Elephone P4000 Review – Killer Battery Life for the Cheap

By

Linus

-

Sep 8, 2015

Today we have lots of smartphones, which have really good specs and everything but one thing still needs an improvement – a battery life. A Chinese smartphone maker Elephone wants to offer a very affordable solution with the P4000 model.

We wanted to say thank you for Pandawill.com for sending Elephone P4000 for a review.

Elephone P4000 Review: VIDEO

[embedyt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjAgjGBc6e8[/embedyt]

Elephone P4000 Review: SPECS

Display	5″ 720P (HD)
Processor	MTK6735 64bit Quad Core, Mali-T720 GPU
RAM	2GB
Camera	2MP Front/13MP
Connectivity	Bluetooth, 3G, 4G, GPS, WIFI, GSM,EDGE, GPRS, UMTS, HSPA, HSPA+
Battery	4.400 mAh (non-removable)
Dimensions	14.32 x 7.25 x 0.96 cm / 5.63 x 2.85 x 0.38 inches / 168g
OS	Android 5.1
Storage	16GB (expandable via microSD card slot up to 64GB)

Elephone P4000 Review: UNBOXING

The phone comes in a plain box and the contents include the charging brick, USB cable, screen protector and some documentation.

Elephone P4000 Review: DISPLAY

The Elephone P4000 comes with a 5” panel, which has a low resolution – 720p panel. Nevertheless, it’s an HD display and it is bright, colourful, it has an above average sunlight visibility and it is good for a budget device overall.

Elephone P4000 Review: DESIGN

When it comes to the design of the phone, the first thing you are going to see is that it is quite a thick (9.6mm) device. That’s because of the monster battery size, which is 4400mAh and the device supports the quick charging feature. Keep in mind that the official description of the phone declares 4400mAh but the numbers on the battery itself are 4420mAh and 4600mAh. For this reason, I kept repeating the 4600mAh number in the video review.

Other than that, the Elephone P4000 is manageable with one hand due to a small 5″ screen.

On the front side we have a 2MP camera along with the earpiece and a sensor light and on the bottom there is a backlit home button, which also serves as a pulsing notification light but other capacitive keys don’t have a backlight.

The back plate is made of glossy plastic and it feels quite cheap, to be honest. Also, it makes a few wobbling noises when pressed harder.

The 13MP shooter along with the LED flash will help you take some pictures and the loudspeaker is located on the bottom.

The volume rocker and the power button are on the right side, they have a good tactile feedback but feel a bit plasticky.

The top side is where you can find a headset jack and the bottom is where the micro USB and the main mic are located.

Overall, the design is uninspiring due to its plasticky build and the device looks and feels quite cheap.

Elephone P4000 Review: UI

1 of 7

The Elephone P4000 runs on Android 5.1 and you can enjoy almost stock Android experience with just a little bit of extra functionality. Usually, the UI is running smoothly but I’ve experienced a little bit of stutter with a lot of tasks running in the background but nothing major.

Elephone P4000 Review: BENCHMARKS

1 of 5

Elephone P4000 Review: PERFORMANCE

The device has a 64-bit MT6735 chip along with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage. Gaming performance is quite good but you may see a few skipped frames and loading times are a bit longer than on higher-end devices.

A good thing is that the phone does’t heat up too much.

Elephone P4000 Review: MULTIMEDIA

1 of 2

The multimedia experience is just mediocre. While the screen is decent to watch full-HD movies on, the loudspeaker could be better as it could have more depth in its sound it starts crackling at the highest volume setting.

The sound via earphones is quite good but nothing to be impressed about.

Elephone P4000 Review: CAMERA

1 of 3

The Elephone P4000 has a stock Mediatek camera app, which allows you to play with a few settings and shooting modes. The shutter speed is just average, though.

Elephone P4000 Review: IMAGE QUALITY

1 of 29

The phone has a 13MP camera on the back but it actually disappoints in real life. It seems that the sensor is having a hard time focusing as a lot of pictures came out blurry with a low level of detail.

If you manage to hold your hand very steady, you may have some better looking images. However, they still lack in details, you can see a visible noise and the dynamic range is usually off.

The shots taken indoors are mediocre as well and the night shots do not impress as any other budget device.

Elephone P4000 Review: VIDEO QUALITY

The footage produced by this phone could definitely see some improvements as the video doesn’t have much details and sharpness (max. resolution of the video is 720p). See video review for the video sample.

Elephone P4000 Review: CONNECTIVITY

1 of 1

As far as connectivity options go, the call quality does not impress at all. The volume output is very low and the voices are simply not clear. It was hard to hear people on the other end while being in a bit more noisy environments.

On the other hand, I had no problems with the Wifi, Bluetooth and even GPS lock speeds as well as accuracy are good.

Elephone P4000 Review: BATTERY LIFE

1 of 7

Finally, we’ve come to the star of the show as the Elephone P4000 sports a non-removable 4600Ah battery, which lasts forever and it’s not easy to kill it in one day doesn’t matter what you do.

The standby times are very good as I’ve used the device for 6 days with more than 6 hours of screen-on time and there were still some juice left.

With a lighter use, you may even get 8 hours of screen-on time, which is really impressive for a budget phone.

Elephone P4000 Review: CONCLUSIONS

Elephone P4000 is a device that has been made with one clear selling point – the amazing battery. After testing it out for more than a week I can assure that it delivers and this is the longest lasting budget smartphone, which costs just below $130, by the way, I’ve tested to date.

Also, the Elephone P4000 has a decent 5” screen, good overall performance if you are not a heavy gamer, of course. In addition, the phone has a dual-SIM card slots and one of them even supports 4G. Also, you can easily expand the storage via the microSD card slot.

However, Elephone needed to make quite a few compromises to make a phone this cheap. The camera does not impress at all, the loudspeaker could be better but most importantly the call quality is poor. Well, you can still make conversations but keep in mind that they would not be loud and clear via the earpiece.

Finally, the Elephone P4000 is a device for those, who want a very cheap phone with a killer battery life but accepts a few important compromises for the sake of the low price.

