The United Kingdom recently announced that starting by the end of next year, the sale of carrier-locked phones is banned. Now there is a chance the United States may follow suit. However, it may likely not be as easy.

Unlike the UK where the order banning the sale of carrier-locked phones comes from The Office of Communications a.k.a. Ofcom, the current administration of the FCC, which is the US equivalent of Ofcom, may not have the ban on its agenda. However, a post by Wired explains a way it can be pulled off.

The likelihood of the ban being enforced by the current administration of the FCC which is led by Ajit Pai is very slim as it has been reported that the regulatory body has been friendly toward private companies and broadband provides. However, Kerry Maeve Sheehan who is the repair policy lead at iFixit, believes it may be easier under Biden’s administration but doesn’t know if it can or cannot happen. But all hope isn’t lost.

Another way it can be achieved is via the US Library of Congress and Copyright Office rulemaking proceeding which accepts public comment. The proceeding which is done every three years provides an opportunity for amendments of Section 1201 of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act which allows companies to use software to implement locks on their products. Originally designed to provide protection for publishers of books and games or content which can be illegally copied, operators have used it to defend the locks they put on phones.

The alternative now is for citizens to send in their comments to have the section amended and if a strong case can be established, it can be changed. A proceeding is said to be underway and the first batch of comments has to be sent in by December 14. It won’t be instantaneous as the whole process is expected to go on until Spring next year. It will also require money to cover the legal fees, however, it can be achieved.

UP NEXT: The United States is reportedly considering to add China’s Ant Group to the trade blacklist

The post The US may soon join the UK in banning the sales of carrier-locked phones appeared first on Gizmochina.

Ever since the pandemic became worse, people around the world have been staying indoors as much as possible. Even their shopping preferences have changed over the course of the last few months. A recent survey by Counterpoint Research on smartphone shopping in the UK, Germany, and Spain paints a similar picture.

UK

Talking about the UK first, the online smartphone sales currently sit at ~35% in the country. According to the research firm, the online sales has moderately increased since Q1 2020. Above all, they sustained even after the re-opening of brick and mortar stores.

The survey revealed that 90% of UK consumers preferred to make their purchase from either electronic stores or supermarkets. That’s because consumers in this country want to experience the device in a “more engaged manner”.

Even retailers like Carphone Warehouse and Currys PC World are aware that consumers prefer buying from large format stores rather than smaller standalone mobile shops

EDITOR’S PICK: Explained: Under Display Cameras & its Application with the CEO of OTI Lumionics

That’s because these companies allow consumers to buy the latest phones without making an upfront full payment. They also provide options to bundle plan charges with phone instalments, in addition to direct debit options with offers and treats.

As per the UK consumers who participated in the survey, convenience was their top-most priority while shopping followed by probability of cheaper pricing.

That said, almost 60% of this survey respondents have a monthly income of less than £ 1600. More than 40% of individuals are planning to buy a phone from an operator are self-employed. Whereas, more than 50% of those willing to make an upfront payment are either homemakers or unemployed.

Germany and Spain

Unlike the consumers in the UK, those in Germany and Spain have changed their preference for buying smartphones to online by a high margin. 

For instance, the survey revealed that 35% and 30% of respondents from Germany and Spain respectively purchased their current phone online. Most importantly, a whopping 90% of Germans said that their next smartphone purchase will be online compared to 76% Spaniards, which is not a small number anyway.

Further, consumers in these two countries mostly prefer full up-front payment and retailers like Amazon, Media Markt, Saturn, Comtech, Fnac, Conectrol and Walmart.

As for numbers, 41% of Germans chose upfront payment in the survey and 42% of these respondents are salaried. The numbers for Spain is 53% and 61% respectively.

Last but not least, consumers who selected upfront payment earn less than €1,900 per month. They prefer this mode of buying because of cheaper deals and better offers.

Conclusion

Counterpoint Research says that ASPs (average selling prices) of smartphones will decrease as consumers are expected to reduce their budget. Also, going by their survey, most of the consumers will opt for a full upfront payment for their next phone to reduce a deferred liability.

Lastly, respondents from all the three countries said that they are not looking to reduce touchpoints despite they are concerned about the COVID-19 pandemic.

