Earlier this month, Xiaomi unveiled the Redmi 2 budget smartphone. The device features great specs for a 699 Yuan ($112) phone, especially with its 4.7-inch 720p display and the 4G LTE connectivity. However, the 1GB + 8GB memory configuration was a bit on the lower side.
But it looks like Xiaomi is going to announce another device in the market, a higher end variant of Xiaomi Redmi 2 in the coming few days. The device recently hit TENAA and improves in the memory configuration section by incorporating 2GB RAM and 16GB ROM, which is double the amount of memory that you get on the existing Redmi 2.
This is definitely great news for all Redmi fans as the phone should now work much better and smoother than before. RAM and internal storage were the only two important drawbacks of the phone and now, even that is solved in this upcoming version.
Since the device has passed TENAA, it shouldn’t take much time for Xiaomi to announce this 2GB RAM Redmi 2 model.
The company is slowly diversifying its product portfolio in a number of industries, so this new version doesn’t come as a surprise. We have already seen two new Xiaomi Mi Note models, Xiaomi TV box as well as a new 99 Yuan Xiaomi Game controller in the past few weeks.
Kingsing is one of the companies that decided that taking a lot of inspiration from the so-called Apple of China (whether Xiaomi likes being called in that way or not) is a way to go for their business strategy. This time they decided to take we would say the whole concept from the Mi4 device and make a cheaper version of it. Meet the Kingsin T8 in our full review.
As you may see, the specs of this device are far from being to top the line. However, if you consider a very low price tag of just $99, it is quite good device.
Design
As you can see, the device comes in black and white colours. What is more, it has 3 capacitive buttons on the bottom. Also, there is a speaker grill along with the front facing shooter (only 2mp) and sensors on the top.
Here we can see that the device back is made out of plastic, which is not like Xiaomi Mi4, is matte. Furthermore, the volume up and down as well as power buttons are placed on the right side of the device.
What is more, the back of the device spots a 5mp camera with a single LED flash. If you take a look at the bottom, there is a KinSing logo, some certification marks and mono speaker.
Display
This device spots quite a low resolution panel (FWVGA-LCD, 854*480 pixels). Indeed, it is quite far from the best if you consider all those Quad HD panels in the market, but it is still enjoyable. The LCD technology makes it look sharp and vivid. Also, the colour reproduction is average, but viewing angles are decent. The sunlight legibility could be better, however.
User Interface
As you can see the UI is pretty basic and it is pretty much a stock Android experience. This differentiates this device from the Xiaomi’s offering. Also, being simple, makes it fast and responsive, without any noticeable lag whatsoever. In addition to this, the device spots a full pack of languages, so you do not need to worry about it.
Performance
The Kingsing T8 spots a MedieTek MT6592M (Octa-core 3G chip) Cortex A7 1.4GHz TSMC 28nm chip inside. It is backed up by 1 GB of RAM and ARM Mali-450MP4, 600MHz GPU chip.
As you can see from the synthetic benchmarks results, the device cannot compete with the latest and greatest flagships, but its performance is still surprisingly good. It managed to score a bit more than the HTC One M7, which is a two years old flagship device. Again, for the price tag of just $99, it is impressive.
Besides benchmarks, we did not have any issues with the daily use, which included scrolling through menu, playing games, surfing the web, watching videos and youtube and taking pictures or recording videos.
Camera
As camera is on the smartphones has become a very important factor to a lot of users, the Kingsing T8 may be a bit of a let down for you by offering just a 5mp shooter with a single LED flash on its back. However, you should consider the main purpose of the pictures you are taking and where you will use them. We think it should be enough for social media and other purposes.
We took some samples, so you can see the image quality.
As you can see, we took some camera shots in different lightning conditions. Some turned out to be pretty good for a 5mp shooter, but some of them, especially those in dark areas have a great amount of noise and the detail level is pretty low. What is more, taking low light shots requires to have a steady hand since the device does not have an OIS. In the end, we say that this device has a pretty good shooter for its price tag and should be a decent companion for your social media life.
Battery Life
The device has a 2150mAh battery inside. It is not really juicy according to today’s standards, but we should take into account a quite low resolution of the display. Therefore, without the need to push so too many pixels, we managed to reach the end of the day till we needed a recharge. Our test included some surfing the web, gaming, taking quite a lot of pictures, texting and calling.
Final Words
We have to say that the Kingsing T8 may not be the most innovative device as it has a lot of inspiration from Xiaomi’s Mi4 and looks almost exactly the same, but there are some significant differences. It starts with much lower specs sheet, but ends with a much lower price tag of just $99. What is more, the device spots a stock Android UI, which is far different than Xiaomi’s proprietary MIUI. We did not have any issues with its daily performance, which included both daily tasks like browsing the web, scrolling through menus, taking pictures and shooting video, and some gaming. Moreover, the battery life will easily get you through the day. Finally, the device is targeting the consumers, who look for a well-performing, yet low cost device. The Kingsing T8 may be just that one.
Remember a few days back, CoolPad’s Ivvi sub brand revealed a new poster which hinted about a phone that was just 4.7mm thin? We all thought that the device would steal away Vivo X5 Max flagship’s thinnest smartphone title. But it looks like, Vivo’s smartphone will stay the thinnest smartphone in the world as today’s TENAA listing reveals that the new Ivvi 4.7mm phone won’t be thin at all. In fact, according to today’s standards, we may even call it a bit thick!