We wanted to say thank you to Pandawill.com for sending Elephone P4000 for a review. Gizmo china readers are getting a special $20 DISCOUNT for a limited time! Coupon Code: PWP4000. Expiration date: 09/12/2015

Buy Elephone P4000 from Pandawill for just $109.99 using a COUPON CODE PWP4000

Deals: Ulefone Paris now available for only $129

By

Frank Tu

-

Sep 8, 2015

Ulefone the Chinese manufacturer has unveiled the specifications of its future phone with the sweet name of our capital: Paris. If he takes the name of the city of light, it will not dazzle …

The Chinese company Ulephone is certainly unknown to you, and for good reason: no moving of the brand is marketed wordldwide. The company offers a range of products quite varied, ranging from entry to high end. And the Chinese manufacturer unveiled its latest smartphone, Ulefone Paris at the Eiffel Tower, by the end of August. As usual, the specifications have already leaked on the web, and we even have the right to release a photo showing us more detail mobile.

The phone have a 5-inch screen with full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 powered by a processor MT6753 octa-core 64-bit MediaTek. The radius of the memory, the Paris model will have 2 GB of RAM and a storage space of 16 GB, expandable thanks to its microSD slot up to 128GB. For the battery, the manufacturer has opted for a model 2250 mAh. Picture side, we find a back sensor 13 megapixels and a front sensor of 5 megapixels.

The design level, the mobile strangely resembles an iPhone 6, with a housing while aluminum. The volume knob is located on the right of the device, the jack is in turn located above the telephone. Ulephone also took over some characteristics of Meizu, the home button and the lack of menu and back button. Most of the online retailers listed the phone for around $169, but I found geekbuying is offering it for just $129.99, is it a big bargain for you?

Buy from gearbest.com for $129.99

Buy Ulefone Paris from Geekbuying for only $129.99

OPPO R7 Lite Silently Announced with 2.5D Curved Glass & Snapdragon 615

By

Joel Joseph

-

Sep 8, 2015

OPPO is one of those Chinese companies who is known to come up with innovative smartphones. The company had released the OPPO R7 and R7 Plus back in May. Both the devices came with high-end hardware with an all metal design. Now, the company has silently released the OPPO R7 Lite, which is a toned down version of the R7.

The OPPO R7 Lite comes with the same metal body as the R7 and the R7 Plus, along with a 2.5D curved glass on top. Despite its mid-range placement, its good to see OPPO stick with the same all metal body on this device.

As for the specs, the R7 Lite sports the Snapdragon 615 octa-core chip under the hood. There will be 2GB of RAM on board along with 16GB of storage. The phone comes with a 5-inch display with 720p resolution. As for the camera, you have a 13MP shooter at the back, capable of taking 50MP high resolution images. Up front, there’s an 8MP shooter. The battery is a bit disappointing at 2320mAh. But the R7 Lite supports OPPO’s VOOC fast charge tech which can charge up to 75% in 30 minutes. For software, the phone runs on Android 5.1 with ColorOS 2.0 on top.

According to the Indonesian listing of the OPPO R7 Lite, the phone is priced at 4.99 million Indonesian Rupiah which roughly translates to $350. As you can see, despite the reduction in cost, the phone’s specs don’t justify its high price. You can anytime get better alternatives like Xiaomi Mi4 or OnePlus 2 which offers a lot more power for around the same price.

What do you think?

Lenovo Vibe X3 Hits TENAA, Design & Specs Revealed!

By

Joel Joseph

-

Sep 7, 2015

Thanks to a leak way back in February, most of the upcoming smartphones from Lenovo were already revealed. One by one, these smartphones are being announced by the company, with the Lenovo Vibe P1 bring the latest one. Now, it looks like the Lenovo Vibe X3, which we saw in a GFXBench listing early August is all set to hit the markets. The device has just passed the Chinese TENAA authority, making its launch imminent. This also reveals the overall design as well as specs of the device.

Looks wise, the Lenovo Vibe X3 is similar to the recently announced ZTE Axon flagship. There are dual speakers up upfront, which makes it look like the ZTE device. However, the back is more or less like the recently announced Vibe devices. You will find a large camera sensor with dual LED color temperature flash and a fingerprint sensor as well.

1 of 4

As for the specs, the Lenovo Vibe X3 comes with Snapdragon 808 hexa-core chip under the hood. There will be a 5.5-inch display on board (unlike the previous rumors which hinted at a 5-inch one) with FHD 1080p resolution. For memory, you get 3GB of RAM, and 32GB of storage, further expandable via MicroSD.

The phone is pretty thick, measuring 154 x 76.4 x 9.4mm and weighs 175 grams. This could hint at a large battery on board, like the P1 (5,000mAh?). For camera, there will be a 21MP sensor at the back with dual LED flash and an 8MP front facing shooter.

Unfortunately, apart from the specs, we have no other information about the handset. But since it has already passed TENAA, we expect a lot more information in the coming days.

Elephone P9000 With Deca-Core Helio X20 Leaked In Pictures & Listed Online!

By

Joel Joseph

-

Sep 7, 2015

A few months back, we came to know that Elephone was working on a MT6797 Helio X20 powered Elephone P9000 flagship. The specialty of the device is going to be the chipset under the hood, which is the first deca-core smartphone SoC in the market. It is said that the chip’s Tri-Cluster design will improve battery life up to 40% as compared to rivals and offers better heat dissipation. From the specifications listed on the Elephone website, we can see that this is going to the be the most powerful smartphone from the company till date.

While there’s still time for the official launch of the Elephone P9000, the device was spotted in hands on pictures recently. A Portuguese website managed to get hold of a couple of pictures which shows us the overall design of the device. From the images, the device does look well built with a rough texture at the back. You will even find a round fingerprint sensor on the rear shell.

1 of 4

Apart from the powerful deca-core Helio X20, the Elephone P9000 is said to come with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage on board. The phone will feature a 5.5-inch FHD 1080p resolution display. At the back, there will be a 20.7MP Sony IMX230 sensor and an 8MP front facing camera. You will also find a 3100mAh battery on board. The phone runs on Android 5.1 out of the box.

