Xiaomi Mi Max 2 was finally announced earlier today and the phone is sure to provide one of the best battery life that we will see in a phablet. The overall conference went very well, including the performance from the Chinese girl band, SNH48.

However, there was one thing that surprised everyone during the live streaming. Suddenly, in between the streaming, Huawei logo cropped up on the screen and stayed there for a couple of minutes. Now, remember this is Xiaomi’s conference and Huawei is a direct competitor to the company. So, seeing Huawei’s logo during Xiaomi’s live streaming was not only surprising, but it was also bad for the company’s reputation. And naturally, after seeing the logo, some viewers started to joke that Huawei is probably one of the sponsors of the event.

But the actual conference faced no such issues and it went well. So, who was the culprit? Well, iQIYI, is the one to blame here. If you have never heard of this name, iQiyi is China’s largest online video site. They were streaming the conference live and there was some kind of equipment failure in between due to which Huawei’s logo came up on the screen for around 2 minutes. Note that the issue was resolved in a couple of minutes, but the damage was already done.

RELATED: OPPO & Huawei Came Together For This Clone & We Can Call It The Ugly OPPO P9

iQiyi did apologize for this technical snag. It looks like users on Weibo had started sending private messages to Huawei asking whether they were responsible for this. Of course, Huawei was quick to defend itself saying they didn’t have anything to do with their logo coming up on Mi Max 2 live video. Also, it added that Huawei wishes Xiaomi for the launch success.

Although this wasn’t a big issue since the conference went smoothly, online viewers did have something to laugh about in the process.

(source: 1, 2 )

The post Huawei Made A Brief Appearance In the Xiaomi Mi Max 2 Live Video Streaming Today appeared first on Gizmochina.

The first half of this year may likely see Xiaomi release a good number of smartphones and other gadgets. Already, we are expecting the Snapdragon 835-powered Mi 6 to be launched any moment from now. Another smartphone that will likely hit the market within the first half of the year is the second-generation Xiaomi Mi Max 2.

The Xiaomi Mi Max 2 is expected this year as a replacement for the Mi Max which was released last year and is even off the shelf on Xiaomi Mall presently. Latest details about the Mi Max 2 has emerged and there are indications that the next-gen Xiaomi smartphone will not use the yet-to-be-announced Snapdragon 660 chipset, as rumoured and purportedly spotted on benchmark, but will feature a Snapdragon 626 processor instead. The Snapdragon 626 chip is said to be the successor to the Snapdragon 625 and comes with an increase of about 10% in performance over the SD 625. The new SD 626 also has support for dual cameras while also retaining the qualities of the SD 625 in terms of power and battery life advantages.

In addition, the Mi Max 2’s camera is said to be another area of major upgrade. It is tipped to come with the same setup as used on the Mi 5S, which is a 12MP Sony IMX378 sensor but with a larger aperture in order to get better camera effect. On the other hand, the front selfie shooter will have a 5MP  sensor. Earlier on, the Xiaomi Mi Max 2 was rumoured to come with the same 6.44-inch display with 1080p resolution.  The device is tipped to run on Android 7.1.1 Nougat with MIUI 8 and with an increase in the battery capacity to 5000mAh. An earlier rumour also tips the Mi Max 2 as packing a Snapdragon 660 chip backed by 6GB of RAM and 4GB RAM on the standard version.

Read Also: Xiaomi Mi Max 2 Spotted On GFXBench, Likely Sporting the Unannounced Snapdragon 660

As for the price, the source of the latest leaked details hints that the Mi Max 2 price may be adjusted slightly but will still fall between 1499 Yuan and 1699 Yuan. Of course, nothing is certain until Xiaomi goes official with the next-gen phablet.

(via)

The post Xiaomi Mi Max 2 Latest Details: Snapdragon 626 Chip, Sony IMX378 Sensor & More appeared first on Gizmochina.

The MIUI 8 Android 7.0 Nougat closed beta is now being developed for the Xiaomi Mi 4c, Mi 4s, Mi Note and Mi Max smartphones.

Android 7.0 Nougat Closed Beta Now Available

Recently, MIUI Operations Manager @RanGer had revealed that the aforementioned smartphones will be the first set of Xiaomi devices to get Android 7.0 Nougat upgrade. Now, these phones are already receiving MIUI 8 flavored Android 7.0 Nougat closed beta.

Xiaomi Mi Max and Mi 4s are the smartphones that were released earlier this year. The Xiaomi Mi 4c is a midrange phone from 2015 and Xiaomi Mi Note is 2015 flagship smartphone. This indicates that Xiaomi is testing Android 7.0 Nougat on smartphones from this year and last year before rolling out to recent 2016 flagship smartphones.

Xiaomi Mi 5 users were treated with Android 7.0 Developer Edition after it was tested with beta version for a month. In the same way, these smartphones are expected to get Developer ROMs after one month of testing Android N closed beta.

Since it is a closed beta, the update is only available to restricted number of users by invitation. The Android 7.0 Developer ROM for Xiaomi Mi 5 brings version 6.12.8 MIUI 8 that weighs around 1.3 GB.

Related: New Xiaomi Mi Notebook Air Launching December 23

Xiaomi Mi Note May Note Get Final, Stable Nougat

The GPU of Snapdragon 800 and 801 chipsets are not compatible with the Vulkan API integration found on Android Nougat. Reports suggest that Qualcomm will not be releasing graphics for these chipsets that powered several flagships from 2014 and 2015. Hence, such smartphones are unlikely to get official Android 7.0 Nougat update.

Earlier in this month, Lenovo had confirmed ZUK models that would be receiving Nougat update. In January 2017, the company aims to release Nougat beta for ZUK Z1 that is powered by Snapdragon 801. However, speculations suggest that even though Nougat beta will come to ZUK Z1, it won’t receive the final and stable Nougat upgrade.

It is interesting to see Xiaomi testing Android 7.0 Nougat beta on Mi Note that is powered by Snapdragon 801 chipset. Hence, it is likely that it may also not receive final edition of Nougat update.

The post Xiaomi MIUI 8 Android 7.0 Nougat Closed Beta Development Begins appeared first on Gizmochina.

How about Snapdragon 821 for 299$ ? Or a very well build smartphone with Helio X20 + 4GB Ram for 200 $ ? Yes this price range is where the fun begins, where competition brings us to amazing phones for every taste out there  and shows us how much more interesting the future of the smartphones might be.

So let’s begin..

Vernee Apollo Lite

209 $

Display: 5.5 inch FHD 1920x1080p Sharp IGZO

CPU: MTK Helio X20

RAM: 4GB LPDDR 3

ROM: 32GB eMMC 5.1 (up to 128GB)

Rear Camera: 16.0MP Samsung S5K3P3 sensor, 6P lens, ISOCELL , RWB

Front Camera: 5.0MP Samsung S5K5E2 sensor

Battery: 3180mAH Li-polymer

OS: Android 6.0 out of the box (Vernee OS, CM)

Features: Type-C port (supports Type-C earphone, 3.5mm jack retained), Pump Express 3.0 quick charging (5 minutes charging = 1 hour calling), LED notification, Metal unibody, 0.1s fingerprint ID (ISP smart chip, smart key), OTG, Gyro, E-compass,（2.4G/5G）WIFI, Dual SIM Dual standby / SIM + SD card, Open Kernel Code

Dimensions : 15.20 x 7.60 x 0.90 cm, 178g

GSM: 850/900/1800/1900MHz; WCDMA: 850/900/1900/2100MHz, FDD LTE: B1/B3/B7/B20

This one is a real champ for this price. I had the chance to review one of the “gray” Apollo Lite myself and I must say, build quality is top-notch, one of the best colors on a metal body smartphone. 5.5″ Sharp IGZO screen is amazing, Helio X20 is enough almost for every duty including games. Speaking of MediaTek Helio X20 and X25 series, I think there is no need to spend money for Helio P10 based smartphones anymore (might be exceptions of course, personal taste for example), why ? Please check the picture below :

I have Apollo Lite for almost a week and it had 2 OTA updates in this time, this shows us that Vernee is serious about rom business too, this is an important topic as you all may agree. Paying for hardware is something but paying for good ROM is more important in most cases. Well optimized software that can use all the hardware features without any problems is very precious. So if you have around 200$ to send for a new series smartphone, Vernee Apollo Lite won’t disappoint you.

Full review : http://www.gizmochina.com/2016/08/07/vernee-apollo-lite-review-one-pleasant-surprise/

Coolpad Cool1

209$  3GB/32GB, 225$  4GB/32GB, 259$ 4GB/64GB

Display: 5.5 inch FHD 1920x1080p 450nit

CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 Octa Core

RAM: 3GB/4GB

ROM: 32GB/64GB

Rear Camera: Dual 2 x 13.0MP back camera, Camera Maximum resolution: 4160×3120, Camera maximum recording capacity: 4K / 1080P @ 30fps, Slow recording capacity: 720P @ 120fps, F2.0 large aperture, PDAF, ball-type closed-loop motor, quick focus, Color temperature flash, back-illuminated CMOS

Front Camera: 8.0MP, F2.2 large aperture, 80 ° super wide-angle lens

Battery: 4060mAh Li-polymer

OS: EUI 5.6 base on Android M OS

Features: Type-C port, OTG, Gyroscope, NXP smart PA TFA9897, AAC Speaker BOX, LED notification, Fingerprint recognition, Infrared remote control.

