We are eagerly waiting for the official announcement of the new ZTE Nubia Z series smartphones on March 26, which is just a week away. Thanks to the numerous leaks, we already have an idea about the upcoming handsets, which includes the recently showcased ZTE Nubia Z9 Max, the leaked ZTE Nubia Z9 Mini and the flagship ZTE Nubia Z9.
However, earlier today, a series of pictures revealed that the company may have a surprise in store for fans at the event. The leaked pictures showed off a device which looked identical to the ZTE Nubia Z9 Max but was running on a different OS than Android.
Yes, the ZTE Nubia smartphone was running on the Windows Phone OS which is a first for this lineup. The device had a similar design as the Max, with the double glass and metal body. However, the phone was running on the new Windows Phone OS. We even see Cortanan running, but it reports back with the message, “I’m sorry but I can’t speak your language yet”. Naturally, it looks like sometime tried giving commands to Cortana in Chinese.
It looks like the images were taken at Microsoft’s office, probably at an internal event. However, we still don’t know the exact Windows Phone version running on this device nor the specs that it features. But since this looks like Z series Nubia smartphone, expect it to be pretty high end.
So will we be seeing the new ZTE Nubia Z9 running on Windows Phone OS at this month’s event? Or is the phone still in the development stage?
Well, we just have to wait for a week more to clear things out.
Just a few hours back we reported that Microsoft was partnering up with Xiaomi,Lenovo, Tencent and even Qihoo for expanding its software in the country and this particular leak only confirms that the company has some big plans for its OS in China.
Over the past couple of months, we have seen many new products from Xiaomi. This Chinese smartphone manufacturer has expanded into newer product categories like routers, game controllers, and even air purifiers. Even in the smartphone lineup, the company launched a new Xiaomi Mi Note series which offered top end specs at an affordable price tag.
Now, it looks like the company is all set to announce a new Xiaomi TV tomorrow as Lei Jun, the founder and CEO of Xiaomi revealed a new teaser earlier today. He said in a post that Xiaomi will announce something new about its TV range at 11:00 AM on March 19, i.e. tomorrow. He even tagged Wang Chuan in the post, who is the director of Xiaomi smart TV business.
He became the eight core team member of Xiaomi after it acquired Duokan, a company which made apps for e-readers and Apple TV. Apart from the apps, Duokan is also an alternative OS for Amazon’s Kindle devices which brought in a lot of new features to the device. Its CEO, Mr. Chuan has years worth of experience in business, since he entered the entrepreneurship world just two years after graduating.
The company already has its own Xiaomi TV lineup in the market, but its far from perfect. Mr. Chuan had earlier said that the company aimed to make the OS more user friendly so that people from all ages could operate it, from a four year old to an eighty year old.
Unfortunately, neither Lei Jun nor Chuan has revealed any further details about tomorrow’s announcement, but since we are less than 24 hours away, we just have to wait and watch what the company has in store for us.
Microsoft under the leadership of Satya Nadella has undergone a lot of changes. One of the biggest changes in the company’s strategy has been to partner up with new companies to expose its products to newer markets. China, being a market with hundreds of millions of customers has gained a lot of attention from tech companies in recent years and Microsoft is also keen to expand in the country.
Earlier today, the company announced that it was entering into a program with Xiaomi to test Windows 10 powered Xiaomi Mi4 smartphone and now, the company revealed that Lenovo, one of the biggest PC makers in the world will develop and release Windows 10 powered smartphones later this year.
It is said that the Windows 10 smartphone will feature mid-range specs like Snapdragon 400 and Snapdragon 600 chipsets on a 4.5-5-inch screen. However, this shouldn’t be a big problem since Windows Phone OS work smoothly even on phone with basic hardware.
Lenovo plans to release its first Windows 10 smartphone by mid-2015 via the country’s leading network, China Mobile. Unfortunately, the company is yet to announce any details about a Windows 10 smartphone release outside of China this year.
The company has also agreed to upgrade its Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 powered devices to the new Windows 10 OS for free. The company revealed some more details in a press release earlier today.
“Lenovo, one of the world’s leading PC manufacturers, announced they will offer Windows 10 upgrade services at 2,500 service centers and select retail stores in China when the Windows 10 upgrade is available. This will help customers quickly and easily upgrade their new or existing Windows devices to Windows 10. Lenovo also announced their commitment to build Windows phones, to be available in mid-year 2015 via China Mobile.”
Clearly, Microsoft has set its eyes on China and partnering up with top companies like Lenovo, Tencent and Xiaomi is a sure shot way of expanding its existing user base in China.
China is the world’s biggest smartphone market and hence, its no surprise that most manufacturers want a piece of the market share in the country. While Microsoft has its own Lumia series smartphones running on its Windows Phone OS, it isn’t sufficient to compete with the millions of other phones running on Android and iOS. As a result, Microsoft has just announced that it will be working with Xiaomi to test Windows 10 powered smartphones.
In an official blog post released a few hours ago, Microsoft states that it has entered into a new program with Xiaomi, where a selected group of Mi4 users will be given the chance of downloading and installing the Windows 10 Technical Preview on their Xiaomi Mi4 smartphones. They will be giving direct feedback to the company. The post also says that this will help in the release of the Windows 10 powered smartphones later this year.
Through a new program with Xiaomi, one of the top smartphone distributors in the world, a select group of Xiaomi Mi 4 power users will be invited to help test Windows 10 and contribute to its future release later this year. These power users will have the opportunity to download the Windows 10 Technical Preview – installing it and providing their feedback to Microsoft.
Microsoft is planning to expand aggressively in China as it has partnered up with many other leading tech companies in the country like Lenovo, Qihoo 360 and Tencent. All of them have agreed to release the new Windows 10 OS as a free upgrade to their existing Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users.
