Allright, fellas, the wait is over. It’s been quite a while but this highly anticipated comparison is finally here. I’ve put a lot of my time and effort testing every inch and pixel of each smartphone and I hope you appreciate that. Also, I really hope that this comparison will help you make a decision between choosing the right Letv smartphone (or not choosing a Letv smartphone at all).
If you want to see some more videos coming, I ask you one simple thing:
Letv Le One S1 X600 vs. Letv Le One S1 Pro X800 – The Battle of Le Superphones:
Letv Le 1 vs. Le 1 Pro: CONCLUSIONS
So, there you have it. The battle of Le Superphones is over now.
Both Letv Le 1 and Le 1 Pro are great devices in their respectable price categories. Each smartphone has a great design, but Le 1 Pro is much more premium due to its all-metal build. Also, both smartphones have fantastic displays, but Le 1 Pro has a better sunlight visibility.
As far as UI goes, the experience is identical in day to day use but highly demanding tasks are better handled by the Pro model. Don’t get me wrong, the Le 1 is also a great performer but Le 1 Pro simply has a bit better, I mean the top notch graphics you can possibly think of.
Multimedia experience is great on each smartphone but Le 1 Pro is a clear winner once it comes to listening to music via headphones. In addition, the Pro model is for those, who want to take better looking images with the camera.
The screen-on times are better on the lower-end Le 1 but are similar in day to day use if you are not starring at your phone’s screen all the time.
All in all, you can’t go wrong with either of these devices. It depends on what you really need. If you are looking for a great device that costs under $300 unlocked, go with the Le 1. If you are looking for a really premium looking phone with some bleeding-edge specs and performance, you will make no mistake choosing the Le 1 Pro.
At the beginning of 2015 the original Elephone P6000 was one of the first Chinese smartphones to come with a 64bit SOC, over time it became very popular with buyers, perhaps it was the build quality or more likely the amount of third party ROM support with Roms like CM12.1, VIBE 2.5, ColorOS and Flyme all having made an appearance.
Elephone have upgraded the P6000 with an Octa core World Mode MT6753 SoC and 3GB RAM, the price has remained the same at just $119.99 (£77), have they cut down on quality or components to keep the price the same? Elephone have kindly provided a teardown so lets take a look inside and find out.
The battery is rated at 2700mAh and takes up more than half of the total space inside the phone (dimensions are 76 x 60 x 5mm) The battery should be able to handle a day of medium to heavy use, possibly more for light users.
The GPS, wifi and Bluetooth integrated antenna are located top left, on the right side is one of the two network antennas, the other network antenna is located at the bottom of the phone.
The SIM card slots and TF card slot are located under the camera.
Dust filters are in place on top of the speaker and another at the bottom of the back cover, its small things like this that help to keep phones in good condition and prevent damage.
After removing all the screws, we can now see the mother board with all of the integrated chips and cameras.
The parts are neatly organised and a bar code sticker is glued on to the welded metal cover, Elephone have advised that each chip is individual and has its own unique bar code.
The secondary board has the USB port, microphone and a haptic feedback motor which is soldered on to the board, the board is mounted to the chassis with screws.
Pull up the 0.8mm diameter copper shaft cable measuring 93.4mm from the board.
Carefully remove the FPC (Flexible printed circuit) connection on the mother board, and tear apart the protective sticker (part of the FPC connects directly to the secondary board).
The three points at the bottom left are the network antenna connectors. The thickness of the board is 0.6mm.
To remove the mother board, disconnect the FPC connection from the display, it’s located on the right of the board.
Then gently prize up the touch panel connector.
Disconnect the 2MP front camera.
The button FPC is glued tightly on the frame, so prize that up very carefully, we can now take the mother board out.
The pictures shows the OmniVision 13MP primary camera and 2MP front camera.
The system chips are all protected by a metal alloy shield on the mother board.
The MT6753V SoC on the right and SEC (Samsung) 525 RAM chip on the left.
P6000 Pro MT6328V power management chip as found in the Meilan Note2.
The phone contains an additional metal plate for enhanced strength and rigidity.
The display is an LG 5.0” unit with OGS and IPS technology, which help make the touch panel just 0.79mm thick, with outstanding viewing angles.
Conclusion
There you have it, based on the quality of the components chosen for the phone, the upgrade to an MT6753 SoC and 3GB RAM, and the apparent build quality the significant upgrade to the MT6753 SoC and 3GB RAM, the P6000 Pro looks like it will be a highly competitive phone in the low end market place.
Elephone have sent over a video showing the first phone from their new sub-brand Trunk.
The phone features a 5″ HD screen, Snapdragon processor (SOC unconfirmed), 2gb Ram, 16gb Rom, Omnivision 13mp camera (the video states 8mp physical so I assume this will be 13mp via interpolation), soft and comfortable hand feeling (will this be some form of rubberised back?), selection of colourful interchangeable back covers, choice of black or white frames.