UP NEXT: Future of Transparent OLEDs is in Automobiles: CEO of OTI Lumionics

The post UK consumers prefer buying phones offline while those in Germany & Spain have shifted to online appeared first on Gizmochina.

With the advent of 5G, manufacturers now have a reason to jack up the price of their phones. The increase in price is not limited to flagship phones but also mid-range phones with 5G support. However, 5G is not the only reason why phones cost more this year.

For example, in India, the GST tax for mobile phones has been increased from 12% to 18% and it has prompted manufacturers to raise the prices of their products sold in the market.

This increase in phone prices has got us curious as to how much our readers spend on a phone and thus serves as the basis for our poll this week – What is the highest amount you are willing to spend on a phone? Do you have a mark you won’t cross or do you go all out when purchasing a phone? Do take the poll below and also share the reason(s) behind your answer.

NB: We have added Indian Rupee options for our Indian readers to make it easy for them to choose an answer. However, these prices are not a direct conversion of the USD options.

The post Poll of The Week: What is the highest amount you’re willing to spend on a phone? appeared first on Gizmochina.

It looks like smartphone lovers are in for a treat! AliExpress is offering a wide selection of mobile phones and mobile phone accessories at considerably lowered prices.

As part of its recently kicked-off ‘Back to School Phones & Accessories’ promotion, the Alibaba Group-owned online retail service giving its loyal users an unmissable chance to buy their next mobile at an unbeatable price. Aside from that, they can get noteworthy discounts on a slew of mobile phone accessories that not only enhances the appearance of a handset but also improve its overall performance.

The activity page has been split into multiple categories to simplify and expedite the search process. The New Arrivals section features the Umidigi X, Meizu 16Xs, Xiaomi A3 and the Realme 3 Pro smartphones along with the Anker PowerPort PD 2 and the Ugreen Car Charger, bearing reduced price tags.

For instance, the realme 3 Pro Global Version with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage capacity is currently available for a reduced price of just $188.99 – 206.84, while it usually retails for $224.99 – 246.24. Aside from this 16 percent discount, you can use a $3 off coupon to save more money and get $3 off on $3.01.

The next category called The Bestsellers is teeming with all sorts of smartphones and mobile phone accessories that you can buy without emptying your pocket. For example, the VViking 2 USB Charger usually sells for $26.67, but you can now buy it for just $16.27. This is a significant 39 percent reduction in the device’s original asking price.

If you are willing to spend $20 or more on the activity page, we recommend you to check out the Spend US $20, get $10 off section, which features amazing products carrying noteworthy discounts. Those who fancy buying more than just one item, can head straight to the following category called Buy 3, get 30% off! and save a considerable amount of money on their orders.

The concluding category dubbed, More To Love has further been divided into multiple sub-categories including Phones, Power Banks, Cases & Covers, Chargers, Cables and More. Each sub-category includes a myriad of items that you can get your hands on for unbeatable prices.

You can visit the activity page to take advantage of these amazing discounts by following this link.

The post Get Great Discounts on Phones and Accessories on AliExpress appeared first on Gizmochina.

We all know that there is a trend of the full-screen smartphones today. The Xiaomi Mi Mix was one of the first mainstream phones to offer near bezel-less design and the Mi Mix 2 is a successor to it. It indeed looks beautiful, it has top-shelf specs and more. Learn more in the full Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 review.

Just before we start, the phone costs about $550 at Gearbest.com but you will find a generous discount code at the end of this review. 

VIDEO REVIEW

UNBOXING

The phone ships with a standard set of accessories.

Some extras include a 3.5mm headset jack adapter and a high-quality case that looks nice and fits the phone nice and snug.

DESIGN and DISPLAY

There is no doubt that the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 is one of the most beautiful phones out there. The star of the show is a sharp, bright and vibrant 5.99” LCD display. It has 1080p+ resolution, 18:9 aspect ratio and it is covered with the Gorilla Glass 4.

The ceramic back looks really nice in practice and it is curved on each side for aesthetics and a better grip. If you add a premium aluminum frame and responsive buttons, you definitely feel that you hold a true flagship phone.