Windows 10 is one of the best upgrades from Microsoft till date. The company has taken feedback from thousands of users to develop and tweak this new OS which will be compatible with devices of all sizes.
Just yesterday we saw the Teclast X98 Air running Windows 10 Pro Technical Preview in a video and some of the features previewed there were quite cool. You can check out the video from this link.
So, what do you think about a Xiaomi powered Windows 10 smartphone? Do you think its a good idea or should Xiaomi stick with Android OS for now?
Just earlier today the Chinese giant Xiaomi released a “Natural Bamboo Special Edition” of its latest flagship Mi Note (the original material of the back is glass). One fact worth mentioning is that the price of 2299 Yuan is said to remain unchanged, which is kind of advantage over other companies like OnePlus or Motorola, which charges quite a lot for bamboo back shell.
However, as the rumours as well as the picture point out, the Apple of China may also release a bamboo edition of the popular iPad alternative Mi Pad. We think it is a pretty good idea as the customers are given some variety of materials to choose from. What is more, the Xiaomi Mi Pad bamboo edition is said to cost as much as the regular version. That shows that other manufacturers just artificially trying to make a big deal out of charging extra for bamboo shells. How much can the wood cost? Is it really that much more expensive than plastic? Anyway, we will keep you posted as soon as Mi Pad bamboo edition is officially released.
ZTE is all set to announce its premium ZTE Nubia Z series lineup at an event on March 26. Even though we are just a few days away from the official unveiling of these devices, new leaks are still coming in, revealing some interesting aspects about the device.
The latest leak from leaksfly reveals that the ZTE Nubia Z9 may have a different design than what we expected. A few days back, the same source leaked a series of pictures claiming to be of the Z9. That device had a similar design as the ZTE Nubia Z9 Max that the company showed off at MWC 2015. However, the latest pictures from leaksfly reveal a totally different design.
The edges are now smoother and the device looks like it may have taken some inspiration from Huawei’s metal Huawei Ascend Mate 7. This is actually a good thing since we all loved Mate 7’s premium design. However, the device in the pictures looks much more thinner and smaller. It is said that the phone will come with a 5-inch+ display, and the image with the iPhone 6 besides the Z9 kind of confirms this rumor. Interestingly, the same image also gives us an idea of the slimness of the device as its almost as thin as the iPhone 6. In fact, if we look closer, it may even be a tad thinner.
The back features a large sensor which is probably the rumored fingerprint sensor. On top, there is the camera unit and the LED flash besides it. At the middle lies the Nubia logo and around the bottom of the back is the speaker grill.
Coming to the front, the bezels are thin, but not as thin we saw in the previous images. The previous leak showed off an almost bezel-less display, but in this case, we can see the bezels clearly. The top portion, above the display is quite clean, however, the bottom part is thick, thanks to the physical capacitive buttons, instead of onscreen ones.
Overall, the device looks like its well built and premium. I personally like this one better than the ones leaked previously, but we are not quite sure which one is real for now.
As for the tech specs, the ZTE Nubia Z9 is expected to come with the fast Snapdragon 810 processor with 3GB RAM, 16MP rear camera and 5.5-inch full HD 1080p display.
So, which design did you like? The previous one without any bezels + glass design or this one with thin bezels but with a premium metal body?
Windows 10 is going to be a revolutionary upgrade. In fact, there were so many changes in this new OS that the company decided to skip the name Win 9, to jump right to Windows 10. While we have already seen the Windows 10 Technical Preview, now the OS was running on the Teclast X98 tablet which gave us an idea of the features of the upcoming Windows version.
The one showed off in the video was the Teclast X98 Air and the reviewer was kind enough to demo some of the features of Windows 10 Pro Technical Preview version on this tablet.
Windows 10 comes with a whole new look. The start button encompasses the Metro UI instead of taking you to a separate screen. So, recent apps, most used apps and the metro UI all come under the start button. And if you liked the Windows 8 look, you can even full screen the start button to give you a similar feel.
Swiping from the right brings you to the notifications and quick settings panel. There were plenty of settings available like tablet mode, display, airplane mode, locations settings and all settings. Swiping from the left brought the task manager with open apps.
The overall UI looks smooth and responsive even though this was just a technical preview version. Unfortunately, the video did not demo Cortana, probably because its still not activated. However, we did see an option in the settings panel for the digital assistant.
The specs of the Teclast X98 Air is not very high end, but still it managed to run everything smoothly. The tablet comes with an Intel Atom Z3736F processor clocked at 1.33GHz with 2GB RAM and 32GB ROM. This is just standard specs, nothing out of the ordinary which hints that the Windows 10 OS for mobile devices could be pretty lightweight enabling smoother UI experience even in mid-range devices.
You can check out the video of Windows 10 Pro technical Preview running on the Teclast tablet down below.
Back in October, Vido had showed off a new tablet with retina class display at the Fall Hong Kong Electronics Fair. Now, it looks like the company is all set to release the device officially as it has revealed some teaser images of the said device.
The new dual OS Vido M9i will feature a slim metal body which to be honest looks quite good. The highlight of this new tablet will be the dual OS compatibility, which means can boot into Windows 8 as well as Android as per your convenience. This is truly a great feature as its always good to have multiple OS options. Android OS brings millions of apps from the Google Play Store with many optimized for large screen tablets, while the Windows 8 OS a familiar desktop like environment ideal for work.
Given its large 9.7-inch display with Retina resolution, the dual OS Vido M9i won’t be as portable as a 7-inch tablet. However, the large screen size makes it a great device for office use.
