HTC has set a new bar in the Android world by introducing the devices like the One M7 and One M8, which both had stunning all metal body design, top-notch specs and great, yet simple user interface.
This time around, we are waiting for a new true flagship device from the company, because it has been a while since they released their last flagship One M8. It seems that the new top seller will be a heck of the device as the benchmarking system Antutu disclosed quite a lot of specs.
As we can see from the above mentioned specs, the new HTC, which has a codename HTC Hima(M9) will be a true powerhouse. It uses a top of the line Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 chip, clocked at up to 2.0GHz, Adreno 430 graphics processor, 3GB of Ram memory, 5 inches 1080P screen, 13mp front camera and 20.7 million-pixel rear camera (most likely Sony made), Android 5.0.1 with new HTC Sense skin on top of it.
We can say a few points about the upcoming device from the HTC. First, the good thing is that they are finally ditching the poorly received 4mp Ultra Pixel camera, which was a major drawback from the M8 device. We are happy to see a huge improvement in the camera department.
Secondly, staying with the 1080P screen may not sound a pretty good idea if the HTC want to have best of the best device in 2015. However, the necessity of Quad HD displays will always be a matter of discussion.
Xiaomi has quickly become the fourth largest smartphone manufacturer in the world. But apart from phones, the company also has other products in its portfolio like tablet, Router and TV Box. Looks like there will be one more addition to the portfolio as the latest leak suggests at a possible Xiaomi MI laptop in works.
This is not the first time we are hearing about a Xiaomi Notebook as in the past few m0nths, there have been plenty of speculations about the company entering the PC industry as a part of its next strategy. But today, we have something more conclusive, some pictures of the upcoming notebook as well as its configuration.
Some photos of the Xiaomi Notebook cropped up online today. As you can see in the pictures, the device looks exactly like Apple’s Macbook Air except for the logo on the front and the back. Below the display is the bright orange ‘MI’ branding and at the back too there is a silver ‘MI’ logo. The laptop also features a special orange colored function button that can take custom functions from the user.
The leak also provides some specs. The Xiaomi laptop will be powered by the latest Intel Haswell i7-4500u processor with 2 x 8GB dual channel memory. There will be a large 15-inch 1080p display up front. The laptop is expected to run on a linux OS customized by Xiaomi. As for the price, it is said that this Xiaomi laptop will retail for somewhere around 2999 Yuan which comes to around $481.
If these specs and pictures are of the real Xiaomi notebook, then we may have a winner here. The specs and the pricing make it a value for money device, much like other Xiaomi products. So, this laptop may turn out to be a best seller like Redmi 1S and the Xiaomi Mi3.
Unfortunately, Xiaomi is yet to announce anything officially and we still don’t know whether the company is actually developing a laptop in spite of these rumors. But given that we have been hearing about such a device for a long time plus with the company expanding into newer products like the recently announced Xiaomi Air Purifier, we won’t be surprised if Xiaomi does release this notebook PC sometime later next year.
Meizu MX4 is considered as one of the best Chinese smartphones of the year. Given its popularity it was only a matter of time somebody copied its design. That’s exactly what happened.
Now Neo, the company behind the consumer favorite Neo M1 has come up with a new smartphone called as the Neo MX4. As you can see, the company didn’t even bother to change the name of the MX4 clone. The Neo MX4 will look similar to the Meizu MX4 but will be much cheaper than the company flagship.
Neo MX4 is slightly smaller than the original MX4 as it comes with just a 5-inch display instead of the 5.36-inch one found on the Meizu flagship. Also, the resolution is much lower in this model, just a 720p display instead of the 2K resolution screen on the MX4. The Neo MX4 will be powered by a 64-bit MT6732 quad-core processor clocked at 1.5GHz. There will be a 13MP camera at the back along with a 5MP shooter up front. The processor will be supported by 1GB RAM and 8GB ROM which will be further expandable via MicroSD. The phone supports TD-LTE/ TD-SCDMA and GSM networks along with dual SIM cards. There is also dual noise reduction technology as well as dual band Wi-Fi support. For software, the Neo MX4 runs on Android 4.4.4 KitKat OS. Unfortunately, there is just a 2,100 mAh battery onboard to power all these specs, which is a bit smaller than what some 5-inchers offer these days.
As you can see, the specs are nowhere near what the original Meizu MX4 offered, but it is still good enough for your everyday use. So, if you liked Meizu’s design but do not want to spend more than $150 on a device, the Neo MX4 turns out to be a good option. Its design, mid-range specs and the 799 Yuan price tag ($128) definitely makes it a good buy in this range.
Neo is not really a company who specializes in clones. But unlike competitors like Elephone, No.1 and Doogee, it has very limited products in its lineup. So, MX4 could prove as a valuable addition to its portfolio of devices. The Neo M1 is quite popular among buyers due to its great design and another product like the Neo MX4 would definitely help the company to attract new customers.
Also, we don’t think Meizu will mind a MX4 clone in the market given that the company itself takes inspiration from other manufacturers like Apple. The recent release of the Meizu M1 Note (Blue Charm) is the best example of this. The M1 Note copies the popular design of Apple’s iPhone 5C with even the materials and the color profile inspired from the Apple device.
