Last year, iNew came up with the iNew V3 smartphone which was an instant hit among customers, due to its slim design and value for money specifications. Now, the same Chinese company is back in the market with a new smartphone, called as the iNew L3. As you can see from the pictures down below, the new model does take a few design pointers from its previous generations but builds upon their design to create a much more premium and unique look.
The design of the iNew L3 is a lot different than the recent smartphones that have hit the market. Its rectangular, edgy yet beautiful at the same time. The phone is made up of metal and glass and comes with a specially design round power button like the Xperia series, making the overall design all the more elegant. You would either love the new design or hate it completely. But I personally feel iNew has done a great job with the design. There’s Corning Gorilla Glass at the back making it scratch resistant. What’s more, the phone measures just 7.1mm in thickness with no protruding components, making it truly a well designed package.
Under the hood, the iNew L3 features the power efficient MT6735 quad-core 64-bit chip which is enough for your daily usage. This coupled with Mali-T720 and 2GB of RAM should deliver decent performance. As for storage, you get 16GB of expandable memory on board. The front features a 5-inch 1280 x 720p OGS display with 70% NTSC High color saturation. With these specs, the display should be quite vibrant.
The company has even focused on the camera department of the new L3. It comes with the Sony IMX214 13MP Camera with F/2.0 aperture and 6P lens. This setup is enough to take good images with the phone, provided the company has optimized the camera software. As for the front camera, there’s a 5MP shooter.
If you are a big fan of IR ports on a smartphone, then you would be happy to hear that the iNew L3 comes with this port. You can use the IR blaster to control up to 2853 appliances at your home. Under the hood, you get a 2150mAh battery, which to be honest is a bit small compared to competitors. However, with fast charge and power efficient MT6735 chip, you can expect the phone to run for about a day easily. As for the software, the phone runs on Android 5.0 Lollipop. It comes with dual SIM dual standby. The supported 4G LTE networks include: FDD_LTE 800/ 900/ 1800/ 2100/ 2600MHz.
Finally, the iNew L3 is water repellent as well. Yes, it comes with the nano-coating from the British P2i company which makes sure that the phone is protected against water, oil and other liquids.
As you can see, the iNew L3 is really a balanced smartphone. You get decent specs, a unique design and 4G LTE at a reasonable price tag. So, what do you think about this device?
Huawei announced the Honor 4X mid-range smartphone back in October 2014. Now, it looks like the company is all set to release its successor, the Huawei Honor 5X in the coming weeks. The phone was recently spotted on TENAA, the Chinese certification website and the listing revealed a few details about the device.
As you can see from the image, the Huawei Honor 5X comes with a three stage rear design, similar to what we saw in the company’s previous releases like the Mate 7 and the Huawei P8. The camera at the back is slightly protruding (you can see that in one of the side view pictures) and comes with a dual LED flash as well. It looks like Huawei is really set to intensify the competition in the 1000 Yuan (appox. $157) market with this phone, as it comes with a fingerprint sensor as well.
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Unfortunately, we don’t have much idea about the specifications of the device. But going with the current specs on 1000 Yuan smartphones, we can expect a 5.5-inch FHD 1080p display with Snapdragon 615 or MT6753 on board. There should be 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage. As for the rear camera, we can expect a 13MP shooter like most phones in this price range.
What will really differentiate the Huawei Honor 5X from the crowd will be its fingerprint sensor and the all metal design. The phone looks premium in built and hence, Huawei might find quite a number of takers for this device if priced correctly.
Since the phone has hit TENAA, expect more information about the new Honor 5X pretty soon.
In 2014, China became the number one economic power with one of its major areas of development in the mobile gaming sector. The numbers from the first half of 2015 are stark and telling. China’s gaming market showed a total transaction revenue of 60.51 billion Yuan, which equates to $9.73 billion US. This is a marked increase over the same period of the previous year of 21.9%.
A huge part of the gaming market in China is mobile gaming with mobile gaming users reaching 366 million and transaction mobile revenue of 20.93 billion Yuan. Clearly, mobile gaming has become an essential part of the daily lives of mobile users in China.
The trend toward mobile gaming and away from console gaming that is seen in all other regions of the world is on steroids in China. This is due in part to the fact that the gaming consoles like Xbox One, Nintendo, and PlayStation were not sold within the country until recently. Another reason mobile gaming is such a huge industry in China compared to console gaming is the penetration of mobile devices as well as the improvement of certain infrastructure for 3G and 4G networks. Finally, the popularity of social platforms has led to the rapid growth of the mobile online gaming market.
Mobile and social features, especially related to gaming, are expected to continue to play an increasing role, following the rapid development of mobile internet. As a result, China’s mobile gaming market will attract more users with social platforms being the most popular. Furthermore, most mobile users will be utilizing Google’s Android operating system over Apple’s iOS.
The Android distribution accounted for 62% of sales in the mobile game market, while iOS was only 28%. One of the main reasons for this difference is the affordability of many Android platform phones over that of the higher priced iPhone. The types of games that users are installing on these phones fall into three general categories. In 2013, research by TalkingData showed the first category with the largest percent, casual games, making up 54% of all games installed. The second category is one of the fastest growing genres, card/poker and casino games, and it made up 24% of all games installed. The final category encompassed all other games at 22% of all games installed.