We have not seen a new Mi Tablet from Xiaomi for quite some time. In fact, due to the lack of any concrete leaks or information many assumed that the company may have discontinued the lineup entirely. We have been increasingly seeing reports about the decline in the tablet sales, so this wasn’t improbable. However, Xiaomi has many a times repeated that it won’t be giving up the lineup.
Now, Pan Jiutang, a known Chinese analyst has revealed that Xiaomi is going to release a new Mi tablet in the third quarter of 2015. The device won’t be running on the Android version as its predecessor, instead, it will reportedly run on the new Windows 10 platform from Microsoft. Unfortunately, he failed to mention whether its the standard Windows 10 edition or the Windows 10 mobile edition that’s going to the run on the Mi Tablet.
Xiaomi is usually known to customize its devices to a considerable extent, but that was in case of Android. When it comes to Windows, its not that easy. So, if this news turns out to be true, we will have to see if there are any MIUI like customization on the new device.
Well, we are in the third quarter of 2015, which means the release shouldn’t be far off. We could expect the launch to be on August 16, the time when the company traditionally announces the new MIUI version. So, until then, lets wait for some more concrete details about the new tablet.
In the past few months alone, we have seen so many smartphones with large batteries. Now, Doogee is all set to unveil a new smartphone brand called as HOMTOM which will bring large batteries in a decently sized body. Battery life have always been a major factor in decision making among customers and looks like the HOMTOM brand will exist to satisfy their needs.
The first HOMTOM smartphone HT6 will feature a large 6250mAh battery in a 9.9mm thin body. Agreed that most smartphones these days are thinner than this, but then you don’t get such a large battery in them. In fact, it will be an achievement for the company if the body is indeed this thin.
The name HOMTOM is a transliteration of the Chinese characters ”heng tong”. ‘Heng’ means lasting, eternal while ‘Tong’ means connection. So, the name HOMTOM represents the company’s aim to produce long-lasting smartphones to connect people and the world. “More power, last longer” is the slogan for HOMTOM.
The HOMTOM brand will debut in September this year, and the first model will be called as the HOMTOM HT6. Apart from a 6250mAh battery in a 9.9mm body, the phone will feature a 5.5-inch 720p HD display. The CNC cut body will feature metal-wire drawing back cover.
Other specs include MT6735 quad-core chip under the hood, 4G LTE connectivity, 16GB ROM, Android 5.1 Lollipop, 13MP Sony Rear camera with dual flash and a 5MP front facing shooter. We still have no idea about the pricing of the device. Another important feature of the phone will be the support for Mediatek’s Pump Express Fast Charge tech. This enables charging up to 75% in around 30 minutes. Given the massive size of the battery, fast charge is a must if you plan to charge it to its full capacity in one single charge.
We hope to receive more information about this new HOMTOM HT6 smartphone in the coming days. So, stay tuned to the website for more updates.
Meizu has been doing well this year. The company managed to sell around 8.9 million units (you can check out this article for the first half sales comparison between Xiaomi, Huawei & Meizu) in the first half alone, which was a tremendous improvement as compared to last year. One of the main reasons for this sales growth was the new Blue Charm series which offered pretty good features for an affordable price tag.
The company has also increased the frequency of launches this year, considering that we have already seen the second generation models in the Blue Charm Meizu M1 series in just 6 months. Both Meizu M2 Note and Meizu M2 have been announced, featuring even better specs and offering more value for money as compared to its previous versions.
However, Meizu VP Li Nan says that the company no longer wants to be a small manufacture. It aims to go big in the coming years and is even expected to break even this year after previous losses. The company has increased its manufacturing capacity, as well as made new partnerships in this regard.
However, it looks like Meizu isn’t planning to release MX5 Pro this year. Li Nan adds that although Meizu considered renewing its 2499 Yuan Pro series this year with a new model (MX5 Pro), the company later decided to abandon it. Instead, Meizu is working on a brand new high-end lineup which is already under development. However, he adds that since a new product requires at least 8 months of development and multiple revisions according to the changing market demands, he can’t say when exactly this new product will be launched.
While I am sure fans will be disappointed to see MX5 Pro series discontinued, we would have to wait and see what Li Nan meant by a high-end lineup. Could it directly rival Xiaomi Mi Note Pro or the ZTE Axon? We will have to wait and watch. Till then, stay tuned for more details.
ZTE manged to impress us all with its powerful ZTE Axon flagship. The overall build quality and specs of the device were top-end which clearly showed that the company was targeting the premium crowd.
Now we have the device in our hands and its feels just as good as we thought. The all metal build makes the device look premium and solid, giving it an edge over other plastic bodies competitors. The design is also a bit different than traditional offerings, kind of like HTC’s One S. You also get the standard ZTE’s Nubia like circular home button.
One important thing to note is that the ZTE Axon comes with an advanced anti-microbial gorilla glass panel from corning. This makes it the first smartphone with such an anti-microbial glass.
