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roleta bet 365As soon as I saw the 21 mega-pixel sensor and the audio hardware of the Lenovo Vibe X3 I knew I just had to have one and now that it has arrived here are my first impressions.Lenovo launched 3 versions of the Vibe X3 last month, there was an entry-level model with 13 mega-pixel main camera, a mid-range model with 32GB memory and 21 mega-pixel camera and a top of the range version with 64GB. I opted for the 32GB model, and it arrived with me yesterday.Lenovo Vibe X3 Unboxing VideoLenovo Vibe X3 First ImpressionsOut of the box the Lenovo Vibe X3 feels very nice, and also very familiar in my hand. The soft white polycarbonate body (soft to the touch like the baby skin option on the OPO), the slightly thicker design and the black and white front all reminded me of the Oppo N3. It’s obviously not as long as the N3 but it is a little longer than most 5.5-inch phones due to the dual front facing speakers.As I have mentioned in the past, black borders around the display don’t bother me as I tend to focus on the screen and not what is around it. But if you aren’t a fan of black borders then the Vibe X3 isn’t going to please. We have black borders all around the panel, especially notable between the top of the screen and the top speaker.What is also notable is the build of the Lenovo Vibe X3. While it might not have a unibody alloy design like some of this years flagships, it still feels premium and solidly made, again it reminds me of an Oppo N1 or N3. The Polycarbonate rear is non removable so you cannot get at the 3600mAh battery inside and the a SIM tray is located on the left of the alloy chassis. For those of you wondering the answer is Yes, you have the option to use either dual SIM cards or a single SIM and an SD card (hence the reason I went for the 32GB model).Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramThe right side of the phone is where the power and volume buttons are located, and once again these are quality items with no wobble and a really pleasant action to them. Other physical features around the chassis are a 3.5mm headphone jack and IR remote at the top, and standard USB in the base.Lenovo Vibe X3 featuresExternal features of the Lenovo Vibe X3 are the 21 mega-pixel rear camera, dual tone, dual LED flash and rear single touch fingerprint scanner. What really grabbed my attention though is the dual front speakers that offer Dolby Atmos audio.If you haven’t tried Dolby Atmos and I suggest you do, it really is incredible! Basically the system offer 3D surround sound meaning that movies really do come to life from the Lenovo Vibe X3. Helicopters can be heard flying overhead, cars race from one side of the room to the other, and monsters can be heard behind you. It’s a truly immersive experience.Gaming on the Lenovo Vibe X3 should also be fun too with that audio experience. Performance also promises to be good with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 chipset and 3GB RAM on board.This being a first impressions and hands on I really haven’t had much time to play around with the other features such as the 21 mega-pixel rear camera, but a full review will be made to cover all that in due time.Lenovo Vibe X3 first impressions conclusionOne detail to look out for with the Lenovo Vibe X3 is that it doesn’t support Google Services out of the box. Root is required to do this, and at this time the phone is a little new for a fix to have been found but people are working on it. Another detail is that the Android 5.1 based Lenovo ROM only has Chinese and English language options.I’m pretty excited about this phone, and I am already enjoying the amazing audio, I just hope that the rest of the kit meets my expectations and that Google Services can be installed soon. Keep posted for more details and a full review of the Lenovo Vibe X3 soon.cassino brasileiro online

ZTE sent over a ZTE Axon Mini Premium for us to take a look at last week, take a look at our hands on and unboxing video here.The ZTE Axon Mini Premium is one of those odd smartphone designs that you absolutely love and positively hate. Had this phone been designed and manufactured from some unknown phone maker (Uhans for example) then nobody would have taken notice and it would have gotten a lot of flack, but because the mighty ZTE is behind it and loaded it up with some really interesting features then we have taken notice.ZTE Axon Mini Premium First ImpressionsFirst of all I am not keen on the design. I don’t like the fake leather and faux stitching and I am not keen on the odd design around the camera and flash area. It’s obvious that ZTE really have tried to make a phone that oozes quality, but for me they shouldn’t have bothered. On the other hand my wife loves the look and design (she even likes the terrible icons in the custom Android ROM!).So while I might not have been won over with the looks of the phone I do like the compact design, I love this thin narrow body, the 5.2-inch display is wonderful and the tech behind this phone is really interesting.Up front the ZTE Axon Mini sports a 5.2-inch FHD AMOLED panel, it’s as vibrant and lovely as other AMOLED displays and at 5.2-inches it is (in my opinion) the perfect size for a smartphone.It’s not just how good the screen looks but also the hidden tech behind it. You see the ZTE Axon Mini Premium has Force Touch. Basically this means the screen is pressure sensitive and you can activate functions by simply pressing more firmly on the display. There are a few features enabled as standard but the best I have found is the option for a hard press on an app icon to show the available shortcuts (check out the video below for a demo).Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramAbove and below the display are front facing speakers. Awesome! Front facing speakers are why I’ve personally ordered the new Lenovo flagship, and front speakers on the Axon Mini give amazing audio for watching video or playing games. Please more phone makers do this!ZTE have also packed the phone with security features. There is a rear fingerprint scanner that requires just 6 touches to set up, and then there is the ‘Sky Eye’ feature that uses a scan of your eye for app locking. At this time I’ve not had the chance to play around with this. Finally there are pattern and pin options for locking your phone and a voice print, again I’ve not tried this.The rear of the phone is where we find the 13 mega-pixel PDAF rear camera and dual LED flash above the single touch fingerprint scanner. I’ve not had much chance to try the camera yet, but so far it seems about average, I was expecting better really but we will see the final results in the finished review.As already mentioned the ZTE Axon Mini Premium has a very customised ROM with added features, its own UI, custom settings and a voice assistant. The ZTE voice assistant is interesting as it does not require an internet connection for certain features, and it accurately understands you out of the box. Again more time with the phone will tell just how useful the feature is.Other interesting spec details of the ZTE Axon Mini Premium include an octacore Snapdragon 616 chipset running at 1.5Ghz, 3GB RAM, 32GB memory, 8 mega-pixel front camera and a 2800mAh battery.ZTE Axon Mini Premium First Impressions – ConclusionAfter using the LeTV Le1S for a few weeks now I have finally finished with it. Here is my full LeTV Le1s review.When LeTV released the LeTV Le1S they rewrote the rule book. They had already done a stellar job with the original Le1 (review here) and now here they are launching a phone with full metal body, and fingerprint scanner for less money. But did they get it right?LeTV Le1s Review – DesignWhen the initial leaks of the LeTV Le1s were first published, everyone at GizChina thought they were fake. If you don’t remember them, well they looked like the rear of a UMi Iron, and we just didn’t think the design fitted in to the current LeTV line up. Well we were wrong and the leaks were correct, but聽in person it doesn’t look half as bad as we thought it might.Think of a shrunk down version of the LeTV Le Max and you have a good idea what the LeTV Le1s looks like from the front, but the rear is totally unique to the newcomer. The new full metal construction of the budget phone is certainly better looking that the metal and plastic mix on the original Le1, and the inclusion of the rear facing fingerprint scanner puts the specs on par with what Meizu and Xiaomi are offering.Instead of running through a general description of the look and feel of the LeTV Le1s I think it is more suitable if I compare old with new.LeTV Le1S review – Le1s vs Le1Ever since I got my hands on the Le1s I had the feeling that the phone was long, and if you offer it up to the original Le1 you can see that it is infact a few mm longer than the orignal LeTV phone (LeTV Le1: 147.9 x 73.5 x 9.5 mm, Le1s: 151.1 x 74.2 x 7.5 mm). Normally we see a longer design when a phone maker adds a fingerprint scanner to the chin of a phone, but as the Le1s has its on the rear I’m not sure what the reason behind the longer design is.Width of both phone is almost identical, but the thicknesses aren’t. The LeTV Le1 has a more pronounced curve to the rear making it a whopping 9.5mm thick, while the newer LeTV Le1s has a flatter rear and thinner 7.5mm design. 2mm doesn’t sound like much, but with both in your hand it is certainly notable.Differences continue to the base of the phone where the Le1s has larger oval speaker holes for it’s dual speaker set up and the Le1 has simple, small drill holes.Physical button placement on each phone is different too. The Le1s has both the power button and volume rocker on the right hand side, in addition the notification switch found on the Le1 has been ditched on the newer phone. The last difference is the SIM tray that is on the left of the Le1s and on the right on the Le1.It’s only slight cosmetic changes that are notable at the top of the Le1S, and the phone has the same 3.5mm headphone jack and IR remote as its older brother.The rear of each phone is very different with the LeTV Le1S benefitting from a full alloy build, rear fingerprint scanner and also getting a new camera placement. I actually prefer the central camera design of the Le1 in all honesty, and its nicer to have a dual LED flash than the single offering on the Le1S.So physically there are some huge differences between the two LeTV phones.LeTV Le1s Review – HardwareUpfront the display on the LeTV Le1s is a 5.5-inch 1920 x 1080 FHD panel. This is right on par with the competition and very similar to the screen on the Le1. Visually it is wonderful, even going to the LeTV after using the AMOLED panel on the OPX, the LeTV offers equally vibrant colours and impressive dark blacks.Black bezels around the 5.5-inch panel are the norm for 2015 phones, but it’s almost like LeTV are using them as part of their trademark design. Its fine, but I hope they get thinner on new 2016 devices.The front of the phone also has touch controls in the gold chin that light up once pressed, and there is a front facing 5 mega-pixel camera.Under the hood most of the hardware that was found in the Le1 has been passed down to the Le1s. We get an excellent Mediatek Helio X10 chipset, 3GB RAM and 32GB internal memory (there also appear to be some 16GB versions floating about too).The SIM tray on the left of the phone has space for dual SIM cards and will allow the LetV Le1s to run on 4G LTE networks with bands聽B1/3/7(1800/2100/2600MHz). The SIM tray does not support micro SD cards (a real bummer).A fingerprint scanner on the rear of the phone is new for budget LeTV phones. LeTV have given the scanner a mirrored finish so that you could use it as a mirror when taking selfies with the rear camera but I doubt you will ever use it like this. As a security measure though it is amazingly fast and super accurate. There is rarely a time the scanner doesn’t correctly identify me, and unlock speed is almost instant. If you cast you mind back to the camera shootout I performed with the Le1S, OPX and Mi4C, I loved the super fast fingerprint scanner for easy access and wish the other two phones had something similar (if only the same could have been said about the camera).Inside the new all metal body is a 3000mAh battery which now supports fast charging with the included fast charger. You will be glad it does have faster charging too as battery life from the Le1S is a real disappointment. Even during my camera test when the phone had no SIM (and so no LTE connection) the phone died after a day of use. After a few OTA updates the battery life now has been stretched to a day (just), but then you will need to charge the phone during the night. This might have been ok in the past, but these days my phones (OPX, Mi4C, Le1!!!) all last me well in to the following day.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramOther hardware details are PDAF on the rear camera, but I’ll go in to more detail with that below, USB Type C, and HifI Audio. Hifi Audio on the Le1 really blew me away and audio on the Le1S is really great too, but I’m not really feeling its superb. I don’t know if this is because audio on all phones this year has generally been excellent聽and I am desensitized, or if the audio on the older phone is slighty better.LeTV Le1s Review – PerformanceCan’t really grumble here. The performance of the LeTV Le1s has been fine for me and feels every bit as fast as the older phone. Updates are frequent too, so we should see speed maintained, and hopefully better battery life. LeTV Le1s Review – CameraOn the rear of the phone we have a 13 mega-pixel F2.0 camera with PDAF. The position of the camera is new, the lens is smaller and now there is only a single LED flash. On paper though the rear camera should perform well, but what I found was the opposite.I will be honest when I say that I had high expectations for the Le1s. The camera on the Le1 was stunning for the money, and this year I have tested phones with amazing cameras so I honestly though the Le1S would have one too.The truth is the camera is a huge let down! I have no idea why LeTV have taken such a huge step back in camera performance but they have. The issue seems to be in the lens as I assume the sensor and software is the same as the Le1. Using the camera in the day is fine, but compared to what the Le1 offered, and phones like the Xiaomi Mi4c can do, the Le1s is well behind the game. LeTV Le1s LeTV Le1s Review – EUI ROMEUI is one of my prefered Android ROMS of the year. I like simple touches like the keypad on the lock screen adjusting position depending on where you swipe it, I like the clean style and I also like the frequent updates.There is alot of fluff in the ROM though, plenty of apps and services that we can simply not make use of outside of China and I hope an international ROM will be launched either with these parts removed or working.It’s a young OS too so there are a few bugs now and then, and even if your phone is working well today, it doesn’t mean something won’t break on the next OTA. Thankfully though LeTV are fast with updates and tend to fix things. It’s also worth noting that I received our review phone from Shop.GizChina.Com who install Google Play services before shipping, so Google is already ready to go once the phone arrived.LeTV Le1s Review – Video Hands onLeTV Le1s Review – Gallery LeTV Le1s Review – SpecificationsModel:LeTV 1S X500Sim Card:Dual Standby,MicroSIM + NanoSIMColor:SilverCapacityRAM:聽3GBROM: 32GBMulti-Languages聽English,ChineseChipsetCPU:聽MediaTek helio X10 MT6795T聽Octa-coreGPU:聽PowerVR G6200Other:聽USB2.0 Type-CSystemEUI 5.5聽聽base on聽Android LollipopScreenDisplay Size:5.5 inch IPS ScreenResolution:聽1920*1080pixelTechnology:403聽ppi pixel densityCameraRear Camera: 聽13MP camera f/2.0, PDAFFront Camera: 聽5MP front cameraNetwork and Wireless Connectivity4G: FDD – LTE: B1/3/7(1800/2100/2600MHz) ,TDD-LTE:聽 B38/39/40/413G: WCDMA 850/900/2100MHz ,聽TD-SCDMA: B34/392G: GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHzWIFI :802.11ac/a/b/g/n 2.4GHz and 5GHz Dual Bandssupport APT-X Techonology,Wi-Fi hot ,Wi-Fi Display,WLAN directGPS:GPS/AGPS/GLONASS/BeidouBluetooth: V4.1Battery capacity and lifeNon-removable聽3000mAh lithium-ion batteryStandby Time: About 2~3 daysOthers:聽Quick Charge 2.0Sensor聽fingerprint聽identification,聽light聽sensor,聽gravity聽sensor,聽proximity聽sensor,Infrared聽ray聽remote聽control,compassHi-Fi System—Multi-media聽Video:聽H.265(HEVC),H.264,H.263,MPEG-4,MPEG-2,VP9,VP8MP4,3GP,3GP2,MKV,AVI,ASF,Xvid,FLV,Ts,WebmAudio:聽AAC/AAC+/eAAC+,MP3,AMR,MIDI,PCM,OGG,FLAC,AC3/EAC3,DTS-HDAAC,MP3,WAV,AMR,FLAC,MIDI,OGGOthers:Dolby Audio,DTS Headphone:X鈩?LeHiFi TechnologySizeDimensions: 151.1*74.2*7.5 mmNet Weight: 聽169gLeTV Le1s Review – ConclusionI had high hopes for the LeTV Le1s and this is perhaps why have come away so disappointed. To get things straight this is not a bad phone. It has amazing build, a wonderful display, very good audio, and easily one of the best fingerprint scanners on the market, but it misses the mark in battery and camera performance by quite a way.If the camera isn’t a concern and you want a powerful phone capable of serious gaming on a budget then the Le1s fits the bill, but then again so does the original Le1 at a lower price and you get a camera too!Blackview have a steady stream of Android phones launching for all tastes and prices levels, but it’s the Blackview BV2000 that comes in at the most affordable but does the low-price mean it is worth buying?From the rugged Blackview BV5000 (review here) to the newest Blackview Ultra smartphone, this phone maker is aiming to release a phone to suit every taste a wallet, so how have they done with their most affordable to date?Blackview BV2000 Review – DesignBefore you even open the Blackview BV2000 packaging you know that a lot of cost cutting has gone on at Blackview. The packaging is the cheapest cardboard we have seen of any Chinese phone for years. The contents is simple too with the phone and accessories (USB wire, and EU charger) separated by a single piece of cardboard. Blackview have taken a look at what other phone makers have produced this year. They made notes, and they decided copying was the best route to follow. If you haven’t already noticed, the Blackview BV2000 is a clone of the Meizu M2.Copying a phone means that Blackview don’t have to spend time designing their own, and explains how Blackview managed to get the BV2000 on the market so quickly. It also helps to keep the cost low too, but it means that you are always going to using a clone.With the device鑱絠n hand you can see that this is a cheap phone. The bezels on either side of the phone are thick, and the 5-inch display itself, although a 1280 x 720 HD panel, is not an OGS model. This all helps with that $80 price, and while it all works it’s not all that pretty. The screen is also very susceptible to collecting fingerprints and smears so be prepared to clean it often.Beneath the display is a physical home button. This is a very basic piece of kit, there is no touch sensitivity to it or a fingerprint scanner, its just a basic home button. Either side of the this oval button is a back button on the right and a menu button on the left.Turn the phone over and it appears that the BV2000 is a unibody phone, however that plastic rear panel does pull off. The back sides and physical buttons all come off in one piece.Beneath the rear is a 2400mAh battery, dual SIM and Micro SD card slot. You can also see the single speaker dual LED flash and an 8 mega-pixel rear camera there too all in similar locations to those on the Meizu (bar the speaker).Blackview BV2000 Review – HardwareThe jewel in the hardware crown here is the 1280 x 720 HD display. It looks great on paper but as this is just a cheap non OGS panel viewing angles aren’t that good. Other hardware features include a Mediatek MT6735 quad-core processor. This 1.0Ghz chipset is low on power and very efficient.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramBlackview have teamed the 4-core SoC up with 1GB RAM. 1GB RAM isn’t much in this day and age, but for $70 its fine and will get you though Facebook, Twitter and browsing the web without an issue. Internal memory is 8GB, but the SD slot means an additional 32GB can be added for media.The chipset also allows you to use the BV2000 on LTE networks. Supported bands are 800/900/1800/2100 and 2600Mhz.An 8 mega-pixel rear camera is about what we expect on a phone of this price, as is the slow speed and poor set of lenses it uses. The front 5 mega-pixel selfie camera is a surprise when most similar price phones have around 2 mega-pixels.Blackview BV2000 Review – Camera8 mega-pixels doesn’t sound all that impressive, but as we have seen on the iPhone, and Meizu MX3 (plus others) an 8 mega-pixel camera can be really good. This is not the case here though. The focus speed is slow, and images are quite noisy even indoors with good light.During the review, the BV2000 also developed a bug which started the gallery when trying to focus on an object in the camera app. Very annoying. Blackview BV2000 Review – ROMBlackview ship the BV2000 with Android 5.1, but this is not a stock installation. The launcher and icons are all modified for the phone and there is no app draw, so all your applications are on plain sight. Google services are part of the ROM though so installing an alternate launcher and icon pack isn’t an issue.Once in the settings the system looks like a stock Android Lollipop ROM, with options for smart motion and gesture controls. Smart motion basically uses the proximity sensor on the front of the phone to activate different features by waving your hand in front of鑱絫he phone. Oddly the gesture control menu also has options for different features activated by the wave of the hand.Blackview BV2000 Review – Gallery Blackview BV2000 Review – ConclusionDepending on where you buy the Blackview BV2000 it will cost you from $69.99 to $79.99, a low price but is it worth buying? This really all depends on what you are looking for. If all you need is a low-cost phone that will keep you connected to the world then sure why not.Cubot launch another low-cost but well made smartphone in time for the holidays. Take a look at the Cubot X17 in this unboxing and hands on video.Cubot are now offering 2 slim phones made with metal chassis that look like phones that should be double the price. Those phones are the Cubot X16 (see our unboxing here) and the updated Cubot X17.Cubot X17 First ImpressionsBefore getting your hands on the Cubot X17 you should take a look at the spec sheet of this phone vs the Cubot X16. Have a good study of each device and you will quickly learn that there is no major difference between the two phones.In fact its just the outward design of the X17 and X16 which differs from one another making your shopping decision all the more easy. Just choose the one that you prefer the design off. That in itself might prove difficult as they both look rather good in the hand.The Cubot X17’s design features a 5-inch JDI panel, capacitive buttons and a slim metal chassis. Although slim and compact the Cubot X17 is a heft device (for the size), that weight coming from the steel chassis. More expensive phones might have an alloy CNC chassis instead, but I actually prefer the slightly heavier design of the Cubot, if feels substantial and gives me a sense of durability.As with most Android phones designed in China during 2015, the Cubot X17 has a black bezel around the display, so although the phone appears to be bezel-less it isn’t. A lot of you are going to dislike this about the phone, but really in use you don’t notice it.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramCubot are sticking with a standard micro USB for charging the 2500mAh battery. I’ve not had time to see how well the battery lasts in the phone, but I’m hoping it will cope with the FHD panel due to the low-frequency quad-core chipset on board.The rear of the Cubot X17 is where the major design difference between it and the X16 are notable. The X17 has an alloy rear that looks like an older Vivo design. In fact the protruding camera and dual LED flash look very Vivo too.As the rear of the phone is non removable your Micro SIM cards (or Micro SIM + SD card) are inserted via the SD tray on the left side of the phone. A power and volume button located on the right and a 3.5mm headphone jack in the top.Cubot X17鑱絊pecsWhile the Cubot X17 does have just a 1.3Ghz Mediatek MT6735 quad-core chipset on board, the display is a FHD 1920 x 1080 panel, there is 3GB RAM on board and internal memory is 16GB. Not at all bad!The camera specs on the packaging of the Cubot X17 state the rear camera is a 16 mega-pixel sensor while the front is 8 mega-pixels. I don’t believe this to be the actual sensor specs but rather the interpolated specs, and I think what we have is a 13 mega-pixel rear鑱絘nd 5 mega-pixel up front (still nothing to be sniffed at).Bands 1/3/7 and 20 are supported for LTE and you have the option of running either dual SIM cards or a single SIM and up to 32GB SD card.Cubot X17 First ImpressionsWe received the UMi Iron Pro last week, it’s a little early for a full review but here are our unboxing and hands on impressions.Earlier in the year, UMi made a big song and dance about the UMi Iron. The phone was teased more than any other UMi to date and the company promised features from a UV sensor, to eye scanner, and advanced audio performance.The reality was a little further from the truth, and customers had issues with the health sensors not actually functioning, build quality issues and problems with the audio (there is a problem with the original UMi Iron that causes headphones to pop and crackle).UMi decided to tackle those issues, and also throw in a few new features and introduce the updated UMi Iron Pro.UMi Iron Pro hands onThe UMi Iron Pro is the next stem in evolution in the Iron range, and features updates to the RAM and security, plus a few updates and fixes.Out of the box the UMi Iron Pro is visually identical to the original Iron, with the only major external differences being the inclusion of a rear fingerprint scanner and better build. What I mean here is that the alloy and plastic panels have better alignment and it seems a little more attention has gone in to the construction of the phone. The quality of the materials used however remain unchanged from the original.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramRight off the bat I wanted to check that the issues I had with the original UMi Iron are no longer present in the new updated UMi Iron Pro.The video above shows that the heart rate monitor/stress indicator function (how accurate they are is another matter). The fingerprint scanner is fast and accurate (although is a little more fiddly to set up initially).So while those features do work the audio on the UMi Iron Pro is still a bit of an issue. Original UMi Iron owners will know all about the pop and crackle sounds the phone makes when power surges to the earphones, well that issue persists still with the updated UMi Iron Pro. UMi say the Iron Pro has a 13 mega-pixel Sony IMX214, which it might, but the lens on the camera is terrible. Photos are washed out and pale. I’m comparison to other IMX214 equipped phones the UMi Iron Pro is underwhelming in the camera dept.UMi Iron Pro vs UMi Iron Specs[go_pricing id=”umi_iron_pro”]UMi Iron Pro hands on conclusionSo UMi have released an updated version of the UMi Iron with鑱絘 new鑱絝ingerprint scanner. Features that didn’t work now do, but audio is still like a bowl of Rice Krispies, and the 13 mega-pixel rear camera produces washout images.