Casual Games
Casual games have been leading the way because they are typically the types of games that first time gamers entering into the mobile market choose to install. The reasons are simple; casual games are usually very accessible with low learning curves and a simple game design that make them easy to learn and play. These are the games that are adopted most rapidly, especially those with a social platform component.
Many of the top mobile games played in China are those that are also popular internationally like Angry Birds and Temple Run. Recognizing the revenue potential in publishing these mobile games, Tencent, the Chinese social-networking giant, makes gaming possible through their hugely popular WeChat app. Within the app users can play a military shooter game called CrossFire as well as a fantasy RPG called League of Legends. These have been two of the top free-to-play games attracting more and more paid users of other Tencent games and apps and thus increasing the revenue to Tencent per user.
Card/Poker and Casino Games
One of the most popular card games in China is similar to the card game War. Its digital version is called Happy Landlord Battle and is a consistent favourite among Chinese players. For those who have not heard of War, the game involves each player trying to either draw or put out a hand that is larger than the hand(s) of their opponents. The rules of Landlord Battle are a bit different, but the game has a similar concept that is adapted for the mobile platform. This is just one of the Tencent games mentioned above that is free, but has in-app purchases that create the increased paid user base that has made Tencent a global leader.
Other popular games in this genre are poker and casino games, which are usually provided by online casinos that are hosted outside of China. One of the largest and most popular providers worldwide of these games is PokerStars, a brand that until recently was exclusive to poker. In fact, as a provider of online poker it has gained an outstanding reputation amongst card players of amateur and professional status alike. The brand has committed to taking the gaming experience of players to even new heights. The site already offered the best of poker gaming options for players like numerous poker events, tournaments, and a wide selection of popular poker games like Texas Hold’em, Omaha, 2-7 Single Draw, and many more.
Building upon the high regard from both gaming industry experts and among online players, the company expanded its once exclusive poker offerings to casino games so players could play poker and casino games conveniently in one place. This was accomplished with the introduction of the Poker Stars casino games. The company followed up this expansion with the introduction of a mobile app to allow certain poker games and casino games to be played on both iOS and Android devices. With this innovation, players were no longer restricted to playing only at their desktop computers.
While Tencent and the Amaya Gaming Group have a strong grasp on the trends in gaming and they are responding, adapting, and evolving as the market demands, other companies are also recognizing the potential that exists in the worldwide mobile gaming market, particularly in China. Alibaba is an E-commerce giant that recently set up a mobile gaming platform in China, understanding the revenue potential in being a platform operator for game developers. Rather than making their own games, Alibaba provides the platform upon which developers can publish their games.
Another company tapping into the Chinese mobile market is Sungy Mobile. In 2014 they announced they would partner with game developers inside and outside of China, but instead of just focusing on just overseas markets the company would expand its GO Series Launcher and other related apps back into China. The majority of Sungy Mobile users have traditionally been in Western countries, but the company like the others mentioned above has recognized mobile gaming in China as the most lucrative Internet businesses. Nexon is another company expanding into China’s mobile gaming market, having already launched their mobile strategy game called “Dominations.” In addition, the gaming company is launching more and more mobile games with more diverse genres in order to expand its presence in China and Asia at large.
All of these examples of companies expanding into the mobile gaming market illustrate the rise in mobile gaming, which is especially evident in China. The country accounts for over half of the global mobile game market with expectations of continued growth. Game developers, game publishers, and platform providers are all looking for opportunities to tap into the burgeoning red-hot market for mobile gaming. Though the opportunities are worldwide, nowhere are they more abundant than in Asia.
In the past few years, we have seen smartphone with powerful processors, larger RAM modules and better cameras in the market. However, one thing that kind of remained unchanged was the battery department. But even that changed this year as we have seen so many smartphones with large batteries launch from different manufacturers.
Earlier if you had to look for a big battery smartphone, you would have only a handful of options. But now, there are more than a dozen options available, that too many of them at a budget price tag. As a result, we decided to pick out the best among these options as of September 2015. So, if you are looking for a smartphone that will last you a few days at least, make sure you check out this article thoroughly.
So, lets take a look at the best smartphones with large batteries on a budget. The list starts from the cheapest big battery phone, (3500mAh+) to the costliest one.
1. OUKITEL K4000: [4000mAh]
If you are in search for one of the cheapest smartphones with a large battery, your search ends with OUKITEL K4000. The company has really outdone itself with its latest offering, priced at just 119.99. At this price, you get a large 4000mAh battery with the decent 64-bit MT6735 quad-core chipset on board. Like most smartphones that retail under $150, the OUKITEL K4000 comes 2GB RAM + 16GB of expandable storage. The 5.5-inch display with 2.5D glass is definitely an added plus.
Let me remind you, camera won’t be that impressive, since its interpolated 13MP, but still you should be able to take decent shots. Finally, for software you get the latest Android 5.1 Lollipop OS on board.
OUKITEL K4000
BATTERY
4000mAh
DISPLAY
5.5-inch 2.5D Glass 1280 x 720p
PROCESSOR
MT6735 quad-core 1.0GHz
MEMORY
2GB + 16GB (MicroSD: YES)
CAMERA
13MP REAR + 5MP FRONT
CONNECTIVITY
FDD-LTE 800/1800/2100/2600MHz
SIM CARD
Dual SIM Dual Standby
SOFTWARE
Android 5.1 Lollipop
FEATURES
TOUGH SCREEN
PRICE
119.99
BATTERY LIFE:Up to 2 days with moderate usage
WHO SHOULD BUY THIS: Anyone who’s looking for a super cheap smartphone with a large battery for their day to day usage.