Dimensions : 152 x 74.8 x 8.2 mm, 167g

GSM: 850/900/1800/1900MHz; WCDMA: 850/900/1900/2100MHz, FDD LTE: B1/B3/B5/B7/B8

New kid in town from the marriage of LeEco and Coolpad, the Cool1. With the experience of Coolpad in camera department, this new model is trying to give customers Dual Camera setup for an affordable price powered from Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 octa-core CPU. Design is better than LeEco series for my taste, seems more compact with round corners and very good metal construction body. I wish they had a color option like Apollo Lite’s gray or even matte black. 4060mAh battery will help you to carry your Cool1 at least whole day with heavy usage without worrying about power. Cool1’s dual camera setup is like that we have seen on Huawei P9 before, one is RGB camera, second shoots only black&white. The result is better low light performance, sharper images and unique effects of course.

As for Rom department, we know LeEco takes this seriously and software updates mostly are coming in right time.

Xiaomi Redmi Pro

224$ 3GB/32GB, 254$ 3GB/64GB, 300$ 4GB/128GB

Display: 5.5 inch FHD 1920x1080p LTPS-AMOLED

CPU: Mediatek MT6797T Helio X25 | MT6797 Helio X20 Deca-core 2.5 GHz – Exclusive edition | 2.3 GHz – High edition |  2.1 GHz – Standard edition

RAM: 3GB/4GB

ROM: 32GB/64GB/128GB

Rear Camera: Dual Setup, 13 MP Sony sensor and 5 MP Samsung sensor

Front Camera: 5MP, f/2.0 lens

Battery: 4050mAh Li-polymer

OS: Android 6.0 – Marshmallow

Features: Finger print sensor under home key front, OLED screen, TYPE-C connector, metal unibody, microSD – upto 256 GB.

Dimensions : 151.5 x 76.2 x 8.2 mm, 174 g

GSM: 850/900/1800/1900MHz; WCDMA: 850/900/1900/2100MHz, FDD LTE: B1/B3/B7

Xiaomi version of affordable Dual Camera setup and first metal unibody metal body model of the maker, the new Redmi Pro. The contender of Cool1 in this price range with rear dual cameras. If you like front replaced finger print sensor more, if you like deep blacks more (who doesn’t ?), if you don’t mind about the maker of the CPU, i’m saying that because there still many people who just buy Qualcomm processor  based phones, then Redmi Pro is your choice. This phone uses MediaTek’s high-end line (until X30/X35 comes to market) Helio X20 and X25, both as an option. Both are equal or better CPU’s then Qualcomm’s 652. Rest is like always,  taste. As for rom/software support Xiaomi is way in front of every maker, has world’s biggest forum support behind. If you want to buy high end model with X25 + 4GB Ram + 128GB Rom, this will cost you 300$ and there you might consider other alternatives too. Base model seems most logical as Redmi Pro offers SD card slot for storage upgrade. Dual camera setup differs from Cool1’s, Redmi Pro’s setup has 2 RGB (color) cameras, main is 13MP, second “depth” camera is 5MP.

Full review : http://www.gizmochina.com/2016/08/29/xiaomi-redmi-pro-review/

LeEco Le 2 Pro

229$

Display: 5.5 inch FHD 1920x1080p 

CPU: Mediatek MT6797T Helio X25

RAM: 4GB

ROM: 32GB

Rear Camera: 21 MP, f/2.0, phase detection autofocus, dual-LED (dual tone) flash, 1/2.4″ sensor size

Front Camera: 8.0MP, F2.2 large aperture

Battery: 3000mAh Li-polymer

OS: EUI 5.6 base on Android M OS

Dimensions : 15.60 x 7.80 x 0.75 cm, 185gr

GSM: 850/900/1800/1900MHz; WCDMA: 850/900/1900/2100MHz, FDD LTE: B1/B3/B7

Complete package with 4GB Ram, 32GB Rom, very good workmanship/quality, plus powerful engine with Helio X25. LeEco Le 2 Pro is naturally in our list. Beeing developer friendly, bootloader  can be unlocked with a simple fastboot command, not only this model, talking about every LeEco models, has many custom ROMs online, LeEco community is growing among power users.

Full review : http://www.gizmochina.com/2016/05/10/leeco-le-2-review/ .

Nubia Z11 Mini

239$

Display: 5.0 inch FHD 1920x1080p 

CPU: Qualcomm MSM8952 Snapdragon 617 (Octa-core (4×1.2 GHz Cortex-A53 & 4×1.5 GHz Cortex-A53))

RAM: 3GB

ROM: 64GB, microSD up to 256 GB

Rear Camera: 16 MP, f/2.0, 1/2.8″ sensor size, 1.12 µm pixel size, geo-tagging, touch focus, face/smile detection, panorama, HDR

Front Camera: 8 MP, f/2.4, 1.4 µm pixel size, 1080p

Battery: 2800mAh Li-polymer

OS: Android OS, v5.1.1 (Lollipop)

Dimensions : 141.4 x 70 x 8 mm , 138gr

GSM 850/900/1800/1900, WCDMA 850/900/1900/2100;  TD-LTE B38/39/40/41; FDD-LTE B1/3/7

What do you want from a smartphone these days ? Picture (camera) quality and very good sound output are enough for you ? You want these specs in a very good looking 5″ screen phone right ? Then go grab a Nubia Z11 Mini and all done. The little brother of Z11 family shares same 4-axis OIS Sony IMX298 sensor with its big brother Z11 and Xiaomi’s Mi5, flagship grade camera performance, both pictures and videos (4K). For music lovers AKM’s latest audio chipset is onboard too. Being a former DJ myself, I always test audio outputs of smartphones in first place. Nubia’s powerful and clean sound output been always my favorite and Z11 Mini carries this tag too.  You love taking many pictures and videos and listen to music, this means you need storage too, 64GB onboard + microSD up to 256 GB are more than enough. Build quality of Z11 Mini is one of the best in the market, worldwide. Rom updates ? This is where ZTE comes behind its competitors, usually slow. Had mobile data bug in Z9 series, I hope they will take more care with new Z11 models.

Qiku 360 N4S

239$

Display: 5.5 inch FHD 1920x1080p 

CPU: MTK Helio X20

RAM: 4GB

ROM: 32GB, microSD up to 128 GB

Rear Camera: 16 MP, f/2.0, ISOCELL, PDAF, geo-tagging, touch focus, face/smile detection, panorama, HDR

Front Camera: 8 MP, f/2.0

Battery: 5000 mAh Li-polymer

OS: Android 6 Marshmallow

Dimensions : 151.3×74.6×8.35mm, 169gr

GSM: 850/900/1800/1900MHz; WCDMA: 850/900/1900/2100MHz, FDD LTE: 1800/2100/2600MHz

Take Nubia and Meizu, mix them, you get 360 N4S design. Full metal body, 2.5D glass on top, high build quality. Put a Helio X20 CPU with 4GB Ram and 32GB Rom (microSD up to 128 GB) in it and power all these elements with a 5000 mAh battery (biggest capacity in our list, higher than Mi Max, coming next). How does it sound ? Price should be normally a bit lower, but this phone is very hard to find, so if you want an alternative you need to pay 239$ for this beast. Cameras look very good on paper. An infrared remote control is a bonus too. 360 N4S runs its own OS, 360 OS 2.0.

Xiaomi Mi Max

219$ 3GB/32GB Snapdragon 650, 259$ 3GB/64GB Snapdragon 652

Display: 6.44-inch, full HD (1920×1080 pixels)

CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 650/652

RAM: 3GB

ROM: 32GB/64GB, microSD up to 128 GB

Rear Camera: 16 MP, f/2.0, phase detection autofocus, dual-LED (dual tone) flash

Front Camera: 5 MP, f/2.0

Battery: 4850 mAh Li-polymer

OS: MIUI 8 based on Android 6.0 OS

Dimensions : 173.1 x 88.3 x 7.5 mm, 203gr

GSM: 850/900/1800/1900MHz, WCDMA: 850/900/1900/2100MHz, LTE-FDD: 1800/2100/2600MHz (B1/B3/B7)

I love big screen ! I always did, and now I’m using a Mi Max as my daily phone (first time using a Xiaomi), 3GB/64GB with Snapdragon 652 CPU, bought it for 259$ and I must say worth every penny. If you like big screen phones too, there is nowhere else to look, with 4850 mAh huge battery Mi Max will suit your needs in a quality metal body, having everything including infrared remote control and a good camera (good for my taste, can shoot good pictures in dark room with dual flash). Audio quality is surprisingly very good too. I tested Mi Note Pro’s ES9018 DAC last week, Mi Max’s output is nothing less, high output with clean sound. This big fellow is made for multimedia for sure.

