Huawei is once again making the headlines. A new leak on Weibo shows us a new Huawei device. The one who leaked the two images shown below claims it to be the Huawei Ascend Mate 7 Plus / Mate 8, the successor of the popular Mate 7.
Mate 7 plus?
As you can see, the images don’t reveal much about the design of the leaked phone. But judging from the pictures, it looks a lot like the current Huawei Ascend Mate 7. The bezels are almost non-existent and we can even say that the phone is bezel less. Mate 7 had a similar design profile with very thin bezels around its display but here, at least in the images, we don’t see those black borders. Another difference is the speaker grill at the bottom of the rear panel that spans across the width of the phone instead of just a small opening on the corner.
Ascend Mate 7 back panel
Other features are similar to the Mate 7, like the Huawei branding on the rear panel and the placement of the front camera, sensors and the ear piece. So, this definitely looks like an upgrade to the Huawei Ascend Mate 7, but we are not yet sure whether this would succeed it.
At the moment, we don’t have any details about its specifications or features.But if this is indeed the Huawei Mate 8 or the Huawei Mate 7 Plus (if the company is going with naming scheme as the Honor 6 Plus), then the device has some big shoes to fill. The Mate 7 is probably the best Huawei device till date and has received positive response from reviewers worldwide. The monster 6-inch display and the metal design gives it a premium look and the hardware packed inside makes it one of the best phablets in the market. The phone includes a fingerprint scanner, which reportedly works better than any other scanners on a smartphone till date. Other specifications include a Hisilicon Kirin 925 octa-core processor, 2GB/ 3GB RAM and 16GB/ 32GB memory options, 6-inch 1080p display, 13MP rear camera and a 5MP front shooter, a large 4100 mAh battery etc.
An upgrade would have to best many of these features, which even at today’s stage is quite impressive. Since the phone has finally surfaced online, we expect to see more details via such leaks in the coming weeks. Stay tuned for more updates.
We are just one day away from the official event scheduled by Meizu but we are regularly getting new leaks about the upcoming Meizu Blue Charm devices. While the company hasn’t confirmed the existence of such a brand as of yet, we expect tomorrow’s announcement to confirm and make it official.
Today, we have some interesting news about both the upcoming Blue Charm devices. In a set of pictures leaked earlier, there are two Meizu devices running an entirely different looking OS/ UI instead of the company’s Flame 4.0. One is larger than the other, which could be the Meizu Blue Charm Note and the other being the Meizu K52, the 4.6-inch model.
From the pictures, it looks like both the models are running a modified version of Jolla Sailfish OS. The icons at the bottom are similar to the ones seen on the Sailfish OS. Moreover, the overall interface too looks similar to Sailfish, which could mean that the new Meizu device may feature this instead of Android.
However, that is very unlikely and even if Meizu Blue Charm devices did have this UI, it would most probably be just a launcher and not an entirely new OS. Sailfish has been growing pretty steadily, but the app store and the overall operating system still has a long way to go to replace an OS like Android. Another possibility is that this can also be a different variant of the two devices, for those interested in having Jolla Sailfish, but even that does not sound practical. So, for now, we think that this is just a Sailfish launcher on top of Android 4.4 KitKat OS!
Lets recap the Meizu Blue Charm Note which hit TENAA around two days back. It features a 5.5-inch 1080p resolution display, 64-bit MT6752 octa-core processor clocked at 1.7GHz; 2GB RAM, 16GB storage capacity; 13MP rear + front 5MP front cameras, 3050 mAh battery and TD-LTE, TD-SCDMA, and GSM network support. For more information on Meizu Blue Charm Note, check out our earlier post.
This is an interesting new piece of information but take it with a grain of salt. Meizu has been developing Flyme UI for quite some time now and there is no need for Meizu to abandon that in favor of an entirely new UI.
Luckily, we don’t have to wait too long to find out more about the upcoming Meizu Blue Charm devices as the company is expected to announce them both along with a number of other Blue Charm gadgets at the 23 December 2014 event.
More and more Chinese companies are trying to make a splash in the smartphone industry today. They try to be different in certain aspects like design, specs, software implementations, some extra-ordinary features or some innovation, which can make a device stand out from the crowd. However, having in mind that Chinese smartphone market is as hectic as ever, all the manufacturers have something in common – flagship grade specs at the very attractive price.
Two of these devices include two very recently announced ones – the Meizu MX4 Pro and the Huawei Honor 6 Plus. They are both made having a demanding consumer in mind as they are able to offer top of the range specs and great design. Also, they both have a great built quality. We will try to decide which device is worth more of your attention.
Specs
The new Huawei’s flagship features include 5.5″ Full-HD display with the pixel density of 401 ppi, dimensions of 150.46 x 75.68 x 7.5mm (5.93 x 2.98 x 0.30 inches), weighs 165 g, home-made octal-core Kirin 925 processor, clocked at 1.8 GHz (1.80 GHz Quad-core Cortex-A15 & 1.31 GHz Quad-core Cortex-A7), Mali-T628 GPU, i3 Sensor Hub technology, 3 GB of RAM, 32 GB of storage, which can be further expanded via Micro SD card slot up to 128 GB, 3600 mAh battery and it can even work as a power bank to charge other devices,dual-camera setup on the back with dual 8mpx sensors, which are able to produce 13 mpx pictures, 5 mpx front facing snapper. Moreover, it has a dual SIM card slot (the second SIM slot accepts nano-SIM cards and it doubles as a micro SD card slot), Bluetooth 4.0, OTG function, infrared port, NFC support and LTE support.
This device has dimensions of 150.1 x 77 x 9 mm (5.91 x 3.03 x 0.35 inches) and weighs 158 g. Meizu MX4 Pro is a beast of the specs, which include an amazingly high resolution 5.5-inch 2K (2560 x 1536) screen, which is even a bit higher than regular 2k screens, and it is also covered by the Gorilla Glass 3. Also, the device is being run by a powerful 20nm Samsung Exynos 5430 octa-core processor (Quad-core 2 GHz Cortex-A15 & quad-core 1.5 GHz Cortex-A7), Mali-T628 GPU, has a 3350 mAh battery and has 3GB of RAM. In addition, it comes in 16, 32 or 64 GB storage flavours, which, however, cannot be further expanded via the Micro SD card slot. Also, it has a fingerprint sensor, which is installed in the square home button, 20.7mp rear-facing camera with a 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor (the same sensor that is being used in Sony Xperia series devices), 5mp front facing snapper, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, Hifi audio chips.
The verdict: both devices are very heavy specced. However, we should give a credit to the Meizu MX4 Pro, which offers a higher resolution display (although some people may argue if we really need that 2k display on the smartphone), more powerful chipset, fingerprint sensor, HI-FI audio chip, which ensures better audio listening experience, higher resolution camera. However, these are just mere specs, so we will give our final opinion in the end of this review.
Design
Both devices spot a great design, which includes a great build quality and good choice of materials. However, the Huawei Honor 6 Plus is a bit more compact device than the Meizu’s offering, as it is a tad narrower, 1.5 mm thinner, but a bit heavier. However, these differences are not significant.
