Various smartphone makers have been rushing to release the Android 13 operating system for its devices. Now, the latest official Android distribution figures from Google has revealed that the newest version is now running on a decent number of smartphones.

As of right now, the latest iteration of Android OS is currently on 5.2 percent of all Android powered devices. While this figure isn’t exactly large, it is still quite impressive considering the latest update is only five months old. So even before six months of its release, there are already millions of phones running on the new version. In recent years, Google has not been consistent in its official Android distribution numbers, but Android Studio has just shared a report for 2023, which shows us how quickly OEMs have adopted the new operating system.

At the moment, Android 13 is now running on 5.,2 percent of all devices, while the Android 12 and Android 12L accounts for 18.9 percent of the total sum. This marks a significant rise from just 13.5 percent from August 2022. As the newer iterations become more common, the older versions are seeing a decline, with Android Oreo finally dropping below 10 percent. Interestingly enough, Jelly Bean, which was previously found on 0.3 percent can no longer be found in this list.

Meanwhile, KitKat has fallen to 0.7 percent in 2023, down from 0.9 percent in August last year. The quick rise of Android 13 is undoubtedly thanks to smartphone brands like Samsung, Google, OnePlus, and other popular OEMs that have launched new phones with the latest Android OS out of the box. Although, these companies have also been proactive in updating their existing smartphones models to the latest version.

RELATED:

• Galaxy Tab S6 Lite (2020) Receives Long-awaited Android 13 One UI 5.0 Update
• Android 13 QPR2 Beta Update Offers More Control Over Lockscreen
• Xiaomi 11 Lite 5G NE Starts Receiving MIUI 14 Update

(Via)

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Earlier this week, an odd occurrence took place in Beijing, China. On the evening of 12th October 2020, numerous netizens found that the time displayed on their Android smartphones were more than 10 minutes behind the actual Beijing time.

According to a MyDrivers report, many Android users reported on their handsets showing the time that was behind the actual time, with most instances being around 16 to 17 minutes delayed. This strange incident occurred out of nowhere and had caused quite a bit of confusion for many Android smartphone users, who believed that their devices had broken down.

Editor’s Pick: Huawei Mate 40 Pro with Kirin 9000 scores 690K+ on AnTuTu benchmarks, scores slightly lower than Exynos 1080

Notably, this issue was not reflected in handsets from Apple. In other words, iPhones were completely unaffected by this issue, and it was found that the brand and region had nothing to do with the Android smartphones displaying the wrong time. Users even tried to restart their devices, but this did not fix the issue. Furthermore, this even led to additional problems since a large number of people weren’t able to use their smartphones to get into subways as there was a discrepancy between the timings.

A few individuals even planned on replacing their smartphones. Reportedly, some of the unofficial fixes to this problem include toggling flight mode on and off once, others believe that turning off the automatic time update settings helps as well. Unfortunately, it is currently unknown what appears to be the issue, but it is clearly something broader and related to the Android OS rather than any particular brand since it affected users from multiple brands.

UP NEXT: Vivo V20 with 44MP selfie camera, 64MP triple rear cameras, and Snapdragon 720G launched in India for Rs 24,990 (~$340)

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January 2018 has been an interesting month for smartphone enthusiasts. While we’ll see a lot more flagships being announced in the next couple of months, January 2018 wasn’t a month without action. It has been the month of Consumer Electronics Show, a trade show in which many important tech products have been showcased. Even though no important flagships were launched, quite a few midrange handsets have been announced and are hitting the shelves. So, let’s discover which are the top smartphone launches in January 2018.

Sony Xperia XA2, XA2 Ultra, and Xperia L2

• Display: 5.2 in Full HD IPS LCD / 6 in Full HD IPS LCD / 5.5 in HD IPS LCD
• Hardware: Qualcomm Snapdragon 630, 3 GB RAM, 32 GB ROM / Qualcomm Snapdragon 630, 4 GB RAM, 32 or 64 GB ROM / MediaTek MT6737T, 3 GB RAM, 32 GB ROM
• Software: Android Oreo / Android Oreo / Android Nougat
• Camera: 23 MP f/2.0 / 23 MP f/2.0 / 13 MP f/2.0
• Battery: 3300 mAh / 3580 mAh / 3300 mAh

The Sony Xperia trio unveiled at CES 2018 and composed of Xperia XA2, XA2 Ultra and Xperia L2 is surely the most important smartphone launch of January 2018 by a big brand. The first two handsets represent an incredible improvement over the previous generation. Sony has switched from MediaTek SoCs to Qualcomm SoCs for its most important midrangers: both XA2 and XA2 Ultra are powered by the powerful and power-efficient octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 chipset which has a max frequency of 2.2 GHz. The two handsets also have much narrower bezels compared to the previous generation, 23 MP rear cameras, and the Ultra variant (the one with a monster 6-inch display) has a dual selfie camera with 16 and 8 MP resolution featuring optical stabilization. Sony Xperia L2 still has a MediaTek SoC, but even though it is an entry-level phone it has 3 GB of RAM and a big battery (3300 mAh) paired with very efficient components (the MT6737T chipset and an HD display). The only weak point of these models is that they are pricey.

PRO: Great hardware (XA2 and XA2 Ultra), wide displays (XA2 Ultra and L2), big batteries, good design

CONS: High price

Nokia 6 (2018)

• Display: 5.5 in Full HD IPS LCD
• Hardware: Qualcomm Snapdragon 630, 4 GB RAM, 32/64 GB ROM
• Software: Android Nougat
• Camera: 16 MP f/2.0
• Battery: 3000 mAh

Nokia 6 (2018) has turned out to be a very stylish device. The phone has been released in very attractive color schemes (black/gold and white/red) and it features a solid aluminum 6000 series unibody design. Bezels are very narrow, even though the Full HD display has a classic 16:9 aspect ratio. HMD Global has made great choices in terms of hardware by putting a Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 SoC paired with 4 GB of RAM in this phone. For its price (about €220 / $272), this hardware side is very good, especially if we think that Xperia XA2 and XA2 Ultra with the same SoC are sold at a much higher price. Check out our hands on with the new Nokia 6 here!

PRO: Stunning design, great hardware, affordable price, interesting camera

CONS: Nothing special (Availability?)

Vivo X20 Plus UD

• Display: 6.43 in Full HD+ Super AMOLED
• Hardware: Qualcomm Snapdragon 660, 4 GB RAM, 128 GB ROM
• Software: Android Nougat, EMUI 5.1
• Camera: 13 MP f/2.0
• Battery: 5000 mAh

At the end of 2017, Synaptics has announced the first fingerprint reader which can be embedded inside a display, and it announced that the first handset with this chip would arrive in Q1 2018. It is Vivo X20 Plus UD: the first smartphone with an under-display fingerprint reader. To unlock the phone, the user just needs to touch the display at the location of the fingerprint icon: the OLED panel will illuminate the finger and the reader will recognize the fingerprint. It is a slightly slower authentication method compared with the traditional fingerprint readers, but it allows the presence of a fingerprint reader on the front side even though the display is bezel-less. The rest of the specs (with the exception of the internal storage of 128 GB) remains exactly the same as the Vivo X20 Plus already in the market, but the aesthetics are a bit more attractive thanks to gold borders. Besides the in-display fingerprint reader, the other key features of the device include a huge AMOLED display, a big battery, and a powerful SoC: the Snapdragon 660.