While the exact specifications of the device have not been revealed, the specs sheet shown off back in October gives us a clue about M9i’s overall tech specs. Like its written at the back, the Vido M9i will be powered by an Intel processor. The Android powered variant came with the Intel Z3735F clocked at a maximum frequency of 1.83GHz. The tablet had 2GB of RAM onboard along with 16GB internal storage. At the back, there was a 5MP shooter along with a 2MP shooter up front. To support the large display, the M9i Android version had a 6000mAh battery.
However, expect the new dual OS Vido M9i to feature better specs than the one mentioned above. The processor, RAM and camera are expected to get an upgrade taking the overall cost to $1500. The tablet will be announced later this month.
Earlier this year, we came to know that LeTV, one of the top video content providers in China was working on a new smartphone. Later we realized that the company may have three new devices in the pipeline all targeted at different users. The three models were expected to be priced as follows: 999 Yuan, 1999 Yuan and 2999 Yuan and the specs and the body differed according to their pricing.
The LeTV X600 model has been spotted a number of times, on TENAA as well as AnTuTu. Now, a new set of images of the LeTV device were leaked by the well known leakster, Ubuntu Team. From the images, it looks like this could be the LeTV X600 that’s been making the rounds online.
The pictures that were listed on TENAA look a lot similar to the ones leaked today. On TENAA, the device had a model number LeTV X600 and featured an octa-core processor with 2GB RAM and 16GB ROM, 13MP rear camera and 5MP front shooter. The device had a 5.5-inch full HD 1080p display with overall dimension of 147.8 x 74.2 x 9.4mm, making it shorter and even narrower than the iPhone 6 Plus (not thinner though!).
So, it looks like the white version of the LeTV X600 model was leaked today. The device sports a very premium design with curved edges and almost bezel-less display. However, it looks like the black display borders are responsible for this effect and even though we can’t clearly see it, there is a thin border at the sides.
The back cover could be made from polycarbonate material or even shiny plastic like the iPhone 5C. There is a round sensor on the top, most likely the rumored 13MP unit along with dual LED flash and the Letv logo in the middle.
It is still not clear when the company will officially announce the new smartphones, but since we are seeing almost finished models, its likely that the announcement will be made pretty soon.
Back in January, Xiaomi took the wraps off a new premium smartphone lineup, the Xiaomi Mi Note. However, at the time of the announcement, the company had announced only two versions of the device, the Xiaomi Mi Note running Snapdragon 801 and the Xiaomi Mi Note Pro running Snapdragon 810. Interestingly, it looks like the company may have another device in the Note lineup.
Earlier today, a new Xiaomi Note device was spotted on Geekbench, revealing some of the key specifications and benchmark scores of the device. The new device, called as the Xiaomi Mi Note Plus features the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor as the Mi Note Pro, and the RAM too is 4GB. The device was running on the Android 5.0.2 Lollipop version. From the name, it looks like the Mi Note Plus could be the top end variant in the company’s Note lineup.
This is not the first time we are hearing about the Xiaomi Mi Note Plus. Just a few days after the announcement of the Mi Note lineup, a device with the same name had popped up on AnTuTu benchmark, revealing identical specs as the Mi Note Pro model. So, at that time, we wondered whether this particular model was the same as the Pro.
In the GeekBench test, the Mi Note Plus scored around the same figure as the HTC One M9. It scored 1235 in the single-core test and 4039 in the multi-core test, which was very close to One M9’s score of 1282 and 3929 in those tests. However, even with the top end hardware, Samsung Galaxy S6 easily outdid these two, thanks to the powerful Exynos 7420 64-bit octa-core chipset underneath. S6 scores an amazing 1501 in the single-core test and 5417 in the multi-score test which clearly shows its power.
Xiaomi’s co-founder and president, Lin Bin revealed yesterday that the company was going to announce a special edition of the Mi Note today. However, we don’t think that the Mi Note Plus will be announced as he said that a better looking special edition Xiaomi Mi Note will be revealed. Still, lets wait and watch what the company has in store for its fans.
In January Xiaomi released their Mi Note and Mi Note Pro. It was the highest Priced phone from Xiaomi and yet it is one of the most premium and Powerfull device. The sad part is that Xiaomi did not had a lot of stocks to sell.
Today, Lin Bin, president of Xiaomi on his weibo said that They will launch better looking special edition Mi Note tomorrow, the tagline in the picture is “Bamboo in the chest”, it means confidence in Chinese.
Here is the screenshot of his post.
Xiaomi Mi Note is the flagship device from Xiaomi and is also one of the best devices one can buy. It has a metal frame and 3D curved glass on both of its sides. The Xiaomi Mi Note packs a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor, clocked at 2.5 GHz, and backed by the Adreno 330 GPU and 3 GB of RAM. Apart from the amount of RAM, this processing package may seem a little dated given the advances in the last year, but it is still more than capable of easily handling intensive tasks.
Do let us know what you think about the upcoming Mi Note in the comment section below.
Given the immense popularity of Xiaomi’s flagship devices, most of the Android version updates are already available to download. We recently saw the new Android 5.0.2 ROM for both the Xiaomi Mi3 and the Mi4 from a well known developer back in February, and today, Ivan brings out the latest version of Android 5.1 Lollipop update to these devices.
Android 5.1 is the most recent update from Google for Lollipop and in fact, it was just announced a week back. So, its good to see that the new version made it to Xiaomi Mi3 and Mi4 devices so fast.
Here’s the official list of changelog with the new update.
Changelog:
1. Updated to Android 5.1 codes
2. Removed music player
3. Removed CM file explorer
4. Newly ported, highly prone to bugs
The process of downloading and installing the ROM is pretty straight forward. Most of the Xiaomi Mi3 and Mi4 variants are compatible with the update except for theXiaomi Mi4 CDMA 4G model. So, if you are using that particular edition, don’t try to flash, as it won’t work properly and you may even brick your device.