The Neo MX4 is currently available for pre-order for a discounted price tag of 799 Yuan ($128) instead of the normal price of 999 Yuan ($160) on JD.com. Make sure you check out their website for more details.
Huawei Honor X1 was one of the better 7-inch phablets out there in the market. Now, the second generation model named Huawei Honor X2 has been leaked online. Huawei will reportedly launch the device at the upcoming CES 2015. So, you’ll get to see the next generation model within a year of launch of the X1 phablet, which was announced back at MWC in February.
These pictures were earlier leaked by a website called nowhereelse.fr claiming to be the next Huawei Ascend P8. However, as you can see, the device in the pictures is too big to be the rumored 5.2-inch P8. In fact, they reveal a much bigger form factor, somewhere around 7-inches, which is exactly what this latest leak claims it to be i.e. the new Honor X2.
From what we can see in the pictures, the Honor X2 looks like a great device. The tablet will come with a full metal body. As you can see in the pictures leaked, the back metal panel has a smooth finish, but given that this is just a component of the device, the final product will have some kind of coating over this back plate. The power button, volume rocker keys, MicroSIM slot as well as the MicroSD card slot are located on one side of the device. This isn’t surprising given that the current generation Honor X1 features all these slots/ buttons on one side too. The corners are less rounded than the earlier model, making it look like a true tablet instead of a phone. But the rest of the designs remains somewhat similar to the Honor X1.
The leak also provides us with some specs. The Honor X2 tablet phone is expected to come with the same Kirin 925 processor that we saw in recent releases. There will be 3GB RAM inside. The 7-inch display on the front comes with a resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels. The Huawei Honor X2 tablet is a phone in the body of a tablet, so you can do regular smartphone stuff on the large screen like calling, messaging etc. The device will be unveiled at CES 2015, which is just a few days away and will reportedly retail for a price tag of 1999 Yuan, which comes to around $320.
We still don’t know many of the phone’s features like the camera, battery, internal storage or even the measurements, but given that it will be announced at CES 2015, we don’t have to wait too long for the info.
So, what do you think about this upcoming phone tablet?
Recently there have been a lot of buzz about the upcoming ultra-rugged No.1 X-men X1 smartphone. Today, we got a glimpse of the true resistant power of the phone, when the guys over at No.1 ran a car over the device.
As you can see in the video shown below, the No.1 X-men X1 actually survives a car being rolled over it. Thanks, to its hard outer shell, the phone comes out scratch less after this feat. The company had made big claims about the device back when it announced it, but this is a real world example to show the actual strength of the No.1 X1. In the video, like you can see, the touchscreen worked perfectly fine even after the car went over it. So, its safe to assume that the phone can take a beating and it’s built to survive harsh conditions.
The X1 is certified to be rugged. Its IP68 complaint and is resistant against 7 different kinds of damages. The phone is waterproof, dustproof , pressure proof, freezeproof, Shockproof, high-temperature proof and Scratch Proof. So, you don’t have to worry about damaging your phone in whatever harsh environment that you are going to expose it.
Even the specifications are mid-range making it different than other rugged phones which usually feature disappointing specs. On the front, there is a 5-inch display with HD resolution which has become a standard among mid-range phones these days. Inside, the phone houses a quad-core 1.3GHz MT6582 processor with 1GB RAM. At the rear is the 13MP camera sensor with LED flash while up front lies the 3MP shooter. To power all these specs, you have a very large 5,800 mAh battery inside, which the company claims provides standby times of over 50 days which is a pretty impressive claim for any smartphone. It comes with Android 4.4.2 KitKat out of the box. As for the network connectivity, it supports GSM 850/900/1800/1900m and WCDMA 850/900/2100 networks.
Clearly the specs, design as well as the 7-Proof nature of the phone makes it one of the best rugged smartphones that we have seen lately. We have not yet received an official price from the company but expect the phone to retail anywhere around $185.
For more information, check out their official website here.
So, what do you think of the device after the durability test? Would you buy the all new No.1 X-Men X1?
Xiaomi has always been the manufacturer focused on offering the best possible features at a very affordable price tag. However, earlier today we came across a Xiaomi phone that’s very different than the current offerings from the company.
A new device claiming to be Xiaomi Arch was spotted today in a poster. The same picture further said that the device was the world’s first dual curved screen design phone in the market. According to the picture, both the sides of the display on this model is curved unlike the recently announced Samsung Galaxy Note Edge which also has a curved display edge but only on one side.
The curves will reportedly feature short cut menu’s much like the Note Edge as well as instant notifications regarding calls, messages etc. With this dual curved edge display design, the Xiaomi Arch will have much more real estate on the sides than the current Note 4 Edge.
The overall design looks pretty standard with the ‘Mi’ branding on top and the three capacitive buttons at the bottom. However, remember that this is just a poster and not the real device. Its very easy to cook up a concept like this to excite Xiaomi fans throughout the globe, but we don’t think this will ever materialize.
Samsung has spent a lot of years in research and development of its Galaxy Note Edge, which is also hard to manufacture and therefore available in limited quantities. Moreover, it retails at a very premium price given its cutting edge design and advanced features.