SJCAM are synonymous with low-cost action camera, and have been supplying thrill seekers with budget options of the Go Pro for years now. The M10+ is is a new design for the company, so how well does it work in the wilds?I use action cameras on a farily frequent basis. I usually take a camera with me while mountain biking, and this weekend while at the famous La Fenassosa bike park in Alicante Spain, I was highly to have the new SJCAM M10+ with me.SJCAM M10+ Review – DesignWhile we are more accustom to seeing action cameras that take on the form of a the GoPro, the SJCAM M10+ action camera has cube design to it, but retains all the usual hardware we have come to expect from SJCAM.In photos you might think the SJCAM M10+ is a clone of the newer GoPro Session, I did too, but in your hands the SJCAM has a lot of differences.For starters the SJCAM M10+ has a built in display on the rear of the camera, and the shape is less of a cube with the overall height being slightly more than the depth and width.Another difference is the fact that the SJCAM M10+ still requires the use of a water/dustproof case to keep it safe from the elements. So although the M10+ has a design that appears more compact in images, there isn鈥檛 all that much difference between it and a standard SJCAM.Our test sample came with a silver front, but there are other colours on offer including yellow, blue, black, white and red. The rest of the body is black with a power button, LED notification light and record button on the top. On the left we have a USB plug for transferring files and charging, micro SD slot and a HDMI out of connecting the camera directly to your TV.The right side of the device has three more buttons. The central button is for turning the WIFI on or off, while the other two buttons are for navigating through the onscreen menu.Speaking of the screen it s a 1.5-inch LTPS panel, that is fine for setting up the alignment of the camera, and going through the menus, but its much more convenient to use a connected smartphone phone (or tablet) and the SJCAM application. That said the app does need a refresh as it looks a little homemade.SJCAM M10+ vs SJ4000+ comparison photos SJCAM M10+ Review – HardwareIf you read my review of the SJCAM SJ4000+ then the hardware of the M10+ will come as no surprise. The M10+ uses a 12 mega-pixel CMOS sensor for capturing still photos or video. Video can be recorded at up to 2K @ 30FPS, but for action video I found the camera to be better when set at 1920 x 1080 @ 60fps. If you are limited in memory or just need basic quality video you can reduce resolution down to 720 but at a higher 120fps.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramAs you would expect still photos are 12 mega-pixel but you have the option to set the camera at either 10, 8 , 5 or 3 mega-pixels.The sensor shoots video through a 170 degree lens which is wide enough to get most of the action in shot, and the action is saved on SD cards of up to 32GB.Battery life is always important on an electronic device, but more so on an action camera. The last thing you want to happen is the camera to run out of juice while in the middle of a killer trail. For my first run I kept the SJCAM M10+ running for an entire 1 hour bike ride, and at the end of it there were still 2 battery bars left.Normally you would turn the camera on and off for when you know something cool it going to happen. That鈥檚 how I ran the camera this weekend at the bike park and the M10+ lasted the whole day.Once again the SJCAM M10+ has a hardware image stabilizer which does a surprisingly good job of keeping the video smooth and prevents that terrible 鈥榳ave鈥 motion that can sometimes occur when the going gets rough.SJCAM M10+ Review – AccessoriesSJCAM really does give you a ton of great hardware in a low-cost action camera, but the packaging also contains a shed load of accessories.Include in the box is the waterproof protective case, a mount for attaching to your handle bars, mounts with 3M sticky patches for attaching to your helmet, various extensions. Plenty to get you going and ensure you have a camera mounted to you anywhere you go.SJCAM M10+ Review – Sample VideoBelow are two videos I recorded with the SJCAM M10+ at La Fenassosa bike park this past weekend. The trails are a mix of super smooth flowing berms and jumps, rocks and some nice drops.SJCAM M10+ Review – Gallery SJCAM M10+ Review – ConclusionAs you can see from the video sample above (make sure you have YouTube set at 1080 @60fps) the quality of the video that the SJCAM M10+ is really remarkable. Not only this but I feel the buttons on the M10+ are a little more accurate than those of the SJ4000 meaning that with a press I can be sure the camera is recording without having to physically check the screen.Although the M10+ is only slight smaller than the SJ4000, I do feel a little more comfortable with the new design. I also prefer the more positive button action and I am really impressed once again by the quality of the video this action camera is capable of.Interestingly at the bike park this weekend there were very few GoPro users there. Despite riding bikes of 4000 Euros plus, many riders were happy to rock a SJCAM or two (I even saw a few people using Xiao Yi cameras too).Many didn’t quite understand what OnePlus was up to with the OnePlus X. Their first two phones — the OnePlus One and the OnePlus 2 — have been full-blown flagships with the spec sheet being the USP of each device. This time round, OnePlus have decided to churn out something a little different, something that聽likely won’t be in the wishlist of OnePlus One and 2 owners.In essence, the OnePlus X is the company’s attempt to attack the segment of the market in which people own the iPhone. OnePlus could well have priced the phone $199 (if not in the exact same form, with some corners cut), but they didn’t; that would’ve made the OnePlus X a Moto G competitor more than anything else. By pricing the phone $249 (starting) and focusing their marketing on design, OnePlus try to appeal to the perfectionist in you.OnePlus X Review: DesignHere is where you want to be if you want to convince yourself to buy the OnePlus X.The phone is rather petite, especially in today’s market where 5.5-inch displays are the norm. But for some reason (read: lack of thickness), the OnePlus X seems even tinier than any other 5-inch phone. The percentage of people that prefer a 5-inch phone over a 5.5-inch are clearly the minority, but in the target audience of the OnePlus X, it’s almost about everyone.There aren’t too many design elements to the OnePlus X. It makes the cliched ‘rectangle with rounded corners’, but thankfully that isn’t done while attempting to mimic another phone.The design will tell you that the OnePlus X wants to be used as a productivity phone more than anything else. Email, IM, phone calls, and some photos every now and then — that’s how the phone wants to be used. Coming from a 6-inch Gionee Elife E8 it felt small to the extent of feeling weird; but a couple of days in and I got fast accustomed to the design and size.The OnePlus X looks like neither of the two OnePlus phones that came before this. Since its 2015, the OnePlus has curved glass on the front and curved onyx on the rear. I’ve never used a phone that uses onyx to be made; prior to this, you, like me, will have seen onyx only on jewellery and dinner tables.While the design of the OnePlus X is fairly plain and simple, you are going to have a strong opinion about it nonetheless. Because this isn’t something you’ll have expected from an in-your-face kind of a company that OnePlus is.Moving to the how the phone looks (literally), there’s the plain-yet-classy front striving for the ‘ninja’ (i.e., monolithic) effect, which isn’t quite perfected here. Nonetheless, it doesn’t make the phone look any less beautiful. An earpiece on the top, next to the front camera on one side and a suite of sensors on the other. The part of the bezel below the screen houses three capacitive buttons — which can be configured by you — which are unfortunately, non-backlit. A neon blue backlight behind the buttons would’ve given them a killer visual appeal, I feel.Nonetheless, moving on to other sides of the phone. The right side will have the volume buttons and the power button, positioned towards the centre of the length. Now, this takes a little getting used to; I accidentally still keep pressing the Volume Down button instead of the power button because of how low they’re positioned on the edge.A stealthy-looking SIM tray sits above these buttons, camouflaged in the metal stripe that runs along the entire circumference of the phone. On the opposite edge, you find the three-step slider to switch between sound profiles, something you saw for the first time on the OnePlus 2. I didn’t use the slider too much, but despite that it got loose to the point of sliding to the silent mode when I took my OnePlus 2 out of my pocket. While there’s been no controversy around that yet, OnePlus seem to have realised the slider needed more quality and appear to have fixed it on the OnePlus X. It’s a lot more ‘rigid’ now.The top edge of the phone has a 3.5mm jack, and that’s all. The bottom is a little more exciting with machine drilled holes on either side of the micro USB port. Despite what OnePlus say, the X should have had a Type-C port. Things like these are only going to make the transition to Type-C more difficult.There’s not much on the back side of the phone besides a OnePlus logo in the centre, and of course the camera with a single LED flash.OnePlus X Review: HardwareStarting off with the screen, it’s the first time OnePlus have gone with an AMOLED display. In my opinion, it has worked well; the small screen means that you aren’t going to use the OnePlus X to consume a lot of media. AMOLED screens tend to add a little drama to the picture, and while that is the case with the OnePlus X as well, it isn’t to the extent of what you see on say, a Samsung.The OxygenOS ROM also provides a ‘dark theme’ which attempts to extract as much battery life out of your phone as possible by switching to a dark theme with white text. This can be a little daunting if you aren’t used to this; it can hurt your eyes. But it worked alright for me, and despite not noticing an increase in battery life, I liked the dark look of the theme (and even switched to a black and white icon scheme later).The drama that AMOLED adds can be a nice change, and if you haven’t owned an AMOLED phone you totally shouldThe screen is no big deal (as in, it’s neither astonishingly good, nor a deal breaker), but I kind of like the idea of having an AMOLED screen on a phone I’m not going to watch sitcoms/movies on. The drama that AMOLED adds can be a nice change, and if you haven’t owned an AMOLED phone you totally should. OxygenOS’ Ambient Mode wakes the screen each time there’s a notification (and optionally when you take it out of your pocket), but in a dark black-and-white mode which hardly consumes any power and and is really convenient (great to look at as well).Moving on to audio, I’ve had a rather poor experience with the built-in earpiece of the phone and I suspect it is something only my unit of the OnePlus X suffers from. About 5/10 times, the sound from the earpiece is completely ‘scuffed’ and its hard to tell what the other party is speaking. But then a call later (and sometimes within the same call) the sound output is back where it should be.Despite having only a single speaker (the other grille is actually a mic), the OnePlus X manages to output some really decent music. Not the most punchy, but definitely loud and distortion-free enough.The battery on this sleek phone is a 2525mAh cell which can scare off heavy users, and rightly so. If you are going to use the phone a lot (games, web browsing, video — basically anything other than just staring at the screen), it’s sure to die on you within a few (read: 3-4) hours. But that’s not abnormal for today’s phones. In a more realistic (i.e., what the majority of the users will do) scenario — with email, text, IM, a little browsing and a few pictures from the camera — the OnePlus X will take you through one entire day on most days.OnePlus X Review: PerformanceInstead of trying to do too many things at once (OnePlus 2), the company decided to create a product that would do only some, but do them wellGizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramInstead of going for a 64-bit SoC like the Snapdragon 808 or the MediaTek Helio X10, OnePlus made a (wise?) decision to the tried and tested 32-bit Snapdragon 801. OnePlus have tried to be on top of their game by dishing the OnePlus 2 with the Snapdragon 810 (it was one of the first few to have the SoC), which didn’t go as well as they would’ve planned.On the other hand, the OnePlus One had a Snapdragon 801 and the phone was a bestseller… so the engineers must be knowing the chip inside out. That combined with the fact that the OnePlus X was never designed to be a flagship kill probably made going with the Snapdragon 801 an easy decision for the company.And I daresay, it was a good choice.Instead of trying to do too many things at once (OnePlus 2), the company decided to create a product that would do only some, but do them well.The phone doesn’t blast through benchmarking apps, nor is it the fastest phone you’ll see in your life. But it does productivity and utility very well. Perhaps the only thing that you’ll have a gripe about is knowing there’s an older-gem SoC in there. OnePlus X Review: CameraThe OnePlus X has the same spec camera as the OnePlus 2, but there’s a bit of a difference between the two. While the OnePlus X does manage to take some decent pictures (suggested: OnePlus X vs Letv Le 1s vs Xiaomi Mi 4c camera shootout), focus is a little fidgety and not the fastest.The camera app is a stock OxygenOS feature you’ll have seen on the OnePlus 2 as well. The UI can be a little tricky at first but then you kind of get used to it. There’s no manual mode, and therefore no long exposure shots as well — a feature that’s been growing on almost all of us.There is, however, OnePlus’ own ‘Clear Image’, which I suspect takes a handful different shots and puts as many depth-locations in focus as possible. And of course, there’s HDR.Other features supported include slo-mo video, beauty mode and time-lapse.I’ve been impressed with the low-light ability of this phone. You’d expect a phone like this to excel in taking daylight photos, but that isn’t the case. It is above average, but still not up to the mark and definitely second to the OnePlus 2, for one. OnePlus X OnePlus X OnePlus X OnePlus X Review:聽OxygenOSBeing a hardcore lover of the OnePlus One, the OnePlus-Cyanogen Inc. fallout was nearly heartbreaking. Cyanogen OS on the OnePlus One produced some insanely great results, from battery to performance; OnePlus have tried to replicate that with their own rendition of an Android fork, in OxygenOS.OxygenOS isn’t as customisable as Cyanogen OS, but is certainly getting there. The best part about OxygenOS is that it is completely free of ‘features’ you aren’t going to use (for that matter, even Cyanogen OS is starting to get bloated). You do have a few customisation options — such as toggling between hardware and on-screen navigation buttons, light/dark theme, off-screen gestures (including double tap to wake), and more — which should keep the boat floating till OnePlus figure out a few more features for OxygenOS.I’ve had no force close issues or anything else complain-worthy about the OS. In fact, just a day after receiving my review unit, there were a couple of OTA’s waiting to be pushed to the phone. Another OxygenOS specific feature on the phone is what OnePlus call ‘Shelf’. You get to Shelf by swiping right (how you’d normally get to Google Now on the GNL/Nexus phones). Here, you can choose to add some context-aware ‘widgets’, such as frequent contacts, weather (on by default), or add your own widgets. Not a lot of people seem to like Shelf, but I simply love the feature myself for it allows me to access my widgets in one place, without filling up home screens.OnePlus X Review: Gallery Show full galleryOnePlus X Review: SpecificationsModelOnePlus XSIM聽supportHybrid dual SIM (dual SIM OR one SIM + microSD)ColorOnyx/Ceramic (International); +White (China)Storage16GBChipsetCPU: Snapdragon 801聽2.5GHzRAM: 3GBAndroid VersionAndroid 5.1ScreenDisplay Size:聽5-inch聽FHDResolution: 1920 x 1080Camera13 mega-pixel rear camera (f/2.2, PDAF)8 mega-pixel front-facing cameraNetwork and Wireless ConnectivityGSM: 850/900/1800/1900MHzTDD-LTE: B38/40WCDMA (EU): 1/2/5/8WCDMA (US): 1/2/4/5/8FDD-LTE (EU): 1/3/5/7/8/20FDD-LTE (US): 1/2/4/5/7/8Battery capacity聽Removable 2525mAhSizeDimensions: 140 x 69 x 6.9 mmWeight: 138gOnePlus X Review: VerdictDespite the shortcomings, the X is a phone you will want to feature on any sub-$250 buying guideThe OnePlus X is definitely among the better looking phones I’ve used this year. I also love that the phone’s easily usable in one hand, but at the same time understand that it’s not what the majority of the market wants which puts the OnePlus X in a tricky position.If you own a OnePlus 2 or even the OnePlus One, there’s no reason you should switch to the OnePlus X unless you REALLY need a phone that fits your tightest pair of jeans. On the other hand if you’re an iPhone user looking to make a switch to Android, the OnePlus X can be a good place to start.Better battery and a slightly better camera (simply faster/sharper focus) would make the OnePlus X a much better phone than it actually is. Despite the shortcomings, the X is a phone you will want to feature on any sub-$250 buying guide… I’m not too sure about the rather pricey Ceramic version though.I’ve never really been a mobile phone gamer, but as I write this the super-smooth 3D rendering taking place while AnTuTu goes through its paces on the OnePlus 3 is making me think twice.The OnePlus 3 is a phone none of us didn’t know much about. Consequently, I wasn’t too hyped about this phone (especially after getting to see it from all angles well ahead of its launch). That said, there’s always the excitement quotient that comes along with every OnePlus phone, and the OnePlus 3 is no exception.I was surprised by a PR representative that decided to drop by last evening, with a rather large box. (And I’m not exaggerating when I say I’ve never seen a phone box this humongous — click here if you really want to know how big). It turns out OnePlus have designed special media boxes (with a Dash Charger for the car, and 5 cases) – nice touch.It was, as always, a rather fulfilling experience opening up the OnePlus 3 packaging. The actual retail box is a rather standard one, with the usual鑱絚ontents (plus some OnePlus stickers) inside.Let’s talk about the phone for a bit?It’s exactly how it looks in the renders. Nothing surprising right? Well, if you said a ‘yes’ to that, you haven’t been paying attention to renders lately. Phone companies (sadly, Chinese, especially) seem to believe a bit too much in the YMMV mantra. (In other words, the phone and its renders are two very different things, usually.)Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramComing back, the OnePlus 3 is a rather slim phone. If you’ve been using the OnePlus 2 especially, it will take you a little while getting used to the OnePlus 3 and its metal and its slim body.The home button on the OnePlus 3 (the OP3 here on) is the exact same design (in terms of working) as that on the OP2; a capacitive button with a metal ring around (and of course a fingerprint sensor embedded inside).Speaking of, the fingerprint sensor on the OP3 is among the fastest I’ve seen. I daresay it is as fast as the one on the new iPhone (what is it called, again?).OnePlus 3 Photos. Before running benchmarks (which sucks up quite a bit of battery all at once), my unit of the OP3 was running on a 35% charge… after a hefty 4.5 hours of screen on time. This is no way shabby, especially for a 3000mAh phone.I haven’t used the camera too much to share any samples yet, but from what I can tell already, the focusing and shutter are extremely enjoyably fast.Here’s some benchmark scores:

Coolpad are usually known for their budget phones, but the Chinese phone maker recently pulled off a bit of a surprise by launching the Coolpad Max smartphone in India recently.It’s not really budget, priced at 24,999 INR ($375), the same price at which you can get a Xiaomi Mi 5. It is definitely a risk that Coolpad are taking, since it’s the 7-8,000 INR phones that the brand is best known for. That said, how does the Coolpad Max fare with its metal body and $375 price tag? Let’s have a check…Coolpad Max Review: Design and BuildI was blown away when I took receipt of the shipment containing the Coolpad Max. Not only was the retail box made out of material that felt nice and proper, the phone itself looked — and felt — like a work of art.The phone isn’t really a 6.5-incher as the name would suggest. It’s actually a 5.5-inch phone with a smooth metal body (yes, with the ‘cold’ metal feeling) all around. The backside of the phone may remind some of the HTC 10 (if you’ve bothered about it, anyway).Let’s talk about the design in literal terms.The front of the phone appears to have an abnormally high screen:body ratio, which is of course courtesy the conspicuous black bezels under the digitiser. Speaking of, the bezels under the screen (especially on the top and bottom part of the display panel) are perhaps the only negative thing about the entire visual aspect of the Coolpad Max.Moving on, the front top side of the phone has the usual — earpiece, sensor suite (proximity, ambient) and the notification LED. There’s nothing on the under side of the display. No capacitive buttons — the phone has on-screen buttons that you have to make do with.Rear of the phone is the standard — flat metal back with a fingerprint scanner, camera (slightly protruding), minimalistic logo and of course the antenna lines. The tiny camera module bang in the center makes the phone look a little too symmetrical — I’d have preferred it on the left top, but that’d ring way too many bells… *cough* iSheep *cough*.The top edge has a 3.5mm jack (for real!), so no switching between charging, connecting to the computer, and a USB Type-C to 3.5mm jack here (if you haven’t noticed, I’m taking a dig at LeEco here). Speaking of ports, it’s really really disappointing to have a micro USB port on the Coolpad Max. Not because I’ve grown so used to USB Type-C, but because it’s becoming an increasing pain to deal with both types of ports, carry both kinds of cables around.Either side of the port has six holes, acting as vents for the mic and speaker. On the left and right edge of the phone, there are the volume and power button respectively — complete with a a textured finish giving them great grip and you, feedback.Coolpad Max Review: Hardware and PerformanceWhen we were sent the Max, we had no idea of the specifications. I thought of trying out the phone for a bit before checking what it had inside… and no kidding I thought it was a much higher-end chip than the Snapdragon 617. That said, the implementation matters, and Coolpad seem to have done it perfectly well. Then there’s the 4GB RAM cushion聽that the phone affords… all of which makes the Coolpad Max a really nice performer.I’ve spent the last few days with the Helio X20-powered Le 2 Pro, and honestly the Snapdragon 617 (at least on the Coolpad Max) comes frighteningly (for Le 2 Pro buyers) close to the MediaTek. Guess it’s the eUI ROM that’s the culprit here, but makes a strong case for the Snapdragon 617 nonetheless!Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramRead:聽Coolpad Max BenchmarksGeneral usage, multitasking, etc. has all been a rather enjoyable experience on the Coolpad Max. There have been a couple instances when the device has given me a bit of a glitch when switching between apps, but there’s hardly been a time where the ROM felt that it lacked optimisation.The 5.5-inch display on top comes covered in 2.5D curved glass, which I’m not too big a fan of. This is probably because almost every affordable phone (<$100) from China is starting to come with 2.5D curved glass, which makes it look kind of shabby on more expensive phones (I know it shouldn’t be that way, but…). That said, the underlying display is crisp and clear, visible in the sunlight and has nice viewing angles. It’s funny we’re OK with this display, because in 2014 we’d want a 1440p panel for this much money!The sound department too is impressive with the earpiece, loudspeaker as well as earphone output.Moving on to battery, it has been fairly good. Not exceptionally good, but slightly above average. The phone has only a 2800mAh battery, so the ~4.5 hours of screen on time is something which isn’t too bad.To add to the software bit, Coolpad haven’t just nailed it with optimisation, but they’re also doing well keeping the phone fairly bloat free (there are a couple of apps pre-installed though, including Amazon — which is a bit of a shame because this isn’t a $100 phone) and feature rich. One feature that stands out for me would be the ‘Private Space’ feature, which allows you to use the phone with multiple accounts on the same network (Google, Facebook, WhatsApp, etc.).Coolpad Max Review: CameraReally really happy with the Coolpad Max camera. I’m going to use it as my daily driver for as long as the phone is with me (it’s going to go back to Coolpad 馃檨 ).Like the rest of the phone, the camera works as advertised. It’s fast, has a great dynamic range, and takes nice photos in the dark. Take a look at some samples.The only problem some may have with the camera is that it does not offer 4K video recording. While I hardly shoot video on my phone, it’s quite a gutsy (and bad?) decision to skip 4K video. Coolpad Max Review: Gallery Coolpad Max Review: ConclusionCons: No USB Type-C, No 4K video recording, Battery could’ve been higher capacityPros: Camera, Build Quality, Smooth PerformanceIn all fairness, the Coolpad Max is a phone that I would recommend to people looking for a phone in the $400 range. True, it doesn’t (by a long shot) have the bells and whistles of some other phones — perhaps even cheaper — but there are times when the experience beyond just the spec sheet matters.True its an expensive phone for the spec on paper, but it does whatever it is designed to do — and well.Coolpad are usually known for their budget phones, but the Chinese phone maker recently pulled off a bit of a surprise by launching the Coolpad Max smartphone in India recently.It’s not really budget, priced at 24,999 INR ($375), the same price at which you can get a Xiaomi Mi 5. It is definitely a risk that Coolpad are taking, since it’s the 7-8,000 INR phones that the brand is best known for. That said, how does the Coolpad Max fare with its metal body and $375 price tag? Let’s have a check…Coolpad Max Review: Design and BuildI was blown away when I took receipt of the shipment containing the Coolpad Max. Not only was the retail box made out of material that felt nice and proper, the phone itself looked — and felt — like a work of art.The phone isn’t really a 6.5-incher as the name would suggest. It’s actually a 5.5-inch phone with a smooth metal body (yes, with the ‘cold’ metal feeling) all around. The backside of the phone may remind some of the HTC 10 (if you’ve bothered about it, anyway).Let’s talk about the design in literal terms.The front of the phone appears to have an abnormally high screen:body ratio, which is of course courtesy the conspicuous black bezels under the digitiser. Speaking of, the bezels under the screen (especially on the top and bottom part of the display panel) are perhaps the only negative thing about the entire visual aspect of the Coolpad Max.Moving on, the front top side of the phone has the usual — earpiece, sensor suite (proximity, ambient) and the notification LED. There’s nothing on the under side of the display. No capacitive buttons — the phone has on-screen buttons that you have to make do with.Rear of the phone is the standard — flat metal back with a fingerprint scanner, camera (slightly protruding), minimalistic logo and of course the antenna lines. The tiny camera module bang in the center makes the phone look a little too symmetrical — I’d have preferred it on the left top, but that’d ring way too many bells… *cough* iSheep *cough*.The top edge has a 3.5mm jack (for real!), so no switching between charging, connecting to the computer, and a USB Type-C to 3.5mm jack here (if you haven’t noticed, I’m taking a dig at LeEco here). Speaking of ports, it’s really really disappointing to have a micro USB port on the Coolpad Max. Not because I’ve grown so used to USB Type-C, but because it’s becoming an increasing pain to deal with both types of ports, carry both kinds of cables around.Either side of the port has six holes, acting as vents for the mic and speaker. On the left and right edge of the phone, there are the volume and power button respectively — complete with a a textured finish giving them great grip and you, feedback.Coolpad Max Review: Hardware and PerformanceWhen we were sent the Max, we had no idea of the specifications. I thought of trying out the phone for a bit before checking what it had inside… and no kidding I thought it was a much higher-end chip than the Snapdragon 617. That said, the implementation matters, and Coolpad seem to have done it perfectly well. Then there’s the 4GB RAM cushion聽that the phone affords… all of which makes the Coolpad Max a really nice performer.I’ve spent the last few days with the Helio X20-powered Le 2 Pro, and honestly the Snapdragon 617 (at least on the Coolpad Max) comes frighteningly (for Le 2 Pro buyers) close to the MediaTek. Guess it’s the eUI ROM that’s the culprit here, but makes a strong case for the Snapdragon 617 nonetheless!Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramRead:聽Coolpad Max BenchmarksGeneral usage, multitasking, etc. has all been a rather enjoyable experience on the Coolpad Max. There have been a couple instances when the device has given me a bit of a glitch when switching between apps, but there’s hardly been a time where the ROM felt that it lacked optimisation.The 5.5-inch display on top comes covered in 2.5D curved glass, which I’m not too big a fan of. This is probably because almost every affordable phone (<$100) from China is starting to come with 2.5D curved glass, which makes it look kind of shabby on more expensive phones (I know it shouldn’t be that way, but…). That said, the underlying display is crisp and clear, visible in the sunlight and has nice viewing angles. It’s funny we’re OK with this display, because in 2014 we’d want a 1440p panel for this much money!The sound department too is impressive with the earpiece, loudspeaker as well as earphone output.Moving on to battery, it has been fairly good. Not exceptionally good, but slightly above average. The phone has only a 2800mAh battery, so the ~4.5 hours of screen on time is something which isn’t too bad.To add to the software bit, Coolpad haven’t just nailed it with optimisation, but they’re also doing well keeping the phone fairly bloat free (there are a couple of apps pre-installed though, including Amazon — which is a bit of a shame because this isn’t a $100 phone) and feature rich. One feature that stands out for me would be the ‘Private Space’ feature, which allows you to use the phone with multiple accounts on the same network (Google, Facebook, WhatsApp, etc.).Coolpad Max Review: CameraReally really happy with the Coolpad Max camera. I’m going to use it as my daily driver for as long as the phone is with me (it’s going to go back to Coolpad 馃檨 ).Like the rest of the phone, the camera works as advertised. It’s fast, has a great dynamic range, and takes nice photos in the dark. Take a look at some samples.The only problem some may have with the camera is that it does not offer 4K video recording. While I hardly shoot video on my phone, it’s quite a gutsy (and bad?) decision to skip 4K video. Coolpad Max Review: Gallery Coolpad Max Review: ConclusionCons: No USB Type-C, No 4K video recording, Battery could’ve been higher capacityPros: Camera, Build Quality, Smooth PerformanceIn all fairness, the Coolpad Max is a phone that I would recommend to people looking for a phone in the $400 range. True, it doesn’t (by a long shot) have the bells and whistles of some other phones — perhaps even cheaper — but there are times when the experience beyond just the spec sheet matters.True its an expensive phone for the spec on paper, but it does whatever it is designed to do — and well.The new Elephone S3 has just arrived for the review so we can take a first look at highly hyped bezel-less wonder and share our initial findings and pictures with our loyal readers.First of all i want to say, that Elephone for sure did something right in the design department and the “wow” effect when first litting up the S3 screen is just there, because they are not lying about the bezel-less stuff and i’m a sucker for those.The 5,2-inch incell IPS with the FullHD 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution looks vivid and thanks to the so-called “3D” rounded edges the Samsung Edge look-alike status is almost complete. Yeah the edge is not used for control sure and takes some time getting used to properly holding it without rearranging the icons or starting apps by mistake, but all in all thumbs up for it.The full metal body feels good in hand and thanks to the curved back it’s quite pleasant to hold it. It’s not the slimmest phone out there with 8.3 mm, but nothing to be ashamed of. I will need to weigh it properly for the review, cos it feels quite heavy and i suspect the official info about 145 g might be too optimistic. Or my sense is tilted 馃檪There are no hardware capacitative buttons for the basic controls so everything is done via the bottom bar with the software ones. Fingerprint sensor in the back looks pretty snappy and can be used also for more tasks like scrolling or music control. Slightly dissapointing for me is the protruding camera lens, i prefer it personally not being like that.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramHardware side of things will be quite lower midrange oriented with the MT6753 and 3 GB RAM, but so far everything runs smooth except some heavy 3D games where the GPU just falls flat, but that’s something common for such hardware. I’m curious about the 13 Mpix Sony IMX135 sensor camera performance, but not expecting too much, same with the 5 Mpix front one. OS side of things is handled by almost stock Android 6.0 Marshmallow so everything in order.Elephone S3 hands on – Gallery So far i’m pleasantly surprised with the 聽build quality and looks of the Elephone S3, not surprised at all with the hardware performance 聽and totally worried about possible disaster looming around with just the 2100 mAh battery capacity.The new Elephone S3 has just arrived for the review so we can take a first look at highly hyped bezel-less wonder and share our initial findings and pictures with our loyal readers.First of all i want to say, that Elephone for sure did something right in the design department and the “wow” effect when first litting up the S3 screen is just there, because they are not lying about the bezel-less stuff and i’m a sucker for those.The 5,2-inch incell IPS with the FullHD 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution looks vivid and thanks to the so-called “3D” rounded edges the Samsung Edge look-alike status is almost complete. Yeah the edge is not used for control sure and takes some time getting used to properly holding it without rearranging the icons or starting apps by mistake, but all in all thumbs up for it.The full metal body feels good in hand and thanks to the curved back it’s quite pleasant to hold it. It’s not the slimmest phone out there with 8.3 mm, but nothing to be ashamed of. I will need to weigh it properly for the review, cos it feels quite heavy and i suspect the official info about 145 g might be too optimistic. Or my sense is tilted 馃檪There are no hardware capacitative buttons for the basic controls so everything is done via the bottom bar with the software ones. Fingerprint sensor in the back looks pretty snappy and can be used also for more tasks like scrolling or music control. Slightly dissapointing for me is the protruding camera lens, i prefer it personally not being like that.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramHardware side of things will be quite lower midrange oriented with the MT6753 and 3 GB RAM, but so far everything runs smooth except some heavy 3D games where the GPU just falls flat, but that’s something common for such hardware. I’m curious about the 13 Mpix Sony IMX135 sensor camera performance, but not expecting too much, same with the 5 Mpix front one. OS side of things is handled by almost stock Android 6.0 Marshmallow so everything in order.Elephone S3 hands on – Gallery So far i’m pleasantly surprised with the 聽build quality and looks of the Elephone S3, not surprised at all with the hardware performance 聽and totally worried about possible disaster looming around with just the 2100 mAh battery capacity.