It’s obvious that the Mi Mix 2 can be complete smudge fest if you don’t clean it, just like most of the glass-made phones. But the thing that annoys me the most is that the device is very slippery. Yes, it sounds like a cliche but it is much more slippery than other glass-made phones I’ve tested in recent memory.

When it comes to optics, we are looking a tradition camera setup that has one 12MP sensor with f/2.0 aperture lens and 4-axis OIS.

Here is a minute of a few little but important features: the fingerprint scanner is one of the best out there, selfies can be taken using a 5MP snapper and there is a nice LED notification light. Keep in mind that selfie camera is implemented on the bottom right corner, so you would need to hold the phone upside down to take portrait selfies.

However, there is no microSD card slot and no headset jack but the supplied adapter assures a very good sound quality.

There is a pretty good sound system too that is provided by a stereo speakers setup.

HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE

The Xiaomi Mix 2 is no slouch when it comes to hardware as it ships with top-shelf components that include a Snapdragon 835 chip, 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage.

You can also opt in for a more expensive model that has 8GB of RAM and whopping 256GB of internal storage.

As expected, the phone can handle 3D games without any issues. However, there is one serious software bug that prevents you from installing games that take a lot of storage space. You simply get an error message every time you try to download and install a game from the Play Store. I know this can be fixed somehow but this is what you will get out of the box. That’s really frustrating and hopefully, it will be fixed with a software update soon.

BENCHMARKS

USER INTERFACE

If you are familiar with Xiaomi phones, you will feel right at home since the device ships with the MIUI 8.5 that is built on top of Android 7.1.

My phone shipped with the original Chinese ROM, meaning that you would need to install Google Services yourself which takes about a minute to do that. However, you still need to deal with some bloatware apps. Also, an error message pops up every time I open up the Gmail app, which is annoying. We have all the same features and customization options Xiaomi phones have been famous for. You can tweak the phone in a variety of different ways, adjust a ton of settings and change the looks.

Most importantly, I can assure that the phone is fast and responsive even after installing a lot of apps.

CAMERAS

The camera app can take pictures quite fast. There a few shooting modes including a pro mode that allows you to adjust some image settings. There is also a slow-motion video mode.

The overall image quality is quite good but I expected better results from the phone this expensive. Obviously, you can take some good-looking daylight pictures but some of them could have more detail. Also, I got a few shots that were out of focus.

The low-light camera performance is okay but again, I expected better results from a $500 phone.

The 4k video looks quite good and 4-axis OIS does the job reducing the shakiness. However, I found that there are some video artifacts, continuous auto-focus is not always reliable and sound recording quality could be a lot better.

1080p selfie video looks great. Just bear in mind that awkward selfie camera position.

Download full resolution camera samples

CONNECTIVITY

When it comes to connectivity, I can assure that the call quality has improved a lot over the original Mi Mix. Also, signal reception is great, Wifi works fine and the phone has Bluetooth 5 and NFC connectivity options. The GPS works exceptionally well. Finally, the phone has a bunch of sensors, just like any other flagship in the market.

BATTERY LIFE

The Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 ships with a 3400mAh battery that performs really well considering the size of the display. The max. SOT time I was able to reach was over 8 hours, which is quite impressive. If you use the phone more intensively, you should expect to achieve about 5-6 hours of SOT every day.

Finally, the supplied charger fully charges the phone in just over 1 hour and 20 mins thanks to Quick Charge 3.0 technology.

CONCLUSIONS

The Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 is probably the most beautiful phone the company has ever made and it sure has a lot of flagship-grade qualities for a lower price than the mainstream flagships. Also, I love the Mix 2 for its display, the overall build quality, great performance and good battery life.

However, there are quite a few shortcomings. There is no microSD card slot, no headset jack and the phone is not water-resistant. There are also a few bugs in the UI that perhaps will be fixed with the future software updates. What | also expect from Xiaomi’s software team is to improve the overall image quality.

At the end of the day, the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 still offers a lot of true flagship features for a lower price tag but please consider a few shortcomings before making a buying decision.

You can now get the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 with a generous discount code ($50 OFF the retail price). COUPON: MIMX2K

The post Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 Review – The Bezel-less BEAUTY with a few Flaws appeared first on Gizmochina.