PRO: Big display, good hardware side, big battery, nice cameras

CONS: Not a compact device

Meizu M6s

• Display: 5.7 in HD+ IPS LCD
• Hardware: Samsung Exynos 7872, 3 GB RAM, 32/64 GB ROM
• Software: Android Nougat, Flyme OS 6.2
• Camera: 16 MP f/2.0
• Battery: 3000 mAh

With Meizu M6s, the Chinese company has decided to innovate more even with an affordable device. The borderless display and the side-mounted fingerprint reader with a revamped mBack technology that provides more comfortable gestures make this phone much more interesting than its predecessor. It has an Exynos SoC that according to benchmark is much better than Snapdragon 625, so it should provide above-average performance. If the company will continue in this way and release a Meizu M7 Note with similar features, we might soon see one of the best value for money mid-range phones ever.

PRO: Good hardware, bezel-less display, comfortable gestures and fingerprint reader

CONS: Still features an HD display

Elephone U and U Pro

• Display: 5.99 in Full HD+ IPS LCD
• Hardware: MediaTek Helio P23, 4-6 GB RAM, 64-128 GB ROM / Qualcomm Snapdragon 660, 4-6 GB RAM, 64-128 GB ROM
• Software: Android Oreo
• Camera: Dual 13 + 13 MP
• Battery: 3620 mAh

Elephone may not be as established as other brands like Xiaomi to come out of China but its phones are still quite popular among a niche crowd. However, it is managing to release very interesting midranges which have a lower price tag than the midrangers from the best brands. Elephone U and U Pro are two borderless phones with powerful SoCs and a big amount of RAM sold at an affordable price. It is actually possible to order them at less than €300 thanks to online street prices. They also have a stunning design with a curved display and a big battery. And the Pro version is among the most affordable phones with the powerful Snapdragon 660 SoC.

PRO: Big display, nice hardware, big battery, affordable price

CONS: Nothing Specific

Infocus M7s

• Display: 5.7 in HD+ IPS LCD
• Hardware: MediaTek MT6737H, 3 GB RAM, 32 GB ROM
• Software: Android Nougat
• Camera: 13 + 5 MP f/2.0
• Battery: 4000 mAh

Unfortunately, Infocus M7s is a phone limited to the Asian market, but it is definitely one of the most attractive midrangers to buy right now. It has been launched in the market with a price tag of just $147 (more or less), but it features 3 GB of RAM and a huge 4000 mAh battery. A big battery paired with very efficient components like the HD display and the low-end MediaTek SoC will provide outstanding battery life. The dual camera is surely another interesting thing as the secondary snapper is a wide-angle sensor. This phone also offers a cool 18:9 display with narrow bezels, so even though the size is 5.7 inches, the handset remains quite compact.

PRO: Very affordable, big battery, nice dual camera for the price

CONS: Limited availability

HTC U11 EYEs

• Display: 6 in Full HD+ IPS LCD
• Hardware: Qualcomm Snapdragon 652, 4 GB RAM, 64 GB ROM
• Software: Android Oreo
• Camera: 12 MP f/1.7
• Battery: 3930 mAh

With the U11 EYEs, HTC has decided to follow the example of Chinese companies like Oppo and Vivo which are launching midrange phones focused on the camera and the quality-price ratio. With its f/1.7 aperture, the rear camera of this phone not only should be one of the best in its price range, but it should also be able to shoot flagship-level photos. Agreed, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 is an outdated SoC but it still performs fine when compared with the current cheap SoCs in the midrange sector, and the large 3930 mAh battery is the biggest lithium unit ever seen on a last-generation HTC phone.

PRO: Big battery, Great camera, big display

CONS: Price, SoC

Samsung Galaxy J2 Pro (2018)

• Display: 5 in 540 x 960 Super AMOLED
• Hardware: Qualcomm Snapdragon 425, 1.5 GB RAM, 16 GB ROM
• Software: Android Nougat
• Camera: 8 MP f/2.2
• Battery: 2600 mAh

Price is the main focus of Samsung Galaxy J2 Pro (2018), the latest entry-level device from the Korean giant. If you have a very low budget but you still want a smartphone from a reputable brand, this is the perfect handset for you. You cannot expect much from this device: its display has low resolution and the amount of RAM is also not great. In fact, we wonder why Samsung is still releasing phones with 1.5 GB of RAM. But on the other hand, it will be possible to purchase this phone at a very affordable price, which should be less than $120 dollars thanks to online street prices. Further, it seems that Asian customers will receive 15 GB of Samsung Cloud storage for free after purchasing the Galaxy J2 Pro (2018).

PRO: Very affordable price, Super AMOLED display, expandable until 256 GB

CONS: Entry-level hardware and cameras

Nokia 3310 4G

• Display: 2.4 in 320 x 240 TFT LCD
• Hardware: 16 MB RAM, 256 or 512 MB ROM
• Software: Yun OS
• Camera: 2 MP
• Battery: 1200 mAh

HMD Global has just unveiled a revamped Nokia 3310 which appears as a perfect compromise between a feature phone and a smartphone. Unlike the previous 3310 unveiled the last year, this one features 4G LTE and WiFi. This means that you can insert a SIM Card and navigate the internet at high speeds, you can connect to a router and can also use the phone as Wi-Fi hotspot to connect other devices. Inside Nokia 3310 4G there is YunOS, an Android fork operating system created by the Alibaba Group. The new handset has the same design as the previous model, it is just a  bit taller and thicker. Its battery is able to last up to 12 days on standby. The phone has no touchscreen and it can be used with a physical 3×4 keyboard. Unfortunately, this phone is a China Mobile exclusive, but HMD Global may decide to unveil an international version at MWC 2018.

So which one is your favorite launch of Jan 2018?

The post Here Are The Top Smartphone Launches Of January 2018 appeared first on Gizmochina.

Elephone have today sent over several images of their soon to be released Elephone M2 Business phone, its shaping up to be a great looking phone, unfortunately the images do not show the screen in use so I cannot advise on the size of the bezels.

The confirmed specification is as follows Mediatek MT6753 octa-core SOC running at 1.5GHz, 5.5″ 1080p display, 13MP rear camera, 5MP front camera, fingerprint scanner and metal unibody.

These are pretty much standard specifications for a mid range handset at the current time, so the phone will need to have some standout design and software elements or a very competitive price to compete and win business.

A lot of opinion is being thrown in to the ring regarding Elephone’s high turnover of new models, are you on the side of more choice equals better choice? or do you long for the days when manufacturers released 1 or 2 phones a year? or does the fact they are being aimed at ‘different’ markets make much of a difference to you opinion.

What do you think of the phones styling? leave your comments below

Regards Shanos

Originally posted at gadgetz.tv

Purchase Elephones with free international delivery

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ZTE has officially launched its new budget smartphones under V5 series –ZTE V5s and ZTE V5 Max in China. ZTE V5 Max and V5S are priced at 999 yuan (164$) and 899 yuan (147$) respectively. Well, the interesting part is these two handset runs on Qualcomm’s latest 64-bit processor.