Last week I received a ZUK Z2 Pro, which meant I could use it during my short trip to the Scottish Highlands. See what I think of this flagship killer after a few days of use.The ZUK Z2 Pro has been a phone that has excited a lot of folks in the Chinese smartphone community. Not only is this the 2nd flagship phone from the Lenovo backed start-up, but it is also one of the few phones that has shipped with a Snapdragon 820 and huge 6GB RAM!!It鈥檚 not only the processing package that draws peoples attention though! Internal memory is 128GB, there is a 13 mega-pixel F1.8 camera with OIS, slow motion video of up to 960fps, fingerprint scanner, 8 mega-pixel front camera, USB Type C, and a built-in heart rate monitor!So it has the hardware, but how does it live up to the hype after a few days of use?Living with the ZUK Z2 ProI鈥檓 just going to break this down in to main points that I have come across while using the phone, but to start off there really are no major issues I have with the phone, just a few (minor) niggles.If you watched my hands on video with the ZUK Z2 Pro then you have seen me set up the finger print scanner and mention that you don鈥檛 need to physically press the button to wake and unlock your phone. In fact I very rarely ever have to press the button and I wonder if ZUK couldn鈥檛 have just gone without it. Double tapping the button pressing the button will bring up the task manager to clear running apps, but this thing has 6GB RAM so I never feel the need, plus surely a double tap would have been just as simple?Also during my video will have seen me use the camera on the phone and not be too impressed with the colour of HDR photos, I鈥檓 still not impressed with HDR (it doesn鈥檛 seem to make any difference) but the regular camera mode is fast and takes good photos. Also, swiping from left to right brings up filters, one being a 鈥榁ivid鈥 filter this does a good job or brightening up images.The camera is fast and takes good photos, but there are cameras with better daylight performance than the ZUK Z2 Pro, low light performance though is above my expectations and better than most other current flagships. Another observation is that the Z2 Pro does not have a burst mode for taking photos. This would have been great at the downhill racing event I was at (where the Xiaomi Mi5鈥檚 speed proved invaluable). Instead of a burst mode the Z2 Pro will take a 鈥榣ive photo鈥 or short video if you hold down on the shutter button.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramWhile were are on the rear camera did you know that you can set the camera to record slow motion at 120fps, 240fps or 960fps, and video quality of up to 4K? This is seriously fun to play around with (check out the slow mo video samples below).The front 8 mega-pixel camera takes nice shots, but its odd that in its default setting beauty mode cannot be deactivated (or adjusted). Another interesting front camera feature is one that has you take your pulse using the heart rate monitor and then snap a photo when the reading is complete. This gives you a selfie with small heart and your BPM. I鈥檓 not sure what the function of this is, flirting perhaps???While traveling through Scotland I had to use my GPS a lot and was instantly impressed by the initial lock on speed and the accuracy of the GPS while navigating. I am also impressed by the browsing speed even over patchy LTE.At this point I鈥檝e not tried the audio, although I can comment that the external speaker is loud and clear through my use with Google Maps.Battery life is a concern many people have had considering the ZUK Z2 Pro has a smaller battery than the Z2 yet a larger screen and more RAM. In my time with the phone I鈥檝e not seen battery life deteriorate quickly, and am getting around 2 days of use from the phone which is fine by me.In addition to the heart rate monitor I have managed to log in to the U Health app using my QQ number, where it can automatically count your steps and will allow you to manually add other sport activities and durations too. It would be good to see some Google Fit integration here, but perhaps this is something that we will see in the international ZUI ROM.All in all I鈥檝e been pretty impressed with the ZUK Z2 Pro, there are no major headaches, even Google services and apps are running without an issue on this Chinese version of the phone.Last week I received a ZUK Z2 Pro, which meant I could use it during my short trip to the Scottish Highlands. See what I think of this flagship killer after a few days of use.The ZUK Z2 Pro has been a phone that has excited a lot of folks in the Chinese smartphone community. Not only is this the 2nd flagship phone from the Lenovo backed start-up, but it is also one of the few phones that has shipped with a Snapdragon 820 and huge 6GB RAM!!It鈥檚 not only the processing package that draws peoples attention though! Internal memory is 128GB, there is a 13 mega-pixel F1.8 camera with OIS, slow motion video of up to 960fps, fingerprint scanner, 8 mega-pixel front camera, USB Type C, and a built-in heart rate monitor!So it has the hardware, but how does it live up to the hype after a few days of use?Living with the ZUK Z2 ProI鈥檓 just going to break this down in to main points that I have come across while using the phone, but to start off there really are no major issues I have with the phone, just a few (minor) niggles.If you watched my hands on video with the ZUK Z2 Pro then you have seen me set up the finger print scanner and mention that you don鈥檛 need to physically press the button to wake and unlock your phone. In fact I very rarely ever have to press the button and I wonder if ZUK couldn鈥檛 have just gone without it. Double tapping the button pressing the button will bring up the task manager to clear running apps, but this thing has 6GB RAM so I never feel the need, plus surely a double tap would have been just as simple?Also during my video will have seen me use the camera on the phone and not be too impressed with the colour of HDR photos, I鈥檓 still not impressed with HDR (it doesn鈥檛 seem to make any difference) but the regular camera mode is fast and takes good photos. Also, swiping from left to right brings up filters, one being a 鈥榁ivid鈥 filter this does a good job or brightening up images.The camera is fast and takes good photos, but there are cameras with better daylight performance than the ZUK Z2 Pro, low light performance though is above my expectations and better than most other current flagships. Another observation is that the Z2 Pro does not have a burst mode for taking photos. This would have been great at the downhill racing event I was at (where the Xiaomi Mi5鈥檚 speed proved invaluable). Instead of a burst mode the Z2 Pro will take a 鈥榣ive photo鈥 or short video if you hold down on the shutter button.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramWhile were are on the rear camera did you know that you can set the camera to record slow motion at 120fps, 240fps or 960fps, and video quality of up to 4K? This is seriously fun to play around with (check out the slow mo video samples below).The front 8 mega-pixel camera takes nice shots, but its odd that in its default setting beauty mode cannot be deactivated (or adjusted). Another interesting front camera feature is one that has you take your pulse using the heart rate monitor and then snap a photo when the reading is complete. This gives you a selfie with small heart and your BPM. I鈥檓 not sure what the function of this is, flirting perhaps???While traveling through Scotland I had to use my GPS a lot and was instantly impressed by the initial lock on speed and the accuracy of the GPS while navigating. I am also impressed by the browsing speed even over patchy LTE.At this point I鈥檝e not tried the audio, although I can comment that the external speaker is loud and clear through my use with Google Maps.Battery life is a concern many people have had considering the ZUK Z2 Pro has a smaller battery than the Z2 yet a larger screen and more RAM. In my time with the phone I鈥檝e not seen battery life deteriorate quickly, and am getting around 2 days of use from the phone which is fine by me.In addition to the heart rate monitor I have managed to log in to the U Health app using my QQ number, where it can automatically count your steps and will allow you to manually add other sport activities and durations too. It would be good to see some Google Fit integration here, but perhaps this is something that we will see in the international ZUI ROM.All in all I鈥檝e been pretty impressed with the ZUK Z2 Pro, there are no major headaches, even Google services and apps are running without an issue on this Chinese version of the phone.

Not that long ago we have reviewed the budget warrior Blackview A8 and for $55 it actually didn’t leave a bad impression. But Blackview moguls have eyes on even more accessible device so say hello to the ultra-budget Blackview A5鑱絉eview with an absurd $40 price tagFor such price there is virtually zero expectation about the phone and personally i received it with an sarcastic smirk and half-expecting to crumble to dust upon touching or exploding after the first powering on.Of course nothing of that sort happened and the Blackview A5 gave its best to handle all the poke and prod treatment. So how did the dirt cheap phone impress ?PackagingSimple small white box with the company logo on the cover and sides is really nothing to write home about and hardly anything inspiring. In the same manner continues the first impressions upon unpacking, no design shenanigans and just pure utilitarism. Accessories packaged inside are pretty basic, but at least extra crappy headphones included for good measure. Phone itself came already in a silicone cover, which is a nice touch considering the extra low price level.Design and buildBlackview decided to forget everything about the metal build of their previous phones and the A5 is fully plastic body device, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The phone feels pretty sturdy and quite comfy to hold thanks to the curved back. Don’t expect any slim design beast though, with 9.5 mm thickness it is bulky and certainly not too light either with 135 g.Phone is pretty compact and for today’s standard actually small with the 4.5-inch display and this time Blackview also didn’t use any sort of the “a la LeTV” fake bezels around the screen. What you see is what you get and the black bezels, while surely not as thin as on the Blackview promo pics on their website, are quite alright. No 2.5D curving either, cutting costs to bare bones apparently denies that. Under the display itself you can find the usual trio of the capacitative control buttons. As mentioned before the chassis is fully plastic and on the right side you can find the usual power and volume buttons, which deserve some praise for not being “wobbly” at all 鑱絘nd some criticism for being too recessed for comfortable control. MicroUSB and 3.5mm headphone jack are on the top and i’m not a fan of this solution, personally i always prefer the charging connector on the bottom. But with A5 you can find only the necessary microphone on the bottom. The rear removable panel comes with a tile texture on it and it’s suprisingly pleasant to hold it and actually also doesn’t look half bad. Our review unit came with the pearl white texture, but there are also sky blue and violet black available. The lens of the top central located camera is very slightly protruding and to the left of it you can find the single LED flash. In the bottom right then pretty small speaker grill and the company logo above it. Removing the panel reveals the removable 2000 mAh battery, two microSIM slots and one microSD slot. Small reminder for the users, always first remove the safety sticker from the battery before trying turning the phone on for the first time, you will save yourself from a fit of rage over the “non-functioning” phone. DisplayBlackview A5 comes with 4.5-inch IPS display and just 854×480 pixel resolution, which is really not up to standards, but the matrix isn’t really visible too much. Another disappointment is the multitouch ability, because it can simultaneously register only two fingers. That can cause problems with controls and gaming sometimes so certainly a big minus. The display isn’t too bright and the sun legibility outside is pretty poor, but that has to be expected from such cheap IPS display. Due to missing sensors their is also no automatic brightness setting, so you will always need to adjust the desired brightness level manually.HardwareThese days the usual suspect for the budget phone’s processor is the quad-core MT6580M and Blackview A5 delivers just that, clocked at 1.3 GHz and embedding the Mali-400 GPU. Memory is kind of lacking and with mere 1 GB RAM and 8 GB of internal storage it feels just half-naked, but at least you can expand the storage with up to 32 GB microSD card.The MT6580 chipset doesn’t support 4G so you have to survive with GSM鑱?50/900/1800/1900 and WCDMA 900/2100 bands. The usual specs like Wi-Fi b/g/n, BT 4.0, GPS+A-GPS and even independent FM radio tuner are present too. The phone is powered by Li-Pol battery with 2000 mAh capacity (although some reseller sources list it as 1850 mAh one).Cameras duo consists of rear 5 MPix SP5409 sensor interpolated to 8 MPix and the front selfie shooter works with 2 MPix sensor interpolated to 5 MPix. The main shooter has f/2.8 aperture and while the promo materials lavish heaps of praise upon it the reality is pretty grim as you will see in the following dedicated camera chapter.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramSystemBlackview A5 is packing pretty much clean version of the Android 6.0 Marshmallow out of the box with some small UI icon skin on top of it with very similar look to Oukitel one. The Android experience is pretty smooth, or as smooth as it can be with just 1 GB RAM so you have to be very careful not to overload the poor phone with too much to do. My A5 had a very annoying tendency of “optimizing Android apps” upon every reboot, but that’s certainly a bug and not a feature, because it can make the phone start up time slow to a crawl and last up to even 5 minutes or more. There is a pretty extensive gesture support available and some things like “double-tap-to-wake” are a must for more or less everybody. Blackview is apparently not neglecting the software updates, because during the testing period one OTA update already made itself available for download.Benchmarks and performanceThe MT6580M chipset is hardly a powerhouse and the same applies for the GPU so all the benchmarks and tests just reflect that. Keep in mind that the phone has very low resolution so some of the graphical tests were running in that native resolution thus giving pretty misleading numbers (yes looking at you Epic Citadel). Another hindrance is very slow eMMC memory used, but again and again has to be expected with ultra budget device. For gaming it obviously suffers from slow GPU and the aforementioned 2-finger multitouch, but once again the low resolution of the display could be also a benefit, because less total pixels mean less pure graphical power needed. Testing Asphalt 8 on Low setting was perfectly playable, but even simple scroller Rayman lagged from time to time, so the A5 really can’t be recommended for anything serious. But it’s surely not aspiring for that anyway. Battery lifeWith the power efficient chipset and non-demanding display i expected some good battery life numbers, but the 2000 mAh battery managed to score just 5h9m in my usual PCMark battery test and the real on-screen time with heavy usage circled around 3.5 hours. That’s really not great, but considering that the phone lacks the performance for any heavy lifting it’s more than likely the actual user will only use it sparingly and easily gets 1.5-2 day endurance out of it. But still the battery life is in my eyes under the average.Connectivity and audioCall quality is pretty decent with the Blackview and the signal sensitivity is quite good. Wi-Fi reception and speed is slightly above average and i have no complaints about that. Same can be said about the GPS, no real issues with the location so even the low-cost Mediatek chipsets are finally usable for navigational purposes it seems.As an audio device the phone of course fails, the sound is flat without any structure or depth, but that’s perfectly fine for the price range and for most of the people it will suffice anyway.CameraCheap phones are usually cutting costs in the camera department and the Blackview A5 is the prime example of that. The camera is extremely sluggish and the pictures are suffering from various cases of all the camera problems across the board, just name it. Overally the shooter has huge issues with focus and even in almost perfect sunlight conditions the pictures are pretty sketchy. Things turn from problematic to catastrophic in low light conditions and in such cases it’s pointless to even try to capture a decent shot with the phone. Video capture is limited to HD resolution and is stored in the ancient 3GP format, while the quality is questionable. Judge for yourself in the following short clip.Masochists can download the full size camera samples here.Blackview A5 Review – ConclusionIf you would look at the Blackview A5 with the usual harsh metric and demands, then it can hardly satisfy a geeky customer searching for a perfect phone. But if you take into consideration the crazy $40 price tag, then suddenly the value skyrockets. Yes the camera is terrible, display is low resolution, gaming performance is sketchy and the 4G is non-existent, but on the other hand you get pretty smooth Android 6.0 device, which can handle any basic task and can offer solid and compact build. Did i mention it costs really FOURTY freaking bucks ?Not that long ago we have reviewed the budget warrior Blackview A8 and for $55 it actually didn’t leave a bad impression. But Blackview moguls have eyes on even more accessible device so say hello to the ultra-budget Blackview A5鑱絉eview with an absurd $40 price tagFor such price there is virtually zero expectation about the phone and personally i received it with an sarcastic smirk and half-expecting to crumble to dust upon touching or exploding after the first powering on.Of course nothing of that sort happened and the Blackview A5 gave its best to handle all the poke and prod treatment. So how did the dirt cheap phone impress ?PackagingSimple small white box with the company logo on the cover and sides is really nothing to write home about and hardly anything inspiring. In the same manner continues the first impressions upon unpacking, no design shenanigans and just pure utilitarism. Accessories packaged inside are pretty basic, but at least extra crappy headphones included for good measure. Phone itself came already in a silicone cover, which is a nice touch considering the extra low price level.Design and buildBlackview decided to forget everything about the metal build of their previous phones and the A5 is fully plastic body device, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The phone feels pretty sturdy and quite comfy to hold thanks to the curved back. Don’t expect any slim design beast though, with 9.5 mm thickness it is bulky and certainly not too light either with 135 g.Phone is pretty compact and for today’s standard actually small with the 4.5-inch display and this time Blackview also didn’t use any sort of the “a la LeTV” fake bezels around the screen. What you see is what you get and the black bezels, while surely not as thin as on the Blackview promo pics on their website, are quite alright. No 2.5D curving either, cutting costs to bare bones apparently denies that. Under the display itself you can find the usual trio of the capacitative control buttons. As mentioned before the chassis is fully plastic and on the right side you can find the usual power and volume buttons, which deserve some praise for not being “wobbly” at all 鑱絘nd some criticism for being too recessed for comfortable control. MicroUSB and 3.5mm headphone jack are on the top and i’m not a fan of this solution, personally i always prefer the charging connector on the bottom. But with A5 you can find only the necessary microphone on the bottom. The rear removable panel comes with a tile texture on it and it’s suprisingly pleasant to hold it and actually also doesn’t look half bad. Our review unit came with the pearl white texture, but there are also sky blue and violet black available. The lens of the top central located camera is very slightly protruding and to the left of it you can find the single LED flash. In the bottom right then pretty small speaker grill and the company logo above it. Removing the panel reveals the removable 2000 mAh battery, two microSIM slots and one microSD slot. Small reminder for the users, always first remove the safety sticker from the battery before trying turning the phone on for the first time, you will save yourself from a fit of rage over the “non-functioning” phone. DisplayBlackview A5 comes with 4.5-inch IPS display and just 854×480 pixel resolution, which is really not up to standards, but the matrix isn’t really visible too much. Another disappointment is the multitouch ability, because it can simultaneously register only two fingers. That can cause problems with controls and gaming sometimes so certainly a big minus. The display isn’t too bright and the sun legibility outside is pretty poor, but that has to be expected from such cheap IPS display. Due to missing sensors their is also no automatic brightness setting, so you will always need to adjust the desired brightness level manually.HardwareThese days the usual suspect for the budget phone’s processor is the quad-core MT6580M and Blackview A5 delivers just that, clocked at 1.3 GHz and embedding the Mali-400 GPU. Memory is kind of lacking and with mere 1 GB RAM and 8 GB of internal storage it feels just half-naked, but at least you can expand the storage with up to 32 GB microSD card.The MT6580 chipset doesn’t support 4G so you have to survive with GSM鑱?50/900/1800/1900 and WCDMA 900/2100 bands. The usual specs like Wi-Fi b/g/n, BT 4.0, GPS+A-GPS and even independent FM radio tuner are present too. The phone is powered by Li-Pol battery with 2000 mAh capacity (although some reseller sources list it as 1850 mAh one).Cameras duo consists of rear 5 MPix SP5409 sensor interpolated to 8 MPix and the front selfie shooter works with 2 MPix sensor interpolated to 5 MPix. The main shooter has f/2.8 aperture and while the promo materials lavish heaps of praise upon it the reality is pretty grim as you will see in the following dedicated camera chapter.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramSystemBlackview A5 is packing pretty much clean version of the Android 6.0 Marshmallow out of the box with some small UI icon skin on top of it with very similar look to Oukitel one. The Android experience is pretty smooth, or as smooth as it can be with just 1 GB RAM so you have to be very careful not to overload the poor phone with too much to do. My A5 had a very annoying tendency of “optimizing Android apps” upon every reboot, but that’s certainly a bug and not a feature, because it can make the phone start up time slow to a crawl and last up to even 5 minutes or more. There is a pretty extensive gesture support available and some things like “double-tap-to-wake” are a must for more or less everybody. Blackview is apparently not neglecting the software updates, because during the testing period one OTA update already made itself available for download.Benchmarks and performanceThe MT6580M chipset is hardly a powerhouse and the same applies for the GPU so all the benchmarks and tests just reflect that. Keep in mind that the phone has very low resolution so some of the graphical tests were running in that native resolution thus giving pretty misleading numbers (yes looking at you Epic Citadel). Another hindrance is very slow eMMC memory used, but again and again has to be expected with ultra budget device. For gaming it obviously suffers from slow GPU and the aforementioned 2-finger multitouch, but once again the low resolution of the display could be also a benefit, because less total pixels mean less pure graphical power needed. Testing Asphalt 8 on Low setting was perfectly playable, but even simple scroller Rayman lagged from time to time, so the A5 really can’t be recommended for anything serious. But it’s surely not aspiring for that anyway. Battery lifeWith the power efficient chipset and non-demanding display i expected some good battery life numbers, but the 2000 mAh battery managed to score just 5h9m in my usual PCMark battery test and the real on-screen time with heavy usage circled around 3.5 hours. That’s really not great, but considering that the phone lacks the performance for any heavy lifting it’s more than likely the actual user will only use it sparingly and easily gets 1.5-2 day endurance out of it. But still the battery life is in my eyes under the average.Connectivity and audioCall quality is pretty decent with the Blackview and the signal sensitivity is quite good. Wi-Fi reception and speed is slightly above average and i have no complaints about that. Same can be said about the GPS, no real issues with the location so even the low-cost Mediatek chipsets are finally usable for navigational purposes it seems.As an audio device the phone of course fails, the sound is flat without any structure or depth, but that’s perfectly fine for the price range and for most of the people it will suffice anyway.CameraCheap phones are usually cutting costs in the camera department and the Blackview A5 is the prime example of that. The camera is extremely sluggish and the pictures are suffering from various cases of all the camera problems across the board, just name it. Overally the shooter has huge issues with focus and even in almost perfect sunlight conditions the pictures are pretty sketchy. Things turn from problematic to catastrophic in low light conditions and in such cases it’s pointless to even try to capture a decent shot with the phone. Video capture is limited to HD resolution and is stored in the ancient 3GP format, while the quality is questionable. Judge for yourself in the following short clip.Masochists can download the full size camera samples here.Blackview A5 Review – ConclusionIf you would look at the Blackview A5 with the usual harsh metric and demands, then it can hardly satisfy a geeky customer searching for a perfect phone. But if you take into consideration the crazy $40 price tag, then suddenly the value skyrockets. Yes the camera is terrible, display is low resolution, gaming performance is sketchy and the 4G is non-existent, but on the other hand you get pretty smooth Android 6.0 device, which can handle any basic task and can offer solid and compact build. Did i mention it costs really FOURTY freaking bucks ?While I really wasn’t keen on testing this one, insistence from the other party meant I took up the iLife V5 Pro robot vacuum cleaner for review. And boy, was I surprised!I honestly didn’t expect anything more than a novelty item that I wouldn’t care to use after the first few days. It turns out that the iLife V5 Pro is much more than that, and is something that I’d actually recommend people.Let’s take a look!iLife V5 Pro FeaturesThe cleaner robot comes with a few different modes that make it easy for you to keep your house in tip top condition. The modes are as below:Cleaning modes – Vacuum and MopControl modes – manual, automatedAutomated modes – Spiral, Edge Cleaning, Automatic, ScheduleCleaning ModesVacuumThis is the mode that you’re supposed to use the V5 Pro in general. The brushes on either side of the cleaner bring the dirt to the middle, which is then sucked into the collection chamber using the vacuum suction in the center of the robot.MopSomething I didn’t expect the robot to have – mop mode. To use this, you’re required to switch to the mop chamber (with around 300ml water in it), which supplies water to the mopping cloth.Control ModesManualThe V5 Pro comes with a IR remote controller which can be used to control the robots movements. However, it’s inconvenient doing that, and I found myself using the remote only when the robot got stuck somewhere it couldn’t come out of by itself (once or twice).AutomatedThe highlight of the iLife V5 Pro – it works like a charm. There are sensors and buttons on the iLife V5 Pro which detect obstacles and such. The makers seem to have put some serious thought into the algorithm of the movements. I’ve put the robot in some really tough situations (I’m cruel that way) and it has managed to come out (unscathed) almost each time. This, for me, is the best part of the iLife V5 Pro!Automated ModesThe remote controller of the V5 Pro comes with some modes that you can engage, depending on how you want the cleaning to be done.SpiralIn this mode, the V5 Pro will start to circle in an outward spiral. I found this mode to be especially useful when I wanted a fairly open area covered with no space unchecked.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramEdge CleaningWhen engaged in edge cleaning mode, the V5 Pro will attempt to clean the areas around the edges of objects such as a sofa, table, etc. I don’t think this mode is very useful, you’re better off letting the V5 Pro do the work in plain automatic mode.Planned CleaningAmong the highlights of the iLife V5 Pro. As the name states, you can set a pre-defined time at which the robot will automatically start the cleaning. Especially useful if you want to surprise yourself when you come back home 馃槈Have a look at some videos of this wasn’t clear enough.iLife V5 Pro – In ActioniLife V5 Pro – Photos ConclusionI believe its fairly clear that I’m impressed quite a bit by the iLife V5 Pro. The fact that I didn’t expect too much may have helped, but it’s a useful device nonetheless.The mop feature is especially useful if you don’t live in colder regions where no carpets sit on the floor usually. It goes under sofas, dining tables and place where it can be a back-breaker for you.While I really wasn’t keen on testing this one, insistence from the other party meant I took up the iLife V5 Pro robot vacuum cleaner for review. And boy, was I surprised!I honestly didn’t expect anything more than a novelty item that I wouldn’t care to use after the first few days. It turns out that the iLife V5 Pro is much more than that, and is something that I’d actually recommend people.Let’s take a look!iLife V5 Pro FeaturesThe cleaner robot comes with a few different modes that make it easy for you to keep your house in tip top condition. The modes are as below:Cleaning modes – Vacuum and MopControl modes – manual, automatedAutomated modes – Spiral, Edge Cleaning, Automatic, ScheduleCleaning ModesVacuumThis is the mode that you’re supposed to use the V5 Pro in general. The brushes on either side of the cleaner bring the dirt to the middle, which is then sucked into the collection chamber using the vacuum suction in the center of the robot.MopSomething I didn’t expect the robot to have – mop mode. To use this, you’re required to switch to the mop chamber (with around 300ml water in it), which supplies water to the mopping cloth.Control ModesManualThe V5 Pro comes with a IR remote controller which can be used to control the robots movements. However, it’s inconvenient doing that, and I found myself using the remote only when the robot got stuck somewhere it couldn’t come out of by itself (once or twice).AutomatedThe highlight of the iLife V5 Pro – it works like a charm. There are sensors and buttons on the iLife V5 Pro which detect obstacles and such. The makers seem to have put some serious thought into the algorithm of the movements. I’ve put the robot in some really tough situations (I’m cruel that way) and it has managed to come out (unscathed) almost each time. This, for me, is the best part of the iLife V5 Pro!Automated ModesThe remote controller of the V5 Pro comes with some modes that you can engage, depending on how you want the cleaning to be done.SpiralIn this mode, the V5 Pro will start to circle in an outward spiral. I found this mode to be especially useful when I wanted a fairly open area covered with no space unchecked.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramEdge CleaningWhen engaged in edge cleaning mode, the V5 Pro will attempt to clean the areas around the edges of objects such as a sofa, table, etc. I don’t think this mode is very useful, you’re better off letting the V5 Pro do the work in plain automatic mode.Planned CleaningAmong the highlights of the iLife V5 Pro. As the name states, you can set a pre-defined time at which the robot will automatically start the cleaning. Especially useful if you want to surprise yourself when you come back home 馃槈Have a look at some videos of this wasn’t clear enough.iLife V5 Pro – In ActioniLife V5 Pro – Photos ConclusionI believe its fairly clear that I’m impressed quite a bit by the iLife V5 Pro. The fact that I didn’t expect too much may have helped, but it’s a useful device nonetheless.The mop feature is especially useful if you don’t live in colder regions where no carpets sit on the floor usually. It goes under sofas, dining tables and place where it can be a back-breaker for you.