Cubot is a known name in the local Chinese smartphone industry, thanks to its numerous affordable smartphone offerings. The company recently released the new Cubot H1 for the large battery lovers which comes with a 5200mAh capacity battery on board. This is enough for more than a couple of day’s usage. Plus, the efficient 64-bit MT6735 chipset should deliver good performance without taking a toll on battery. Other specs are more or less the same as the OUKITEL K4000. However, what really differentiates this model is that it supports fast charge. Which means, you don’t have to wait for 5-7 hours to get it charged to 100%. You can check out the full tech specs of the Cubot H1 from down below.
CUBOT H1
BATTERY
5200mAh (Fast Charge)
DISPLAY
5.5-inch 1280 x 720p
PROCESSOR
MT6735 quad-core 1.0GHz
MEMORY
2GB + 16GB (MicroSD: YES)
CAMERA
13MP REAR + 5MP FRONT
CONNECTIVITY
FDD-LTE 800/1800/2100/2600MHz
SIM CARD
Dual SIM Dual Standby
SOFTWARE
Android 5.1 Lollipop
FEATURES
Fast charge
PRICE
129.99
BATTERY LIFE:More than 2 days with moderate usage
WHO SHOULD BUY THIS: Anyone who is looking for a phone with 5000mAh+ battery with fast charge.
Bluboo X550 is yet another smartphone with a large battery that measures 5300mAh. As you can see, its slightly larger than Cubot H1’s 5200mAh but rest of the specs are identical. So, you have the same MT6735 quad-core 64-bit chip on board with interpolated cameras and Android 5.1 Lollipop. So, basically the choice between Cubot H1 and Bluboo X550 depends on the looks as well as the small 100mAh battery capacity difference.
Bluboo X550
BATTERY
5300mAh
DISPLAY
5.5-inch 1280 x 720p
PROCESSOR
MT6735 quad-core 1.0GHz
MEMORY
2GB + 16GB (MicroSD: YES)
CAMERA
13MP REAR + 5MP FRONT
CONNECTIVITY
FDD-LTE 800/1800/2100/2600MHz
SIM CARD
Dual SIM Dual Standby
SOFTWARE
Android 5.1 Lollipop
FEATURES
–
PRICE
138.99
BATTERY LIFE:More than 2 days with moderate usage.
WHO SHOULD BUY THIS: Well, with fast charge, the Cubot H1 is naturally the better choice. But then you get a slightly larger 5300mAh battery on this device. Plus you get another option to choose at a similar price tag, which is why I included this in the list.
The Doogee HOMTOM HT6 is yet another great option at just $139.99. The phone comes with the largest battery in the list, 6250mAh which makes it a great buy for people who are looking for a phone that can last long.
While specs wise, the HOMTOM HT6 is almost identical to the above mentioned devices, what really sets this phone apart from competitors is the inclusion of the 5.5-inch Gorilla Glass display and fast charge. This makes it a practical and durable smartphone, which is affordable at the same time. The company claims that you can get up to 75% of charge in just over half an hour, which is quite impressive.
Check out the full tech specs down below.
HOMTOM HT6
BATTERY
6250mAh (Fast Charge)
DISPLAY
5.5-inch 1280 x 720p (Gorilla Glass)
PROCESSOR
MT6735 quad-core 1.0GHz
MEMORY
2GB + 16GB (MicroSD: YES)
CAMERA
13MP REAR + 5MP FRONT
CONNECTIVITY
FDD-LTE 800/1800/2100/2600MHz
SIM CARD
Dual SIM Dual Standby
SOFTWARE
Android 5.1 Lollipop
FEATURES
fast charge + gorilla glass
PRICE
139.99
BATTERY LIFE:Well over 3 days with moderate usage.
WHO SHOULD BUY THIS: The HOMTOM HT6 is the best option for those who are looking for a phone that will really really last long.
All the above listed smartphones came with MT6735 quad-core chip on board. While the chip is enough for your everyday usage, if you are looking for something a bit more powerful, then you should check out the UMi eMax. Well, since this phone is a few months old, you must already know most of its details. The phones comes with a full HD MT6752 octa-core chip that powers most affordable mid-range phones in the market right now. Another plus is the full HD 1080p 5.5-inch display on the device. That’s higher than the 720p screens on the above listed phones. Even the camera should be better than the previous devices. But since UMi eMax is focused on an overall balanced specs profile, you have a slightly smaller 3780mAh battery on board. Still, that’s enough to last you for more than a day!
Another possible drawback is the Android 4.4 Kitkat that comes out of the box, unlike that above phones which run on the latest Android 5.1. However, UMi has promised the Lollipop update and according to the latest information, its coming real soon.
UMi eMax
BATTERY
3780mAh
DISPLAY
5.5-inch IPS 1920 x 1080p
PROCESSOR
MT6752 octa-core 1.7GHz
MEMORY
2GB + 16GB (MicroSD: YES)
CAMERA
13MP REAR + 5MP FRONT
CONNECTIVITY
FDD-LTE 1800/2100/2600
SIM CARD
Dual SIM Dual Standby
SOFTWARE
Android 4.4 (Upgradable to Lollipop)
PRICE
149.85
BATTERY LIFE: More than a day
WHO SHOULD BUY THIS: Anyone looking for an affordable FHD octa-core smartphone with a large battery.