Full review : http://www.gizmochina.com/2016/06/12/xiaomi-mi-max-review-lot-xiaomi/

LeEco Le Max 2

239$

Display: 5.7 inch 2560×1440 Pixel

CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 64bit, Quad Core, 2.15GHz

RAM: 4GB

ROM: 32GB

Rear Camera: 21MP 6P, f/2.0 for 4K video

Front Camera: 1.4μm 8MP f/2.2

Battery: 3100 mAh Li-polymer

OS: eUI Android 6.0 OS

Dimensions : 15.68 x 7.76 x 0.80 cm, 185gr

GSM: 850/900/1800/1900MHz; WCDMA: 850/900/1900/2100MHz, FDD LTE: B1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/17/20/25/26

Wellcome to the first league, talking about CPU and GPU power. Are you an Antutu freak too ? Then you should start from here.

Quote : ” Do we need so much power in our cell phones ? Can software follow this hardware power ? These are only phones, ok smart phones with operating systems in it, but what are we doing with them when its about CPU power ? Using 10 applications same time ? Playing 2-3 power hungry games same time ? Not enough..? We need somehow take this power out of these little gadgets to our desktops and push their limits with much more options like creating. After then, this “race” about making more and more powerful CPU’s for phones can come to a logical state. And when those days come, every one of us will use just one ARM powered PC for every computer based job, our Qualcomm’s, MediaTek’s or Fusion’s…”

130K is the minimum score of Snapdragon 820, best CPU that Qualcomm has made till now (+821). And you can grab it just for 239$ thanks to LeEco. The only phone in our list that has a 2K screen in 5.7″ size, if you care about that, this is your only choice, a good one indeed. Lossless audio over Type-C, excellent build quality, awful color options

Full review : http://www.gizmochina.com/2016/05/28/leeco-le-max-2-review-beauty-meets-power/

ZUK Z2

259$ (4GB Ram)

Display: 5-inch, 1080p Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels)

CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 64bit, Quad Core, 2.15GHz

RAM: 4GB

ROM: 64GB

Rear Camera: 13 Megapixel, Samsung ISOCELL sensor, f/2.2

Front Camera: 8MP

Battery: 3500 mAh Li-polymer

OS: ZUI 2.0 base on Android 6.0 OS

Dimensions : 141.65mm x68.88 mmx8.45mm, 149gr

GSM: 850/900/1800/1900MHz , WCDMA: Bands: 850/900/1900/2100MHz, LTE FDD: 1/2/3/4/5/7/8

And the fun continues. Ok you want Snapdragon 820 but 5.7″ screen is too big for you ( Le Max 2 ), how about a 5″ in a matte black metal frame ( my favorite ) and front finger print scanner ? And a bigger battery compared 3500mAh to 3100 mAh ? + 32GB more storage for 20$ more ? Here is your phone, ZUK Z2 from Lenovo. Still no official multilanguage ROM from the maker, but there are custom ZUI based ROMs supporting your language, or even CM14 Android 7 if you are familiar with flashing ROMs ( if you are not we will help you with our guides for sure ). It’s good to have community behind a model and Zuk Z2 does that. Best 5″ that 259$ can buy for sure.

Full review : http://www.gizmochina.com/2016/06/27/zuk-z2-review-beautiful-fast/

Xiaomi Mi5

269 $

Display: 5.15 inches, 1080p Full HD 

CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 64bit, Quad Core, 1.8GHz

RAM: 3GB

ROM: 32GB

Rear Camera: 16 MP, f/2.0, 1/2.8″ sensor size, 1.12 µm pixel size, geo-tagging, touch focus, face/smile detection, panorama, HDR

Front Camera: 4 MP, f/2.0 – , 1/3″ sensor size, 2µm pixel size, 1080p@30fps

Battery: 3000 mAh Li-polymer

OS: MIUI 8 Android 6.0 – Marshmallow

Dimensions : 144.6 x 69.2 x 7.3 mm, 129g

GSM: 850/900/1800/1900MHz, WCDMA: 850/900/1900/2100MHz, LTE-FDD: 1800/2100/2600MHz (B1/B3/B7)

Famous Xiaomi Mi5, love the black version (especially with the ceramic back). Talking of color, new Mi 5s models don’t have black as color option, why Chinese phone makers don’t use black in every model, I will never understand that. Support of MIUI community, the power of Snapdragon 820 and one of the best cameras in the market, Sony IMX298. If you are a Xiaomi fan you probably get this one under 300$, it surely deserves this money. But I must remind you this version has only 3GB Ram and Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 clocked at 1.8Ghz, not at 2.15 like others, will you feel it as less performance in daily use ? No, you will not, only less Antutu score that’s all, but why Xiaomi reduces clock speed ? To make higher models more attractive ? But it does not. Just make all the clock speeds same and the ram to 4GB in all Mi5 models, it will be easier to sell.

Full review : http://www.gizmochina.com/2016/03/13/xiaomi-mi5-review-beast-smartphone/

LeEco Le Pro 3

299$

Display: 5.5 inches, 1080p Full HD 

CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 64bit, Quad Core, 2.35GHz

RAM: 4GB

ROM: 32GB

Rear Camera: 16 Megapixel, Sony IMX298, PDAF, F2.0, 1/2.8″ sensor size, 1.12 µm pixel size

Front Camera: 8 MP, f/2.2, 1.4 µm pixel size, 1080p

Battery: 4070 mAh Li-polymer

OS: eUI Android 6.0 OS

Dimensions : 151.4×73.9×7.5mm, 175g

GSM: 850/900/1800/1900MHz; WCDMA: 850/900/1900/2100MHz, FDD LTE: B1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/17/20/25/26

Our final model and most powerful model as CPU and GPU power because it has a Snapdragon 821 onboard. Higher clocks of 820 give us about 20K more Antutu score. But, like I always say, scores are not the first key point when you want to buy a smartphone. Talking about LeEco Le Pro 3 it’s not just CPU power, the new model of the firm finally has one of the best cameras, Sony IMX298, finally has enough battery power 4070 mAh, much better comparing to Le Max 2’s 3100 Mah, 2.5D glass on top, which gives a much better look and feel, a new brushed metal body and all this in 7.5mm thickness, for just 299$ ! Many of you may say so why bother to make a list, this one is  a real bargain for this price, who would anyone buy a Mi5 for 269$ if you can buy this beast for 30$ more ? I agree with you, speaking of science, of course, rest is, like we always say, taste and budget (and better software optimizations)….

Every phone in our list is on par or even better (price/performance ratio) then famous phone makers like Samsung, iPhone, HTC, Sony or LG. I don’t count Google’s new Pixel line, nonsense costs for that ugly HTC made phones. So why pay 600$-900$ if we can buy almost same quality and absolute android freedom for 1/3 – 1/4 the price ?

Please don’t forget to check our new compare tool for full specs of phones at Gizmochina (phones are still being added to our database): http://www.gizmochina.com/compare/?pos=97354-99299-97579

The post Smartphone Buyers Guide: Best Value For Money Chinese SmartPhones $200-$300 appeared first on Gizmochina.

Xiaomi will be launching its next flagship on the 27th of September and today the company decided to go down memory lane by releasing the launch posters  of their Mi phones, right from the Xiaomi Mi 1 up to this year’s Mi 5.

If you owned or still own any of these devices, you will connect to these pictures.

• Xiaomi Mi 1/Xiaomi Phone: This phone launched with a 4” display 1GB of RAM and a Snapdragon S3 dual-core processor. The main camera is an 8MP shooter and there’s a 2MP camera for selfies. Back when it launched, Xiaomi sold it for 1999 Yuan and touted it as the phone capable of taking on the iPhone 4 and Samsung’s Galaxy S2.

• Xiaomi Mi 2: The Mi 2 was the major successor to the Mi Phone. It launched with a larger screen and a quad-core processor. It also doubled the RAM to 2GB. The company launched an upgraded version called the Mi 2s the following year which had a higher clock speed and a 13MP camera.
• Xiaomi Mi 3: This 5” device was a massive upgrade over its predecessors. Full HD display, Snapdragon 800 quad-core chip clocked at 2.3GHz, a 13MP camera with dual LED flash and a 3050mAh battery.
• Xiaomi Mi 4: One complaint people had with the Mi 3 was the lack of LTE. The Mi 4 fixed that. It also launched with 3GB of RAM and a 2.5GHz Snapdragon 801 chip. The Mi 4 also got refreshed in 2015 with the Mi 4C which has a Snapdragon  808 processor and a USB-Type C port;  a made for India Mi 4i with 2GB of RAM and a Snapdragon 615 processor; and a 2016 version called the Mi 4s that doubles the storage of the 3GB Mi 4c from 32GB to 64GB and has an expandable storage.
• Xiaomi Mi Note: The Mi Note launched in January 2015. It features a SD 801 chip, a 5.7” display, a 13MP camera that can shoot 4K, and a 4MP front facing camera that can record 1080p videos. A slightly upgraded version called the Mi Note Pro launched with a SD 810 processor, a Quad HD display, and 4GB of RAM. A successor, the Mi Note 2 is said to be in the works and should launch later this year.
• The other devices (the Mi 5 and Mi Max) need no introduction as they should still be fresh in our memories since they launched this year.