You can see some more pictures in the gallery:
Both devices offer an alloy frame, which always adds that premium look and feel. On the other hand, the Huawei offers a glass back panel, which for some people may look more appealing than Meizu’s plastic back.
You can check out some pictures in the gallery:
The verdict: in the end, it is always a personal choice and you would make no mistake by choosing either of these devices as they look and feel really good in the hand.
Display
Display always matters as it is the first place, where we look once we take a smartphone. At least on paper, the Meizu MX4 Pro offers a better display with higher, Quad HD resolution in comparison to Huawei’s “only” Full-HD. Well, theory is one thing, but how do they compare in real life?
As we have said before, the display on the Honor 6 Plus does not have the highest resolution on the market, but it still comes in Full-HD and has 401 PPI. The colours look vivid, the details are very sharp and the viewing angles are very good. Also, the contrast levels are very good. What is more, we liked the colour accuracy as they look natural on this beautiful LCD screen. Finally, the brightness level is very good as well as we had no issues reading the content on the screen even in the direct sunlight.
Let’s take a look at the Meizu MX 4 Pro and its super high resolution screen.
The MX4 Pro has a wonderful screen, which is bright, vivid and colourful. It is also very sharp, it has great viewing angles and colour look great. Honestly, we did not see a noticeable difference between Full-HD and Quad-HD screens. Anyway, the Quad-HD is for the spec heads and more future proof than Huawei’s more classic approach with a 1080p screen.
Verdict: both devices have great screens,which are vivid, sharp and bright. However, they have different resolutions, where the MX4 Pro prevails. Of course, the difference is negligible, but the Quad-HD resolution shows the latest and greatest what technology can offer. Thus, it is more future proof and puts the MX4 Pro on top of the Honor 6 Plus.
Benchmarks
Both devices are equipped with powerful, yet different processors. Both handsets have octa-core processors, which work under big.LITTLE architecture. The Huawei decided to use its home-made Kirin chip, clocked at 1.8 GHz (1.80 GHz Quad-core Cortex-A15 & 1.31 GHz Quad-core Cortex-A7) and the Meizu decided to keep the relationship with its partner Samsung and used a powerful Exynos chipset, clocked 5430 octa-core processor (Quad-core 2 GHz Cortex-A15 & quad-core 1.5 GHz Cortex-A7). Let’s see how they perform in real life.
But before that let’s take a look at he raw power – some benchmark results.
As you can see, the Honor 6 Plus scored 42223 points on Antutu. This is not the best result we have seen so far, but it is still very respectable. Therefore, day to day usage should have no issues whatsoever. For the time being, could only have Antutu testing. We will update the article with other benchmarks in the future.
Right now let’s take a look how the MX4 Pro has to offer in the benchmarks below.
AnTuTu: 45818
Quadrant: 9009
Vellamo (HTML5): 2262
Vellamo (Metal): 1377
Linpack (measured by FLOPS or floating-point operations per second): 130.785
As we can see, the scores are not the highest either, but they are very good. Thus, the Mx4 will perform without any issues in real life.
Real Life Performance
Huawei Honor 6 Plus
As it is usual that the device has no issues handling daily tasks, but gaming is much more demanding. We tested a few games, including Subway Surfer. We can say that the Kirin 925 handles the gaming very good, without any lags or stutters. The device heats up a little, but not too much.
It is natural, that handling Full-HD content does not impose any issues for the Huawei’s device. The video playback is smooth without any issues.
Meizu MX4 Pro
The Meizu’s device has no issues with the above tests made neither. It managed to perform without any issues in basic tasks. Also, the gaming performance is smooth and lag-free. Naturally, the video playback is smooth as well.
Verdict: both devices are equipped with great processing power under the hood. We should agree that the Meizu’s offering looks better on paper and performs a bit better on the benchmarks, but in during real life scenarios, it is hard to tell the difference, which one is better. All in all, both devices are good at anything you throw at.
User Interface
When it comes to the user interface (UI), both devices offer a proprietary approach and offer a highly customised Android experience with their respective skins.
First of all, the Huawei Honor 6 Plus have made their iteration of Android by using the Emotion UI 3.0. It is heavily customised variation of Android OS, which seems to be odd if we consider that many manufacturers are implementing lighter versions with simple options.
To begin with, we can see a touch-screen back, home and multi-tasking buttons, which are quite usual these days when manufacturers are trying to make the devices, which are as thin as possible and reduce that bezels size. Secondly, there is a usual Huawei’s stuff with a lot of home screens without any app drawer. Thus, you need to get used to making folders with apps or games. Thankfully, besides the classic “drag and drop” functionality, you can also select a “+” symbol to add the apps you want to sit in the folder.
What is more, we may see some similarities with the Windows phone since there is a la tiles style of some basic apps and functions. This is not a bad idea per se, but it is a personal choice of everyone. In addition, there is another thing, which is quite usual for many Chinese manufacturers – many customisation options. You can choose a different theme, icons, screen lock styles, wallpapers etc. Also, you may download new ones from the online server.
It looks like that the Huawei did a bit of a mashup of Android, iOS and Windows phone. Of course, it is a matter of personal taste, but there is a lot of room towards simplicity in the user interface. On the other hand, with such a pack of customisation options, the company managed to make a stutter-free and smooth user interface.
You can check some of the UI pictures in the gallery below:
The Meizu MX 4 Pro also has their own iteration of Android. The device runs on Flyme 4.1 operating system, which is based on the Android 4.4.4. It is quite simplistic user interface, which reminds us a bit of the iOS. You can check how the user interface looks like in the gallery below.
As you can see, the Meizu has taken a simplistic approach. As usual, there is no app drawer, so you would need to make folders as on the Huawei’s interface. What is more, the Meizu MX4 Pro only has a physical home button and there are other buttons are on screen. Also, the device supports swiping from the button of the screen for functions like multitasking. We found that very convenient considering the size of the device.
Moreover, there is a notification centre, which has some transparent looks (similar to iOS). What is more, the UI supports various gestures, which is always a welcome feature.
Finally, the Meizu’s simple take on Android gives a super fast user experience with no lag, which we really like.
Verdict: both devices have quite good user interfaces, but Huawei Honor 6 is a bit different than the MX4 Pro since it does not look that simplistic and minimal. On the other hand, both user interfaces offer a great user experience, which is lag free and super responsive. We can recommend both UI’s, so it is your personal choice.
Camera
This is one of the most exciting parts of each device. Let us start by Honor 6 Plus, which has one of the main hardware features and key selling points on its back – a dual camera setup. This setup consists of two 8 megapixels sensors, but due to the software implementations, it is capable of taking 13Mp photos.
The dual-camera setup can be used for a variety of ways. First, it can be used for bokeh or depth of field effects, when the object, which is far away can be blurred out or vice versa. Second, these two sensors work in tact to capture more detail and more light. Huawei touts it as “human eyes experience”.
