ZTE hasn’t managed to keep its flagship device a secret. We have already seen plenty of leaks about the upcoming ZTE Nubia Z9 smartphone and every single leak till now has confirmed that the new device will come with a borderless design. However, apart from that we haven’t really managed to get more info about the device till now.
However, earlier today, Chinese Media released a new alleged picture of the Z9. Thanks to this new leak, we now have some idea about its design and screen size.
In the pictures, the ZTE Nubia Z9 was compared alongside the Z9 Max, which features a 5.5-inch display. The metal frame of the Z9 which as you can see is lying on top of the Z9 Max is a bit smaller. This means that the new ZTE flagship could come with a 5.2-inch display. This seems to be the ideal screen size for many phone makers these days as even the Huawei P8 comes with the same size screen.
As for the body, the pictures confirm a metal body with a similar design as the earlier released models. Another interesting thing is the color as the one shown in the picture comes in a beautiful gold shade.
With this design and a bezelless display, it looks like ZTE is all set to unveil a premium device on May 6. But even before that, we expect more concrete details about the ZTE Nubia Z9 like the specs and other features. So stay tuned for more information.
A few days earlier, a listing on the official website of Huawei Russia revealed the upcoming Huawei 4C mid-ranger in full glory. Judging from the specs and the pricing, it looks like the device is targeted to compete with the Redmi series as well as the Meizu Blue Charm series.
However, earlier today, we found a new picture which reveals that the company may have more than one device in store for us at the April 29 launch event. The picture shows us three new devices, and says that the three devices are Honor 4C, Honor 4C Note and Honor 4C Max. Yes, it looks like the company may launch three devices in the new Honor 4C Play lineup.
The picture isn’t very clear and just gives us a glimpse of these devices. It looks like the phone will differ in terms of display sizes, with the largest one, probably the 4C Play Max having a display as big as a tablet.
Of course, this is based on a single leak, so its always better to take the news with a pinch of salt. Earlier leaks have revealed that the Honor 4C Play will feature a 5-inch 720p display and Kirin 620 octa-core processor. There will be 2GB RAM on board along with 8GB of expandable memory. At the back, there will be a 13MP camera and an 5MP shooter up front. The phone will feature a 2550mAh battery and will support 4G LTE networks. For software, it will run on Android 5.0 Lollipop.
Pricing is still not confirmed, but the entire lineup could be conviniently priced as 599, 899 and 1099 Yuan. Well, we don’t have to wait too long to get more details as the event kicks off on April 28 at the Beijing National Convention Center.
Xiaomi just unveiled the brand new Xiaomi Mi4i flagship. The device comes with a beautiful unibody polycarbonate body in over 5 different colors including white, black, blue, yellow and pink. The Mi4i boasts of an amazing cost to hardware ratio, which is why we feel Xiaomi has launched a winner today.
The phone comes with a full HD 1080p 5-inch display with Snapdragon 615 and 2GB RAM. There will be a 13MP rear camera with dual tone flash and a 3120mAh battery from Sony.
We have already written a detailed post on the features, pricing, specs and availability of the device. If you haven’t seen that yet, you can check it out from this link.
The phone looked beautiful in pictures and now its time to see some hands-on pictures of the device. The unibody design especially gives it a solid and premium look much like the Lumia series, but the overall design language is similar to the earlier Xiaomi Mi series smartphones.
Anyways, take a look at the hands-on pictures of the Xiaomi Mi4i and let us know what you think about the new device.
Xiaomi Mi4i is finally official. The company has managed to nail it once again with this brand new offering. The phone provides one of the best cost to hardware ratio, making it truly a flagship for masses. The best part of the device is its price tag, as Xiaomi will start selling the Xiaomi Mi4i from April 30 for an amazing Rs. 12,999 i.e. $205 price tag. So, its even cheaper than the Xiaomi Mi3 with much advanced specs.
At the start of the event, the company said that the Xiaomi Mi4i was heavily inspired by India. The phone will feature a unibody polycarbonate body with soft touch matte finish with anti-grease coating. The polycarbonate body wraps the entire device giving it a premium look.
The phone will have the same height as the 4.7-inch iPhone 6, but it will feature a larger 5-inch display. The body is quite thin too measuring just 7.8mm and the phone weighs just 130 grams.
The Mi4i comes with a unique 5-inch sunlight fully laminated OGS display with full HD 1080p resolution. This translates into a pixel density of a whopping 441 ppi. The sunlight display uses dynamic tone mapping which keeps the image quality balanced even in bright sunlight. This in turns helps to improve display visibility under sunlight. The display is 30% more battery efficient than competitors and comes with NTSC 95 percent color gamut and 178 degrees wide viewing angles.
Coming to the performance, the phone will feature Qualcomm’s 64-bit octa-core Snapdragon 615 processor with 2GB LPDDR3 RAM and 16GB ROM. The company also reveals that the Snap 615 was created by Qualcomm India. Although Qualcomm’s new chipset hasn’t really impressed us, Xiaomi claims that the Mi4i scores above 40,000 points on AnTuTu. The phone features all the standard connectivity functions such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, OTG, dual SIM dual Standby etc.