Here are the known models which successfully ran the new Android 5.1 ROM: Mi4W/C and Mi3W with WCDMA, CDMA and TD SIM cards
Remember to boot your device once you have installed the ROM as otherwise, you may face some network signal issues. Also, if you are using a Chinese CDMA model, there’s apparently some issues that’s still not fixed.
We have already seen plenty of knock offs of popular smartphones in the past two years. The famous clones includes the look alikes of iPhone 6, LG G3, Samsung Galaxy Note 4 etc. Even wearables have clones these days, like the No.1 G2 which takes inspiration from the Samsung Gear smartwatch.
Clones are usually seen after the original device is released in the market, but sometimes, there can be an exception, like in the case of this Apple Watch clone. Recently, we spotted a look a like of the Apple Watch that is expected to hit the markets in April. The device looks exactly like Apple’s first wearable and until you turn on the watch, you’ll probably mistake it as the real one.
Since we were surprised to see the watch even before Apple made the original one available for sale, we decided to take a look at the device to see what it offers to its users.
First off, lets take a look at the box. The picture in front may look like the real deal, but remember that this is just a clone. But its not surprising to see that the image on the front with the UI is made to look like the original Apple Watch. On the top left corner, you’ll see the multi-language support feature which means you can also install and use English on the device. Below, you can see some of its features such as notifications, handsfree, USB and music player support.
Turning over the box to the back side reveals interesting things. First of all, the device supports pedometer, stop watch, anti-theft alarm, recorder etc. Of course, its not surprising that the English written at the back is bad. Still, you can read and understand most parts. Interestingly, the rear specs list reveals that the device will be available in two battery versions, a 230mAh version which will be only available for Chinese customers and a 190mAh version which will be made available for international users. Unfortunately, we don’t know why the maker of this device decided to do something like this.
Inside, you’ll find a manual too, but written in Chinese. The manual reveals that the Apple Watch clone will only work with Android smartphones and tablets. What an irony!
The device that we got from the market had a brown leather color which matched its strap. On top of the display, there’s a sticker which is made to look like the UI on the original Apple Watch.
At the back, you’ll see a round metal circle plate. Its does not blend very well with the design as it protrudes from the body.
On the right, you’ll see two buttons, which are the only ones on the entire smartwatch. One of them is the Apple’s new digital crown like button. However, we didn’t find any particular function assigned for that button.
The strap on the device is just standard, nothing out of the ordinary quality wise.
Unsurprisingly, the device is only a Apple Watch clone by design and not by function. You’ll get what I’m saying right when you turn on the device. The touchscreen is highly pixelated, which means the resolution is too low and almost every function needs a companion smartphone to work. However, it did have some good features despite its low price tag.
Naturally the device wasn’t going to be as costly as the Apple Watch. In fact, this Apple Watch clone costs even less than 10% of the value of the standard Apple Watch. Yes, you can get it for as less as 200 Yuan which comes to around $32! That’s the cheapest price you’ll get a device like this.
So, what do you think about the device? Looks good?
A little over a month ago, the Chinese phone manufacturer Meizu revealed that the company is actively working on bringing a much anticipated FlaymeOS 5.0 firmware update to its devices. While, the update still hasn’t rolled out, a screenshot appeared on Weibo recently, showing a smartphone running a Flyme OS 5.0.3A (Beta) build, proving the software is in its final stages of testing.
The fifth version of Meizu’s custom firmware Flyme OS will be bringing a number of changes to the software, delivering a better overall experience. Based on Android 5.0 Lollipop, Meizu’s custom ROM will be released for the Meizu MX4 and MX4 Pro.
The screenshot doesn’t reveal much in regard to the actual OS, but it does show that there already are Meizu smartphones running the FlymeOS 5.0 Beta. According to the screenshot, the custom ROM is based on the Android 5.0.2 Kernel, while the FlymeOS 5.0 Beta itself is in its 5.0.3A iteration.
While a release date for the update still hasn’t been officially announced, Meizu will be giving access to the public to FlymeOS 5.0 via an open beta version, said to be made available later this month.
Huawei’s latest flagship is going to be announced on 15 April 2015 at a special event. As we near the release date of the Huawei P8, we are getting a lot more information about the upcoming flagship.
Yesterday, the first camera sample from the device was leaked online. The picture had a resolution of 4160 x 3120 which kind of confirmed that it was taken from a 13MP camera unit. As for the quality of the image, it was quite clear even in low light. Its good that we could take a look at night time photography because that’s where most smartphone cameras struggle. But from the leaked picture, it looks like Huawei P8 flagship managed to limit the noise in the dim light. So, the P8 may have a good camera indeed.
It is still not known whether Huawei will incorporate an improved version of the dual camera unit on this new flagship, but it could be a single 13MP sensor too. As for the body, the smartphone is expected to come in two different versions, the standard version featuring an aluminum alloy body and the premium high-end edition having the zirconia ceramic unibody design. The overall body will be pretty slim at 6.7mm.
According to a recent leak, the phone is said to feature a 5.2-inch full HD 1080p display. It will be powered by the latest 16nm Huawei’s Hisilicon Kirin 930 64-bit octa-core SoC with 3GB RAM and 32GB of internal storage. It is still not known whether there will be an external MicroSD card slot. The Huawei P8 is expected to run on the latest Android 5.0 Lollipop version. Earlier it was rumored that the phone may feature a fingerprint scanner, but latest rumors suggest that the company will not incorporate it in this particular flagship device. Finally, expect its pricing to be around 2999 Yuan which comes to around $480.
We are exactly a month away from the official announcement of the Huawei P8, so expect a lot of new leaks about the upcoming device in the coming four weeks.