Here is a video, which provides a more insightful look at Honor 6 Plus’ camera:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfuCWlrX0K4
What is more, the tandem of two sensors helps achieving an amazing speed of focus, which is 0.1 seconds. Also, the 3IE algorithm helps bringing more light to the sensor and reduces the amount of dark areas.
In addition, the dual-camera setup is very useful for the low-light shots. It lets you capture more details with much less noise and produce natural looking colours.
Here you can see some camera samples, taken by the Huawei Honor 6 Plus:
Overall, we were really impressed by the picture quality of this device. It can produce sharp and detailed photos in many conditions including low light scenes. What is more, the colour accuracy is very good. The pictures are not overexposed and the white balance is very good.
The Meizu MX4 Pro
The Meizu takes a bit more traditional approach, when it comes to camera. Traditional mean that it does not use a dual camera setup, but still uses one of the most powerful camera sensors available – Sony IMX220 (the same sensor that it used on the Sony Xperia Z3). The sensor has a size of 1/2.3”, which equals to some compact cameras.
Without further review, please check the camera samples in the gallery below:
As we can see the MX4 Pro’s camera can deliver some amazing results. It can capture great level of detail, the photos look sharp and vivid. However, we think that the Huawei Honor 6 Plus can produce better low light shots as it manages to capture more detail and produces less noise.
Verdict: both cameras perform well in good lighting conditions. Besides that, the Honor 6 Plus can offer great depth of field effect. Also, it can produce some better looking low light shots. Also, the focusing speed is faster than MX4 Pro. However, the Meizu’s device can shoot 4k videos, but Honor 6 cannot. However, we still do not have many devices that support 4k. In the end, we think that the Honor 6 Plus offers a better overall experience, especially if you care about low light shots.
Battery Life
Both devices are equipped with decent battery packs, which should ensure that you would not run out of juice in the middle of the day. First, the Huawei implemented a juicy 3600 mAh battery. Considering its size and the fact that it does not need to feed a 2k display, it is great news for users. During our testing, we could easily run through the whole day without any issues. Our test included a regular calling, texting, surfing the web, watching the videos, taking pictures and videos, a bit of gaming etc. We can say that the battery is sufficient even for a power user and will last you a full day.
The Meizu MX4 Pro is no slouch in this department either. The company installed a beefy 3350 mAh battery. We did some similar testing and we found out that it can last you a full day without an issue.
Verdict: both devices are equipped with huge batteries, which are able to provide enough power to last a full day of heavy usage. We think that it is very impressive and neither device would disappoint you.
Conclusions
Both offerings by the Huawei and Meizu are very good devices. They have beautiful designs, which include a great choose of materials, a sturdy build quality and perfect craftsmanship. Also, both of devices have outstanding screens. Meizu MX4 Pro, however, has a higher Quad HD resolution, but we did not find anything bad with Honor 6 Plus’ 1080 panel as it is super sharp and crisp.
What is more, each of the manufacturer has some different approaches, when it comes to the user interface. While Honor 6 Plus and its Emotion UI looks appealing, but we liked MX4 Pro’s user interface more pleasing to the eye due to its simplicity and minimal design.
Furthermore, both devices are equipped with great processing power under the hood. Although, the Meizu MX4 Pro can perform a bit better on the benchmark tests, we did not feel any difference and daily life performance, which included various basic tasks, gaming high intensity games, watching or capturing video etc.
In addition, both devices have excellent cameras, when it comes to day-time shots. However, the Huawei Honor 6 Plus has taken a step further and installed a dual camera-setup. Indeed, it helped achieving better low light shots with less noise and more details. Also, the super fast shutter speeds of 0.1 seconds are really amazing. Last but not least, the duo camera lets you create some great depth of field effects, digitally adjust the aperture size of the cameras and do some other neat things.
When it comes to battery life, both devices perform very well. We are quite sure that they would last you a full day of heavy usage, which is always a great achievement.
In the end of the day, both devices are great choice as the pack a bunch of specs in a greatly designed shell and come at much lower prices than flagships from the Western companies.
If you are looking for some more detailed information about each of the device please check our separate reviews of the Huawei Honor 6 Plus and Meizu MX4 Pro.
Just a few hours back we saw the upcoming Huawei Ascend GX1 in pictures. But apart from the leaked images, we had little information about the specifications of the device.
Now, the same phone (model no. SC-CL00) has hit TENAA, which means we have lots more details about the tech specs as well as images of the device. Like we predicted, the phone does feature a large 6-inch display. However, the resolution is just HD, which is certainly a disappointment considering its monster size. Once again like we said earlier, the device is larger than the Mate 7 despite having the same display. It measures 161 × 84.5 × 9.55mm which is much bigger as well as thicker than the Mate 7 which measures 157 x 81 x 7.9 mm. As for the hardware, the Ascend GX1 comes with a quad-core 1.4GHz processor with 1GB RAM and 8GB internal storage which supports external MicroSD card slots. There’s an 8MP camera at the back along with a 2MP front shooter. It runs on Android 4.4.2 KitKat operating system. As far as we know, the phone supports GSM/CDMA 1X/CDMA2000/LTE FDD/TD-LTE networks.
Judging from the specs, you would have known by now that the phone is a mid-ranger. It’s priced at 1590 Yuan which comes to around $255. This is a great price since you don’t have many 6-inch phones in this range.
The phone is currently listed at gome.com.cn but the complete details have not yet been filled. Check out the listing here.
Since the Huawei Ascend GX1 has now hit TENAA, and also listed online, we expect a launch pretty soon. Stay tuned for more updates.
For the past few weeks, Huawei has regularly been making the headlines, thanks to the numerous Honor 6 Plus leaks. So, after the official Honor 6 Plus launch, we thought things might calm down a little. But today, a new leak has put Huawei back on the headlines. This time around, its a new device in the Ascend lineup of the company, which will most likely be called as the Huawei Ascend GX1.
At present, the Ascend Mate 7 is at the top of the lineup. This device is therefore expected to be placed below the flagship Mate 7. We have some exclusive set of images of the GX1 which were leaked earlier today by one of Huawei’s employees. As you can see in the pictures, the upcoming phone has been conveniently compared with the Mate 7 to show us some of the similarities in both the models.
Mate 7 on the left, GX1 on the right
Judging from the size of the device in comparison to Mate 7, it looks like the GX1 has a 6-inch display too. But as you can see, the overall size is a bit bigger than the Mate 7. It’s even a bit thicker, although it is said that the phone would feature a smaller 3,500 mAh battery. The Ascend Mate 7 had a much larger 4,100 mAh battery, but it managed to stay thin at 7.9mm. Interestingly, the Huawei branding on this new device lies on top unlike the Mate 7 which had the branding at the bottom of the display. There is nothing at the bottom, which hints at on-screen buttons and the possibility of Android 5.0 Lollipop out of the box. The Huawei Ascend GX1 also features a slightly different design. The corners are more rounded and the bezels are thicker than that of the Ascend Mate 7.
We don’t have much details about the technical specifications of the leaked device but it is said that the GX1 will support 4G LTE networks and will have a 3,500 mAh battery. It will be cheaper than the Ascend Mate 7 but we still don’t know the approximate price.