As you can see, these specs are pretty high-end. While Elephone has listed the P9000 for $499 on the website, third party retailers have started listing the phone too. However, the price tag is much lower and only around $329.99. Still, that’s much higher than any of the products Elephone has released till date. So, it will be interesting to see whether customers are willing to pay a premium price for a premium handset like the Elephone P9000.

Elephone P9000 Listed By Geekbuying

1 of 4

If you look at the leaked hands on pictures and the ones listed by the retailer Geekbuying, they are two different designs. We are not sure which one of these could turn out to be the real one, but we expect it to be the leaked hands on images which look quite premium. The phone is expected to be announced on October 20. But expect more details in the coming days.

ZTE Axon Wins User Experience Gold Award at IFA 2015 In Berlin

By

Joel Joseph

-

Sep 7, 2015

ZTE made a big move internationally this year with its brand new Axon flagship. Even before launching Axon in China, the company released it in US. The company has different versions for different regions. The recently showcased Axon Elite version will be the international variant that will be available for purchase in a number of emerging markets in Europe and Asia-Pacific.

ZTE Axon combines good looks, powerful hardware and affordable pricing in one device, which is why the phone was awarded the ‘User Experience Gold Award’ by IDG and German Industry and Commerce Ltd. at IFA 2015 in Berlin. The award comes in the category of Product Technical Innovation Award and ZTE is the only Chinese smartphone manufacturer to receive such an award.

“We are both honored and excited to receive this award for Axon, our new global flagship smartphone,” said Adam Zeng, CEO, ZTE Mobile Device. “Axon represents an unprecedented effort on ZTE’s part to truly put the consumer at the heart of our product development. Today’s award is great recognition of this effort, and we will continue to take user experience to new and unexplored heights with future iterations of Axon.”

As we have previously reported, the ZTE Axon is definitely a value for money device. You can check out our review for more information about the device. Apart from the impressive specs on board, the international and Chinese variant of the Axon is the world’s first smartphone with three different biometric identification options. You can secure the device with fingerprint, voice control and eye-scan. What’s more, these models are also one of the first ones to feature Corning’s Antimicrobial Gorilla Glass.

So, what do you think about the ZTE Axon. Do you think the Axon phone will help this Chinese giant achieve success internationally?

BuyZTE Axon from Gearbest for $469.99

Zeblaze Crystal($45.99) – the smartwatch for newbies

By

Frank Tu

-

Sep 7, 2015

We have seen many smartwatches launched in the market with mesmerizing features, but in Brazil many people have not had the opportunity to buy a smart watch due to the high price. With this in mind, the Chinese decided to develop smartwatches at reasonably low prices, such as Zeblaze Crystal Bluetooth Smart Watch, which costs only $45.99 on gearbest (starting 10:00 UTC from Sept 7 to 13 limited to 20 units daily).

The Zeblaze Crystal SmartWatch comes with a 1.54-inch screen – curved tempered glass that provides a 150-degree viewing angle.This device is loaded with numerous exciting features like Bluetooth connectivity, the ability to make calls, reminder message, night mode, health monitor, music player and remote camera, pedometer, alarm, etc. The Zeblaze Crystal also features IP65 (waterproof).

In the smartwatch hardware works with 128 MB RAM with 64 MB of ROM, battery with 280mAh capacity that promises a duration of 72 hours of use and other resources. Check the technical specifications of Zeblaze Crystal SmartWatch:

– Screen: 1.54 “curved

– Internal Memory: 64MB

– Memória RAM: 128MB

– Bateria: 280mAh

– Connectivity: Bluetooth 4.0, compatible to Android and iOS system

– Features: Heart Rate Monitor, connections and messages via smartphone, music player, integrated camera, water resistant.

LeTV Max Pink & Gold Special Editions Official: Sapphire Glass Screen, 5888 Yuan Price

By

Joel Joseph

-

Sep 7, 2015

Like expected, LeTV announced the LeTV Max Pink & Gold Special Editions in an event today. The company had teased us earlier with a couple of pictures, along with the tagline, “will give you some more colors to see”. This along with a recent leak had kind of confirmed the launch today.

In addition to the special colors, both the editions will feature sapphire glass screen. Yes, the same sapphire glass which is often regarded as one of the toughest glass in the market right now. Instead of just a portion of the body (like camera glass), it will cover the entire display, protecting it from scratches and other abrasion. The glass also has excellent light transmission quality, which means you can expect a clear and vibrant display on the device.

The Pink Edition is particularly special because of the additional CNC machining, hundreds of color toning and a lot other processing to finally achieve the expected finish. That is why, the Pink version is slightly costlier than the gold version. While the LeTV Max Gold edition will retail for 5888 Yuan ($924), the Pink version will cost as much as 6188 Yuan, ($972). As you can see, these phones are costly even for the premium segment.

As for the specs, both the models will feature 6.33-inch display with 2K resolution. Under the hood, there will be Snapdragon 810 octa-core 64-bit chip with 4GB RAM and 128GB of storage. Up front, there’s a 4MP Ultrapixel camera while at the back, there’s a 21MP shooter. The phone comes with 3400mAh battery and runs on Android 5.0 with LeTV’s EUI on top. Along with these powerful specs, for the above price you get a lot of VIP feature like additional security features, TV subscriptions, VIP hotline, special luxury package and so on.

Like all special edition versions, the available units will be limited, only 10,000 units will be available for sale globally. The company is yet to announce a specific launch date for the device, but stay tuned for more details.

Lenovo unveils three new Vibe handsets at IFA with big batteries

By

Joel Joseph

-

Sep 7, 2015

Lenovo was present at IFA Berlin this year and the company released a number of handsets at the event. Along with the Lenovo Vibe P1 flagship, which was leaked a few days back, we saw two other launches in the same family, the Vibe P1m and the Vibe S1.

The Lenovo Vibe P1 was definitely the highlight with its beautiful all metal design. The phone comes with FHD 1080p 5.5-inch display. Under the hood, it features the 64-bit octa-core Snapdragon 615 processor with 3GB RAM and 32 GB of storage. At the back, theres a 13MP camera with a 5MP front facing shooter. As for the battery, the Vibe P1 comes with 5000mAh capacity one capable of delivering upto 81 hours of talktime. There’s a physical home button integrated fingerprint sensor as well. The phone costs just $279.