While we are still waiting for the Snapdragon 820 powered Elephone P9000, the current model, the Elephone P8000 still packs a punch as compared to its competitors. The phone comes with a 4000mAh battery supported by flagship level specs. I mean, you get MT6753 octa-core chip under the hood, with 3GB RAM + 32GB of expandable ROM making it a value for money package. There’s even a fingerprint sensor on board, which makes it a unique offering in this list. You get everything that you wish for in a flagship, plus a large battery in the Elephone P8000.
ELEPHONE P8000
BATTERY
4000mAh
DISPLAY
5.5-inch IPS 1920 x 1080p
PROCESSOR
MT6753 octa-core 1.5GHz
MEMORY
3GB + 16GB (MicroSD: YES)
CAMERA
13MP REAR + 5MP FRONT
CONNECTIVITY
FDD-LTE 800/1800/2600
SIM CARD
Dual SIM Dual Standby
SOFTWARE
Android 5.1 Lollipop
FEATURES
FINGERPRINT ID
PRICE
175.88
BATTERY LIFE: More than a day
WHO SHOULD BUY THIS: Anyone who’s looking for a flagship smartphone with a large battery
The INNOS D6000 made the headlines earlier this year, packing in the largest smartphone battery at that time. It comes with a massive 6000mAh battery on board which is enough for more than two days of usage. But the highlight of the phone isn’t restricted to its battery. The D6000 offers one of the best specs in a sub $250 smartphone. It features Snapdragon 615 octa-core chip with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. There’s a 5.2-inch FHD display. At the back, you get a powerful 16MP OV camera and up front, theres a 5MP OV camera as well. For software the phone features Android 5.0 Lollipop OS. If you have $250 to spare and are looking for a large battery smartphone, this is the one to buy.
Innos D6000
BATTERY
6000mAh
DISPLAY
5.2-inch 1920 x 1080p (Gorilla Glass)
PROCESSOR
Snapdragon 615 octa-core 1.5GHz
MEMORY
3GB + 32GB (MicroSD: YES)
CAMERA
16MP OV REAR + 5MP OV FRONT
CONNECTIVITY
FDD-LTE 800/1800/2100/2600MHz
SIM CARD
Dual SIM Dual Standby
SOFTWARE
Android 5.0 Lollipop
FEATURES
–
PRICE
249.99 233.99 (Limited Time)
BATTERY LIFE: More than two days
WHO SHOULD BUY THIS: Anyone who’s looking for a large battery smartphone with flagship level specs and a great camera, should go for this beast.
So that’s the end of the list. I hope that I covered all great smartphones with large batteries in this list. If you have any questions about these devices or have anything to add, do let me know in the comments sections down below.
We know our readers love large battery smartphones. Cubot recently unveiled its large battery phone, the Cubot H1 with a massive 5200mAh battery last month. With such a large battery on board, the phone can also be used as a power bank. In fact, we have extensively covered the features of this device in our previous article. You can check that out for more details.
For a limited period, the Cubot H1 is being sold for just $129. Usually, the same phone retails for more than $140, so we thought this might turn out to be a good deal for our readers.
The phone looks good, performs well and the battery will easily last for a couple of days. A great package for the price.
Elephone have today sent of promotional video of both the Elephone M1 & M2 Business handsets.
The phones will be on Pre sale in October, full prices have not yet been made official but they have told me that they will be holding flash sales for both handsets.
The flash sale pricing will be $119.99 for the Elephone M1 Business phone and $149.99 for the Elephone M2 Business phone.
Check out the videos below and let me know what you think of the new Elephone M1 and M2 Business handsets, the pricing on the flash sales looks really competitive and if they improvements in build on the Elephone Trunk are indicative of Elephones newer handsets, we could well be seeing the return to form of the brand.
It was announced on an official Weibo micro blog that Ramos will be launching a new device called Mos1 MAX as their first smartphone. The micro blog stated that Ramos has achieved packing a large and long life battery inside a very slim device. Remember, Ramos Mos1 which was announced back in July? The phone came with a 3050mAh battery and this seems to be a Max version of the flagship.
A new leak also conspicuously revealed a battery capacity of 6xxxmAh, suggesting that the device will be equipped with at least 6000mAh large-capacity battery. The figures indicating the capacity on the back of the battery are redacted, but one can see the they begin with 6 and that the manufacturer is BYD. In addition, there are other users’ leaks suggesting that the MOS 1 MAX’s battery has a nominal voltage 3.85V and peak voltage 4.4V. Previously, another Chinese brand – Innos Yi Luo has launched a 6000mAh battery on their D6000 smartphone. It was the world’s largest battery capacity in a mobile phone at that time. It is not yet known whether Ramos has gone beyond this.
The Mos1 MAX is expected to resemble the iPhone 6 in shape but with a slim 7.6mm overall thickness. The screen also might be extra-large with a possible size of 6 inches. The device is expected to be available in stores in October.
The speaker comes in a plain box and the contents include the documentation, AUX and Micro USB cables, and the QR code card to quickly download the proprietary app.
Ovevo Z1 Bluetooth Speaker Review: DESIGN
When it comes to design, this is a one very tiny speaker that is very compact. Despite its small footprint, it has a lamp with a full range RGB LED light but I will get back to it a bit later.
