UPDATE: The deal still seems to be available (at $279.99), so do check out the page in case you are interested in buying the phone.

Lenovo backed ZUK Z1 first was launched in China and now is available internationally. The phone usually retails for around $300, but for a limited period today, Aliexpress is offering the smartphone for just $279.99. What’s more this is for the 64GB version of the smartphone making the deal all the more sweet. You also get 2 year warranty on the device.

We think this is a great deal for anyone looking for a powerful flagship under $300. The phone features the Snapdragon 801 chipset with 3GB of RAM and a large 64GB of storage. There’s a large 4100mAh battery as well, which makes sure that the phone will last for more than a day. As for the display, its a 5.5-inch panel with FHD 1080p resolution. At the back, there’s a 13MP shooter while up front, you have a 5MP camera. The phone supports 4G LTE networks with supported bands that include: FDD-LTE 1800/2100/2600MHz.

Overall a great device for just $279.99. Remember this is a limited period offer, so you better grab the deal as soon as possible. There’s only around 1000 units available at this discounted price tag, and within minutes of the deal, around 150 units have already been sold.

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Lenovo backed ZUK announced its first smartphone a few months back. The ZUK Z1 is now available both in China as well as internationally and is one of the few flagship smartphones that can boast of a battery that’s bigger than 4000mAh. While this will definitely offer better battery life as compared to its rivals, the company has just released some more details about the phone’s technology which improves its life.

The ZUK Z1 reportedly comes with a special chip inside which helps increase the age of its battery. To help you understand how this chip increases its life, we would first have to know how normal smartphones work during charging.

In case of a regular smartphone, when the battery inside is fully charged and yet is being kept on charging, the internal mechanism of the phone shuts off the direct charging automatically. This means that after getting fully charged, the phone will start using its own battery even when a charging cable is connected. Now, when the battery is again discharged to a certain level, the charging process starts to kick in.

This process continues as long as the charger is connected to the phone. This charging – discharging process ages the battery, which means you may not get as much battery life like you did at the start, after a few months.

On the other hand, the ZUK Z1 reportedly comes with a special chip to solve this problem. Once the phone is fully charged, instead of shutting off the external power supply, the phone’s chip makes sure that it starts using the power supplied by the charger. So, there’s no constant charge – discharge going on which helps improve the age of the battery to a certain level.

While this may not be a revolutionary feature, still its good to know that such a chip helps the Z1’s battery to age slower. Further, the 4100mAh battery should provide pretty good battery backup (more than a day easily). Also, the ability of charging at 5V 2A means that the phone charges quickly as well.

Have any of you bought the device? What do you think about the phone’s battery?

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We have seen a number of new comers in the Chinese market do well in its first year itself. The best example would be LeTV, who is currently the fastest growing smartphone maker in China. Now, it looks like the ZUK Z1 is on its path to success. The company reportedly sold out its 40,000 units of ZUK Z1 flagship in its second flash sale within a few minutes. The popularity of the handset is not that surprising given that the first flash sale saw over 2 million registrations.

30,000 units were made available on one of China’s top retailers, JD.com and the rest 10,000 units were available for purchase from the company website. A total of 40,000 units were sold out today, taking the sales to 80,000 units in a week’s time. This is definitely a good sign for a first time smartphone company.

ZUK Z1 Hands On

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The popularity of the ZUK Z1 is because of its specs to price ratio. The Z1 comes with a capable Snapdragon 801 chip clocked at 2.5GHz with Adreno 330 GPU. There is a 3GB RAM on board along with 64GB of internal storage. For display, you get a beautiful 5.5-inch full HD 1080p panel. Also, there is a 13MP OIS camera with dual LED flash at the back along with an 8MP front facing shooter. The best two features of the device is its 4100mAh battery which should last you a couple of days comfortably and the USB Type-C 3.0 port with 2.5A fast charge tech. The fingerprint sensor on the home button with special gestures is definitely an added plus.

You get all this for 1799 Yuan ($280) which makes it a great deal. An international edition of the ZUK Z1 flagship will make its way into European and American markets by September next month. It will feature the Cyanogen OS 12.1 instead of the company’s own ZUI.

So, if it comes to your country, would you consider buying the ZUK Z1?

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This afternoon, ZUK officially announced the international variant of the ZUK Z1 flagship. The company has revealed that the ZUK Z1 smartphone will be available for sale in a number of regions such as Asia-Pacific, Europe, Middle East and Americas from September this year.

According to ZUK’s international sales strategy, the company is looking to partner with Amazon to sell its smartphone outside of China. The company will also work with local retailers to sell the device at a retail price tag of $299. This is slightly higher than the domestic price tag of 1799 Yuan ($285).