Coming to the main area, i.e. camera, the Mi4i comes with a 13MP Sony CMOS sensor at the back with f/2.0 aperture and 5 element lens. Besides the camera unit, you will find a two-tone flash, with a cold white LED and a warm yellow LED. The company claims that the combination of these two colored lights brings out the best picture. Moreover, when the room is too dark, you have a feature inbuilt in the camera UI which can turn on the integrated flash. This will lit up the object in focus and will result into better pictures even in low light conditions.
As for the front camera, there will be a 5MP shooter with f/1.8 aperture and 80 degrees wide angle lens. The phone will have a number of interesting camera functions such as beautify and improved HDR. The beautify is turned on as default on the front camera and is ideal for taking beautiful selfies. At the event, Barra noted that the software uses 12 different profiles (6 Males and 6 Females) to improve the image captured. Finally, in the camera department, Barra said that Xiaomi’s HDR is one of the best in the market right now.
You can check out a few samples from the test units down below to judge the camera performance.
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Coming to the battery, Xiaomi has made no cost cuttings in this area. The Xiaomi Mi4i gets a generous 3120 mAh battery which the company claims is good enough for around 1.5 days of regular usage. The cherry on top is the Quick Charge support which will speed up the charging process.
Finally, coming to the software, you don’t have any surprises here. The phone will run on Android 5.0 Lollipop version along with MIUI 6 on top. The company notes that the new MIUI version features a lot of interesting features. One of the highlighted ones was the Visual IVR (Interactive Voice Response). This particular options helps you bypass the boring and long IVR calls by giving you preset options in menu format. So, you can directly select these options manually from the drop down menu instead of waiting for operator to hand it out to you.
The company claims that the Mi4i is made from the materials supplied from the best companies in the world. To name a few, Corning, Sony, Samsung, Qualcomm, Panasonic have all supplied parts for the new phone.
Given the hardware and the features, the Xiaomi Mi4i turns out to be a great phone for $205 (Rs. 12,999). It will go on sale in India from April 30 on Flipkart, Snapdeal, Airtel and other stores in a number of different colors. The phone will also make it outside of India from May in countries like Hong Kong, Malaysia, Taiwan, Indonesia and Singapore.
The company also unveiled the Xiaomi Mi Band in India today for Rs. 999 ($18). But more details on that later.
Xiaomi Mi4i is coming and we are just hours away from the official launch event. For the first time, Xiaomi has decided to launch the device first in India, which clearly shows that the company is eager to establish its brand in international markets. Given that there are millions of Xiaomi fans in India and the immense potential for growth, its not surprising that the Xiaomi Mi4i is launching in the country first.
If you are interested in seeing the event live, you can do so from the link given below. The company has decided to stream it live to fans all over the world, that too in English. So, you can head over to the link below to check out what the company has in store for us today.
A few weeks back, we came to know that Qualcomm has no plans to release Snapdragon 815 chipset. The company confirmed this news, which meant that the next flagship chipset would probably be the Snapdragon 820.
But today, our source reveals that the upcoming Snapdragon 620 chipset could be using a 14nm FinFet LPE process instead of the 28nm process that was rumored earlier. This news is a bit hard to swallow because even the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 chipset is using the less efficient 20nm processs. And the upcoming Snapdragon 820 flagship SoC is expected to use the same 14nm process.
So, it would really be surprising if both the mid-range Snapdragon 620 and the flagship high-end Snapdragon 820 use the same 14nm FinFet manufacturing process. However, our source claims that although the Snapdragon 620 will use 14 FinFet, it will be on the LPE (Low Power Enhanced) process. On the other hand, the Snapdragon 820 will most likely use the 14nm FinFet LPP (Low Power Plus) process which is much more power efficient than the LPE.
While our source is not exactly sure why Qualcomm decided to go with the same manufacturing node for both the 620 and 820 processors, it could be probably because Samsung made the first move way earlier than Qualcomm by announcing its 14nm chipset. Also, the company could be confident in the custom cores that will be used in the Snapdragon 820 to differentiate itself as the true powerful flagship.
So to sum up, this is what the new chipset looks like: SD620 with Adreno 510 on 14nm FinFet LPE node (Samsung/GloFo).
Remember that some of this information could turn out to be different, according to company decisions. So, make sure you take this news with a grain of salt.
Chinese tech giant Xiaomi, is going to launch a new powerful mobile phone device known as the XiaomiMi4i, in a conference to be held in India, today. The upcoming device will boast of impeccable features and specifications, including a 5 inch 1080p display screen, 5 megapixels primary and 13 megapixels secondary camera. Other than that, the device is powered by a strong Snapdragon 615 Qualcomm processor, to handle all your multitasking needs. Furthermore, the device has a 2GB RAM, with a storage capacity of 16 gigabytes. Hence, you won’t have to worry too much about your device running out of memory, soon enough. Regarding the firmware, this device would run on Android 5.0 Lollipop, the latest Android version in the market.