The last poster is that of the upcoming Mi 5S whose Antutu benchmark score has set a record.

The post Mi 5S Launch: Xiaomi Releases Posters of Previous Mi Phones appeared first on Gizmochina.

Unless you are living under a rock, I’m sure you must have heard about the spate of exploding phones happening in recent times. The phone suffering from this is the Galaxy Note 7 and Samsung has issued a compulsory recall. Xiaomi seems to have caught the exploding bug as reports say there have been 2 cases of Xiaomi phones exploding this month.

The first incident involved the large screen phablet, the Mi Max, which exploded while it was charging. The phone was said to be charged with the official travel charger before it exploded and damaged a part of the house.

The second case involved a Mi 4c that exploded while sitting in the back pocket of its owner. The man suffered 3rd degree burns as a result of the explosion. Both phones were said to have been purchased from Xiaomi’s official online store.

The company has appointed a 3rd-party organisation to carry out investigations related to both cases and will be offering compensation to affected victims. This is the third Xiaomi phone exploding in 2 months. Back in August we reported a case of a Mi 5 that burst into flames in China.

READ MORE: UMi Super, Umi Max, and Umi Plus Will Get Updated to Android 7.0 Nougat by December

While Samsung has issued an official statement faulting an issue with the battery of the Note 7, Xiaomi has not made public the result of their findings. The incident has affected 3 different Xiaomi phones already which means it can happen to any other Xiaomi phone as well. Let’s hope the company issues an official statement before another incident occurs.

The post Xiaomi Mi Max and Mi 4c Explodes in China appeared first on Gizmochina.

August has been a busy month in Chinese smartphone market, talking about new model launches. There have been new models like Redmi Pro (end of July) and Redmi Note 4 from Xiaomi, M3E from Meizu, Cool1 from LeEco and Coolpad marriage, Q5 series from 360. More will come before the end of this year including some flagship models. There is a big war between phone makers to catch a piece of this billion $’s cake.

As the second version of our “Smartphone Buyers Guide” today we will take a look for the models that cost between 100$-200$. There are so many choices when we include old models from last year too, I mean models with old chipsets that has been updated with new series. So they will be eliminated, otherwise this list won’t end As an example, I didn’t include Meizu M2 Note or Meizu Metal in this guide, even though both are still very good phones under 200$, because there is M3 Note out and you can buy it under 200$ too. There will be some exceptions, of course, if it’s a bargain.

Speaking of Meizu, let’s start with this makers phones under 200$.

MEIZU M3 Note

$145.89 for 2GB/16GB, $186.99 for 3GB/32GB version.

Display: 5.5 inch 1920 x 1080 ( FHD ) screen 403 PPi
CPU: Helio P10 Octa Core ARM Cortex-A53 1.8GHz x 4 + ARM Cortex-A53 1.0GHz x 4
GPU: ARM Mali T860 image processor
System: Android 5.1 ( Flyme 5.1 )
RAM + ROM: 2GB RAM + 16GB ROM / 3GB RAM + 32GB ROM. TF card up to 128GB
Camera: Rear camera 13 megapixel, Corning Gorilla 3 glass, f/2.2 aperture, 5-element lens, Continuous shooting, Panorama, PDAF auto-focus, Two-tone flash
Front camera 5 megapixel, f/2.0 aperture, 4-element lens, FotoNation 2.0, FaceAE
Bluetooth: 4.0
GPS: GPS/A-GPS/GLONASS
Sensors: Hall magnetic sensor, Gravity sensor, IR proximity sensor, Gyroscope, Ambient light sensor, Touch sensor, Digital compass
SIM Card: Dual SIM, Dual standby, Dual Micro SIM cards
Battery Capacity (mAh): 4100mAh
Network:
2G: GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz
3G: WCDMA 850/900/1900/2100MHz
4G: FDD-LTE 1800/2100/2600MHz
Product size: 15.36 x 7.55 x 0.82 cm / 6.05 x 2.97 x 0.32 inches, 163gr

6000 Series Aluminum alloy, means you have a very solid phone in your hands. Meizu always been about “quality”and last year even its budget phones carried production quality to next step. M3 Note, powered by the octa-core 1.8GHz MediaTek Helio P10 chipset is capable of every daily needs of yours, plus more. 4100mAh battery power will be enough for heavy use whole day, for regular use 2 days. When it comes to fingerprint I’m a fan of front placement, simple idea, I want to unlock my phone to see my notifications when it’s on the desk with a simple touch, don’t want to bother to grab it and place my finger to the back of the phone. Meizu’s mTouch is one of the best in the market, combining 3 key functions in 1 and adding fingerprint sensor to it. As we know from the reviews, both cameras of M3 Note do the job for this price range, i mean they are good enough for most of users. Maybe not as good as Oppo R9 with the same chipset inside (Helio P10), but you get Meizu M3 Note for the half price.

Full review : http://www.gizmochina.com/2016/04/23/meizu-m3-note-review/

Meizu M3S

119.90 $ / 169.90 $ (2GB/16GB – 3GB/32GB)

Display: 5.0 inch 2.5D Arc 1280 x 720 HD Screen
CPU: MTK6750 1.5GHz 64bit Octa Core
System: Android 5.1
RAM + ROM: 2GB RAM + 16GB ROM / 3GB RAM + 32GB ROM. TF card up to 128GB.
Camera: 5.0MP f2.0 front camera + 13.0MP f2.2 back camera
Bluetooth: 4.0
GPS: GPS/A-GPS/GLONASS
Sensors: Gravity sensor, Proximity sensor, Gyroscope, Ambient light sensor, Electronic compass
SIM Card: Nano SIM
Battery Capacity (mAh): 3020mAh
Network:
2G: GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz
3G: WCDMA 850/900/1900/2100MHz
4G: FDD-LTE 1800/2100/2600MHz
Product size: 14.20 x 7.00 x 0.80 cm / 5.59 x 2.76 x 0.31 inches , 142gr

5.5″ is too big for you ? Here is the little brother of M3 Note — Meizu M3S comes with 5″ HD screen, 2.5D curved glass on top of it. Again with metal body, same mTouch 2.1. A powerful CPU from the same class as Helio P10. Having said that, let’s explain this.

MTK6750 is the toned down version of the MTK6755. Features a similar setup as the MTK6755, including an 8-core 4×4 big.LITTLE configuration with Cortex-A53 CPUs. The difference is that the higher-clocked CPUs will only be set to a maximum of 1.5GHz as opposed to 2.0GHz with the MT6755 Helio P10. The typical setup of MT6750 will be 4@1.5GHz and 4@1.0GHz. GPU is the same, ARM Mali T860 MP2.

XIAOMI Redmi Note 3 Pro

183.99 $ for 3GB/32GB version

Display: 5.5-inch, 1920 x 1080 Pixel Screen with 403 PPI
CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 64bit 1.8GHz Hexa-Core ( 2 x A72 + 4 x A53 )
GPU: Adreno 510
System: MIUI 8
RAM + ROM: 3GB RAM + 32GB ROM
Camera: 5.0MP with f/2.0 aperture front camera + 16.0MP with 78 degree wide-angle, f/2.0 aperture back camera
Sensor: Light sensor, G-sensor, Proximity sensor, Hall Sensor, gyroscope, E-compass and fingerprint sensor
SIM Card: Dual SIM dual standby. One is Micro SIM card slot, the other is Nano card slot, which can also be used as a TF card slot.
Note: Nano SIM card and TF card cannot be used together, because they share the same space of card slot.
Feature: GPS/ A-GPS / Glonass / Beidou
Bluetooth: 4.1
SIM Card: Dual SIM dual standby, dual Micro SIM cards
Battery Capacity (mAh): 4000
Network:
2G: GSM 900/1800/1900MHz
3G: WCDMA 850/900/1900/2100MHz; CDMA 2000: BC0
4G: FDD-LTE 1800/2100/2600MHz
Product size: 15.00 x 7.60 x 0.87 cm / 5.91 x 2.99 x 0.34 inches, 168gr

Yes, Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 will be on the market soon, but Redmi Note 3 Pro with Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 Chipset will still be most users first choice in this price range. Especially for gamers, because of the Adreno 510 GPU of course. For 5.5″ inch screen size lovers, Xiaomi’s Redmi Note series has always been very popular because of its price/performance ratio. Note 3’s 4000mAh battery will help at least one day under heavy use, more with regular use. Phone has a metal back, but its not unibody, you can take out the back metal cover, still feels nice in hand with matte finish. Has a decent 16MP camera with PDAF supporting 0.1s ultra-fast focusing + two-tone flash light. Finger print sensor is on the back that unlocks your phone in 0.3s.  Redmi Note 4 will come with Helio X20 CPU as we all know, so Qualcomm fans probably won’t change their Redmi Note’s for a while.