The lampshade part is made of some kind of frosted plastic and it feels nice. The top part sports a stainless steel touch control pad.
The bottom part is made of quality matt plastic and one side there is a mic for handsfree calling and on the other there is a micro USB port along with the AUX input for non-bluetooth devices.
The bottom part is where you can find most of the controls, which include play/pause, skip tracks and volume up/down buttons. Also, there is a Bluetooth LED light and the whole bottom part has a nice rubber material, so the speaker stays firmly on the surface you put it on.
Overall, the built quality is really good.
Ovevo Z1 Bluetooth Speaker Review: FEATURES
PLEASE SEE A VIDEO REVIEW FOR THE WALKTHROUGH OF THE FEATURES OF THE APP
The Ovevo Z1 Bluetooth speaker can be controlled using the controls on the bottom of the device or using the touch pad on top of the speaker. However, if you want to take a full manual control, I suggest you downloading the app, which unleashes a lot of extra features.
First of all, you can control the brightness setting, turn on/off the light and once you enter the colour light mode you can choose from tons of different colours. Also, you can choose from other effects like flashing, pulsing, candle and rainbow.
Other features include the music player and the speaker will flash to the rhythm of the music you play. Also, you can use different timers to turn on and off the light or music automatically, or use the Ovevo Z1 speaker as an alarm clock.
PLEASE SEE A VIDEO REVIEW FOR THE WALKTHROUGH OF THE FEATURES OF THE APP
Ovevo Z1 Bluetooth Speaker Review: SOUND QUALITY
Allright, as far as the sound quality, it is really good for the size of the speaker. It may not replace a party boombox but you will be surprised how loud it can play. Also, it produces a really good amount of bass. I even suggest you reducing the bass on your phone’s equaliser setting as the speaker starts moving on the table that it may sound that it makes some crackling noises at the but it’s not true. It is just a one powerful tiny speaker. Well, I heard some cracking noises when playing certain songs but it was at the highest volume setting and bass along with the treble pumped up.
Ovevo Z1 Bluetooth Speaker Review: CONCLUSIONS
The Ovevo Z1 Bluetooth speaker is a one tiny yet powerful speaker that sounds great for its size and it has a full range RGB LED that can be controlled either using the touchpad on the speaker or via the app. However, the touchpad functionality was a little of a disappointment. You can’t actually understand how it works. For instance, it changes the colours once you tap it but sometimes the light just turns off automatically or changes the colour immediately. A positive thing is that controlling the lamp via the app doesn’t have these issues.
I could get around 4.5-5 hours of playback time, which is not really impressive but I guess it’s okay considering how tiny the speaker is. However, the playback time reduces to around 3 hours if you keep the light on all the time.
The device costs $25 and I believe it is reasonable considering the whole package you are getting. If you want a compact yet good sounding speaker with a customisable LED light and some more features like different light modes, alarm clock and so on, the Ovevo Z1 may be for you. If you need something that it is more powerful but does not have the extra features, there are also some other good options (e.g. Xiaomi Aluminum Bluetooth speaker) in this price range out there.
Zeaplus has just announced a new smartwatch in the market, the Zeaplus Watch K18. This is yet another round smartwatch from the company, but it looks better as it is designed to look more like the LG G Watch R.
While we are yet to do a complete review of the new Zeaplus Watch, we got our hands on the first unit of the smartwatch. We have some great pictures of the watch for you down below. The overall built feels great, the design is better than other low cost watches and the fact that it runs on Android 4.4 OS called as the ZOS, instead of Android Wear makes it kind of unique.
As for the specs, the K18 will come with a 1.2GHz Mediatek processor underneath with 512MB RAM and 4GB of storage. There will be a 1.4-inch AMOLED display up front with 400 x 400 pixel resolution. The watch supports GPS, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi and will come in Black, Gold and Silver colors.
The Zeaplus Watch K18 comes with a lot of features such as a heart rate sensor, pedometer to track your steps and daily routine, barometer, alarm clock and weather app. Its actually comes with a SIM card slot, so you can make and receive calls and messages too. You also get some good looking watch faces on the watch, some of which you can see in the pictures. We are yet to do an extensive review of the new watch, but for now it looks promising.
We will post the full review in the coming days, but till then, check out the hands-on pictures that we have added down below.
Now that the Xiaomi Mi4C is officially announced and out of the picture, all our heads are turned towards the next product launch from Xiaomi. Unless the company plans to unveil a new lineup, the next smartphone launch should very well be of the Xiaomi Mi5. Its been more than a year since we first saw the Mi4 flagship and it is expected that the company will announce its next generation version sometime before the end of this year.
Earlier leaked Mi5 render
We have already heard a lot about this upcoming handset, most of them claiming that it will come with Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 820 chipset on board. Earlier today, another leak seems to build on these speculations, by revealing most of the configuration of the device.
According to leaksfly, the Xiaomi Mi5 will come with the Snapdragon 820 on board. It will be the first smartphone in the market with this chip on board. We have already heard that the Mi5 will debut the new Qualcomm chipset, so lets wait and see if that’s the case. As for the display, there will be a 5.2-inch 1080p FHD screen. The phone will come with 4GB of RAM and 16GB / 32GB internal storage. At the back, you can expect a 16MP camera, while up front, there should be an 8MP shooter. Other features include Hi-Fi audio chip and Android 5.1.1 OS. Unfortunately, the leak didn’t say anything about the pricing of the device, but given Xiaomi’s track record, it should definitely be competitive. You can expect a launch sometime in November.