In addition to that, the most captivating point of this gadget is its price tag, which is only 1300 Yuan ($210 approx). Besides, this will be the first model from Xiaomi to be launched outside China. As previously it has been seen that, all their device launches had been occurring in China only. It looks to be a great step by Xiaomi to increase their stature outside their own country as well. While India has a very big market for mobile phones and electronic devices, it is a convincing approach by the company to woo Indian customers. On the other hand, this strategy shows a sign of eagerness by Xiaomi to enhance their influence in foreign markets as well.
How am I ever gonna explain this? Remember, a Jedi can feel the Force flowing through him. All right. Well, take care of yourself, Han. I guess that’s what you’re best at, ain’t it? Still, she’s got a lot of spirit. I don’t know, what do you think? But with the blast shield down, I can’t even see! How am I supposed to fight? I need your help, Luke. She needs your help. I’m getting too old for this sort of thing.
The Phantom Menace
Kid, I’ve flown from one side of this galaxy to the other. I’ve seen a lot of strange stuff, but I’ve never seen anything to make me believe there’s one all-powerful Force controlling everything. There’s no mystical energy field that controls my destiny. It’s all a lot of simple tricks and nonsense. Red Five standing by. I care. So, what do you think of her, Han? You don’t believe in the Force, do you? I have traced the Rebel spies to her. Now she is my only link to finding their secret base. Remember, a Jedi can feel the Force flowing through him. Kid, I’ve flown from one side of this galaxy to the other. I’ve seen a lot of strange stuff, but I’ve never seen anything to make me believe there’s one all-powerful Force controlling everything. There’s no mystical energy field that controls my destiny. It’s all a lot of simple tricks and nonsense. Hey, Luke! May the Force be with you. You’re all clear, kid. Let’s blow this thing and go home! Partially, but it also obeys your commands. I’m surprised you had the courage to take the responsibility yourself.
The Rebel Force
Obi-Wan is here. The Force is with him. You are a part of the Rebel Alliance and a traitor! Take her away! A tremor in the Force. The last time I felt it was in the presence of my old master. Leave that to me. Send a distress signal, and inform the Senate that all on board were killed. Look, I can take you as far as Anchorhead. You can get a transport there to Mos Eisley or wherever you’re going. Hey, Luke! May the Force be with you. You mean it controls your actions? But with the blast shield down, I can’t even see! How am I supposed to fight? Red Five standing by. You are a part of the Rebel Alliance and a traitor! Take her away! Remember, a Jedi can feel the Force flowing through him. Kid, I’ve flown from one side of this galaxy to the other. I’ve seen a lot of strange stuff, but I’ve never seen anything to make me believe there’s one all-powerful Force controlling everything. There’s no mystical energy field that controls my destiny. It’s all a lot of simple tricks and nonsense. Hey, Luke! May the Force be with you. You’re all clear, kid. Let’s blow this thing and go home! Partially, but it also obeys your commands. I’m surprised you had the courage to take the responsibility yourself.
Revenge of the Sith
Remember, a Jedi can feel the Force flowing through him. Kid, I’ve flown from one side of this galaxy to the other. I’ve seen a lot of strange stuff, but I’ve never seen anything to make me believe there’s one all-powerful Force controlling everything. There’s no mystical energy field that controls my destiny. It’s all a lot of simple tricks and nonsense. Hey, Luke! May the Force be with you. You’re all clear, kid. Let’s blow this thing and go home! Partially, but it also obeys your commands. I’m surprised you had the courage to take the responsibility yourself.
I want to come with you to Alderaan. There’s nothing for me here now. I want to learn the ways of the Force and be a Jedi, like my father before me. He is here. Don’t be too proud of this technological terror you’ve constructed. The ability to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force.
Yesterday, we saw two new potential devices from OPPO namely the OPPO R7 and the OPPO R7 Plus. Today, we have some more information about these two devices from insider sources.
Ray Technology reveals that OPPO will most likely release its OPPO R7 flagship along with the R7 Plus at an event on May 20. This puts the release date not too far, around a month later.
Although the R7 was rumored to be the bezelless smartphone that has been making rounds on the internet, yesterday’s leak reveals that the phone will concentrate more on its slimness. The OPPO R5 is still one of the thinnest smartphones in the market and it looks like its successor, the R7 will also continue that tradition. It is said that the phone may be thinner than 5mm and from the leaked render, it does feel like the phone is super thin. But the company probably will not try to beat the 4.85mm thick body found on the R5, as its hard to fit in a decent battery on a slim device.
The R7 will most likely feature the new Helio X10 MT6795 processor with a powerful 20.7MP camera and 2000mAh battery. There will be a 4.7-inch display with 1080p resolution and 2.5D glass. On the other hand, the OPPO R7 Plus is said to come with a larger display along with a much larger battery. As a result, the phone will be much thicker than the R7. The company may also incorporate an infrared laser sensor on the device probably for faster focus.