According to the TENAA listing, the Coolpad Ivvi SK-01 comes with the body measurements 139*67.8*7.9mm, which makes it thicker than most other smartphones in the market. Vivo X5 Max and OPPO’s R5 were thinner than even 5mm and as you can see, this phone is noway near that mark. So, if this information turns out to be true, then Vivo and OPPO have nothing to worry about.
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But there is one peculiar thing about this smartphone. The pictures on TENAA reveal that the phone will have no bezels. Or the bezels are extremely thin and blend with the black color of the display. Whatever the case may be, it looks like the display covers the edges on the sides, much like Sharp’s Aquos Crystal smartphone (except for the bezels on top).
Other than this, the SK-01 looks like a lower mid-range device. The phone features a 4.7-inch display with a disappointing resolution of 960 x 540 pixels. That’s quite low even for a mid-range phone. Inside, there will be a 1.2Ghz quad-core processor with 1GB RAM and 8GB of expandable memory. The rear camera is of 8MP while the front shooter is of 5MP. The phone runs on Android 4.4 KitKat OS and supports 4G LTE, GSM,TD-SCDMA,TD-LTE,LTE FDD, 3G and 2G networks.
So looks like we will have to wait for some more time before a manufacturer releases a phone that’s thinner than 4.7mm!
LeTV is one of the leading companies, which provide video streaming services in China. They have on the news around lately with the introduction of their own Android ROM. Right now, however, we have some more interesting news as the company is ready to enter into smartphone market.
This time, the company is said to be working on the music-centric device, which reportedly has a hardware components to support the hi-end audio experience.
What is more, the company is said to have a few more interesting, but at the same time top of the line devices in its pipeline.
The company is said to enter the smartphone business with some pretty serious package. First, the S1 model is said to feature a 5.5 inches display, MTK6595 chip. All of this will be packed in a metal frame with a plastic back body and cost just 999 Yuan.
What is more, the hi-end devices portfolio will include the MX1, which will spot a super-sized 6.3 inches display, top of the line Snapdragon 810 chip, the 4mp/20.7mp cameras combo. All of this will be packed in a beautiful metal unibody and priced at 2999 Yuan.
Finally, another premium offering will be an X1 device with a 5.5 inches screen with a 2k resolution and it will be made by Sharp. Also, there will be a Snapdragon 810 chip and the 4mp/20.7mp cameras combo. All of this will be packed in a beautiful metal unibody and priced at more affordable 1999 Yuan.
Xiaomi is already a well established manufacturer in China and other Asian markets. We are hearing a lot of news about the company as they are growing at an extremely fast pace. We may see a lot of comparisons to Apple, which company uses even in its official product launches. What is more, sometimes it is really obvious that this company has taken a lot of inspiration from Cupertino based tech giant.
Some call them the “Apple of China”, others predict them to be the global smartphones leader in about 5 years time. To further support these predictions, we have some news about some aggressive marketing tactics, which will be used directly at Apple. We saw that coming, just did not know the exact type of implementation.
Xiaomi’s Media Development Director shared some thoughts about that. Right now it is obvious that Xiaomi, in order to allow iPhone users to make an easy transition to Xiaomi’s handsets, some hardware and software adjustments have been made.
The company stresses out its newest flagship – Xiaomi Mi Note, which has a dual-Sim dual-standby capabilities. One slot will be used for micro SIM cards, while another will be used either for Nano SIM cards or Micro SD cards for memory expansion. This hardware adjustment means that the iPhone users can make an easy transition without the need to replace their SIM card type and use it in Xiaomi’s device straight away!
In addition to this, Xiaomi development team is may be prepping an app, which will be placed directly into Apple’s App Store. This app will make everything easy to switch to Xiaomi: migrate data, sync contacts and will make easy merging and avoiding duplicate contacts.
Finally, what about a trade in program? That’s right! Xiaomi’s Media Development Director is happy to say that that the company may soon launch the trade in program! You may be able to trade in any iPhone 5s or older iPhone, whether it is good or bad condition, and you will get a free Xiaomi Mi Note! What is more, The iPhone 6 or 6 Plus trade in will get you a free top of the line flagship Xiaomi Mi Note Pro!
It seems pretty obvious that the Xiaomi wants start ruling not only in China, but other markets as well. In addition, they definitely want to expand the circle or new and loyal customers. That being said, they do everything by the online marketing means. We say it is quite impressive.
Do you think that Xiaomi will strike at Apple seriously? Let us know in the social poll or in the comments section below.
Oppo has been one of those Chinese companies, which, in our opinion, innovate. They presented the world a smartphone with a rotating camera (N1), then upgraded it and released the N3 model, where the rotation was even motorised. What is more, the company surprised the smartphone world by introducing a crazy thin R5 device, which was the thinnest smartphone on the planet for some time. We think that company strives for both innovation and great looking industrial design in its devices.
This time around, the company has a device, which we would say represents its design portfolio. It is an Oppo R1X, which has a great looking appearance and it includes a sandwich construction: glass on the front and the back, and metal on the sides.