Xiaomi Redmi 3S

127.69 $ 2GB/16GB, 146.89 $ 3GB/32GB

Display: 5.0 inch 1280 x 720 HD screen
CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 Octa Core 1.4GHz / Adreno 505 GPU
System: Android 6.0
RAM + ROM: 2GB RAM + 16GB ROM / 3GB RAM + 32GB ROM
Max Storage Expansion: 128GB
Camera: Back camera 13.0MP + front camera 5.0MP
Bluetooth: 4.1
Feature: Fingerprint Scanner, GPS, A-GPS
SIM Card: Dual SIM dual standby, one is micro SIM card, the other is nano SIM card
Battery Capacity (mAh): 4100
Network:
2G: GSM 900/1800/1900MHz
3G: WCDMA 850/900/1900/2100MHz CDMA 2000 BC0
4G: FDD-LTE 1800/2100/2600MHz
Product size: 13.90 x 6.90 x 0.80 cm / 5.47 x 2.72 x 0.31 inches, 144gr

5″ Redmi 3 series was updated with a new chipset recently, powered by a Snapdragon 430 CPU and the model name became Redmi 3s. Snapdragon 430 brings us Adreno 505 GPU with. These specs made Redmi 3s the most powerful 5″ phone in this price range, made it the little brother of Redmi Note 3 Pro. Redmi 3s has an even bigger battery with 4100mAh capacity and having only HD 5″ screen, this little brother will last longer. With that battery, the Redmi 3s weighs only 144 gm, which is good. 13MP/5MP front and rear cameras and fingerprint sensor sounds as the minimum standards in phone industry lately.

Redmi 4 is behind the corner : http://www.gizmochina.com/2016/09/03/xiaomi-redmi-4-appears-tenaa-fhd-3gb-ram-699-yuan-105-price/

Xiaomi Mi Max

182.99 $ for 2GB/16GB edition

Display: 6.44 inch, 1920 x 1080 Pixel 2.5D Arc Screen
CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 64bit 1.8GHz Hexa core
GPU: Adreno 510
System: Android 6.0 ( MIUI 7 )
RAM + ROM: 2GB RAM + 16GB ROM
Camera: 5.0MP with f/2.0 aperture front camera + 16.0MP with f/2.0 aperture back camera
Sensor: Light sensor, G-sensor, Proximity sensor, Hall Sensor, gyroscope, E-compass, Infrared, Fingerprint sensor, Accelerometer, etc.
SIM Card: Dual SIM dual standby. One is Micro SIM card slot, the other is Nano card slot, which can also be used as a TF card slot.
Note: Nano SIM card and TF card cannot be used together because they share the same space of card slot.
Feature: GPS/ A-GPS / Glonass / Beidou
Bluetooth: 4.2
Battery Capacity (mAh): 4850
Network:
2G: GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz
3G: WCDMA 850/900/1900/2100MHz
4G: FDD-LTE 1800/2100/2600MHz
Product size: 17.30 x 8.80 x 0.60 cm / 6.81 x 3.46 x 0.24 inches, 203gr

A BIG surprise in every aspect ! You want the biggest screen size in a smartphone ? And you also want the biggest battery with it ? 6.44 inch + 4850mAh battery for under 200$. Biggest brother of the family, comes with same CPU of Redmi Note 3 Pro, Snapdragon 650, but with less Ram, 2GB for this edition. 16GB for ROM option is not very important because Mi Max has a SD card slot. If you spend much of your time looking on a mobile phone’s screen during the day, especially for media, biggest screen powered with the biggest battery for just 183$, I think this phone is  a bargain for its specs.

Full review : http://www.gizmochina.com/2016/06/12/xiaomi-mi-max-review-lot-xiaomi/

LeEco Le 2

158.77 $ for 3GB/16GB, 184.89 $ for 3GB/32GB

Display: 5.5 inch 1920 x 1080 Screen
CPU: Helio X20 MTK6797 Deca-Core
System: Android 6.0
RAM + ROM: 3GB RAM + 16GB/32GB ROM
Cameras: Front 8.0MP + Rear 16.0MP AF with flash
Bluetooth: BT4.0
SIM Card: Dual SIM dual standby. ( Dual Nano SIM cards )
Battery Capacity (mAh): 3000
Network:
2G: GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz
3G: WCDMA 850/900/1900/2100MHz
4G: FDD-LTE 1800/2100/2600MHz
Product size: 15.11 x 7.41 x 0.77 cm / 5.95 x 2.92 x 0.3 inches, 152gr

MediaTek Helio X20 (and X25 with more CPU speed) series started to power many phones. It’s a flagship-grade CPU for sure, not the fastest yes, but little under 100K Antutu score is still something. Heli0 x20 is a deca/10-core CPU to remind you. GPU is also powerful enough, a quad-core Mali T880. This combination is better than any on the market, except flagships like Snapdragon 820 and Exynos 8890 from Samsung, but hey, we are talking about under 200$ phones here, remember.

Le 2 comes in a metal unibody, very well crafted. The screen is 5.5″ in-cell full HD IPS panel. The phone has no 3.5mm headphone jack, first in the market, you get audio from Type-C port in Hi-Fi format. Don’t worry, there is adaptor included in the box, if you still want to use your beloved headphones.

Back Camera is 16MP, supporting 4K video shooting mode, front is 8MP, both sensors are from OmniVision. They give you surprisingly good results for this price range. Only downside may be, for some, battery capacity is 3000mAh. So if you want the most powerful phone in this price range and flagship grade build quality, LeEco Le 2 is your choice.

PS: I need to say something about the colors. I’m enough of these gold, rose gold, grey or white, missed all black phones like in the old days. Matte black would be amazing on Le 2 and I think, most of you will agree. Hopefully, new models will have this options : http://www.gizmochina.com/2016/08/19/black-leeco-le-2s-back-cover-looped-antenna/

Full review : http://www.gizmochina.com/2016/05/10/leeco-le-2-review/

LeEco x600

117 $ 3GB/16GB

Display: 5.5 inch 1920 x 1080 FHD screen
CPU: Helio X10 Octa core 2.0GHz
System: Android 5.0
RAM + ROM: 3GB RAM + 16GB ROM
Cameras: 5.0MP front camera + 13.0MP rear camera with AF face beauty and true flash light
Bluetooth: BT4.0
Sensor: Light sensor , G-sensor , P-sensor, Hall Sensor,Proximity sensor
Navigation: GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS
SIM Card: Dual SIM dual standby. ( Dual micro SIM cards )
Battery Capacity (mAh): 3000
Network:
2G: GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz
3G: WCDMA 850/900/1900/2100MHz
4G: LTE 1800/2100/2600MHz
Product size: 14.70 x 7.40 x 0.95 cm / 5.79 x 2.91 x 0.37 inches, 170gr

The whole success story of LeEco (LeTV) began with this model X600. Dont need finger print ? Is 16GB enough for you (for me its still enough) ? Then just grab this hero for about 117-118$ on some online stores, this will be a real bargain for you. Coming with octa-core 2.0 GHz Helio X10 chipset and 3GB of Ram has a very good configuration for this price. Screen is from Sharp, very vivid, design is very attractive even, for my taste its better looking then X500 or X620, has a style for sure. Sound output is one of the best and 3.5mm headphone jack is present. Helio X10 is last years first example of MediaTek’s Helio series and if we should compare it this years P10, X10 is still better when it comes to performance, except energy efficiency of course:

• Helio P10: Single-core – 882, Multi-core – 3371
• Helio X10: Single-core – 905, Multi-core – 5154

ASUS X550

147.69 $ 3GB/16GB

Display: 5.5 inch 1920 x 1080 FHD Screen
CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 64bit Octa Core 1.5GHz
GPU: Adreno-405
System: Android 5.1
RAM + ROM: 3GB RAM + 16GB ROM
Camera: Back camera 13.0MP with flashlight + front camera 8.0MP
Bluetooth: 4.0
Improve Touch:
To protect your privacy, avoid of personal information let out. Promise you an undistracted and safe daily life.
GPS: Yes
Sensor: Accelerometer, Proximity sensor, Light sensor, Geomagnetic sensor, Gyroscope, Hall sensor
SIM Card: Dual SIM dual standby. Dual Micro SIM
Battery Capacity (mAh): 3030
Network:
2G: GSM 900/1800/1900MHz
3G: WCDMA 850/900/1900/2100MHz
4G: FDD-LTE 1800/2100/2600MHz
Product size: 15.18 x 7.55 x 0.83 cm / 5.98 x 2.97 x 0.33 inches, 156gr

An interesting model from IT giant Asus. Does not have a finger print sensor but has a whole screen to scan your hand-print ! “Equipped with high-tech touch chip owned high capacity of information operation” says Asus. “A totally new way to protect your information”. X500 has a very attractive design and good screen to body ratio with aerial aluminum alloy. Very good cameras indeed for this price, 13MP rear and 8MP f/2.0 aperture front. Promises good low light performance. CPU is last year’s first edition octa-core from Qualcomm, Snapdragon 615, don’t expect much raw performance but it is energy efficient for sure. 3GB Ram is more than enough, you can put a SD card in it so 16GB of Rom is not a big issue. Phone is not unibody so you can change the 3030mAh battery with your second one, many still prefer this solution. 5.5″ full HD screen with 3rd gen Gorilla protection.