Given that we will be testing this phone thoroughly later, we won’t be talking much about the details. This is just an initial hands on of the device and our initial impressions. The Snapdragon 810 under the hood with 4GB RAM made sure that there were no lag whatsoever.
The UI was fluid and everything was responsible and working on the device. Registering your fingerprint would take only about 5-10 seconds and after that you can unlock the phone pretty quickly. On an average, it took around a second for the phone to unlock from the screen off stage using the fingerprint unlock.
Another interesting aspect of the device is going to be its rear cameras. The dual rear cameras (13MP+2MP) was unsurprisingly impressive. There were a lot of options in the manual mode, but even the auto mode worked flawlessly. The pictures captured came out pretty good with natural colors and minimum noise. The focus times were also pretty fast. Overall, we think the Axon comes with a great camera. But for making the right conclusions, we will have to wait for the full review. Just to let you know, the phone even comes with EyePrint ID, eye scanning technology! We need to test that too in our review that will be up next week.
Meanwhile, check out our first hands on with the ZTE Axon from above. Also, if you have any specific question answered or want any feature tested, do let us know in the comments section below. The phone will be in our labs for the next couple of weeks, so we can test it out thoroughly during that time.
Teenagers demand attention. You might have noticed that your teenaged child would love to be the center of everyone’s attention at any cost. This attitude of teenagers is a pretty worrying one for parents and they need to provide proper attention to their kids to avoid any unpleasant results in future. As we all know that no teenager nowadays roams around without a mobile phone by their side, a mobile phone spy software can help parents monitor the activities of their kids at all times.
How does Xnspy work?
Xnspy stays with your child for more time than their own shadow. Within a few minutes this mobile phone spy softwareis installed in your kid’s cell phone and provides you with complete access to all the data that is present inside their cell phone. Without disturbing any feature of your kid’s mobile phone, Xnspy runs quietly inside it and does not let anyone discover about its existence inside their mobile phone.
Compatible phones:
Xnspy is compatible with cell phones from Samsung, LG, hTC, Motorola, Sony, Lenovo, Huawei, Acer and other companies using Android operating systems 2.4 and above. Latest iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are suitable handsets to be used with Xnspy as well.
Salient Features:
Teenagers love SMS messaging. All they do all day is talking to their friends through SMS messages. With the help of Xnspy, parents get to see all the communications that their children have made with anyone through SMS messaging. All the messages present in the Sent Box, Inbox and Drafts of your kid’s mobile phone are shown to you with the help of this mobile phone spy software. Apart from this, each and every Audio file, Video file and picture stored in the cell phone of your child is shown to you by Xnspy. Parents even get to view all the contact numbers saved in the cell phone of their children.
Easy to use:
To start using Xnspy, you must register for an account with them. Then you need to download this software in your kid’s cell phone. By now you would have received your log-in details. Use the help of those log-in details and gain access to the entire cell phone data of your child with real ease. This mobile phone spy software is really user-friendly and an easy to use software.
Kingzone isn’t the best known name in the global smartphone industry, but back home in China, it has been creating quite a stir with its latest offering. Kingzone has released theirKingzone N5 smartphone which is already available for pre-order on gearbestat an astounding price. The mere $120 price tag may want to you to conclude that Kingzone N5 is yet another mediocre Chinese smartphone, but look at the specs first.
The budget smartphone may not have the premium look of the Honor 6 or the newly unveiled OnePlus Two, but it definitely has a prominent design and build quality. Packed with the resilient IPS LCD display, Kingzone N5 comes with 5inch screen and a 1280×720 resolution. While it falls short of the Full HD resolution (even Quad HD) that most top grade smartphones boast today, the high brightness ratio and sharp viewing angles should keep the users satisfied.
Kingzone N5 has been confirmed to be empowered by MediaTek MTK6735 CPU, 16GB internal storage and 2GB RAM. The 2600mAh battery should keep the smartphone up and running for 1-2 days on full charge, while the Android Lollipop 5.1 OS will keep processes flowing smoothly. The simple yet effective camera setup is 13MP at the rear and 5MP at the front. Kingzone N5 is a performance driven offering at a menial price, and if you aren’t keen on spending a small fortune on your next smartphone, it might just be the ultimate choice.
Yesterday, OnePlus officially announced its OnePlus 2 flagship in the market. A few hours later, we manged to get hold of a few camera samples from the device. And to be honest, they looked extremely good for a affordable flagship. That’s when we decided to dig a little deeper into the camera specs of the device.
I am sure many of you would know that the OnePlus One came with the Sony IMX214 sensor last year. However, this year, for some reason, OnePlus decided to resort to a non-Sony sensor (apparently a lot of Chinese smartphones now use non-Sony sensors). To be specific, the rear camera sensor on the OnePlus 2 is the OV13860 13MP sensor. While the front 5MP sensor is the OV5648.