Given that we are getting new information about OPPO devices regularly, we expect more details in the coming few weeks.
ZTE is one of those major Chinese manufacturers, which is widely known for its devices not only in China, but also internationally. What is more, their Nubia sub-brand is known for offering high quality for a price, which is lower than competitors like Apple or Samsung. In the past few years Nubia managed to prove that with the Z5 mini and Z7 mini smartphones, which received positive reviews. This time around, we have a just announced ZTE Nubia Z9 mini. Let us unbox it and our first impressions.
We wanted to say thank you for GIZTOP.COM for sending this device for a review!
VIDEO
You can check out our video review if you see all you need to know in under 14 mins:
As far as the specs go, the Nubia Z9 Mini goes into the upper mid-range devices category. It does not spot a top of the line chip, but Snapdragon 615 processor has proven to be an excellent choice in the this category. Also, it is a 64-bit chip and Nubia Z9 Mini uses this architecture to the full extent as it comes with the Android 5.0.2 out of the box. Other noticeable specs are the powerful cameras, huge battery and the Micro SD card slot to supplement the 16GB of pre-installed storage.
UNBOXING
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The device comes in a black box, which has a minimal design. On the back of it you can find a list of basic specs and some info, which is, however, in Chinese.
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The first thing that comes out of the box is the smartphone itself. It was wrapped up in the plastic, but I removed it as I have the device for a few days already. Our review unit comes in a black colour, but there is also a white version. I will get back to it later.
If you take the top off, you will find a “drawer” embedded on its side. There is the place where the envelope containing SIM ejector tool and some instruction manuals are.
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Other contents include a nice flat micro USB charging/syncing cable. It spots the design similar to what we have already seen from the OnePlus. Anyway, it definitely looks and feels great and stands out from the crowd of usual cables that come out of the box.
Moreover, there is the US charging brick, which can be used anywhere in the world with a help of the adapter.
Overall, the whole presentation seems to be great and it is a pleasure to unbox all the contents. Everything seems to be made out of quality materials and is organised neatly.
DESIGN
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Once you first take the device into your hands, it feels like a solid piece of hardware, which has a great built quality. Also, since the device “only” has 5 inch 1080p display, it is a very compact smartphone. The display itself is sharp, vivid, bright and has great viewing angles. A great LCD panel.
Let’s start by taking a closer look at the front top. Here you can find an earpiece, proximity sensor and the 8MP snapper with f/2.4 aperture.
On the bottom there are typical Nubia-style capacitive keys. The programmable back and menu keys light up once you press it only. The home button at the middle has a signature Nubia pulsing effect once you press it. Moreover, it looks like it is always light up once you are outside since it has a red coating. You cannot say the same about the back and menu keys.
A great thing about these keys is that you can adjust its brightness (including auto mode) to either make it visible in the sunlight or make it dimmer to save power.
In addition, they are very responsive and convenient to use.
The device spots an alloy frame, which, however has a plasticky feeling coating on top of it. Not sure why Nubia made that, but most of the people would say it feels like plastic. On the other hand, it definitely feels sturdy and well made.
On the left you will find a dual Nano SIM cards slot. Since the manufacturer decided to implement Nano SIM card standard to be in the same league with the iPhone, you may need to cut your card if you are not using this type of card yet. The device supports 2G, 3G and 4G LTE bands with each band (GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 – SIM 1 & SIM 2
CDMA 800; HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100; TD-SCDMA 1900 / 2000; LTE band 1(2100), 3(1800), 7(2600), 38(2600), 39(1900), 40(2300), 41(2500). The device supports 2G, 3G and 4G LTE bands on both slots.
On the bottom you can find a speaker, mic and the micro USB charging port.
On the top of the device there is a secondary mic along with the headset jack.
On the right there is a volume rocker and the power on/off key. They are made out of metal and have a great tactile response.
The back plate is made out of plastic, but feels like glass. It is glossy and thus attracts fingerprints, smudges and dust easily, but this is common to all glossy surfaces.
On the top left corner there is a 16MP shooter with f/2.0 aperture and a single LED flash.
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The back plate can be very easily removed. Under the hood you will find a micro SD card slot (up to 128GB). The battery, however, is not removable. Also, there will be more interesting cover choices like wood coming soon.
What I like about the back plate is that it is so easy to remove it, but once you put it back it stays firm.
Overal, Nubia Z9 Mini has a great design and solid built quality. Also, it is really compact and feels a lot less bulky in the hand than e.g. the vivo Xshot.
Here is the gallery of the device:
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THE DISPLAY
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The display on the Nubia Z9 Mini is bright, sharp and vivid. Also, the colour reproduction seems to be natural, but on a warmer side. A pleasant panel to look at. It is a bit reflective in the direct sunlight, but it may be due to the pre-installed screen protector. All in all, I’m happy about it as it spots usual positive aspects of quality LCD screens.
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You can adjust many different settings to make the display look more appealing to your eyes.