Coming to specifications, ZTE V5 Max is placed in upper mid-range tier offering  a 5.5-inch IPS screen with 1280×720 of screen resolution, powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor (Adreno 306 GPU) coupled with  2 GB RAM and  16 GB internal storage (supports Micro SD Card up to 32 GB). A 13-Mp rear camera and a 5-Mp front snapper completes the imaging hardware part. A 3,100 mAh battery promises a better juice.

And ZTE V5S  offers a  5-inch HD display, 1GB of RAM  and 8GB internal storage, the battery capacity is reduced to 2400 mAh. Other configurations are remains same as ZTE V5 Max.These phones runs on Android KitKat(v 4.4.4) with nubia 2.5 UI skin on top.

Additionally, these phone features  one-handed mode, free shots, double-bright screen, palm lock screen, multi-screen interactive and more. ZTE V5 Max and ZTE V5S comes with attractive red, blue fashion, youth green, yellow flavors. Not just this, ZTE has planned to provide  a smart holster, the Red Devils headphones, and a protective case as complimentary gifts. ZTE V5 Max and V5s will be available in stores starting from November 24.

What is your opinion on this, worth a wait? Let us know, comment below.

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When we are still enjoying our national holidays, the Ubuntu team ( @ubuntu ) has released its latest news about Meizu MX4 Pro. I believe that many people could guess what it is. Yes, Meizu is going to release its new product with Ubuntu Touch OS.
We have been heard many news about the cooperation of Meizu and Ubuntu since it released the last flagship product Meizu MX4, but after that both of them don’t have any moves. In fact, I am still can not confirm the reality of the source from Weibo. But the hardware parameters of leaked Meizu MX4 Pro could be truthful.

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NEVER SETTLE! and it is happening so. Back in April this year, One Plus One opened its curtains in smartphone market and gathered lot of  attention due to its unusual invite system, still many are not able to get due to this and held all aces indeed. With this success  the company released a low-cost, high quality ear-phone known as Silver bullets and now it hints at a successor that might get released in Q2 or Q3 next year.

A Reddit AMA session made it clear that , OnePlus 2(might be) will be out in Q2 or Q3 of 2015 by then Android L would be standard and this would run based on it. OnePlus even revealed  that it’s considering a smaller device compared the 5.5-inch phone it released earlier this year. We’d love to see the company bring its software and hardware to a smaller screen.

You can even expect a OnePlus wearable device or tablet which might be released, according to discussion on Reddit AMA session. The firm said it’s not impressed by any smartwatch currently on the market, so you can expect a bunch of devices next year from this lad.

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Earlier today Li nan, the vice CEO of Meizu, confirmed on Weibo that there will only be one phone announced on September, 2nd. He also denied the existence of a Meizu tablet during the Q&A with his followers. He also said their developers are still working on the fingerprint recognition function on the MX4 Pro, so we won’t see the Pro edition at the announcement conference.

So without MX4 Pro, then the only phone that’ll be released that day certainly is MX4, the so called standard edition. There are a lot of rumors going on right now. To name a few: the display will be 2K, namely a resolution of 2560 x 1536. and a MTK octa-core CPU (MT6595) on the MX4 standard edition. MX Pro is said run on a Samsung Exynos octa-core CPU. But is the 2K display available for all regular editions? Will all these be true? Guess we’ll have to wait and see what the announcement conference brings us.

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Zhang Heng, the senior tech manager of Meizu was doing a Q&A on Weibo regarding the announcement conference earlier today. He disclosed a lot of information regarding MX4. He also said himself that he’s gonna resign due to all those misunderstandings caused by his failure to deliver the authentic information regarding the announcement.

Below is a list of all the information we got from Zhang Heng:

1. Only MX4 (the standard edition) will be released on September 2nd, along with Flyme 4.0.
2. Both China Mobile edition and China Unicom edition will be available, but there won’t be a Telecom edition this time. We also won’t see it coming in the nearest future.
3. J.Wong won’t be there.
4. No mini edition available for MX4, but there will be a pro edition. Also there will be a slightly difference in the appearances of the two. Pro edition won’t be available this year due to the slowness of its R&D. There won’t be any news related to Ubuntu.
5. There will be two announcement conferences this year.
6. Flyme 4.0 will be available for MX2 and MX3, the 4th quarter of this year, but not the first generation.
7. No tablet plan so far.

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Two pictures of Huawei Ascend Mate 7 which is supposed to be released on September 14^th at IFA2014 were leaked today. From the pictures we can see it features a big screen with super thin bezels that seems even thinner than the previously leaked MX4. And both the chin parts of the front panel are very short, giving users a lot of screen estate to work with.

The Huawei logo is located in the bottom of the screen, which assures us that Huawei Mate 7 went with on-screen buttons, like any other Huawei premium phones did.

From the back we can see it went with the three-piece design. The middle part should be metal. There’s also a 13-megapixel camera with a single LED flash on the left. Just below the camera, there’s this fingerprint sensor which is slightly dented.

What should be noted is that this phone is already listed on the website of the Ministry for Industry and Information Technology, so its specs are no secret. It comes with a 6-inch 1080p display, a 1.8GHz octa-core CPU, 2G of ram, a 13-megapixels main camera and 5 megapixels for the front-facing one. There also could be a hign-end version, with the display upgraded to 2K and comes with 3G of ram. But it’s all rumors. We’ll see if it’s true.

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Just like Wechat, in order to get the entrance of Wechat, Dianping has paid 20% of shares. The cooperation between Xiao Mi and the Third parties is wider while lighter, including Shunfeng Express, China Merchants Bank, also Sohu Video and Baidu Music, which formed the local services and content distribution platform of XiaoMi. However, Hong Feng he didn’t like the word “layout”, “just because we have more human resource, and finally we can have a try”.

Something XiaoMi is engaging in can not be done by just one or two person, such as Smart home and Smart hardware. What’s more, Wechat joined in — Tencent published a series of API in August to attract the developers to connect their hardware with Wechat. Heros think similarly, Hong Feng didn’t feel anxiety because of Tencent, “we believe the connection between hardware and hardware shall be purer and more effective”.

Have you ever used Vista?

The similarities of Tencent and Xiao Mi are not only the products, but also the accusation of “copy”. The international style of Xiao Mi can be felt from the massive critics of foreign medias.

“It is recommended to root the development version of MIUI V5, and open the file to check are there any transparency blur effects, if adopting transparency blur was considered as a kind of “copy”, then it should be copied from Windows Vista“, Hong Feng thought the judgment of copy shall be determined from the whole history of computer interaction, “Flattening was began from Metro UI of Microsoft, even Microsoft was not the pioneer, all the original design were flatten”.

“However, MIUI is much similar to iOS in the overall visual effects, so what is Xiao Mi’s design language?”

“We have a guideline of unified design language, including the bi-segment and T type structure as you said “, Hong Feng thought the design style of Xiao Mi is being formed, but it is no need to be limited in one design  language,  exceptions are permitted, for the tools or contents App, it is unified highly in MIUI.

Even though the design language has been formed, still some people will be unhappy. Google released new Android L of Material Design in the I/O conference. The candy color of MIUI 6 and iOS7 sight visual should be a kind of betrayal for the Android loyal fans.