But if you are looking for something cheaper, you can go for the Vibe P1m. It comes with MT6435P processor with 2GB RAM and 16GB ROM. To keep the price low, the company has used a polycarbonate body instead of metal. You get an 8MP shooter at the back along with a 5Mp front facing one. As for the display, the P1m features a 5-inch one with 720p resolution. The battery is also slightly smaller at 4000mAh. You have to shell out only around $199 for all these specs.

The third launch in the Lenovo Vibe family was the Vibe S1. This particular phone is unique in the sense there are two front facing cameras. In fact, its the first dual front facing camera phone. Theres an 8MP primary sensor for taking shots along with a 2MP one for the depth of field effect.

The body is also interesting with curved glass design. As for the other specs, the Vibe S1 comes with MT6752 octa-core chip, 3GB RAM and 32GB of storage. There’s a 5-inch FHD 1080p display up front. At the back, there’s a 13MP rear camera. The Lenovo Vibe S1 lies between the above two models and costs $299.
So what do you think about these models? Any takers?

LeTV to Announce Pink & Gold LeTV Max Editions Later Today

By

Joel Joseph

-

Sep 6, 2015

We have been hearing about a Pink Version of the LeTV Max for quite some time. The Chinese company has an event later today where it will most likely unveil this particular edition. The company had previously released two different posters for this event, one in pink, which kind of confirms this particular edition. However, there was a golden colored teaser as well, which is most likely for the gold colored version. From the past couple of years, gold colored smartphones are becoming quite popular among customers, so a gold edition might not be a bad idea for the LeTV Max.

We have already seen the premium packaging for the model in a previous leak. Now, we have some clear pictures of the Pink Goddess Edition of the LeTV Max, thanks to a leak from Weibo. The design of the phone remains the same as before, however, the color scheme used will definitely attract most women customers. You can check out the newly leaked pictures from down below.

While today’s event will most likely focus on launching these two editions, we still don’t know whether the company will tease a new product. Remember a few weeks back, LeTV Hong Kong Facebook page revealed a new teaser with Snapdragon 820? Well, we hope to hear more about the upcoming flagship, and today might be a good day to reveal some additional details about the new product.

Also, it would be interesting to see how much will these special edition LeTV Max models cost.

Doogee F5, the flagship of the middle range of the manufacturer

By

Frank Tu

-

Sep 6, 2015

The Chinese manufacturer Doogee is increasingly having more presence worldwide and thanks to that reputation has taken as a result of providing good quality terminals and reduced prices . So much so that the brand has now introduced the new Doogee F5 , a phone which they said is their hallmark, and in seeking to conquer the mid-range providing the highest quality in every detail , while maintaining the same price level.

Preorder now at GearBeast for only $139

Doogee has chosen as typical SoC for the medium-high range of Chinese smartphones, MediaTek MTK6753 eight 64-bit cores clocking at 1.5 Ghz, and incorporates an ARM Mali T720 GPU which has already demonstrated a great solvency any type of 3D application for the smartphone. Accompanying this SoC find a generous 3 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal storage capacity can be expanded further up to 64 GB using microSD memory card.

Regarding the screen, we find a 5.5-inch IPS panel and full HD resolution with OGS technology (one glass solution) that stands for many things. For starters, its density of 401 pixels per inch ensures sharp images at any distance, but it also has a range of 100% NTSC color, something very unusual for a smartphone, and 95% saturation. Of course, being an IPS panel the viewing angles are 178 degrees.

The Doogee F5 is also a terminal that stands out for its cameras because Samsung 3M2 incorporates a 13 Megapixel sensor in the rear that act as 16 Megapixel via software.Course includes image stabilizer and LED flash. The front camera is 5 Mp, and through software acts if 8MP as to ensure the best “selfies”.

In the area of connectivity, we have the Doogee F5 is a4G phablet supports 2G / 3G / 4G networks in most countries and also Dual SIM (two micro SIM in this case). It also has WiFi 802.11 b / g / n, Bluetooth 4.0, A-GPS and fingerprint sensor located on the back of the terminal. Its battery is 3,000 mAh ensuring an autonomy of at least one day even under intense use of the device.

But the quality of Doogee F5 is not only in the domestic hardware. The manufacturer has used a metal structure solidified liquid that gives it great strength and durability to the terminal, despite its large size (which incidentally measures 15.23 x 7.69 x 0.78 cm and weighs 171 grams, although in its thinnest part ( the edges) measures just 5 mm thick).

Finally include the price. The Doogee F5 is a terminal of upper-middle range which is very interesting for its features, but if you say that in stores like GearBest can get for just over $139 seems even more attractive, does not it? It is also available in three colors (light gray, dark gray and champagne).

Preorder now at GearBeast for only $139

Oukitel U2 Review – Decent Super Cheap Smartphones Are Now Possible?

By

Linus

-

Sep 6, 2015

When it comes to very cheap phones, they usually lack in a lot of different departments and that’s why we are not really interested in them. However, Oukitel has some intentions to change that with their latest U2 model. Will it be another cheapo device with too many “compromises” or will it be a cheap phone worth looking at?

We wanted to say thanks to Comebuy.com for sending Oukitel U2 for a review.

Buy Oukitel U2 from Comebuy for $93.18

Oukitel U2 Review: VIDEO

[embedyt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rpAde1P7QM[/embedyt]

Oukitel U2 Review: SPECS

Display	5″ 960 x 540 (qHD)
Processor	MTK6735 64bit Quad Core, 1.0GHz, Mali-T720 GPU
RAM	1GB
Camera	5MP Front/8MP
Connectivity	Bluetooth, 3G, 4G, GPS, WIFI, GSM,EDGE, GPRS, UMTS, HSPA, HSPA+
Battery	2.050 mAh (removable)
Dimensions	14.3 x 7.05 x 0.83 cm / 5.62 x 2.77 x 0.33 inches / 150g
OS	Android 5.1
Storage	8GB (expandable via microSD card slot up to 32GB)

Oukitel U2 Review: UNBOXING

1 of 3

The phone comes in a plain box and all you are getting is the wall charger along with the USB cable and some documentation.