Xiaomi works on a very different strategy than Samsung and hence, its highly unlikely that this so called Xiaomi Arch will ever materialize into a real product.
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Still, if Xiaomi ever released a product like this, would you buy it?
Elephone Smartphone products have already secured a distinguished presence in the already overcrowded Smartphone market and the ‘P’ series phones are no exception. The Elephone P6000, which is scheduled to be launched in January next year, runs on Quad Core 1.5GHz processor and packs in loads of other features that would surely bring a smile on the lips of the gizmo freaks. Where on the internet are the best Elephone P6000 deals available? Where can you get the best price for Elephone P56000? Read on to find.
Good news for gizmo freaks, a couple of mobile phone e-stores are now accepting pre-orders for the soon-to-be-launched Elephone P6000. These online dealers and retailers are a part of the extended affiliate network of Elephone, the China based manufacturer of Smartphones and state-of-the-art gadgets. These sites are now offering special pre-launch price for the much awaited Elephone P6000, which is all set to hit the stores in China, US and in a few other selected countries come January 2015. It is official now that the phone can be bought at much below the Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price, provided you order it on or before December 31st this year.
While this is true that the much anticipated Elephone P6000 can be bought at discounted price as a part of the ongoing pre-sales offer, you can get it at an even lower price if you have a coupon code. For example, one site is offering the Elephone P6000 at a very low price ($169.99). However, if you have the coupon code EPCN, you can get the ubercool Smartphone at an even more jaw-dropping price. Can you believe that you can actually save 14 USD even on the special pre-sale price? Yes, the phone is available exclusively for buyers who have the coupon code EPCN at just $145.99. Isn’t it cool?
When it comes to smartphones there are a lot of things we consider. First, we start by the design, then we dive in to the specs. Most of us want the super-specced devices to be able to handle things like gaming, record high resolution videos and do other stuff. However, the smartphone, the same as any electronic device produces heat. The heat can be especially felt when we throw some high intensity tasks, which need more power from the device.
Right now we would like to see how one of the best Chinese smartphones can handle the heat.
In the first picture we can see the heat test of the touch screen part while playing a quite high intensity game – Riptide GP2. As you can see, the temperature is depicted in colours and numbers in each device.
In this test the best results were shown by the Honor 6 Plus, which uses the Kirin 925 processor. Its temperature reaches the maximum of 37.6 at the bottom of the device. We believe that this is quite comfortable temperature to hold as the usual temperature of human body is 36.6 degrees in Celsium.
The second came up the Meizu MX4 Pro, which managed to heat up a bit more and reach the temperature of 42.7 degrees at the top of the device. It may start getting a bit uncomfortable.
The worst results were shown by the Xiaomi Mi4. As you can see in the first picture above, the device tends to heat up at the top of the device and reaches an uncomfortable temperature of 44.8 degrees.
In this picture we can see the same test run on each device, but the temperature is being measured at the back cover side of the device.
Again, the winner here is the Honor 6 Plus, which heats up at a reasonable 37.9 temperature. We believe it is a comfortable level of heat to handle in our hands.
The second device in this test is the MX4 Pro, which reaches 40.3 degrees.
The worst is, again, the Mi4, which heat up at what it becomes clear the weak point of the device, the top part. It reaches the temperature of 46.6 degrees, which will definitely make your hands sweat.
The third test shows the heat produced at the touch screen area after video recording for half an hour.
The best result is shown by the Honor 6 Plus, which reached the maximum of 38.4 degrees at the bottom of the device.
The second came up the Mi4, but the temperature is significantly higher at 44.5 degrees.
The worst result was shown by the MX4 Pro by Meizu with the temperature level of 46.8 degrees. We believe that this level of heat may get quite uncomfortable to hold the device for a longer period like 30 mins.
The last test is practically the same as the third one, but this time the heat was measured at the back of the device, where we usually hold the smartphone.
Again, the best result was shown by the Huawei Honor 6 Plus, which reaches a very reasonable temperature of 36.7 degrees.
The second is the MX4 Pro, but the temperature is almost 10 degrees higher at 45.3 degrees.
The worst is the Xiaomi Mi4 as it heats up at the very uncomfortable 47.8 degrees.
All in all, the tests have shown that the Huawei’s newest flagship device does not produce that much heat as its competitors, which is a great achievement for the company. The second place should be given to the Meizu MX4 Pro. However, this device along with the Xiaomi Mi4, which comes at the worst third place, produces significantly higher amounts of heat. It may become uncomfortable to hold the device after extensive periods of usage. Those, who really do a lot of intensive tasks like gaming or video recording should take this into consideration.
Lenovo A7-30 low cost tablet has been quite popular among buyers, especially those who are looking for a device which can make calls too. Now, the second generation model of the device, namely the Lenovo Tab2 A7-30 voice tablet went on sale in China for an official price of 999 yuan.
Lenovo has somehow reduced the size of this new tablet as compared to the old A7-30. So, the new measurements are 191 x105x 8.9mm instead of 198 x 119.8 x 10.5 mm. As you can see, the tablet is now much smaller and compact than the older model but retains the same 7-inch display which makes it better portable and easier to hold with one hand.