The contents of this USB hub include the documentation and the power plug as this USB hub has an independent power source for the devices, which need a stable power supply.
Also, the company added a velcro sticker, so you can attach the hub to the table.
1byone 7 Port USB HUB Review: DESIGN
This USB hub has 7 very fast USB 3.0 ports and one of them can be used for fast charging.
The device is very well made and it sports all-aluminium design, which kind of reminds Apple’s design language. Also, it has a little LED, which lights up when the device is connected to the computer or to the supplied power cord. It is a very high quality product and the overall built quality screams premium.
However, there are some shortcomings. For some reason, there is no soft pad on the bottom of the device, so you may scratch the surface of the table. Also, because of that, the USB hub will be sliding on most of the surfaces easily.
In addition, the HUB is designed in that way that it simply needs to be used with a velcro sticker. Otherwise, it will fall down to either side depending where you connect the USB device. While it’s not a deal breaker but it may be an issue for some.
1byone 7 Port USB HUB Review: CONCLUSIONS
At the end of the day, the 1byone 7 port USB hub is a great way to increase the amount of the USB ports on your computer, especially if you use a notebook with 1 or 2 USB ports like I do.
It has a great Apple inspired design, build quality and premium choice of materials. Also, all the ports are working fine and the ability to connect it to the external power source is a great addition.
However, you need to consider a few shortcomings mentioned previously and decide if they are important to you.
Finally, the price. This gadget costs $30 on Amazon and at first I thought it was a bit overpriced. Yes, you can find some cheaper alternatives but if you want a premium all-metal design, this is a price you have to pay for most of the manufacturers.
Teclast announced a new tablet, the X98 Air III. In a move I don’t really understand the X98 Air III is another 9.7″ tablet with the a lower clocked Z3735F 1.8Ghz Atom Bay Trail with a revised shell around it. The rest of the specs are the same as the X98 Air series, 32GB eMMC, 2GB of Ram, BT 4, microsd slot. 2MP front and 5MP rear camera. And only Android 5.0, no dual boot Windows 10 / Android here. I think it’s time to move on from Bay Trail tablets, this should be a Cherry Trail X5 Z8300 at least.
It will retail for only 699 yuan in China which is around $110. So it’s a dirt cheap for a 9.7″ retina tablet, but that’s about it. This is a really interesting and a bold move on the part of Teclast. It again is very interesting to me as the X98 Pro and Air II/ Air 3G have Android already. Teclast has to really give additional functionality that the Air II doesn’t already offer. It would be very interesting device to get my hands on. If you guys are interested, we at GizmoChina will try to get a unit for review.
iMacwear is known for their rugged smartwatches and smartwatch phones. Now they have come out with something very unexpected. A mechanical smartwatch which is equipped with 5ATM protection.
The inspiration for the smartwatch is very clear, however, the implementation is inspired. While, not the best that we’ve encountered, very unique indeed.
iMacwear promises 30-days standby time, so you can say goodbye to ‘charge everyday watches’. The watch is also equipped with Citizen Wicca movement pointers, which will help with fitness tracking and sleep tracking. The Unix watch features a High Carbon Aviation Case for better Bluetooth connection with your smartphone. Support for the most popular smartphone operating systems, Android and iOS makes the device even sweeter.
Talking about the main features of the Unix include, Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy connection, Call Notifications, SMS Notifications, Fitness and sleep tracking. Activity tracking with interaction, as well as sleep monitoring, for an all rounded fitness functionality.
The iMacwear Unix Smartwatch uses a Sony CR2430 battery for 30 days of standby. An out of the world build with top-notch engineering for the mechanical dial of the smartwatch. The screen is protected by a Sapphire Crystal screen, with Anti-Scratch and Water resistance.
Who is the iMacwear Unix for? It’s primary market is Divers and sports persons, however, at the given price, it would be an awesome deal for anyone really. If you do want to get one for yourself, you can do so from GeekBuying.com for just $78.99
Divoom Aurabulb Smart Bluetooth Music Lamp Speaker: UNBOXING
This is actually the second product made by Divoom I am checking out and I can say that they ship their items in a premium packaging, and the Aurabulb is no exception.
All you are getting is the micro USB cable, AUX cable and some documentation.
Divoom Aurabulb Smart Bluetooth Music Lamp Speaker: DESIGN AND FEATURES
Allright, so the Aurabulb is not your regular Bluetooth speaker as it has a lot more to offer. It comes in a shape of a huge light bulb, which is made of rubber and the bottom part is made of quality metal mesh material.
It has the rubberised control buttons, which include the power key, volume up/down, which also allow to skip tracks, play/pause button an the light key.
On the back side we have a micro USB charging port and the AUX input for non-Bluetooth devices.
The bottom is made of rubber, so the speaker doesn’t slide on the table.
If you don’t like the light bulb idea, you can easily take the rubber bulb part off and the speaker looks kind of nice without it. There is a light under the plastic and on the top there is a dedicated subwoofer.
Divoom Aurabulb Smart Bluetooth Music Lamp Speaker: FUNCTIONALITY
The Divoom Aurabulb is a really cool speaker as it has a full range RGB LED and you can adjust the colours, brightness of it and choose from a variety of different colour modes. Also, you can do it in a couple of ways. You may choose from the preset ones by pressing a light button on the speaker or you can download a free app either for Android or iOS to take a full manual control and get a lot more features.