“Actually Google they don’t care about what you like, they care about the developer’s work can be run in all Android cell phones or not, you need to know the ambition of Google Empire. We have the official cooperative relationship with Google, and we will contact with them on every updates, you can know the situation better from the large number of our staff came from Google”, the contacts and cooperation mentioned by Hong Feng is mainly refer to anti-fragment agreement and CTS compatibility test.

Growing pains of Xiao Mi

The major problems of  MIUI  are features rather than design. MIUI is considered to be the first choice ROM for fanciers, however, after the number of its users reaches 70 million, they must consider the usability, Hong Feng has ever said that in one time the functions of MIUI were too much, and the solution was to hide many features, and active if needed.

Another result from the users  expansion is work quantity increasing. V5 only needs to adopt two models, while V6 needs at least 6. “Now we are still discussing MIUI 6 shall be based on Android 4.4 or 4.1”, Hong Feng felt that it is no doubt that a company want to make all users updating to the latest version. However, the update of XiaoMi tablet and Xiaomi Phone series have to be delayed to the end of this year.

They suffered lots of troubles, in Taiwan, they are accused of leaking the users’ information to the servers at Beijing, in Southeast Asia, they need to look for a local company to offer the O2O service. And just this article to be finished, ustwo announced that XiaoMi has not been authorized to use the  Monument Valley as the demostration in the conference press of MIUI 6.

When we discussed these items, Hong Feng was a little tired until we  talked about the future of MIUI. “MIUI 7 and 8 shall be more intelligent, and is capable of acquiring more information you need, and you can see what you need, maybe we have to wait until MIUI 100” .

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IUNI U3 is announced this afternoon. Let’s take a look at the details.

IUNI U3 is targeting young fellows out there as its potential customers. It’s featuring a metal body, and you can hold it with just one hand, and it feels pretty nice. When it comes to inner structure, it’s partially made of magnesium aluminum alloy. Its back is made of plastic though, but covered with a kind of paint from Japan. It looks great, and has a dirt-resistant effect.

IUNI U3 comes with a 5.5-inch display. It’s the second generation 2K display manufactured by Sharp, which is said to have a higher refresh rate, and also uses less power and has a wider rang of colors than before. To make operations in winter easier, it also supports glove mode.

The out layer of IUNI U3 is made of Corning Gorilla glass 3 which is more scratch-resistant. Plus the out layer features a cambered surface, which makes swiping and scrolling on it more comfortable.

IUNI U3 also comes with a brand new IUNI OS which is based on Android 4.4. Even though it’s a third party ROM, it still gives us a stock Android feeling (no third-party apps pre-installed). It also added some features like security/voice assistant and gesture control.

IUNI U3 costs 2000RMB ($325), but for those of you who wanna buy it, you’re gonna have to wait until September, ’cause they need a little more time to prepare for the stock, so everyone can get the phone if they want to buy. No more stupid invite system.

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IUNI launched its second mobile phone U3

The selling point of the second product is its mobile phone screen, which uses 2k screen of 5.5 inches. IUNI emphasis the color performance of the screen. This is the second generation screen made by Sharp, with the pixel density upto 538 ppi, and the screen is of high fresh rate, better power saving and auto color adjustment, which is one of the best 2k screen currently. This screen supports  glove mode, which is suitable for Winter. For the outer layer of the screen, IUNI U3 uses Gorilla Glass3 made by Corning, with better scratch-resistance.

All-metal rear cover have not been used in IUNI U3, and the Al-Mg alloy metal material is used for the front of mobile phone, with the mobile width of 74.9. The rear cover uses plastic material.

In hardware, IUNI U3 uses Snapdragon 801 Quad-core processor of Qualcomm company, with the main frequency of 2.32.3 HGz, 3GB RAM and 32GB ROM, 2K resolution screen, 3000 mAh battery capacity, which are similar to the configurations  for the Android flagship mobile phone of other brands.

The camera of IUNI U3 is of 13.00 Mp, F 2.0 aperture and OIS  optical steadyShot. The camera interface is designed simply, with front Webcam of 400 Mpi.

4G LTE is also a highlight of IUNI U3, which supports TD-LTE and FDD-LTE 4G LTE, and also be compatible with WCDMA and GSM. This mobile phone supports dual SIM cards.

IUNI is intended to follow Xiao Mi mobile phone. They publiched the IUNI OS based on Android, and then launched the mobile phone.

And in the conference press today, IUNI OS is still a selling point of this mobile phone. IUNI always emphasize the strengths of ROM: simple and no third party pre-installed applications.  The latest IUNI OS is based on Android 4.4 system, which optimized the Security, Speech Assistant and gesture. Except for its owner mobile phone, IUNI OS has been suitable for the other 11 mobile phones.

There is only 32 GB version for IUNI U3, and only three colors can be selected. The price of U3 is RMB 2000($325), which can be ordered at its official website and JD.com since September 10th.

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With the Huawei P7 of sapphire glass screen, Huawei finally becomes one of the “Members of Sapphire”, and also it is announced that P7 sapphire glass screen version will be the first domestic sapphire screen mobile phone put into market.Compared with the normal glass, sapphire glass is of better strength and scratch resistance, and the mobile phone screen shall be more wearable. However, the production cost for sapphire glass is much higher generally, and normally it is used for premium product, while at present it is also used for normal smartphone.

It is said that the sapphire glass is made as follows: make a massive sapphire glass by melting pot, then cut into slices with the thickness of hundreds of  micrometers by traditional technology, finally install the sapphire glass for  the products, so the higher requirement is needed for the processing device, which increased the production cost.

Yu Cheng Dong, the CEO of Huawei, said that the P7 sapphire glass can be available firstly due to earlier layout in sapphire industry, which means the overall technology level has been set according to the corresponding standards.

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Just like the other cell phone manufacturers, Huawei also will hold the conferences before IFA, the time is September 4^th. And at present, Huawei implied some information of the new product by some photos.

In the photos published before, there is one photo printed with Number “7”, this might indicate that the name of new machine will be Ascend Mate 7or Ascend D7. And in the latest 4 photos published, one indicates fingerprint identification obviously, and another one shows 83/100, that is 0.83, which should be the thickness of the new machine (cm).

Otherwise, the photos of gearbox of 8 level may imply that the new machine will apply eight core chip, and the model should be the new Kirin 920, which is developed by Huawei and released several months ago, with ARM big.LITTLE structure, including 4 2GHz Cortex-A15 and 4 1.6GHz Cortex-A7.

Other photo presents six cats may indicate the new Smartphone of Huawei will support Cat.6 LTE, which is capable of max. 300Mbps download speed. And in the last photo, the Number “7” shows again.

All these information indicates that on September 4^th, Huawei will launch a new top level Smartphone, and for the middle level cell phone disclosed recently which has the fingerprint sensor might be published in the conference.

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Copycat product in China is almost the same in appearance with the authentic product, while the price is cheaper, but also will result in damages to the device.

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Also Qualcomm China has announced earlier by its official Weibo that: the first mobile phone with 8-core 64 digits of Snapdragon 615 is about to be launched, please be expected. what more, the attached photo is the same with that of new mobile phone to be launched by HTC. Therefore, it can be confirmed that the HTC new mobile phone will apply the 8-core 64 digits of Snapdragon 615, and it is probable to remain the front double speaker design.