This is the first time we are hearing about the GX1 but we are sure that we’ll get more details about the device in the coming few weeks. Stay tuned for more exclusive updates.
Earlier today we saw a new Meizu Blue Charm device on TENAA. However, at that time, the certification website did not have any images of the device code named M463M.
Now we finally have a new set of images of the device and judging from the looks, the phone could be the larger variant in the Blue Charm lineup, i.e. the Meizu Blue Charm Note. The images reveal a design similar to the current Meizu MX4. The corners are rounded and the large camera sensor along with the dual LED flash lie around the top middle region on the rear panel. Below these lie the large Meizu logo. On the front too, you have the round home button like the MX4. One thing to note on the front is that the bezels are extremely thin. You can see the ear piece and the front camera on top. On the left you can see the SIM card slot. So it looks like the Blue Charm Note will have a non-removable back cover.
Although this larger version does not borrow its looks from the iPhone 5C, it is said that the phone is made from the same materials as the 5C model. Coming to the specifications, the device will support TD-LTE, TD-SCDMA, and GSM networks. It will also take dual SIM cards. Like previously reported, the front display is of 5.5-inches with 1080p resolution. To support these specs, there will be a large 3050 mAh battery onboard. Other specs include a 64-bit MTK MT6752 octa-core chip, 2GB RAM and 16GB ROM. It will also sport a 2mp front-facing camera and 13mp rear-facing camera.
The Rumored 4.7-inch Blue Charm device
Overall, from what we have seen till now, the Meizu Blue Charm Note looks like a great device. You have high speed LTE support, dual sim cards, a 64-bit Octa core chip as well as a very large 3050 mAh battery to support all these specs. If priced correctly, Meizu could give a hard time to other phablets currently available in the market.
So what do you think about the device? If these leaks turn out to be true, the phone could sell like hot cakes!
In the past few months, we have seen a number of new releases from the Chinese manufacturer Cubot. In fact, two of those devices, namely the Cubot S200 and the Cubot S168 made it to our best Chinese smartphones under $100 list recently.
Today, we are looking at the cheapest model from that list, i.e. the Cubot S168. The device is available for less than $80, which is a great price for the features that it offers. But with this cheap price tag, there are many people who doubt the build quality of the device. So, today, we decided to take a close look at the Cubot S168.
In this Cubot S168 Review, we will look at the phone’s design, build quality, hardware as well as its software, thereby helping you make a purchase decision.
Unboxing
Before we talk about the design, lets look at what at items you get inside the package. The phone comes in a simple cardboard box with the Cubot logo on top and the phone’s internal design below it. Even though the overall package was plain, we liked the black and white graphics on top.
Inside, you get a phone, a 1,900mAh battery, screen protector, MicroUSB cable with the charging connector, quick start guide and a transparent case. The phone looked quite solid and well built, but we’ll talk about that in detail later.
The quick start guide has instructions in both English as well as Chinese, which is a plus considering many Chinese manufacturers don’t even bother to include an English manual. Interestingly, you also get a free transparent case in the box (atleast we got one when we bought it from GearBest), which offers decent protection to your phone. Given that its quite hard to find a case for Chinese phones especially ones which are not so famous like this model, its good to see that you get a case right inside the box. So, no need to hunt for a case online. We also got a screen protector inside the box for no additional cost. In short, the box contains everything you need for your new smartphone.
DESIGN
You can’t expect much from a $80 phone, but to be honest, the Cubot S168 exceeds our expectation by all means. Although the design is pretty basic with only two color options – black and white, the overall build quality of the phone is impressive. Unlike other cheap Chinese phones that we have seen in the past, Cubot S168 looks like the device which is last. Everything feels sturdy and even the buttons feel responsive. You may have to take special care of the rear panel while removing it because its a bit flimsy and we were afraid that it may break with excessive force. But other than that, there were no loose parts or chipped sides.
The phone has a traditional design profile with smooth edges. Its made entirely of plastic, so don’t be deceived by the silver frame which looks like metal, as even that is made of some kind of plastic. On the front you have a 5 inch display with a front facing camera, ambient light sensor and ear piece at the top. Below the display lies the three capacitive buttons, namely menu, home and back. Unfortunately, these buttons are not back lit, which may cause some trouble while operating the device at night. Also, you don’t get an LED notification light on the device. While we would have loved an LED light on top, which comes standard on most phones today, we think that it is something that we can live without especially considering the price you pay.
The power and the volume keys are placed on the right side of the phone. The left side is completely clean. At the bottom you have a microphone and a slot for opening the rear panel. Finally, on top you have the microUSB port and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The back panel has a smooth finish, but its not slippery. So you don’t have to worry about the phone slipping through your fingers. Moreover, its not a fingerprint magnet (atelast the black version wasn’t) like other plastic phones that we have seen recently. On top of the panel, you’ll find the 8MP camera along with a single LED flash besides it. The Cubot logo lies at the bottom alongside the speakers (which are really LOUD). One additional note – the back panel is really tight, so you may want to remove it slowly to prevent it from breaking.Once the panel is removed, you’ll see the two dual SIM card slots along with a MicroSD card slot.
DISPLAY
On paper, Cubot S168’s display isn’t the best in the market but for your everyday use, it should serve you well. The phone comes with a 5 inch qHD resolution IPS display. We know that nowadays most phones under $100 feature atleast 720p display, but from our experience even 960 x 540 pixel resolution looks good on a display under 5.0 inches. Given that its an IPS panel, the viewing angles are great and the colors looks rich and vibrant. In fact, we were quite happy with the images and videos displayed on this IPS panel. To conclude, we are sure you won’t be disappointed with Cubot 168’s 5.0 inch display.
Remember that there’s no Gorilla Glass protection, so you may want to be careful with this display as it is prone to scratches.
HARDWARE & PERFORMANCE
Even though the Cubot S168 is cheaper than most budget phones in the market, it comes with the same processor as its competitors. So you get the MTK6582 quad-core processor clocked at 1.3GHz, which is the same processor that we have seen in smartphones up to $150 in price. This coupled with the 1GB RAM onboard should be more than enough for responsive performance. Apps open up fast, and there is practically no lag. Only when you try to multi-task with more than 4-5 apps that you experience some lag. But that’s mainly because of the limited 1GB memory. Gaming performance is smooth for most of the games and to be honest, we were impressed by the kind of fluid UI you get on such a cheap phone.
For storage, you have 8GB inbuilt. This should be enough for basic games and apps, and for your videos and images, you can use a MicroSD card up to 32GB.
Our AnTuTu Benchmark results gave a score of 17,541 which is in line with phones with similar specs. Anything above 16,000 is good for smooth gaming performance and that’s exactly what we experienced. We tried out several first person shooter as well as racing games like Asphalt 8, and all of them ran well on the phone. So, gaming performance won’t be an issue especially when you stick with the traditional games with moderate graphics.