It seems that sports/action camera’s department is kind of occupied by the industry leader GoPro, which has been in the business for quite a while. However, the Chinese companies do not stay silent and some of them think that action cameras category is the way to go. One the companies is the Xiaomi’s sub-brand YI, which has something interesting to offer.
In case you want to check out the Xiaomi YI camera in action, we have also made a full video review:
UNBOXING
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As far as the packaging goes, it is a plain minimalistic box. Besides the YI logo on the front, there are some main specs of the device. Since the product is mainly designed for the Chinese market for now, the specs are written in Chinese. Still, some of the international terminology is used. The main features include the Sony’s 16mp CMOS sensor, f/2.8 aperture lens with 155 degrees point of view, the maximum shooting resolution at 1080p and 60fps. Other features will be detailed later in this review.
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First thing that comes out of the box is the camera itself. I will take a closer look at it in the moment. Next up is the instruction manual, which is in Chinese, so there is no point for having it for international customers. Still, there is something useful in it, but I will get back to it later on. The last thing that comes in the packaging is the regular Micro USB charging cable.
DESIGN
Finally, let’s take a look at the main item of the review. This camera has a combo of quite flashy light and dark green colours. There is another version of white colour if you don’t like this one. The first impressions of the device is that it is really compact and very light. It has a size of a box of matches and weighs just 72 g. Moreover, the camera feels sturdy and well built.
On the front side of the camera there is a power on/off button, which also acts as a camera or video recorder switcher. Next to it is a 16MP Sony’s sensor, which sticks out of the whole body quite a lot. If you press and hold the front key, you will power on the camera. There is an LED ring light around it, which indicates the battery levels. It flashes in blue, purple and red, according to the juice left, respectively. The Red is the low light sign as it turns on, when the battery level reaches 14%. On the left side of the camera there is a WIFI switch along with the LED notification light. I will get back to it very soon.
On the back, there are two removable covers, where you can access the battery, micro SD card slot as well as charging and syncing ports. On the top, there is a camera shutter key along with the LED notification light and the embedded mic for sound recording. On the bottom, there is a standard port to connect the camera to any tripod or selfie stick. Also, there is what I think another embedded mic along with the another LED light.
SETUP
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The initial setup of the device is very simple. You have to start by inserting the battery by removing the back cover. As you can see, I have already done that. If you want to remove it, you have to pull the battery on the strap. The capacity of the battery is 1010 mah, which is not bad, but I will get back to it later. Next up is another removable cover. Once you take it out, you find a Micro SD card slot, Micro USB charging port and micro HDMI port. For the device, which is so compact, I can say that it has quite a lot of connectivity options.
FUNCTIONALITY
As far as functionality goes, the camera is really simple to use for basic operations. To start off you have to power on the device and it is confirmed by the LED flash ring and the beeping sound.
The camera has a picture taking mode set as default. You can only change the default mode within the application, which I’ll show you later. All the commands you do are confirmed by LED lights and beeping sounds, which can also be turned off using the app. If you want to go to the video recording mode, just press the power button. The recording is comfirmed by the flashing LED’s on the top and back sides.
It doesn’t matter that the instruction manual is in Chinese, but we still need it for QR code, which allows you to download the camera app immediately. I have already installed the app, so I will show you how it looks like and what you can do with it.
The first thing you want to do is turn on the camera and then press and hold the wifi switch till you see the blue light.
Just to let you know, the app is in mainly in English, but still has some Chinese left in it. There is a completely translated app available, but it is an older version, so I sticked with this one. During the video review, the app version was 1.2, but at the moment of writing this review, I received both the app update to 1.3 version and the firmware version update for the camera itself.
One major shortcoming is that sometimes the camera struggles to connect to the phone using the app, which says that “The device will try searching again when Wifi light flashes”. I haven’t figured out yet if it is a bug that can be fixed with a software update or there is something I’m doing wrong. After some time, the Wifi light starts flashing and then it gets connected easily.
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Once the camera connects to the smartphone via devices built-in wifi network, which is said to work up to 100 m, the viewfinder turns on automatically. However, I’ve noticed a significant lag between the camera movement and what I see in the viewfinder. It is not happening all the time, but more than enough to annoy you. Anyway, the camera is designed to use it on its own since I don’t see the point in carrying the camera in one hand and the smartphone in the other. Still, it would be nice if it gets fixed in the software updates as we know that the product is just released.
UPDATE TO THE VIDEO REVIEW: the just received firmware update for the camera improved the WIFI transmission to the smartphone, so the viewfinder is not that laggy as before. Still, there is a delay between movement of the camera and what you see on the smartphone, but not that bad.
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You can adjust the resolution of the video and pictures within the app. The maximum resolution of video is 1080p at 60fps. The FPS can go all the way to 240, but the resolution goes below HD. As far as resolution of pictures, the maximum is 16MP at 4:3 aspect ratio and can go all the way to only 5mp to save up some storage space. The app has quite a lot of settings that cannot be set up using only the camera. Most of them are self-explanatory, so you don’t really need an instruction manual to understand it. On the bottom side of the main screen of the app you see the power left in the camera’s battery, connection status and the phone’s battery status. The funny thing is that camera’s battery is at 0% and it is still running for 30 minutes already.
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The neat function of the app is that you can check out the photos and videos taken with the camera on your smartphone’s screen. In case you like the photo and you want to save it to your phone’s internal storage, you can hit a download button.
Another interesting feature is the ability to take the snapshots. These are short clips that can give others an idea of what is going on around you. Also, they can be saved either in MP4 or in GIF formats. Sharing is kind of limited to the Chinese social networks for now, but you can still save it as a file on your smartphone and then share it using Facebook or other social networks that are used in the west (see the demonstration in the video review).