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Recently, there were so many photos of Meizu new cell phone leaked, after the bottom views of white MX4  leaked, there were another photos for black MX4 leaked in these two days, which is more clear.

　　Viewed from the photos, the design of the black MX4 follows the white version leaked before. The bottom design, rear cover opening without needle pin and the holes for speaker, are almost the same with iphone 6 to be launched.

Dual LED flash is installed below the main camera, and the rounded rectangle button is used for the front cover design, which can be implied that the MX4 leaked shall be the MX4 Pro.

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Judging from the leaked photos, the front of IUNI U3 is somewhat similar to the design of Gionee. The sensor and the front camera are on the left and right side of the handset, with the Android L style virtual keys lying on the bottom of the screen. Of course, we will not see Android L OS preinstalled on U3, since no official version of Android L is available at the moment.

IUNI U3 will replace the all-metal back with the traditional Polycarbonate material. Its arc rim design enhances the feel of the phone. It is worth noticing that U3’s rear camera is at the same level with the whole body, with a green circle surrounding the rear camera and a single LED Flash underneath. Looks familiar, huh?

The leaked IUNI U3 is all white, making us to wonder if U3 will cancel its black-and-white design. Anyway, there is little doubt that the first model will be a white U3.

As for the specs, IUNI U3 will be equipped with a 5.5-inch 2560*1440 screen, 2.3 GHz Snapdragon 801AB CPU, 3GB RAM, 32 GB ROM, with no support for external memory card. It features a 400 mega pixels front camera and a 1,200 mega pixels rear camera and support for 4k video shooting. IUNI will be carrying IUNI OS based on Android 4.4.4 and compatible with both TTD-LTE and FDD-LTE.

IUNI U3

IUNI U3

IUNI U3

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There is a Chinese mobile phone manufacturer named OONE, they invited Mr. Luo(The CEO of the Smatisan) to make the mobile phone. Actually this company launched a cell phone called OONE O1, with the price up to 5160 RMB, because its another name, the Exclusive Loyal Machine for the Members of Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business.

The thickness of the cell phone is 5.67mm, about 99g, which look like iPhone, and equipped with 720 screen of 5 inches, 2GHz MT6592 Processor of 8 cores and 2GB RAM. Besides, the machine provides double 8.0 Mp camera, supports dual SIM cards, with the operational system amended based on the CM. And from today, the price of this cell phone was decreased by 2000 RMB.

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New rumors was just released by Weibo user @ubuntu, who exposed news of MX4 many times before, including double LED flashlight and photo samples. From the photos of flashlight, the news of adopting white & orange double-color LED flashlight is confirmed. The resolution of the photo samples is 2048×1536, with good overall quality, while the details can not be obtained due to compression. It is acquired that MX4 would be the first cell phone which applies the Sony 2070 Mpi Camera, with Sony IMX147 sensor and supports 0.3 second focusing. 

And according to the information before, there would be two versions for MX4, the standard version and the Pro version, with the detailed configuration uncertain, while it can be sure that there must some difference in the material technology. The standard version would be more like MX3, and keeps the little circle of Home button (the material would be replaced by Mg-Al alloy material, and no longer double plastic casting technology), and the Pro version would be promoted and upgraded, as well pressing fingerprint identification is expected.

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 nubia brand has suffered the critics from the Meize fans since launched, Huang Zhang even attacked publicly that the nubia cell phone is copycat brand. Here we are about to compare the nubia Z7 mini and mini MX3.

Nubia Z7 mini was released in July 2014, with the price of RMB1499; while Meizu MX3 was launched in September 2013, with the original price of RMB2499, and now is RMB1599 after one year, there is only 100 RMB gap between them.
Nubia Z7 mini uses 1920*1080 resolution 16:9 screen of  5.0 inches, with the 140.9*69.3*8.2mm dimensions, and the weight of 143g. Meizu MX3 applies 1800*1080 resolution 15:9 5.1 inches  screen, with  139*71.9*9.1mm dimensions, weight of 143g, the hardware difference between these two phones is very small, and both uses narrow border design, therefore both of these two phones have good single hand operation experience.

In the rear design, plastic materials are used for the main rear machine cover of these two machine, nevertheless Meizu MX 3 applies piano finish design, and is equipped with stainless steel border, which looks round and smooth. While Nubia Z7 mini follows the frosted rear cover design of Z5S mini, with more cutting design at the four sides, which feels more strength.

The  most disputed design between Meizu and Nubia is the “little circle” Home button, both of them considered the little circle as the design representative factor of appearance. Together with related gestures, the little circle in Meizu MX3 is capable of performing the functions of Return back, Exit, Set etc.; while in nubia Z7 mini, the little circle plus two other virtual buttons equals to the three virtual buttons of normal Android cell phone.

Meizu MX3 applied 800 Mpi camera, while  nubia Z7 mini uses 1300 Mpi Sony IMX214 stack camera. the parameter of Z7 mini camera is higher, and the MX3 of 800 Mpi is better in optimum photographic effect; while there are some interesting photographing functions in Z7 mini, such as star cloud, star track and light track. For the battery life, the battery capacity of nubia Z7 mini is 2300mAh, and Meizu MX3 is 2400mAh, both of them are unsatisfactory.

Because Meizu MX3 was launched last year, it is a pity that it can not support 4G LTE, while nubia Z7 mini is a dual SIM 4G phone.

Conclusion:
Meizu MX3 with the price of 1599 is competitive, and it is estimated that the price of MX3 would be decreased after MX4 is launched on Septembet 2nd, however, the Nubia Z7 mini with snapdragon801 is more powerful, the most competitive feature is dual SIM 4G LTE, therefore, it is recommended to choose the nubia Z7 mini which is  dual SIM 4G LTE.

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On August 20th, Vivo exposed the posters in the subject of “Something is going to change your life” in its official Weibo, which indicates that new products would be launched recently, and it is expected to use the blue diamond screen in this product firstly before iPhone 6, in the evening of August 20th, the photos of vivo new flagship real machine were exposed in the internet, with the official name of X5L.

The related Weibo has been deleted, while some people kept the related photos. Viewed from the photos exposed, X5L still follows the classical three- segment rear design of vivo, little changes at the front panel, and the middle frame applies metal frame design as Xshot, which looks like a combination of Xshot and X3. Before vivo disclosed that its first product with sapphire glass screen will be launched recently, it is probably vivo X5L.

From screenshot we can see the machine is officially named X5L, which can estimate it is the mobile 4G version, with the processor of 1.7GHz eight cores (MT6595 or MT6592), runs the Funtouch OS 1.2 operation system based on the Android 4.4.2.  An as the extension of X series, X5L would have more powerful HiFi music experience. The price for the first blue diamond screen flagship of vivo will be up to 3998 RMB, which will be the highest for the domestic cell phone.

Subsequently, more detailed photos were leaked at Weibo, we can see much more details, which should be more reliable. We believe on August 16th, more information about the conference press will be acquired.

