LeEco surprised us everyone by announcing the first Snapdragon 820 powered smartphone in the market, namely the Le Max Pro. Although the phone wasn’t sold to the regular consumers in plenty, the company does hold the title of the first manufacturer with SD820 phone. Now, it looks like this Chinese company is going to boast of another great title this year.

According to Chinese media, LeEco is said to be working on a brand new Snapdragon 823 powered smartphone and it is expected to be announced at Mobile World Congress at Shanghai that starts at the end of this month, from June 29 and goes on till July 1. If true, LeEco will probably become the first smartphone maker to release a Snapdragon 823 powered phone!

According to rumors, Snapdragon 823 will come with slightly upgraded specs as compared to the already powerful SD820. The company is said to have increased the clock speed, with other upgrades such as Adreno 530 GPU, X12 LTE baseband and Cat.12 / 13 support. Other possible specs include support for 8GB DDR4 memory and 25MP camera sensor. The Galaxy Note 6 is long rumored to be using this new chip and so is the ASUS ZenFone Deluxe model for some Asian markets.

The Snapdragon 820 is already a powerful chipset and there’s hardly any other chips in the market that can match the performance of this beast. So, it would be interesting to see what the Snapdragon 823 brings to the table. We expect a slight boost in performance (because there’s actually no need for a significant increase right now) along with GPU and some connectivity upgrades as mentioned above.

Considering Snapdragon 820 smartphones started entering the market by February 2016, it would be really surprising if Snapdragon 823 phones make it to the market so early. Qualcomm usually follows yearly release period for its chips, but looks like that’s changing this year.

Anyway, it’s still too early to comment as we don’t have official details, but expect more details soon.

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Le Max Pro holds the title of the world’s first Snapdragon 820 smartphone, but despite its announcement back in January, the phone was not yet available for sale. However, earlier today, LeEco announced that the Le Max Pro with SD820 on board will also be the first phone with this chip to go on sale.

The company made limited 1000 units of the flagship available for purchase to its fans today at 12:00 PM (Feb 23). These are not commercial versions of the device, rather engineering models. So, it looks like the company rushed the sale as it wanted to bag the title of “first SD820 smartphone to go on sale”.

Now, coming to the most surprising part of the sale. The Le Max Pro engineering models are being sold at a throwaway price of 1999 Yuan ($306). We call it throwaway price because many rumors suggest that the commercial version of the phone is going to go on sale for a price around $500. In fact, the company claims that it incurs a loss on the sale of each unit. What’s more, the company is offering a number of add-ons like subscription to 3 months of LeTV Music. So, if you happen to live in China, this would have been a great opportunity to get your hands on this beast.

As for the specs, the powerful Le Max Pro comes with Snapdragon 820 chip under the hood with Adreno 530, 4GB LPDDR4 RAM and 64GB of internal storage. At the back, you have a large 21MP sensor while up front, you will find a 4MP Ultrapixel shooter. The screen is massive, measuring 6.33-inches with 2K resolution. Inside, you have a 3400mAh battery to power these specs. Other notable features of the phone include Qualcomm’s Ultrasonic Fingerprint sensor (at the back), Hi-Fi audio, Dolby sound, and dual card dual standby.

At 1999 Yuan, the Le Max Pro was really a steal deal! However, at the time of publishing this article (an hour after the sale), the phone would most likely be sold out.

Considering the specs on board, how much would you be willing to pay for the commercial version of the Le Max Pro?

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Its been more than a month since LeEco announced the world’s first Snapdragon 820 powered smartphone, Le Max Pro. However, until now, the company has not yet revealed when the phone will go on sale. We all have been waiting to hear the news, and the new teaser from the company did come as a relief to some extent. The new teaser is probably for the international launch of the Le Max PRo and the subsequent release of the device.

However, if you can’t wait for the official announcement, here’s some interesting rumor. Now, it is being said that the Le Max Pro could be made available for sale globally on February 23, a day before the Xiaomi Mi 5 officially launches.

The rumor comes via the famous leakster from China, Upleaks. Apparently, he had revealed a set of numbers on his weibo page yesterday: “223,120,036,991,000”. At that time, it didn’t make any sense. However, thanks to one weibo user, it looks like these numbers actually make a lot of sense.

So, these numbers could mean that the Le Max Pro will go on sale on 2/23 i.e. February 23 at 12:00 PM, for a price tag of 3699 Yuan ($567) and only 1000 limited units will be made available for sale on that day. While we are not entirely sure whether this will turn out to be true, since LeEco is yet to make these details official, it would actually make sense for LeEco to make the phone available for purchase a day before Mi 5 releases. It would then beat Xiaomi not only by becoming the first manufacturer to announce a SD820 device but also the first maker to release the device in the market.