As for the tech specs, the new model features a 7-inch IPS display with the same resolution of 1024 x 600 pixels. Inside, there is a MTK8382 quad-core processor clocked at 1.3GHz. This is the same processor used in the previous generation. There is 1GB RAM and 16GB internal storage. The rear camera measures 5MP while the front measures 3MP, both upgraded from the 2MP/ 0.3MP sensors found in the last model. Inside, a 3450 mAh powers all these specs.
Even though this is just an entry level tablet, it comes with over 10 gesture control features. You can even wake up the device with double tap on display. It runs on Android 4.4 KitKat OS.
As mentioned above, the Lenovo Tab2 A7-30 went on sale in China for 999 Yuan which comes to around $160. Since, first generation model was available in a number of countries worldwide, expect more details about an international release soon.
Nokia Lumia 1020 was an interesting device. It came with a very large sensor at the back, a 41MP camera which could click pictures better than most other smartphones in the market. Like all other Lumia devices, it ran Microsoft’s Windows Mobile OS.
However, looks like Lumia 1020 can run Ubuntu OS as well, atleast one of the Weibo users proved that it was possible. Team Ubuntu which is usually behind a number of leaks online, released some pictures earlier today claiming that they made their Lumia 1020 run Ubuntu.
As you can see in the pictures added in the post, the Lumia 1020 is running on Ubuntu OS which is very similar to the desktop version that we have seen in the past few years. The menu bar is on the left, which is the same as the taskbar on Windows desktop while the settings bar is on top which has the volume level indicator, Wi-Fi as well as the settings option. If you have ever used any of the recent Ubuntu desktop releases, you would see that the OS is very similar to the one shown in the pictures.
We still don’t know whether everything works on this Lumia 1020. It would be interesting to see how the OS handles the large 41MP sensor at the back and whether the pictures captured are of similar quality as that of the Windows running device. We hope to see more details soon.
Ubuntu for mobile isn’t a new concept. Canonical, the company behind the OS has been trying to release Ubuntu powered smartphones for the past one year, however the launch has been delayed so far. According to the latest news, the first true Ubuntu powered smartphone will release in Europe in the second week of February. This budget phone will be sold directly to customers via the Spanish carrier Bq.
For those interested in this new OS for mobile platforms, currently, there is a way to try out Ubuntu. You can install the OS on a number of Google’s Nexus devices. Some of the supported phones include the old Nexus 4, Nexus 7 2013 tablet and the Nexus 10.
Xiaomi Redmi Note is highly popular among budget phablet lovers and apparently the second generation model, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 has been leaked online. While the picture does not reveal the full body of the device, but it does show the back cover, which is a bit different than current Redmi Note model.
The camera sensor and the LED flash are located on the top left corner of the new device instead at the top center region. Moreover, the slightly large opening on top could indicate a dual LED flash instead of the single LED flash found on the current Redmi Note. the ‘Mi’ branding remains at the bottom region of the rear panel. Interestingly, we don’t see a speaker grill on the leaked panel.
As you can see, there are some measurements given on the picture too, however, it doesn’t look like they are right. The length and width are okay at 159mm and 82mm respectively, but the thickness as given on the picture — 25mm is too big. The current generation model has a width of around 9.5mm, so it’s better we ignore the dimensions given by the source for now.
Current Redmi Note back panel
The same source also revealed the possible specs of the device. So, the new Redmi Note 2 is expected to come with the same 5.5-inch display as the original model but with a bumped up resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. An eight-core 64-bit processor will power the device (probably Snapdragon 615 or Mediatek 6752) along with 2GB RAM and 16GB internal storage. At the back, there will be a 13MP camera sensor while on the front, it will have a 5MP shooter. The battery is said to be above 3,000 mAh. The Redmi Note 2 will run on Android 4.4 KitKat with MIUI 6 on top.
The source reveals that the phone will be released between January 21 to January 28 2015.
While these specs are slightly better than the current Redmi Note, they might just be enough to upgrade the device yet maintain the same price tag. The current generation model came with a 5.5-inch 720p display, an eight-core processor but not 64-bit and just 8GB internal storage. These are the specs that have been bumped up in the new generation Redmi Note 2. The camera and the battery capacity which were already good on the Note have been kept the same. So, if the leaked specs does turn out to be true, we may have a winner here.
With these leaked specs, the Redmi Note 2 could prove a worthy competitor to the Meizu M1 Note (Blue Charm). Both the devices are aimed at the budget customers looking for the best experience and both have enough hardware to keep their customers excited. So, it would be interesting to see how both perform in the market at a similar price tag.
It’s unexpected to see a Redmi spotted with fingerprint scanner in this Christmas. We can help to think if Xiaomi is going to bring the one-touch fingerprint scanner into the budget smartphone market? But the pictures are leaked from Weibo, and the leaker said it’s Focaltech showing off their latest one-touch fingerprint scanner solution, and the Redmi with one-touch fingerprint scanner is refitted.