Now, let’s take a look at the OV13860. Its a 13MP sensor with 1.3 micron pixels, which makes it 35 percent larger than traditional 13MP camera sensors. The sensor is also largerthan competitors at 1/2.6 inches which directly results into better low light photography. This is because, the large sensor provides higher sensitivity and reduces noise resulting into better pictures in low lighting conditions. Its also the first sensor from OV’s PureCel family of BSI image sensors which utilizes the company’s stacked die technology. This essentially enables smaller module sizes for larger optical format sensors.
OV13860 Features
OnePlus has utilized 6 lenseson the camera unit to avoid distortion. Now combine this large 13MP sensor with Laser Focus, and you get a powerful camera at the back. The Laser Focus reduces focus times to a great extent. You can literally focus on an object within just 0.2-0.3 seconds. Further, the presence of OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) should limit camera shake to a minimum level.
OV13860 Specs
The OV13860 sensor supports 4K videos at 30 frames per second(fps) and even slo-mo recording (720p @120fps). So, overall its a much better upgrade than the Sony IMX214 sensor used by the OnePlus One. That’s why the pictures from the OnePlus 2 are going to be much better and less noisy as compared to the previous generation. You will also see considerable improvement in night time photography.
Also, in case you are interested, the front camera on the OnePlus uses the OV5648 sensor. While this isn’t the best front facing camera that we have seen in a smartphone (hello HTC Desire Eye), its decent enough to satisfy your selfie needs. The 5MP sensor comes with 1.4 micron pixels. The sensor isn’t that big, and measures 1/4 inches. But like I said, it should be able to take decent pictures. The sensor can capture 720p videos at 60fpsand 1080p videos at 30fps.
OV5648 Specs
Many of our readers had mentioned yesterday that one of the reasons for upgrading to the new OnePlus 2 would be its camera. And it looks like OnePlus did a fine job of getting a pretty good shooter at the back. Of course, we would like to test out the camera ourselves (hopefully soon) to make our own conclusions about the OV13860 sensor at the back.
Now that OnePlus have played their hand with the launch of the 2, we have a better idea of what others will need to do to compete, not just on features but also price.
From what we know so far about the ZUK Z1 it will al come with a 5,5 ” FHD display, Snapdragon processor, 3gb of ram, 64gb rom, 13mp rear camera, USB Type-c 3.0 and U-touch home button and a predicted price of $300
So how does this stack up against the OnePlus 2?
The Z1 dual LTE sims will support the following frequencies
The OnePlus 2’s Dual LTE sims support the following frequencies
The OnePlus 1 originally launched with an official version of Cyanogen, this was a move that put the phone on the map, but the relationship broke down so the 2 will now come with OnePlus’s own Oxygen Rom, a mostly stock version of Android but with a few tweaks.
The ZUK Z1 has been confirmed to be launching with a choice of two Roms an in-house developed Rom for China markets based on stock Android with Z1 adding features and tweaks and an international Rom officially based on Cyanogen.
It will be interesting to see if the Cyanogen card pays off as well for ZUK as it did for OnePlus.
As you can see the phones have a lot in common, but the Z1 does looks to have a few advantages over the OnePlus 2, but it will have to overcome the OnePlus existing user base (although this could become less of an issue if OnePlus again drop the ball with their invite system), ZUK will also have to make sure that they get their phone cooling right to prevent the Snapdragon 810 becoming a negative.
Until more information on the Z1 is confirmed and better renders/actual product photos are shown, it is not easy to make definitive decisions, we will have to wait until both are officially available before they can be pitted against each other.
Alongside the Meizu M2 Launch Event today, ZTE also had an important conference. The company refreshed its V series lineup, with a brand new Third Generation ZTE V5 model at the event.
Following the likes of Lenovo K3 Note, Meizu M2 Note and others, ZTE V5 third generation model will bring in the best upper mid-range features in a price segment of just 999 Yuan. But the phone boasts of superior body as compared to these offerings, coming in a corrosion resistant aluminum alloy. This definitely gives it an edge over other plastic offerings in the market.
The phone comes with Snapdragon 615 octa-core chip 64-bit chip under the hood with 2GB of RAM. Each of the Cortex A53 cores in the SoC will be clocked at 1.3GHz. For GPU, you have the Adreno 405. There will be 16GB of storage on board which will be further expandable up to 128GB. Like the Meizu M2 and a lot many phones these days, the ZTE V5 will come with a dual SIM / MicroSD card combo slot. The display will be of 5.5-inches with full HD 1080p resolution. The overall dimensions are as follows: 155.3mm x 77.2mm x 8.55mm.
Another important feature on the device is thefingerprint recognition sensor. Like we saw in the leaked pictures before, the sensor will be located at the back of the device, just below the camera unit. As for the camera, you get a powerful 13MP sensor at the back with the powerful Neovision 5.0 camera softwarewhich gives a lot of options to the user. Up front, there is a f/2.2 aperture 5MP shooter with 88 degrees wide angle lens.
The ZTE V5 third generation model comes with decent 3000mAh battery. The company claims that this is good enough for up to 350 hours of standby time. As for the software, the phone runs on the custom Nubia 3.0 UI based on Android 5.1Lollipop version. At the back, you will find the speakers which support DTS sound (AW8155A audio chip).