Lenovo Vibe P1

148.89 $ 2GB/16GB

Display: 5.5-inch, FHD(1920×1080 pixels) Screen, the 3rd Gorilla Glass Screen
CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 615(MSM8939) 64bit Octa Core (Quad-core 1.5 GHz Cortex-A53 and quad-core 1.0 GHz Cortex-A53)
GPU: Adreno 405
System: Android 5.1(Vibe UI 2.68)
RAM + ROM: 2GB RAM + 16GB ROM
Camera: 5.0MP front camera + 13.0MP PDAF back camera with dual color flashlight and auto focus
Sensor: Accelerometer sensor, G-sensor, Proximity sensor, Electronic Compass
Bluetooth: 4.1
GPS: GPS/AGPS
SIM Card: Dual SIM dual standby, Dual Nano SIM
Battery Capacity (mAh): 5000
Network:
2G: GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz
3G: WCDMA 800/850/1900MHz
4G: FDD-LTE 1800/2100MHz
Product size: 15.30 x 7.50 x 0.90 cm / 6.02 x 2.95 x 0.35 inches, 189gr

Biggest battery capacity in our list with 5000mAh, yes even bigger than Mi Max. Here is a complete package from Lenovo for daily (long) use. Front placed finger print sensor, 5.5″ full HD good screen with Gorilla Glass 3, 13MP PDAF rear camera with dual color flashlight, 128GB SD card expansion, and metal back build. The black color looks not bad either.

Huawei Honor 5C

189 $ 2GB/16GB

Display: 5.2 inch, FHD(1920×1080 pixels)
CPU: Hisilicon Kirin 650 64-bit octa-core
GPU: Mali T830
System: EMUI 3.1 base on Android 6.0
RAM + ROM: 2GB RAM + 16GB, support external microSD to 128GB
Camera: 13 Megapixel BSI camera, F2.0, support HDR Movie, 8-Megapixel, f/2.0 front camera
Sensor: Accelerometer sensor, G-sensor, Proximity sensor, Electronic Compass
Bluetooth: 4.1
GPS: GPS/AGPS
SIM Card: Dual SIM dual standby, Dual Nano SIM
Battery Capacity (mAh): 3000
Network: GSM: 850/900/1800/1900MHz , WCDMA: Bands: B1/B8, LTE FDD: Bands: B1/B3
Product size: 147.1mm × 73.8mm × 8.3mm, 156gr

The Kirin 650, 16nm FinFET manufacturing process (less chip size = less heat), new midrange class octa-core CPU from Huawei’s own kitchen. Clocked at 2.0GHz and holding Mali-T830 MP2 GPU in it, promises many things on paper.  The iPhone 5SE killer (who cares?) Honor 5C uses this architecture.

I’m not a fan of Huawei phones, because they always cost more against what they give back to customers in the name of performance.

Honor 5C comes with 5.2″ FHD screen, may be the optimum size for many smartphone users. Does not have any protection glass. Cameras are ok on paper, build quality is: metal back on plastic body. Finger print is on the back. Onscreen keys, reduces screen size to 5″ at home screen. You get a decent performance for this price that’s for sure, the rest is kind of a taste.

Kirin 650 loses to Helio X10

360 N4

189 $ 4GB/32GB

Display: 5.5 inch 1920 x 1080 Screen
CPU: Helio X20 MTK6797 Deca-Core
System: Android 6.0
RAM + ROM: 4GB RAM + 32GB ROM, support external micro SD
Cameras: Front 5.0MP + Rear 13-megapixel, f2.0, PDAF
Bluetooth: BT4.0
SIM Card: Dual SIM dual standby. ( Dual Nano SIM cards )
Battery Capacity (mAh): 3080
Network:
2G: GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz
3G: WCDMA 850/900/1900/2100MHz
4G: FDD-LTE 1800/2100/2600MHz
Product size: 149mm x 75.7mm x 8.3mm, 140gr

Editor’s Choice (if you can find one to buy).  MediaTek X20 is a very good chipset, like I stated before. Supporting it with 4GB of Ram is very future based (talking about Android versions). Plus  IP67 dustproof and waterproof and a very good design (149mm for a 5.5″ is awesome), having hardware keys (big fan of this red round home key and two little tiny dots, ok the idea belongs to Nubia we all know) and not loosing from screen size in that matter is very ergonomic. 32GB Rom supported with an SD card slot. Good cameras both rear and front, 13MP rear Sony IMX258 sensor, f/2.0 aperture, PDAF, 5MP front, f/2.0 aperture. And all these specs for under 189 $ (official price is even under 150$), believe me most of us don’t need more than this in a smartphone. Downside being, you can’t find 360 N4 easily to buy, and there is upgraded version announced that has 5000mAh battery inside. If 360 manages to produce those phones in enough numbers to feed the smartphone market, can be the next succeess story from China. Their next line is worth to look if you haven’t yet : 360 Q5 & Q5 Plus.

Elephone S3

149.99 $

Display: 5.2 inch Bezel-less 2.5D Arc FHD Incell Screen
CPU: MTK6753 64bit Octa Core 1.3GHz
System: Android 6.0
RAM + ROM: 3GB RAM + 16GB ROM. TF card up to 128GB.
Camera: 5.0MP OV5670 f2.4 front camera + 13.0MP Sony IMX135 f2.2 back camera
Bluetooth: 4.0
SIM Card: Dual SIM dual standby (Micro SIM + Nano SIM)
Battery Capacity (mAh): 2100
Network:
2G: GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz
3G: WCDMA 900/1900/2100MHz
4G: FDD-LTE 800/1800/2100/2600MHz
Product size: 14.20 x 7.05 x 0.83 cm / 5.59 x 2.78 x 0.33 inches, 145gr

I decided not to include any MediaTek MTK6753 based phone in this article (MTK6592 was the king of this class), because for a little higher budget you can get a Helio P10 or X10 even. Elephone S3 is an exception because of its bezel-less design. This phone just don’t have any bezels both sides like Nubia Z11 and has a full metal frame. It has 3GB of Ram, 16GB of Rom supported with an SD card slot. A fingerprint sensor on the back and 13MP+5MP camera configuration with not bad sensors at all. 5.2″ screen size is pocket-friendly. I think Elephone S3 is worth 150$, this is a very good looking and solid phone for sure. Not everybody knows about Antutu benchmark, there are still plenty of users who use these machines as mobile phones only, and I am one of them

Full review : http://www.gizmochina.com/2016/07/01/elephone-s3-review/

For buyers just around the limit of 100$, please check our “phone buying guide under 100$” too. Pepsi P1S still is the best value for money with its 96.99$ price, having MTK6592 64-bit Octa-Core (sorry, it’s a 32-bit CPU)  1.7GHz CPU and a fingerprint scanner in a metal body of 5.5″ size.

The post Smartphone Buyers Guide: Best Value For Money SmartPhones 100$-200$ appeared first on Gizmochina.

Four months after Xiaomi launched the Mi Max starting at 1499 Yuan ($225) for the base variant, the massive phablet is set to get a price cut. This is despite the fact that the Mi Max has performed marvelously well in the market, grossing over 1.5 million sales  in just two months.

Xiaomi officially announced that beginning from September 6, all Mi Max variants will get a 200 Yuan (about $30) price cut. This means that the cheapest version with 3GB RAM and SD650 that was priced at 1499 Yuan ($225) will be available at 1299 Yuan ($195) on all Xiaomi official stores in China. The price cut is applicable from tomorrow.

In case you haven’t figured it out yet, cutting down Mi Max’s price will make the lineup more aggressive and better equipped to take on the Meizu M3 Max series that will be announced in the next few hours.