We liked almost everything about Cubot S168’s hardware except for one thing, the battery. The phone comes with just 1,900mAh battery which you may find a bit small. Agreed that the qHD resolution and the power efficient quad-core processor should help increase the battery life, but according to me, Cubot should have gone with a slightly larger battery, something around 2,200 mAh to 2,500 mAh. That way, you don’t have to worry about charging the device in between the day as there is a very good chance that it would last throughout the day.
Still, if you are using this as a secondary device or very lightly the phone won’t need charging till the end of the day. However, if you are planning to use it roughly, then we’ll advise you to carry a charger with you. Still, for moderate users, its a decent battery.
Full Tech Specifications
Display
5 inch 960 x540 qHD
Processor
MediaTek MT6582, 1.3GHz, Quad-core
Memory
1GB RAM + 8GB ROM (MicroD card slot: YES)
Cameras
REAR: 8MP + LED flash FRONT: 5MP
Battery
1,900 mAh
Size and Weight
145 x 72 x 8.5 mm, 140 grams
OS
Android 4.4
Price
$79.99
Coupon
S168CN
CAMERA
Chinese phones usually come with disappointing cameras. But the releases in the past few months have been somewhat better. Even though they don’t offer extra-ordinary image quality, their inbuilt cameras are good enough for taking occasional photos. The same goes with the Cubot S168.
You have an 8MP camera at the back and a 5MP shooter up front, both capable of capturing decent pictures. For outdoor shots, the camera is good enough. Images turn out clear and bright and even the color reproduction is good to a certain extent. However, like most other budget Chinese devices, the real struggle begins in low light. Night pictures, especially where there is little light turned out to be bad. Noise is high and even the colors are not well produced. However, we are not complaining because, like we said earlier, you don’t buy a Chinese device for its camera, atleast not the budget ones. So, make sure there’s enough light when you click pictures with the Cubot S168. That way, you won’t be disappointed with its camera performance.
CONNECTIVITY & SOFTWARE
Chinese phones these days don’t sacrifice on connectivity features. The same goes with Cubot S168 which comes with Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, GSM + WCDMA support (GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz & WCDMA 850/2100MHz), 3G, GPS, Bluetooth and Gravity/ light/ proximity sensors.
When we tested the GPS, the phone could locate over 10 satellites. Tracking down our location was quick and is at par with other mid range phones in the market. So, needless to say, you don’t have to worry about GPS on this phone.
The phone comes with Android 4.4 KitKat which gives almost a stock android experience. It supports over 30 languages which include English, Deutsch, Espanol, Filipino, French, Italiano, Netherlands, Greek, Polish, Korean, Thai and even Chinese.
It supports a number of software gestures too. All you have to do is draw the letter assigned to an app on the screen and the phone will take you directly to the app. Although this is not a very unique feature since most Chinese phones come with gesture recognition, it is still good to see a $79 phone having such practical features.
VERDICT
For a phone that just costs $79, the Cubot 168 looks and feels much more premium than it actually is. The build quality is good (strong and durable), the qHD screen is more than enough for your everyday entertainment needs, the hardware is powerful enough for lag free performance and the software is practical. All in all, the Cubot S168 looks like a great buy especially if you are short on cash.
You can purchase the Cubot S168 at just $79.99 with free Shipping from GearBest.
For the last few days, more news and information have been coming out about Meizu’s upcoming sub-brand, the Meizu Blue Charm. Last Saturday, pictures of the Blue Charm device’s rear covers were released online. In addition, a picture of the front of the upcoming Meizu Blue Charm was leaked online showing that it has a 4.7-inch screen with a 16:9 aspect ratio. There are only four days left until Meizu unveils the Meizu Blue Charm, and it looks like one of the cell phones under this brand has already hit TENAA.
This afternoon, a phone from Meizu was listed in TENAA under the model number “M463M”. According to its TENAA entry, it supports TD-LTE, TD-SCDMA, and GSM networks. It also supports dual SIM cards. It received its network license on December 15. Unfortunately, TENAA did not publish a photo so we have no idea what it looks like.
However, based on the photos that were posted by Meizu Vice-CEO Li Nan last night, it has a rear case that looks very much like Apple’s iPhone 5C. You can even say that it is just a larger clone of the iPhone 5C. Previous photos have also shown that it has Meizu’s trademark small round Home button and that it has round edges.
As for its specifications, previous reports have said that this phone will come in two versions, each with a different screen size. One will have a 4.7-inch display screen (Blue Charm ) while the other will have a 5.5-inch screen (Blue Charm Note). Both are 1080p screens. This phone will use the 64-bit MTK MT6752 octa-core chip and will have 2GB RAM and 16GB ROM. It will also sport a 2mp front-facing camera and 13mp rear-facing camera.
Meizu hopes to hit a home run with their latest release, and who knows? Maybe they will.
Lenovo has always been determined to release products that can last for a longer period of time. From the Lenovo P700 to the recently released S860, each device from Lenovo has had better battery life than its predecessors. Now, they will soon release another device that could last long. Its model number is “Lenovo P70t”.
Let’s first take a look at the design. The Lenovo P7t has a nice chassis with round edges. The surface of the rear cover is made of artificial leather. It has a thickness of 8.9mm with no protruding camera. Its length and width are 142mm and 71.8mm respectively, and it weighs about 149g. Even though it is a business mobile phone, it is available in black and white.
The main selling point of the Lenovo P70t is, of course, its battery life. This cell phone has a 4000mAh changeable battery. Official reports from Lenovo say that, theoretically, the Lenovo P70t can last for up to 46 days! So that it could last longer, not only does it have a powerful battery, it also uses some great power-saving technology. When you lock your phone, it will automatically close down all background apps that are not being used. Most importantly, when it is already fully charged and is still charging, it can directly get power from the charger itself to make sure that it remains full. To save power, the Lenovo P70t uses the latest power-saving processor (TI BQ24296M). It has a charging current of 2000mA meaning that when you charge it for 15 minutes, you can make phone calls for 6 hours.
The Lenovo P70t also uses the MTK MT6732 64-bit quad-core LTE processor and can use 4G, 3G and GSM networks as well as dual SIM cards. It has 1GB RAM and 8GB ROM. It also sports a 5-inch 720p OGS display screen. As for its camera, it sports a 5mp front-facing camera and 13mp rear-facing camera. This phone is set to hit stores soon.
Nubia is ZTE’s subsidiary company, which has a great reputation for making quality devices for a decent price. The latest series in their portfolio include Z7, Z7 Max and Z7 Mini. These devices packed great specs, beautiful design, great Nubia User Interface and they were quite popular both in China and internationally. They were all successful offerings by this manufacturer, but it has been quite a while since they were launched. It looks like that Nubia is ready to launch at least one more product before the end of 2014.
The latest teaser by NUBIA leaves some room for imagination. Firstly, there is not too much information about the possible product. Well, it is clear that it will be launched tomorrow, December 19th. What is more, there is a keyboard on the picture and the suggestion that “You do not need to refresh anymore”. We just try to make a guess what it could be. Our imagination gives us an idea that it could be a accessory for a smartphone or a tablet. Less likely, it could be a smartphone itself, which includes a physical keyboard. However, we think that Blackberry days are over and people got used to digital keyboards on their smartphones. The last thing that comes to our mind is a laptop, but it is the least likely scenario as the company specialises in manufacturing smartphones.