The interface of the app is easy to use and here you can choose from tons of different colours and adjust the brightness or simply turn off the light. Also, you can select different modes of the light like flashing, pulse or rainbow effects. In each mode you man manually select colours and I think it is pretty cool.
Also, you can simply shake your device to change colours and that another fun part of this speaker.
In addition, the app has a music player but if you don’t like it, you can simply use your phone’s player.
There is also a sleep timer and the alarm clock and you can choose from different pre-loaded scenes to help you fall asleep or wake up in the morning.
PLEASE SEE A VIDEO REVIEW FOR A FULL APP WALKTHROUGH
Divoom Aurabulb Smart Bluetooth Music Lamp Speaker: SOUND QUALITY
I have to say that I am really impressed with the sound quality this tiny speaker can produce. For the size of the speaker, the sound has a good amount of depth, the mids and highs sound pretty good. Also, the bass is really powerful and the speaker is even having a hard time sitting on the table at the highest volume setting.
Speaking of which, I was impressed that the speaker didn’t make any crackling noises when playing music at the maximum volume. And yeah, the speaker is very loud.
Overall, I am really happy with the sound quality and the volume output the Aurabulb can produce.
Divoom Aurabulb Smart Bluetooth Music Lamp Speaker: CONCLUSIONS
Overall, the Divoom Aurabulb is a great product considering the feature set you are getting, a great build quality, awesome sound and volume output.
Also, this is not another Bluetooth speaker with some basic functionality as you can use the Aurabulb in a lot of different ways.
I could get about 5 hours of music playback, which is not really impressive but not the worst either considering the size of this gadget. A good thing is that the Bluetooth range has no issues at all.
However, the handsfree feature is not the best out there. Well, you can still make a conversation but the voice could sound more clearly.
Also, the price of $50 maybe a little bit too steep for some and I would say it could cost around $10 less. Still, you are getting a lot of extra features for the price and I don’t see major shortcomings that could be a deal breaker
Mixcder, an audio-first company has created, what could possibly be the best wireless earphones for sports; The earbuds dubbed ‘Basso’ is what we will be taking a look at today.
First, let’s check out the box, and what’s inside it. The box looks like a re-cycled Xiaomi-type brown box, which is pretty straight forward.
Inside the box we have the Earphones themselves, extra ear gels for different sizes and comfort needs, a carrying case, and finally, the user guide.
The specs of the headset are:
Model
Basso
Bluetooth Version
4.1
Supported protocols
A2DP, AVRCP, HSP, HFP
Weight
18 Grams
Frequency range
2.402-2.48 GHz
Bluetooth Distance
10 Meters
Charging duration
1-2 Hours
Use time
4-5 Hours
Standby Time
About ~100 Hours
Operating environment Temperature
-20 to 60 Celsius
Storage Temperature
-40 to 70 Celsius
Price
$25.99
The headset checks all marks for a sports headset, light weight, long lasting battery, and durable. The Basso headset is very flexible. Its cable is made of a very strong material.
Most of all the headset has a very unique formfitting ear mold which feels very comfortable to wear when exercising, or when running. The headset holds on pretty well, and there will be no sense of them falling out.
The Noise Cancellation on the Basso headphones is very good as they go very deep into the ear. Since the ear support material is very flexible, it’s bends to give the perfect fit for best listening and isolation experience.
The headphones do also have in-line control buttons, which are multi-functional. You can answer and end calls, control music, control volume. This in-line module also houses a Micro-USB port for charging the headset. Since it uses the widely-adapted Micro-USB standard, it’s very convenient. This module is where the Mic also resides.
The control module is probably the heaviest component of the headset, something that I haven’t seen with other wireless earphones that I have used. The battery is probably housed in this casing, since it is where the charging port is. Mixcder has included a clip on the earphones, which is also probably to clip the control module to your shirt so that it doesn’t pull on the earphones.
Sound: Not ‘Bass’ heavy
If you’re a person who listens to a lot of bass heavy electronic or hip-hop music, this headset is not for you. Everything that I played on the Basso wireless headset, has been very well defined. I mostly listen to EDM, House, Classical, Acoustic, and Lyric songs, and everything I listened to on this headset was very crisp and clear, all the highs, mids, and the lows are very well defined and clear.
Carry Case
The carry case provided with the Basso headphones is very good. In fact, it’s very similar to what popular brands include with their headphones. The case is very rugged, strong, and will provide protection for the headphones when travelling, and leave some extra room for some memory cards, USB drives, and almost anything and everything that you can fit into it. It also has a carabiner whtich you can use to hang to your backpack, your belt, etc.
Should you buy it?
YES! A big yes. No matter which genre of music you listen to, this headset does the job, and it does it well. If you only want a “bass heavy” experience, this is probably not for you. I listen to a lot of bass heavy music, and I am very well pleased with the performance of the Mixcder Basso wireless sports headset, and I would recommend you give them a shot as well, especially since, they are available on an all-time low price of $25.99 from Amazon.com, from the regular price of $69.99.
Elephone has launched its latest 3G smartphone, the MT6572W Dual Core 3G GPS Mini Phone. This phone is an improvement of its predecessor such as Kitkat 4.4 OS, stronger body, longer battery life, high resolution screen, and so on. The white color body gives the phone an executive look.