UI and PERFORMANCE
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The device spots a Nubia UI 2.8 on top on Android 5.0.2 out of the box. It is really snappy and performs well. The device does not have Google services pre-installed, so you would need to side load it yourself as there is already easy way to root it.
Anyway, I’m pretty sure that you can just ask a reseller to root and install Google services, so you won’t need to waste your time.
The Nubia UI offers a lot of functionality, but keep in mind that some of the translations may sound weird, but they are still understandable. Well, this is a Chinese ROM, I’m pretty sure that the there would be a different situation if Nubia releases an international ROM for this device.
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As usual to Chinese devices, they offer a lot of customisation options and Nubia Z9 Mini is no exception here. You can choose from tons of themes, wallpapers and do other tricks to make the device look the way you want.
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The device offers a lot of other customisation and settings options, so you can be sure that you are taking the full control of your device.
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You can also simplify things and enter the “Easy Mode”. Here you can see all the basic apps and the increased icon size. It looks neat and performs smoothly. It may be useful for beginners or for those who only need the basic functionality out of their smartphone.
BENCHMARKS
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Here are the synthetic benchmark results for those who care. I ran through the Antutu test and the Nubia Z9 mini managed to get a score of 30467, which is just below LG G3.
GAMING
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As far as gaming goes, the device can handle it without a sweat. Even more graphically intensive games run great and I didn’t notice any lags. Also, the graphics look nice, almost like the ones on the high-end Snapdragon chip based flagships.
MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT
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The music app looks nice and offers some sound tweaking functionality. It is not laggy, but, however, it is not as responsive as e.g. Poweramp player I’m currently using on my smartphone.
The speaker quality is above average. It can play quite loud, but the sound is not that rich as on some other flagship devices. Also, you can easily cover the mono speaker and can barely hear a sound. I suggest checking out the video review to hear how it sounds.
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The gallery app is simple and easy to use. It is responsive, but it takes just a tad more time to load up the pictures from the micro SD card. It is due to the large picture size of 16MP.
The video player can play 1080p videos easily and there is no lag whatsoever if you scroll the video back and forth. Check out the video playback in the video review.
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The browsing experience could be better on the pre-installed browser. It is quite choppy and the browser does not have Google search engine. Anyway, I used the Google Chrome since the day one.
CAMERA
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The device spots a 16MP Sony sensor with f/2.0 aperture. The camera interface is full of features, yet easy to use. Each of the feature you select seems to be working fast. Just keep in mind that some of the Chinese-English translations sound a bit weird.
You can shoot in either auto mode or go pro and adjust a lot of settings if you wish so. It may be nice to play with, but I found an auto-mode to be fantastic.
The auto-focus speed is just blazing fast. Seriously, it may be faster than the vivo Xshot and be on par with other respectable flagships like iPhone 6 or Samsung Galaxy S6.
PICTURE QUALITY
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The picture quality is actually very good and I’m impressed with it. It captures plenty of detail, pictures look sharp and the colour reproduction is true to life. On the other hand, the auto-mode has some issues with the dynamic range as all the objects in these pictures doesn’t get the same level of exposure. Once you take the device inside the house, the pictures don’t look that sharp, but still quite good. The colour reproduction looks to be natural as well.
The device performs well in the low light as the pictures were taken in very poorly lit situations. Also, the low aperture number lets you capture the photos very fast. The LED flash is not the brightest I’ve seen, but does an okay job illuminating the objects in complete darkness. You can also capture some good looking night pictures outside.
All in all, the Nubia Z9 Mini has a really good camera, which is fast, easy to use, has a lot of features. The image quality is definitely one of the best you can get out of the midrange device and may even be on par with some flagship devices.
Selfie Camera
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The selfie camera has 8MP with f/2.4 aperture and can capture some really good selfies with lots of detail. This picture (definitely not the best photo of me) was taken inside, where the lighting was really poor. Still, the sensor managed to capture a reasonable amount of detail and the colour reproduction is accurate enough.
Also, there is a “Smile” function. The camera understand when you are smiling and takes pictures automatically. This feature works great and it is fun to use.
VIDEO QUALITY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvevooLcAo8
The device can only shoot maximum 1080p videos, but it can capture some good looking footage. The videos come out sharp and smooth. However, the continuous auto-focus seems to be struggling a bit. Anyway, I like what I see here.
BATTERY LIFE
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The 2900mah battery is a juicy pack for a device with 5 inch screen size. In real life it is fantastic. You can easily go though the day even if you are a heavy user. It will last you two or two and a half days on an average use. I’m really impressed.
CONCLUSIONS
Overal, for the price of under $300 internationally, the Nubia Z9 Mini can be called a mid-range flagship device. It spots a great design and decent sheet of specs. Also, it spots a beautiful 5 inch display and it makes the whole device compact and easy to manage in one hand. The addition of dual nano SIM card as well as micro SD card slots is a great thing. Also, the UI is fast and responsive, has a lots of customisation options, but has some artificial English translations.