Specs
Display
5.0 inches, 720 x 1280 pixels (~69.9% screen-to-body ratio)
140.6 x 70.1 x 6.9 mm (5.54 x 2.76 x 0.27 in) / 130 g
OS
Android 4.4,
Storage
16GB (can be expanded up to 128GB via Micro SD)
As we can see that Oppo R1X shapes up to be the upper mid range device as far as specs go. We have to remember though that the device’s main aspects are in the design, which include saphire crystal back panel, the thickness of 6.9 mm and relatively good screen-to-body ratio. All in all, it is not a true flagship device by Oppo, but we still like what we are seeing here.
Design
As you can see from the above picture, the device comes in colours. One is somewhat violet with and interesting, but good looking diamond shaped glass, which is actually either a Gorilla Glass 3 or sapphire glass on different models (the sapphire version will naturally cost more). What is more, there is a white version.
Both versions have a design, which is a bit similar to the Sony’ Xperia Omni Balance design language. Do not get us wrong by thinking that it is an Xperia clone, but certainly there are some inspirations from Sony. On the back top left corner we can see a 13mp camera along with the single LED flash. Underneath it there is an Oppo logo and some certification marks on the bottom.
If we flip the phone to the front we can see three capacitive buttons on the bottom. However, they are not backlit, so you better remember their placement to be able to operate in the dark. On the other hand, during the day time they have a great reflective layer, so you would not have any issues seeing them.
On the right hand side we can see a SIM/Micro SD card tray, which needs to be opened with a pin or needle. Also, there are two volume up/down rockers.
If we take the SIM/Micro SD tray out, we can see that one part of the tray can take Micro SIM cards and they would work both on all networks, including GSM, 3G and 4G. Another part doubles as a Nano SIM/Micro SD card slot. However, this slot only supports GSM networks, so may be better want to use the Micro SD (up to 128 gigs). On the other hand, it may be very useful while travelling.
At the bottom of the device there are nicely machine drilled dual stereo speakers along with the Micro USB charging port. Also, there are two plastic infusions on both sides, which work for better reception of radios.
The good thing about the camera on the back is that it is not protruding like some other devices. Oh, we forgot to tell you that if you tilt the device in the sunlight you will get that diamond blinking effect! That is a matter of personal taste, of course. What is more, if you cannot decide, which colour would suit you better, we recommend taking a white version since the blue/violet one is a true finger print magnet. Indeed, both colour options attract fingerprints and smudges, but at least the white one can mask them easier.
Overall, the screen size of 5 inches and the body thickness of 6.85mm did not cause us any issues operating the device in one hand. Also, we think that the handset looks beautiful and stands out of the crowd of plain looking devices.
Display
As we have already mentioned, the device has a 5 inches screen, has 720p resolution and pixel density of 294PPI. Also, the device uses the JDI’s “Pixel Eyes” technology, which lets produce a bit thinner screen and increase the overall clarity of the display.
In all the pics, the Oppo R1X is on the left. We did a screen comparison with the Oppo R5, which has a resolution of 1080p. We found the screen of the device a great to look at despite its lower resolution. Actually, we found the colours a bit more pleasing to the eye than the R5. Finally, the brightness and sharpness levels were adequate and we didn’t find any flaws even after comparison to the 1080p panel on the R5.
User Interface
User interface has become one the elements that helps manufacturers distinguish themselves in the variety of similar hardware offerings. Oppo knows that and they offer a proprietary Color OS on top of Android 4.4 Kitkat.
As you can see, the company left the flat and simplistic looks of it OS. Still, the icons have quite an animated look, but we are okay with that.
The pulldown notification menu is plain and simple. You have some toggles, which can be moved around as you wish. Also, you can set the screen brightness. Overall, it is plain and simple as any other Android skin.
We can also add that all the functions needed, for example flashlight, are included in notification menu’s toggles. Thus, you would not need to download any third party apps or widgets.
Performance
We ran through some benchmarks to see how the device performs with its 64-bit Snapdragon chip, which has an architecture of Quad-core 1.7 GHz Cortex-A53 & quad-core 1.0 GHz Cortex-A53.
As you can see, the device does not show a true flagship performance on raw benchmark tests, but still performs pretty great. Still, we have to take into consideration the fact that it still runs Android 4.4 Kitkat, which does not support 64-bit architecture. Thus, we have to wait till Oppo upgrades their OS to see the improved benchmark performance.
Besides benchmarks, we did not have any issues with the daily use, which included scrolling through menu, playing games, surfing the web, watching videos and youtube and taking pictures or recording videos.
Camera
As smartphones cameras are becoming our daily shooters, Oppo knows this fact. Thus, it equipped the device with a 13mp shooter, which has Sony IMX214 sensor with the aperture of 2.0.
The camera interface is the usual Oppo style. It looks like a simple solution, it is full of features, which include a bright night shoot, slow shutter speed mode, the ultimate beauty, professional mode, HD photo mode etc. Also, you can download additional modes as you wish.
One of the modes, which got us interested is Oppo’s signature HD mode, which lets you take the pictures of amazing 64mp pictures. Oppo is using some software tricks to stitch a few images to reach that high resolution.
A regular night shot using normal mode.
HD mode.
We think that HD mode produced a better picture with a bit less noise and better colour reproduction this time.