You can also watch the videos you shot using your smartphone. However, there is one trick that this camera does. Once you capture a video, it saves two files. One is in original format, while the other is a very low resolution file, which is used for the preview on your smartphone. It is quite logical since it may take forever loading up the Full-HD video via wifi on your smartphone. Also, it is much easier to share the smaller file immediately on the social networks.
The original files and the reduced size files are not divided into different folders neither in the app (which is actually the most annoying, because if you try to hit the original size file, you are greeted with a negative Chinese warning) nor on the Micro SD. I think this will be fixed very soon with a software update.
As far as the picture quality, it is not on par with the flagship smartphones, but it is still good for a sports action camera. The major advantage for the camera is that has a much wider field of view, so you can fit much more in your shot. Also, you can just capture anything you see without the need to take out your smartphone.
The 16mp Sony’s CMOS sensor takes “You get what you see approach” as it captures true to life colours. Also, the camera snaps a decent amount of detail and the white balance is not bad either. All in all, I’m not saying it is the best shooter around, but has its own advantages. Also, it is quite fun taking pictures as it takes little to no effort.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5u9nVBJ2B0
As far as video recording quality, it is great, but not that good like cameras of the flagship devices. The 1080p video seems to be smooth, the sensor is able to capture a decent amount of detail. Also, the colour reproduction is natural, with no visible artefacts. What is more, the white balance is being adjusted properly and quickly.
Please check out other video quality (different resolution and FPS) samples in our video review.
CONCLUSIONS
In conclusion, this was the first time ever I’ve reviewed the action camera. It was because I thought that is was not a useful gadget since you always have a smartphone around. However, after using it for some time I started loving it as it can be used for different purposes. The creativity options are endless here.
I liked the size of it, which makes it very portable to use. As far as design, yes, it takes a lot of inspiration from the GoPro cameras and it may become a direct competitor. However, the Chinese company offers its product for a much lower price. The official price in China is just $64, which is ridiculous. On the other hand, the resellers are quick to make business here as it would cost around $90 or $100 for the international customers.
What is more, the picture and video quality is good enough for the action sports camera. The flagship smartphone may win the head-to-head camera shoot-out, but I don’t see any significant drawbacks and all in all I’m glad with what the 16MP Sony’s CMOS sensor is capable of. The major advantage over the smartphone is the insane field of view (155 degrees), which is almost double of what the smartphone’s sensor can do.
The negative aspects should be also considered as there are some bugs within the application. Also, the viewfinder on the smartphone shows a laggy view from the camera’s sensor, so it may become annoying. Moreover, the battery life could be better as it died just after a few hours of intense usage, which included shooting videos, taking pictures, using the wifi etc. The battery can die even quicker if you use it only for shooting videos. If you do that, it would last you just around 30-40 mins.
I will update this review if I notice any significant improvements in any department after just received firmware update.
All in all, I still think it is a great action camera as it has a killer price tag and offers a good overall package, which is worth your attention.
The Blackview is a Chinese manufacturer, which is not widely known for its products outside of China. Also, it does not have a significant market share in its homeland. However, we love checking out the devices from all the manufacturers and this time around we have a Blackview Omega.
We wanted to say thank you for Pandawill.com for sending this phone for a review!
VIDEO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZl0KxUA_2E
We’ve spent some quality time with the Blackview Omega and made an in-depth video review, which you can check out above.
UNBOXING
As far as packaging goes, it is fairly standard, has some logos and the list of specs on it. I have to say that it doesn’t look cheap once you open it as it has a dedicated strap to take out the phone. Also, everything is put together neatly, so it is a pleasure to unbox it.
The first thing that comes out of the box is the smartphone itself. At the glance, it feels great and the quality seems to be pretty good, but I will come back to it later.
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The first thing as far as included accessories, are the headphones. They look quite familiar and we are quite sure where the inspiration comes from. Still, the built quality is not bad. The sound quality is not the best, but above average for a standard pair of headphones. The next thing included is the USB OTG cable, which allows you to connect the USB storage device. Next up is a regular charging brick. The design is similar to the what we have seen from HTC, but we do not really care about it, as it gets the job done. Also, there is a standard Micro USB cable to charge or sync your device. Nothing special about it, just an ordinary cable.
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What is more, there is an envelope, which is full of goodies. It starts with the ordinary SIM ejector tool. Also, the manufacturer included wet and dry cleaning wipes. It may sound weird, but you will soon find out why. What is more, there is a quick start guide included. As usual, we don’t care about it, but it may useful for the newbies.Right now you will see why the cleaning wipes were included. It turns out that the Blackview wants to make sure that you protect you device, so they include not an ordinary screen protector, but a tempered glass. It sounds like a nice touch by the manufacturer, but what about another tempered glass for the back of the device? It may imply a few things. Either the Blackview is not sure about the sturdiness of the device or it just wants you to have a mint condition device for a longer time. One more thing that comes in this magic envelope is the the plastic case. Nothing out of ordinary, but it is really a great addition to protect the device from drops.
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Finally, let’s check out the device itself and share my initial impressions. I won’t lie to you as the smartphone has a very similar design to the iPhone 4s. It spots a metal frame along with the metal buttons. What is more, the back of the device is made out of glass material, which is, however, a fingerprint magnet on the black surface. All in all, the device is very well built, looks and feel sturdy in your hand.