What is more, I didn’t have any issues with performance even when device had to handle some more intensive tasks.
My favourite part of this device is the camera, which has a flagship grade quality. It is not ideal as it sometimes struggles with the dynamic range, but it can be adjusted using a rich PRO mode. You can capture some great looking pictures and the auto-focus speed is amazingly fast.
The battery life is amazing. As I said, you can be 100% sure that it will get you through the day on the heavy use and will last you up to two days on average use.
On the other hand, the Nubia Z9 Mini does not come with Google services out of the box. At least on the version I have. You would have to ask your reseller to install it or do it yourself, which is actually easy, but for now you would need to root the device. This is at least on the Chinese ROM.
Also, the smartphone comes with some Chinese apps, which are useless in the West. However, it is easy to remove most of them without even rooting the device.
Last thing is that the back cover attracts fingerprints and smudges very easy. I would choose a white version since it would not be that visible.
All in all, I would call the Nubia Z9 Mini a midrange flagship device. Despite a few shortcomings it looks to be a great offering in the $300 devices category from the respectable smartphone manufacturer.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to use the comments section below.
News about Ulefone Be Touch ( which was previously called as the Ulefone Dare N1) are making rounds on the internet almost every day. Now, according to the latest leaked contents, the phone will have top-end specs. The latest news says that Ulefone will release the fingerprint flagship model pretty soon.
As for the Ulefone Be Touch tech specs, the phone comes with a 5.5-inch screen with 1080P resolution. Under the hood, there will be the Mediatek MT6752 processor, with 3GB RAM on board and 16GB ROM. This is further expandable up to 64GB via MicroSD. At the front, the phone will have a 5MP front camera, and at the back, a 13MP Sony IMX214 back-illuminated camera. Other features include 4G FDD LTE support and Quick Charge technology.
One of the highlights of the device is going to be its front facing fingerprint sensor. Yes, the company has joined the likes of Samsung and Apple to incorporate a fingerprint sensor on the front home button. This is a great change given that almost all Chinese phones have the fingerprint sensor at the back. In addition to this, the company is said to pre-install Android 5.0 Lollipop inside the new Be Touch when it goes on sale officially. So, you won’t have to wait for updates as you will get lollipop right out of the box.
As for the price tag or release date, we will have to wait for some official information. But the company is known for its affordable pricing, so we expect it to be pretty decent.
ZTE’s Nubia range of smartphone were always famous for their cameras. The newly announced ZTE Nubia Z9 Max and Mini phones too have a great camera and in our recent review, we saw that the 16MP produced amazing results. Of course, ZTE has its own years of research and development put into perfecting its camera technology and in this time, it has acquired relevant patents and rights to use these tech.
However, it looks like the company is not happy with Huawei’s Honor X2 and P8 flagships using a similar tech on their devices. Earlier today, Nubia smartphones revealed via its official Weibo page that the company has decided to sue Huawei for suspected infringement of two of their camera patents.
The company publicly posted two letters sent by its law firm to Huawei informing them about the infringement. Along with the images, the company said the following:
“Nubia phone camera technology has been committed to research and development, and has started to obtain the relevant patents, we strive to promote the development of innovative technology to the mobile phone industry. Faced with a large range of Huawei Technologies Co., plagiarism, we felt it was time to stand up and use the law to maintain order in the industry healthy competition”
According to the letter posted on Weibo, the company has sued Huawei for infringing two patents. First is the “Slow Shutter and Capture technology” and the second one is the “imaging and mobile terminal tech”. The letter also asks Huawei to stop all kinds of manufacturing and sales activity of the devices infringing these patents. The company believes that Honor X2 is already using these two tech and the new P8 flagship could also come under scanner.
So, it looks like ZTE’s Nubia division and Huawei will enter into a patent battle in China. We still haven’t seen any kind of reply from Huawei, but expect more information pretty soon.
ZTE is one of those major Chinese manufacturers, which is widely known for its devices not only in China, but also internationally. What is more, their Nubia sub-brand is known for offering high quality for a price, which is lower than competitors like Apple or Samsung. In the past few years Nubia managed to prove that with the Z5 mini and Z7 mini smartphones, which received positive reviews. This time around, we have a just announced ZTE Nubia Z9 mini.
The more in-depth written review is in the works and it is coming soon. For now, please enjoy the video (which actually takes a lot more time to produce than a written review).
If you enjoyed the video, please smash that like button and share your comments!
In the past two days, Pan Jiutang, a famous analyst from China has revealed most of the specs of the upcoming Helio X20 chipset. The chip is expected to feature a unique tri-cluster design which will enable the judicial use of the three different cores namely 2 x Cortex A72 and (4+4) x Cortex A53 Cores.
Naturally, the presence of the Cortex A72 cores will boost performance to a significant level. And now, we may have the first glimpse of the power of this Helio X20 chipset.
A few hours ago, a new screenshot emerged on Weibo of a device which has broken the 70,000 points barrier on AnTuTu. This could be the Helio x20 MT6797 processor. The same chip was earlier predicted to score above 70K, so this screenshot doesn’t come as a surprise.