The phone features powerful specs, including a 6.33-inch 2K display, 4GB RAM, 21MP rear camera, SD820, ultrasonic fingerprint sensor, USB Type-C and 3400mAh battery. For these specs, would you be ready to shell out $567?

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LeEco managed to become the first smartphone manufacturer to announce a Snapdragon 820 powered smartphone. This was indeed a big feat for the company, since it entered the industry only a few months earlier. However, even after the phone’s announcement, the company didn’t reveal any details about Le Max Pro’s market release, which led to many questions. One of the most important question brought forward by fans was whether Xiaomi Mi 5 will beat Le Max Pro to a market release.

Looks like that won’t likely happen, as LeEco has just released a new teaser via its official Weibo page. The teaser gives us a date, Feb 22, which could hint an international release of the device. Further, we have another date on the teased image, Feb 24, which could be when the phone finally becomes available for sale. In case you remember, Feb 24 is the same day that Xiaomi Mi 5 launches, so LeEco might have purposely chosen this date for a market release of the Le Max Pro.

One things certain, by the start of March, we will have a number of Snapdragon 820 powered smartphones available for purchase. Le Max Pro, Samsung Galaxy S7 and Xiaomi Mi 5 might be some of the few devices powered by SD820 that we will see at the event.

RELATED: Le x820 Scores More Than 141K on AnTuTu

To recap, the Le Max Pro features a massive 6.33-inch 2K display with 4GB RAM and 64GB of internal storage. At the back, there will be a 21MP camera with OIS while up front, you will find a 4MP sensor. Other highlighted features of the device include Qualcomm’s Ultrasonic Fingerprint sensor, USB Type-C, VoLTE, and Dolby Atmos Audio.

As for the pricing, we still have no official word. But rumors suggest that the phone could be quite costly, retailing at somewhere around $535.

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LeTV, now known as LeEco showcased its new flagship smartphone, the Le Max Pro at CES 2016. It is the first Snapdragon 820 powered smartphone to be launched in the market. However at the event, the company failed to give out details about the phone’s availability or market release.

Now, it looks like, Le Max Pro is all set to enter the Chinese market as it has passed through TENAA, the Chinese equivalent of US’s FCC. Once a device gets TENAA certification, you can expect it to be available in China pretty soon.

TENAA listing reveals that the Le Max Pro will be powered by the quad-core 2.2GHz Snapdragon 820 chipset with 4GB of RAM on board and 64GB of internal storage. There will be a massive 6.3-inch display with 2K resolution. At the back, you will find a 21MP camera, while up-front, there’s a 4MP Ultrapixel camera.

Apart from being the first phone with Snapdragon 820, the phone also boasts of being the first smartphone with Qualcomm’s Ultrasonic fingerprint sensor, Sense ID. The sensor is located at the back of the device. Inside, you will find a decent 3400mAh battery on board with fast charging.

Other features include dual SIM dual standby, bezelless design, 167×93.4×8.95mm dimensions, and Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS out of the box. As for the design, its almost similar to the design philosophy of the previous generation LeTV smartphones with an all metal body.

As you can see, the phone is quite powerful. But we will have to wait and watch whether upcoming smartphones like Xiaomi Mi 5 and the Samsung Galaxy S7 beat the Le Max Pro in terms of performance. Both the devices are expected to be unveiled in the second half of February with Snapdragon 820 chip on board.

Pricing is still unclear, but rumors say that the Le Max Pro will be priced around 3499 Yuan ($535) which is actually quite costly for a Chinese flagship. But this information is not official yet, so we better wait for some concrete details.

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Ever since LeTV officially announced the first Snapdragon 820 powered smartphone in the market, namely the Le Max Pro, we have been waiting for answers to two important questions. First, the pricing and second, the availability. Looks like we have got a rough answer to the first question as a Chinese website seems to know the pricing of the Le Max Pro, at least in China.

The website revealed that the Le Max Pro will be priced at 3500 Yuan in China, which comes to around $535. That definitely doesn’t come in the affordable category, but with high-end specs like Snapdragon 820 and Sense ID, we anyways expected it to be costly.

Apart from the first phone to feature Snapdragon 820 chip, the phone is also the first commercial device to come with Qualcomm’s Sense ID ultrasonic fingerprint sensor. This particular sensor is different from the traditional capacitive ones in the sense that it works even when it’s located under a sheet of metal, plastic, glass or any other material. Also, it’s relatively unaffected by things like dust and sweat, making it much more efficient.

Another important feature of the Le Max Pro is the support for the new generation Wi-Fi 802.11 ad standard. It adds a new frequency, 60GHz, in addition to 2.4GHz and 5GHz, which makes transfer speeds up to 4.6 Gbps possible.

Other specs of the device are also quite high-end. It comes with 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM, 6.33-inch 2K display, 32GB / 64GB / 128GB of internal storage options, 21MP rear camera and 3400mAh battery with Quick Charge 2.0.