Having said all that we just need to wait one more day to see what Nubia has to offer. Until tomorrow, we can just make some guesses. So what do you guys think this company will announce tomorrow? Let us know in the comment section beyond this article!
As early as June 2014, there has been news of Chinese cellphone manufacturer, K-Touch (or Tianyu), releasing WP8.1 cell phones. Their model numbers are said to be Tianyu5703A3-WVGA, 3.0” and Tianyu5705A2. Now, there are new clues as to whether or not the company will release a WP8.1 cell phone.
Recently, someone found out that the company had launched a placeholder app called SIMLockedPopup in Microsoft’s WP8 app store. It is described as “K-touch’s test app. Do not worry about it.” It was first launched back on September 17.
We then discovered a whole bunch of placeholder apps but none of which had any practical use. We do hope that Microsoft does a better job inspecting these apps.
Before the Hisense Nana was launched, Hisense released an app called “Call Settings +” on the Microsoft App store. They soon released a WP8.1 phone after that.
This May, it was announced that Microsoft added two new Windows Phone OEM partners: K-Touch and Blue. Blu has already released two Windows Phones (Win HD and Win JR). Now, maybe it will be K-Touch’s turn.
ZTE has finally made the ZTE Star 2 official. The device will have top of the line specifications and is reportedly the first smartphone capable of full voice recognition controls.
Design wise, ZTE Star 2 retains most of the features as its predecessor. So, the edges on top as well as the bottom are smooth and curved as opposed to the other two sides which have sharp cuts. The front as well as the back are made of glass, which gives it a premium look. The 6.9mm slim profile further adds to its beauty.
Inside, the ZTE Star 2 features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 quad-core processor clocked at 2.3GHz with 2GB RAM and storage options starting from 16GB. You even have a memory card slot to expand the storage. On the front, there is a 5.0-inch Full HD 1920 x 1080p OGS (One Glass Solution) display. There’s also a 5MP 88 degrees wide angle camera above the screen. The back is adorned by the 13MP camera sensor with dual LED flash. Interestingly, the single speaker on the device is not on the front or the back, but on the left side. As for connectivity, it supports 4G LTE networks too. All these tech specs are powered by the 2300 mAh battery onboard. Star 2 runs on Android 4.4 KitKat OS with MiFavor 3.0 UI on top.
The voice recognition system on the ZTE Star 2 is not just an app, it integrates voice controls deep inside the device’s hardware. So, you have a number of commands and interfaces which you can use to complete operations just using your voice. This system level integration allows seamless voice control over a wide range of applications. The company claims that the phone can open up multiple apps together using just voice commands. To make these controls possible as well as practical, the voice recognition system on the device can recognize commands perfectly around 90% of the time. Moreover, its quite fast too as it responds in just 1.2 seconds. The system is smart enough to identify different kinds of voice, such as lyrics of a song, or the commands given while driving.
Given the specifications and the features, ZTE Star 2 does look like an innovative device. Some reports even say that ZTE has incorporated over 1000 pieces of patented technology into this device.
ZTE has also priced the device appropriately. The Star 2 will go on sale for 2499 Yuan which comes to around $400. Although this isn’t the cheapest device you’ll find in the market with such specifications, the voice recognition tech (if it works as promised) should definitely give it an edge over other competitors.
Check out the full gallery of the ZTE Star 2 below.
At present internet is stuffed with news as well as rumors coming from major tech giants like LG, Sony, HTC, Samsung etc. No doubt they have shadowed companies like Xiaomi or Meizu that possess cell phones with almost same might as well as decent features similar to them. However, a lot of thanks to websites like Antutu Benchmark, which plays a very crucial role in reminding us of the leaked specifications that could be seen in the upcoming Xiaomi handset.
According to the earlier informations about the 64 bit smartphone from Xiaomi from TENNA, this smartphone will be powered a quad-core 64 bit cpu — snapdragon 410 MSM8916, 4.7 inches IPS display， 1GB RAM, 8GB ROM, 800/200 megapixel rear/front camera, 2200mAh battery, Android 4.4.4 OS and as for network connectivity support, does support GSM/WCDMA/TD-LTE/LTE-FDD which is China Unicom 4G LTE.
Based on the photo sent out by TENAA, this new device has a narrower chassis than the Xiaomi Red Mi 1S. It is also lighter weighing 134g. Its rear cover comes in black, white, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, and other colors. It is most likely an upgraded edition of the Red Mi 1S, but we cannot rule out the possibility that Xiaomi will call it the Red Mi 2.
Its benchmark score in AnTuTu is 19898, which is about the same as many other phones right now that use the Snapdragon 410. Using four A53 cores, this score is to be expected. Based on tests, its 3D capabilities seemed to have had some upgrades from the Red Mi 1S. I cannot really say the same for its other features.
Accoding to the pictures from TENNA of this device, it has a thinner bezel than Redmi 1, and it became lighter which is just 134g. With all of these upgrads, I think this device could be an updrade edition of the Redmi 1 or called as Redmi 2.
Back in October, Lenovo announced that they would create a new subsidiary company that would be headed by Lenovo senior vice-president, Chen Xudong. Now, Chen Xudong has just announced the name of the new subsidiary, “Fancy Maker.”
Back when Lenovo first announced the creation of a new subsidiary, it did not have a name. Today, Chen Xudong announced the new company’s name at a conference. According to reports, Lenovo’s new subsidiary company will release internet-related terminal products such as smart phones. According to Chen Xudong, Fancy Maker will enjoy a bit more autonomy from the main company. “As an international corporation, Lenovo enjoys experienced management, while the new company will be run under a more flexible management.”
Since Fancy Maker will be able to make use of some of Lenovo’s great resources, Chen Xudong believes that Lenovo will have a better starting point than a regular start-up company. “The hardest part about making about making a new brand,” Chen Xudong says, “is making a good supply chain. Our new subsidiary can make use of all the great resources that Lenovo has at its disposal.” All I can say for now is good luck and hopefully, they can come up with some interesting products.
Although recently, Xiaomi has not been on the news as much as its rivals, Meizu and OnePlus, that does not mean that they have not had their share of headlines, and they have not been the best. Earlier this month they released an air purifier. Unfortunately, they were accused (again) of copying the design of another company’s product. This time it is Balmuda’s. There is also the controversy they faced in India, which led to a ban on a couple of their products. Nevertheless, all these problems have not prevented them from continuing to introduce new products. As a matter of fact, a new Xiaomi cell phone recently got its TENAA network license. It is said to have a 4.7-inch 720p display screen and a 1.2GHz quad-core processor.
That is not all. A while ago, it was announced that Xiaomi would release a new low-end cell phone that will use Lead Core’s LC1860 CPU and would cost at least 399 RMB (64.18 USD).