Also, we took a few daylight, indoors, night time shots using a normal mode, which is usually used by most of people. Please take a look:
Overall, we think that the picture quality is pretty good. Daylight shots have plenty of detail, exposure and white balance is okay. What is more, indoors shots are pretty good too. They have a bit more noise, but still, it is acceptable. Finally, the night shots, one of the most difficult scenes for smartphone cameras, turned out to be pretty good as well. The aperture of 2.0 helps to focus a bit faster than other devices. Also, the noise control seems to be pretty great. All in all, we say that this device has a a versatile, good camera, which has good picture quality.
Battery Life
We did not run any particular tests to measure the battery life, but what we can say is that the device should last you a full day for an average user. It is not not the battery around, but still, pretty reasonable considering the devices thinness.
OPPO R1X Review Final Words
In conclusion, Oppo R1X shapes to be a pretty good upper-midranger. It does not have flagship specs, but has a future-proof 64-bit architecture of the chip along with the 2 GB of Ram. We thought that combination to be able to handle the variety of tasks, which include gaming, watching videos, using camera and doing other tasks. What is more, we love the fact that Oppo has kept the Micro SD slot for the storage expansion. Also, the thing that the device is capable of reading two SIM cards is very useful if you are travelling. In addition to this, we found the Oppo R1X to be a pretty capable camera performer in different scenarios, including night photography. Finally, the battery life may not be the best, but still it is pretty good for quite thin device.
Landvo has many clones in the market, and we recently reviewed the Landvo L200S which turned out to be a great cheap smartphone.
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The new Landvo L600S too comes with modest specifications, but with the premium looks of the Huawei Ascend Mate 7 that we all love. You have the same design as the Mate 7, however the phone is much smaller and compact, thanks to its 5-inch screen. At the back, there is the camera on to top as well as the LED flash besides it. Interestingly there’s an area at the back which looks like a fingerprint sensor, but its probably for the gesture feature that the phone comes with.
The tech specs are modest. The Landvo L600S comes with Mediatek’s latest 64-bit MT6732 processor clocked at 1.5Ghz with Mali 760MP2 GPU. There’s is 1GB RAM onboard with 8GB internal storage which can be further expanded as well. For camera, you have 13MP rear sensor (Sony IMX135) with LED flash and a 5MP front facing shooter. Given its small display size, the 2500 mAh battery should be enough for a day’s usage. The L600S is an LTE enabled phone, so you can take advantage of ultra fast LTE networks! The supported bands are as follows: GSM+WCDMA+FDD-LTE networks: GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz WCDMA 900/1900/2100MHz FDD-LTE 800/1800/2100/2600MHz.
As for software the device runs on Android 4.4 KitKat out of the box, but the company has promised the latest Android 5.0 Lollipop upgrade in the next few months.
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Overall, the device turns out to be a decent offering. The highlight is probably its looks, thanks to the inspiration from Mate 7 and the $150 price, which is pretty good for the specifications it provides.
A few days back, a leakster called as @leaksfly revealed that Qualcomm had kept an event for January 23. The leak was right indeed as the company’s event did happen today. However, couldn’t play around with any Snapdragon 810 devices as predicted. Instead, the event was all about the features and the technical specifications of the ultra fast Qualcomm chipset.
This probably means that the mass production of the chipset is still a few days away and fans will have to wait for a few more days before they see a real device running this processor.
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Coming to the event, Qualcomm’s Vice President of Marketing said that the new Snapdragon 810 is targeted at all high-end smartphones and tablets and will redefine the user experience with super fast chipsets.
The he went on to explain a few features of the new processor. The Snapdragon 810 will support 4K Ultra High definition videos and will produce professional level sound quality. The chip has microphone built in so that the audio recorded comes out realistic and much louder than competitors.
Moreover, in the imaging department, the new chipset brings over 14 pairs of image processors for the first time in the industry which will be able to produce ulra-high resolution high quality pictures up to 55MP in size.
Moreover, it comes with the latest Adreno 430 GPU which will reduce power consumption as compared to other GPUs without sacrificing on the power output. As for connectivity, the chip comes with Cat. 9 LTE network support with theoretical download speeds of up to 450 Mbps. Also, it supports the new MU-MIMO Wi-Fi ac 2.0 technology for three times faster data transfers. Finally, the company showed off the processors, WiPower Wireless Charging technology.
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As expected, Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 turns out to be one of the most advanced processors currently available in the market. Unfortunately, even though we have seen some 810 powered devices announced in the last few weeks, we probably won’t be able to see it in action until the end of Q1 2015.
It seems that the madness among the manufacturers continues. A lot of them one to be “the only” or “the best”, or “the first” in a certain department. Well, it seems logical in the technology sector as it is moving at an extremely fast pace. However, another thing, which is kind of a trend now, is a the thickness or we should better say the thinness of the smartphones.
We all know that the Cupertino company usually strives for making thinnest and lightest devices, but it seems that this trend is moved to China at the moment. Just recently, Oppo bragged about its R5 as being the thinnest smartphone in the world. Well, it was, but not for a long time. After that Vivo came up to steal the show with its amazingly thin Vivo X5 Max, which has the thinness of just 4.75mm.
However, Vivo may not be happy at the moment as we may have a new king of thinness in the smartphone world!
There is a smartphone brand called Ivvi, which is a sub-brand of quite popular Chinese brand Coolpad. It seems that they are ready to break the world’s record by introducing a 4.7mm device! That is “even” half a millimetre thinner than Vivo’s offering!