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Display

Now that there is an actual competitive market for QHD smartphone screens that are available to the public, it is high time that we took a look at the best of the best. Today I’ll be comparing two different sets; the Oppo Find 7 and the Lenovo Vibe Z2 Pro. Both of these devices provide an IPS QHD display with a resolution of 2560 x 1440.The Lenovo Vibe Z2 has a lower pixel density than the Oppo Find 7; which is due to the difference in screen size. The Vibe Z2 has a 6 inch display, while the Find 7 has a slightly smaller screen, at 5.5 inches. Obviously the latter will have somewhat better screen resolution. Along with its’ larger screen, the Vibe Z2 is also equipped with a larger battery; 4000mAh compared to the Find 7’s 3000mAh unit. Both handsets have a lot of followers who swear by them; neither is likely to disappoint consumers.

Processor and Memory

When it comes to processors and memory capabilities; these two devices are nearly identical. Both of these smartphones are equipped with a quad-core 2.5GHz 801 (Oppo first featured this processor in their Flagship, Lenovo followed suit with their K920 model). Both devices are also equipped with 3GB of RAM.

Storage

The storage capacity differences between these two smartphones are rather significant. While both phones come standard with 32GB of internal storage, the Oppo Find 7 has the bonus feature of possessing a microSD card slot; making it possible to double your overall storage.

Camera

Both the Oppo Find 7 and the Lenovo Vibe Z2 are equipped with 5MP front-facing cameras for easily taking photos of yourself or snapchat. The Oppo Find 7 is equipped with a BSI sensor, dual LED flash and a 13MP snapper located on the back side. The Lenovo Vibe Z2 is equipped with a slightly better camera; a 16MP with OIS and a dual LED flash.

Design and Features

The Oppo Find 7 has a titanium alloy frame and removable/chargeable battery. The Lenovo Vibe Z2 is a good looking compact metal frame build. The Vibe Z2 is running KitKat 4.4.2; which is one of the reasons it is such a popular attractive model. It is also equipped with dual-SIM. The Find 7 model is not equipped with either. It does however come standard with an Ultra-HD feature, which allows users to take 50MP pics.

Final Evaluation

In the end, obviously it all comes down to features and affordability. For those with abnormally high storage capacity requirements for their devices, the Oppo Find 7 is probably the best choice. If you’re more concerned about having the largest display possible, the Lenovo Vibe Z2 is probably the better choice between the two devices. It is in my opinion, the more attractive of the two models as well. Rumored that it will be priced at around $700; the Lenovo Vibe Z2 is only $100 more than the Oppo Find 7; really not a deal breaker for those who really want the larger display.

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Since Lei Jun wrote such words “304 austenitic stainless steel” in his Weibo, notions that Mi4 would have metal back covers have constantly come into being, which now is denied officially.

Wanqiang Li(co-founder and CEO of Xiaomi )stated in his Weibo, “Although stainless steel is used in new products, it is not used in Xiaomi Mi4‘s back cover. What’s more, Wanqiang Li announced secret gifts for Audience that will come to Mi4’s press conference would be Xiaomi router mini and F  codes(which allow you to be the first one to buy Mi4 ). Also, he claimed it’s impossible to give away Mi4 for free.

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TCL and MTK have shared a quite intimate relationship, which can be seen from the fact that they are the first two manufacturers who adopt 2GHz eight-core processors.

News came that the oversea sub-brand of TCL Alcatel would take the lead in launching mobile phones carrying MT6595 processors in middle or late August. And relevant research and test works have come into practice for a long time.

From previous disclosed information, Alcatel will release the One Touch D820 model, which runs on 4.4.2 Android system, equipped with MT6595 processors and 3GB RAM and 800-mega-pixel cameras.

However, to everybody’s surprise, this phone should have a 4.6-inch 2K screen, can that be a mistake? Interestingly, the engine machine showed by MTK in previous product launch, had a 5-inch 2k screen and performed well under MT6595 (supporting 5 network modes including TDD/FDD-LTE，HSPA+、TD-SCDMA、GSM).

If that was true, Alcatel D820 would certainly be recognized as quite a “artifact”. PS: screen size may be mistaken, yet 5-inch 2K screen sounds good.

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Today’s smartphone market is relatively saturated, with few or no differences among smartphones. Of course, that is not to say that the hardware itself cannot satisfy people’s needs; on the contrary, what we see today is the direct result of excessive hardware development. Under such circumstances, much anticipation is around the to-be released <Smart Holographic Phone> Eastar Takee.

What is the Smart Holographic Phone?

As most of our readers may not know what a smart holographic phone is, we would give you guys a quick introduction first.

Currently, most phones out there are configured with a touch screen, providing a enhanced user experience than the old-fashioned T9 keyboard. However, what we call “holographic display” is a type of display technology that can track the position of human eyes. It will then calculate the actual holographic image with the model of holographic image data  and respectively project the 3D image to the retinas of both left and right eyes, creating a feeling that it was a real object that the person is looking at.

This kind of holographic technology is based on the position of human eyes. But since it will not display everything simultaneously in the filed of view, it works better when only one person is viewing the image. As a result, we call it “Personal Holographic” or “Smart Holographic”. To be more specific, holographic display can be categorized into physical holography (holographic film, laser holographic printing), digital holography ( projected laser holographic imaging) and computing holography (eyeball-tracking  holographic imaging, scenario-tracking holographic imaging).

Laser holography is a method to record both the amplitude and the phase information in the light wave that reaches the film.  There are a number of variations of the basic method, but all holography requires laser light (strictly speaking light that is coherent over the object to be imaged) in order to construct the hologram. While in normal photography light, the film can only record the  intensity of light. With all the phase information contained in the original light reaching the film is lost, there is no such 3D effect of the film.

Where can Smart Holographic Phone be used?

You might think the holographic display is just like that in the sci-fi films, where you can view a content from every aspect by moving your finger in the air, or “action from a distance”.  What exactly will this technology help us achieve? Read on to find out:

1. Holographic Navigation: while 2D display cannot show the complex road system, holographic display will offer users a better idea of what the traffic is like by displaying a 3D image.

2. While shopping online, we can view commodities from different aspects and see more details before we actually place an order.

3. Holographic display will make gaming experience more enjoyable by providing a life-like scene.

4. Different from 2D display, you will be able to really get “into” a film with holographic technology.

5. You will feel as if the person is just around you when making a video call.

6. The coolest thing may be that you can print a 3D self when connect your holographic phone with a 3D printer.

Any apps to go with the Smart Holographic Phone?

It is undeniable that the success of the iPhone is partly due to millions of apps in its App Store. Fascinating as the holographic technology may be, users are still wondering if there are other apps to go with the smart holographic phone. According to source, Eastar has set up a open platform for holographic apps to invite holographic app developer from around the globe. We do not the the number of partners or any achievements yet.

Difference between Holographic Display and Naked Eye 3D

Will the smart holographic phone be of real usage or is it jsut some stunt used by phone makers? We have seen many advertised their naked eye 3D phones, including LG Optimus 3D, LG P920, Sharp SH9298U, HTC X515m, Gionee GN868, ZOPO ZP200, etc. But holographic display relies on light intervene and diffraction to reproduce the 3D image of a project; while naked eye 3D uses the principle of grating, requiring the video source to be processed. The video source of naked eye 3D can be converted from 2D videos, but it requires viewers to be at a specific angle and distance in order to experience the 3D effect.