One major difference between the international version and the domestic version will be CyanogenMod. The company has announced strategic partnership for the ZUK Z1 International edition. The phone will come pre-loaded with Android 5.1.1 system based on Cyanogen OS 12.1. Given that Cyanogen is one of the most popular ROMs in the market, its actually good to see an official tie up with the company.

The specs of the ZUK Z1 International edition will be the same as the domestic model. So, you get Sandpragon 801 processor clocked at 2.5GHz inside with 3GB of RAM, 64GB of internal storage and 5.5-inch full HD 1080p display. There will be a 13MP camera at the back along with an 8MP front facing shooter. The battery will be of 4100mAh which is reportedly enough to last a whole day with heavy usage. The home button up front will feature fingerprint recognition along with other smart gestures and the port at the bottom will be the new USB Type-C with USB 3.0 specification. This means fast charge at 2.5A!

Considering the specifications of the ZUK Z1, the international price tag of $299 is quite decent.

We were present at the event today and got to take some beautiful pictures of the device. You can check out our ZUK Z1 International Edition hands on from down below.

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After months of rumors and leaks, ZUK finally unveiled its ZUK Z1 flagship at Beijing today. We already knew a lot about this device, thanks to the TENAA listing and recent leaks, but now everything has become official.

The ZUK Z1 comes with top-end hardware, and a customized UI, to give you the perfect flagship experience. The company had said earlier that it would focus on the UI, and this is the first time, we get a glimpse of the ROM.

But before we take a look at the ROM, lets check out the specifications. The ZUK Z1 comes with a 5.5-inch 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution display. Under the hood is the Snapdragon 801 32-bit chip clocked at 2.5GHz. While this is an old chipset, it still quite capable. The company claims that on an average, the chip managed to score about 46,000 on AnTuTu.

Further, there’s 3GB of RAM on board, with 64GB of internal storage. It was important to have a large internal storage since there’s no option to expand it externally. At the back, there’s a 13MP camera with OIS and a front facing 8MP shooter.

One of the highlights of the ZUK Z1 is its large 4100mAh battery. This coupled with 2.5A fast charge, thanks to the USB 3.0 Type-C port will make sure that you don’t have to worry about battery life. It will easily give you more than a day’s usage. Further, even with the large battery, the body is just 8.9mm thick and weighs only about 175 grams. 

Another highlight of the Z1 is the special multi-function U-Touch button. The user can perform five different kinds of function, like fingerprint, return/ back, switching back and forth between open apps, returning to home button and finally, opening up the multi-task management tool. All these functions can be used by slightly different gestures on the button.

As mentioned above, the ZUI is going to be a major attraction of the ZUK Z1. The company has incorporated a special security center in the background which automatically cleans up the device. The ICON designs are unique and the overall UI looks quite refined and beautiful. The lock screen color changes with the wallpaper. The company also adds that it has paid special attention in designing apps for the device. It took around 10 month to completely design the Calender app on the ZUI. In case you are wondering, the ZUI is based on the new Android 5.1 Lollipop version. You can even expect the Android M based ZUI version on the device later.

Overall, the ZUK Z1 turns out to be a great package. It looks good, has enough firepower underneath to handle any tasks thrown at it and finally, retails for a pretty decent price tag. You just have to shell out 1799 Yuan ($285) to get this 64GB version, which I personally feel is quite good.

Of course, we still have to see the device in action, and check out its 13MP camera at the back with OIS. There are other aspects to review like the new U-Touch button, but for now, the overall package looks quite good.

So, what do you think about the ZUK Z1? Worthy enough to be your next smartphone? Also, let us know whether you feel the company made a risky decision by using the year old Snapdragon 801 chipset inside.

ZUK Z1 SPECS SUMMARY
• Screen: 5.5 inches 1920 × 1080 resolution, full-bonded IPS screen
• CPU: 2.5GHz frequency of 32 Qualcomm Xiaolong 801 quad-core processor 46Kon AnTuTu
• RAM: 3GB
• ROM: 64GB (does not support MicroSD expansion)
• Front Camera: 8 megapixel
rear camera •: 13 million pixels (Optical Image Stabilizer)
• Battery: 4100mAh 2.5A fast charge
• body size: 155.7 × 77.3 × 8.9mm, 175 g
• Network mode: Mobile / Unicom / Telecom 4G / 3G / 2G ( Dual SIM)
• Operating system: Android 5.1 with ZUI
• Highlights: U-Touch, high-capacity battery, fingerprint recognition
• Price: 1799 yuan ($285)

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We are just a few hours away from the official unveiling of the awaited ZUK Z1 smartphone, but it looks like someone couldn’t wait for that long. Additional pictures, specs and pricing of the ZUK Z1 flagship have been revealed, showing that the phone will be a pretty interesting package.

The ZUK Z1 flagship is said to come with a 5.5-inch full HD 1080p display with last year’s Snapdragon 801 processor. There will be 3GB of RAM on board along with 64GB of internal storage. At the back, the phone will have a 13MP camera while up front, there will be an 8MP shooter.