In addition to this, the the upcoming device is said to have only 4.7 inches display. That would make device not only extremely thin, but also very compact. What is more, the device seems to be made out of plastic (not metal like Vivo X5 Max), have a speaker grill on the bottom of the back. Lastly, it may have a protruding camera with a single LED flash on the back.
We can’t wait to see once the company releases this device. We have no doubts that there will be some tradeoffs like a small battery capacity, which would lead to a short battery life. That leads us to the never ending question: what is better, an extremely thin device or better battery life? Let us know in the social poll or in the comment section below.
5-inch Meizu Blue Charm M1 Note Mini will be officially unveiled at an even on January 28 by Meizu. We have already received lots of new information, leaked pictures and other details about the device. Just yesterday, we heard that the upcoming Blue Charm device will have three different versions, all the three running on different Android based platforms.
According to the leak, the upcoming device will have three different OS options. First will have the company’s own Flyme OS, the second version will have stock Android and finally the third version will run on Alibaba’s cloud based YunOS.
Today, we got to see the YunOS running Mi Note Mini alongside the Meizu’s other popular devices namely the Meizu MX4 and the M1 Note. The device looks like a protype model but still we can see the difference in their sizes. The M1 Note Mini looks a lot smaller and thinner than the other two models.
Anyways, we have already covered the specs of the upcoming device and you can check that out here.
2014 was a fruitful year for Chinese smartphone brands, among which THL 5000 gained great success. Now THL plans for a “mystery” event, it is said a new device THL 2015 will be launched. By now there is no clue from the company officials indicating that the successor of THL 5000 is coming. But, no kidding, there is no other THL phone that can lead a big event in March.
THL reveals nothing specific about the upcoming device. Just a starry background and the cryptic design.
Today we will provide more information about this THL 2015.
According to the internal information from Comebuy, this device will exceed the usual calm and reserved appearance feature. THL 2015 will use the metal frame, which will perfectly solve the little call problems, making the call much clearer. Comebuy’s internal info also said this THL 2015 will support rear fingerprint to unlock,MTK6752, 64 Bit 2 + 16 configuration, and moreover, it will be a 5-inch screen smartphone. Here is also a picture:
Of course, there are more expectations, such as the handling of camera, etc. THL has always been athletic and high-quality in design, so this time just let’s expect if there will be more highlights and surprise with this THL 2015 in the handling of the camera and also the overall appearance.
Stay tuned to our website and even Comebuy for more updates on the upcoming THL 2015.
UPDATE:
The device is now available for pre-order! You can purchase the device for just $239.99.
Back at CES 2015, Motorola surprised everyone by announcing that its best models, the Moto G, Moto X and Moto X Pro (Repackaged Nexus 6) will enter China this year. The company didn’t announce a particular time frame, but recently it sent out invitations for a special event for these phones at the Beijing Convention Center on January 26.
Now, the first device in the lineup, the Moto G has passed through TENAA, which means we have lots of details about this upcoming device. Of course, as it turns out, the Moto G Chinese variant will be the international Moto G 2014 edition. The specs and design are the same, so there are no surprises here.
According to the listing, the new Moto G will have the model number ‘xt1079’ and will be priced aggressively at 1500 Yuan which comes to around $241. This is almost the same price as the model that retails in other countries and will definitely attract a lot of attention from the Chinese consumers. Although the device will be announced later this month, the release is expected only around March this year.
Moto G 2014 turns out to be a great offering at its price range. The phone features a 5-inch 720p display protected by Corning’s Gorilla Glass 3 and comes with a Snapdragon 400 chipset with four cores clocked at 1.2GHz and Adreno 305 GPU. There will be 1GB RAM on board with 8GB / 16GB storage options which can be further expanded via MicroSD card slot.
The dimensions of this device is slightly larger than the 2013 model — 70.7 x 141.5 x 11 mm. Also, its a bit heavier than its predecessor at 149 grams. For camera, you have an 8MP sensor with LED flash at the back and a 2MP shooter up front. The rear camera is capable of recording 720 HD videos. There is a 2070 mAh battery on board which reportedly powers the device for around 24 hours with mixed usage. Moto G will have two different variants — Single SIM and Dual SIM.
Overall, the device turns out to be a great offering in the Chinese budget segment and it could be quite successful in the domestic market.
GearBest has offered our readers a sweet deal. Anyone who purchases from GearBest via GizmoChina will automatically enter into a contest where a lucky winner will get GearBest Coupons for the value of their purchase. So, if you have bought a Ulefone Be Pro or Elephone P6000 or any other gadget from GizmoChina, you will get free coupons for further purchases on GearBest.
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There have been some leaks lately about the upcoming Meizu M1 Mini device, which should be released by the company soon. First of all, we’ve heard of the colour options and the camera. Also, we have seen the device in flesh and blood (which is quite similar to the iPhone 5s in looks). Finally, we know that it may spot a very compact 4.7 inches display.
This time around, again, thanks to the @leaksfly, who has recently leaked a lot of information regarding M1 Mini and the upcoming HTC One M9 flagship, we have some more interesting info regarding a this compact device offering by the Meizu.
Right now, it is said that the device will spot a bit bigger, 5 inches screen. What is more, the Meizu M1 Mini may have the resolution of 720p. It may sound a bit of a let down, but still, we expect the display to be crisp enough for the price point.