Even though the technology of naked eye 3D has improved greatly over the years, viewers still get dizzy when looking at the screen, some even feel vomitive. Such side effects negatively impacted user experience. As a result, the fascinating naked eye 3D  technology was more of a stunt than of any practical use.

As smartphone display has reached the resolution of 1080p and hardware configuration is becoming ever advanced, although there is no further space for display progress, smartphone makers are trying to find a way to differentiate themselves using the holographic display. As the holographic display can make users view a 3D virtual object when images of an object from different angles are projected above the screen, we have great confidence to believe that the holographic display technology will achieve a better market response than that of naked eye 3D.

Competitor to the Smart Holographic Phone: Fire Phone

Before the official release of the Smart Holographic Phone, the market has already seen its strong competitor. Around three weeks earlier, Amazon has launched its Fire Phone. Except from its great service, its biggest selling point is the Dynamic Perspective. It constructs 3D images at 60 frames per second, and together with the help of several infrared sensors to  display the image in 3D. Compared to the naked eye 3D technology, the Dynamic Perspective of Fire Phone can change a picture’s view as users move and tilt the phone around. However, this is not related to the holographic technology, but is still within the category of 2D display.

Amazon Fire Phone is configured a 4.7-inch HD LCD display, powered by 2.2 GHz Quad-core Snapdragon 800 CPU and Adreno 330 GPU, along with 2GB RAM. Its buttons are made of aluminum. It has a 13-megapixel rear camera, complete with OIS and a powerful f/2.0 lens, as well as a 2.1 MP front-facing camera.

Conclusion

Judging from current situation, the display technology of smartphones will surely undergo a revolution. Maybe we will experience a brand new interactive display in the near future. Hopefully that day will come soon.

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With so much buzz around Meizu MX4, fans are all wondering if its screen will be something similar to that of MX3. We assume the possibility is high. Two more leaked photos releave that Meizu MX4 will have a 5.4-inch display with 15:9 panel and 2K resolution. The leaked photos were shortly deleted, making the information more credible.

If  the above information is true, we can safely conclude that its display is tailor-made by Sharp.

The post Meizu MX4 The Next Flagship Phone’s Screen Part Leaks appeared first on Gizmochina.

About two months ago, Phillips released its I928, configured with  a 6-inch, 1080 touch-scrren, true octa-core processor MT6592 and a 13-megapixel camera. According to latest news, Phillips is yet to release the mini variant of I928 with a smaller display.

Word has it that the mini variant will be Phillips I908. Though titled “mini”, I908 will still be configured with a 1.7GHz MT6592 octa-core processor, a 5-cin 1080 touchscreen, 2GB of RAM, along with a 13-megapixel camera.

The Phillips I908 is suggested to be extremely thin – 5.5 mm, even thinner than that of Gionee ELIFE S5.5. We have a feeling that this Phillips I908 will be the thinnest smartphone in the world so far.

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The new flagship smartphone of ZTE, Nubia Z7 will be released on July 8th.

Rumor has it that Nubia Z7 will be equipped with an all-metal body, whose side view is quite similar to that of M8 (Source @唐山雨晨 at Weibo). The Home button of Nubia Z7 will continue to be highlighted by its classic red circle.

Besides, it has ultra-slim frame with most of the front is covered with its 5-inch 1080p screen. Judging from the pictures, the screen seems to be floating above the frame.

According to previous information, Nubia Z7 will come with a Snapdragon 805 processor, supports Dual-Card-Two-Standby and be priced at RMB 3495, or about $560 USD.

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Google has held the Google I/O 2014 conference, and they also announce some hot topics in Android and Google platform, the one of the interesting news is the Android One Project that launch by Google.

Android One is the project that offers the high-end Android phone with very affordable price for emerging market. The Android One will offers with the Android stock version, it’s mean the Android version will be available in standard core Android features but still has customizable system for developers.

The device that running using Android One platform is Micromax, this device is the first device that running with this system, the phone is now heading to Indians market and comes with 4,5 inch screen size, Dual SIM card and microSD support, and FM Radio.

The other manufacturer that also adopt Android One platform is Karbonn and Spice Mobile that also preparing the smartphone with Android One platform in the near future.

The post Google officially announced Android One Project, the cheap Android device for emerging market appeared first on Gizmochina.

It’s a buyer’s market when it comes to affordable smartphones and it’s rapidly expanding with the rise of the China phone. With ever more Chinese firms joining the race and vying for the throne, get the lowdown with this 4-way China phone showdown.

 The Huawei Ascend P7 with its flagship credentials is arguably the most well known of the four phones, both in terms of the manufacturer and press attention. Our phone comparison will feature the Huawei Ascend P7 going up against the Neo M1, iNew V3 and Zopo ZP1000. How do these young pretenders stack up? Let’s find out.

Huawei’s flagship Ascend P7 brings premium credentials

Design

For 2014, slim is definitely in. Showcasing premium credentials, the Huawei Ascend P7 shares the design language of its predecessor and boasts a depth of just 6.5mm. At 124g, this lightweight flagship features Gorilla Glass 3 front and rear, a double-glass unibody and aluminum sides for a classy combination. Light and superslim, Huawei’s flagship checks many of the right boxes.

The Neo M1 boasts similar premium appeal with an aluminum body that measures just 5.99mm thick, making it the slimmest of the four phones despite a weight of 148g. Wear-resistant third generation Gorilla Glass protects the screen with the manufacturer claiming a 40% reduction in visible scratches.

Joining the catwalk is the svelte iNew V3 with a super slim profile that’s just 6.55mm and weighs just 128g. The V3 takes a leaf out of Sony’s OmniBalance design book however, unlike the metal and glass that defines the Xperia models, the V3 utilizes a plastic shell to minimize weight.

As Zopo’s flagship phone, the ZP1000 measures 143.9mm x 72mm x 7.2mm with a weight of 150g, making it the least slim and heaviest of the phones – however, size and weight are relative and the ZP1000 still conforms to an ultraslim form factor.

The Neo M1 offers solid features at the mid-price bracket

 Screen

The defining feature of today’s phones is arguably the screen and Full HD is considered mainstream for bona fide flagship status.

While all four phones provide a 5.0” display, the Huawei Ascend P7 offers 1080P (1080 x 1920) at a mouth-watering pixel density of 455ppi that exceeds even the Galaxy S5’s 432ppi. Viewing angles are wide with good color reproduction and an excellent contrast ratio. Coupled with top notch image quality and decent sunlight legibility , the Ascend P7 offers a superb viewing experience.

In comparison, the iNew V3, Neo M1 and ZP1000 all bring 720p resolution (1280 x 720) and a still-respectable 326ppi to the table, although the displays look somewhat lackluster compared to full HD goodness.

Raw Power

All of the mobile phones bring plenty of horsepower to the party.

The Ascend P7 utilizes Huawei’s custom HiSilicon Kirin 910T chipset under the hood, pushing four 1.8 GHz Cortex-A9 cores. This compares favorably with the MediaTek MT6582 chipset (1.3GHz quad-core) from Q3 2013 powering the Neo M1 and iNew V3. The Zopo ZP1000 features a MediaTek MT6592 (1.7GHz Cortex-A7 Octa Core) under the hood to ensure apps, games and multimedia shine.