As you can see, the phone sports flagship level specs. Considering these specs, would you be willing to shell out $535 for the Le Max Pro?

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We have been hearing for months that LeTV will release the first Snapdragon 820 powered smartphone. And these rumors were bang on target as Qualcomm and LeTV announced the first Snapdragon 820 powered smartphone in the world, the LeTV Le Max Pro earlier today. We already know a lot about the device, thanks to the previous leaks, but now, we have some official details to add to it.

One thing to note here is that, despite the announcement this early, neither LeTV nor Qualcomm has revealed when the phone is going to be released. The only thing we know right now is that the phone will be available for purchase sometime in the first half of 2016. That’s a pretty vague time frame, so we will have to wait for more availability details.

Even in the specs department, there are many details that are yet to be announced. But what we know is that the phone will also be the first commercial handset to feature Qualcomm’s Ultrasonic Fingerprint Sensor called as Sense ID. Once again, the feature was rumored to debut with the Le Max Pro, so no surprises here. Qualcomm explains that the new Sense ID is much more reliable and secure than existing capacitive based fingerprint sensors. The main highlight of Sense ID is the use of an ultrasonic scanner to create extremely detailed 3D fingerprint maps. Plus, it works even under plastic, metal and other materials. This is why the sensor on the Le Max Pro works although it’s located under 400 micrometers of metal.

Another highlighted feature of the Le Max Pro is the support for the latest Wi-Fi 802.11 ad standard which is much faster than previous generations, since it adds a new frequency band, 60GHz. The phone is also officially confirmed to feature fast 4G LTE and Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 2.0. From what we can see, the phone looks the same as its predecessor, the Le Max featuring an all metal body.

As for the other specs, we will probably get to know more at the CES event. According to rumors, the phone features a 6.3-inch 2K display with 4GB LPDDR4 RAM, 64GB storage, 21MP rear camera, and 3400mAh battery. AnTuTu performance is said to be impressive, scoring nearly 130K in the test.

Hopefully, we will get more information about the handset in the next couple of days. Stay tuned for more details.

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CES 2016 is almost upon us, which means we will get to see the greatest innovations from the industry all at one place. Every year, we see interesting gadgets including smartphones showcased at the event and this year too, we expect a lot many announcements at Las Vegas.

Since we are mainly focused on the Chinese smartphone industry, we have picked the top three manufacturers to look out for at CES 2016. I agree, there aren’t many Chinese smartphone makers at the event, but still, we have some major players out there ready to unveil their big guns.

So, let’s take a look at which Chinese smartphone makers are ready to impress us at Las Vegas this year.

1. LeTV

LeTV’s journey into the smartphone market is nothing less than extraordinary. The company which released its first smartphone last year has grown to compete with the likes of comparatively established players like Huawei and Xiaomi. And it looks like the company is beating them in their own game of low cost yet premium quality smartphones.

This will be the first time LeTV is participating at CES and it’s all set to unveil one of the most powerful smartphones from the company yet. Thanks to today’s teaser, it’s almost confirmed that the company will unveil a Snapdragon 820 smartphone tomorrow. The phone is most likely the Le Max Pro, about which we have been hearing for the past few weeks.

The recent AnTuTu benchmark listing of the device revealed that it posted more than 133,000 on AnTuTu app, thanks to its high-end specs powered by Snapdragon 820. Other specs like 4GB RAM, 64GB ROM, 21MP rear camera, 4MP ultra-pixel camera will probably make it one of the favorite smartphones at CES 2016.

So, it’s no surprise that LeTV stands right on top of the list this year. At last, we will see the Snapdragon 820 chip in action!

2. Huawei

As of late, when it comes to smartphones, no list is complete without Huawei. This Chinese tech company has established itself as a premium smartphone maker releasing so many devices in 2015 (and shipping more than 100 million). The company is expected to follow the trend in 2016 as well, and what better place to kick off things than CES 2016.

Well, Huawei has confirmed a new product launch at the event, but it’s yet to reveal the model name. But taking a look at the teaser, it’s probably going to be the next generation version of the Huawei Mediapad X2 tablet, namely the Honor X3. We already have the possible specs of the device, and it includes a 2K display. Not a flagship product, but it’s still worth checking out for phablet lovers. You can read more about it from our earlier coverage.

What’s kind of unconfirmed at the moment is the upcoming Huawei P9 flagship. If Huawei releases this new model, it will be the center of attraction for Huawei fans at the event. It is said that the phone will feature dual 13MP Sony cameras at the back, with a whopping 6GB RAM module. There’s a lot of other high-end tech that’s going to come with the device and you can read more about it from here. However, given that Huawei is yet to tease/ reveal anything about it’s ‘P’ series smartphone, we may have to wait a bit longer to meet this powerful flagship.