What is more interesting, however, is the fact there there may be 3 different editions of the device, one being run by the Android (most likely with the Meizu’s proprietary skin on top of that), another by the YunOS (the OS currently used on some devices in China) and the last one by the Ubuntu OS.
What is more, another leak by the same @leaksfly confirm the previously mentioned colour options. Also, it confirms the launch date as well as the time of the device. It will be January 28th, 18.00 China time.
Last but not least, the leak suggest that the device will be priced at a very competitive 799 Yuan price point. All in all, all the leaks suggest us that Meizu has quite interesting device to uncover soon. Finally, the amazingly low price should grab a lot of attention both in China and internationally.
Just recently we saw some pictures claiming to be the upcoming HTC One (M9) flagship and today, we have another set of alleged images of the new HTC One M9 Plus. Yes, the source claims that the device will be called as the HTC One M9 Plus and will have a slightly different design as well as a few extra features than the regular HTC One M9 flagship. So, this could mean that HTC may announce two different variants of its flagship this year.
For some reason, the only speakers on the phone go right on top of the display alongside the front camera and the sensors. We don’t see a second speaker down below. Instead, there is a physical home button, which also acts as a fingerprint scanner. Ther front camera sensor looks a bigger than other competitors, which may hint at a 13MP camera sensor like the HTC Desire Eye.
Coming to the back, the overall design remains the same and the HTC’s dual cameras also make a comeback. There is the HTC logo printed in the middle. Other than that, the back looks clean.
As for the leaked specifications, the HTC One M9 Plus is said to come with a 5.5-inch 2K display with the latest Snapdragon 810 under the hood. It will have 3GB RAM and will support 4G LTE networks. Detailed camera and connectivity specs have not yet been leaked. But some say, the traditional HTC One M9 will have a 20.7MP camera, which may also end up on this model.
Anyways, HTC has an event scheduled for March 1st at MWC 2015 where we will probably see a lot more of the company’s flagship devices.
In this day and age, manufacturers seek to implement as much technology as possible into their devices. It has become a race of specs, which include chips and its clock speeds, architecture, Ram memory, software implementation etc. However, it is still quite difficult to perfect one department, which is a battery.
That being said, manufacturers work on higher resolution screens whereas 2k resolution has become a thing of a true flagship. Also, it means that the device is truly future proof. Well, it is a never ending discussion whether we really need the 2k screens or 1080p resolution is enough since the human eye finds it very difficult to distinguish what is over 300 ppi (this is the “Retina” threshold set by Apple).
It seems that one of the Huawei’s executives Yu Chengdong has a similar opinion. He says that he sees other companies producing the smartphones with the 2k screens. However, he asserts that it is almost impossible for a human eye to distinguish a difference. What it more, he thinks that this is too big of a trade-off for a battery life.
In addition to this, Yu Chengdong also stressed that the Huawei made some tests recently with the Meizu MX4 Pro and the Xiaomi Mi Note Pro (yes, you have to do that once you operate in the tough market as China). The tests that came out were very negative to the battery life (the type of tests are not disclosed). In particular, the Huawei’s executive stresses out the unreasonable specs of the Xiaomi’s Mi Note Pro. He thinks that having only 3000mAh battery, which needs to power a 5.7 inches screen, which has 2k resolution is not enough at all.
To sum up, we are seeing the company’s future strategy for the future. The Huawei will probably not try to implement 2k screen in any of their flagship devices in the near future, but they better focus on more power efficient devices.
What is more, we have a comparison video, where we can see a speed test between the iPhone 5s and the Meizu MX4 Pro. Here in the video we can see the Meizu’s flagship lagging from time to time, which definitely could be due to the 2k screen, which is too hard to handle for the chip inside the device:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxaeVaFDo8Y
What do you think, what is more important – battery life or extremely high resolution screen? Let us know in the social poll or in the comment section below.
Yesterday, we saw many tech websites report that Meizu may collaborate with Nokia for manufacturing and releasing smartphones outside of China. The reports said that the Nokia could be designing the colors, hardware as well as the software to suit westerner preferences.
However, it looks like the news is false. Earlier today, Meizu’s VP of Science and Technology, Li Nan said that the company has no plans to collaborate with Nokia or any other company. The primary reason was that their factories are over capacity right now and the company doesn’t have time to work with other OEMs like Nokia.
The VP added that Meizu has sold over 1 million smartphones in the month of December and their production capacity is at its limit, thanks to the strong demand for top notch products like Meizu Mx4, MX4 Pro and even the recently announced Meizu M1 Note.
So even though we would have liked to see Meizu and Nokia collaborate for an international version of the Meizu MX4, that probably isn’t going to happen anytime soon.
Onda may not be a manufacturer that comes to your mind when think of tablets, but this time around the company has something interesting to offer. That is a V919 tablet. One of the greatest highlights of this aluminium slate is that it can dual boot either on Android 4.4 Kitkat or on Windows 8.1. That is definitely a key selling point of the device as it has at least two categories of the consumers in mind: those, who seek mainly media consumption and those, who look for some for productivity that can be done on Windows environment. We do not claim that Android is not productive, but still, a lot of people are just used to doing their office work on Microsoft’s operating system. It all sounds like a great idea, but can Onda V919 deliver? Is it worth your attention? Let us take a look at this Onda V919 review.