The company has three different editions available for sale in the coming days. The basic youth edition starts at just 999 Yuan. The other two editions, namely Energy and Extreme will differ only in terms of network connectivity (China Specific).
So, what do you think about the new ZTE V5? Good enough to attract budget customers?
Chinese companies have shown us that budget smartphones does not necessarily have to be crappy. Xiaomi Redmi 2, Meizu M1 & Honor 4A have all proved this point. But now, it looks like companies are ready to take things to the next level in this segment. We have already seen how much value the Redmi 2A brings to the tablet at just 599 Yuan ($96), and now Meizu is taking things to another level, with its newly announced Meizu M2.
The Meizu M2 comes in a beautiful polycarbonate body that’s inspired from the iPhone 5C. The Blue Charm series does focus on the appearance, and all of the smartphones in the range have been good looking with the M2 being no exception.
As for the specs, the Meizu M2 comes with the quad-core MT6735under the hood clocked at 1.3GHz. Its a decent processor with support for additional network connectivity bands in China. You can’t really ask for more performance at this price. Usually, 599 Yuan smartphones come with just 1GB of RAM. But Meizu M2 has taken things to a whole new level by featuring 2GB of RAM inside. This makes it one of the cheapest 2GB RAM phones in the market right now.
Another surprise is the 16GB of eMMC 5.0 storage on board which is further expandable up to 128GB via MicroSD. The company went with the now standard MicroSD + Dual SIM combo slot. Here, both the SIM slots support 4G LTE connectivity, but if you feel you need some extra storage, you can swap one of these SIMs for a MicroSD card. There’s also 2500mAh battery on board which is enough for lasting a whole day.
The screen is of 5.5-inches, with 720p resolution and 16:9 aspect ratio. This has become quite the standard among budget devices. However, the phone supports 5G Wi-Fi which makes is a unique feature among its class. The M2 comes with the company’s own Flyme 4.5 UI based on Android 5.1 Lollipop version.
As for the camera, the Meizu M2 sports a 13MP f/2.0 aperture shooter at the back with LED flash. Up front, you get a 5MP camera sensor with f/2.0 and a special beauty mode, ideal for selfies.
The best part of the device is its pricing. Meizu has aggressively price the Meizu M2 at just 599 Yuan ($96). This is an amazing price for a device with a quad-core chip, 2GB RAM, 16GB of storage and 5G Wi-Fi support.
Things are really getting competitive in the budget segment. Meizu has really managed to impress us with the new Meizu M2 budget offering. Its better than Redmi 2 in almost every aspect, and even cheaper. Even with the recent price cut of the Redmi 2 to 599 Yuan, the Meizu M2 offers better value for money.
Just yesterday, OnePlus unveiled its latest flagship, the OnePlus 2 via a special VR event. The phone will go on sale from August 11, but before that everyone is interested to know whether OnePlus 2 will overheat.
snapdragon 810 powers OP2
Snapdragon 810 has often been criticized for its overheating issue. Many known top-end flagships like Xperia Z3+, HTC One M9 that have used this Qualcomm chipset have suffered from overheating, and performance issues. Given that the OnePlus 2 comes with the same chipset (although a newer v2.1 version), many users are concerned that the phone may overheat as the above mentioned devices.
However, things may be slightly different in case of OnePlus. The company has used Flex cooling mode, with a patented H-Cube multi-core scheduling tech. Apart from the software tweaks, the OnePlus 2 comes with layers of graphite sheet, copper alloy shield as well as thermal gel to manage the heat generated.
Its unfortunate that early adopters of Snapdragon 810 realized it too late that the chip has some overheating problems. But with the issue now open to the public, it looks like manufacturers like OnePlus have taken enough measures to keep the heating under control.
According to Sina Tech, the OnePlus 2 managed to keep the temperature under control. When the flagship was running the AnTuTu benchmark test, in which it managed to score above 56000 points, the maximum temperature was only around 37 degrees Celsius. This is pretty normal for any flagship, especially when its using a lot of its CPU and GPU cores.
Even the OnePlus One heats up when playing games or using graphic intensive apps. And so do most other flagships.
So, can we say that OnePlus managed to somewhat solve the overheating issue associated with Snapdragon 810? Probably! But we can’t be 100% sure with a single test.
Hence, we’ll have to wait for some real life feedback from consumers as well as some thorough testing in our labs to make a final conclusion.
If the OnePlus 2 doesn’t overheat, will you consider buying the flagship killer?
Meizu is trying to attract the budget customers with its Blue Charm series. The company has already managed to boost its sales as compared to last year. Within six months, Meizu updated its Meizu M1 Note lineup with a brand new Meizu M2 Note. Now, the company is all set to unveil another device in the series, the successor to the Meizu M1, which will be called as the Meizu M2.
Meizu has been trying to market its Blue Charm series models as a low cost alternative for the masses. The company even went ahead and compared the upcoming Meizu M2 with the best selling Nokia 1110. So, we expected the pricing to be quite aggressively, if it had to live up to its claims.