The Elephone MT6572W comes with a strong body with smooth rounded corners and edges. The finishing is matte finish with non-grease coating. The volume control is located on left hand side and the power button is located on the right side of the phone for easy operation. It also has a 3.5mm audio out port, through which you can enjoy listening to your favorite songs.The phone is light weight and slim and features a 2.45 inch TFT display with capacitive touch screen and 240 x 432 pixels. On the rear side, you have the 2.0 MP camera with LED flash light, capable of taking clear photographs even at low lights. The front side has 0.3 MP camera for taking selfies. You can also take excellent quality videos through the cameras.
Elephone MT6572W comes with the dual core processor MTK6572W which can clock speed more than 1.0GHz, thereby enabling you do multitasking at the same time without any lagging. The inbuilt 512 MB RAM in combination with the dual core processor makes the experience of using this smart phone a pleasure. This comes with an inbuilt 4 GB inbuilt ROM, for storing lots and lots of data. The phone also comes with an extended storage slot, which can house a 32 GB micro SD card. It also features 802.11 b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0 and GPS.
Elephone MT6572W comes with inbuilt 50 languages, so the phone is ready to be shipped worldwide. The battery that comes with this Elephone MT6572W, is powerful 550mAh battery, which has enough juice to make the phone usage for long periods without charging.
Elephone are soon to be joining the many other Chinese companies that have jumped on the smart watch bandwagon, many of the watches from other companies have concentrated on providing heart rate and sedentary monitoring capabilities as well as bluetooth call notification and the ability to use the watch as a Mic/speaker.
Whilst these watches have generally been fairly cheap, they have also been sadly lacking Google’s Android Wear platform, this has left them with only basic apps and no real chance of being more than they are.
With the ELE Watch, the first Android Wear smartwatch from Elephone, they are jumping in to the ring with the big boys such as Motorolla, Lg and samsung and to some extent Apple.
Style wise the ELE watch looks fairly attractive and has a 1.5″ 320 x 320 multi touch screen (The Motorola has a 1.56′ 320 x 290 multitouch screen ), unlike the round watches seen from Motorola, the Ele Watch has a full face screen (not flat tyre for this phone), the case looks to be made of stainless steel as does the strap.
On board the phone you will find 512m of ram and 4gb of ram this is the same as found on the Motorola, which should prove to be more than adequate for a smartwatch.
The phone has also been tested and rated at IP67 dust and water resistant and has built in GPS.
Hopefully when launched, this will be the catalyst that sees other China phone/watch companies embrace Android Wear and drive prices down and quality/features up.
What do you think? are you ready for some Android Wear love? or will you be holding out for an Apple Watch?
Cubot has made an alliance with Cheetah Mobile to further develop their existence in the European market. Cheetah is the developer of popular mobile apps like Clean Master, Battery doctor and CM Browser. Cheetah’s Clean Master software has 20 million loyal users in Europe, and Cheetah was officially listed in the New York Stock Exchange in August 2014 as CMCM.
The Cubot Cheetah alliance is expected to go fully operational by pre-installing the Clean Master app on Cubot’s new smartphone X15 in the near future. This will be the first collaboration between the two parties to establish a long term business relations. And Cubot also has a certain influence on the European mobile phone market. Especially in Germany, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom, Cubot has an important market hold in local consumers with very good reputation.
Making Clean Master a core product in the X15 is expected to bring strategic business results from its worldwide acceptance. According to internationally renowned mobile application analytics company Distimo Statistics, Cheetah’s clean up master ranked first in 62 countries on the Google Play tool chart in June 2014. As of August 18, 2014, Clean Master has been rated 4.7 from more than 13 million user reviews in Google Play. This score is more than what Google Maps, Facebook and other highest rated apps have achieved.
It is obvious that the two companies have different scopes, because Cheetah is a leader in the Internet industry while Cubot is electronic manufacturer focusing on smart devices. Even if the two companies come from different backgrounds, this collaboration will bring a more mature and meticulous user experience to the western market of mobile phone users.
Just yesterday we covered an article about the Bluboo XFire which aimed to be the cheapest MT6735 quad-core chip powered smartphone in the world. While the company is yet to announce an official price tag for the phone, you can expect it to retail somewhere around $70 which is an excellent price for the specs that comes with the device.
While we were impressed with the chipset as well as the 2750mAh battery on the device ( at least on paper), today the company has released a few images captured using the phone’s 8MP camera. The rear camera module is made up of an 8MP OV sensor with f/2.0 aperture and 5p lens. The company reportedly invested about 3500 hours of debugging to make sure that the camera software was perfect.
All this sounds good, but is it any good in real life? Well, the company has released a set of pictures that’s directly compared with the iPhone 6. Apple iPhone cameras have always been praised for their stellar rear cameras, and comparing the phone’s images with the iPhone 6 will reveal the true capability of the camera.
From the images, we can see that the Bluboo’s camera performance turned out to be quite good. The images came out clear and sharp, with minimum noise. Of course, its not as good as the iPhone 6, but its still good as compared to competitors.
Of course, these images are directly released by the company. Hence, we would advise you not to get too excited. Many a times, the actual performance of the device turns out to be disappointing, so lets wait for an official review of the phone to see whether it lives up to our expectation.
You can check out the comparison from down below. The one on the left is the iPhone 6 sample and the one of the right is from the Bluboo Xfire.
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