It’s been a while, but yesterday I finally received our ZUK Z2 Pro Ultimate (yes with 6GB RAM!) to review from shop.gizchina.com.The ZUK Z2 Pro launched a few weeks back and has been especially difficult to get your hands on due to the wait in acutually getting the phone in the market and the fact that in China the device is selling out fast. Luckily the guys over at shop.gizchina.com managed to get their hands on one of the first lot of phones to go on sale and that’s what I have right here.This version of the the ZUK Z2 Pro is the all singing and all dancing 6GB RAM, 128GB memory version of the phone with a Snapdragon 820 chipset! That’s one hell of a starting point for a flagship phone but it’s also just the tip.For their 2nd phone ZUK retained their use of USB Type C and thankfully also kept the 3.5mm headphone jack (located in the base). We also see a return of ZUK’s Utouch physical home button and gesture control navigation system which is similar to what Meizu offers and also has a built-in fingerprint scanner. Speaking of the fingerprint scanner it is super super fast and accurate and does not require a physical press of the button to work.New for the ZUK Z2 Pro is a 5.2-inch FHD display, this is slightly smaller than the original ZUK Z1 and only slightly larger than the Xiaomi Mi5 which the Z2 Pro hopes to compete against.On the rear is a new heart rate pulse monitor which an be used with ZUK’s own health app (however the Chinese version needs a Chinese mobile number to create an account) and also in the camera app for selfies with your current heart rate shown in the picture.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramThe rear of the ZUK Z2 Pro also has a dual LED flash and 13 mega-pixel main camera with OIS and an impressive aperture size of F1.8. The last Chinese phone with this size aperture that I used was the Vivo Xshot. So far the camera has been fast and takes accurate photos, but its in low light and the evening the camera really excels! There is no slow down and images don’t appear noisy.Other features of the phone include a 3100mAh battery, fast charging, 8 mega-pixel front camera and ZUK’s own ZUI operating system.As this is the Chinese version of the phone there is only ZUI available at this time, and so far we have heard no plans to launch an international model of the phone with Cyanogen. The good news is that shop.gizchina.com have managed to pre-install Google services on the ZUK Z2 Pro, and with a custom launcher you can have the phone working pretty much how you like it.ZUK Z2 Pro hands on gallery Before you go on to watch the hands on video below I’ll quickly mention the design and build. This white version of the ZUK Z2 Pro is the only current available colour option, if I had a choice I would have had the black. The design looks very Samsung inspired to my eyes, and while the build and materials feels good, I have noticed a little wobble in the physical buttons on the right (not as bad as the Xiaomi Mi5 though).ZUK Z2 Pro unboxing and hands on videoIt’s been a while, but yesterday I finally received our ZUK Z2 Pro Ultimate (yes with 6GB RAM!) to review from shop.gizchina.com.The ZUK Z2 Pro launched a few weeks back and has been especially difficult to get your hands on due to the wait in acutually getting the phone in the market and the fact that in China the device is selling out fast. Luckily the guys over at shop.gizchina.com managed to get their hands on one of the first lot of phones to go on sale and that’s what I have right here.This version of the the ZUK Z2 Pro is the all singing and all dancing 6GB RAM, 128GB memory version of the phone with a Snapdragon 820 chipset! That’s one hell of a starting point for a flagship phone but it’s also just the tip.For their 2nd phone ZUK retained their use of USB Type C and thankfully also kept the 3.5mm headphone jack (located in the base). We also see a return of ZUK’s Utouch physical home button and gesture control navigation system which is similar to what Meizu offers and also has a built-in fingerprint scanner. Speaking of the fingerprint scanner it is super super fast and accurate and does not require a physical press of the button to work.New for the ZUK Z2 Pro is a 5.2-inch FHD display, this is slightly smaller than the original ZUK Z1 and only slightly larger than the Xiaomi Mi5 which the Z2 Pro hopes to compete against.On the rear is a new heart rate pulse monitor which an be used with ZUK’s own health app (however the Chinese version needs a Chinese mobile number to create an account) and also in the camera app for selfies with your current heart rate shown in the picture.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramThe rear of the ZUK Z2 Pro also has a dual LED flash and 13 mega-pixel main camera with OIS and an impressive aperture size of F1.8. The last Chinese phone with this size aperture that I used was the Vivo Xshot. So far the camera has been fast and takes accurate photos, but its in low light and the evening the camera really excels! There is no slow down and images don’t appear noisy.Other features of the phone include a 3100mAh battery, fast charging, 8 mega-pixel front camera and ZUK’s own ZUI operating system.As this is the Chinese version of the phone there is only ZUI available at this time, and so far we have heard no plans to launch an international model of the phone with Cyanogen. The good news is that shop.gizchina.com have managed to pre-install Google services on the ZUK Z2 Pro, and with a custom launcher you can have the phone working pretty much how you like it.ZUK Z2 Pro hands on gallery Before you go on to watch the hands on video below I’ll quickly mention the design and build. This white version of the ZUK Z2 Pro is the only current available colour option, if I had a choice I would have had the black. The design looks very Samsung inspired to my eyes, and while the build and materials feels good, I have noticed a little wobble in the physical buttons on the right (not as bad as the Xiaomi Mi5 though).ZUK Z2 Pro unboxing and hands on videoThe MT6580鑱絠s suddenly a very popular SoC, finding its way into a lot of sub-$80 phones. This includes phones like the UMi Rome X, and more recently, the Bluboo Picasso. Unlike the Rome X, though, the $69 Picasso comes with 2GB of RAM. Where have the corners been cut, then? Let’s explore.Bluboo Picasso Review – SpecificationsModel:Bluboo PicassoSim Card:Dual SIMColor:Blue鑱絴鑱絎hiteCapacityRAM: 2GBROM: 16GBChipsetCPU:鑱組ediaTek MT6580CPU frequency: 1.3GHz quad-coreSystemAndroid 5.1ScreenDisplay Size: 5-inchResolution: 1280 x 720pixelsMultitouch: YesCameraRear Camera: 8MPFront Camera: 8MPRadio2G: GSM鑱?50 / 900 / 1800 / 1900MHz3G: WCDMA 850鑱? 2100MHzBattery2500mAh removableSize142 x鑱?0 x 8.2 mm,鑱?52gBluboo Picasso Review – DesignHands down, the Picasso has to be the best looking phone in its range. For less than $70, you get a phone that doesn’t look like a $200+ device, but also feels like one. The fact that the internals aren’t quite at par is a different story (more on that later).Right off the bat, the Picasso gives an impression of being a very ‘solid’ phone. If you’ve spent time with one of those Cubot phones, it’ll remind you of that. Bezels outside of the screen (on either side) are non-existent, but then there’s the killer black lines under the capacitor which we all have come to hate, and something which manufacturers have come to love.Besides that, the phone reminds you a bit of the Mi 4 — well made, and 5-inch. What’s more, there’s a nice textured back which makes it really easy to grip the phone.This is the first Bluboo phone I’m testing, and I’m positively surprised with the build on it. The plastic used seems to be of decent quality, and will squeak only under a lot of pressure.Breaking the design down, there’s the earpiece surrounded by the usual suspects — proximity sensor, light sensor and the soft flash light (which is of no use, to be honest).Right under that sits the screen, locked on all sides by the black bezels.Under the screen, there’s the bottom bezel. Surprise surprise, no hardware capacitive buttons here. Only on-screen buttons, which remain to be non-configurable, so you’re stuck with what the factory thought was right!The ‘chin’ of the phone has a micro USB port (seriously waiting for the time when Type-C is the standard and not a bragging right) with eight holes on either side.As mentioned before, the rear of the phone has a really nice textured design (that seems to be really popular in China right now) making it easy to hold the phone. Minus the texture, the device looks a bit like the Mi 5. A minimalistic (and rather classy, to be honest) Bluboo logo sits on the upper half, with the camera and dual LED flash on the top left.All buttons — power, vol up and vol down — sit on the right edge of the phone.In the end, it’s a plain, simple design — no fancy curved 2.5D glass, although the rear cover does have a bit of a taper to it.Bluboo Picasso Review – Hardware & PerformanceA mixed bag. With all the impressive exterior, Bluboo have cut corners on the insides — and its tough to hide.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramLet’s start off with something nice — the display. It’s a 5-inch 1280 x 720p panel, which for a $65 phone was unimaginable even a year back. That said, Bluboo have done well to source a very nice looking panel for the Picasso. I won’t blow the newest 2K displays out of the water, but (no exaggeration here) — you’ll find it tough to believe its a $65 phone you’re looking at.Moving on: the sound. It’s quite weak, in all earnest. You’ll have noticed a pattern — most phones under the $100 mark (especially those from smaller brands) have really poor audio. Unfortunately, the Picasso is one of those phones. High treble, no bass… in short, no quality. This doesn’t just apply to the loudspeaker — the earpiece offers a poor experience also.It’s a bit of a shame to see no configurable on-screen buttons on the Picasso, because that’s what’s come to be the norm of late. Bluboo claim to ship the Picasso with a 2500mAh battery, and the real capacity doesn’t seem too far off. While its hard to ascertain the exact mAh in there, what I can tell you is that the phone will last you one day. You’d be getting yourself a Picasso only for mail, chat and calls — and a little productivity and social media — and that’s what the phone is made for.Another downer, a major one for many, is the touchscreen. Bluboo seem to have used a lower-resolution touch panel than normal, and the experience in one word is frustrating. I’d take a smaller capacity battery than what Bluboo ship on the Picasso, but a low-res touchscreen is a strict no.Performance wise the phone is at par with other $60-80 phones, such as the Rome X. I don’t know if it’s the low-resolution touch screen or what, but somehow the Picasso feels a little laggy compared to the Rome X. Switching between apps can sometimes be an issue, but 2GB RAM helps in this case — at least when you compare it to 1GB RAM phones with the MT6580. You can take a look at the Bluboo Picasso benchmarks for more info.Bluboo Picasso Review –鑱紺ameraThe camera is by far the biggest disappointment on the Picasso (it’s rubbish). It’s a really hardly any use. A recent firmware update made is slightly better, but the camera still struggles (big time) in fixing focus, even in daylight. At night the Picasso is as good as a feature phone with no camera — that’s how bad the implementation is.Horrible focusing issues, especially in the darkIn a nutshell, the Picasso doesn’t have a camera that will compel you to reach out to your pocket to take a snap of something interesting happening in front of you. It’s far from it. Bluboo Picasso Review – Gallery Bluboo Picasso Review – ConclusionThe Picasso with its build, style and feel promises a lot, but there are way too many corners cut. The low resolution touch screen is a major issue for me, and I’m sure will be for any Picasso user. The camera is no good, and so is the sound.The pros of the phone include a very nice build quality, the screen, the price and 2GB RAM. Despite that, I don’t see myself recommending the Bluboo Picasso to anyone despite however low their budget be.鑱経Mi’s Rome X is鑱絘 much better performer for the same鑱絙udget.The MT6580鑱絠s suddenly a very popular SoC, finding its way into a lot of sub-$80 phones. This includes phones like the UMi Rome X, and more recently, the Bluboo Picasso. Unlike the Rome X, though, the $69 Picasso comes with 2GB of RAM. Where have the corners been cut, then? Let’s explore.Bluboo Picasso Review – SpecificationsModel:Bluboo PicassoSim Card:Dual SIMColor:Blue鑱絴鑱絎hiteCapacityRAM: 2GBROM: 16GBChipsetCPU:鑱組ediaTek MT6580CPU frequency: 1.3GHz quad-coreSystemAndroid 5.1ScreenDisplay Size: 5-inchResolution: 1280 x 720pixelsMultitouch: YesCameraRear Camera: 8MPFront Camera: 8MPRadio2G: GSM鑱?50 / 900 / 1800 / 1900MHz3G: WCDMA 850鑱? 2100MHzBattery2500mAh removableSize142 x鑱?0 x 8.2 mm,鑱?52gBluboo Picasso Review – DesignHands down, the Picasso has to be the best looking phone in its range. For less than $70, you get a phone that doesn’t look like a $200+ device, but also feels like one. The fact that the internals aren’t quite at par is a different story (more on that later).Right off the bat, the Picasso gives an impression of being a very ‘solid’ phone. If you’ve spent time with one of those Cubot phones, it’ll remind you of that. Bezels outside of the screen (on either side) are non-existent, but then there’s the killer black lines under the capacitor which we all have come to hate, and something which manufacturers have come to love.Besides that, the phone reminds you a bit of the Mi 4 — well made, and 5-inch. What’s more, there’s a nice textured back which makes it really easy to grip the phone.This is the first Bluboo phone I’m testing, and I’m positively surprised with the build on it. The plastic used seems to be of decent quality, and will squeak only under a lot of pressure.Breaking the design down, there’s the earpiece surrounded by the usual suspects — proximity sensor, light sensor and the soft flash light (which is of no use, to be honest).Right under that sits the screen, locked on all sides by the black bezels.Under the screen, there’s the bottom bezel. Surprise surprise, no hardware capacitive buttons here. Only on-screen buttons, which remain to be non-configurable, so you’re stuck with what the factory thought was right!The ‘chin’ of the phone has a micro USB port (seriously waiting for the time when Type-C is the standard and not a bragging right) with eight holes on either side.As mentioned before, the rear of the phone has a really nice textured design (that seems to be really popular in China right now) making it easy to hold the phone. Minus the texture, the device looks a bit like the Mi 5. A minimalistic (and rather classy, to be honest) Bluboo logo sits on the upper half, with the camera and dual LED flash on the top left.All buttons — power, vol up and vol down — sit on the right edge of the phone.In the end, it’s a plain, simple design — no fancy curved 2.5D glass, although the rear cover does have a bit of a taper to it.Bluboo Picasso Review – Hardware & PerformanceA mixed bag. With all the impressive exterior, Bluboo have cut corners on the insides — and its tough to hide.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramLet’s start off with something nice — the display. It’s a 5-inch 1280 x 720p panel, which for a $65 phone was unimaginable even a year back. That said, Bluboo have done well to source a very nice looking panel for the Picasso. I won’t blow the newest 2K displays out of the water, but (no exaggeration here) — you’ll find it tough to believe its a $65 phone you’re looking at.Moving on: the sound. It’s quite weak, in all earnest. You’ll have noticed a pattern — most phones under the $100 mark (especially those from smaller brands) have really poor audio. Unfortunately, the Picasso is one of those phones. High treble, no bass… in short, no quality. This doesn’t just apply to the loudspeaker — the earpiece offers a poor experience also.It’s a bit of a shame to see no configurable on-screen buttons on the Picasso, because that’s what’s come to be the norm of late. Bluboo claim to ship the Picasso with a 2500mAh battery, and the real capacity doesn’t seem too far off. While its hard to ascertain the exact mAh in there, what I can tell you is that the phone will last you one day. You’d be getting yourself a Picasso only for mail, chat and calls — and a little productivity and social media — and that’s what the phone is made for.Another downer, a major one for many, is the touchscreen. Bluboo seem to have used a lower-resolution touch panel than normal, and the experience in one word is frustrating. I’d take a smaller capacity battery than what Bluboo ship on the Picasso, but a low-res touchscreen is a strict no.Performance wise the phone is at par with other $60-80 phones, such as the Rome X. I don’t know if it’s the low-resolution touch screen or what, but somehow the Picasso feels a little laggy compared to the Rome X. Switching between apps can sometimes be an issue, but 2GB RAM helps in this case — at least when you compare it to 1GB RAM phones with the MT6580. You can take a look at the Bluboo Picasso benchmarks for more info.Bluboo Picasso Review –鑱紺ameraThe camera is by far the biggest disappointment on the Picasso (it’s rubbish). It’s a really hardly any use. A recent firmware update made is slightly better, but the camera still struggles (big time) in fixing focus, even in daylight. At night the Picasso is as good as a feature phone with no camera — that’s how bad the implementation is.Horrible focusing issues, especially in the darkIn a nutshell, the Picasso doesn’t have a camera that will compel you to reach out to your pocket to take a snap of something interesting happening in front of you. It’s far from it. Bluboo Picasso Review – Gallery Bluboo Picasso Review – ConclusionThe Picasso with its build, style and feel promises a lot, but there are way too many corners cut. The low resolution touch screen is a major issue for me, and I’m sure will be for any Picasso user. The camera is no good, and so is the sound.The pros of the phone include a very nice build quality, the screen, the price and 2GB RAM. Despite that, I don’t see myself recommending the Bluboo Picasso to anyone despite however low their budget be.鑱経Mi’s Rome X is鑱絘 much better performer for the same鑱絙udget.

Meizu’s been launching a few phones this year, and one of them happens to be the new, budget focused m3 note.The phone comes with a decent set of specs for a device costing just 799 Yuan in China (for the 2GB version, which we’re testing as well; check international pricing here). Now that we’ve had a chance to play with it for a few hours, we can tell that it doesn’t just look good, but is fairly well made as well.If you’ve ever held a Redmi Note 3 in your hands, the m3 note will ring a few bells. To not put it mildly, it is eerily similar… almost creepily.That said, Meizu loyals will argue that it was the Redmi Note 3 ripped off the MX5 in the first place. Ugh.Anyway, coming back to the m3 note. Despite the similarities, its quite a good looking phone. Meizu phones have almost never disappointed with their looks. They now don’t have the once-popular halo around the home button, but Meizu’s rather subdued sense of styling persists and pulls it off nonetheless.Like almost every phone being made today, the m3 note is all metal. We have the silver version of the phone, which actually has two shades of the colour on the back of the phone, with the extremes a tad darker than the main body.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramThankfully though, the m3 note does not have ugly black borders under the digitiser. Instead, its a pure white, modest border around the display.The chin features two sets of holes, one of which are for the speaker audio to let out, and the other, the mic.I haven’t spent too much time with the phone, but for a 799 Yuan phone, the device has a decent camera with a nice dynamic range, especially when compared to more expensive phones.The display is fairly impressive too, especially with a fluid UI that comes with the Flyme OS.Meizu m3 note photos. Click to enlarge. Meizu’s mTouch is a charm. I’m personally a huge fan of how Meizu arrange the fingerprint sensor, home button and the back button — all in one hardware key. In my books, it’s great design — remembering a gesture (in this case at least) can be easier than having to learn button locations.According to the product listing, the phone weighs 163 g, but to me it feels somewhere around the 180+ g range. Only if I had a weighing scale handy!I hope I’m not speaking too soon, but the m3 note hardly feels like a $120 phone. Of course there are faults that we’ll find through the days of usage, but the first impressions are positive!Vivo鈥檚 international Vivo V3 Max has been on test now for a week at GizChina, keep reading the full review to see if it meet鈥檚 Vivo鈥檚 own high standards.The Vivo V3 Max is device designed by Vivo in China to meet the needs of it鈥檚 global customers. In terms of Vivo鈥檚 Global market we are talking about customers in India, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and Myanmar, not Europe or the US so don鈥檛 expect a full complement of languages in the ROM (although English is there).Vivo have a well-earned reputation for making well made, good-looking (in some people鈥檚 view) and great performing phones (audio, photo, and speed) so does the Vivo V3 Max meet expectations?Vivo V3 Max Review – Design and BuildVivo really have stuck to their usual blueprint while designing the Vivo V3 Max, and the only visual clues that this phone isn鈥檛 the Chinese X6 Plus are the speaker grill, square camera lens and slightly thinner body (due to the smaller battery).The rest of the phone is typical Vivo, and this is what we expect. The design might not to be everyone’s taste but there is no denying just how well put together this phone is.A full CNC unibody frame holds the phone together and gives it a premium feel in your hand, and offers enough rigidity to give the phone a solid and dependable feel.The metal body has Vivo鈥檚 usual square fingerprint scanner on the back, and while it might look smaller than some other brands, it is currently the fastest and most accurate fingerprint scanner I have used to date.Also on the back is a slightly protruding square camera lens for the 13 mega-pixel sensor. Single LED flash, Vivo logo and a few markings in English to inform you which model of phone this is.In the base of the phone Vivo have kept with a standard USB (rather than Type C) and have induced a microphone and single (loud and clear) speaker. I鈥檓 not sure what the reason is for changing the design of the speaker grill on the V3 Max compared to the X6 and Xplay 5, but I prefer the look of it on those other phones.Other details along the sides of the gold alloy chassis are a SIM/SD card tray on the left, power and volume buttons on the right and a 3.5mm headphone jack at the top.The face of the V3 Max is again typical of any Vivo device launched in the past few months. The screen is a 5.5-inch FHD unit (yes, with small black borders). The glass panel has a 2.5D curved to it, and there are non-backlit hardware buttons on the chin.There is no denying that Vivo have once again done a great job of the build quality and material choice of the Vivo V3 Max, our only complaint is that it is a little bland, and we think some customers might prefer a black colour option in addition to gold and white.Vivo V3 Max Review – HardwareThe metallic body of the V3 Max houses a Snapdragon 652 chipset, and 4GB RAM. This is more than enough for day to day usage, and the only time it gets bogged down is with really serious gaming.Storage options are either the internal 32GB memory, and if you fill that up you have space to use a 128GB SD card too.Also inside the phone is a 3000mAh battery, which is the smallest of all the Vivo phones I鈥檝e tested this year. But its not bad, offering about a day and a half of use, but like the Nubia Z11 Mini your runtime can be drastically shortened if you use GPS, LTE and Google Maps for a few hours a day.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramWith just a 3000mAh battery inside the 7.58mm thick body, Vivo have still had the room to included some decent audio hardware, this time a AKM AK4375 audio chip. This isn鈥檛 the highest level of audio hardware we have seen on a Vivo phone but performance through the external speaker and earphones is still impressive (just don鈥檛 use the included Vivo earphones as they are much cheaper versions to what normally ships with Vivo phones).Moving on to the outside of the phone we have a 5.5-inch FHD 1920 x 1080 display. Nothing to really report here, it looks good and works great too.Cameras are an 8 mega-pixel sensor up front, while the rear is a 13 mega-pixel sensor with Phase Detection Auto Focus, with F2.2 aperture.Vivo V3 Max Review – CameraI enjoyed the camera on the Vivo Xplay 5 and the X6 Plus, and all in all the 13 mega-pixel shooter on the Vivo V3 Max is almost up to the same standards too.The speed of focus and capture is well up there with those more expensive phones, and the camera app in the Funtouch ROM is the same so you get some really great features.I did notice though that images taken with the V3 Max do lack some vibrancy that other phones manage to recreate. It means that you might have to retouch your images a little to get the best from them, or you can fiddle with the manual settings instead.The hardware is all there and works great though which is the main point and with a little extra effort you can get some nice photos, but during my time with the Vivo I tended to use the Nubia Z11 more for taking photos.Vivo V3 Max sample photos Vivo V3 Max Review – FuntouchIf you have used a Vivo phone before then you will no exactly what features Funtouch offers. It remains one of my preferred ROMS and I love the extra touches Vivo have added to the camera app to make the most of the hardware.As the V3 Max is an 鈥榠nternational鈥 phone this version of Funtouch has Google support baked in. This is great news as the Chinese version of Funtouch has a ton of issues when using Funtough and Google, issues that this international ROM have solved.So everything works out of the box as it should and you shouldn鈥檛 have any issues when downloading from the Google Play Store, but like other Vivo鈥檚 the V3 Max won鈥檛 work with Android Auto (this is an issue many Chinese phones have). Another change to this international version of the system are languages. This ROM has support for many Asian countries, plus English but there are no European languages built-in. Finally the keyboard app that Vivo have chosen isn鈥檛 to my liking so I downloaded Google Pinyin for English and Chinese, but this is just personal preference.Vivo V3 Max – Gallery Vivo V3 Max Review – ConclusionBasically what Vivo have managed to create is an X6 Plus for the international market but with slightly worse camera performance, much shorter battery life, and slightly lower audio performance.On the other hand the international Funtouch ROM does fix issues with Google.

With promising first impressions already under it鈥檚 belt, how does the Nubia Z11 Mini impress in our full review?For those of you who have managed to miss our previous posts about the Nubia Z11 Mini you can catch up in the following posts:Nubia Z11 Mini hands onIf you had already read those post then you will already know that I was pretty impressed with the phone so far, so what are my opinions on the Z11 Mini overall? Find out in the full Nubia Z11 Mini review below.Nubia Z11 Mini Review – DesignThe Z11 Mini looks a little like a Sony Xperia and even an iPhone in some ways. The dual glass panels and full CNC alloy chassis give the phone a quality look and feel.On the front is a 5-inch FHD display, the trademark Nubia red halo (and don鈥檛 you dare try to copy it), and a 2.5D curve at the very edges.As the glass of the front curves it meets a narrow plastic border before touching the CNC chassis.The machined frame is where you will find a SIM/SD card tray, USB Type C, 3.5mm headphone jack and power and volume buttons. Unlike other similar spec phones the Z11 Mini doesn鈥檛 have an IR remote, but that鈥檚 fine by me as I never use them anyway.Construction of the rear of the phone is similar to the front with another 2.5D curved panel and narrow plastic border. The rear also has a fingerprint scanner, single LED flash, 16 mega-pixel F2.0 rear camera and the Nubia logo.Personally I love the compact 5-inch design, and I feel the build is just as good as any other phone from a premium phone maker. My only issue is how easy the phone picks up fingerprints and smudges, but although glossy it doesn鈥檛 slip around on smooth surfaces like some Xiaomi phones do.Nubia Z11 Mini review – HardwareNubia have done an excellent job of specing out the Nubia Z11 Mini, and not only is the hardware all very good, but it all works together well too.Starting from the front again, hardware features include a 5-inch FHD 1920 x 1080 display for a pixel density of 441ppi. Above the screen is an 8 mega-pixel F2.4 front camera, and on the chin is the halo home button (which also acts as a notification light) and hardware buttons on either side for moving around the Nubia UI ROM.Flip the phone over and you have a 16 mega-pixel F2.0 rear camera (which has been a joy to use), single LED flash and fingerprint scanner.As I mentioned in my first hands on with the phone, the fingerprint scanner on the Z11 Mini isn鈥檛 the most accurate available on the market (that honor goes to the scanner used by Vivo), but it is still a damn sight better than the fingerprint scanner on the OnePlus 2 (which is basically useless most of the time).Internally Nubia have opted for a Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 chipset. This is an octacore CPU with an Adreno 405 GPU. The chipset runs with 3GB RAM. While this might not be as impressive a set up as a Snapdragon 820 phone with 6GB RAM, you would be hard pressed to actually notice any differences when opening multiple apps and the day to daily running of the phone.Storage is handled by 32GB internal memory, plus there is room for up to a 200GB SD card via the SIM/SD tray. If you do use an SD card you can only fit a single SIM, or with no SD you can use dual SIM cards. During my time with the Z11 Mini I used the phone on Vodafone in Spain and 3 in the UK with no issues.Audio on the Nubia Z11 Mini is very impressive. The phone had DTS sound which needs to be turned on either in the settings or from within the music app. with DTS off audio is unimpressive, but flip the switch and it’s another story. Audio through the external speaker is decent enough too.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramSo with so much goodness going on is there any area where the Z11 Mini isn鈥檛 quite so good? Well the 2800mAh battery is a little bit of a disappointment. Not only is this a little on the small side for a 2016 smartphone, but the actually endurance of the battery isn鈥檛 the greatest either.My worse battery life was just half a day, but I was really heavily using GPS, data and Google maps. The best I鈥檝e managed is a day and a half, but much of that was with the phone simply in stand-by. Figure on getting just a day of use on general from the Z11 Mini, and expect to need to charge the phone up before you head out on the night.Nubia Z11 Mini Review – Benchmarks Nubia Z11 Mini Review – CameraThe camera on the Z11 Mini is really very good. Not only is the 16 mega-pixel sensor good, but Nubia have used some great lens, a 6 lens stack, F2.0 aperture and then topped it all off with a feature rich camera application.Taking photos is fast, and with the high-end lenses you can get some really wonderful images.The camera is so good on the Z11 Mini that its a challenge to actually take a bad photo. Pretty much every shot I got with the phone was worth sharing. This is really impressive for any level of phone, but especially so for a device retailing at just 1499 Yuan in China.Slow Shutter SamplesThe Z11 Mini has slow shutter modes ranging from just 1 second exposure all the way to 21 minutes! Normal photo mode 1 second slow shutter Normal photo 1 second slow shutter Normal photo Slow Shutter Nubia Z11 Mini photo samples Nubia Z11 Mini Review – Nubia UINubia Z11 SplitscreenNubia UI is based on Android 5.1 out of the box and so far it鈥檚 not received any updates while I鈥檝e been using it. This isn鈥檛 a huge issue as all the important stuff works out of the box.Nubia has spent a lot of time to really get the most from the system and seek as much performance out of the hardware as possible, and while they were at it they added some nice features too.Edge features is one of the diamonds in the ROM and really makes navigating and moving between apps fast and even fun. With edge gestures on, I had the Z11 Mini switch between background apps by swiping up and down on the right edge, open the camera by swiping down on the left (Chrome when swiping up) and clear all background apps by rubbing the right edge.If you want to close apps one by one or lock them into a white list just hold down the right hardware button and the task manager will pop up.As this is the international version of the Z11 Mini, Google is tied in to the system out of the box, so there is no need to root the phone and side load Google, simply turn the phone on and log in to your account. All the usual Google apps are in the ROM as standard and everything works, but like many Chinese phones Android Auto isn鈥檛 currently supported.Nubia Z11 Mini Review – Gallery Nubia Z11 Mini Review – ConclusionIn a nutshell the Nubia Z11 Mini is a stellar phone. Its built well, has great performance, a feature packed ROM and a camera that rivals those found on devices costing double.My only issue is the battery life. If you really are a heavy user then you are going to need to charge the Z11 Mini through the day, which is a shame because other than that this is a great phone.Blackview want to capture the entry-level market with a budget phone offering iPhone level camera sensors. Have they managed it? Find out in our Blackview A8 review.I have a good Japanese friend who often uses the term 鈥榗heap is cheap鈥? its obvious and accurate but all to often we forget this. A cheap phone is a cheap phone, and no matter what bells and whistles you try to add, it will never perform as well as an expensive phone.You might argue, and say that phones like a Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 is cheaper than a budget Samsung phone and performs way better and I would agree, but I didn鈥檛 say 鈥榗heaper鈥 I鈥檓 talking about cheap, phones that cost less than $80.The Blackview A8 is one of the new gen phones that hopes to attract customers who want all the usual Android hardware but might not necessarily have the money for a smartphone.The A8 costs just $55 online, features a metal chassis and the same 8 mega-pixel rear camera from the iPhone 5S, but is it any good?Blackview A8 Review – Design and buildBlackview have been smart (read crafty) with the design of the A8 and used a lot of inspiration from budget Oppo phones when building the Blackview A8. This is smart because it saves them time and money, and because most people aren鈥檛 going to realise this is an聽Oppo clone, where as they might if they had copied the Find 7 or R9.The handset has a 5-inch HD display, 2.5D curved screen, and 2 mega-pixel camera on the front.Like other manufacturers, Blackview designed the A8 to try and appear to have narrow bezels and then wrap the display in a black border, but in this case the border is super sized and reaches almost 5mm thick all the way around. It鈥檚 also very easy to see as the budget HD display in the phone isn鈥檛 the darkest of units, practically being grey when its powered off or asleep.The chassis is metal, an actual metal chassis, not a plastic one coated in a metal finish, and this is a great addition to a $55 phone. It adds strength and gives the user confidence that the phone will be durable in the long-term.Around the chassis we find the volume and power buttons in the right, USB and 3.5mm headphone jack in the top, while the last to sides are black apart from a mic in the base and screw heads that hold it all together.Our聽review phone came with a white face and white removable rear panel, but grey versions are also available. The rear has聽an 8 mega-pixel Sony sensor in the top left and single LED flash, and a single external speaker at the bottom.Removing the rear panel gives you access to the dual SIM trays, SD card slot and user removable 2050mAh battery. A few details you should note here are that the phone only supports 3G and 2G networks and out of the box there is a sticker over the battery connections which needs to be removed before you can turn the phone on.Surprisingly for a $55 phone the Blackview A8 feels sturdy in the hand and has very good fit and feel.Blackview A8 Review – HardwareThis is a basic, entry-level phone so the hardware is basic too, with a few interesting additions here and there.As already mentioned the screen measures in at 5-inches and has a HD resolution of 1280 x 720, which is actually very generous for a phone of this price. Sure, it鈥檚 not the best HD panel on the market, but it’s perfectly useable.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramAnother surprise addition is the 8 mega-pixel Sony IMX149 and Blackview proudly claim this is the same sensor that Apple used in the iPhone 5S, but as we all know the sensor is only part of the package and while the Blackview shares the IMX149 it doesn鈥檛 share the iPhone鈥檚 optics. More on this in the camera portion of the review.Other hardware details are 1GB RAM, a quad-core Mediatek MT6580 chipset, 8GB internal memory (you can add an extra 32GB via SD card), and 2050mAh battery.The MT6580 chipset in the phone runs at 1.3Ghz, and is a budget quad-core designed to only work with GSM 850/900/1800/1900 and WCDMA 900/2100.Android 5.1 runs on the phone out of the box, and gets a ColorOS style makeover (yes, that鈥檚 Oppo鈥檚 custom Android ROM).Battery life from the 2050mAh battery was pretty good, which isn鈥檛 that shocking as there is nothing very power-hungry in the A8, and I was able to get almost 2 days of usage from the phone. Keep in mind though that part of this is also due to the limiting factors of the hardware too so I wasn鈥檛 actually using the phone聽as much as a more luxurious model i.e the camera performance isn鈥檛 great so I didn鈥檛 take to many photos, audio isn鈥檛 wonderful so I didn鈥檛 play much music etc.Blackview A8 Review – CameraOther than the price, and metal frame the other big selling point to the Blackivew A8 is the 8 mega-pixel camera. Blackview certainly made a song and dance about the IMX149 in the phone, so does it live up to the hype?Well in all honesty I have used worse camera phones聽that cost more. For example I was recently given a budget Samsung phone and I would say the camera performance from the Blackview A8 is on par with it yet costs about half the price. This isn鈥檛 meant as a compliment though as both are pretty bad.The issue here is that while the actual sensor is good the lenses are typical cheap items聽and really undermine the performance. It鈥檚 like getting a Ferrari and giving it a set of 10-inch radial wheels and tyres from the 60鈥檚. Sure there is pedigree and potential there, but it鈥檚 going to drive like crap.It鈥檚 not just the lenses that let the overall performance down though, the speed of the software is extremely slow too. Focus is a long slow process and by the time you have a good lock, the camera sometimes decided to refocus again just for the heck of it.Hitting the shutter button can mean a wait time of almost a second before the image is snapped and saved. That鈥檚 a long time, and any movement you make during that time will be recorded by the open shutter.So, yes it has an iPhone camera, but it鈥檚 performance is only has good as another $50 Android phone.Blackview A8 Camera Samples Blackview A8 Review – Gallery Blackview A8 Review – ConclusionCheap is Cheap as my friend says and you cannot get any truer. The Blackview A8 costs $55 and the performance and camera capabilities of a $55 phone are exactly what you should expect from it and nothing more.The good points of the phone are that the build quality is way above what most other $50 phones are like, and the battery life is pretty decent.

