent hardware specifications including Helio P10 processor, 4GB RAM, Type-C USB 3.0, 21MP IMX230 with phase detection（PDAF) laser (LDAF), an 8MP 84 degree angle of view front camera, and side-mounted fingerprint scanner should hopefully see the phone land with a real bang.

You can check out the hands on Elephone P9000 video below.

As always please feel free to leave questions and comments below

Kind regards Shane

The P9000 can currently be pre-ordered here for just $299.99