Now, it has been reported that at the 2014 China Mobile Global Partnership Conference, Lead Core, with whom Xiaomi has a strategic partnership, introduced audiences to a prototype of a new phone that they made in collaboration with Xiaomi. This phone uses the LC1860 CPU and supports dual 4G network. Furthermore, Lead Core announced that Xiaomi will release a “super cheap” 4G smart phone in 2015 and that it will use a CPU from Lead Core. Based on previous statements, this could be the 399 RMB cell phone that was brought to the conference today, but analyst Bo Jiutang does not seem to be so sure about that as he has said that it may not be that cheap.
While it does not look like Xiaomi will not release anything else this month, it looks like they are already preparing for 2015. Maybe they will have better luck then.
Landvo is not widely known smartphone maker neither in China nor worldwide. They are actually better known for making clone devices. This time around we can see that the manufacturer has decided to produce on the popular phablets.
Meizu is not the only that is planning to close 2014 with a bang. OnePlus has been making the headlines as 2014 reaches its end as well. There is the leak of a couple of pictures of what is purportedly the Mini version of the famous OnePlus One cell phone. The leaked information says that it has dual 8mp cameras and sports a 5-inch display screen. It was also announced that OnePlus will experience an “evolution” in 2015 (a follow-up to the OnePlus One, perhaps?). Of course, there is also the news that OnePlus released its first power bank.
Yesterday, OnePlus formally launched its first cell phone battery pack, the “OnePlus Power Bank”. This battery pack has a capacity of 10000mAh and uses a Lithium ion chip battery chip from ATL. Its dimensions are 142.8 x 16.2 x 72.6mm and it weighs 220g. It comes with four LED lights that show how much power has been charged. It also has a 5V 2A Micro USB charging port and two 5V 2A standard USB ports. In addition, the OnePlus Power Bank has one interesting feature. You do not have to press the power button to see how much has been charged. You just have to shake it a bit.
Today, someone posted some photos of the OnePlus Power Bank online. It is supposed to have good craftsmanship and texture. Reports say that this battery pack will officially go on sale in January for 89 RMB in China and 14.99 USD abroad. So far, it will only come in BabySkin White and Sandstone Black.
Do you think it can stand up to power banks released by other companies such as Xiaomi and OPPO? It may be too early to say. In the meantime, just enjoy these photos.
IUNI is one of the companies in China that managed to make a great start and shake up the competition. They may not have a market share like Xiaomi, but they are indeed a big threat in the future. This becomes even more obvious, because the company uses very similar marketing strategy – top-notch hardware for an amazing price.
What is more, the IUNI puts a lot of effort to the design of their products. They have already proven that by manufacturing their all metal smartphone – IUNI U2. It does not matter that it was released quite some time ago, it still offers a bunch of specs packed in a very attractive, high quality and compact design.
Company’s latest device – IUNI U3 also has one of the top hardware components, which are packed in a quite brilliant body. This time around, the IUNI decided to use more plastic instead of metal, but still, the alloy chassis and frame makes it quite a looker.
This time we have some interesting news for you as we see as what can possibly be the next flagship – IUNI U4.
If the numbers on the sketch are correct, the device should be in the category of compact smartphones. The length is supposed to be 130mm as the width is marked as 62mm. As far as thickness goes, it should be 8mm, which puts it in average category. Well, if we consider the latest Vivo X5 Max, it would be quite a fatty. In the end, 8mm is fair enough for most of people.
As far as other design elements go, the device is expected to have quite good screen to body ratio, where 4.7″ screen is chosen to assert the compact phone’s category. Also, there is a headphone jack and power on/off button on top, speaker grill and micro usb port on the bottom.
What is more, there are two tripes at the back of the device, which impose the fact that the phone will be made out of aluminium or other alloy. Also, there is a camera with dual LED flash.
Having seen these design sketches we liked it. Well, but we noticed one aspect, which is the inspiration coming from another company (guess what). However, given the fact that the company always manages to offer amazing specs for even more amazing price, we may accept it.
The above sketches also suggest that some of the previous leaks, which implied the fact of existence of IUNI u4 already in flesh and blood turn out to be fake.
All in all, this is quite interesting move by IUNI to produce a compact class device. So far it seems that only Sony has managed to offer a compact device with no compromise to the specs (Z1 or Z3 compact series). Can IUNI do the same?
Meizu’s Blue Charm devices have been making the headlines for the past few days. Today, we have another leak of a Blue Charm device. This time around, it’s the 4.7-inch smaller model that was leaked on Weibo.
Apart from the pictures, we don’t have much information. The phone is expected to feature a 4.7-inch 1080p resolution screen with a 16:9 aspect ratio. As you can see in the picture above, there are two network icons on the display, which could mean that the phone will come with a dual SIM card slot. Further, this 4.7-inch Meizu Blue Charm device is expected to retail for 799 Yuan, which comes to around $129.
Putting together bits and pieces of information that we have received in the past few weeks, it looks like Meizu is taking some inspiration from Apple. The devices leaked so far, the Blue Charm Note and the unnamed smaller model come with 5.5-inch and 4.7-inch displays respectively. These two are the display sizes on the iPhone 6 Plus and the iPhone 6. Moreover, the back cover of the smaller model (like we saw recently) looks a lot like the rear panel on the iPhone 5C. It has a similar design with the same glossy finish and also comes in a number of bright colors.
As you can see in the new image leaked below, the overall design as well as color profile makes it look a lot like the Apple’s iPhone 5C model.
Unfortunately, Meizu has not yet announced anything officially about its Blue Charm range. But we have been receiving details about both the devices regularly and there’s a possibility that the company may announce the new brand at the event scheduled on 23 December 2014.
Huawei Honor 6 Plus was one of the most talked about smartphones this month. In the past few weeks, we save seen plenty of rumors regarding the design and specifications of the device, which gave us a fair idea as to what to expect from the Huawei flagship. But today, we don’t have to rely on any rumors or leaks, as Huawei has officially unveiled the Huawe Honor 6 Plus smartphone.
Like always, we start off with the Huawei Honor 6 Plus Review with design.
DESIGN
If you have seen the Honor 6 smartphone, you’d immediately realize that the new Honor 6 Plus is related to the device in some way. This is because, the new flagship retains the basic design as its predecessor. You get the same rectangular design with round corners as the earlier flagship. However, with its larger 5.5-inch display as opposed to the 5-inch display found on the Honor 6, the new device is much larger and wider than the latter. But somehow, Huawei has managed to maintain the exact same thickness on both the models.
Huawei Honor 6 Plus Dimensions: 150.46×75.68×7.5mm Weight: 165 grams
Huawei Honor 6 Dimensions : 139.6 x 69.7 x 7.5 mm Weight: 130 grams
As you can see, the Honor 6 Plus and Honor 6 measure just 7.5mm in thickness.
The company has taken special care of the design on the phone. The display occupies over 78.2% of the front and the bezels are much thinner than the earlier model. This makes it look much more solid and premium than its predecessor. Even the portion above and below the display looks much smaller.
On top of the display, lies the ear piece, sensors and the front camera. However Huawei has changed the placement to a certain extent of these components. The front camera is now to the left of the ear piece while the sensors go just above it. With the bigger real estate, you have four on screen buttons (an additional notification drop down button is available), instead of the three found on the original model.