Oukitel U2 Review: DESIGN

When it comes to very cheap smartphones, they usually have a questionable build quality and the choice of materials used in the construction.

Oukitel, which is a small Chinese smartphone maker, managed to make a really good looking phone for a price.

It has a metal chassis going around the device along with metal buttons, which have a great tactile feedback and a 2.5D glass on the front and the back with slight curves on the edges.

On the front top side you can find a 5MP selfie camera along with the earpiece and proximity sensor light, and on the bottom the are non-backlit capacitive keys.

The volume rocker sits on the left and the power button is on the right.

On the top side there is a micro USB port and the headset jack, and on the bottom there is just a mic.

The back plate is kind of a fingerprint magnet due to its glossy glass finish but its not that visible on the white model.

On the top side there is an 8MP camera along with the single LED and on the bottom you can find a loudspeaker.

A great thing is that the back cover sits tight but it is very easy to remove it and under the hood you can find a 2050mAh removable battery, a microSD card slot, which takes cards up to 32GB and two SIM card slots and the first one has the 4G LTE support.

Overall, I am really impressed about the design and built quality of this $90 phone. Metal and glass sandwich construction looks and feels premium, the phone is easily manageable with one hand due to its 5” display and overall you no one would ever think this device is so cheap.

Check out all design pictures in one gallery:

1 of 29

Oukitel U2 Review: DISPLAY

The Oukitel U2 comes with a 5” display but it has a pretty low 540×960 qHD resolution. Its definitely not the sharpest panel I’ve seen but definitely one of the better ones in this price range. The colour reproduction is not very accurate but the panel is bright that can be easily seen outdoors, it has good viewing angles and contrast.

Oukitel U2 Review: UI

A really cool thing is that the Oukitel U2 comes with the newest Android 5.1 version. Basically, you are getting the stock Android experience but Oukitel added some flavour of their own by removing the app tray and designing the icons to make it look a bit more colourful. Also, the recent apps tray shows you just the icons of the recent apps and you can either swipe them up to close it or swipe down to lock.

The Oukitel U2 comes with plenty of gesture and motion controls, which some of them are definitely gimmicky but others are pretty useful like double tap the home button to lock or unlock the screen, draw some letters to open certain apps and so on. A great thing is that these gestures work pretty good.

Other than that, the base of stock Android assures that you will get smooth and fast performance when doing daily tasks and the phone works well even with lots of apps running in the background.

Oukitel U2 Review: PERFORMANCE

The phone comes with the Quad-Core MT6735M, which is clocked at 1GHz. The chip is coupled with 1GB of RAM, Mali-T720 GPU and 8GB of expandable storage.

The result of it? I expected a lot more since the Oukitel U2 simply can’t handle the graphically intensive games. The performance is terrible since there are a lot of lag, stutter and skipped frames.

Overall, this phone is not for heavy gamers but the games that do not have the best graphics work much better.

Oukitel U2 Review: MULTIMEDIA

There are no issues watching full-HD movies. Well, it is just that the phone doesn’t have a full-HD screen.

On the other hand, the loudspeaker is pretty good for such a cheap device.

When it comes to listening to music via earphones the volume output is good but naturally, the sound quality is not on par with the more expensive phones. Still, you can enjoy the music at a decent quality for such a cheap phone.

Oukitel U2 Review: CAMERA

As it has become usual to cheap phones, Oukitel U2 has a stock Mediatek camera app with a few shooting modes and settings to play with. The shutter speed is pretty slow.

Oukitel U2 Review: IMAGE QUALITY

You cannot expect any stellar results from a cheap phone, which has an 8MP camera on the back. Basically, the images taken with the rear snapper could be useful only for social media as they usually lack in details, the contrast, exposure and dynamic range are usually off. Still, the colour reproduction can be accurate at some shots.

You would not want to take many low-light shots as sometimes it is hard to see the scene you took the picture of.

Oukitel U2 Review: VIDEO QUALITY

As far as the video quality, the footage lacks in every aspect and it simply does not look good overall. See the video review for a video sample.

Oukitel U2 Review: CONNECTIVITY

1 of 2

The call quality is surprisingly decent for a cheap phone and the signal reception is better than average. The 4G connectivity may not be the fastest but it is working.

GPS lock speeds are pretty fast, Wifi and Bluetooth are working fine and I am quite impressed that the Oukitel U2 doesn’t have major connectivity issues like some other cheap phones.

Oukitel U2 Review: BATTERY LIFE

In theory, 2050mAh battery should perform good given the fact that the phone does not have a powerful chip and it does not need to push too many pixels.

In reality, the Oukitel U2 will last you a full day if you are not a heavy user and it has a decent over 4 hours screen-on time.

Oukitel U2 Review: CONCLUSIONS

So here it is, the $90 Oukitel U2. If you are on a tight budget and looking for a phone that has a great design and build quality, does all the basic tasks well, has a great user interface performance, decent call quality and battery life, this phone may be for you.

However, the Oukitel U2 would not be your next device if you love taking a lot of pictures and love playing the latest 3D games.

Still, despite these shortcomings, which could be a deal breaker for some, the Oukitel U2 is a really decent offering in the price range of under $100 unlocked.

We wanted to say thanks to Comebuy.com for sending Oukitel U2 for a review.

Buy Oukitel U2 from Comebuy for $93.18

Infocus M810T: a snapdragon 801 smartphone that costs $139

By

Frank Tu

-

Sep 6, 2015

Despite the fact that OnePlus One is a very capable handset according to the price that it is being sold for, Infocus M810T happens to be an even more capable smartphone, with one huge selling point. The device costs half the price of OnePlus One and features similar hardware, which makes it’s a no-brainer as to which device you will end up purchasing.

Coming to the hardware specifications, Infocus M810T is armed with a Snapdragon 801, which is the same chipset present on OnePlus One. However, when consumers purchase the device, they will find that it is running a very optimized interface and coupled with an optimized Android update, the smartphone is able to score more than OnePlus One, HTC One M8 and Samsung Galaxy S5 in all benchmarking tests, particularly AnTuTu.

Despite the fact that the device sports just 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage, the company has provided additional flexibility to not only place two SIM cards, but a microSD card slot that has a maximum capacity value of 64GB. Infocus M810T sports a phablet sized form factor since it has a screen size of 5.5 inches that renders a resolution of 1080p on its IPS display.