DESIGN
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On the front side of the device there is an 8mp shooter along with the earpiece on the top. On the bottom there are three capacitive keys, which also have a backlight.The manufacturer chose to put volume up/down keys along with the power button on the left side of the metal frame of the phone. It took a bit of time to get used to it for me, but it is a personal preference. On the bottom, there is a regular Micro USB charging port along with microphone and the plastic infusions for better signal reception.On the right side, there is a dual micro SIM card tray. One slot also doubles as the micro SD slot up to 64 GB of cards for storage expansion. On the top, there is a 3.5mm headphone jack.On the back of the smartphone, there is a 13mp camera sensor, which can shoot up to 18mp pictures due to software interpolations along with the single LED flash. Finally, there is a mono speaker on the bottom, which has an average sound quality.
You can clearly see how the device attracts fingerprints and smudges. I have to say, I’m not a huge fan of it as I don’t like cleaning. All this is due to the glass back panel and the black colour underneath it. I guess that the you wouldn’t see all the dirt on the white version, but it is the same with all devices.
SPECS SHEET
Display
5″ Full HD (441ppi),
Processor
Octa-core MediaTek MTK6592W processor, 1.7 GHz
RAM
2GB
Camera
8MP Front/18MP Back (interpolated from the 5MP/13MP sensors)
The device spots an MTK6592 Octa Core 1.7GHz chip inside along with the 2GB RAM and 16GB of storage. The graphics are handled by Mali-450MP GPU. For all those raw benchmarks fans, I ran the Antutu Benchmark to see how the Blackview Omega performs.
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The Antutu score of 30425 is quite impressive for the device, which has a much lower price tag then the smartphones made by the major manufacturers.
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As far as real life experience, the device has nearly stock Android 4.4 Kitakat UI. Everything is running smoothly and I didn’t have any hiccups so far. The Blackview Omega has basic settings menu you would expect.
As it has become quite usual, the manufacturer included some gesture controls. I always like the tap to wake functionality, which, in my opinion, has to be included on each smartphone. Another gesture I like is tapping the capacitive home key to quickly turn off the display. Also, there are some quick toggle gestures that lets you draw a a letter for a particular functionality. One more gesture I got used to using is the drawing letter C to launch the camera. So far the gestures seem to be working fine with only rare misses.
One more feature that Blackview thought might be useful is the ability to take the screenshots of the screen using your 3 fingers. Well, it is a neat function for those, who really care about taking screenshots on their smartphones.
The smartphone has all kinds of languages included, so international customers are all set.
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The device has a standard Android internet browser included. The browsing functionality is good and provides a great user experience without any lags or other issues. Also, watching Youtube works well. The sound quality is just average, not on par with any flagship devices (you can hear the audio quality in our video review).
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As far as gaming, the device can handle the graphically intensive games like Asphalt 8 without any lags. What I’ve noticed, however, is that it takes quite a while to load a game in comparison to Snapdragon 801 powered devices. Also, after just a few minutes of gaming you can feel that the phone heats up a little. What is more, gaming drains the battery quite fast. All in all, it may not be the Nr. 1 device for gamers, but still, it can handle it in case you need in those boring situations, when you need to burn the time.
The gallery app is fairly simple and it has a usual Android interface. Scrolling through pictures, opening it and zooming in is without lags. Playing the Full HD videos also works without any issues.
CAMERA
Let’s go and check out the camera app first. It has some basic functions you would find on many Android devices. The app is fairly simple and you can adjust some general settings. Taking pictures and shooting videos is fast during the daylight, but it naturally becomes noticeably slower, when doing the same thing in low-light scenarios.
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As far as picture quality, the daylight pictures have plenty of detail as they are 18mp in size due to some software tricks the device does out of the 13mp f/2.2 aperture sensor. The colour reproduction seems quite accurate, but it is more on the colder side. The best way to take pictures is to tap to focus. Otherwise, the white balance and colours may not be the way you want. Once you take the device to the low light, you see that the camera starts struggling. It takes much more time to focus and you have to make sure you hold your hands steady not to get blurry pictures. Also, the pictures to have a lot of noise and the colour reproduction is a hit or miss. Again, once you take pictures inside the house, but there is more light, the picture quality becomes quite good.
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As far as front facing shooter for selfies, it has 8MP (interpolated from 5MP sensor). The picture quality is actually good. What I’ve noticed is that it takes a lot of time for the shutter in the low light. Of course, it does not have a very wide aperture, so it’s understandable (yeah, this review has been made by a cat).
The video quality is above average. It does not capture a lot of detail like flagship smartphones, but it is not bad. Color reproduction turns out to be quite natural. Also, the voice recording is quite okay. I noticed that there is no continous auto-focus, which is is a disadvantage as you need to tap to focus while shooting video.
As far as battery life goes, the 2100mAh unit doesn’t sound great on paper, but it can easily get through the day if you won’t keep playing games or watch HD videos all the time, which drain the battery fast.
The manufacturer has also thought about the battery life by including a power saving management tool. It has a similar interface to what we’ve seen on Sony devices. It may become handy once you are away from the power source for a while.
CONCLUSIONS
In general, I like the design and the built quality of the Blackview Omega. However, the button placement on the left hand side seems odd to me as I’m so used to using it on the right side. Still, if it is the only device you would be carrying with you, it would take around a few days to get used to it. Moreover, I’m not a huge fan of glass surfaces that attract fingerprints and smudges as I’m not that kind of person, who likes cleaning. However, there must be a lot of people, who don’t care about it since the iPhone 4/4s has a very similar design and Apple has sold tens of millions of devices.
Also, the software seems to be working smoothly as it is mostly a pure Android experience. Everything from daily tasks, to watching videos or playing games works great. However, the device gets hot very fast on more intensive tasks. Still, the heat is not that intense, so it is acceptable considering that all the smartphones nowadays have the same issue more or less. In addition, the benchmark results of this device just proves that.
What is more, the Blackview Omega has a good camera for daylight shots, but it struggles in the low light as many smartphones do. Still, you can get a decent low-light shots if you keep your hand steady. All in all, I’m quite happy about this device’s camera considering the price of the smartphone. Also, we’ve seen some better video recorders, but this one still should be enough to capture something in a decent quality.