The expert, Ms. Sun Changxu said that it is fairly easy to achieve the modification method by transferring from USB Interface to SPI. According to the users experience, it sounds like the fingerprint scanning speed is very fast. From seeing the published images, the solution that the producer launched is called One-touch Fingerprint Scanner. It is integrated underneath the back camera of Redmi, which is similar to the solution used on Huawei Ascend Mate 7.
Fingerprint scanner technology is becoming more and more widely use in Chinese smartphone market now, but most of them are flagships, barely any mid-range smartphones had a fingerprint scanner in it. But with more and more fingerprint scanner companies providing more and more solutions, there must be a way to apply them on the budget smartphone market.
Just a few days back we reported that Leneovo will soon announce the Lenovo P70t with a huge 4000 mAh battery. At that time, we only had limited pictures which didn’t really show off the device completely. But today, almost a week after the report, we have four new live pictures of the device which reveal the P70t in its full glory.
The black and white models of the device was seen online. The overall chassis is round around edges and device has a smooth finish. The rear panel is given an artificial leather finish. On the right, you have the power and the volume rocker buttons, while the left side is completely clean. On the top left corner of the back cover, you have the round camera sensor along with an LED flash and at the middle you have the Lenovo branding. There is a metal frame around the body of the device.
As for the specifications, the phone features a 5-inch 720p OGS display. Inside, there is a 64-bit MT6732 quad-core processor with 1GB RAM and 8GB ROM. The rear camera sensor measures 13MP while the front sensor measures 5MP. The phone supports dual SIM cards on 3G, 4G LTE and GSM networks.
But the highlight of the device, like we mentioned above is its battery. The Lenovo P70t comes with a large 4000 mAh battery which the company claims can provide standby times of over 46 days. While the phone will last for more than 2 days easily with user it’s replaceable 4000 mAh battery, its battery life is further increased by some of the tech inside the device. For example, when the user locks the phone, it automatically shuts down all the background apps. Also, when the phone is fully charged and still charging, it smartly utilizes the charge from the socket and not the battery to avoid wasting the phone’s fully charged battery.
Clearly, the Lenovo P70t is built for businessmen and other users who would never want to run out of charge. While the pricing has not been disclosed yet, we expect an announcement soon.
Xiaomi has quickly jumped up to become the fourth largest smartphone manufacturer recently. While the company’s smartphones have always been a hot topic of conversation, this time around, it is the next generation of the less known Xiaomi MiPad that was spotted in pictures.
Some images claiming to be the next Xiaomi MiPad 2 was recently spotted on Weibo and reveals some interesting specs about the upcoming Xiaomi device.
First of all, the device looks a bit different than the existing Xiaomi MiPad. But the source claims that it has a same 7.9-inch retina display as the current generation. Moreover, the RAM stays at 2GB and there is 16GB internal storage. From the pictures, it looks like the device is running on MIUI built upon the Android 4.4.4 KitKat platform.
Coming to the interesting part, it is said that the device will have an Intel chipset clocked at an impressive 1.8GHz instead on NVIDIA’s Tegra K1. This wouldn’t be surprising given that Xiaomi was in talks with Intel for supplying SoCs for its current generation tablet. But later the company decided to go with NVIDIA. Another reason for this change could be Intel’s recent efforts to get deep into the portable devices market. The company has shown great interest in supplying chips for phones and wearables, so Xiaomi’s recent popularity might have convinced them to strike a deal.
Unfortunately, the pictures could be fake too. There is no Mi branding on top of the leaked tablet and the overall design too is different than the current generation MiPad. Apart from MIUI, there’s no concrete evidence to prove that this is the upcoming Xiaomi MiPad 2 tablet. So, make sure you take this news with a pinch of salt.
If the device is indeed coming soon, we expect more leaks in the next few weeks, which hopefully will be more convincing. So, make sure you stay tuned to the websites for the latest updates.
Philips is not a household name when it comes smarpthones, but like all other electronic companies, this Dutch brand too is trying out its luck in the every growing smartphone market. A few days back, we saw a clamshell phone from the company called as the Philips V989. Today, we have some new information about two upcoming mid-range smartphones namely the Philips S356 an S316. Like the name suggests, both the models will be a part of the company’s S series of smartphones.
The S356 has better specs and comes with a 5-inch 720p resolution display, 1.5GHz quad-core 64-bit Mediatek MT6732 processor along with 1GB RAM and 8GB ROM. We still don’t know whether it will feature a MicroSD card slot, but since it has just 8GB internal memory, there is a very good chance that Philips will include one in the device. You have a 13MP rear camera and a 2MP front shooter. The phone supports 3G, 4G and GSM networks and comes with dual SIM card slots. Inside, it has a decent 2,100 mAh battery. As for the software, the S356 runs on a customized version of Android 4.4 KitKat. It is said that the phone will have dual microphones which will reduce background noise.
From the pictures that we got, the phone looks well built with dual color tones featuring gold and black. The measurements of the phone are 143.8*71.5*8.8mm which is also decent considering its mid-range placement.