Now, thanks to a new listing in China, we have some idea about the Meizu M2’s price tag. The listing reveals that the Meizu M2 will be available for sale for just 599 Yuan ($96). That’s a pretty good price for a device that is expected to come with MT6735 quad-core chip, 2GB RAM, 16GB storage and 2500mAh battery.
It looks like Meizu is all ready to take on the best sellers in the sub-600Yuan market, like the Redmi 2A and Honor 4A. We just have to wait for the company to confirm these details, which shouldn’t take long, since the event is tomorrow!
Yesterday saw the official launch of the OnePlus 2, an eagerly awaited follow up to their hugely successful (but troubled by a poor invite system) flagship phone the OnePlus 1.
There were many leaks in the lead up to the launch, with a full set of images showing the body and an AMA (ask me anything) being held just a few hours before the official launch.
So what do we now know about this self proclaimed ‘2016 flagship killer’?
Design
The phone has a stylish, sturdy looking magnesium alloy chassis, that OnePlus say was chosen as it ensures ideal antenna reception and temperature regulation, the chassis also integrates standard volume and power buttons, as well as a dedicated alert slider (this looks very similar to the mute switch found on Apples IOS devices), the slider allows users to quickly toggle between Androids built in notification modes (standard, priority and do not disturb DND).
The front design of the phone has been kept very simple and elegant, the front is edge to edge Gorilla glass, with no fussy logo’s, and illuminated navigation keys that fade to black when not in use for a very sleek looking design.
Also adorning the front is the home key with integrated finger print scanner, whilst I tend not to use fingerprint unlock on my handsets I do prefer the front mounted position over rear mounted units as it just feels more natural to me, OnePlus say that this is also one of the quickest fingerprint readers on the market and can store a combination of 5 unique fingerprints (I currently have this set up on my phone so my kids can use it to play games).
As standard the phone comes with a sandstone black back, like the original 1 this has a very tactile grippy texture and should help to prevent accidental drops, whilst also feeling different from the many smooth plastic/glass/metal rear covers currently adorning other handsets.
But as I suspected OnePlus will take full advantage of the removable rear covers and will also be offering replacement SwapStyle covers these will be available in Kevlar, Rosewood, Black Apricot and Bamboo, it is also possible that additional covers will come in the phones lifetime.
Dimensions & Weight
151.8 x 74.9 x 9.85 mm
6.17 ounces (175 g)
Cameras
Lets start with the front facing camera, not much was said about this, but we do know it is a 5mp unit and given OnePlus high standards should be more than capable of a decent selfie.
More importantly we have the 13mp rear camera, yes thats right the ‘2016 flagship killer’ comes with just a 13mp shooter, but as those of you that are in to digital photography will know, when it comes to imaging more megapixels does not always equal better pictures, the sensor in the OnePlus 2 is made up of large 1.3µm light-collecting pixels, these are currently the largest that can be found on any mobile phone handset, what this means in reality is that the larger size allows more light per pixel to be collected, resulting in better lowlight photography and less cross talk per pixel.
The rear camera is able to shoot 4k video and also slow motion 720p video at 120fps, the camera app also comes with some special features such as time lapse photos and super resolution mode producing interpolated images of up to 50mp.
OnePlus have also included OIS (optical image stabilisation) to help prevent motion blur in both photos and video and to help you get the perfect focus have also included a laser focusing system (scans the entire scene to attain perfect focus), the camera sensor sits behind a six element lens to help reduce chromatic aberration (when wavelengths of color are focused at different positions in the focal plane and distortion as long as the software is optimised and there are no issues this could make the 2 an awesome mobile photographic instrument.
CPU, GPU, RAM, ROM and Battery
The OnePlus 2 has been built around the much talked about (unfortunately in many cases for the wrong reasons) 1.8GHz 64-bit Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 810 processor, OnePlus have gone with v2.1 which they hope will have much better thermal properties (when combined with their magnesium alloy chassis) and not be subjected to the same levels of throttling the earlier generations had, the CPU is paired with the Adreno™ 430 GPU so should hopefully be more than capable of keeping up with the most demanding apps and intensive 3D games.
Both capacity versions of the phone come with eMMC v5.0 memory, the 16gb rom version comes with 3 GB LPDDR4 of ram, whilst the 64gb rom version comes with 4 GB LPDDR4 of ram, the use of such high speed memory will help to ensure that the phones are at the top of their games.
The OnePlus 2 battery is ratted at 3,300mAh which should hopefully be enough to see it through a day of heavy usage.
Display
OnePlus have stuck with the same size 5.5″ and resolution (1080p 401ppi) display as last years OnePlus 1, but that does not mean that things have not been switched up a level or two, they are using in-cell IPS LCD, IPS-LCDs feature two transistors for each pixel, whilst standard TFT-LCD’s use just one, requiring a more powerful backlight OnePlus have chosen to use ultra-bright LED technologies which should give more accurate colours and 178 degrees viewing angles, OnePlus have also implemented a Dark Mode, allowing the display to go very dim for night use without eye strain.