Related: Xiaomi Mi Max Teardown Reveals It’s Easy To Repair

Xiaomi Mi Max is a 6.44-inch flagship phablet designed for smartphone users who love them big.  The device was released in May this year with three versions, a base version with a 3GB RAM + 32GB ROM and powered by SD650 chip which started at 1499 Yuan ($225),  another with 3GB RAM + 64GB ROM, powered by SD652 chipset priced at 1699 Yuan ($255), and yet a third version with 4GB RAM + 128GB storage, powered by Snapdragon 652 SoC with a price tag of 1999 Yuan ($300).

The post Xiaomi Mi Max Gets Price Cut, Now 1299 Yuan ($195) For Base Version appeared first on Gizmochina.

Xiaomi released the Mi Max which is its first device with the largest ever display size in May this year and the device was a huge success, receiving over 8 million registrations prior to its first flash sales. The device carried a 6.44-inch display while it was moderately priced at 1499 yuan ($224).

Just two months after it first went on sales, it has been reported that the massive phablet has recorded over 1.5 million sales during this period. This was revealed by an analyst, @Kevin Wang who stated this figure from the view point of supply chain, since the Xiaomi Max has been on sale for two months, it had shipped more than 1.5 million units.

He further adds that this is a great achievement considering no other 6-inch smartphone has managed to achieve this feat.

The report was forwarded by CEO Lei Jun saying the Xiaomi Max is the best choice for users who love large screen devices. This seem to lend credence to the assertion that over 1.5 million Xiaomi Mi Max units have been sold in just two months.

Read More: Xiaomi Max Receives Over 8 Million Registrations for the First Flash Sale

The opening up of more offline sales channels could see the Mi Max and other Xiaomi devices make monumental sales records at the year’s end, considering their cheap pricing.

The post Xiaomi Sells Over 1.5 million Mi Max units in Two months, reveals Analyst appeared first on Gizmochina.

A few weeks back, we spotted 2GB RAM version of the Xiaomi Mi Max model in China. However, at that time we were not sure whether the variant would end up in the market since, at the time of the launch of the Mi Max, the company has made only the 3GB RAM and 4GB RAM versions of the phone official.

Last week, a few sellers started selling the 2GB RAM + 16GB ROM model of the Mi Max online for a price tag of 1224 Yuan, but now, this low-end version of the Mi Max is being sold at the lowest price we have seen till now. The 2GB RAM is currently sold by some retailers for as low as 1199 Yuan ($180), which makes this particular variant an attractive option for those who are on a budget and want a large phablet with an amazing battery life. To remind you, the 3GB + 32GB ROM model of the Mi Max retails for 1499 Yuan in China ($230). So, at this price, there is a considerable difference between the two variants.

So, what do you think? At $180, do you think 2GB RAM version of the Mi Max is an attractive option?

We already have reviewed the 3GB RAM model and were quite impressed with the overall device. You can check out our review of the giant 6.44-inch phablet from here.

The post Cheapest Xiaomi Mi Max Version On Sale, 2GB RAM + 16GB ROM for 1199 Yuan ($180)! appeared first on Gizmochina.

Huawei is going to release the Honor 8 on July 11 and it seems that isn’t the only phone launching. This new phone showed up at TENAA with model number EDI-DL00 and is sort of a max version of the Honor 8. So, could it be called Honor 8 Max? While we wait for the official name to be confirmed, let’s take a look at some of the specs.

The phone will feature a massive 6.6” screen with a 2K resolution, a Kirin 950 octa-core processor clocked at 2.3GHz, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of ROM,and will run Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Huawei has decided to give the phone a 4400mAh battery which we expect should support fast charge.

Sadly, the ”Honor 8 Max” will not get the dual camera treatment like its other siblings. Camera configuration is 8MP in front and 13MP at the rear. Dimensions are 178.8 x 90.9 x 7.18 (mm) and weight has been kept at 219 grams.

For a phone this large, you’d expect Huawei to put the fingerprint scanner in front or positioned lower even if it is going to be at the back, but it sits at the upper part. So unless you have really large hands (and long fingers), unlocking the phone might pose some difficulties.

If the ”Honor 8 Max” is meant to take on the Xiaomi Mi Max, it’ll do well to be priced at more or less the same price range as its rival. The Mi Max while sporting a smaller FHD screen (6.44”) features a larger battery(4850mAh), has NFC, and cost $230 for  650 processor; $260 for the 3GB/32GB with a SD652 chipset; and $307 for the 4GB/128GB version with the snapdragon 652 SoC.

The post Huawei Honor Phablet Featuring a 6.6” 2K Screen and 4400mAh Battery Spotted appeared first on Gizmochina.

Xiaomi Mi Max was released back in April and was an instant hit among buyers, due to its super large 6.44-inch display and an equally large battery. The phone comes in a number of variants in China, starting at 3GB RAM with different storage options and going up to 4GB of RAM. However, it looks like Xiaomi may have another variant of the Mi Max in the works, which, considering its specification, should be priced cheaper than the current base variant.

Recently, Xiaomi Mi Max 2GB RAM version was leaked. The screenshot further reveals that there is just 16GB of storage inside. As mentioned above, the cheapest version of the Mi Max being sold right now starts at 3GB RAM + 32GB storage, so we an expect this special low-end variant to cost even lesser than the 3GB RAM model. To remind you, the above variant sells for 1499 Yuan in China which comes to $230. So, the 2GB RAM version should ideally cost around 1299 Yuan ($198).

As for the specs, expect the rest to be the same as the Mi Max 3GB RAM model. So, the phone should feature Snapdragon 650 chip inside with 2GB RAM, 16GB storage and MicroSD expansion slot (hybrid). You should find a large 4850mAh battery inside the slim 7.5mm body. At the back, there should be a 16MP shooter and up front, a 5MP sensor.

However, the Mi Max 2GB RAM model is still not listed on the official Mi.com website for sale. Either it could be released later, or  this particular version may not see the light of the day in China. Instead, it could be sold in India, where the company will release the handset on June 30.

Stay tuned for more details.

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It has kind of become a tradition for Xiaomi to first announce a smartphone in China and soon make it available in India. While previously, Xiaomi wasn’t much open about smartphone launches, since now, almost everyone keeps an eye on the Chinese market and its smartphones, the company has now officially confirmed that the new Xiaomi Mi Max phablet will be announced in India on June 30.

The company announced this phablet, which is also the largest smartphone from Xiaomi till date, back in May in China. So, it took around a couple of months for the device to hit the Indian market, which isn’t too bad. The Xiaomi Mi Max is a great smartphone for all phablet lovers, looking for a device that can replace your tablet yet last for more than a day on a single charge. We have already reviewed this massive device, which you can check out from here.

Something BIG is coming to blow you away on 30th June, Indian Mi fans! Stay tuned https://t.co/xBQyNscrCo

— Hugo Barra (@hbarra) June 15, 2016

To recap, the Xiaomi Mi Max comes with a 6.44-inch 1080p display which translates into 342 ppi. Under the hood, the phone packs either Snapdragon 650 or Snapdragon 652 (according to variants) and 3GB / 4GB RAM and 32GB / 64GB / 128GB ROM options. This is further expandable up to 128GB via MicroSD. At the back, the phone comes with a 16MP camera while up front you get a 5MP shooter. The Max runs on MIUI 7.1 out of the box. Under the hood, it packs a massive 4850mAh battery which should power the device for a couple of days.

Considering the pricing of the Xiaomi products in India as compared to China, we can expect the Xiaomi Mi Max to start at around INR 16,000-17,000 ($238-$254) for the base variant. The company is yet to reveal which variants will be announced in India, but expect more details at the announcement on June 30.

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Nubia just announced the new Nubia Z11 Max phablet earlier today in China, which puts it in direct competition with the recently released Xiaomi Mi Max phablet. Given that the top-end variant of the Xiaomi phablet is priced exactly the same as the Z11 Max, the comparison becomes a lot interesting. They both have very similar specs, including same processors, but differ in a few areas, which makes it difficult to choose which ones the best for you. So, today, we take a look at the Nubia Z11 Max vs the Xiaomi Mi Max. Let’s see which one turns out to be our pick!

Nubia Z11 Max vs Xiaomi Mi Max: Design

As always, let’s start with the design. Both the devices look beautiful with their sleek body and premium design. The Nubia Z11 Max comes with an aluminum body with 2.5D glass on both the front as well as the back. It’s typical Nubia design philosophy. Coming to the Xiaomi Mi Max, the phone also comes with an aluminum body but it only features 2.5D glass up front and not on the back.

There are three colors available for both the models, with gold being the only one common. The Nubia Z11 Max comes with white and black options, while the Mi Max has light gray and silver color options.

Coming to the dimensions and weight, they are as follows:

Z11 Max: 159.15 x 82.25 x 7.40    185 grams

Mi Max: 173.1 x 88.3 x 7.5mm    203 grams

As you can see, thanks to its smaller screen size (6-inches) and impressive screen to body ratio, Z11 Max is much smaller than the Mi Max, with a height of 159.15mm as compared to 173.1mm on the Mi Max. It’s a bit lighter as well.

