Confirmation from the OnePlus CEO, Liu Zuohu, revealed that the OnePlus 5 will be released with UFS-type storage; providing more comfort for fans that OnePlus will not be using current alternatives for their internal storage. This reassurance comes after the unveiled scandals from Huawei’s Mate 9 and Samsung’s Galaxy S8’s mislabeling of storage types of EMMC instead of UFS 2.0 and UFS 2.0 instead of UFS 2.1, respectively.

Liu said in his Weibo post that UFS storage has surprisingly become a selling point. What he probably wants to hint from this post is that UFS should be standard inside flagship phones and it’s surprising to see companies are making it as a selling point.

UFS 2.1 is currently the fastest option available, found in some high-end flagship smartphones, UFS 2.0 being its predecessor and the EMMC as UFS’ slower competitor. These exposures have led to smartphone manufacturers to become more vigilant with their marketing and small text details in their tech spec pages.

Liu Zuohu’s comment brings us a clearer idea that OnePlus are about to release an all-star, near bleeding-edge “Flagship Killer” this month. Expect something like a UFS-type 128GB internal storage and Snapdragon 835 paired with 8 GB RAM. We are expecting OnePlus not to disappoint this summer.

For 1080p band camp and general users, the 1080p display will certainly remain ideal for everyday use and video playback. There is no confirmation whether OnePlus will be sticking to AMOLED panel (which they probably would — Optic AMOLED ), however, if they do, we will expect to see improved color reproduction from the OnePlus 3/T.

What other things don’t we know?

If the internals are accurate, we are still missing confirmation for several features: a 3.5mm headphone jack, the specification of the USB-C and speaker’s quality. From the OnePlus’ Twitter account, we can see the power button and SIM card are located on the right side; a logical guess would be OnePlus’ signature alert slider and volume control will be on the opposite.

Does the confirmation by Zuohu improve your opinion about the Oneplus 5?

(Source)

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In one of the biggest scandals of 2017, it was found that Huawei randomly used either eMMC or UFS 2.1 flash chips inside its new Huawei P10 flagship smartphone. Given that everyone expected the P10 to feature the best specs, including UFS 2.1 inside all of the P10 models sold worldwide, this scandal came as a surprise.

Initially, Huawei played the blame game, but later on, the company did apologize to its customers. Despite the apologies, the customers weren’t happy to be given a slower and older flash chipset inside their brand new and pricey Huawei phones. The company’s CEO and Director, Richard Yu has come out to explain the situation multiple times in the past and even in today’s Huawei Mobile Open Day held in Shenzhen, China (the first such event), Richard Yu tried to explain the situation to the media.

RELATED: Latest OTA Update Adds Watermark on Huawei Honor 8 & V8 Camera Samples

At the event, he tried to open about Huawei’s supply struggle and even talked about the Huawei P10 flash scandal. He explained that the price difference between the eMMC memory chips and UFS 2.1 chips is very small. The company’s decision to go with older chips for some models was not in order to save money but to keep a steady supply of shipments and timely delivery of orders. He added that the company’s aim was not to deceive customers and if not for UFS 2.1 supply issues, Huawei would have used the same chip inside all the units.

He further said that Huawei has reflected on this issue and understands that the real consumers should be given importance and have to listen to their voice and understand their ideas.

Basically, the issue boils down to whether Huawei is justified using an older flash chipset inside its 2017 flagship just because of supply issues. What do you think Huawei should have done to tackle the supply problem?

Would you have bought the Huawei P10 if Huawei had clearly mentioned that some of their units had an older eMMC flash chip inside?

(via)

The post Huawei’s Richard Yu Explains Saving Money Wasn’t The Motive Behind Using eMMC Chips in Huawei P10 appeared first on Gizmochina.

Last month, the Huawei P10 and Huawei P10 Plus were at the center of a controversy. Some users had discovered that the phones had different types of flash memory installed which resulted in varying performance results. Huawei responded to the issue by saying that the discrepancies in the flash memory was as a result of using different suppliers. They also went on to say there was no notable difference in the overall performance of two phones with different flash memories.

We already know Huawei isn’t the only company that cuts corners with flash storage. There have been reports of iPhones with larger storage capacities having faster read/write speed than those with smaller storage. Turns out Samsung also uses various flash storage for their phones and their most recent flagship, the Galaxy S8 isn’t left out.

The finding was discovered by an XDA member who owns the Exynos 8895 version of the Galaxy S8 (SM-G950FD). After finding out his own phone uses a UFS 2.1 storage, he implored other Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ owners to find out what flash storage type is present in their phone. The results were varying. While some Galaxy S8 units have UFS 2.1 flash storage, others have UFS 2.0; but all Galaxy S8+ units tested have UFS 2.1 storage. Poll results below.