For an affordable handset, the device also has a 4G modem that delivers impressive upload and download speeds. Coming to the camera specifications, Infocus M810T has a 13MP rear camera sensor coupled with a 5MP one. According to the company, the primary sensor is able to snap impressive images and videos, even after they have been zoomed in.

Coming to the price tag, Infocus M810T can be purchased for $159.99, but if you want an even bigger discount,

COUPON: M810TGB PURCHASE PRICE: $139

Buy Infocus M810T For $20 OFF

, allowing you to snag yourself an even cheaper device that not only performs better than OnePlus One, but also has a ton of features present in it.

ZTE Axon Elite Will Be the International Version With SD810 & Biometric Identification

By

Joel Joseph

-

Sep 4, 2015

ZTE is trying hard to capture the international market with its Axon range of smartphones. The range specializes in high-end hardware at an affordable price tag as compared to competitors like Apple and Samsung. The company had announced the ZTE Axon, Axon Lux and Pro version in US a few weeks back. Now, the company has outed yet another Axon smartphone, called as the ZTE Axon Elite. This particular device will share most of the specs as the Axon model, but will be aimed at the international market.

As for the specs, the ZTE Axon features the same Snapdragon 810 chipset that was found in the US edition, with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage on board. This is further expandable via MicroSD card slot. The phone comes with a 5.5-inch Full HD LCD display with 2.5D glass. As for the camera, you will find dual camera setup (13MP + 2MP) at the back. Up front, theres the standard 8MP wide-angle shooter.

Under the hood, the ZTE Axon Elite features a 3,000mAh battery with Quick Charge. This should be enough for a day’s usage easily. Like the flagship, the Elite will also feature the AKM 4961 Hi-Fi Audio chip inside. So, audiophiles won’t be disappointed. Finally, the phone comes with three different types of biometric identification options: fingerprint, voice scan and eye scan.

The ZTE Axon Elite model will be available for sale for 420 EUR ($468) in France, Italy, Spain, Germany and UK from September 24. Users can purchase the device directly from Ebay for the said price. In the coming weeks, the phone will enter some Asian markets such as Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Hong Kong.

Huawei Mate S vs Samsung Galaxy S6: Detailed Specs Comparison

By

Joel Joseph

-

Sep 4, 2015

Huawei announced its Mate S flagship on Wednesday. The phone came with powerful specs, enough to compete with market leaders such as the Samsung Galaxy S6 and the LG G4. The company has repeatedly stressed that the Mate lineup is targeted at the premium segment where a handful of manufacturers have been successful, like Apple and Samsung. So, we decided to compare the specs of Mate S and Galaxy S6 to see if the former is really worth paying $730. On the other hand, if you can find good deals, the S6 can be bought for around $600.

MATE S VS GALAXY S6

So, this really makes us wonder if the Mate S is worth paying so much. Check out this comparison to see if it is…

DISPLAY:

We start off with the display on both the devices. The new generation Huawei Mate S features a 5.5-inch full HD 1080p AMOLED display with curved edges to give you bezelless look. This kind of distinguishes itself from the 5.1-inch Galaxy S6 which features a much better 2K resolution display. Of course, this means more pixels per inch on the S6 (577ppi) instead of the Mate S (401 ppi). However what makes the Mate S unique is its Force Touch. Its the first smartphone to be available in the market with this technology which definitely gives it an edge.

So, its actually not easy to determine which one has a better display. On one hand, we have the S6 with a better resolution display, but on the other side is the Mate S with a lower resolution screen but with Force Touch. Here, we would leave it up to you to decide which one’s better. But in my personal opinion, I would prefer the Mate S’s display given that 1080p resolution is more than enough for me and the Force Touch is something I would want to experiment with.

WINNER: TIE

CPU, MEMORY & STORAGE:

Here, its not hard to decide which one comes out as the winner. The Galaxy S6 features the powerful Exynos 7420 octa-core chip clocked at 2.1GHz with Mali-760 MP8 GPU. On the other hand, the Huawei Mate S comes with a less powerful octa-core Kirin 935 chipset clocked at 2.2GHz. The Kirin chipset is noway near the Exynos 7420 in terms of performance, so we will have to give this category to S6 without doubt.

Both feature 3GB RAM on board with 32GB storage (base variant). However, the S6 lacks a MicroSD card slot, which is a big drawback for many. If you are using the 32GB version, you might fall short of storage, which is why Mate S triumphs this category with MicroSD support.

WINNER: CPU – S6 | MEMORY – TIE | STORAGE – MATE S

CAMERA:

This is where things get hard. On paper, the Galaxy S6 has the better camera with a 16MP rear sensor as compared to the 13MP shooter on the Mate S. Both feature OIS, Auto-Focus, & LED Flash (Mate S has dual tone flash). However, from our experience we know that specs aren’t the only thing that decides which one has the better camera. While S6 may have a larger resolution sensor, the Mate S could take better shots. So, we will have to wait for our review to decide which ones the best in this category.

When it comes to the front camera department, the Huawei Mate S triumphs. Because, the phone not only features the better resolution 8MP shooter as compared to the 5MP one on the Galaxy S6, but it also features a soft lighting flash besides the front camera. Selfie lovers will be happy to get the Mate S, thanks to its soft flash on the front as well as beauty mode which improves skin tone, eyes and your overall face in real time.

WINNER: REAR CAM – Can’t Say (Probably S6) | Front CAM – MATE S

DIMENSIONS & WEIGHT:

Both have fairly decent dimensions according to their display sizes. The Galaxy S6 is a bit more compact measuring 143.4x 70.5x 6.8mm while the Mate S featuers a 149.8 x 75.3 x 7.2mm body. As you can see, Galaxy S6 is thinner than the Mate S, but the latter compensates that by a slightly larger battery.

Even in the weights department, both are quite lightweight for their categories. The S6 weighs just 138 grams while the Mate S weighs 156 grams. So, you can’t really judge based on this information. Even design wise, both are fairly good looking smartphones. However, the new slightly curved back on the Mate S along with the curved edges on the display might please most smartphone lovers.