However, we can’t really confirm the authenticity of this screenshot so make sure you take this news with a pinch of salt.
Earlier leaks have said that there will be three power modes on the chip. Firstly, the economy mode will activate just the four 1.4GHz Cortex A53 chip, in the next level i.e. Best Performance mode, when the power demand is a bit more, the other 2.0 GHz Cortex A53 cores will come into play. Finally in Extreme performance mode the last two Cortex A72 chips will be activated.
It will be really interesting to see the chip perform in real life. Luckily, we won’t have to wait too long for that as its predicted that the Helio X20 will enter mass production by July this year.
We have been hearing a lot about the up coming Huawei mid-ranger called as the Huawei Honor 4C. In fact, the day before we saw that the phone was listed on the official Huawei Russia website which revealed the smartphone’s specs and design.
Now it looks like the company is all set to make the device official as Huawei has released a new invite via its official Weibo account. The invite says that the company has an official event on April 28 where it will unveil the new Honor 4C mid-ranger. The event will be held at the Beijing National Convention Center.
Yesterday’s leak reveals that the phone will most likely run on the new Kirin 620 chipset with 2GB RAM. There will be 13MP camera at the back along with dual 4G support. There will be a 5-inch display up front with 720p resolution.
From the leaked images we can see that the Honor 4C will feature a beautiful and sleek design. The pricing is expected to be around 999 Yuan which should put it in direct competition with Xiaomi Redmi Note and Meizu M1 (Blue Charm) Note.
For more information, you can check out our previous article.
In the past few weeks, we have seen a number of leaks about the upcoming bezelless device from OPPO. Many claim that the phone is the next generation model of the R5, to be called as the OPPO R7. However, earlier today, a new leak reveals that the R7 may not be bezelless but in fact, it could be one of the slimmest devices in the market.
This won’t be surprising given that OPPO R5 is also extremely thin and its body measures just 4.85mm. Its so slim that only a couple of devices in the market can boast of being thinner than the R5. So, OPPO R7 could be the company’s latest move to reclaim its title for the thinnest smartphone in the market.
However, there’s a lot of changes in design. Unlike the R5, which had a sharp rectangular design, the new R7 is said to feature round corners with a smooth design. In fact, from the leaked renders, it looks like the phone may have taken some design inspiration from Apple’s iPhone 6. However, the phone may retain the same all metal design as the R5.
Another important highlight of the phone’s design is the camera unit. Usually, thin phones tend to have protruding cameras since its extremely hard to fit in a powerful sensor inside a slim body. However, the OPPO R7 renders show that the phone may have a camera sensor that blends well with its overall design. Its not raised like the iPhone 6 camera.
As for the tech specs, the OPPO R7 is expected to feature Mediatek’s new MT6753 octa-core processor with full network connectivity. The phone will most likely come with a 4.7-inch display with 2.5D glass. Pricing and other specs details are not known at the moment. However, since OPPO devices usually retail for a premium, expect the R7 to be priced around 2999 Yuan.
Yesterday, Taiwanese media reported that Mediatek’s upcoming flagship chipset, the Helio X20 was going to use a Cortex A57 (2) + (4+4) Cortex A53 architecture. This came as a surprise given that the performance wouldn’t have been out of the park. Earlier reports had said that this chip would most likely break the 70,000 AnTuTu barrier, but this configuration was not very powerful.
However, today, we have come across another leak which shows that the Mediatek MT6797 Helio X20 chip will be a lot more powerful. The report states that the Helio X20 chipset will use the powerful yet battery efficient, Cortex A72 cores in combination with the power efficient Cortex A53 cores. There will be 2 x 2.5GHz Cortex A72 cores, 4 x 2.0GHz Cortex A53 cores and 4 x 1.4Ghz Cortex A53 cores. This combination will strike a balance between power and performance. And the above configuration also supports the earlier claim that the chip will score above 70K on AnTuTu.
The chip will increase performance to a great extent. It is said that the MT6797 increases performance up to 40% as compared to the previous generation Helio X10 i.e. MT6795.
Although the information about the cores used in the chip differs when we compare yesterday’s report, the overall technology remains the same. So, it is said that the three different cores will use Mediatek’s home grown special tri-cluster CPU architecture. The 4+4 Cortex A53 cores will use big. LITTLE architecture to balance performance and battery efficiency. Also, like we said yesterday, the chip will come with Turbo boost technology, much like the Turbo in a car wherein it can regulate its own performance and power according to the requirement.
Yesterday’s report said that the chip will use TSMC’s 20nm process and supports LTE-A / Cat. 6 networks. The chip will most likely go into mass production by July this year, so expect devices running the Helio X20 by the end of 2015.
It looks like Mediatek is really stepping up its game with a 10-core Cortex A72 powered chip. However, whether smartphones really need these many cores for performance improvement is something that we will have to wait and watch.