Initially, Samsung had explicitly stated that the UFS storage present in the Galaxy S8 is version 2.1 but if you head to the page now, it has now been removed. The asterisked info that says “May differ by country and carrier” is actually for the RAM and storage configuration and not type. Below is a comparison of the previous spec page and the new one.

The difference in performance between a phone with UFS 2.1 storage and another with UFS 2.0 storage isn’t much compared to that of one with an eMMC 5.1 storage. But it is still disappointing that a company as large as Samsung which is one of the largest flash memory manufacturers in the world will behave in such a manner.

READ MORE: Latest Rumor: Next Samsung Galaxy C-Series Phone Coming With Dual Cameras

To find out the type of UFS storage in your Galaxy S8, head to the Play Store and download the AndroBench app. For UFS 2.0, you should get read speeds between 500MB/s – 600MB/s while UFS 2.1 should have read speeds between 750MB/s and 800MB/s. To determine the vendor of the flash memory, install Material Emulator from the Play Store and input the command “cat / proc / scsi / scsi” without the asterisk. Compare the results with that of the table below.

The Galaxy S8 and S8+ are scheduled to launch on the 18th of May in China. Pre-orders will begin on the 10th and sales will start on the 25th. If you pre-register and pay the ¥99 fee and complete payment on May 18, you will be eligible for the free gifts that come with the Galaxy S8.

(Source)

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Earlier this week, there were reports from owners of the Huawei P10 and P10 Plus about the different flash memory speeds on their devices. While some recorded read and write speeds for UFS 2.1, others got speeds for UFS 2.0 and the rest recorded eMMC 5.1 speeds.

Huawei later issued an official statement regarding the matter, explaining that flash memory is sourced from different suppliers, all of which are tested to ensure they meet up with standards. Then the CEO spoke on the matter via his Weibo account and revealed that shortages in supply led to the use of eMMC flash memory in some units. He also added that he didn’t notice any difference in performance while using the Huawei Mate 9 with a UFS 2.1 storage and the Huawei P10 Plus with an eMMC 5.1 storage.

The latest twist regarding the matter is Huawei has modified the info on the Huawei Mate 9′ page and removed the part that says there is a UFS 2.1 storage in the device. Weird right? Why modify the page for the Mate 9 when the affected devices in question are the Huawei P10 and Huawei P10 Plus? Does it mean that there are units of the Mate 9 that don’t have UFS 2.1 flash memories? Or is it a precautionary move for new units of the Mate 9 that won’t ship with UFS 2.1 flash storage? Turns out that there are units of the Mate 9 with UFS 2.0. flash storage and Tweeter user (@yao_yunfan) has provided evidence.

UFS2.0 Chips spotten on Mate9:

Samsung KLUBG4G1CE-B0B1（32GB） (max 5.8Gbps)
TOSHIBA THGBF7G9L4LBATR (64GB) (max 11.6Gbps) pic.twitter.com/gzZ348SzTY

— Claud Yau (@claud_yau) April 22, 2017

READ MORE: Huawei Mediapad T3 in 7-inch, 8-inch variants Officially Introduced

So not only are there various flash memory versions on the Huawei P10 and Huawei P10 Plus, but it also applies to the Mate 9 (32GB and 64GB versions). Although in this case, it is UFS 2.0 and not eMMC 5.1.

(Sources:, 1, 2)

The post Huawei P10 Memory Scandal: Removes UFS 2.1 Description from Official Mate 9 Website appeared first on Gizmochina.

Huawei‘s latest P10 flagship was recently revealed to have some discrepancies in the flash storages installed on several of the units in China. This led to varying results in Androbench benchmark test where some of the storages were noticed to be faster than others thus fueling speculations that Huawei used UFS 2.1 storage on some, UF 2.0 on others and even eMMC 5.1 storage on some units.

The Huawei P10 is a flagship device that retails for more than $500, so any suggestion of low-end flash memory as claimed to have been noticed on some models could be judged to mean that the company is cutting corners in order to rip off customers. Of course, eMMC 5.1 memory would be cheaper than others. The tech giant apparently realises the damage such notion can cause and has come out to clarify that its flash memories are supplied by a number of credible suppliers who have a guideline set by the company. The statement also hinted that the user experience is controlled by several factors spreading from software to hardware. The statement added that the in-house Kirin chip, EMUI, camera and other software, as well as hardware, have always been upgraded in order to help users get a great user experience.

Read Also: Did Huawei Cut Corners on The Huawei P10′s Storage? Benchmark Results Show They Did

According to Huawei, the performance of the flash memory in a user’s run-time test using software which tests the performance of a single flash device cannot accurately tell the performance of the flash memory within the system. The smooth running of the flash memory isn’t a single component decision but the combined effort of the powerful chips and other components ensures the device runs smoothly in all aspects. In essence, they are saying there is no inferior memory on an of the P10 models.