In case you are wondering about the screen to body ratio, here also there’s not much difference. The Mate S fetures a slightly better ratio with the screen covering 73.9% of the body while the S6’s display screen covers just 70.7%.

So, we leave it up to you to decide which one you prefer in terms of size, screen to body ratio and weight.

WINNER: TIE

BATTERY:

The S6 features a 2550mAh battery while the Mate S comes with a slightly better 2700mAh battery. Both should provide up to a day’s battery life. While the Cortex-A53 powered Kirin 935 should definitely be less power consuming, the Exynos 7420 is built using the 14nm FinFET process making it efficient. So, we expect both to feature decent battery life. Both feature fast charge!

WINNER: MATE S (Just based on Battery Size)

SOFTWARE & OTHER FEATURES:

Huawei is not really known for its EMUI, but then, even Samsung’s TouchWiz isn’t the best. Both run on Android 5.1.1 OS with their respective skins on top. Both the models feature a fingerprint sensor, Mate S has it at the back, while the S6 has it incorporated into the home button.

What we like about the Mate S is that it comes with Knuckle Control 2.0, which provides new features in addition to the ones we saw on the Huawei P8. Its a handy feature to speed up things like taking screenshots, opening up apps etc improving the overall user experience.

On the other hand, the Galaxy S6 does come with its own set of additional features. First of all, it supports Wireless Charging. Secondly, it features additional sensors like heart rate and SpO2. And finally, if you love giving Voice Commands, the S-Voice on the S6 is at your disposal.

WINNER: S6

CONCLUSION:

Well, we have covered most aspects of the Galaxy S6 vs Mate S comparison. As you can see from the comparison, its really hard to decide which one comes out as the winner. With a better resolution display, faster CPU and better resolution rear camera, the S6 does look like the winner here, but then, the Mate S has its own set of features which makes it unique.

It really depends on what you are looking in your smartphone to decide which ones better. However, in terms of pricing, the Galaxy S6 does have an edge. Retailers like Amazon are selling the device for as low as $600. On the other hand, right now, you will have to spend as much as $750 for a Mate S.

To justify such a big difference in the price, we would have wanted a faster CPU (Kirin 950 where are you?) and probably larger battery.

At least, this is what we think. We would like to know which one would you choose between the two devices? Do you think its really worth buying the Mate S for such a premium price tag?

7 Golden Rules for Improving Web Typography

By

Shine Wong

-

Sep 3, 2015

Of lights bring given tree. Creature. Be evening fruitful blessed may. There. Can’t beast thing whose wherein life and lesser divide kind multiply. Creature over creature deep. Us years fourth doesn’t, very was from. Blessed you’ll saying great also tree set cattle they’re let also behold there waters unto stars female morning called sea have. Together fish set. Day after kind. Morning. Unto lesser, were signs sixth. Called. Seed. Is fourth two herb. Every seasons fifth likeness fill meat darkness. Female there grass she’d they’re tree seasons very land abundantly so. Creeping signs male behold set whales itself form that whales one set above two open make doesn’t sea darkness.

Face great created made i kind gathered of bring us shall seas fruitful dry replenish bearing set for created

Multiply Deep Great

Darkness signs you’re isn’t seed over life. You’ll above you there. Waters void set. Living. Air upon green first for the for be be light stars can’t. God. Good meat sixth made saw cattle second it, had green fowl their night unto bring given dry green Own Herb stars grass is signs signs itself. Earth. So. Earth had lesser replenish fruit. Unto over meat fly. Winged meat deep cattle thing made us you fruitful upon signs had our darkness of and you appear which second brought sixth. Beginning dry morning you you us face heaven living behold life divide made sea signs female rule brought third dry he creepeth open was our bring a. Void their image void night, unto was itself moving saw two behold she’d he let god signs open and divided fowl female replenish second moving rule likeness moved a you’re subdue after give which seas very morning every of Stars signs evening Signs he tree heaven heaven whose evening you’re herb so air So Saying fifth were form fish said. Creepeth they’re.

Every Behold One

You’ll Said Male

Lights very set from gathered. Him they’re be firmament had.

The stars brought forth. Saw, firmament. Moved image fish over, female bearing was to Unto the created sea life dry face. Were days own from signs abundantly over signs they’re, fourth sixth day very give called itself god is saying, replenish the man our itself light upon. The seas there, appear. Moveth earth tree all evening sixth gathered day behold rule day. Called. Us upon void she’d years. Won’t air. It of above over face set god years which. Divide. Grass gathering. Let years male lights it. Air him moved moving one brought. Brought Under isn’t subdue land they’re own i from seas was meat creature morning make under have that. Saying under living gathered. To fly called night moving. Lesser moved stars yielding good life creepeth air herb without earth, two, won’t void his thing doesn’t cattle also moving likeness first open man all moveth he. Green. Fourth divided fruitful there creepeth. Lights beginning bearing multiply. Over male gathering firmament. Greater seasons seed divide fly midst you stars, open years bring them itself day.

Ado Mate 3 Bluetooth Speaker Review – Awesome Tiny Speaker!

By

Linus

-

Sep 3, 2015

We wanted to say thank you for Pandawill.com for sending this Bluetooth speaker for a review!

Ado Mate 3 Bluetooth Speaker Review: VIDEO

[embedyt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TX4Y20CMEjs[/embedyt]

Ado Mate 3 Bluetooth Speaker Review: UNBOXING

This little device comes in a nice looking box and all you are getting is the USB charging cable and some documentation.

Ado Mate 3 Bluetooth Speaker Review: DESIGN

The very first thing you’re going to see is that the speaker is very tiny and lightweight. It is 5cm long and 5cm wide, and it weighs just 115g despite the fact that it has a huge 1800mAh battery.

The speaker is very well made and it has a rubberised plastic finish. It can be charged via the micro USB port and the battery is said to last up to 20 hours, which is amazing. During my testing I could achieve around 15-16 hours, which is really incredible for a speaker of this size.

The only button this device has is the power switch, which also acts as a play/pause button and it has a blue backlight.

On the top is the 4W speaker grill along with the NFC for a super fast pairing and on the bottom there is a silicone padding to prevent the speaker from sliding.