Coming to the second model, the Philips S316 comes with the same quad-core Mediatek MT6732 64-bit processor and 1GB RAM but most other specs are lower than the S356, which means the phone will be placed below this model. It comes with 8GB internal storage (most likely expandable), 5-inch FWVGA resolution display, 5MP rear camera and 3MP front shooter, Android 4.4 KitKat, Dual SIM Dual Standby support, 4G LTE support and a 2000 mAh battery. Unfortunately, we don’t have pictures of this model, but expect an official announcement soon.
The Philips S356 and Philips S316 will retail for 1299 Yuan ($208) and 799 Yuan ($128) respectively. So, the top model i.e. the S356 will directly compete with the recently announced Meizu (Blue Charm ) M1 Note while the S316 will compete with the ASUS Pegasus which was also unveiled yesterday for 799 Yuan.
Both the models looks average and there is nothing special about them. Even the specifications are not at par with other competitors in this price range. So,in this highly competitive market, we feel Philips needs to either reduce the price or bump up the specs to survive as a smartphone company.
No.1 is a company known for its clones and we have seen as well as reviewed several of those clones in the past few months. Today, we take a look at the new No.1 Note 4. As the name suggests, its the clone of the recently announced Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and features the same design as the Samsung flagship. However, like all other clones in the market, apart from the design, most of the hardware and software features from the original model do not make it to the clone. But then these phones are available to purchase online for dirt cheap, which makes them attractive to customers looking for a cheap knock off. No.1 Note 4 features the same 5.7-inch display as the Galaxy Note 4 and comes with a stylus too, unlike other devices in its price range.
Check out our No.1 Note 4 review for a detailed look at the device.
UNBOXING
The No.1 Note 4 comes in the same white colored box as every other No.1 device that we have seen recently. Once you open the box, you’ll find essential items like the charging adapter, USB cable, user manual in English and the phone itself. There are no headphones or rear case for the phone inside the box.
DESIGN
Like the name suggests, the No.1 Note 4 takes inspiration from the Galaxy Note 4. So, the device is huge in size and measures 153.5×78.6×8.5mm, thanks to the monster 5.7-inch screen up front. This is exactly the same size as the original Note 4 which has the same measurements. To be honest is an impressive feat considering this is just a knock off and retails for a very cheap price tag.
Moving on, the front display measures 5.7-inches. There is a camera as well as a few sensors on top of the display, while at the bottom you have the traditional Samsung home button along with other capacitive buttons. The back features a leather like finish. There is a 13MP rear camera on top with LED flash just below it. Around the middle of the rear panel is the No.1 logo and around the bottom, you have two small openings for the speaker grill.
On the top left side lies the volume rocker buttons and on the right is the power button. There is a 3.5mm headphone jack on top + infrared port and a MicroUSB slot with dual microphones at the bottom. Like in the original Note 4, this clone also features the famous S pen which is neatly tucked into its opening at the bottom. The S Pen gets out and gets in pretty smoothly, so it looks like the opening is perfectly built to place it inside the phone.
The phone does have a removable back cover. Once you open it up, you’ll see a thin but long battery along with ports for a SIM card slot and a MicroSD card slot. Let me remind you, this phone supports just one SIM card unlike most other Chinese smartphones which support dual SIM cards. This is not a big issue for me since I just use one SIM card always, but for you this may be a deal breaker.
DISPLAY
The No.1 Note 4 comes with a 5.7-inch display with a resolution of just 1280 x 720 pixels. On the other hand the Samsung device came with 2K resolution on the same size. However, for everyday use, the display doesn’t look too bad. The overall looks of the UI is similar to the Samsung TouchWiz on Note 4 which gives us a feel of the original flagship, even though this is just a cheap knock off.
The first time you’ll boot up the device, you’ll see a lot of bright blue colors everywhere, which looks quite good on the large 5.7-inch display. Like we said earlier, the Touch Wiz like UI makes you feel that you are using a Samsung device. The display produces colors quite well and was bright enough to be used outdoors. So, even though it comes with a low resolution for such a large screen, you shouldn’t worry too much. You can easily fulfill your entertainment needs on the device like watching movies or playing games on its large screen display.
HARDWARE & PERFORMANCE
Despite its size and design, the No.1 4 is not a fast performing device. But it’s good enough for your basic every day usage. The phone comes with a Mediatek MT6582 quad-core processor with Mali-400MP GPU, 1GB RAM and 8GB internal storage. This isn’t the fastest processor out there in the market and you’ll know that once you see the AnTuTu benchmark results.
In the benchmark test, the device got a score of 18,999. However, there were some times that the scores dipped to around 18,000. So, on an average, you can expect the scores to range from 16,500 to 18,000. As you can see, this isn’t a very impressive score as we have seen devices, which score above 20,000 in the AnTuTu test.
But in the real world usage, the phone did not lag much and the overall UI loaded pretty quickly. Opening up apps was easy and unless it was a very heavy graphic intensive app or a game, it worked perfectly with very little visible lags. Multi-tasking can be an issue sometimes and the limited 1GB onboard doesn’t really help the cause as well. However, if you limit the open apps on the phone, the phone responds and works quite well.
We never experienced any lag while browsing through the gallery or while watching videos on the device. Even scrolling through the video was responsive. As for gaming, most games worked perfectly fine on the device. The quad-core MT6582 processor does well in this regard and the games had no visible lag. Everything played smoothly and for most games, you won’t have any trouble running it on the No.1 Note 4.