Moreover, the battery should keep you running throughout the day if you don’t do a lot of gaming.
In conclusion, the Blackview Omega is really great device for just under $180 and I cannot say anything that would be a deal breaker for the price you paying.
Also, we checked out for the lowest price to buy Blackview Omega from reliable online resellers in case you want to purchase the device. We will always update the link to buy Blackview Omega smartphone if we find anywhere cheaper on the market.
In China, Xiaomi Smartphones have become a staple of Chinese smartphone manufacturing, much like Apple is in the west. Having millions of followers and die hard fans, it’s no wonder that every now and then a beautiful creation out of love to the company pops up. Earlier today, such fan-made work of art in regard to Xiaomi was shared online and quickly gained popularity as a true masterpiece.
At first glance the handmade smartphone may seem as a custom third-party case. However, the design was created entirely by a fan. Polished out of wood, it took as much as three hours to complete. Of course, the device itself has all of the inner workings and hardware of a Xiaomi Redmi smartphone, but the completely wooden body is nonetheless an amazing work of handmade art. The creator was not shy for his love of Xiaomi, stating that the had a Xiaomi Mi 3 and he is planning to purchase the newest Mi Note, because he believes it is one of the best smartphones to ever be released on the mobile market.
Xiaomi is always in support of fan activities and constantly tries to engage its audiences through various promotions, competitions and by promptly answering to fan feedback. Thus, it doesn’t come as a surprise that fans of the company are always trying to stand out with new innovative ideas.
Late last year, the second police riot team of the United Nations peacekeeping force was sent to Liberia. Having 110 Chinese citizens, the team returned safely to the Chinese mainland two days ago, on March 13. Successful on its own accord, the mission served as further proof of the power of Chinese smartphones, Xiaomi in particular.
A number of team members of the Chinese peacekeeping police force shared through the micro-blogging network Weibo their thoughts on the mission, as well as a few photos through their Xiaomi smartphones. “The Signal Strength was absolutely great,” members of the team stated, giving further proof that Xiaomi hardware is a force to be reckoned with.
According to officials, the mission in Liberia served a test area for the Xiaomi smartphones and following the successful testing, the mobile devices have now become standard equipment for the Liberia FPU team.
The war in the West African country Liberia has been progressing in the course of over ten years. The Chinese peacekeeping police force was invited as a part of the United Nations team to perform various helpful missions, including infrastructure work, repairs and transportation. While the country’s communications have been damaged by the war, thus resulting in a low signal strength, the Xiaomi Smartphones proved to be powerful enough to deliver a top notch performance even in the harsh area of Liberia.
A vast number of Smart Watches are currently available on the market. From the Moto 360 to Samsung Galaxy Gear, manufacturers have been trying to achieve the perfect smart wrist companion for a couple of years. However, following the announcement of the Apple Watch, more companies are getting on the smart watch band wagon as the wearable market promises to grow in the upcoming months.
Huawei has already released a smart watch, called TalkBand B1 and Meizu also plans to release a smart wrist band. However, the biggest Apple Watch competitor to seems to be Xiaomi.
Partnering with Huami, the company is aimed at conquering the wearable ID market. Following the success of the Mi Band, Xiaomi has recently announced a second iteration of the smart band as well as the Xiaomi Smart Watch, which seems to be a direct response to Apple’s wrist wearable device.
The Xiaomi Band 2 won’t be that different from its predecessor. With a sporty look and a light design, the band will feature a new NFC sensor in addition to the existing Bluetooth module and accelerator.
“My mission is to make the Xiaomi band (Mi Band) look better,” Huang Wang, CEO of Huami stated in a recent interview with 36 Krypton. “In addition to variety of designs, at the core of the Xiaomi band will be its customization.”
Even more interesting is the direct Apple Watch competitor – the Xiaomi Smart Watch. Improving on the wrist band, the watch will feature a large dial, making pulse wave velocity identification possible. Currently, the technology has two major problems – light pollution and high energy consumption.
“Apple did made a lot of progress in health tracking with the Apple Watch, but they also had to give up a lot of health-related functions,” researchers told 36 Krypton. Doing accurate measurements and identifying biological signs with such a small device seems to be a problem and researchers state that “in order to improve the accuracy of pulse reading and other health-related measurements, the wrist wear should be solid and well-positioned, which is hardly achieved with a smart watch.”
However, Huang Wang is certain that the engineers of Huami have managed to deal with those difficulties, while achieving an amazing design. Whether or not the new Xiaomi Smart Watch will be able to deliver on said promises is still to be seen. However, Huang said that the their previous experience in the development of consumer electronics, will help them achieve a great product at an affordable price.
What’s more, the Xiaomi Smart Watch will feature a special design and be made with brushed metal material, similar to the one used in smartphones, such as the HTC One (M8). Although, Huang did not reveal any information regarding the overall shape of the device, he noted that “the watch industry has been around for many years and the classic dial shape is the most popular, as everyone can see.” He also added that “For everyday purposes, smart watches are relatively thick, thus they can sue some trimming of the design, so it looks more pleasing.”
Huami have also made sure to get the best software engineers on their Smart Watch team, as well. Lin Bin and Hugo Barra, Huami and Google employees, stated that “the [Xiaomi Smart Watch] user experience will be the best.”
All in all, Huami seem to be pretty confident in their ability to deliver a worthy competitor to the Apple Watch. Furthermore, according to Huang, the Xiaomi Band 2 and the Xiaomi Smart Watch will come at a lower price, compared to other devices on the market.
Will the company be able to deliver on their promises? Only time will tell!
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