Elephone have proven that their entry into the action camera market wasn’t a one-off with the release of the 2nd generation Elephone Explorer Pro. Keep reading this review to see what this new action camera is all about.Last year Elephone diversified their range of products to include an action camera. The first camera by the phone maker was the Elephone Explorer which boasted (limited) 4K video recording and a rear screen plus a host of accessories in the box. In essence though the original Explorer was just the same as every other Chinese sports camera, and in a market full of cookie cutter camera’s something new was needed.Elephone Explorer Pro Review – Design and buildSo once again this camera looks very similar to a GoPro or one of the many SJCAM cameras on the market, but to help it stand out, Elephone have added a few of their own design touches to the faceplate of the camera.We now have an embossed ELE logo on the front, along with a new, thin red power button and Explorer Pro branding. In press images of the camera the face does appear to be made of a brushed metal, but this isn’t the case and the whole body is plastic.But鑱絯hile it might look a little from the face, the rest of the camera is strikingly similar to what the rest of the Chinese action camera market are doing.The top and sides of the Explorer Pro has a lattice finish to it, there is an ‘OK’ button on the top with LED notification light. On the right are two buttons for navigating through menus (the top button is also used as a WIFI short cut) there is also a mic鑱給n the right too.On the left side we have room for a micro SD card, USB and a mini HDMI out plug .In the base is a speaker and also a cover which keeps the 1050mAh battery safely out of the way.Finally on the back we have a couple more LED lights and a screen. The screen is a 2-inch 240 x 240 panel and can be used to playback video, for setting up the camera or cycling through the menus and settings.Like the original GoPro cameras and the current crop of SJCAM camera’s the body of the Elephone Explorer Pro isn’t waterproof and you will need to use the protective waterproof housing to keep it safe from the elements. The case comes in the box with the camera along with various mounting accessories and pieces of hardware.As for build quality, well if you have handled an SJCAM then you will have an idea what the Explorer Pro feels like. It’s hardly a sturdy device, and the buttons feels a little loose, but as it is going to spend much of its time in the protective shell I would guess that it will still prove to long-lasting.The case itself is thick and sturdy, however the metal pin used as the hinge for the rear panel has already shown some signs of bending. If this continues it would compromise the seal on the case and prevent the seal from keeping out water. If you do intend to dive with the Explorer Pro (at depths of up to 30m) then I suggest you take great care over the hinge and ensure it’s sealing before use.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramAccessories that come in the box are very similar to those available for GoPro and SJCAM cameras, and I have been able to mix and match genuine GoPro parts with those with the Elephone. The fit isn’t as good as the GoPro parts with some joins feeling tight and others lose, but once tightened it all holds in place nicely.Elephone Explorer Pro Review – It speaks!Ok so we mentioned that something different was needed to have the Elephone Explorer Pro standout from the rest of the field and Elephone have done this by having the camera speak to you rather than just beeping.Generally an action camera will beep when you turn it on and beep a slightly different pattern when you start recording, run out of memory or stop recording. With the GoPro I have never had an issue as the beep is nice and loud and I always know what the camera is doing, but this isn’t always the case with Chinese cameras.Out of the box I was a little wary of the speaking feature especially when you hear just how quiet and tinny the internal speaker is. Once I鑱絟ad the camera mounted to your helmet, the tiny voice travels through the mounting hardware and is amplified by the helmet. In my case I was using a full face mountain bike helmet, I’m not sure you would get the same benefit from a standard helmet and obviously it is going to depend where you plan to mount the camera and what conditions you plan to use it in if the voice is going to be audible or not.The voice of the Explorer Pro comes in English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Polish, Japanese, and Chinese and it will tell you things like “Video Start”, “Video Stop” and “Lack of storage”, but it won’t tell you that there is no SD card if you forget to insert one (which happened to me on my first run).Elephone Explorer Pro Review – FeaturesOther than being able to speak the Elephone Explorer Pro can shoot video via the Sony IMX117 camera at 4K @ 24FPS, FHD @ 60FPS etc, can shoot stills at up to 20 mega-pixels, has image stabilisation, and settings for night shots, burst mode, and motion sensing (so the camera will start to record as soon as you move).Elephone state that the lens on the Pro is a 170 degree wide angle lens, so I set the camera up in the exact same position that I usually run my Hero 4 Session. On the GoPro I can get my front bike wheel the trail and a good amount sky in a video even when headed downhill. The Elephone doesn’t quite manage to get all that action and as you can see from the sample video, it would really need to be adjusted upwards for better video, but then you would miss seeing the bike moving around.Elephone Explorer Pro Review – Video SampleElephone Explorer Pro Review – Photo SamplesI very rarely use my action cameras to take still photos but when I do I generally get better results than those offered with the Elephone Explorer Pro. Elephone Explorer Pro Review – ConclusionIt’s nice to see that Elephone have decided to stick with the action camera market and its interesting that they tried something new with their spoken camera status rather than the generic beep.As for an action camera I would say its fine if you are on a budget, but if you are a more serious user and really want to push the yourself to the limits and have the camera follow you then the you are going to want something more durable, with a wider angle lens and able to produce more detailed footage.Vivo took longer than usual in the launch of their Vivo Xplay 3S replacement, but the Vivo Xplay 5 is out and has impressive hardware so is it worth buying?Vivo like to really push the boat out when they launch their flagship phones. The Vivo Xplay 3S, for example, was the worlds first 2K phone, and the first Chinese phone to ship with a fingerprint scanner.The Vivo Xplay 5 has a few firsts too. The first Chinese phone with a curved Samsung display, and the first phone to ship with a huge 6GB RAM (although our model is the 4GB RAM version).Vivo Xplay 5 Review – DesignWhat do you get if you take the Vivo X6 Plus and give it a curved display? Yup, the Vivo Xplay 5 looks very similar to the majority of Vivo phones launched this year, but with the addition of a curved display .Even with the curved panel, the design of the phone is typically Vivo with a white front panel, Vivo logo up on the top left corner, and the 3 Android navigation hardware buttons on the chin. Although Vivo went for a curved display they didnt opt to make the Xplay 5 a borderless design, and there are two white bezels either side of the display.That curved panel might seem like a bit of a fashion gimmick (especially as there are no software changes to make the curved panel more functional) but it does mean that the very sides of the Vivo flagship are especially thin, leaving just a slim metal side on the left and right.Interestingly the design of the Vivo Xplay 5 is like the reverse of the Xiaomi Mi5, however the build quality of the two phones couldnt be any different. While the Xiaomi has a flimsy body, and loose physical buttons, the Vivo Xplay 5 has a very sturdy construction, wonderful fit and feel, and high-quality buttons.The thin sides of the phone gracefully curve around and enlarge at the top and bottom of the phone, with the top getting room for a slightly off centre 3.5mm headphone jack and the base getting a USB Type C, speaker and microphone.If you are familiar with the Vivo Xplay 6, 6 Plus are pretty much any other 2016 Vivo phone then the rear of the device is going to look very familiar indeed. The unibody CNC machined body is finished in a gold/pink finish, has two bands running at the upper and lower portions with all the functions in the top half of the phone.Top left we have a slightly protruding 16 mega-pixel camera, with a dual tone LED flash to the right, then slightly above the centre middle of the Vivo there is a square fingerprint scanner.Overall the design is elegant, and the build quality is up to the usual Vivo standards, but for a flagship phone it does appear to be rather uninspiring, and I would personally love to see an all black version of the phone launched to appeal to a wider audience (currently only white with gold or pink is available).Vivo Xplay 5 Review – HardwareThere are 2 models of Vivo Xplay 5A available, our review unit is the Vivo Xplay 5 with 4GB RAM, Snapdragon 652 chipset, and a simple Vivo HIFI system with a CS4398 DAC and AD4527 amp. The more upmarket Vivo Xplay 5 Ultimate gets 6GB RAM, a 2.1Ghz Snapdragon 820 chipset, and a more advanced audio set up with 2 x operational amps and 3 x DAC!The rest of the specs are shared between both phones and its all pretty good stuff. Both versions of the Vivo have the same 5.43-inch 2K display (2560 x 1440 resolution), 128GB internal memory, dual SIM support, 3600Ah battery, 16 mega-pixel main camera with F2.0 aperture and 8 mega-pixel F2.4 front.As already mentioned there is a rear fingerprint scanner, and it seems that Vivo have used the same scanner as they had with the Vivo X6 Plus which is excellent news. Of all the phones Ive used over the years, Vivo really seem to have sorted fingerprint speed and accuracy better than the rest.You are all going to wonder what that curved display is like on the Vivo Xplay 5, well this was my first prolonged experience with a curved screen phone and I quickly got used to the panel and enjoy the effect of size the curved edges offer. Compared to a traditional screen the curved panel just feels more open and roomy. However nice it is, Vivo haven’t really taken advantage of the screen and you will find no ‘edge’ style features in the current ROM builds.Even with a higher resolution display on the Vivo, the battery life is pretty good. It’s not up to the standard of the X6 Pro (with 1080 panel and 4000mAh battery) which seems to go on and on, but for a 2K flagship phone its not bad. I was getting almost 2 days of use from the Vivo under normal situations and a full day if I tended to really hammer, Google Maps for navigation, data and social media.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramAnyone who know’s anything about Vivo will know that their phones often have amazing audio. The same is the same for the Vivo Xplay 5A which has audio on par with the X6 Plus. I would love to hear what all those extra DAC and AMPS produce in the Xplay 5 Ultimate, but I can’t imagine every wishing the standard Vivo HIFI system was any better than it already is.Vivo Xplay 5 Review – PerformanceRemember this is the 4GB RAM Snapdragon 652 version of the Vivo Xplay 5 so don’t expect benchmarks that will set the Chinese mobile industry on fire. So while the 5A’s benchmarks are below what it’s Snapdragon 820 brother should be capable of, I never once wished for faster while using the phone. Funtouch is a very well optimised system and performance was top-notch throughout the review.Vivo Xplay 5 Review – CameraVivo made one of the best camera phones of all time a few years ago with the Xshot, so they know how to make camera phones, but they seem to have put the concept on a back burner for now. The last time I met with Vivo staff they informed me that they would focus on speed and audio for their current devices, which makes sense as Oppo (Vivo’s system company) recently re branded as a ‘camera phone’ company.The Xplay 5 has a 16 mega-pixel F2.0 camera on the rear with dual LED flash which is good. The lenses are also good, but the major missing feature is OIS. While Oppo have a 2 axis OIS and Xiaomi 4, the Vivo Xplay 5 relies on software based image stabilisation. You’re still able to take fantastic photos, but at this price customers expect a little more for their money.Focus times and speed of capture are exceptional and overall speed of use isn’t that far behind the Xiaomi Mi5. Daylight photos are what you would expect from a high-end phone, while low-light images require you to switch to night mode, or one of the other settings (in the feature packed Vivo camera app) to get the most of the camera.Although I wasn’t blown away with the camera on the Vivo Xplay 5, I was happy with most of the photos I managed to capture with the device. Here are a few samples.Vivo Xplay 5 photo samples Vivo Xplay 5 Review – FuntouchFuntouch is Vivo’s Android based ROM. Funnily enough the ROM is based on Android 5.1 in the 5A while the 5 Ultimate is listed as getting an Android 6.0 based ROM.If you read through my Vivo X6 Plus review then you will already know about the issues the Chinese version of the Funtouch ROM has, specifically that it does not have Google Services support. You can add Google using the MIUI installer tool method, but you need to keep downgrading the Play Store as with every update the Play Store will stop working (see more details and how to here).The rest of the Funtouch ROM is pretty much identical to the X6 Pro’s which means the notifications area is only for notifications, and your most used toggles are found by swiping up from the dock.Other than the Google Play issue I also discovered that the Vivo Xplay 5 won’t support Android Auto (that said, only OnePlus phones appear to fully support this from the Chinese world of mobiles). The rest of the ROM is feature packed and well optimised which results in good battery life.One obvious feature that is missing though is some way to make use of those curved screen edges. We’ve seen Samsung introduce side notifications etc, but so far Vivo have no ‘edge’ style features. So while the curved screen is nice to use, it isn’t a game changer and adds very little to the functionality of the phone.Vivo Xplay 5 Review – Gallery Vivo Xplay 5 Review – Unboxing and hands onVivo Xplay 5 Review – ConclusionOverall the Vivo Xplay 5 is a very good premium smartphone. Build quality is undeniably good, and leagues ahead of the products most other Chinese phone makers are currently producing. On paper the specs look good (even for this version of the phone) and Vivo have done a good job to get all the hardware working well with their Funtouch system.The only areas where I would really knock the phone is the lack of any edge features to really justify the use of the curved display, the lack of OIS the issues with Google Services and Android Auto.At the end of the day the Vivo Xplay 5 is a premium phone that is designed to look and feel great while offering good all round performance. It’s aimed at people who want a phone that looks good and they don’t mind paying the premium for it.Vivo took longer than usual in the launch of their Vivo Xplay 3S replacement, but the Vivo Xplay 5 is out and has impressive hardware so is it worth buying?Vivo like to really push the boat out when they launch their flagship phones. The Vivo Xplay 3S, for example, was the worlds first 2K phone, and the first Chinese phone to ship with a fingerprint scanner.The Vivo Xplay 5 has a few firsts too. The first Chinese phone with a curved Samsung display, and the first phone to ship with a huge 6GB RAM (although our model is the 4GB RAM version).Vivo Xplay 5 Review – DesignWhat do you get if you take the Vivo X6 Plus and give it a curved display? Yup, the Vivo Xplay 5 looks very similar to the majority of Vivo phones launched this year, but with the addition of a curved display .Even with the curved panel, the design of the phone is typically Vivo with a white front panel, Vivo logo up on the top left corner, and the 3 Android navigation hardware buttons on the chin. Although Vivo went for a curved display they didnt opt to make the Xplay 5 a borderless design, and there are two white bezels either side of the display.That curved panel might seem like a bit of a fashion gimmick (especially as there are no software changes to make the curved panel more functional) but it does mean that the very sides of the Vivo flagship are especially thin, leaving just a slim metal side on the left and right.Interestingly the design of the Vivo Xplay 5 is like the reverse of the Xiaomi Mi5, however the build quality of the two phones couldnt be any different. While the Xiaomi has a flimsy body, and loose physical buttons, the Vivo Xplay 5 has a very sturdy construction, wonderful fit and feel, and high-quality buttons.The thin sides of the phone gracefully curve around and enlarge at the top and bottom of the phone, with the top getting room for a slightly off centre 3.5mm headphone jack and the base getting a USB Type C, speaker and microphone.If you are familiar with the Vivo Xplay 6, 6 Plus are pretty much any other 2016 Vivo phone then the rear of the device is going to look very familiar indeed. The unibody CNC machined body is finished in a gold/pink finish, has two bands running at the upper and lower portions with all the functions in the top half of the phone.Top left we have a slightly protruding 16 mega-pixel camera, with a dual tone LED flash to the right, then slightly above the centre middle of the Vivo there is a square fingerprint scanner.Overall the design is elegant, and the build quality is up to the usual Vivo standards, but for a flagship phone it does appear to be rather uninspiring, and I would personally love to see an all black version of the phone launched to appeal to a wider audience (currently only white with gold or pink is available).Vivo Xplay 5 Review – HardwareThere are 2 models of Vivo Xplay 5A available, our review unit is the Vivo Xplay 5 with 4GB RAM, Snapdragon 652 chipset, and a simple Vivo HIFI system with a CS4398 DAC and AD4527 amp. The more upmarket Vivo Xplay 5 Ultimate gets 6GB RAM, a 2.1Ghz Snapdragon 820 chipset, and a more advanced audio set up with 2 x operational amps and 3 x DAC!The rest of the specs are shared between both phones and its all pretty good stuff. Both versions of the Vivo have the same 5.43-inch 2K display (2560 x 1440 resolution), 128GB internal memory, dual SIM support, 3600Ah battery, 16 mega-pixel main camera with F2.0 aperture and 8 mega-pixel F2.4 front.As already mentioned there is a rear fingerprint scanner, and it seems that Vivo have used the same scanner as they had with the Vivo X6 Plus which is excellent news. Of all the phones Ive used over the years, Vivo really seem to have sorted fingerprint speed and accuracy better than the rest.You are all going to wonder what that curved display is like on the Vivo Xplay 5, well this was my first prolonged experience with a curved screen phone and I quickly got used to the panel and enjoy the effect of size the curved edges offer. Compared to a traditional screen the curved panel just feels more open and roomy. However nice it is, Vivo haven’t really taken advantage of the screen and you will find no ‘edge’ style features in the current ROM builds.Even with a higher resolution display on the Vivo, the battery life is pretty good. It’s not up to the standard of the X6 Pro (with 1080 panel and 4000mAh battery) which seems to go on and on, but for a 2K flagship phone its not bad. I was getting almost 2 days of use from the Vivo under normal situations and a full day if I tended to really hammer, Google Maps for navigation, data and social media.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramAnyone who know’s anything about Vivo will know that their phones often have amazing audio. The same is the same for the Vivo Xplay 5A which has audio on par with the X6 Plus. I would love to hear what all those extra DAC and AMPS produce in the Xplay 5 Ultimate, but I can’t imagine every wishing the standard Vivo HIFI system was any better than it already is.Vivo Xplay 5 Review – PerformanceRemember this is the 4GB RAM Snapdragon 652 version of the Vivo Xplay 5 so don’t expect benchmarks that will set the Chinese mobile industry on fire. So while the 5A’s benchmarks are below what it’s Snapdragon 820 brother should be capable of, I never once wished for faster while using the phone. Funtouch is a very well optimised system and performance was top-notch throughout the review.Vivo Xplay 5 Review – CameraVivo made one of the best camera phones of all time a few years ago with the Xshot, so they know how to make camera phones, but they seem to have put the concept on a back burner for now. The last time I met with Vivo staff they informed me that they would focus on speed and audio for their current devices, which makes sense as Oppo (Vivo’s system company) recently re branded as a ‘camera phone’ company.The Xplay 5 has a 16 mega-pixel F2.0 camera on the rear with dual LED flash which is good. The lenses are also good, but the major missing feature is OIS. While Oppo have a 2 axis OIS and Xiaomi 4, the Vivo Xplay 5 relies on software based image stabilisation. You’re still able to take fantastic photos, but at this price customers expect a little more for their money.Focus times and speed of capture are exceptional and overall speed of use isn’t that far behind the Xiaomi Mi5. Daylight photos are what you would expect from a high-end phone, while low-light images require you to switch to night mode, or one of the other settings (in the feature packed Vivo camera app) to get the most of the camera.Although I wasn’t blown away with the camera on the Vivo Xplay 5, I was happy with most of the photos I managed to capture with the device. Here are a few samples.Vivo Xplay 5 photo samples Vivo Xplay 5 Review – FuntouchFuntouch is Vivo’s Android based ROM. Funnily enough the ROM is based on Android 5.1 in the 5A while the 5 Ultimate is listed as getting an Android 6.0 based ROM.If you read through my Vivo X6 Plus review then you will already know about the issues the Chinese version of the Funtouch ROM has, specifically that it does not have Google Services support. You can add Google using the MIUI installer tool method, but you need to keep downgrading the Play Store as with every update the Play Store will stop working (see more details and how to here).The rest of the Funtouch ROM is pretty much identical to the X6 Pro’s which means the notifications area is only for notifications, and your most used toggles are found by swiping up from the dock.Other than the Google Play issue I also discovered that the Vivo Xplay 5 won’t support Android Auto (that said, only OnePlus phones appear to fully support this from the Chinese world of mobiles). The rest of the ROM is feature packed and well optimised which results in good battery life.One obvious feature that is missing though is some way to make use of those curved screen edges. We’ve seen Samsung introduce side notifications etc, but so far Vivo have no ‘edge’ style features. So while the curved screen is nice to use, it isn’t a game changer and adds very little to the functionality of the phone.Vivo Xplay 5 Review – Gallery Vivo Xplay 5 Review – Unboxing and hands onVivo Xplay 5 Review – ConclusionOverall the Vivo Xplay 5 is a very good premium smartphone. Build quality is undeniably good, and leagues ahead of the products most other Chinese phone makers are currently producing. On paper the specs look good (even for this version of the phone) and Vivo have done a good job to get all the hardware working well with their Funtouch system.The only areas where I would really knock the phone is the lack of any edge features to really justify the use of the curved display, the lack of OIS the issues with Google Services and Android Auto.At the end of the day the Vivo Xplay 5 is a premium phone that is designed to look and feel great while offering good all round performance. It’s aimed at people who want a phone that looks good and they don’t mind paying the premium for it.The Mi 4s was a surprise inclusion during the Xiaomi Mi 5 launch event a few weeks back. Since Xiaomi planned to make the Mi 5 an international flagship all along, they perhaps wanted to have a China-only device so the home market still felt ‘looked after’. And thus, the Mi 4s is a China-only device that you need to import yourself if you fancy one.Anyway, I’ve spent a good couple of weeks with the Mi 4s so let’s talk about whether it is worth importing one… in the Xiaomi Mi 4s review!Xiaomi Mi 4s Review: SpecificationsModelXiaomi Mi 4sSim CardDual SIMColorGold | WhiteCapacityRAM: 3GBROM: 64GBChipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 808SystemAndroid 5.1ScreenDisplay Size: 5-inchResolution: 1920 x 1080pixelsMultitouch: YesCameraRear Camera: 13MPFront Camera: 5MPRadio2G: GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHzCDMA 1X聽BC0/BC13G: WCDMA 850/900/1900/2100MHzTD-SCDMA B34/39CDMA 2000聽bands BC0 / BC14G: FDD-LTE B1/3/7TDD-LTE B38/39/40/41Battery3260mAh removableSize139.2 x 70.7 x 7.8mmPrice~$315 (check today’s price)Xiaomi Mi 4s Review: Design & BuildThe Mi 4s has quite a characteristic design. In the sense that it won’t get lost in the array of almost identical-looking phones that are being churned out.That said, you’re either going to love or hate the Mi 4s… since the design is so characteristic and typical. In my opinion, the Mi 4s was designed to fit the Chinese market and only the Chinese market, which often has unique demands.The ‘gold’ isn’t quite rose gold (the kind of gold with a pinkish hue) but more like light brown. The metallic edges of the phone don’t feel as ‘metal’ (as say, the Mi 4) and lack the cold metal feel, but they do make the phone really easy and comfortable to grip.The device follows a very symmetrical design. Even the chin of the phone is completely symmetrical with five holes on either side of the USB Type-C port. The bunch of holes on the right are to let out聽the speaker’s sound, while the ones on the left hide the mic beneath.Coming back to the overall design, the Mi 4s feels like a cross between Xiaomi’s Mi and Redmi lines. Very honestly, it does not feel the premium phone Xiaomi want us to believe. Not that it feels flimsy for cheap — far from that — but not flagship material.Xiaomi stick to the usual recent apps, home and back button (L to R) arrangement. They’re backlit, as expected.Both sides of the Mi 4s are covered in glass. However, the rear side feels more like soft rubberised industrial plastic than glass. Other things you find on the rear: the Mi logo, the oblivious fingerprint sensor, and camera lens (that doesn’t protrude, thankfully) with the dual tone dual LED flash.On the top, the 3.5mm earphone jack (on the verge of extinction?) sits next to an IR blaster and a secondary mic. I’m not sure if it’s me, but I’m yet to meet anyone who actually use their phone as a universal remote (beyond just having fun like turning off TVs at the TV store).While the Mi 4s is extremely comfortable to grip, it does skid off surfaces very easily (and ever so slowly, so you don’t notice).In a nutshell, the Mi 4s is a phone that is extremely comfortable to hold, easy to operate thanks to the screen size, but doesn’t feel as premium as the makers meant. The thing works exactly like you expect it to, but it doesn’t feel like a flagship phone.Xiaomi Mi 4s Review: HardwareGizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramThe first thing I noticed about the Mi 4s was the screen (duh), and that it had a bit of a yellow tinge to it. While it felt out of place for the first few minutes, my eyes quickly got used to it.However, not everyone’s going to like the tinge of yellow on their phone screen. Xiaomi do offer users the control over screen colour temperature, so phone screens should be tuned to be as natural as possible — leave the rest to the user to configure.聽Unfortunately that isn’t the case with the Mi 4s.Besides that, the 5-inch 1920 x 1080p IPS display seem to be up there with the Mi 4. Good viewing angles, decent visibility in sunny outdoors.Audio wise, the phone leaves a bit聽to be desired. While sound from the 3.5mm port comes out just fine, it’s the built-in loudspeaker that can sometime feel a little dull. No qualms with the quality of audio though. I’d say battery life is somewhere between good and impressive. It shouldn’t be a problem to achieve the famous ‘all day battery’ on the Mi 4s. The charger that Xiaomi ship also supports Quick Charge 2.0.In general, you can expect around 5.5-6 hours of screen on time on WiFi. On 3G, expect about 4.5 hours.Xiaomi Mi 4s Review: Performance & BenchmarksI expected a slightly better performance from the Mi 4s and the hexa-core Snapdragon 808 (also seen on the Mi 4c). While I haven’t tested the Mi 4c myself, I have a feeling that it is the MIUI ROM that’s acting as the bottleneck on the Mi 4s. The phone has already had a couple of updates, but I expect it to be more optimised in the coming weeks. Something that might be a problem for some is the heating issue that the phone faces. It doesn’t get too hot, but the problem is that it gets hot too soon. CPU throttling kicks in then, and makes the phone slow to respond. Another something that should be fixed with future updates.I’d say that the Snapdragon 808 is quite a capable SoC, and that the Mi 4s doesn’t seem to be making full use of it (yet). It doesn’t feel like a phone with 3GB RAM and a high-mid-range SoC such as the SD808 so far.Ironic but I’ve had better general performance on the Redmi Note 3, so there聽the Mi 4s definitely has a distance to go before it starts being considered for聽buying lists.A nagging bug that the Xiaomi Mi 4s faces has to do with WiFi. If you’re using mobile data and then connect to a WiFi network, the phone will sometimes continue using mobile data.聽Refer to screenshot above.Xiaomi Mi 4s Review: CameraXiaomi have yet to disappoint with a phone camera. Yet again, the Mi 4s comes with a really nice camera that’s capable of taking some lovely shots… not only in the day聽but also in the night.Photos aren’t up to the level of what you saw on the Mi 5 review, but yet I’d rate this camera a couple notches above the Mi 4, which itself is one of my favourite phone cameras so far.Have a look at some photos.A food truck in low lighting …and a slow-mo video:Xiaomi Mi 4s Review: Gallery Xiaomi Mi 4s Review: ConclusionI’d say that the Mi 4s is a nice phone with a lovely camera. Retailing at over $300 at the time of writing this review (for international buyers), the market doesn’t really have a spot open for a phone like this one. I’d be wiling to consider this phone myself at $250, that too because it comes with 64GB as default.聽For now, the plethora of Helio X10 phones in the market will do what you’re looking for.The Mi 4s was a surprise inclusion during the Xiaomi Mi 5 launch event a few weeks back. Since Xiaomi planned to make the Mi 5 an international flagship all along, they perhaps wanted to have a China-only device so the home market still felt ‘looked after’. And thus, the Mi 4s is a China-only device that you need to import yourself if you fancy one.Anyway, I’ve spent a good couple of weeks with the Mi 4s so let’s talk about whether it is worth importing one… in the Xiaomi Mi 4s review!Xiaomi Mi 4s Review: SpecificationsModelXiaomi Mi 4sSim CardDual SIMColorGold | WhiteCapacityRAM: 3GBROM: 64GBChipsetQualcomm Snapdragon 808SystemAndroid 5.1ScreenDisplay Size: 5-inchResolution: 1920 x 1080pixelsMultitouch: YesCameraRear Camera: 13MPFront Camera: 5MPRadio2G: GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHzCDMA 1X聽BC0/BC13G: WCDMA 850/900/1900/2100MHzTD-SCDMA B34/39CDMA 2000聽bands BC0 / BC14G: FDD-LTE B1/3/7TDD-LTE B38/39/40/41Battery3260mAh removableSize139.2 x 70.7 x 7.8mmPrice~$315 (check today’s price)Xiaomi Mi 4s Review: Design & BuildThe Mi 4s has quite a characteristic design. In the sense that it won’t get lost in the array of almost identical-looking phones that are being churned out.That said, you’re either going to love or hate the Mi 4s… since the design is so characteristic and typical. In my opinion, the Mi 4s was designed to fit the Chinese market and only the Chinese market, which often has unique demands.The ‘gold’ isn’t quite rose gold (the kind of gold with a pinkish hue) but more like light brown. The metallic edges of the phone don’t feel as ‘metal’ (as say, the Mi 4) and lack the cold metal feel, but they do make the phone really easy and comfortable to grip.The device follows a very symmetrical design. Even the chin of the phone is completely symmetrical with five holes on either side of the USB Type-C port. The bunch of holes on the right are to let out聽the speaker’s sound, while the ones on the left hide the mic beneath.Coming back to the overall design, the Mi 4s feels like a cross between Xiaomi’s Mi and Redmi lines. Very honestly, it does not feel the premium phone Xiaomi want us to believe. Not that it feels flimsy for cheap — far from that — but not flagship material.Xiaomi stick to the usual recent apps, home and back button (L to R) arrangement. They’re backlit, as expected.Both sides of the Mi 4s are covered in glass. However, the rear side feels more like soft rubberised industrial plastic than glass. Other things you find on the rear: the Mi logo, the oblivious fingerprint sensor, and camera lens (that doesn’t protrude, thankfully) with the dual tone dual LED flash.On the top, the 3.5mm earphone jack (on the verge of extinction?) sits next to an IR blaster and a secondary mic. I’m not sure if it’s me, but I’m yet to meet anyone who actually use their phone as a universal remote (beyond just having fun like turning off TVs at the TV store).While the Mi 4s is extremely comfortable to grip, it does skid off surfaces very easily (and ever so slowly, so you don’t notice).In a nutshell, the Mi 4s is a phone that is extremely comfortable to hold, easy to operate thanks to the screen size, but doesn’t feel as premium as the makers meant. The thing works exactly like you expect it to, but it doesn’t feel like a flagship phone.Xiaomi Mi 4s Review: HardwareGizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramThe first thing I noticed about the Mi 4s was the screen (duh), and that it had a bit of a yellow tinge to it. While it felt out of place for the first few minutes, my eyes quickly got used to it.However, not everyone’s going to like the tinge of yellow on their phone screen. Xiaomi do offer users the control over screen colour temperature, so phone screens should be tuned to be as natural as possible — leave the rest to the user to configure.聽Unfortunately that isn’t the case with the Mi 4s.Besides that, the 5-inch 1920 x 1080p IPS display seem to be up there with the Mi 4. Good viewing angles, decent visibility in sunny outdoors.Audio wise, the phone leaves a bit聽to be desired. While sound from the 3.5mm port comes out just fine, it’s the built-in loudspeaker that can sometime feel a little dull. No qualms with the quality of audio though. I’d say battery life is somewhere between good and impressive. It shouldn’t be a problem to achieve the famous ‘all day battery’ on the Mi 4s. The charger that Xiaomi ship also supports Quick Charge 2.0.In general, you can expect around 5.5-6 hours of screen on time on WiFi. On 3G, expect about 4.5 hours.Xiaomi Mi 4s Review: Performance & BenchmarksI expected a slightly better performance from the Mi 4s and the hexa-core Snapdragon 808 (also seen on the Mi 4c). While I haven’t tested the Mi 4c myself, I have a feeling that it is the MIUI ROM that’s acting as the bottleneck on the Mi 4s. The phone has already had a couple of updates, but I expect it to be more optimised in the coming weeks. Something that might be a problem for some is the heating issue that the phone faces. It doesn’t get too hot, but the problem is that it gets hot too soon. CPU throttling kicks in then, and makes the phone slow to respond. Another something that should be fixed with future updates.I’d say that the Snapdragon 808 is quite a capable SoC, and that the Mi 4s doesn’t seem to be making full use of it (yet). It doesn’t feel like a phone with 3GB RAM and a high-mid-range SoC such as the SD808 so far.Ironic but I’ve had better general performance on the Redmi Note 3, so there聽the Mi 4s definitely has a distance to go before it starts being considered for聽buying lists.A nagging bug that the Xiaomi Mi 4s faces has to do with WiFi. If you’re using mobile data and then connect to a WiFi network, the phone will sometimes continue using mobile data.聽Refer to screenshot above.Xiaomi Mi 4s Review: CameraXiaomi have yet to disappoint with a phone camera. Yet again, the Mi 4s comes with a really nice camera that’s capable of taking some lovely shots… not only in the day聽but also in the night.Photos aren’t up to the level of what you saw on the Mi 5 review, but yet I’d rate this camera a couple notches above the Mi 4, which itself is one of my favourite phone cameras so far.Have a look at some photos.A food truck in low lighting …and a slow-mo video:Xiaomi Mi 4s Review: Gallery Xiaomi Mi 4s Review: ConclusionI’d say that the Mi 4s is a nice phone with a lovely camera. Retailing at over $300 at the time of writing this review (for international buyers), the market doesn’t really have a spot open for a phone like this one. I’d be wiling to consider this phone myself at $250, that too because it comes with 64GB as default.聽For now, the plethora of Helio X10 phones in the market will do what you’re looking for.Bluboo’s entry for the budget war game currently dominated by MT6580 phones is the Bluboo Picasso. It’s a $69.99 phone, which in my opinion is among the better looking ones in the race.However, it’s still the performance that matters. We’ve been testing the Picasso for a while, but since it’ll be a few days before the review, we thought of publishing some benchmarks.GizChina readers, thankfully, are a bit more aware than the everyday geek about the relation between benchmarks and real-life performance. That it doesn’t have a direct relationship each time.That said, raw numbers do give a fair idea of processing prowess, among other things, and hence this post. Anyway, lets cut to the chase now — the Bluboo Picasso Benchmarks.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramBluboo Picasso Benchmarks AnTuTu v6.1.4: 22,759Quadrant Standard: 9,184GeekBench 3 – Single Core: 344GeekBench 3 – Multi Core: 1,102Quite clearly, the phone isn’t the highest scoring device this year… but worth noting is the fact that it isn’t meant to be a chart topper anyway.Let us know what you think of the benchmarks so far. You can expect the review to be live in a few days’ time.