Coming to the provided S Pen, surprisingly, it works very well. As soon as you remove the pen from its holder inside the phone, the Air Command panel pops up giving you a lot of options to play around on the device. The S Pen could select apps on the screen without any trouble. We tried out the draw app on the phone and it was working perfectly. To be honest, we were impressed! With the S Pen in our hands, it really felt like we were using a premium device.
Another highlight of the device is its heart rate sensor. We still don’t know how exactly it manages to measure our heart beat, but still the feature somehow works fine. Of course, it’s not very accurate, but then we didn’t expect it to be, since most Chinese phones with a heart rate sensor didn’t work very well. But still, from our testing, the sensor worked just fine and is a useful addition to the phone.
The in-built speaker is loud but not very clear. Moreover, if you keep the phone with the display on the front, you’ll hear muffled noises since the speaker grill is located at the back.
So, overall the No.1 Note 4 turned out to be a pretty good device. And if you are looking for a decent performing device, add this to your list.
CAMERA
Camera isn’t the greatest of strengths of the No.1 Note 4 smartphone. However, for every usage, its 13MP rear camera snaps pictures pretty well. The company has provided a lot of modes inside the camera UI like the Beauty Face, Rich Tone, Auto, Panaroma, Surround shot, Auto Scene etc. You can change settings like exposure, GPS, Color balance etc directly from the UI. However, other than these, the UI is pretty standard.
Coming to the camera performance, the images clicked turned out to be good when there was lot of light. Focusing does take a second or two but works well. The images captured surprisingly have a lot of detail and the colors are also accurate. The video captured from the rear camera too was good.
However, low light performance wasn’t really good, which isn’t surprising given that most Chinese mid-range smartphones struggle to capture pictures in low light conditions. The night photos lack details and there is a lot of noise which spoils the captured image. So, like always we would suggest taking pictures in broad day light or at least in places where there is lot of light for the best performance from its 13MP rear shooter.
Check out the samples below to get an idea about its camera.
BATTERY
Battery life shouldn’t be a big concern on the phone since it features a 2800 mAh capacity battery onboard. The battery life is just average, but its enough to last throughout the day with moderate usage. We have seen 5.5-inch phones from Chinese manufacturers with batteries as small as 2,000 mAh, hence the battery on this phone feels quite decent.
CONNECTIVITY & SOFTWARE
Along with the standard connectivity features like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, MicroUSB, FM Radio and GPS/ AGPS, you also get additional sensors like heart rate monitor and infrared sensor. Both of them worked fine as far as we tested. As mentioned above, the the No.1 N4 is a single SIM phone and supports GSM/ 850/900/1800/1900 ; WCDMA 850/2100 network bands.
As for the software, the No.1 Note 4 runs on Android 4.4 KitKat OS out of the box with a UI like the Samsung Touch Wiz. We have already pointed out that the overall UI experience is almost the same as Samsung, thanks to the color profile, tweaks in settings menu, notifications panel as well as the home screen which makes it a look a lot like Touch Wiz. There are a lot of software gestures available on the device, but now that’s common among recent Chinese smartphones, so its not really a new feature. Still, its good to have features such as air gestures which help you to operate the device.
VERDICT
As you can see, the No.1 Note 4 is a pretty good device. You get a lot of additional features such as the S Pen, heart rate monitor as well as a infrared remote which sets is apart from other Chinese offerings currently available in the market.
The fact that it is build upon the design of one of most loved phablets of the year makes it special. Of course, performance is no way near the original Note 4 but for the price that you pay, this clone definitely deserves some appreciation.
Xiaomi has been on the news lately with the purported leaks of the Xiaomi Mi4s/5. We have reported today that a possible Xiaomi Mi 4s is characterised to have 5.7-inch screen (other sources claim that it may spot a more compact – 5.5 inches screen), which will be covered by the sapphire glass and spot a 2k resolution (packed in a 2.5D screen), Snapdragon 805 chip (other sources claim 810 version, which is less possible knowing the fact that the 810 version of the chip would not be ready for the mass production on the possible release of Xiaomi’s new flagship), will have a higher megapixel camera, will be running MIUI based on Android5.0 and it may have a support for fingerprint recognition.
Right now we have some fresh live pictures, where we can possibly see the new device by Xiaomi in flesh and blood!
Let us admit that these pictures are quite high quality and in the first picture you can clearly see a MI logo, which may be a Xiami’s new flagship device! What is more, the device in the pictures looks a bit different to the previous leaks we have posted today. Here we cannot see that super slim bezel and there are no visible capacitive buttons on the bottom of the device. It may imply the fact that the Xiaomi has decided to ditch the capacitive buttons and go with the on-screen ones.
In addition, it looks like this device is surrounded by an aluminium frame, which is not a big news for the company since it has already been used on the MI4 model. Also, we can see volume up/down buttons along with the power button on the right, which seems to be a right placement. Furthermore, we think that the device in pictures is very similar to the older MI3 model.