If you follow the trend of the budget Chinese phones, you know that manufacturers just love that full-screen design. Honestly, I don’t mind that because phones just look great. The Elephone S8 is one of the most powerful full-screen phones for less than $240. Learn more in the full Elephone S8 review.

VIDEO REVIEW

UNBOXING

The phone ships with all the usual stuff, no extras included.

DESIGN and DISPLAY

The 6” 2k resolution display is just gorgeous and probably the best I’ve seen on a budget all-screen design phone. It’s really sharp and it’s a great panel overall. Obviously, the tradeoff is that the phone is quite huge.

A nice glass back, a sturdy aluminum frame and precise buttons add quite a lot of a premium look and feel, and it’s just nice to hold the phone in the hand despite its huge footprint. One thing that bothers me is a hybrid SIM card tray that rattles just a bit.

There is a beefy 21MP camera and 8MP shooter for selfies that is implemented on the bottom right corner.

Now a few features as quickly as possible: there is no headset jack, which is a shame for a budget phone. The device uses USB C port, there is no LED notification light, the fingerprint scanner is fast and reliable but the display could light up a bit faster.

The loudspeaker quality is not the best but it’s significantly better than on other budget full-screen phones I’ve tested.

HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE

The Elephone S8 stands out from the crowd of budget full-screen phones because it’s a more powerful phone. The device has a deca-core  Helio X25 chipset with the max. clock speeds of 2.5GHz, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, which is not expandable for some reason.

Even though all the specs sound impressive, I found that the phone stutters in some 3D games on the highest graphics settings. I can’t say that the phone lags but there are quite a few skipped frames. The phone gets quite warm but it does not overheat.

BENCHMARKS

USER INTERFACE

Where the phone does not stutter or lag, is the user interface that is based on Android 7.1. Well, there are some weird translations like a whitelist. Also, the blue light filter is called a night light and you cannot adjust the intensity of it.

Other features like gesture controls work just fine if you plan to use them. My most favorite part is that Elephone preserved that stock Android look and feel and the phone is really fast, no matter what you do with it.

CAMERAS

The camera department is where the Elephone is also better than other full display budget phones I’ve reviewed. Obviously, the pictures are not perfect as some of them lack sharpness, the colors look washed out and so on but in general, the daylight image quality is decent considering the price of the phone.

The night images are not that good but again, the quality is a bit better than I expected.

Selfies could look sharper but I think that will look pretty good on social media.

What is frustrating with all these full-screen phones is that they can shoot videos only in 480p. Still, the videos come out quite usable for social media or video chats. Obviously, you need to hold the phone upside down both when shooting videos or taking selfies.

Another con is that the phone uses HEVC format for videos, meaning that you need to convert it before you can use it. I know that’s easy to do but it is an extra step for a budget phone owner.

The quality of the video is pretty good but the footage could look sharper and have more detail. The sound recording quality is actually pretty good for a budget phone.

Download full resolution camera samples

CONNECTIVITY

The call quality is not bad but it could be better. I didn’t have issues with other connectivity options like wifi, Bluetooth or GPS. The phone has 13 sensors including a gyroscope, so you are all set if you want to use the device with VR headsets.

BATTERY LIFE

The phone rocks a huge 4000mAh battery that allows you to use the phone for an entire day or more. I could get about 6 or even 7 hours of screen on time even with quite a few apps installed and social media accounts that usually sync in the background.

It takes just over 1.5 hours to fully charge the phone with the supplied charger.

CONCLUSIONS

The Elephone S8 is the best budget full-screen phone I’ve tested so far. I just love its sharp 6” display, the overall build quality, the speed and fluidity, a great battery life and surprisingly decent cameras.

Obviously, you should consider the fact that the phone lacks a headset jack, there is no LED notification light, no NFC, no microSD card slot and the front camera shoots video only at 480p resolution.

If you can live with these shortcomings, the Elephone S8 is definitely one of the best full-screen phones on a budget.

The post The Best Budget Bezel Less Smartphone 2017? Elephone S8 Review! appeared first on Gizmochina.

Cubot is one of the Chinese phone makers that usually produces phones that offer a lot of value for the price. Magic is their latest budget model that offers dual cameras and nice design for less than $100. Learn more in the full Cubot Magic review.