The company had already confirmed that the ZUK Z1 will feature the new U-Touch home button that integrates fingerprint recognition. However, apart from that, the touch button will also support multiple functions, making it a bit unique. As for network connectivity, the phone will come with dual SIM dual standby with 4G LTE support. Another highlight will be its USB Type-C 3.0 port with theoretical transfer speeds up to 5Gbps. The battery will be larger than 4000mAh (4100mAh?) and the phone will run on Android 5.1.1 with the company’s own ZUI on top.

The pricing also has been leaked. The ZUK Z1 was spotted on JD.com for a price tag of 1799 for the 64GB version. Its actually pretty decent price ( comes out to $285) for the specs and the features that you get. Of course, we would have liked if the phone was a bit cheaper than this, but we will have to wait for official confirmation later today.

What do you think, is 1799 Yuan a decent price for ZUK Z1? Or do you expect a cheaper price than this?

The post ZUK Z1 Specs & Price Leaked Just A Few Hours Before Launch! appeared first on Gizmochina.

ZUK Z1 is all set to debut on August 11, next month. And since the past couple of weeks, we have got a number of new renders as well as specs info about the upcoming device. In fact, the Z1 recently hit TENAA revealing the overall design of the phone.

Now, two new pictures of the ZUK Z1 have surfaced online, giving us a closer look at the lower back region. These pictures are super clear and much better than the renders that were released by the CEO a few days back.

In the first image, you can clearly see the USB Type C 3.0 port at the bottom. Besides the port, there’s the speaker grill. And on the right, you can see the single microphone opening. Another important aspect revealed by this image is that beautiful metal frame that goes around the body. Finally, there’s the same ZUK branding on the lower back region as we saw in the previous images.

The second image shows us the SIM card tray that can be removed. It looks like the tray can hold two Micro SIMs. But doesn’t look like a MicroSD / SIM card combo tray.

Finally, the third image reveals the 4G LTE connectivity details of the device. So, the phone will support 4G LTE connectivity specifically the following bands: 1, 3, 7, 38, 39, 40 and 41 and both TD-LTE and FDD-LTE networks.

As for the specs, the company has confirmed 3GB of RAM, USB Type C 3.0 port, U-Touch Physical home button with fingerprint ID up front and 4000mAh + battery. What we are unsure about is the processor. ZUK could go with Snapdragon 808 like Motorola did with its recent Moto X Style. Also, we don’t know if there’s a MicroSD card slot on the device, but we sure hope so.

Well, the device is turning out to be a true flagship smartphone in terms of specs as well as design. This makes us all the more excited to see the handset in real, which should be sometime after the launch on August 11.

The post Two New ZUK Z1 Images Leak, Along With Some Specs appeared first on Gizmochina.

The ZUK Z1 is creating a lot of buzz in the market with its high-end specs. The company has already confirmed that it will be the first smartphone in the market with a USB Type C port 3.0 specification. We have also seen a couple of renders of the device which show us that the phone is pretty premium looking too. Now, Chinese media has revealed a few details about the possible pricing of the ZUK Z1!

The report states that the ZUK Z1 will be priced at 2499 Yuan. This comes to just over $400, which is a great price considering the specs on the device. However, it is said that ZUK may be trying to lower the final price to around 2299 Yuan instead of 2499 Yuan when it launches on August 11. This brings the pricing down to just $370, which will make it one of the cheapest 4GB RAM devices in the market.

Unfortunately, the company hasn’t revealed anything about the phone’s pricing officially. So, we will have to wait till the launch day, i.e. August 11 to check whether this figure turns out to be accurate.

Meanwhile, a couple of new renders were released on Weibo a few hours back and you can check them out from down below.

The ZUK Z1 is turning out to be a pretty good device in terms of specs as well as design. Could the Z1 establish itself as a flagship killer like the OnePlus One? Well, we just have to wait and watch what happens. Also, do check out the possible specs of the new Z1 from this article.

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Just a few hours after CEO Chang Cheng revealed the first renders of the ZUK Z1, the device hit TENAA. This means, we have the full set of images of the flagship, and the design is similar to the renders shown earlier.

According to the images revealed by TENAA, the flagship will feature an iPhone 6 like design with a metal frame with smooth round edges going around the whole body. The front features a basic design, however you can see the rectangular physical home button just below the display. This will reportedly feature the company’s innovative UTouch tech.

ZUK Z1 TENAA Images

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Coming to the back, there will be a round camera sensor on top with color temperature flash. Like we saw in the render, the ZUK logo will be located near the bottom. Today’s renders also revealed a slightly curved back, which is probably because of the 2.5D glass back. Further, there was the reversible USB Type-C 3.0 port at the bottom with speakers and microphones on its either side.