Nubia Z11 Max vs Xiaomi Mi Max: Screen

Moving to the screen, the Z11 Max sports a 6-inch display with 1920 x 1080p resolution and Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. The Xiaomi Mi Max comes with a 6.44-inch display with the same 1080p resolution but with Corning Gorilla Glass 4. The pixel density comes to 368 ppi on the Z11 Max and 342 ppi on the Mi Max model. However, both use different display technologies. The Nubia model comes with a Super AMOLED display while the Mi Max has an IPS LCD display.

Nubia Z11 Max vs Xiaomi Mi Max: Specs

Now, coming to the internals, both the models (in this comparison we are considering the top-end Mi Max version) come with Snapdragon 652 octa-core chip clocked at 1.8GHz and 4GB of RAM. However, Z11 Max has just 64GB of internal storage, while Mi Max comes with 128GB on its top-end model. Both have eMMC storages. Also, both feature MicroSD expansion slots.

Nubia smartphones are known for their camera, and on paper, the specs are quite good. The Nubia Z11 Max comes with a 16MP IMX298 sensor from Sony with closed loop motor AF, sapphire glass lens, f/2.0 aperture and PDAF. You get a bunch of advanced techs on the device like the company’s own Neovision 5.9 software, DTI pixel isolation, LTM area control, handheld Image stabilization and 3D Noise reduction. Up front, you get a f/2.4 aperture 8MP 80-degree wide angle lens. As for the Xiaomi Mi Max, you get a 16MP f/2.0 aperture sensor with PDAF, real-time camera filters (you get this on Z11 Max as well) and 5P lens. Up front, the phone features an 85-degree wide angle, f/2.0 5MP shooter. Also, in case you are wondering, both models have dual tone flash. On paper, the Z11 Max seems like the better camera model, but let’s wait for a review to check out its performance.

Now let’s take a look at their batteries. The Nubia Z11 Max comes with a large 4000mAh capacity battery inside with QC 3.0, which is going to give more than a day’s battery life. On the Mi Max, things go to another level, as it comes with an even bigger 4850mAh capacity battery that should technically provide better life than the Z11 Max. But Nubia had to talk a lot about its Neopower 2.0 technology and the use of power-efficient components, so we will have to wait for a real life battery test of both the devices to see which one comes out better.

As for connectivity, you get the usual Bluetooth and dual-band Wi-Fi on both the models. Mi Max has an infrared port as well as NFC, which the Z11 Max lacks.

If you are a music lover, the Z11 Max will look a lot more attractive given that it comes with an independent Hi-Fi chip and amplifier. You also get Dolby decoder and 7.1 Dolby sound. Unfortunately, the Mi Max doesn’t feature a Hi-Fi chip. Another difference is that the Nubia model comes with USB Type-C and the Mi Max has a standard MicroUSB port. Finally, coming to the software, the Z11 Max comes with Android Lollipop based Nubia 2.9.9 software, while Mi Max gets the new Android Marshmallow with MIUI 7 on top.

Nubia Z11 Max vs Xiaomi Mi Max: Pricing

Since we are comparing the top-end variants of both the models, both are priced exactly the same i.e. at 1999 Yuan which comes to $304. The Mi Max is already available for purchase while the Nubia Z11 Max goes on sale from June 16.

As you can see in this comparison, both are pretty great devices. If you want a larger screen and battery, you can go for the Mi Max. Or else, if you want a large screen phone that isn’t very big, comes with a decent camera, battery, and Hi-Fi audio for around $300 (expect $340-$350 as its reseller pricing), then the Nubia Z11 Max turns out to be a great device.

So, which one would you pick?

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Xiaomi announced the company’s first phablet smartphone, the Xiaomi Mi Max aka Xiaomi Max on May 10 and like most other Xiaomi products, the demand for the device was quite impressive. The company received over 10 million registrations for the first flash sale of the device, which shows the popularity of the device in the home country of China. Now that the phone is announced, the Mi Max has received the teardown treatment. The teardown comes directly via IT168 who is known for tearing down famous smartphones (even the Mi 5) in China.

Like most other Xiaomi smartphones, the Xiaomi Mi Max was easily taken apart. The entire process reportedly didn’t take that long, which means this metal + plastic smartphone can be repaired with ease, in case you come across any issues. The teardown also reveals that the majority of the back surface is taken up by the mighty 4850mAh battery underneath. You can check out all the teardown pictures from down below.

RELATED: Xiaomi Max Battery Life Test Reveals Amazing Backup 

To recap, the Xiaomi Mi Max comes with a large 6.4-inch FHD 1080p display with 3GB / 4GB RAM and 32GB / 64GB storage options. You also get the option to choose between Snapdragon 652 and Snapdragon 650 chipsets. At the back, the phone comes with a 16MP rear camera, while up front, you get a 5MP shooter. The phone runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow with MIUI 8, and comes with a 4850mAh battery inside a 7.5mm body.

The post Xiaomi Mi Max Teardown Reveals It’s Easy To Repair appeared first on Gizmochina.

Given that we are going to see around 8 million users try to get the device on May 17, you would want to know the number of units to be made available for sale on that day. Unfortunately, it’s not much, and nothing compared to the demand. It is said that Xiaomi will make 100,000 units available for purchase on May 17, which means once again it’s going to be extremely hard for fans to purchase this device. Only the 32GB SD650 model will be available for sale next week.

So, why is the Xiaomi Max so popular? Well, it is the first large screen phablet from the company till date, coming with a massive 6.4-inch 1080p display. Plus, there’s a large 4850mAh battery as well, which reportedly provides very good battery life. Check out the battery life test from here. As for the other specs, the phone comes in three different versions, one powered by Snapdragon 650 and the other two by Snapdragon 652. At the back, there will be a 16MP rear camera while up front, a 5MP shooter.

As for the three versions, here are the details:

Snapdragon 650 powered version comes with 3GB RAM, 32GB ROM and retails for 1499 Yuan ($230).

Snapdragon 652 powered low-end version comes with 3GB RAM, 64GB ROM and costs 1699 Yuan ($260).

Finally, the SD652 top-end version comes with 4GB RAM and 128GB ROM and costs 1999 Yuan ($308).

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Xiaomi unveiled the Xiaomi Mi Max (aka Xiaomi Max) phablet a couple of days back and it is the largest smartphone from the company yet. Naturally many Xiaomi fans would be hoping to get their hands on the newly announced device. Now, Banggood has listed the Xiaomi Mi Max with Snapdragon 650 model for pre-order at a price tag of $357.99. As you can see, there is a good markup on the official price of the device, but you can use the coupon 5off4cellphone to get the price down to $340. This coupon gives you a discount of $18 on the listed price. If you are hoping to get hold of this handset, you can check out more details from here.

Coming to the specs, the Xiaomi Max phablet (the one up for sale here) comes with the Snapdragon 650 hexa-core chipset with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. The phone features a large 6.4-inch display with full HD 1080p resolution. There is a large battery as well, a 4850mAh battery to keep the phone running all day long. In fact, in the recent battery test of the Xiaomi Max, we were impressed by the phone’s performance. At the back, the Max comes with a 16MP sensor with dual tone flash and 4K video recording support. Up front, there is an 85 degree wide angle 5MP camera. Other features include NFC, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Fingerprint ID and MIUI 8 based on Android 6.0. Since the phone is going to be used internationally, here are the supported 4G Bands.

FDD-LTE: B1/3/7

TDD-LTE: B38/39/40/41

The phone seems to be available for pre-order in white and gold colours. Check out more details from below.

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Xiaomi is all set to announce a new smartphone in its phablet lineup called as the Xiaomi Max. The company has been teasing about this phone for the past few days, but now, we have the first real life image of the Xiaomi Max. We can only see a part of the front of the Max, however, it looks like the earlier leaked front panel of the device was indeed of the new Xiaomi phablet.

From the new image, we can see that the company is going to use a symmetrical front design. The sensors are placed on the either side of the ear piece and looks much better than the previous placement of the sensors. This also kind of confirms that the earlier leaked front panel, which had the same design is indeed of the Xiaomi Max. I have added the panel down below, and you would immediately see the similarity.

Xiaomi’s SVP had earlier said that Xiaomi Max is not just a large screen phablet, but it would be designed keeping in mind the user experience of the customer. So, it looks like there would be a few changes in the design of the device, to make it more attractive and user friendly. Judging from the size of the phone in the picture, we can say that it should be of more than 6-inches. We can also see something shining on the sides, which could hint that the phone comes with a metal frame and back. But until we see the back of the device, we can’t be sure.

Recently, we came across the alleged benchmark results of the Mi Max model and it is said that the phone could be using a custom processor made by the company. Xiaomi is expected to release the handset in May this year, so expect more details in the next couple of weeks.

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