The post Huawei P10 Flash Memory Issue: Official Response appeared first on Gizmochina.

The Huawei P10 and Huawei P10 Plus were announced during MWC 2017. Reviews for the new flagships have been positive so far. The cameras are better, they have a more powerful processor, and  feature an impressive new design. But did the Chinese manufacturer cut corners on the Huawei P10′ storage? New revelations seem to confirm they did.

The Huawei P10 is available in various memory options depending on the market. It turns out that the storage sizes are not the only differences between these variants but also the storage type.

A number of Huawei P10 owners in China have noticed that the various storage versions have different read and write speeds and the differences are startling. Using storage benchmarking app, Androbench 5.0, it was discovered that some versions are way faster than others. While some people recorded read speeds of over 700MBps, some recorded above 500MBps, others a little over 400MBps, and yet some less than 300MBps. The results were posted on a Huawei forum in China.

READ MORE: Five Million Huawei Mate 9 units Sold in 5 Months, 12 Million P9 Sales

The different speeds all fall into various categories. For those over 700MBps, they are definitely UFS 2.1 storage; those above 500MBps are UFS 2.0; and those less than 300 use an eMMC 5.1 storage.

For a phone that starts at over $500 it is disappointing to discover the Huawei P10′ storage versions differs so much. Huawei has not made any comments about the findings yet but we are eager to hear them provide an explanation.

The post Did Huawei Cut Corners on The Huawei P10′ Storage? Benchmark Results Shows They Did appeared first on Gizmochina.

The Samsung Galaxy S8 is going to play a major role in helping Samsung salvage a large chunk of its reputation. While the whole world is eager to know and see what Samsung is planning, the company is trying its possible best to prevent further details from leaking. But we do not think it’s recording much success as what is said to be a real image of the upcoming phone surfaced online recently.

The image is of a Samsung phone with gold chrome bezels that are considerably smaller than what you have on the S7 and S7 Edge. The physical home button is also absent and the display is curved on both sides. It doesn’t look like the S8 could get any realer than this and Xiaomi’s Mi MIX better prepare for some competition.

Rumors going round say the Galaxy S8 will feature 8GB of RAM which is double that of last year’s flagships; and also have UFS 2.1 storage. There is also mention of it being available in two sizes: a 5-inch variant and a larger 6-inch model presumed to be called the Galaxy S8 Plus and probably aimed at fans of the Galaxy Note series.

The image above shares some design similarities to a render( below) that was leaked earlier although we would have loved this leak more if it were black.

Samsung Galaxy S8 Release Date

Samsung usually announces its flagship during Mobile World Congress but this year is going to be different. It is expected to delay it further by a couple of months and hold a separate launch event for it in New York.

READ MORE: Samsung to Reveal Galaxy Note 7 Investigation Results This Month

Latest report from Samsung’s home country says the Galaxy S8 will be released on the 18th of April although an unveiling ceremony will have been carried out in Late March or Early April before the April 18 Global release. A separate report also says that Samsung will start mass production of the phone in March which sounds pretty late if it is indeed going to be released in April. Do note that the dates have not been confirmed so you might want to take this with a pinch of salt.

(Sources: 1 & 2)

The post Real image of Samsung Galaxy S8 Leaks: Tough Competition for Xiaomi Mi MIX appeared first on Gizmochina.

So, let’s see what Mediatek could have in store for us for 2016. According to the analyst, the Helio X30 chip will come with the same deca-core architecture as the X20 and X25 chips. It will be built on the 10nm manufacturing node from TSMC. But the cores will be slightly different. The chip will be a combination of the new ARM Artemis cores, Cortex A53 and Cortex A35 cores. However, the source didn’t reveal the exact number of each cores. For GPU, MediaTek Helio X30 could use PowerVR graphics which would be a good upgrade from the Mali chips. The chip would also support 8GB RAM modules revealed the source. Other possible specs include upgraded video and audio features. Finally, he revealed that the chip should score around 160,000 on the AnTuTu benchmark.

Adding to this information, Black Digital released more details on Weibo. He said that the Helio X30 should also come with quad channel LPDDR4 RAM with support for up to 8GB memory. Plus, the storage would be super fast as the chip would support UFS 2.1 standard.

Helio X20 and X25 chips were left out from the pack of Samsung, Qualcomm and even Huawei flagship chips because they supported UFS 2.0. On the other hand, MTK chips only supported eMMC storage standard, which was clearly a let down. Looks like MTK is going to fix this issue with the new generation Helio X30.

Like mentioned above, this is not the first time we are hearing about the Helio X30. Lots of details were leaked about a month ago, and you can check out the info from our previous coverage.

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