Oxygen OS
When OnePlus released the 1 last year, its biggest killer feature was Cyanogen Mod, unfortunately the relationship broke down and OnePlus were forced to start with a clean sheet, the result was Oxygen OS which has now made it to V2.0
Oxygen OS is based on a near stock version of Android but with some tweaks and additions that OnePlus hope will make the phone more usable and personal to its users, Dark Mode looks sleek and functional and allows accent colours to be changed to make it better fit your personality, along with support for custom icon packs you should be able to completely alter the look and feel of your phone.
OnePlus have also integrated SwiftKey in to the rom, I am sure that by now most of you have heard of, or used Swiftkey but for those of you that have not, it is a fast and effective input method that allows you to type messages without removing your finger from the display, it has evolved over recent years and is now very fluid and has a great level of accuracy (it can even learn your personal writing styles to better predict your inputs).
An App Permissions feature allows Similar to that found in Android M allows things like location, identity, or contacts – to be blocked on a per-app basis, this is a really nice feature that gives you power to control your phone and apps as you see fit.
Another really nice feature is that Waves MaxxAudio® sound design technologies have been integrated into OxygenOS, giving a wide selection of audio presets that can be toggled from the volume panel, the presets are enhanced for speakers, headphones, or other connected devices to hopefully give you the best possible sound quality.
Connectivity
DUAL Sim
GSM: 850, 900, 1800, 1900MHz
WCDMA: Bands: 1/2/5/8
FDD-LTE: Bands: 1/3/5/7/8/20
Wi-Fi:Dual-band Wi-Fi: 2.4GHz 802.11b/g/n and 5GHz 802.11a/n/ac
Bluetooth:Bluetooth 4.1
Positioning:Internal GPS antenna + GLONASS + Digital Compass
Charging and data port: USB Type-C standard*.
*The OnePlus 2 comes with a patented flat, rollable cable with reversible connector that can be plugged in either orientation.
Pricing
The phone comes in 2 variants the 16gb/3gb version will go on sale for $329 (£211), whilst the 64gb/4gb version will retail at $389 (£250).
Sales for regions such as USA, Europe, China and India will commence on August the 11th with other markets following in Q4 of 2015, the sales will be on an invitation based system, similar to that of last years OnePlus 1 but hopefully with much better availability and much less drama, check the link below to find out how you can get your hands on an invite.
So what do you think? has the wait been worth it? is the phone a strong enough contender to earn itself the title ‘2016 Flagship killer’? this is a handset that I am really looking forward to playing with and reviewing.
OnePlus 2 is now finally official. The company has made some great upgrades in the new flagship device, however, if you want to purchase the device, you would still need an invite. Yes, the company has decided to continue with its invite system, although its a bit improved now. But still, its quite irritating that you have to wait for the company or someone else to send you an invite in order to buy your favorite smartphone.
This is where e-commerce websites like OPPOMART comes to the rescue. And it looks like they were quite fast in listing the device on their website. The website has listed the OnePlus 2 for $349which is slightly higher than the official price tag of $329. However, you won’t have to wait for an invite this way and hence, you can purchase the device directly from the site.
Of course, the OnePlus 2 is still not officially available to purchase. And hence, unsurprisingly, the device is listed as out of stock on the website. The flagship will most likely be available for sale sometime after August 11, when OnePlus starts shipping the OP2.
OPPOMART has also listed some accessories for the device, like a leather flip cover, and a tempered glass screen protector. You can check them out from this link here.
Meanwhile, we will be keeping a close eye on the website and will let you guys know when the phone finally becomes available for purchase. So, stay tuned.
We are always interested to know how you feel about a new smartphone. Today, OnePlus officially announced the OnePlus 2 Flagship, after months of hype. The new device brings in a lot of upgrade in terms of specs and design, but we would like to whether these upgrades met your expectations.
So, here’s a poll to see how many of you liked/ disliked the new OnePlus 2. Apart from voting in the poll, feel free to share your views in the comments section below.
If you still haven’t checked our launch article, you can read all about the new OnePlus 2 from here before voting.
The OnePlus 2 Launch event is finally over and it was quite an experience. Those who managed to watch it in VR would know how immersive the overall experience was via the app. The company revealed all the details we wanted to know about the new device.
Oneplus 2
OnePlus has made some subtle changes in the design, but in the first glance, it does look like the next generation OnePlus flagship. This is because you get a similar design and the same sandstone black back. What’s new is the sturdy magnesium alloy frame, slightly flatter design and a dedicated action slider to toggle notifications (standard, priority & DND modes). And yea, like we saw in the pictures a few hours back, there’s the physical home button with fingerprint ID right below the display. Well, its not really a clickable button but rather a touch pad. You can even customize what a long press or double tap on the button does, like opening up the camera or launching Google Now.