Chinese phone makers keep surprising us with more鑱絧hones that get cheaper by the day. However, there’s a fine line between usability and namesake. The UMi Rome X is a $62.99 phone that wants to be the flag bearer of budget phones.Unlike the case of the UMi Rome, the Rome X can actually be bought for around the $65, so the price definitely isn’t just a marketing stunt.We spent a few days with the phone to find out if its worth what you pay for.UMi Rome X Review: SpecificationsModel:UMi Rome XSim Card:Dual SIMColor:Black | GoldCapacityRAM: 1GBROM: 8GBChipsetCPU:鑱組ediaTek MT6580CPU frequency: 1.3GHz quad-coreSystemAndroid 5.1ScreenDisplay Size: 5.5-inchResolution: 1280 x 720pixelsMultitouch: YesCameraRear Camera: 8MPFront Camera: 2MPRadio2G: GSM鑱?50 / 900 / 1800 / 1900MHz3G: WCDMA 900 / 2100MHzBattery2500mAh removableSize15.3 * 7.7 * 0.8cmNet weight:177gUMi Rome X Review: Design & BuildIt seems as though鑱絫he Rome X’s design is a rip off of something between the Samsung Galaxy S6, the S6 edge and some newer Samsung phones. From a distance, the phone does look like a more expensive piece of kit, too. However, that’s only until you get the device in your hands.In general, the Rome X feels like a very ‘crude’ device. It’s a little difficult to explain in words, but the phone lacks sheen and polish. The weight seems a bit unevenly distributed too, making the phone feel a tad heavy sometimes.Both, the front and the rear of the phone are fingerprint and smudge magnets. This can really irritate the hell out of some people, and unfortunately I happen to be one of them. Not just that, getting the stains off of the rear panel is quite a task, too.While the phone looks really good for a $65 device, it unfortunately feels like nothing more than a $65 device.The front of the phone has a very generic look to it… somewhat like no-name Chinese phones from 2011-12. There’s (surprisingly) a front flash next to the earpiece, and the front camera on top of the screen. Below the screen are the three capacitive keys — Recent Apps, Home and Back, from left to right.Another, rather conspicuous addition is a mic hole that goes right through the glass panel and takes one point away from the looks department of the device.The chin of the phone has two sets of machine drilled holes on either side of the USB port. I’m pretty sure there’s just one speaker, perhaps somewhere between the two sets of holes — skewed towards the right.To sum this section up, it feels as though the Rome X is made out of inexpensive but durable material, which however lacks polish — figuratively speaking. The weight of the phone is a little jumbled up also, both in magnitude and balance.UMi Rome X Review: HardwareWhile the digitiser on top of the screen isn’t something you’ll want to write home about, the display beneath is genuinely impressive for a phone worth as much as the Rome X. On the scale of natural to saturated, the balance is more towards the latter. Colors kind of pop out like they do on an AMOLED usually.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramI’ve always been a fan of MediaTek’s MiraVision ever since it started showing up on their 64-bit phones last year. MiraVision helps in the Rome X’s case too; not only does it allow you to make the display looks much nicer, you can even tone down the saturation, contrast and other things if you’re more into natural-looking picture.Since it’s an LTPS display, the viewing angles take a bit of a beating. Anyway, I believe viewing angles are often overrated and I’m perfectly OK with what’s on offer here.Moving on to audio. As I mentioned before, the phone seems to have a single speaker and a deceptive two speaker slots… anyway, it’s how it sounds that matters, and it doesn’t sound too good. The audio output is what you’d call ‘cheap quality’ with too much treble, virtually no bass, and a low volume.I also had issues trying to make sense of what people said during calls — so the bad audio isn’t restricted to the loudspeaker, the earpiece is a victim also.The digitiser that UMi are using on the phone seems to be of a low resolution, but that is expected when you’re talking sub-$65… at least at the time of writing this review. Battery backup stands somewhere between poor and average. There’s no 4G LTE support on the phone that helps the issue a bit; however, I’ve found that there’s quite a bit of a difference in overall battery life (more than other phones) between 2G and 3G modes.If you don’t connect your phone to a WiFi network on a work day, you can expect about 8-10 hours of battery on a charge. With WiFi, an hour or two extra is what the phone manages.For the SOT folks, it’s around the 3-3.5 hour mark generally.UMi Rome X Review: Performance and BenchmarksI’ve been spoilt with some nice hardware of late, after which the Rome X and its MT6580 seemed like a few steps back. While it is true that the phone is extremely affordable and such, but I believe a better overall phone can be made out of the money.For instance, the MT6582 was a chipset that was really inexpensive and did a good job. I believe I’d prefer the MT6582 over this.Basic functionality expected out of any smartphone: ability to browse the web, IM/Mail, camera and of course phone calls. The Rome X doesn’t do too well with any of those, unfortunately.With web sessions becoming more important by the day, cached web pages in browsers don’t help. The Rome X struggles with a couple of tabs open in Chrome.Anyway, here are some benchmark scores. UMi Rome X Review: CameraI’m fairly impressed with what the Rome X can ultimately produce with it’s camera. Emphasis on ‘ultimately’; it takes quite a bit of time to get to the saved image file after hitting the shutter button. Again, not something that you wouldn’t expect from a $65 phone.Overall, besides the slow camera speed (which, to be fair, should be attributed to the SoC), the Rome X takes some decent photos… No complaints here.UMi Rome X Sample Shot in HDR UMi Rome X Sample Shot (no HDR) UMi Rome X Sample Shot (Bokeh – kind of) UMi Rome X Sample Shot (sharp focus) UMi Rome X Sample Shot (Low Light) UMi Rome X Sample Shot with Flash UMi Rome X Review: Gallery UMi Rome X Review: ConclusionUMi have been fairly adventurous, releasing phone one after another. While it’s phones like the Touch that make the most noise, UMi have been trying to crack the sub-$100 code for a while. The Rome X is what I’d call a fairly unsuccessful attempt, but I can see other Chinese manufacturers, if not UMi, get there very soon.I’d reckon you get the Rome X only if you are on a very limited budget; there are plenty $100 phones out there that can do a much better job otherwise.The Bluboo Picasso finds itself in the range of entry-level Chinese phones that try hard not to suck at being smartphones. Another phone that comes to mind from this segment is the UMi Rome X.Both, the Bluboo Picasso and the UMi Rome X are available for well under $100. We鑱絥ow have鑱絙oth these phones in the office… but let’s talk about the Picasso for a bit.Let’s get the spec sheet out of the way first, shall we. Here’s what this $69.99 piece of kit comes with:5-inch 1280 x 720p display1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6580 processor2GB RAM16GB ROM (expandable)8 mega-pixel front and rear camerasDual micro SIM card slots2500mAh batteryAndroid 5.1 LollipopThe MediaTek MT6580 isn’t something you’d want to write home about. That said, the SoC has found its way into a lot of entry-level phones… which seem to be doing well. Speaks a bit about the SoC, I believe.The phone itself comes in a very pleasing box made out of thick paper (not even cardboard; cost cutting at the right places). No fancy retail kits here folks. Inside, there’s the phone, USB cable and user’s manual. No nonsense; we all like that.Interestingly, right when I took the phone out of the box I learnt it has a selfie flash as well. I was later disappointed to know that it’s only a soft-flash. Bluboo call it ‘selfie fill light’. It works, but hardly changes anything.Anyway, I’ll reserve my judgements about this phone for the review. Meanwhile, take a look at some hands on photos here.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on Telegram The phone is made out of (or at least seems to be) durable material. There’s a lovely texture on the back that reflects light at angles, and also makes gripping the phone a one-handed affair.What I can definitely say is that it definitely doesn’t feel like a phone that costs just $70. It feels like a device at least twice (to a GizChina reader) or thrice (to everyone else) that much.Since it’s a 2016 phone, we have the mandatory black bezels around the screen we’ve all come to love so much (pun intended).While the rear is textured and there’s a nice Bluboo logo on there, there definitely is something about the back of the Picasso that reminds me of the Xiaomi Mi 5.At 152g the Bluboo Picasso isn’t the lightest entry-level phone around, which does add to the flavour of the phone and helps the cause a bit.

BlitzWolf is a brand I鑱絚ame across not long ago, but so far, I’m sold. They鑱絛on’t have a lot of products in their kitty as yet, but additions keep coming every now and then; mostly from鑱絫he accessories category.A few days back, we reviewed the BlitzWolf VR headset, which I thought is quite a nifty gadget that every tech enthusiast should own. After all, we’re now even having phone launches in VR!Coming back to BlitzWolf, this time round, I spent a few days with their new BlitzWolf F1 Bluetooth Speaker. As you’d have guessed, this gadget goes head-on with the new and improved Xiaomi Bluetooth Speaker.Both gadgets sport an extremely similar form factor; the F1 is however cheaper for international buyers at $34.99 shipped (purchase link at the bottom of this review) compared to the ~$45 asking price of the Xiaomi speaker at reseller stores.Let’s take a quick look at the specifications of the BlitzWolf F1:Bluetooth 4.0Aux in support2 x 45mm, 5W drivers1800mAh batteryAluminium bodyInside the box, you get an aux cable, a micro USB cable, a wrist strap and the user’s manual besides the speaker itself.Here’s a video from the factory demonstrating the speaker:BlitzWolf F1 Bluetooth Speaker ReviewRight out of the box, the F1 feels like something legit. It doesn’t feel like a product developed just for the sake of it; and that’s exactly what I’m liking about BlitzWolf so far.The metal-plus-rubber duo takes it鑱絝ar. It leaves you with a satisfactory feeling when you use the F1, although the flap that covers the micro USB and aux ports can be a little fidgety sometimes.The buttons have a very satisfying click to them, but yet it takes a while to get used to exact pressure that you need to apply to press the buttons — there’s a fair bit of travel to them.The speaker comes in three versions — full black, grey and black/red. The unit that was sent out to us is the black/red one, MKBHD style.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramI managed to test the F1 in a very in-depth manner. My old Sony LCD TV was dying, so I thought of watching the ongoing T20 World Cup on my 23″ monitor. A bit (never thought I could be this鑱絜uphemistic) small, but it was worth it considering the fresh LED panel had ‘young’ pixels. Then the audio — what better time to test the speakers!On a single charge, I managed to watch 2 full 3 hour matches. I’m not sure if the F1 has subwoofer at the back, but it managed some superb audio with precisely the right amount of bass. I couldn’t risk running out of battery mid-match, so I let it charge before the next match started.The product page claims life of 10 to 12 hours, which is very impressive. As you just read, I tested it for 6-7 hours and had no issues whatsoever.The F1 also features an IPX5 body, which means it is splash-, shock- and dust-proof.For a $34 gadget, I think the F1 hits the sweet spot. But then there’s something that’ll be a ‘no issue’ for some, but a deal breaker for many: the lack of an SD card slot. BlitzWolf probably want to be looked upon as a ‘premium’ lifestyle brand, which perhaps explains the lack of flexibility here.BlitzWolf F1 Bluetooth Speaker Review: Picture Gallery BlitzWolf F1 Bluetooth Speaker Review: Spec Comparison with the Xiaomi Bluetooth SpeakerBlitzWolf F1Xiaomi Bluetooth SpeakerDriver Size45mm x 236mm x 2Speaker Wattage5W x 23W x 2Battery (Life)1800mAh (10-12 hours)1500mAh (8 hours)That said, you’re been warned: there’s no microSD slot on the speaker. I don’t store my music on my phone, so a microSD slot is of utmost importance to me and others who like to keep their phones organised like me. And that is a shame… because I’d take the F1’s sound over the Xiaomi’s any day, but the latter (Chinese version thereof) has a microSD slot that gives it a huge advantage. BlitzWolf F1 – Buy鑱絅owalso on AmazonBlitzWolf is a brand I鑱絚ame across not long ago, but so far, I’m sold. They鑱絛on’t have a lot of products in their kitty as yet, but additions keep coming every now and then; mostly from鑱絫he accessories category.A few days back, we reviewed the BlitzWolf VR headset, which I thought is quite a nifty gadget that every tech enthusiast should own. After all, we’re now even having phone launches in VR!Coming back to BlitzWolf, this time round, I spent a few days with their new BlitzWolf F1 Bluetooth Speaker. As you’d have guessed, this gadget goes head-on with the new and improved Xiaomi Bluetooth Speaker.Both gadgets sport an extremely similar form factor; the F1 is however cheaper for international buyers at $34.99 shipped (purchase link at the bottom of this review) compared to the ~$45 asking price of the Xiaomi speaker at reseller stores.Let’s take a quick look at the specifications of the BlitzWolf F1:Bluetooth 4.0Aux in support2 x 45mm, 5W drivers1800mAh batteryAluminium bodyInside the box, you get an aux cable, a micro USB cable, a wrist strap and the user’s manual besides the speaker itself.Here’s a video from the factory demonstrating the speaker:BlitzWolf F1 Bluetooth Speaker ReviewRight out of the box, the F1 feels like something legit. It doesn’t feel like a product developed just for the sake of it; and that’s exactly what I’m liking about BlitzWolf so far.The metal-plus-rubber duo takes it鑱絝ar. It leaves you with a satisfactory feeling when you use the F1, although the flap that covers the micro USB and aux ports can be a little fidgety sometimes.The buttons have a very satisfying click to them, but yet it takes a while to get used to exact pressure that you need to apply to press the buttons — there’s a fair bit of travel to them.The speaker comes in three versions — full black, grey and black/red. The unit that was sent out to us is the black/red one, MKBHD style.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramI managed to test the F1 in a very in-depth manner. My old Sony LCD TV was dying, so I thought of watching the ongoing T20 World Cup on my 23″ monitor. A bit (never thought I could be this鑱絜uphemistic) small, but it was worth it considering the fresh LED panel had ‘young’ pixels. Then the audio — what better time to test the speakers!On a single charge, I managed to watch 2 full 3 hour matches. I’m not sure if the F1 has subwoofer at the back, but it managed some superb audio with precisely the right amount of bass. I couldn’t risk running out of battery mid-match, so I let it charge before the next match started.The product page claims life of 10 to 12 hours, which is very impressive. As you just read, I tested it for 6-7 hours and had no issues whatsoever.The F1 also features an IPX5 body, which means it is splash-, shock- and dust-proof.For a $34 gadget, I think the F1 hits the sweet spot. But then there’s something that’ll be a ‘no issue’ for some, but a deal breaker for many: the lack of an SD card slot. BlitzWolf probably want to be looked upon as a ‘premium’ lifestyle brand, which perhaps explains the lack of flexibility here.BlitzWolf F1 Bluetooth Speaker Review: Picture Gallery BlitzWolf F1 Bluetooth Speaker Review: Spec Comparison with the Xiaomi Bluetooth SpeakerBlitzWolf F1Xiaomi Bluetooth SpeakerDriver Size45mm x 236mm x 2Speaker Wattage5W x 23W x 2Battery (Life)1800mAh (10-12 hours)1500mAh (8 hours)That said, you’re been warned: there’s no microSD slot on the speaker. I don’t store my music on my phone, so a microSD slot is of utmost importance to me and others who like to keep their phones organised like me. And that is a shame… because I’d take the F1’s sound over the Xiaomi’s any day, but the latter (Chinese version thereof) has a microSD slot that gives it a huge advantage. BlitzWolf F1 – Buy鑱絅owalso on Amazon