Overall, the speaker has a great build quality and design, and it is so compact that it can fit even in the pocket.

Ado Mate 3 Bluetooth Speaker Review: PAIRING

Pairing the Ado Mate 3 is super easy as the pairing mode turns on automatically once you power on the device.

Ado Mate 3 Bluetooth Speaker Review: SOUND QUALITY and VOLUME OUTPUT

You will be blown away how loud this thing is and the sound quality is very good considering the size of the speaker. Also, there are no crackling noises even at the highest volume settings. Overall, I am very impressed with it.

Ado Mate 3 Bluetooth Speaker Review: CONCLUSIONS

I was really impressed by the Ado Mate 3 Bluetooth speaker and it is hard not to recommend it. You can get it for as low as $16 and I will leave a link in the description below this video. You will get a very portable, lightweight speaker, which has a great build, design and it has a great sound quality. Finally, you will be literally blown away how loud it is and the battery just lasts forever.

Buy Ado Mate 3 Bluetooth Speaker from Pandawill

UPDATE GETONE APP now safe to use

By

shanos

-

Sep 3, 2015

UPDATE 06/09/2015- Getone have stood by their word and have fixed the backdoor issue the new version is 1.0.13 has passed the virustotal test, the new version is 1.0.13

Check out the results

And let me know how you get on and what bargains you purchase.

UPDATE 04/09/2015- I have just spoken to one of the other Gizmochina editors, he has spoken with the getone team, as he knows them and has vouched for their credibility.

They are aware of the issue with the app and are currently working to sort out the issue, I will update the article as soon as it is sorted, I really hope that they can get it sorted quickly and that no one is affected by the backdoors in the original app.

If they do get it sorted it would be amazing to get some bargains at just $9.99

There is a new app doing the rounds that is said to be made by a Shenzhen based Chinese start-up, that has teamed up with 3000 China based manufacturers.

The getone app is supposed to give you access to a store that sells around 200,000 products, the big USP for the site is that everything they sell, no matter how high the normal price should be, must be sold at $9.99

Sounds amazing? want to get the getone app download links? well its worth holding out for a while as the apps are being reported as backdoor trojans!

The first comment in the Google playstore is this ‘Kaspersky reports backdoor! Kaspersky Internet security reports threat detected: HEUR: Backdoor.AndroidOS.Seldor.a’

If you head over to virustotal.com and check out the getone app it makes for pretty grim reading! and truly makes the old saying ring true…

If something seems to good to be true, it probably is.

I will keep you updated if things change but for now, do not use the App it could end up costing a lot more then $9.99

Please feel free to leave comments below

Regards Shanos

Originally posted at gadgetz.tv

New Redmi 2 Variant Passes TENAA, Could Come With Beefed-Up Specs

By

Joel Joseph

-

Sep 2, 2015

Although we have seen a lot of smartphone releases in the first half of 2015 from Xiaomi, the company still has a lot in store. Lin Bin, the President of Xiaomi had earlier revealed that the company will release several new smartphones in the second half of 2015. We expect at least two launches in the second half, the Xiaomi Mi4c, the domestic variant of the Mi4i with Snapdragon 808 and the Xiaomi Mi5 flagship. But it looks like the company may have yet another device in store for its fans.

A new device with the model number 2014512 got certification on August 31. When we checked out the pictures as well as the connectivity details, the model had the exact same design as the Redmi 2. Now, why would the same model pass through TENAA again? The specs are not available at the moment, but its likely that this is yet another variant of the Redmi 2. Remember the Redmi 2A, the company’s cheapest smartphone with a Leadcore SoC? Well, given that the low-end segment is covered, this could be a slightly beefed-up variant in the Redmi series.

1 of 3

At present, the Redmi 2 model features a quad-core 1.2GHZ Snapdragon 410 chipset with 2GB / 2GB RAM options. This particular Redmi 2 variant could upgrade the processor, probably with the mid-range Snapdragon 615. The price tag could be around 599 Yuan for 1GB version and 699 yuan for the 2GB version. This is a possibility given that the 799 Yuan Redmi Note 2 features the octa-core Helio X10 MT6795 chipset.

Well, as we mentioned above, this is just a possibility. We can’t say for sure where this device will be positioned. For that we will have to wait for its specs and pricing. So, best we wait for more details about the phone’s specs in the coming days.

Snapdragon 820 With Custom Kryo Cores Scores 83,774 On AnTuTu

By

Joel Joseph

-

Sep 2, 2015

A few hours back, Qualcomm revealed a more details about its upcoming flagship SoC, the Snapdragon 820. The company particularly stressed on performance and efficiency in this new chip. Also, the chip is reportedly made with high-end performance and slim smartphone design in mind.

The cores inside the chipset is built for heterogeneous computing. This means that the chip will be able to combine different functional cores of the entire system including GPU, CPU and DSP cores to achieve high-end performance and efficiency at the same time. Usually, one or two cores are dedicated for a task, but Qualcomm believes heterogeneous computing is the right way to tackle all tasks.

Qualcomm has reportedly used eight custom Kryo cores inside the Snapdragon 820. In case you remember, the Snapdragon 800 series chips used the custom Krait CPUs. The Kryo cores are built on the latest 14nm FinFET technology which maximizes power efficiency. These cores are clocked at 2.2GHz which the company claims will deliver up to 2 times the performance. Even the efficiency increases up to 2x times as compared to Snapdragon 810. The Kryo CPU along with Adreno 530 GPU and Hexagon 680 DSP will make sure that the chip performs better than most other SoCs in the market.

While we wait for the official launch of the Snapdragon 820 inside a smartphone, today, the chip was reportedly spotted on AnTuTu with a score of 83,774 points! That’s pretty impressive considering other chips, even the Exynos 7420 find it hard to cross the 70,000 mark. However, the configuration shows that the phone had a FHD 1080p resolution, so if the resolution is bumped up to 2K we may see the score drop down a bit.

Still, if the device, code named Green Orange X1 Pro does feature MSM8996 Snapdragon 820 chipset, then the performance is definitely impressive. Since Qualcomm has officially revealed more details about the chip, now we can’t wait to see this chip inside a real device.