The rear panel remains the same on the new device. So, you have a glass like finish at the back which gives it a rich look. If you look closely, you’ll see the small grid on the back cover like the previous flagship. But these lines are not visible from a distance. This finish gives it a very unique feel, much different than other phones available in the market.
The camera and the dual LED flash placement remains the same i.e. on top of the rear panel. However, now you can clearly see the dual camera setup with two sensors onboard. In the middle, you have the honor branding and finally at the bottom, you have the speaker grill. You’ll also see a shiny metal frame which adds a rich flavor the overall unibody design.
On the right side, you have the power and the volume buttons. Below these lies the openings for SIM card as well as MicroSD card + Nano SIM card slot. On the previous model, Huawei had these under a single flap, but now they are separated. On top you have the 3.5m headphone jack as well as the IR blaster while at the bottom, you have the traditional MicroUSB slot along with a microphone besides it.
Overall, we are happy with the design on the new Huawei flagship. The company has smartly used the successful design from the previous flagship and made it even better on this new phone. So, it looks solid, durable as well as premium, making it one of the best looking phones of the year.
DISPLAY:
The Huawei Honor 6 Plus comes with a 5.5-inch 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution display. While we would have loved to see a 2K display on the phone like most other flagships in the market, the 1080p display too looks pretty clear and vibrant. In fact, when you look at the pixel density of the device, its about 401ppi, which is great for a phone with this size.
The LCD screen looks rich in colors and vibrant and there is no noticeable pixels on the screen. So, videos and pictures looks great on its large screen. In short, you shouldn’t have any problems with the Honor 6 Plus’s 1080p display.
One thing we would like to add is that 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution is quite sharp. But of late, we have become obsessed with 2K resolution, hence some may feel that the lack of a 2K display is a drawback. But we don’t feel so, because end of the day the display looks very good and the lower resolution screen will help increase the phone’s battery life.
HARDWARE & PERFORMANCE:
Huawei has made sure that its flagship has top-notch specifications. Under the hood, you have the Huawei’s own HiSilicon Kirin 925 octa-core processor. This processor is built on the ARM’s big.LITTLE architecture and comes with four ARM Cortex-A7 cores clocked at 1.31 GHz and Cortex-A15 at 1.80 GHz. When the phone is running just the basic apps, the four A7 cores are working under the hood. However, as you start a graphic intensive game or an app, the remaining four A15 cores sets in. Such a setup will help the phone regulate the heat generated inside and will conserve battery as much as possible. The inbuilt Mali-T628MP4 GPu is equipped with a ‘i3’ coprocessor which can support 4G LTE Category 6 networks. The processor is mated with 3GB RAM to provide a smooth multitasking experience. For storage you have 16GB/ 32GB internal storage options along with a MicroSD card slot which can take cards up to 128GB in size.
Overall performance of the Kirin 925 is quite good. When using the phone for basic tasks like music, calls and internet surfing, the phone won’t get heated up easily. However, when you are playing a heavy game or working on a graphic intensive app, the phone does heat a little.
Gaming performance is good. The phone handled racing games as well as first person running games like Subway Surfer without any glitches. Kirin 925 and Mali T628MP4 handled everything thrown at it with ease. So, gaming experience is smooth and there is no visible lag.
In the AnTuTu benchmark test, the Honor 6 Plus scored an impressive figure of 42223. While this is lower than other flagships like OnePlus One, Xiaomi Mi4 and Galaxy S5, the difference is very minimal, which means in day to day usage, the performance should be more or less the same on all the four devices.
Naturally with the kind of tech inside the Honor 6 Plus, 1080p video playback is extremely smooth. The phone responds well even when scrolling the video forwards or backwards. So, you can anytime rely on this device for watching Full HD movies. Honor 6 supports a number of network bands such as TD-LTE / FDD-LTE / WCDMA / GSM. It runs on Android 4.4.2 KitKat OS with Emotion 3.0 UI. But we’ll discuss more on the software in another post.
CAMERA
Now, we come to the most anticipated feature of the device, the dual 8MP rear camera setup!
Instead of increasing the camera sensor size, or the lens aperture, which would have in turn bulked up the camera component on the Honor 6 Plus, Huawei went with a dual camera setup. While this sounds a lot like the duo-camera on the HTC One M8, this particular setup does have some additional advantages. First of all, you have get the same depth of field effect on this device as the M8. This can be achieved, even after you have captured the image, thanks to the two cameras at the back along with the 3IE algorithm that it utilizes for these images. These two cameras work together to capture individual 8MP images of the same object and then the software stitches them together to form a 13MP end resolution picture.
The setup also helps focus extremely fast. In fact, Huawei claims that the rear camera can focus in just 0.1 seconds. The setup works like a human eye, which helps track down the exact location of the object in such a short time. This enables it to focus on the desired object so quickly. The above mentioned 3IE algorithm works together with the camera to eliminate dark areas as well as bring in more light into the picture. As a result, you’ll immediately notice a significant difference in the images captured with this device than other competing devices.
As you will see in the pictures below, the images taken from the Huawei Honor 6 Plus looks quite good. There are some issues with a few features of the device, such as the depth of field optimization which doesn’t allow a wide range aperture settings as promised. However, we are sure a few software patches will fix the issue.
The low light performance is particularly impressive, thanks to the two cameras at the back which capture in more light than a single sensor. Moreover, the setup allows the phone to get more details about the object even at night times which helps reduce noise in the images taken. The captured pictures turn out to be clear and the color reproduction is accurate too. In short, the dual camera setup at the back will definitely impress you.
CAMERA UI
CAMERA UI 2
Even the front camera is of 8MP, but it lacks the dual camera setup. However, it’s still great for selfies and video calls, owing to the 88 degrees wide angle lens fitted on it which captures a lot more area than traditional front cameras.
Here are some samples from the rear camera.
More pictures are given in the gallery.
BATTERY
With these tech specs, Huawei has made sure that the Honor 6 Plus lasts easily for more than a day. It comes with a large 3600 mAh battery which should be sufficient for everyday usage. In everyday terms, a few minutes of hours of calling and surfing, a few pictures once in a while as well as listening to music for a few more hours would not deplete the battery completely. So, it will last you an entire day with moderate usage. However, as of now, we don’t know the exact run time that the battery provides. But stay tuned as in the next few days, we’ll try to update you guys about the battery life.
VERDICT
Huawei Honor 6 Plus comes with a great design with an amazing build quality (refer our earlier article where it stops a bullet!), top-notch hardware, an amazing camera as well as a great battery. It looks like the company has finally covered everything that a buyer wants in a device.
You get all these features for a price that put other flagships like HTC One M8, Xperia Z3 and Samsung Galaxy S5 to shame. The Honor 6 Plus is up for pre-order starting today at an amazing price of 1999 Yuan ($323) for the 3G variant and the 2499 ($403) Yuan for the 4G variant. The device starts shipping from next week.
With the Huawei Honor 6 Plus now in the picture, which flagship would you buy?
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