All four devices offer dedicated GPUs (either the ARM Mali-400 MP2 or ARM Mali-450 MP4) for enhanced graphics performance however only the Ascend P7 offers 2GB RAM instead of 1GB. Power users will definitely appreciate the extra memory of the Ascend P7 at reducing lag during app switching and heavier multitasking scenarios.

With Sony-inspired aesthetics, the iNew v3 is quite the looker.

Operating System

The Ascend P7 comes with Android 4.4.2 Kit Kat pre-installed with the EmotionUI v2.3 overlay. The homebrewed interface design eschews the modern design of vanilla Kit Kat for a flat, more utilitarian appearance; the app drawer is completely gone however the overall responsiveness and customizability of Android remains.

In comparison, the other three handsets run the older Android 4.2 Jelly Bean out of the box. The twist to the tale is the dual OS offering of Neo M1 that pairs Android with Windows Phone 8.1. Presently, the official site states that the latter is “not available yet” and “will be finished in a few months” so Android 4.2 is the only flavor available.

Camera

The increasingly competitive nature of smartphones means that manufacturers have upped their game significantly and all four handsets are a case in point.

The Huawei Ascend P7 features a 13MP shooter supported by single LED flash, geo-tagging, touch focus, 360 degree panorama and HDR. Photos appear crisp and sharp thanks to the built-in camera module and the class-leading 8MP front camera should keep selfie fans happy especially with its onboard selfie mode. There’s also a “groufie” panoramic mode for those who enjoy group selfies. Both cameras are capable of capturing 1080p HD video at 30fps.

Neo’s M1 offering also incorporates a 13MP camera with LED flash utilizing a Sony Exmor RS series sensor with a 5MP front camera in tow. Following suit, the iNew V3 offers a 13MP rear camera as well as a multi angle mode where you can take shots around a target which you can move around during editing. The ZOPO ZP1000 brings a 14MP rear camera capable of 1080p HD video at 30fps along with a 5MP front facing camera.

All the cameras would be ideal for all-purpose snaps and, in the absence of special features from the likes of Nokia, the convergent nature of mobile camera technology means that all but the most strict purist will have issues with any of the cameras.

The ZP1000 is excellent for demanding power users.

Battery

Battery life has come along in leaps and bounds with incessant capacity-creep. The Huawei Ascend P7 houses a non-removable Lithium-Polymer 2500mAh battery. Online tests on battery use place the P7 at around the average level although a lot also depends on the individual usage cases.

Naturally there is a careful balancing act imvolved when bringing larger screens, high resolution and powerful CPUs into the mainstream. Manufacturers now understand the importance that customers place on battery life resulting in dedicated power saving modes in each phone.

The Neo M1 and Zopo ZP1000 both come with a non-replacable 2000mAh Lithium battery. This compares to the iNew V3 has the smallest capacity at 1830mAh although it is replacable; some early adopters on the iNew bandwagon have noted that it’s “a struggle to get a day out of the battery”.

Storage

The built-in internal storage capacity is par for the course with all four phones. Multimedia fans will be pleased to hear that the Huawei Ascend P7, Zopo ZP1000 and iNew V3 all come with 16GB onboard ROM out of the box, while the Neo M1 offers 8GB as standard for your storage needs.

It’s worth noting that the Zopo ZP1000 has non-expandable storage, you’re limited to the 16GB, while the Ascend P7, Neo M1 and iNew V3 all provide support for external cards up to 32GB.

Depending on your own requirements and the size of your multimedia collection, this may impact your purchase decision.

Price

The Ascend P7 comes with an RRP of $620 (based on €449) making it the most expensive of the four devices however you do get true flagship features for that price. With an expected release date of June across 31 markets, the P7 will be available in black, white and pink.

Undercutting the P7 by some margin, the Neo M1 has a presale price of just $179.99 at the official online store, or 999 RMB. An intro price of just $99.99 based on a special 50% discount for the first 500 customers predictably saw the phone being out of stock almost immediately.

The iNew v3 matches the M1 with a $179.90 price tag quoted on iNew’s official site and is available to buy now in black, white and gold.

Last but not least, the Zopo ZP1000 is priced marginally higher at $259.99 at the online Zopo Store (for that you also get a free gift package) and the handset available in either blue or gold.

Early Verdict

From a purely tech-oriented view, Huawei Ascend P7 brings an impressive spec sheet and a superslim profile that trumps the other pretenders to the throne; however, within the premium price bracket, it faces serious competition from the usual suspects including Samsung, Sony, HTC and Apple.

At around a third of the Ascend P7’s price, the other three Chinese phones are comparatively affordable with solid, though similar, feature sets for tremendous bang for your buck. They still vie and jockey for position in an increasingly crowded mid-range market space.

With only marginal product differentiation, most users will be content with any of the four offerings. Individual usage cases and personal preferences will naturally apply in determining purchase decisions. However if you want a Chinese phone that scores well in almost everything, you could do worse than the Ascend P7 although be prepared to pay a king’s ransom for it.

Top Slim Phones: Huawei Ascend P7 vs Neo M1 vs iNew v3 vs ZOPO ZP1000

This is my first article for GizmoChina, so I would love to hear from the readers. Which of the four phones take your fancy? Or do you have your sights set on another one? Let us know in the comments below.

Coupon code: NEOM110

Coupon Price: $169.99 (normal price: $179.99)

The post Chinese Slim Phones Smackdown: Huawei Ascend P7 vs Neo M1 vs iNew v3 vs ZOPO ZP1000 appeared first on Gizmochina.

New Chinese manufacturer OnePlus has been making waves in the build up to launching their flagship One smartphone. The OnePlus One runs a CyanogenMod S11 UI on Android 4.4 Kit-Kat. Here are some of the cool ways the UI makes operating the device a delight.

1, Camera

The interface is very similar in looks to the base Google camera, but features remarkably assessable and easy to understand settings for the camera and video recorder. When switching settings, icons appear in front of the camera, allowing users to see what changing settings do to an image. A simple swipe up or down rotates through various effects and filters. This phone will allow users to share unique and high quality photo and video.

2. Theme Engine

A hallmark feature of the OnePlus One is that the user has a huge amount of control over customization, without the need to root the device. Most other devices on the market do not have the same capabilities. This feature allows the built in Theme Engine to make amazingly customizable changes to the way the devise looks and acts. Multiple themes can be run at the same time, with users picking and choosing their favorite features from each. A user could use completely different themes for fonts, icons, home page, call display, boot screen, sound packs and more, all  the same time.

3. Advanced Button Customization

Users have full control over the navigation bar, as well as the soft buttons on the bottom of the screen. They can be removed completely, or supplemented with a button of your choosing, such as search. This smartphone is customizable to an impressive degree.

4. Screencapture

Another feature that is accessible without rooting the phone is the Screencapture mode. It records your actions with a high frame rate, especially helpful if you are helping someone with something remotely and need to show them what you are doing. Screencapture videos are crisp and can be shared easily.

5. Invisible Volume Bar

This is an optional setting, like most everything on the OnePlus One. It is especially handy when gaming, watching videos or doing other involved tasks.

Which feature are you most excited about? Would you use the new screencapture app? Do you like the CyanogenMod 11S? Share your thoughts below.

The post Five cool UI features of the OnePlus One appeared first on Gizmochina.