VIDEO REVIEW

UNBOXING

The phone ships with all the usual stuff and some extras include a soft TPU case

DESIGN and DISPLAY

Let’s be clear, Cubot Magic imitates the design of the Honor Magic but it uses cheaper materials to reduce the cost of the device.

The phone is made entirely of plastic and it does lack premium materials but the build quality is good. The design highlight is that this phone is curved on each side, which really looks nice in practice.

We have a 5” 720p display, which may not be the sharpest out there but I think it is really good for a cheap phone. The capacitive buttons are not backlit but we have a pulsing notification light and LED flash for night selfies that can be taken with a 5MP front facing camera.

The backplate is a fingerprint magnet as it is made of glossy plastic. Another highlight of this cheap phone is a dual camera setup.

We have one 13MP shooter and another 2MP sensor.

The loudspeaker is not the best but it is okay for such a cheap phone.

HARDWARE and PERFORMANCE

When it comes to hardware, Cubot Magic is yet another budget phone with decent specs for the price. The phone ships with the MTK6737 chip, 16GB of expandable storage and 3GB  of RAM.

The gaming performance is okay but you should expect for some skipped frames even if you play games like Asphalt 8 on medium graphics settings.

BENCHMARKS

USER INTERFACE

I love when manufacturers keep stock Android UI on these cheap phones and the Cubot Magic is no exception as it runs on Android 7 out of the box. Some extra features include a few gesture controls that I didn’t really use because, for some weird reason, they are in Spanish. Anyway, the phone is fast and fluid on the daily basis and that is the most important thing to me when it comes to budget phones.

IMAGE QUALITY

As for image quality, that dual-camera setup can take some decent-looking photos with the shallow depth of field effect. Obviously, you can’t compare the quality with some more expensive handsets but I’m quite impressed with the results from the $90 phone.

As for regular photos, you can’t expect much from any super cheap phones but you can still take some pretty good-looking pictures that are usable for social media.

However, the quality decreases quite dramatically in lower-lit situations.

The selfie image quality is not so great and the front-firing flash does not really help in low-light.

The 1080p video quality does not impress like on most of the cheap phones. The 1080p selfie video does not look impressive either but it is usable for social media or video chats.

CONNECTIVITY

When it comes to connectivity, the phone does everything quite well. The GPS lock speeds are fast and it is surprisingly accurate when used for navigation. The phone has only a few sensors and there is no gyroscope.

On a positive note, I like the fact that you don’t need to remove the battery to access two SIM cards slots and the microSD card slot.

BATTERY LIFE

The 2600mAh battery performs quite well considering its size but you should not expect any stellar results. I was able to achieve just about 4.5h of screen-on time but your mileage may vary.

CONCLUSIONS

Cubot Magic is yet cheap another phone from China that offers quite a lot of value for the price. Its main selling point is design as the phone is curved on each side.

In general, it is a decent option for such a low amount of money but it would have been great if it had some premium materials used in the construction. Well, all of these budget phones have some tradeoffs and this is what you have to expect when you spend less than $100 for a phone.

The post Cubot Magic Review appeared first on Gizmochina.

As we have mentioned before, Tomtop is currently celebrating its 12th anniversary sale on the website and the retailer has listed some very good snap up deals and discounts. There are a lot of deals available as well as Snap Up offers. For example, you can purchase the A7HD 720p Sports Mini DV camera for just $1. Similarly, today the shop is offering the Doogee T6 Pro, ear phones and vintage accessories for $1. The snap up deals will start every day at 17:00 until stock lasts till June 26!

Then there are a number of tablets and smartphones being offered at discount like the Chuwi Hibook tablet at $199.99, Teclast X80 Pro tablet at just $102.29 and even accessories like LeTV earphones with USB Type-C for $29.09. There are a lot of deals up for grabs in different categories as well, like TV Boxes, actions cameras, quadcopters, car accessories and so on. You can check out more details on this third round of anniversary sale on Tomtop from the link given below.

The post Tomtop 12th Anniversary Deals: Smartphones, Earphones At $1 Everyday (Limited Stock) appeared first on Gizmochina.