While TENAA didn’t reveal the full tech specs of the device, the Chinese website Anzho reports that the ZUK Z1 will feature Snapdragon 808 processor and a large 4100mAh battery. Its hard to judge the exact thickness of the device from these pictures, but they look quite normal. It would really be an achievement if the company managed to pack in such a large battery in a decently sized device.

Along with these specs, we know a lot about the upcoming device. It will come with 3GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage, dual SIM dual Standby, USB 3.0 Type-C port, and U-Touch fingerprint ID. What we don’t know is the camera size, but we hope to get those details too in the coming days.

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From what we have heard till now, Lenovo’s newly launched brand, ZUK is going to release a pretty high-end flagship, ZUK Z1 next month. The company has already confirmed a bunch of awesome features on the device like a 4000mAh+ battery and USB Type-C port. Now, just a few days before the release, ZUK CEO Chang Cheng has given us a glimpse of what the new ZUK flagship will look like.

He just released a new render of the ZUK Z1 on weibo which tells us a bit about the design of the device. We can see a metal frame that goes around the body as well as a slightly curved back. From the image, it looks like the back is 2.5D glass. At the bottom, there’s the USB Type-C reversible port as well as speakers on one side and microphone on the other.

One thing to note here is that, the Type-C port that you see in the picture, is not your regular port. It actually supports USB 3.0 specification which means faster data transfer speeds (up to 5Gbps theoretical) and faster charging speed.

The phone is also said to come with a physical home button, with U-Touch fingerprint ID integrated. However, we can’t see the button since the render just shows the back. Also, the battery life is said to be amazing, thanks to its large capacity. 

The company will announce the ZUK Z1 flagship on August 11, but we expect more details before the release.

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We all have been waiting patiently to see the upcoming ZUK Z1 flagship. This will be the first smartphone from the Lenovo subsidiary, which will reportedly focus a lot on the software and UI. However, that doesn’t mean the phone is going to be just average, as recent teasers have confirmed high-end specs for the Z1.

Earlier today, the company officially confirmed via Weibo that they will be keeping a press conference on August 8. The conference will be held to unveil the new ZUK Z1 flagship. From what we have heard, the phone has pretty good specs.

We already know for sure that it will be the first smartphone to feature USB Type-C 3.0 port. This not only increases transfer speeds to a whole new level, but also makes fast charge possible at 3A. So, even though its not the first to boast of the reversible USB Type-C port, its going to be the first one to use the advanced USB 3.0 specification.

Other specs are also high-end. The phone will come with a special fingerprint sensor called as the U-Touch integrated directly into the home button. So, users can unlock the phone, just by pressing the button up front.

ZUK Z1 is expected to come with a 4000mAh+ battery, which will make it one of the few big battery flagship phones from an established manufacturer. Further, under the hood, we expect at least 3GB of RAM and Snapdragon 810 octa-core chipset.

The company has already established a strategic partnership with JD.com, one of the biggest e-commerce sites in China. So, the phone will be sold via JD.com in the coming weeks. Unfortunately, we still have no clue about its pricing. However, since Lenovo is known to price its products aggressively, we hope the upcoming ZUK Z1 turns out to be affordable.

Stay tuned for more details.

Meanwhile, you can check out the first camera samples for the ZUK Z1 from here.

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A couple of days back, we reported that Lenovo’s sub brand, ZUK will be unveiling its ZUK Z1 smartphone with the new USB Type-C port. If you are an avid tech follower, you would know that the Z1 isn’t the first smartphone to come with this new port. We have already seen it in a couple of devices like the LeTV series. In fact, most upcoming flagships like the OnePlus Two will come with this port.

However, if you think that the USB Type-C on these devices and ZUK Z1 will be same, then you have been mistaken. Earlier today, ZUK CEO said that although in looks the USB port on LeTV phones and ZUK Z1 will be similar, internally, the specs are a bit different. The USB Type-C port inside the ZUK Z1 will be of USB 3.0 specification instead of the traditional and slower 2.0 specification. This would make it the first smartphone with a USB Type-C 3.0 port.
The new USB 3.0 specifications brings a lot of advantages. First of all, it increases the transfer speed to a great extent. Instead of the slow 280Mbps theoretical transfer rate, in the new USB 3.0, users can transfer at rates as fast as 5Gbps. Further, the port will support 3A current which means it will come with fast charging tech.
Other specs of the ZUK Z1 are also pretty impressive. The phone is said to come with 4G LTE network connectivity, with support for all the three major carriers in China. There will be a fingerprint sensor on board along with a large 4000mAh + battery. This will make it one of the few flagships who can boast of such a large battery.
Overall, it looks like ZUK Z1 will be a powerful device with the latest tech from the industry. We are still not sure about the launch period, but expect it before the end of this year.
Stay tuned for more details.

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