The TV Box industry in China may not be as fast paced as the smartphone sector from the same region, but there are certainly some quality products being dished out.Fortunately or unfortunately, the spec war isn’t quite as intense on the TV box market as it is with phones and tablets. A bit more emphasis is on compatibility and UI.The Zidoo X7鑱絠s a new TV box that’s meant to make your ‘dumb’ TV smart, and your life a little more convenient. At $59 shipped worldwide, the Zidoo X5 is fairly affordable.鑱絎e took the TV box鑱絝or a little spin, and here’s what we think.Zidoo X5 Review: Introduction & SpecificationsZidoo isn’t the oldest name in the TV box industry, and is often overshadows by the likes of behemoths such as Minix, etc. However, Zidoo has shown interest in producing polished products, which definitely is the need of the hour at least as far as Chinese gadgets are concerned. What good is a badly optimised computer, anyway?As for the specifications of the X5, it isn’t the most powerful — the $59 price tag would’ve given you a fair idea about that. That makes it obvious that the X5 isn’t made for hard-core gaming, but mainly for web-browsing and video consumption.Let’s take a look at the full spec of this new TV box:Amlogic S905 quad-core Cortex A53 processor1GB RAM8GB on-board unified storage (expandable via microSD)802.11 b/g/n WiFi10/100 Ethernet2 x USB 2.0 portsAndroid 5.1.1 LollipopThe Amlogic S905 is a fairly new quad-core chip, developed mainly for budget TV boxes (and probably tablet PCs). The S905 is a direct competitor, and often second to, the octa-core Rockchip RK3368 which is priced similarly.Zidoo X5 Review:鑱絀n the boxHere’s what you get inside the Zidoo X5 retail box:TV BoxHDMI cableIR RemotePower adapterCN->EU adapterUser’s ManualWarranty Card Zidoo X5 Review: DesignRight out of the box, the X5 looks like a pleasing, quality product. The glossy plastic along with a tapered design give the X5 a very ‘fluid’ look. Thankfully, the plastic has a coating that means it doesn’t get smudged.You’ll find the IR sensor on the front.The rear of the X5 has the following ports/buttons: reset hole,鑱紻C power socket, AV out, Ethernet port, HDMI out and optical audio out. As usual, you’re required to poke the reset hole with a pin to force reboot a not-responding TV box.The left edge of the Zidoo X5 is where you’ll find the two USB 2.0 ports and the microSD slot. Personally, I feel its a good idea to have USB and microSD slots (basically ports that you are going to use more often) on a more accessible edge (as in this case) than having everything on the rear.Nothing on the right edge.As you might have noticed, there is no power button on this TV box. It simply boots up when you connect it to a power source.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramZidoo X5 Review: Performance & UsabilityThrough the couple of weeks of usage of the Zidoo X5, I’ve been left fairly impressed with the general usability that Zidoo’s customs skin offers. They call it ZIUI (hmmm), and almost everything in the UI is changed to better suit the remote-based input on a large screen.For me, the screen is a 23-inch FHD monitor. What I noticed sadly is that the X5 does only 720p, which is definitely a bit of a shame for a 2016 TV box, however affordable it be. This setting though, can be changed for individual apps. This means that video, games and other apps can still be used at 1080p.Size compared to a 5-inch screen phoneI tried playing back鑱絭ideo with various resolution, and found that the X5 had no problems whatsoever playing video at up to 4K 30fps. 60fps at 4K is when the problems start arising. For me that isn’t a problem though, since I don’t own a 4K television. If you do, you may want to wait till either a firmware upgrade fixes this issue or another TV box around the same price manages playback.As for games, the X5 did surprisingly well with rendering them at 1080p whenever possible. Subway Surfers, Riptide GP are among the few I tried.Zidoo X5 Review: BenchmarksThe Zidoo X5 isn’t the most powerful TV box on the market today, which you need to keep in mind before deciding what you want to expect from the device.Here are some benchmark scores that the Zidoo X5 manages:AnTuTu: 35,498Geekbench Multi Core: 1599Geekbench Single Core: 535I expected slightly better benchmark scores considering how snappy the TV box felt. Benchmarks are supposed to reflect general performance, and not the other way round, isn’t it? Not an issue.Zidoo X5 Review: IR Remote While I’m happy about the included IR remote and its build quality, you definitely need an air mouse to use any TV box. It isn’t long before air mice become a standard box accessory with TV boxes such as this one.The included IR remote can be used as a ‘regular’ remote, and you can use the arrow buttons to switch between objects. Or, you could press the ‘mouse’ button, which brings a pointer on the screen which can then be controlled by the same arrow buttons. Use this feature for more precise movements. However, neither of the two are an ergonomic solution. You definitely need an air mouse, or you’re going to be left frustrated.The remote has an interesting feature though, that of ‘learning’ commands from other remotes. For this, the included remote has four programmable buttons on it, which Zidoo expect you to use with your TV: turning it on and off, volume up and down, and TV/AV. That said, nothing’s stopping you from using it with other devices — an air conditioner, for example.Zidoo X5 Review: ConclusionIf you don’t plan on playing hard core games, and want a simple and effective solution to set up a home theatre/turn your dumb TV smart, the Zidoo X5 is a great place to start. I’m hoping Zidoo support the X5 for a few months at least with regular firmware updates and such and get the 4K/60 issue ironed out as soon as possible. Buy NowBlitzwolf isn’t a brand that’s usually discussed here at GizChina, but some new interesting products have caught our attention. The Blitzwolf VR Headset happens to be one of them.At $28.99 shipped worldwide鑱?$37.99 via Amazon), the gadget is fairly affordable. And yet, it costs quite a bit more than the Google counterpart (aka, Google Cardboard — and its clones).Here’s a bit of a disclaimer though, before we proceed with the review. I’ve only tried the OnePlus Cardboard prior to using the Blitzwolf VR, so there may be things you might want to know about even after reading the review. Which is what the comments section ready for!So let’s get started with the Blitzwolf VR Headset Review!Blitzwolf VR Headset ReviewThe Blitzwolf VR Headset sits somewhere between Google’s Cardboard and Samsung’s Gear VR. In the sense that it’s more powerful than the Google Cardboard (way more), but definitely second to the Gear VR.Right off the bat, the Blitzwolf VR Headset gives the impression of being a quality product. While the materials used in construction of the unit agree with the initial feel, the precision leaves a slight bit to be desired.The gadget is, however, extremely comfortable to use. This is because it is fairly lightweight, and comes with leather padding.The USP of the Blitzwolf VR Headset is that almost everything is adjustable. In fact, the gadget also allows for eyesight correction (up to a certain level), which is a must-have feature since the leather padding doesn’t allow you to use the headset with your prescription glasses.I use prescription glasses myself (for short-sightedness/myopia), but the correction feature on this VR Headset has been satisfactory.Besides eyesight correction, the VR Headset allows for correction of Pupillary Distance (PD). In other words, you can adjust the distance between the lenses so you see one single, clear image.鑱絋his in my opinion is an extremely handy feature if you wish to use your VR headset correctly, without giving yourself a headache while using the gadget. Adjustments the headset allows:Eyesight correctionPupillary DistanceStrap adjustmentI tried a few apps on the headset, all of which worked just fine. Just in case if you own a VR headset, do try Lamper VR. It’s a lot of fun!Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramWhile on the lookout for some nice VR apps, I stumbled upon a bunch of apps that will let you view existing content in your gallery with the headset. Also, there are a few handy apps that will let you view any YouTube video with the headset! This doesn’t necessarily turn regular content into VR, but it just makes it a lot more convenient.Speaking of convenience, it is a pain in the neck to:Take the headset offRemove the phone from the holderUse your finger to control the phone…which is why, you’re highly recommended a Bluetooth controller.Like any other optical device, the lenses on this headset attract a lot of dust. It is usually a good idea to keep the headset in a drawer or something while you’re cleaning the room, and I’m speaking from experience. Thankfully though, the retail box comes with a microfibre cloth to clean the lenses.Blitzwolf VR Headset Review: Photos Blitzwolf VR Headset Review: SummaryPros Comfortable Affordable Adjustable everything Cons Wearing of prescription glasses not possible* Installing phone can be difficult Phone holder not the best designed, can result in accidental button presses *while the in-built correction mechanism covers most users, presbyopia patients might not be able to use the VR headset at all. Blitzwolf VR Heaset: Buy nowalso on AmazonI’d say the鑱紹litzwolf VR Headset is a gadget worth it’s asking price. It would be really helpful for buyers and the factory if the seller shaved a couple dollars off of the asking price of the gadget, which at鑱絫he time of鑱絯riting this review reads $28.99 (from Banggood.com; use coupon 12blitzw to get an additional 10% off).It has its shortcomings, which fortunately aren’t many. The eyesight adjustment knobs, for instance, have play in them. While not a functional shortcoming, it does give you an impression of poor QA. That said, I advice you to use the adjustment knobs simultaneously (instead of using just one, which in the long run will increase the play).

I finally finished the Lenovo Vibe X3 review. How does this feature packed, quality made smartphone stand聽up to to the competition?This is a review a lot of you have been waiting for, so I鈥檓 sorry for the delay and I hope that the final details were worth the wait.So first of all why the wait? Well as you all know I received the Chinese version of the Lenovo Vibe X3 and this means that it has no Google services, but unlike other phones (Vivo, Xiaomi etc) Lenovo have looked down the Vibe X3 as tight as possible to prevent Google services from being installed through the usual methods.As the phone launched in India recently I hoped that if I waited Lenovo would release the international ROM and I could simply flash the phone, but this hasn鈥檛 happened yet. So with time running out and the desire to try a new phone I just went ahead and reviewed the phone without any Google services at all.Lenovo Vibe X3 review – DesignLenovo have used a few styling details that we have said were a no no on other phones in the past. For example that is a black border all around the display, and there are wide bezels, but somehow (at least in my eyes) the Vibe X3 actually looks pretty good.I know not all of you are going to agree with me on the looks of the phone, but actually having it and physically using it I quite like the design.Even if you don鈥檛 like the look of the phone, I think you can agree that the added bonus of having hardware buttons and dual front facing speakers are features enough to look past the look. Even if then you can鈥檛 agree, then the quality build and materials are still there to win you over.Those materials are glass plastic a metal. Glass across most of the front of the phone, metal for the frame and plastic for all the while parts. It鈥檚 a good quality plastic though, with a similar soft touch feel as the original OnePlus, and funnily enough the build quality reminds me of an Oppo.So now you know that this is a well made and solid device let鈥檚 take a tour around the phone to take in the features.At the very top of the face of the phone we have one of the front speaker grills, the curved design is cloned on the chin where the second front facing speaker grill is located.In between the two Dolby Atmos speakers are the is a 5.5-inch FHD display protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3. Just above the screen is a front facing 8 mega-pixel camera, while below we have hardware controls with no back lights.Around the sides of the Lenovo Vibe X3 is a CNC machined alloy frame. A dual SIM slot is located on the left, 3.5mm headphone jack and IR remote in the top, power and volume buttons on the right and a micro USB (not Type C) in the base.The curved metal frame is finished with a non removable plastic rear panel. As already mentioned it’s a good quality plastic with a soft to the touch finish.In the top center there is an extended alloy oval where the 20 mega-pixel rear camera, dual tone LED flash and fingerprint scanner are located. We also have a Lenovo logo, and some other markings at the base of the phone.Dimensions are 154 x 76.5 x 9.3, which you will see add up to a phone that is a little bigger than most other 5.5-inch phones, but remember that the Lenovo Vibe X3 has those dual front speakers and also have a ton of hardware features while maintaining a sensible price point.Lenovo Vibe X3 Review – HardwareRemember while reading this section of the review that my version of the Lenovo Vibe X3 is from China so I am following the specifications laid out on the Chinese Lenovo website. I am pretty confident that these are the same specs as the model that launched in India, but I suggest you double check them for yourselves.In China there are 3 versions of the Lenovo Vibe X3, the model I chose is the XC50, which has all the features of the top end model but with only 32GB memory, but that鈥檚 fine as the Lenovo has an option to run a micro SD card in place of one of its SIM cards.Again I鈥檒l start at the front and with the screen, which is a superb piece of kit. Although this isn鈥檛 an AMOLED display the colours are bright and everything just seems to pop off the panel. It’s a very responsive display too, just the lightest touch will be noticed, but Lenovo have been careful with the coding so that it won鈥檛 register accidental swipes and bumps.Next we have those dual front facing speakers which are just perfect for filling a room (or car) with music. This past weekend I used the Vibe X3 and its front speakers as our car radio and GPS, and even on half volume you could easily hear the audio over the growl of my ageing boxer engine.There is a Dolby Atmos setting on the phone (you can easily toggle it on or off in the notification area) so if you have a movie with Atmos you can experience the 3D surround sound from the phone. I was sceptical at first, but it does work amazingly well and offers a better audio experience to my home TV. If you get a chance to demo the Vibe X3 there are some sample Atmos videos on YouTube which will let you experience rain and storms in the forest or a helicopter flying right over you. Plug in a set of earphones and you will be treated with impeccable audio quality. From the built in music application you have access to the Atmos settings, and HIFi settings. From the HIFI options you can chose either standard HIFI or Turbo HIFI. We鈥檙e looking at a Vivo rival here people.Also on the front is the 8 mega-pixel front camera. It s simple fixed focus sensor with no LED flash, but the default SNAPit camera application has a ton of features from face beautification, to a very good selfie panoramic mode (good for getting a group of people in to a photo).Moving through the Lenovo Vibe X3 and on to the inside of the phone we uncover the guts of the device, a Snapdragon 808 Hexacore, with 3GB LP DDR3 RAM and 32GB eMMC internal memory. The dual SIM tray allows for use of either a nano and micro SIM or a nano SIM plus SD card of up to 128GB.Also internally there is a 3600mAh battery, and some serious audio hardware including a ESS ES9018K2M DAC, TIOPA1612 amp and Wolfon WM8281 audio codec. For those of you wanting easy sync with accessories and use contactless payments, there is NFC inside too.Battery life has been pretty good and I can get about a day and a half from the phone on a single charge, which isn鈥檛 as much as the Vivo X6 Plus, but then again the Lenovo doesn鈥檛 have the bugs and also has a smaller battery.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramFinally on to the rear of the phone and we have the main camera. This is a 21 mega-pixel sensor with F2.0 aperture, PDAF (phase detection auto focus) 6p lens and dual tone dual LED flash. More on the camera in the camera portion of the review.Last but not least is the fingerprint sensor. It鈥檚 another top quality sensor with a larger area for your print to press up against. Speed of the fingerprint is almost instant, and accuracy is right up there too, but not quite has good as that on the Vivo X6 Plus we reviewed last week.For those of you needing the network support details for the Chinese version of the Lenovo Vibe X3 here they are:2G GSM: Band2,3,5,83G WCDMA: Band1,2,5,8 3GTD-SCDMA: Band34,394G FDD-LTE: Band1,3,74G TDD-LTE: Band38,39,40,41NW (2555MHz-2655MHz)Lenovo Vibe X3 Review – PerformanceLenovo have done a good job with the optimisation of the Snapdragon 808 and 3GB RAM inside this phone and their own UI. The performance has been consistent and bug free from the start. Sorry GFXBench would not run. Lenovo Vibe X3 Review – CameraThis weekend presented me with the perfect opportunity to test the rear 21 mega-pixel camera on the Lenovo Vibe X3, we we visited Valencia and the excellent BioParc. Artistic automotive HDR mode Smart mode sample Valencia is a great city with beautiful architecture, and this time I was based around the park area with all the modern buildings (where Disney鈥檚 Tomorrow Land was filmed) Art Nightscape mode reduces noise but causes an oil painting effect Art Nightscape mode reduces noise but causes an oil painting effect I already wrote an article detailing some of the features of the Lenovo Vibe X3鈥檚 camera here, and I decided to use the phone in 鈥榮mart鈥 mode consistently with just a switch to 鈥榓rtistic HDR鈥 or 鈥榙efocus鈥 modes just to try them out now and then.With the smart mode enabled the default SNAPit app will try to figure out what you are shooting and based on the lighting conditions decide if you need HDR on or not. It will also make changes if it thinks you are trying to take photos of landscapes, people or food too.Panoramic SelfieThe speed the app works with the quality of the photos is very good. Yes, there are better camera phones on the market, but the Lenovo offers a ton of excellent features in an easy to use and fast package. It鈥檚 hard not to enjoy taking photos with the Vibe X3.Defocus modeOne detail that you should be aware of is that the lenses on the camera tend to show a much closer photo than most other smartphones. This means you have to take a few steps back than usual for some photos, and in confined spaces it means you may not be able to get all the detail you want in to your photo. On the flip side close-ups are much better.Lemur close up. This chap tried to grab the Vibe X3 for himself.Below are some sample photos taken in various lighting conditions. Keep in mind that some聽of the photos of animal were taken聽with the digital zoom all the way in, while others I was really that close.Lenovo Vibe X3 photos samples Lenovo Vibe X3 Review – Vibe UII鈥檝e already mentioned a few times that this is a Chinese version of the Lenovo Vibe X3 so throughout my time with the phone I had no access to Google services. At first I though that this would be a hassle but in the end I feel I had a much better weekend as I was able to keep away from email, and constant calendar reminders. But as an every day device I would really want to have Google working, and this is easily possible by choosing the India version of the phone. As for Vibe UI, I do like it. It鈥檚 much better than previous Lenovo ROMs, it has a stylish look and most importantly its feature packed and really well optimised. I have also received a couple of updates and while I don鈥檛 notice any new features, I also don鈥檛 have any new bugs or problems either (take notice OnePlus).Lenovo Vibe X3 Review – SpecificationsModel:Lenovo Vibe X3Sim Card:Dual SIMColor:WhiteCapacityRAM: 3GBROM: 32GBMulti-LanguagesEnglish, ChineseChipsetCPU:聽Qualcomm Hexacore聽Snapdragon聽808SystemAndroid 5.1ScreenDisplay: 5.5-inchResolution:聽1920 x 1080CameraRear camera: 21 mega-pixel F2.0, PDAFFront camera: 8 mega-pixelNetwork and Wireless Connectivity2G GSM: Band2,3,5,83G WCDMA: Band1,2,5,8 3GTD-SCDMA: Band34,394G FDD-LTE: Band1,3,74G TDD-LTE: Band38,39,40,41NW (2555MHz-2655MHz)Battery capacity and life3600mAhSensorG-sensor, P-sensor,聽NFCOther FeaturesFingerprint scannerSizeDimensions: 154 x 76.5 x 9.3WeightAbout 175gLenovo Vibe X3 Review – Gallery Lenovo Vibe X3 Review – ConclusionThe Lenovo Vibe X3 is the most feature packed Android smartphone on the market at this price. It has amazing build quality, a wonderful screen and a fast camera with fun camera application.The performance of the phone is spot on, audio is amazing and build quality is on par with phones costing double the price.This is the phone that ZUK should have made, they should have just rebranded it and offered CM on it and they would have really made an impact on the market.Vivo gave us their Vivo X6 Plus A for review during MWC, and with a good few week under my belt with the phone its time to hand in my full review.Vivo really made an impression on me with the Vivo Xplay3S and the Xshot. Those were phones I bought myself and loved from the day I opened the box, and still love now. But later phone launches really didn鈥檛 impress. For example the X5 was a huge disappointment.The Vivo X6 Plus A though is one of their newer device, and with some optimizations could the X6 solve the issues I had with the X5, and make me a true Vivo fan once again?Vivo X6 Plus A Review – DesignVivo like their stablemate Oppo, have been heavily influenced by the current iPhone design, so what we have here is basically an iPhone 6S Plus look-a-like, with a few changes.There is no physical home button for one, and instead the (amazingly fast) fingerprint scanner is on the rear of the phone. Also, the display on the Vivo is a larger 5.7-inch model too.The overall design of the Vivo X6 Plus isn鈥檛 one that really impresses, sure its a well made premium device, but it’s not the most stylish phone.The white face of the phone is very traditional and could look like a smartphone launched a few years ago. The only modern inclusion is the 2.5D front glass panel.A unibody metal design makes up the rest of the gold phone. The rear has that square fingerprint scanner, a 13 mega-pixel rear camera and LED flash. It鈥檚 finished in light gold or 鈥榗hampagne鈥 and has the Vivo logo in the middle.The CNC machined body has a border around the rear before it meets the slightly curved edge where the dual SIM tray, 3.5mm headphone jack, and power and volume buttons are all located.In the base is a standard USB which used Vivo鈥檚 dual engine fast charging and there are 8 holes to the left for the main speaker (which is very high quality for listening to music and movies), and 3 holes on the right for a microphone.Dimensions for the Vivo X6 Plus A are 158.16 脳 79.94 脳 7.7mm which is good considering the phone has a 4000mAh battery inside. The battery does mean the phone is heavy though with an official weight of 190g.Overall, as mentioned above, the phone is really well made with high quality materials, but the design is really very unoriginal and uninspiring.Vivo X6 Plus A Review – HardwareVivo offer multiple versions of the Vivo X6 Plus, but my model is the Vivo X6 Plus A. This version of the phone comes with some pretty impressive hardware features which we are now going to talk through from front to back.The very top of the phone, just between the Vivo logo and receiver, is where the 8 mega-pixel fixed focus front camera can be found. Use this camera only when there is decent lighting as I discovered after trying to take a selfie with Hugo Barra in Barcelona!Below the front camera things start to look up with a 5.7-inch 1920 x 1080 display. Vivo have gone for a Super AMOLED model which means vibrant colours and really natural blacks. Using this screen also means you can help increase battery life by opting for a black wallpaper, not that I ever felt the need as battery life is incredible.Capacitive buttons on the chin of the phone do not light up and are arranged with the option button on the left, home in the middle and back on the right.Moving through the phone we come across a 4000mAh battery which is charged via Vivo鈥檚 dual engine fast charging. Charging initially kicks off and is fast and progressively slows until the phone is at 100%. My charging times using the Vivo supplied fast charger with 1 hour and 45 minutes.Battery life is by far the killer feature of the Vivo X6 Plus A. In the past I have been surprised with Vivo鈥檚 battery optimisation, and they have continued to do an amazing job with the this phone. During MWC I was using data, WIFI, and the camera heavily throughout the day, but the X6 Plus just soldiered on all day and all night.While we鈥檙e in the phone we can also mention that the X6 Plus A has a Snapdragon 616 octacore chipset, 4GB RAM and 64GB memory. Those are solid specs, but during my time with the phone I did feel that Vivo鈥檚 Funtouch isn鈥檛 really taking full advantage of the hardware on offer, and I did suffer from some very slow media load times, and a few application and launcher hang ups.If you like music you are going to love the Vivo X6 Plus A. Vivo are known for their HIFI audio and it is no different on this phone. Two chipsets are built-in to the phone, one an ES9028 and the other an ES9603 amplifier. Together with a decent set of headphones they create amazing audio, you owe it to yourself to at least listen to a Vivo phone once.On the rear we have a 13 mega-pixel camera with PDAF (phase detection auto focus). This camera has an F2.2 aperture, and single LED flash but I鈥檒l go in to more details below.The final detail is the fingerprint scanner, which is the fastest fingerprint scanner out there right now! Not only is this the fastest it is the most accurate too. No other smartphone I own has fingerprint recognition on the level of the Vivo X6 Plus, not one of them, not even close.Vivo X6 Plus A Review – PerformanceThis is where things take a bit of a turn. I already mentioned above that the hardware is all top-notch stuff, but Vivo haven鈥檛 really done the best of jobs getting their Funtouch ROM to run nicely. The phone has a hell of a lot of potential but with the current version of Funtouch there are occasional lags, force closes and online media can take a seriously long time to load.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramI feel that the OPX is more responsive as a day-to-day phone, and I seriously hope Vivo perform some decent OTA updates to solve these slow down issues soon. Vivo X6 Plus A Review – CameraVivo didn鈥檛 make the X6 Plus A as a camera phone, so they haven鈥檛 really gone over the top with the features. What you get is a 13 mega-pixel F2.2 main camera with fast PDAF and a single LED flash.F2.2 on a phone with a premium price is not what we are expecting, but at least Vivo have managed to give the phone a decent set of lenses this time around, and the Funtouch camera application is packed to the brim with great features.The camera offers a nice wide view so you can get a little more creative with it than other models, and overall image quality and colour reproduction is ok. I鈥檝e been able to live with the camera for the past few weeks, but as someone who really enjoys taking mobile photos I can鈥檛 wait to move on to something with a few more bells and whistles. I tended to find myself using HDR more often with the Vivo to get more vibrant colours.Below are some sample photos. All the photos taken at night used the 鈥榥ight鈥 mode, which gives a sort of oil paining effect but drastically reduces the noise. Vivo X6 Plus A Review – FuntouchNow and then Funtouch will slow down or hang up, but when it is running well its a superb OS and one of my personal favourites.There is a learning curve, for example you swipe up from the bottom of the screen to get to your toggles, brightness control and task manager rather than hold down the option key, but once you do get use to it good to use, even if it does have a few quirks.Notifications are an issue for me. SMS, and phone calls show up in the notification area fine, but I tend to use WeChat for most of my communications and the Vivo won鈥檛 tell me if I miss a video call. Normally I would put that down to the phone being a Chinese model, but the app is Chinese too.One issue for international buyers is the fact that the Vivo X6 Plus A is a China only device, and doesn鈥檛 come with Google Services. As you can see though I do have Google on my phone, and I wrote up a guide so you can also get Google on your Vivo here.Even with Google on the phone though there are problems. Many of the apps from the Google Play store say they are not compatible with the phone. So Facebook and Facebook Messenger need to be downloaded from Vivo鈥檚 app store rather than the official Google Play store (I came across the same issue with some benchmark apps too). Another problem is with Google Music. Opening this app will cause the phone to have a UI error and the launcher crash. It’s not a huge issues as all you have to do is unlock your phone and open the app again and it will work without issue, but it is a bug that needs to be pointed out as it likely will never get fixed (unless an international version of the phone comes out).Vivo X6 Plus A – SpecificationsModel:Vivo X6 Plus ASim Card:Dual SIM,dual standby (Dual Micro SIM)Color:White and GoldCapacityRAM: 4GBROM: 64GBMulti-LanguagesEnglish, ChineseChipsetCPU:聽Qualcomm 1.7Ghz 8 core Snapdragon 616SystemAndroid 5.1ScreenDisplay: 5.7-inch Super AMOLEDResolution:聽1920 x 1080 CameraRear camera: 13 megapixel PDAF, F2.4Front camera: 8 mega-pixelNetwork and Wireless Connectivity2G GSM850/900/1800 / 1900MHz2G CDMA800MHz3G CDMA2000800MHz3G TD-SCDMA1880 / 2010MHz3G WCDMA850/900/1900 / 2100MHz4G TDD-LTEB38 / B39 / B40 / B41FDD-LTE 4GB1 / B3Battery capacity and life4000mAhDual Engine fast chargeSensorG-sensor, P-sensor, FM radioOther FeaturesFingerprint scannerSizeDimensions:158.16 脳 79.94 脳 7.7mmWeightAbout 190gVivo X6 Plus A – Gallery Vivo X6 Plus A – ConclusionI am personally very happy with the Vivo X6 Plus A. It has wonderful build, class leading battery life, the best fingerprint scanner on a mobile phone to date and audio is just mind blowing.My issues with the phone are the bugs and lags I experienced with Funtouch, the non-existent official support for Google Services and apps, and the plain design. It鈥檚 also an expensive phone to export from China too (Chinese price is $491, add the reseller mark up and you will be close to $600).Vivo gave us their Vivo X6 Plus A for review during MWC, and with a good few week under my belt with the phone its time to hand in my full review.Vivo really made an impression on me with the Vivo Xplay3S and the Xshot. Those were phones I bought myself and loved from the day I opened the box, and still love now. But later phone launches really didn鈥檛 impress. For example the X5 was a huge disappointment.The Vivo X6 Plus A though is one of their newer device, and with some optimizations could the X6 solve the issues I had with the X5, and make me a true Vivo fan once again?Vivo X6 Plus A Review – DesignVivo like their stablemate Oppo, have been heavily influenced by the current iPhone design, so what we have here is basically an iPhone 6S Plus look-a-like, with a few changes.There is no physical home button for one, and instead the (amazingly fast) fingerprint scanner is on the rear of the phone. Also, the display on the Vivo is a larger 5.7-inch model too.The overall design of the Vivo X6 Plus isn鈥檛 one that really impresses, sure its a well made premium device, but it’s not the most stylish phone.The white face of the phone is very traditional and could look like a smartphone launched a few years ago. The only modern inclusion is the 2.5D front glass panel.A unibody metal design makes up the rest of the gold phone. The rear has that square fingerprint scanner, a 13 mega-pixel rear camera and LED flash. It鈥檚 finished in light gold or 鈥榗hampagne鈥 and has the Vivo logo in the middle.The CNC machined body has a border around the rear before it meets the slightly curved edge where the dual SIM tray, 3.5mm headphone jack, and power and volume buttons are all located.In the base is a standard USB which used Vivo鈥檚 dual engine fast charging and there are 8 holes to the left for the main speaker (which is very high quality for listening to music and movies), and 3 holes on the right for a microphone.Dimensions for the Vivo X6 Plus A are 158.16 脳 79.94 脳 7.7mm which is good considering the phone has a 4000mAh battery inside. The battery does mean the phone is heavy though with an official weight of 190g.Overall, as mentioned above, the phone is really well made with high quality materials, but the design is really very unoriginal and uninspiring.Vivo X6 Plus A Review – HardwareVivo offer multiple versions of the Vivo X6 Plus, but my model is the Vivo X6 Plus A. This version of the phone comes with some pretty impressive hardware features which we are now going to talk through from front to back.The very top of the phone, just between the Vivo logo and receiver, is where the 8 mega-pixel fixed focus front camera can be found. Use this camera only when there is decent lighting as I discovered after trying to take a selfie with Hugo Barra in Barcelona!Below the front camera things start to look up with a 5.7-inch 1920 x 1080 display. Vivo have gone for a Super AMOLED model which means vibrant colours and really natural blacks. Using this screen also means you can help increase battery life by opting for a black wallpaper, not that I ever felt the need as battery life is incredible.Capacitive buttons on the chin of the phone do not light up and are arranged with the option button on the left, home in the middle and back on the right.Moving through the phone we come across a 4000mAh battery which is charged via Vivo鈥檚 dual engine fast charging. Charging initially kicks off and is fast and progressively slows until the phone is at 100%. My charging times using the Vivo supplied fast charger with 1 hour and 45 minutes.Battery life is by far the killer feature of the Vivo X6 Plus A. In the past I have been surprised with Vivo鈥檚 battery optimisation, and they have continued to do an amazing job with the this phone. During MWC I was using data, WIFI, and the camera heavily throughout the day, but the X6 Plus just soldiered on all day and all night.While we鈥檙e in the phone we can also mention that the X6 Plus A has a Snapdragon 616 octacore chipset, 4GB RAM and 64GB memory. Those are solid specs, but during my time with the phone I did feel that Vivo鈥檚 Funtouch isn鈥檛 really taking full advantage of the hardware on offer, and I did suffer from some very slow media load times, and a few application and launcher hang ups.If you like music you are going to love the Vivo X6 Plus A. Vivo are known for their HIFI audio and it is no different on this phone. Two chipsets are built-in to the phone, one an ES9028 and the other an ES9603 amplifier. Together with a decent set of headphones they create amazing audio, you owe it to yourself to at least listen to a Vivo phone once.On the rear we have a 13 mega-pixel camera with PDAF (phase detection auto focus). This camera has an F2.2 aperture, and single LED flash but I鈥檒l go in to more details below.The final detail is the fingerprint scanner, which is the fastest fingerprint scanner out there right now! Not only is this the fastest it is the most accurate too. No other smartphone I own has fingerprint recognition on the level of the Vivo X6 Plus, not one of them, not even close.Vivo X6 Plus A Review – PerformanceThis is where things take a bit of a turn. I already mentioned above that the hardware is all top-notch stuff, but Vivo haven鈥檛 really done the best of jobs getting their Funtouch ROM to run nicely. The phone has a hell of a lot of potential but with the current version of Funtouch there are occasional lags, force closes and online media can take a seriously long time to load.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramI feel that the OPX is more responsive as a day-to-day phone, and I seriously hope Vivo perform some decent OTA updates to solve these slow down issues soon. Vivo X6 Plus A Review – CameraVivo didn鈥檛 make the X6 Plus A as a camera phone, so they haven鈥檛 really gone over the top with the features. What you get is a 13 mega-pixel F2.2 main camera with fast PDAF and a single LED flash.F2.2 on a phone with a premium price is not what we are expecting, but at least Vivo have managed to give the phone a decent set of lenses this time around, and the Funtouch camera application is packed to the brim with great features.The camera offers a nice wide view so you can get a little more creative with it than other models, and overall image quality and colour reproduction is ok. I鈥檝e been able to live with the camera for the past few weeks, but as someone who really enjoys taking mobile photos I can鈥檛 wait to move on to something with a few more bells and whistles. I tended to find myself using HDR more often with the Vivo to get more vibrant colours.Below are some sample photos. All the photos taken at night used the 鈥榥ight鈥 mode, which gives a sort of oil paining effect but drastically reduces the noise. Vivo X6 Plus A Review – FuntouchNow and then Funtouch will slow down or hang up, but when it is running well its a superb OS and one of my personal favourites.There is a learning curve, for example you swipe up from the bottom of the screen to get to your toggles, brightness control and task manager rather than hold down the option key, but once you do get use to it good to use, even if it does have a few quirks.Notifications are an issue for me. SMS, and phone calls show up in the notification area fine, but I tend to use WeChat for most of my communications and the Vivo won鈥檛 tell me if I miss a video call. Normally I would put that down to the phone being a Chinese model, but the app is Chinese too.One issue for international buyers is the fact that the Vivo X6 Plus A is a China only device, and doesn鈥檛 come with Google Services. As you can see though I do have Google on my phone, and I wrote up a guide so you can also get Google on your Vivo here.Even with Google on the phone though there are problems. Many of the apps from the Google Play store say they are not compatible with the phone. So Facebook and Facebook Messenger need to be downloaded from Vivo鈥檚 app store rather than the official Google Play store (I came across the same issue with some benchmark apps too). Another problem is with Google Music. Opening this app will cause the phone to have a UI error and the launcher crash. It’s not a huge issues as all you have to do is unlock your phone and open the app again and it will work without issue, but it is a bug that needs to be pointed out as it likely will never get fixed (unless an international version of the phone comes out).Vivo X6 Plus A – SpecificationsModel:Vivo X6 Plus ASim Card:Dual SIM,dual standby (Dual Micro SIM)Color:White and GoldCapacityRAM: 4GBROM: 64GBMulti-LanguagesEnglish, ChineseChipsetCPU:聽Qualcomm 1.7Ghz 8 core Snapdragon 616SystemAndroid 5.1ScreenDisplay: 5.7-inch Super AMOLEDResolution:聽1920 x 1080 CameraRear camera: 13 megapixel PDAF, F2.4Front camera: 8 mega-pixelNetwork and Wireless Connectivity2G GSM850/900/1800 / 1900MHz2G CDMA800MHz3G CDMA2000800MHz3G TD-SCDMA1880 / 2010MHz3G WCDMA850/900/1900 / 2100MHz4G TDD-LTEB38 / B39 / B40 / B41FDD-LTE 4GB1 / B3Battery capacity and life4000mAhDual Engine fast chargeSensorG-sensor, P-sensor, FM radioOther FeaturesFingerprint scannerSizeDimensions:158.16 脳 79.94 脳 7.7mmWeightAbout 190gVivo X6 Plus A – Gallery Vivo X6 Plus A – ConclusionI am personally very happy with the Vivo X6 Plus A. It has wonderful build, class leading battery life, the best fingerprint scanner on a mobile phone to date and audio is just mind blowing.My issues with the phone are the bugs and lags I experienced with Funtouch, the non-existent official support for Google Services and apps, and the plain design. It鈥檚 also an expensive phone to export from China too (Chinese price is $491, add the reseller mark up and you will be close to $600).Wide-angle lenses for smartphones are nothing new, but this is the first time we have tested them here on GizChina.com, so how does the Gizcam wide-angle lens system perform?Gizcam are a relatively new brand that specialises in camera accessories for smartphones and action cameras. Their range of products includes universal lens kits for smartphones and hand-held gimbals that can be used with action cameras or smartphones.Gizcam Wide-angle lens review – in the boxThe simple cardboard box is filled with a foam insert to keep the glass lens nice and safe while in transit. In addition to the wide-angle lens, there is also a simple plastic clip, microfiber cloth, cloth carry case and lens cap included.Gizcam Wide-angle lens review – design and useThe plastic clip has a rubber foot so that it won’t mark the screen of your phone, and is designed to fit a wide variety of smartphones, but its the placement of the camera which will determine of the lens will be compatible with your phone or not.Generally speaking if the camera on your phone is located in the top right, top left, or top centre this kit should work find for you. I used the kit on the Xiaomi Mi Note, OnePlus X and Vivo X6 Plus without issue, but I couldn’t get it to work with the Meizu MX5 or OnePlus 2 due to their camera location.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramFitting the Gizcam wide-angle lens is a snap, quite literally it just snaps in to position. However, I do find that it is much easier to set up on a phone with a slight bezel around the rear camera as it helps to locate the lens easier. Not, getting the lens centered will result in blurred images.The lens itself is a super wide-angle design and is fitted to a solid alloy body. The unit is quite heavy and will make your phone top-heavy when in use, but the included plastic clip offers more than enough grip to keep it in place even on thinner phones.According to the Gizcam specs the lens in their wide-angle kit offers 238 degree views. It’s not possible for me to measure this, but I can tell you that the lens offers such a wide view that its possible to capture your hand (holding the phone) in photos. In fact my hand is in view to the right of some of these sample photos.Gizcam Wide-angle lens review – photo samples Gizcam Wide-angle lens review – conclusion