OnePlus 2 Flagship Gallery
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As confirmed by the company earlier, the OnePlus 2 will come with a Snapdragon 810 processor under the hood. This will be the third generation version v2.1, which is also found on the Mi Note Pro. Given that its the flagship chip from Qualcomm, it supports even 4K recording. We hope that the company managed to fix the over heating issues associated with the chip.
OnePlus 2 Design
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Next up is the RAM, which was once again confirmed earlier by OnePlus. The flagship will come with 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM, making it one of the few smartphones with 4GB RAM in the market. This is more than enough to tackle any tasks that you throw at it, making it truly a flagship device.
One thing we were not quite clear about the OnePlus 2 was the camera. And finally, the company has confirmed that it will be a 13MP camera with a large 1.3 microns sensor. This sensor size is reportedly 35% larger than the standard smartphones in the market. This also means better low light photography. Further, the sensor is supported by OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) which helps reduce camera shake to a considerable extent. Finally, the camera is supported by the awesome Laser Focus, which translates into faster (less than 0.3 seconds) focus. Overall, its a great improvement from the standard 13MP sensor found on the OnePlus One.
The display remains the same, 5.5-inch with full HD 1080p resolution but with contrast ratio of 1500:1 bringing blacker blacks and better colors. It will be brighter than the OPO’s screen, making it much more visible outdoors. Coming to the battery, well, we knew that already. The OnePlus 2 will have a 3300mAh, which is once again an improvement from the previous generation. This coupled with the same sized display should essentially provide you somewhat better battery life than the OnePlus One.
Now, coming to the new features. First up, there’s the fingerprint sensor which is faster than the iPhone’s sensor and can reportedly store up to 5 unique fingerprints. Then there’s the new Action Slider button, which can be used to switch between notification settings. Finally, there will be the famous USB Type C port on board. But the company claims that even the other side is reversible (patented). You can even buy a special connector for the cable to use it with regular chargers.
Next up is theStypeSwap covers. The standard version comes with the much loved sandstone black cover, but you can replace that with any of the following four StyleSwap covers: Bamboo, Black Apricot, Rosewood, and Kevlar. We expect more options to be available later.
Now coming to the OS, the OxygenOS v2.0, its going to be quite clean and near stock Android. However, it does come with a few additional features such as color/ dark modes, custom icon packs, custom icon grid size and notification lights. You get a special apps permission page (like in that of Android M) too in the OxygenOS where you can manage the permissions on the apps installed on your OnePlus 2.
The OS also comes with a new camera app which comes loaded with special features. For example, there’s a Super-Resolution Mode which can click pictures in up to 50MP resolution (remember Gionee?). You have other options such as time lapse, slo-mo shooting etc.
Now coming to the best part, the OnePlus 2 starts at just $329 for the 16GB variant. Yes, even with the flagship specs like 4GB RAM, you can get it for as low as $329. And if you want the 64GBvariant (which most of you would want due to the lack of MicroSD), you have to shell out just $389. Once again, it looks like OnePlus nailed it with its pricing!
OP2 Pricing Chart Countrywise
However, avaialability has always been a concern for OnePlus, and this time too, you will have to rely on invites and other contests to get hold of a OnePlus 2. However, the company promises that there will be much more invites and they will be sent out faster than before.
The OnePlus 2 will be available for sale in different regions like US, Europe, China and India starting August 11. The company adds that the phone will hit the South East Asian markets in the fourth quarter of 2015.
So, what do you think about the OnePlus 2 flagship? Impressed or not?
$329 for 16GB and $389 for 64GB.
Snapdragon 810 v2.1
3300mAh battery
Fingerprint sensor
OxygenOS v2.0
1080p 5,5″ screen with newer panel (401 ppi)
16/64GB ROM (No MicroSD)
4GB LPDDR4 RAM
13MP with OIS, 1.35 sensor size and fast laser focus (0.3sec focus time)
5MP front-facing camera
USB Type-C
Dual SIM
Dedicated Action Slider button
Styleswap Covers – 4 variants:Bamboo, Black Apricot, Rosewood, and Kevlar
Available from August 11th
We will be seeing the official launch of the OnePlus 2 in just a few hours, but it looks like someone couldn’t resist waiting till that time. A new set of images have just surfaced online, claiming to be the new OnePlus 2 flagship. This could essentially be our first look at the upcoming device, so make sure you check out all the pictures.
If this is indeed the new OnePlus 2, we don’t have many surprises in the design. It looks like the company has continued with the traditional OnePlus design philosophy, which is not really a bad thing. Some notable changes include the physical home button right below the display which will harbor the fingerprint sensor. There’s a dual LED flash at the back as well as a sensor in between, which is most likely the Laser Autofocus, as confirmed by MKBHD.
OnePlus 2
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Another important change is the new metal frame that goes around the body. In short, the OnePlus 2 looks like the slightly upgraded version of the OnePlus One. Also, there’s an additional mute button on the left, but not surprising since we saw the same button in the TENAA images earlier.
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