Finally, it’s confirmed that we will see the Huawei Mate 8 flagship at the event, with Kirin 950 on board.

3. ZTE

ZTE has slowly established its presence in the US market and hence it’s no surprise that we will see some exciting products from the company at the Las Vegas event. The company recently sent out a teaser for a event on January 5, which has a background of a silhouette of an unknown smartphone with the words, “Hello World, January 5 New Release”. This could either be for the launch of the Z11 flagship or the new website which the company purchased for a whopping $2 million or both.

We hope to see the Z11 flagship at CES 2016 since recent renders and rumors have shown the device as a pretty high-end smartphone. For specs, the phone is expected to feature Snapdragon 820 with 4GB RAM, 128GB storage, and 20.7MP camera. The renders reveal a bezelless design like its predecessor. So, the Z11 is a phone that we are all excited to meet. Unfortunately, the company hasn’t revealed any concrete details about the device or the launch period.

Still, even if ZTE doesn’t showcase the Nubia Z11 at CES 2016, we can expect to see some other product announcements at the event. So, we better keep an eye on this manufacturer.

There are other Chinese manufacturers like Lenovo and OPPO present at Las Vegas this week, so we can expect some great products in the coming days.

Let me know, which product are you most excited about this CES 2016.

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For the first time, LeTV will be present at CES, which is going to be held at Las Vegas, US. The event officially starts from January 6, but the company will be making a big announcement a day before. Now, LeTV’s Senior VP has just released a new teaser for tomorrow’s event which confirms a new smartphone launch.

The teaser, which was released late evening on Weibo reveals a new smartphone with thin bezels. We can see that on the dial pad, the numbers 820 are highlighted which clearly indicates that the new phone will come with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820 under the hood. The teaser also confirms the launch tomorrow, i.e. January 5 at Las Vegas.

Our best guess would be the Le Max Pro. We have been hearing a lot about this flagship for the past few weeks. The rumored specs of the device till now have been pretty high-end. Apart from the powerful quad-core Snapdragon 820, the phone is expected to come with 4GB of RAM with 64GB of internal storage. At the back, there will be a 21MP camera while up front, a 4MP Ultrapixel shooter. The display will be of decent size, 5.5-inches with 2K resolution. We have already spotted the device on AnTuTu, and it managed to an amazing score of 133K.

Apart from the usual specs, the phone is also rumored to feature Qualcomm’s Ultrasonic fingerprint sensor. Also, you can expect it to come with the new Wi-Fi 802.11 ad standard which is much faster than the previous generations.

Unfortunately, apart from the Snapdragon 820 on board, we can’t be sure of anything at the moment. Even the model name is yet to be confirmed. But since the launch is just a day away, we will soon know all the features of the device.

Stay tuned for more updates.

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After releasing the LeTV 1S mid-range model a couple of months back, we have not yet heard about a new smartphone from the Chinese media giant. However, thanks to the numerous rumors and leaks that have surfaced in recently, we know that the company is preparing a new device for launch soon, namely the LeTV Le Max Pro. From the naming scheme and the leaked specs, this device seems to be the successor to the phablet Le Max that was released back in April this year.

Now, a new leak reveals the specifications of the Le Max Pro, and it looks like the phone will be much more powerful than its predecessor. Apart from the usual specs, which we have already seen, thanks to its AnTuTu benchmark listing, the phone is now rumored to feature Wi-Fi 802.11 ad technology, which is the latest standard in wireless connectivity. Many of the recent flagships boast of 802.11 ac Wi-Fi technology, but it looks like LeTV is going to set the bar next year with this new age tech. This standard adds a new 60GHz frequency band and supports speeds up to 7GBps.

Apart from the new Wi-Fi standard, the phone will reportedly come with Qualcomm’s Ultrasonic Fingerprint Sensor. This will make it one of the first phones with this new sensor. One of the highlights of this sensor is that it can be placed under a number of materials like glass, aluminum, stainless steel, sapphire or even plastic. It is said that things like sweat, dirt, grease etc don’t affect it, which means the efficiency will be quite good.

Apart from these new age features, the Le Max Pro will come with Snapdragon 820 quad-core chipset with 4GB of RAM under the hood. There will be 32/64/128GB of internal storage options. The display will be quite large, like its predecessor. So, you get a 6.33-inch WQHD 2560 x 1440 pixel screen up front. The rear camera is said to be of 21MP while, at the front, you can expect a 4MP Ultrapixel camera.

If true, the Le Max Pro would really set the bar for other flagships that will debut next year. It comes with the new Snapdragon 820 chip, Ultrasonic fingerprint ID and the fast Wi-Fi 802.11 ad standard (supports transfer speeds up to 7GBps) which are some of the features that could end up in a number of flagships in 2016.

We expect a LeTV to show off the Le Max Pro at CES 2016, but let’s wait for an official confirmation from the company.

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