The rumours claim that it could be either a Mi4s/Mi5 or a completely new flagship device, which would not be as cheap as previous MI series devices as it may cost 2999 Yuan (in comparison, the Mi4 costs 1999 Yuan). That could mean that the company has decided to throw anything what is possible on the smartphone in the new portfolio of the devices.
Having said all that, it is not clear which phone in the pictures is the real deal and which one is fake. We are curious what do you think about the device in the pictures. Let us know in the social poll or the comment section below.
Power bank is an accessory, which is getting more and more popularity since it has proved its usefulness in the times, when the majority of manufacturers have non-user replaceable batteries. There is a variety of them and it may be quite hard to choose. As usual, Chinese companies have something to offer at a crazy low price.
After Xiaomi announced their own power banks, which included 5200,10400,16000mAh respectively, they were sold at some crazy low prices in China. However, it turns out that it is possible to make an external battery, which costs only 99 Yuan, which is made to compete against another cheap power bank, which was recently announced by the OnePlus company.
This power bank carries a model number PB810, it has quite a thin body, which is 10.5 mm and it is said to be a thinnest product in this category. Also, it comes in white colour and has a wave pattern on its exterior, which is supposed to help for the good grip. Also, it has a capacity of 10000mAh (voltage 3.6V) , uses ATL lithium-ion polymer batteries, it has a USB and micro USB ports, it supports 5.1V / 2.1A output and 5V / 2A input.
The product is said to charge the Xiaomi Mi4 twice, Xiaomi Red Rice 1S 3 times and the iPhone 6 3.5 times. Also, there are four LED power indicators, showing the juice left in the power bank.
In addition, it uses a Texas Instruments chip and seventh master protection circuit , board ends highest conversion rate of 93%, and more than ordinary mobile power output of about 1000mAh.
All in all, it seems to be a great power bank to buy, which has a huge capacity, great build quality and internals used at a very low price. It seems that it could be quite a threat for power bank makers like OnePlus or Xiaomi.
When it comes to the smartphones, there are a few things we put into consideration before buying. Besides the facts like design, build quality, user interface, the price is very important. The lower it is, the more attractive it is to the buyer. However, sometimes the consumer may have a question in mind, if there are any hiccups or some issues with the device if it is sold at the very low price.
As we have just covered the announcement of the new Blue Charm Meizu M1 Note, which is a new budget devices line by the Meizu. It has some serious bunch of specs, which include 5.5 inches screen, octa-core processor, 13mp and 5mp cameras, 2 GB of Ram, 3,140 mAh battery, 4G LTE and some other great stuff and it is sold for an extremely low price, which is $160.
However, no matter how excited you are, it may have some screen issues as the photos below suggest:
It turns out that this particular unit has some screen issues, which definitely affect the whole user experience. We are not sure neither about the number of the devices affected by this issue nor the reason behind it.
Does it show that Meizu decided to use some cheap screen panels for this model? Or maybe it decided to use cheap panels or even other parts for the whole Blue Charm portfolio to make the price as competitive as possible? Let us know what do you think in the social poll or comment section below.
Looks like ASUS is trying to steal the spot light from Meizu today. The Taiwanese giant has just announced a new product in the market called as the ASUS Pegasus X002. Unlike the name which sounds mighty and powerful, the device itself would be a mid-ranger but will be priced aggressively to compete with existing budget offerings like Xiaomi Redmi 1S and the Meizu Blue Charm K52.
Before we move on to the specs, lets take a look at its name. There is something peculiar about the name Pegasus especially for ASUS. Not many would know that the company name, ASUS is inspired by Pegasus, the winged horse from Greek Mythology that depicts wisdom and knowledge. So, even though this is a mid-ranger, the company could be looking to take over the market with this cheap yet powerful offering.
As for the tech specs, the ASUS Pegasus comes with a 5-inch 1280 x 720p display. There’s a 64-bit 1.5GHz MT6732 processor powering the device along with 2GB RAM and 16GB internal storage which can be further expanded via MicroSD. At the back, there is an 8MP camera sensor while up front, there is a 5MP shooter. The rear shooter comes with ultra-picture quality mode and can synthesize a number of pictures together to form an ultra-high resolution 30MP image. The phone supports a 2500 mAh battery on board. The Pegasus runs on Android 4.4 KitKat OS with Zen UI on top. The Zen UI is smart enough to place your most used apps at the right spot which will save you some time. It supports 4G TD-LTE / TD- CDMA and GSM networks and supports dual SIM dual standby.
ASUS has priced the Pegasus aggressively and the phone will be available for sale for just 799 Yuan which comes to around $129. Pre-orders start today!
This is a great price for a phone with such features and will compete directly with smartphones like Xiaomi Redmi 1S. However, the company has not announced any plans for Pegasus release outside of China but we expect more details soon.
If Pegasus does make it to international markets, do you think the phone can take on Xiaomi’s Redmi 1S which has been very popular among budget customers? Another important point to consider will be its availability, whether the phone will be available without any registration or will it follow Xiaomi’s model. There are lots more questions that needs to be answered, but lets wait and watch.
[socialpoll id=”2240299″]
Meanwhile take a look at the hands on pictures of the ASUS Pegasus below.
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