24.0 x 17.0 x 0.8 cm / 9.4 x 6.7 x 0.3 inches / 0.496 kg
OS
Android 4.4, Windows 8.1
Storage
64GB (can be expanded up to 128GB via Micro SD)
As far as the specs go we can say that it has quite a good pack to offer.
Design
Onda V919 is on the left, the iPad Air is on the right.
As you can see from the above pics, the Onda V919 has taken a lot of inspiration from the Apple iPad, that is why we choose to do a little visuals comparison. We cannot say that the Onda tablet is a complete clone of the iPad, but it does look extremely similar. Well, even well established brands are not afraid of making almost identical products, so “that’s all right”.
As we can see, Onda V919 is made out of aluminium material, which always adds that premium look and feel. On the front of the device we can see a 9.7 inch 2048×1536 IPS screen, which spots the same resolution as the iPad Air. Also, there is a front facing shooter, which has 2mp of resolution. What is more, there a home button. This time, it is not exactly the same as Apple’s device, but it reminds us a bit of the Meizu’s or Nubia’s implementation.
If we flip the device upside down, we can see that there is a white plastic cover, which can be removed. There you can find a two slots. One of them is Micro SD (up to 128GB) and another is Micro SIM slot, which has GSM and 3G connectivity (GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900MHz, WCDMA 850/1900/2100MHz).
What is more, there is a 5mp camera on the back along with the company’s branding and some certification marks. On the bottom, there are two stereo speakers along with the Micro USB port for charging and syncing. On the top, there is a 3.5mm headphone jack, which is placed on almost the same position as iPad.
On the right side of the device there are volume up/down buttons along with the power on/off switch.
Overall, the built quality is very good. It is on par with the Apple’s offering in the tablet portfolio, which is a good thing.
Performance
We decided to put the Onda V919 through some benchmarking tests. Let us take a look how it performed.
We usually do not judge the devices by its performance on the benchmarking apps, but this time the tablet showed pretty good performance. It is not on par with the latest and greatest flagships, but still it should be enough for day to day tasks, handling video and games.
1 of 3
If you really care about benchmarking and it is important where your device stands in the rankings, here are some more tests we went through:
What we care more is the real life performance. The device comes with a lot of apps pre-installed, which some of them should be considered bloatware. Happily, all the unwanted apps can be uninstalled or blocked via the autostart manager app. Thus, it would help reaching max performance by freeing up some CPU and RAM memory.
We were really excited to start by checking out the dialler app, which lets you call to the other users using GSM or 3G networks. Honestly, we believe it should be possible to use the calling function on all the tablets that are available the market. Still, the majority of them is not capable of doing that for some mysterious reasons.
We have to say that calling function works well on the device. Well, kind of. One can look like a a bit crazy putting the 9.7 inches device near the ear, which covers the whole head. Indeed, it is not designed to use it that way. Therefore, we have tested it through the embedded speakerphone function and it worked quite well. Also, it is possible to use it via bluetooth earphones and the call quality including voice clarity were good.
Another thing we have tried out it the 1080p video playback. As expected, the tablet did not have any issues handling that and the playback was silky smooth. Moreover, skipping forward or backward is really easy by just swiping anywhere on the playing movie. This is a great function started by the MX player and then later implemented by other manufacturers, including Onda.
Finally, we tried other tasks like browsing the web, installing apps. One of them was World of Warcraft game. We played it for quite a while and we can say that everything run smoothly. All in all, you should have no issues with its performance whatsoever.
Surface Temperature Test
As devices can handle more and more intensive tasks, most of them tend to heat up after some time. We ran through a test to see how this tablet performs.
What we did in our testing is we ran 1 hour of 1080p video. As you can see, after 1 hour the device didn’t even reach the normal temperature of human body, which is quite a great achievement knowing the fact that metal usually gets warm very quickly (as it was with the HTC One M7 and M8). We like what we are seeing here.
Camera
The Onda V919 tablet is equipped with the 5mp camera on the back, which should be enough for the tablet. We never expect tablets to perform as good as smartphones, but still, it is good to have a spare reasonably performing camera around. We took a few camera samples:
During the daylight, the tablet can capture some pretty good looking pics, which have quite a lot of detail. However, the white balance and colour reproduction is definitely not the best we have seen so far. In the end, we are not using a tablet as our main shooter.
Battery
The device has a hefty 7000mAh battery inside, which is said to last you 7 hours of video playing time. Therefore, as we have already made a video playback test, we did it again. Well, we should say that the device shut down itself after about 6.5 hours of playing while the screen brightness was set to 50%. We are quite happy about that.
Final Words
In this day and age it is usual that many manufacturers can easily “get” some inspiration from others. We are not judging whether it is right or wrong, but we may say it lacks originality. Still, however, there is a lot to like about this tablet and we say that it is one of the better choices in its price range. What we really liked is a great choice of materials and build quality. We did say that it is on par with Apple’s devices. Well, sort of. However, we still believe that Apple has perfected the precision craftsmanship and there is still a room for improvement for other manufacturers. What is more, the specs, which are packed inside this tablet enables it to run everything smoothly and without a hitch. Moreover, we were glad that it does not heat up too much and we were pleased with the camera experience and performance overall. In addition, we were happy about the battery life as the video playback test showed that the real life performance is nearly the same as it has been declared by the company. Finally, what we really like about the Onda V919 tablet is its price point. The tablet falls under the category of $180. If you are interested in this device, you can buy Onda V919 tablet from Gearbest for as low as $177.