Allwinner is one of the biggest chipset makers in China. Recently, the company showed off a number of devices running its latest Allwinner H series chipsets like Allwinner H8, H64 and H3. Like tradition, these chipsets will end up in a number of smart devices that will debut in the second half of 2015. These smart devices include TV boxes, Mini PCs and development boards.
The Allwinner H3 is a quad-core chipset based on ARM’s Cortex A7 architecture. While the chip isn’t very fast, its powerful enough for your TV boxes and to support 4K UHD H.265 / HEVC video playback. That’s pretty impressive for a low cost SoC. If you are looking for something more powerful, you should take a look at their octa-core H8 based on eight cortex A7 cores clocked at 2.0GHz with PowerVR SGX544. The chip supports playback 1080p HD video at 60 frames per second with H.265 / HEVC codec, API supports OpenGL ES 2.0, 1.1 and OpenCL 1.1.
Ideally, the Allwinner H3 should end up in ultra low cost TV boxes which will retail for less than $50. On the other hand, the Allwinner H8 could be used in devices which need a little more power like low cost gaming consoles.
However, the Allwinner H64 is probably the company’s highlight chip of 2015 based on 64-bit architecture with quad Cortex A53 cores. These cores improve performance to a great extent without consuming too much power. The chip also support 4K video decoding in H.265 compression and 4K video playback via HDMI. Other features include Smart Color Display 2.0 tech, support for various DRAM types, Android 5.1 Operating system etc.
The company also showed its A64 tablet prototype. The following are the features of the device.
• 64-bit ARMv8 Cortex-A53 architecture,
30%+ performance boost over Cortex-A7
• 9.9-second system boot (cold boot)
Industry-leading features
• H.265/HEVC 4K video decoding in
hardware
• 4K HDMI output
• Latest SmartColor display 2.0 technology
• World’s first DTMB-capable tablet
solution (support AVS+ decoding
standard)
• Support various DRAM types, including
LPDDR2/ LPDDR3/ DDR3 / DDR3L
Latest operating system
• Android 5.1 operating system
The company also showcased many other devices such as Car DVR system, IP Cameras running the company’s chips. However, the most striking product was the Google Glass like wearable glasses using Allwinner’s technology.
We have been increasing hearing news about Huawei’s budget offering, the Huawei Honor 4C. The device will feature good looks along with decent specs and will compete with the likes of Meizu M1 Note and Xiaomi Redmi Note. Now, the device has been officially listed on Huawei’s Russian website, revealing most of the details about the upcoming smartphone.
From the images, it looks like the Huawei Honor 4C will retain the basic design as the 3C. However, there are a few noticeable differences, especially at the back. The camera sensor looks much more in tune with the design and the overall color scheme and design is much more premium.
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As for the specs, the Honor 4C features a 5-inch 720p display and comes with the Kirin 620 processor with Mali-450MP4. There will be 2GB of RAM on board along with 8GB of storage which is further expandable via MicroSD. At the back, there will be a 13MP f/2.0 aperture camera sensor, while up front you get a 5MP shooter. The phone supports dual 4G networks and comes with Android 5.0 with EMUI 3.0 on top.
As for the pricing, the Huawei Honor 4C is priced at 8990 RUB in Russia, which comes to around $174 in US dollars or 1070 Yuan in China. This is almost the same as the rumored 999 Yuan price tag in the domestic market.
Apart from the leaked specs, we also have some spy shots of the device in action. You can check them out down below.
Just a few days back we came across some news about the upcoming Helio X20 chipset. Mediatek rebranded its MT679X lineup earlier this year to Helio X series. The company wanted to portray the Helio series as powerful chipsets, that’s why the X in the brand name stands for Extreme performance.
Looks like the company is pretty serious about the new Helio X20 chipset as it is said that the processor will feature 10-cores. Yes, this will make it the first 10-core chipset in the market and its expected to go into mass production in the next few months.
Now, new report from Taiwan media reveals some more details about the Helio X20. The report says that the new chipset will feature two powerful but battery hogging Cortex A57 cores and 4 + 4 Cortex A53 power efficient cores. The A57 cores will boost the performance of the chip, but the A53 ones will keep a balance of power and performance. So, in all, it once again confirms the 10-core chip design on the new flagship SoC from Mediatek.
The key element here is Mediatek’s unique three public board architecture design along with turbo boost for performance improvements. The company has used its own research to develop a 3 core design much like ARM’s big.Little architecture. The chip can independently adjust its performance and power according to the needs, just like in the case of turbo in a car.
Finally, the chip will be built on TSMC’s 20nm process and will support Cat. 6 4G LTE-A networks. Interestingly, the report says that Helio X20 chip could go into mass production as early as July this year, which is much earlier than what we predicted.
The earlier leak said that the chip could break the 70,000 AnTuTu barrier, but with 4+4 Cortex A53 cores, we will have to wait and watch if its really the case.
Anyways, so what do you think about the Cortex A57 (2) + (4+4) cortex A53 design? Will it be powerful enough for a flagship chip?
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