We’re biased when we say the Meizu MX4 is a killer phone, with amazing hardware and design, but you cannot ignore it when some of the best tech sites in the world also say the Meizu MX4 is an amazing device! Here are our top 5 best Meizu MX4 reviews from the web!
Meizu shocked the tech world with the launch of the Meizu MX4. A phone which all new alloy chassis, beautiful display and stunningly good Mediatek MT6595 octacore processor (making the MX4 the most powerful phone on Antutu for 2014!).
Since September plenty of tech sites from around the world have handled the Meizu MX4, made reviews and come to their own conclusions for Meizu’s amazing mid-range device. Here are our pick of top 5 best Meizu MX4 reviews:
GSMArena Meizu MX4 Review: “The Meizu MX4 makes a great first impression and has no trouble keeping it up”
Chinese products are often regarded inferior in quality and specs. However, the past few years have totally changed the way we look at cheap Chinese products. Even start up companies have proved that they can manufacture items which are at par as compared to products from other international manufacturers that too at a very affordable cost.
No.1 G2 is one such product that managed to surprise by its built quality. The device retails for less than $70, yet sports premium design comparable to even those smartwatches which cost more than $350.
So, we decided to check out what makes those products so costly and a product like No.1 G2 so cheap. The best example in the price difference is the upcoming Apple Watch. This particular smartwatch will retail for more than $350, so we thought its best to compare these two to check out the similarities and differences! Moreover, given that owning / wearing a smartwatch is a growing trend, its always best to analyze your options.
No.1 G2 vs Apple Watch
DESIGN:
Like always, we start off with the design. Both the devices are well built and use premium materials in their workman ship and both are square shaped. The No.1 G2 sports a steel body with a strong metal texture giving it a rich look despite its cheap price while the Apple Watch has a traditional design. In fact, when we first saw the Apple Watch in pictures, we were disappointment. Apple products are usually known for the extremely well built design, but nothing about the Apple Watch looked unique. We expected a lot more.
Personally, we feel that the No.1 G2 looks a lot better in terms of design, but we leave that up to you. We know there are people who love Apple’s plain design and we respect that. So, its up to you to decide which one you like.
FUNCTIONALITY:
Apple watch comes with a digital crown for carrying out the various functions on the device. On the other hand, No.1 G2 comes with a traditional home button.
We have to agree that the digital crown is a very unique concept in the recently evolved smartwatch industry and for that the company gets special points in this category. The No.1 G2’s home button looks pretty good too, just a bit traditional. However, we feel that the placement of the home button is perfect for daily use. Its easy to operate and the phone starts up with just a touch of a button.
So, its really hard to say which one has the best button. On one hand, the digital crown looks cool, but then users will have a little bit of learning curve and will have to go out of the way to get used to it. The No.1 G2 probably is the easier one to use, although with a more traditional design.
Here, we may have to give Apple Watch some extra points, but still we don’t think that the crown is practical enough to charge almost 5-6 times more than the No.1 G2!
CONNECTIVITY:
This is the biggest drawback of the Apple Watch. Like all Apple devices, the Apple Watch will only work when you have an Apple device. Yes, the watch only works with iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6, iPhone 5C, iPhone 5S and iPhone 5. So, if you happen to use any other device, the watch is practically useless. Either you will have to change the watch or change your phone into an Apple device, which we feel is a big limitation on the device.
On the other hand, the No.1 G2 practically works with around 98% of smartphones available in the market as it connects to Android as well as iOS platforms. This makes the No.1 G2 available to a wider audience than the Apple Watch, which we feel is a requirement when we evaluate a product.
FEATURES:
When you are ready to pay $350 for a smartwatch, you expect a lot of new features and function to play with as compared to other cheap offerings. Unfortunately, like the design, the Apple Watch disappoints.
Almost all of the functions can be performed by the cheap No.1 G2. So, you can remotely control your camera, set alarm clock, check weather, use stopwatch, synchronize contacts, check call history and even receive calls on the device. There’s a pedometer, notifications alert via vibrations and more more fitness related functions, all available on both the devices.
The Apple Watch may have the edge when it comes to Apple Pay and customizability. However, Apple Pay is limited to US, which makes it useless in other countries and customizability has its own extra price! Moreover, the cheaper No.1 G2 even has some extra features like infrared remote control and smart home functions not available on the Apple Watch.
As you can see, when it comes to features, the Apple Watch isn’t what you would expect it to be. In fact, the No.1 G2 comes out as the winner here by having almost the same functions at a much cheaper price tag.
PRICING AND AVAILABILITY:
Guess what, the Apple Watch is still not available to purchase. Yes, even if you are ready to shell out $350 of your hard earned cash, you won’t be able to buy it since Apple has not yet made it available. So, you can either wait for a few more months (March release expected) or just go out and buy the No.1 G2 which is currently available for sale at just $66.
When you are paying as much as $350, you expect beautiful design and features, which unfortunately you don’t get on the new Apple Watch. So, for us, its easy to pick out a winner in this battle – the No.1 G2, but like our title says, we leave it up to you to decide which ones the best.
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