Wide-angle lenses for smartphones are nothing new, but this is the first time we have tested them here on GizChina.com, so how does the Gizcam wide-angle lens system perform?Gizcam are a relatively new brand that specialises in camera accessories for smartphones and action cameras. Their range of products includes universal lens kits for smartphones and hand-held gimbals that can be used with action cameras or smartphones.Gizcam Wide-angle lens review – in the boxThe simple cardboard box is filled with a foam insert to keep the glass lens nice and safe while in transit. In addition to the wide-angle lens, there is also a simple plastic clip, microfiber cloth, cloth carry case and lens cap included.Gizcam Wide-angle lens review – design and useThe plastic clip has a rubber foot so that it won’t mark the screen of your phone, and is designed to fit a wide variety of smartphones, but its the placement of the camera which will determine of the lens will be compatible with your phone or not.Generally speaking if the camera on your phone is located in the top right, top left, or top centre this kit should work find for you. I used the kit on the Xiaomi Mi Note, OnePlus X and Vivo X6 Plus without issue, but I couldn’t get it to work with the Meizu MX5 or OnePlus 2 due to their camera location.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramFitting the Gizcam wide-angle lens is a snap, quite literally it just snaps in to position. However, I do find that it is much easier to set up on a phone with a slight bezel around the rear camera as it helps to locate the lens easier. Not, getting the lens centered will result in blurred images.The lens itself is a super wide-angle design and is fitted to a solid alloy body. The unit is quite heavy and will make your phone top-heavy when in use, but the included plastic clip offers more than enough grip to keep it in place even on thinner phones.According to the Gizcam specs the lens in their wide-angle kit offers 238 degree views. It’s not possible for me to measure this, but I can tell you that the lens offers such a wide view that its possible to capture your hand (holding the phone) in photos. In fact my hand is in view to the right of some of these sample photos.Gizcam Wide-angle lens review – photo samples Gizcam Wide-angle lens review – conclusionIn a new feature we are calling Fresh Goods Friday (shamelessly borrowed from Singletrackworld) we plan to post an update of all the latest goodies we have in the office waiting for review.Each Friday we plan to update you all with the latest products we have received for review, this way you all get a to know what to expect in the coming week (and I can finally get a little more organised).This week’s fresh goods are as follows:Vivo X6 Plus AI already mentioned earlier on in the week that Vivo had been very kind to give us their new Vivo X6 Plus for review, but what I got wrong were the specifications. Vivo actually gave me the Vivo X6 Plus A, so instead of the Mediatek MT6752 the phone boasts a Qualcomm Snapdragon 616 chipset with 4GB RAM (sorry for the mix up).Other features are a 5.7-inch 1920 x 1080 AMOLED display, 64GB memory, 13 mega-pixel rear camera, 8 mega-pixel front, and rear fingerprint scanner.So far I have been really impressed with the battery life on this phone with it giving me 2 days of heavy usage during MWC (while my OPX game up by the afternoon). Hands on video later today, and full review next week (promise).Check out the Vivo Global site.Gizcam Professional HD Super Wide Angle LensNo, we haven’t started are own accessory brand (although that’s not a bad idea). The Gizcam wide-angle lens clips over your phones existing rear camera to give you a super wide鑱?38鎺 view.鑱 The lens is constructed of thick glass with a metal body and come with a lens cap, microfiber cloth, small carry bag and plastic clip with rubber foot to prevent scratches on your screen. The design of the clip will limit which phones you can use the lens to those with the camera near to the very top of the phone e.g Vivo X6 Plus, iPhone, Xiaomi Mi5, Mi4, Mi Note etc, it won’t fit on the OnePlus 2 and I don’t think it would work on a Meizu either.Here’s a sample photo with the lens attached to the Vivo X6 Plus A.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramCheck out my Instagram: andisykesGizcam Wide Angle Lens on AmazonGizcam 3-in-1 lens kitAnother simple clip on kit by Gizcam this time comprising of a fish eye lens, macro lens and wide-angle lens (110鎺?. This time you get 2 clips鑱?1 for each lens). The fish eye lens has just the fish eye feature, but removing the outer lens on the smaller wide-angle unit converts it to a macro lens. The kit also comes with a cloth and bag too.Gizcam 3-in-1 lens kit on AmazonGizcam Redfox 3 axis hand-held gyroGizcam has also sent over their hand-held gyro. There are 2 versions of this steady cam ours is the model for action cameras, but there is another that can be used for smartphones. The stabilizer comes with a built-in battery that powers the motors in the gyro and can also power your action camera, I’ve only quickly tested it with a GoPro, but it will also work with Xiao Yi cameras too.Gizcam Redfox on Amazon.Anker Powercore 10050 mAh battery with quick charge 2.0Anker had a range of great battery packs and chargers on show at MWC and they were kind enough to supply us with their 10050mAh battery back with Qualcomm Quick Charge 2.0 technology.The battery back is made with an alloy main body, features a button with 10 LED notification lights, and a single USB. Anker also make a range of Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 batteries and chargers too.Anker Powercore 10050mAh battery on Amazon.

We’ve put the Elephone P9000 through its paces and come to a conclusion, find out what that is in our Elephone P9000 review.The Elephone P9000 is the first phone from Elephone that I know of that leaked, was announced and then launched in a matter of weeks. This is a far cry from Elephone’s past launches which saw a phone leaked and then ultimately launch 12 months later.So is the Elephone P9000 the phone which could turn Elephone’s image around?Elephone P9000 Review – UnboxingElephone P9000 Review – DesignElephone have actually gotten a few of the design details of the Elephone P9000 right for a change.For starters the bezels on the phone are actually really super thin. For鑱絘 5.5-inch smartphone the Elephone P9000 is one of the more compact designs out there.Elephone have also put more attention to detail in the metal frame on the P9000 which has helped give the phone a clean look while maintaining a low weight.Our black version of the P9000 features a 5.5-inch FHD display up front with front 8 mega-pixel camera at the top and a single hardware button on the chin of the phone.This is an interesting choice, and one that is sure to displease some. The single home button design reminds me of earlier Meizu phones. Tapping the home button once acts as a back gesture, a double-click is for getting home, and a long press opens up recent apps. If you don’t want to play around with these gestures, then you can always head in to the settings and turn on the onscreen navigation bar.The rear of the P9000 has a sandstone finish similar to (but not as rough as) the one found on the OnePlus 2. Other features found on the rear are the ELE logo, laser for the focus, 13 mega-pixel rear camera, dual LED flash and fingerprint scanner.Around the sides is the metal chassis finished in dark grey with a polished upper and lower edge. The only surprise here is the function button on the right side of the phone which can be used to launch apps. For example you can have the button set up to launch the camera from any application, however you can’t then have the button work as a shutter control (which seems like a missed opportunity to me).On the same side as the function button is a dual micro SIM tray, then we have a 3.5mm headphone jack at the top, volume and power buttons on the right, USB Type C in the base and a couple of holes for speakers. Only the drilled out holes on the right are for the external speaker.Initially I was impressed with the build of the phone, but the more I used it the more movement seemed to be evident in the physical buttons meaning an audible rattle is present.There are no gaps in the build, but as you can see in the photo above the rear panel isn’t sitting quite flush with the metal frame. It looks like it would be very notable from the photos, but in the flesh鑱絠t’s not has noticeable.Another issue I found is that the rear panel marks really easily. A few days in my bag while traveling through Europe last week has resulted in marks and scuffs making the phone look much older than it actually is.Elephone P9000 Review – HardwareThe 5.5-inch 1920 x 1080 display on the Elephone P9000 is exceptional. The screen really is beautiful with wonderful bright colours. Everyone who handled the P9000 commented on the display quality and the wonderful viewing angles.The Helio P10 chipset and 4GB RAM set up is also an impressive combo. This is our first Helio P10 powered phone and we are impressed with the performance that the SoC offers.Many of you asked how GPS is on the phone, so I tested the phone without WIFI and a SIM installed. As usual the first lock on took a little while but since then the GPS has been super fast.Elephone have given the Elephone P9000 fast charging features, but in the box there isn’t a fast charger included. You can buy the plug as an optional extra and using it will result in 0-100% charge times of around 3 hours. There is also an optional Elephone wireless charger, but using it results in much slower charge times.The battery itself is a 3000mAh cell and it was giving me a full day of battery life and 4 hours of onscreen time while I was away traveling. To be fair the phone was hunting for LTE more often that it would at home as I was using data roaming, plus I shot a lot of photos and used Google Maps, so better battery life can be expected from less intense use.On the rear is that fingerprint scanner. In the past I have used Elephone phones with fingerprint scanners and not had a problem with them but the model on the P9000 isn’t great. First of all setting up the scanner isn’t very easy, in fact its so different from other phones that鑱絀 had to write-up a “how to” a few days ago.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramOnce set up the fingerprint scanner isn’t very good. It worked well for the first day then it decided it no longer wanted to play nice. Restarting the phone jump started things again, but it’s still not as accurate as other phones.The rear camera has laser autofocus but it won’t work unless you go in to the settings turn it off and turn it back on again. Laser auto focus is meant to help with close up images. With it on the focus is more accurate for close up images in good light, but the speed is similar to a fast regular autofocus phone (don’t expect OP2 levels of speed here).Final interesting specifications of the Elephone P9000 include NFC (a feature we are going to see come back on a number of phones this year), and USB Type C.Overall the feature list is very impressive, and performance is good. The only features that really leave a lot to be desired are the camera (see below) and fingerprint scanner.Elephone P9000 Review – PerformanceAs mentioned, the Elephone P9000 is the first phone that we have tried with a Helio P10 chipset, and so far I can’t fault it. It might not get the same benchmarks as the Helio X10, but day-to-day performance is unquestionable.The P9000 runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow out of the box, and although this is the first Android 6 build for the P9000 it is surprisingly well sorted (the only exception being the settings for the fingerprint scanner). Update: added GFXbench benchmarks Elephone P9000 Review – CameraI took the Elephone P9000 with me to Prague last week. It was the first time I have ever been and I was blown away by the beauty of the city and the amazing architecture.I’m sure I’ll go back again and see Prague and the wonderful sights, but if not I can count my lucky stars that I took my OnePlus X and Leica camera because the P9000’s camera is a pure let down.The P9000 requires huge amounts of sunlight to really perform well, but while I was in Prague I was getting bright sunlight mixed with deep shadows made by castles and other buildings. The P9000 simply cannot handle this and images which should have been good鑱絘re seriously lacking.The main issues I had were with the focus and the lenses, a usual problem with Chinese phones and something we really demand that all brands address in the future.In comparison the OnePlus X shot everything well, but I wish I had taken something a little better (Mi Note, OP2).Elephone P9000 Camera Samples Elephone P9000 Review – SpecificationsModel:P9000Sim Card:Dual SIM,dual standby (Dual Micro SIM)Color:Black/WhiteCapacityRAM: 4GBROM: 32GBMax. Expansion Supported: 256GBMulti-LanguagesEnglish as defaultEnglish, Bahasa Indonesia, Bahasa Melayu, Cestina, Dansk, Deutsch, Espanol, Filipino, French, Hrvatski, latviesu,lietuviu,Italiano, Magyar, Nederlands, Norsk, Polish, Portuguese, Romana, Slovencina, Suomi, Svenska, Tieng viet, Turkish, Greek, Bulgarian, Russian, Ukrainian, Hebrew, Arabic, Thai, Khmer, Korean, Simplified/Traditional Chinese.ChipsetCPU:鑱紿elio P10(MT6755 Octa core 2.0GHz)GPU:鑱組ali-T860SystemAndroid 6.0ScreenDisplay:5.5閳 LG, LTPS OGS screen NTSC: 93%Resolution:鑱?080 *1920 pixels鑱紽HD1.6mm narrow bezelCameraRear camera:Sony IMX258 13MPF/2.0Double color temperature flashesLaser focusFront camera:OV8858 8MP84鎺 wide angleNetwork and Wireless Connectivity2G/3G/4G(FDD,TDD) Up to 150Mbps4G:鑱紽DD-LTE:band鑱?/3/7/8/20TDD-LTE: 38/403G:鑱絎CDMA:Band鑱?/2/5/8WLAN: 802.11a/b/g/n, 2.4G/5GBattery capacity and life3000mAh-3080mAh (Li-POL battery)Quick charge: PE+ 2.5A/1.67A(5V/7V/9V) 1.25A(12V)USB: Type-CSensorG-sensor, P-sensor, L-sensor, Hall, Gyrometer, Breath LED, E-compassOther FeaturesNFC: YESWireless Charge: YESFingerprint: YES(Black Screen Wake up)OTG: YESE-TouchFingerprint ApplockSmart Key(Intelligent Mute Mode etc)Black Screen GestureSizeDimensions:鑱?48.4*73.2*7.3mmWeightAbout145gElephone P9000 Review – Gallery Elephone P9000 Review – ConclusionAnother Elephone phone which promises the earth but lacks in important areas.The camera, once again for Elephone, is the big disappointment this time around. The focus issue could be solved with updates but the lens issue cannot.The fingerprint scanner can be fixed with updates and I hope this actually happens now that the Elephone team are back to work after the Chinese New Year.We’ve put the Elephone P9000 through its paces and come to a conclusion, find out what that is in our Elephone P9000 review.The Elephone P9000 is the first phone from Elephone that I know of that leaked, was announced and then launched in a matter of weeks. This is a far cry from Elephone’s past launches which saw a phone leaked and then ultimately launch 12 months later.So is the Elephone P9000 the phone which could turn Elephone’s image around?Elephone P9000 Review – UnboxingElephone P9000 Review – DesignElephone have actually gotten a few of the design details of the Elephone P9000 right for a change.For starters the bezels on the phone are actually really super thin. For鑱絘 5.5-inch smartphone the Elephone P9000 is one of the more compact designs out there.Elephone have also put more attention to detail in the metal frame on the P9000 which has helped give the phone a clean look while maintaining a low weight.Our black version of the P9000 features a 5.5-inch FHD display up front with front 8 mega-pixel camera at the top and a single hardware button on the chin of the phone.This is an interesting choice, and one that is sure to displease some. The single home button design reminds me of earlier Meizu phones. Tapping the home button once acts as a back gesture, a double-click is for getting home, and a long press opens up recent apps. If you don’t want to play around with these gestures, then you can always head in to the settings and turn on the onscreen navigation bar.The rear of the P9000 has a sandstone finish similar to (but not as rough as) the one found on the OnePlus 2. Other features found on the rear are the ELE logo, laser for the focus, 13 mega-pixel rear camera, dual LED flash and fingerprint scanner.Around the sides is the metal chassis finished in dark grey with a polished upper and lower edge. The only surprise here is the function button on the right side of the phone which can be used to launch apps. For example you can have the button set up to launch the camera from any application, however you can’t then have the button work as a shutter control (which seems like a missed opportunity to me).On the same side as the function button is a dual micro SIM tray, then we have a 3.5mm headphone jack at the top, volume and power buttons on the right, USB Type C in the base and a couple of holes for speakers. Only the drilled out holes on the right are for the external speaker.Initially I was impressed with the build of the phone, but the more I used it the more movement seemed to be evident in the physical buttons meaning an audible rattle is present.There are no gaps in the build, but as you can see in the photo above the rear panel isn’t sitting quite flush with the metal frame. It looks like it would be very notable from the photos, but in the flesh鑱絠t’s not has noticeable.Another issue I found is that the rear panel marks really easily. A few days in my bag while traveling through Europe last week has resulted in marks and scuffs making the phone look much older than it actually is.Elephone P9000 Review – HardwareThe 5.5-inch 1920 x 1080 display on the Elephone P9000 is exceptional. The screen really is beautiful with wonderful bright colours. Everyone who handled the P9000 commented on the display quality and the wonderful viewing angles.The Helio P10 chipset and 4GB RAM set up is also an impressive combo. This is our first Helio P10 powered phone and we are impressed with the performance that the SoC offers.Many of you asked how GPS is on the phone, so I tested the phone without WIFI and a SIM installed. As usual the first lock on took a little while but since then the GPS has been super fast.Elephone have given the Elephone P9000 fast charging features, but in the box there isn’t a fast charger included. You can buy the plug as an optional extra and using it will result in 0-100% charge times of around 3 hours. There is also an optional Elephone wireless charger, but using it results in much slower charge times.The battery itself is a 3000mAh cell and it was giving me a full day of battery life and 4 hours of onscreen time while I was away traveling. To be fair the phone was hunting for LTE more often that it would at home as I was using data roaming, plus I shot a lot of photos and used Google Maps, so better battery life can be expected from less intense use.On the rear is that fingerprint scanner. In the past I have used Elephone phones with fingerprint scanners and not had a problem with them but the model on the P9000 isn’t great. First of all setting up the scanner isn’t very easy, in fact its so different from other phones that鑱絀 had to write-up a “how to” a few days ago.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramOnce set up the fingerprint scanner isn’t very good. It worked well for the first day then it decided it no longer wanted to play nice. Restarting the phone jump started things again, but it’s still not as accurate as other phones.The rear camera has laser autofocus but it won’t work unless you go in to the settings turn it off and turn it back on again. Laser auto focus is meant to help with close up images. With it on the focus is more accurate for close up images in good light, but the speed is similar to a fast regular autofocus phone (don’t expect OP2 levels of speed here).Final interesting specifications of the Elephone P9000 include NFC (a feature we are going to see come back on a number of phones this year), and USB Type C.Overall the feature list is very impressive, and performance is good. The only features that really leave a lot to be desired are the camera (see below) and fingerprint scanner.Elephone P9000 Review – PerformanceAs mentioned, the Elephone P9000 is the first phone that we have tried with a Helio P10 chipset, and so far I can’t fault it. It might not get the same benchmarks as the Helio X10, but day-to-day performance is unquestionable.The P9000 runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow out of the box, and although this is the first Android 6 build for the P9000 it is surprisingly well sorted (the only exception being the settings for the fingerprint scanner). Update: added GFXbench benchmarks Elephone P9000 Review – CameraI took the Elephone P9000 with me to Prague last week. It was the first time I have ever been and I was blown away by the beauty of the city and the amazing architecture.I’m sure I’ll go back again and see Prague and the wonderful sights, but if not I can count my lucky stars that I took my OnePlus X and Leica camera because the P9000’s camera is a pure let down.The P9000 requires huge amounts of sunlight to really perform well, but while I was in Prague I was getting bright sunlight mixed with deep shadows made by castles and other buildings. The P9000 simply cannot handle this and images which should have been good鑱絘re seriously lacking.The main issues I had were with the focus and the lenses, a usual problem with Chinese phones and something we really demand that all brands address in the future.In comparison the OnePlus X shot everything well, but I wish I had taken something a little better (Mi Note, OP2).Elephone P9000 Camera Samples Elephone P9000 Review – SpecificationsModel:P9000Sim Card:Dual SIM,dual standby (Dual Micro SIM)Color:Black/WhiteCapacityRAM: 4GBROM: 32GBMax. Expansion Supported: 256GBMulti-LanguagesEnglish as defaultEnglish, Bahasa Indonesia, Bahasa Melayu, Cestina, Dansk, Deutsch, Espanol, Filipino, French, Hrvatski, latviesu,lietuviu,Italiano, Magyar, Nederlands, Norsk, Polish, Portuguese, Romana, Slovencina, Suomi, Svenska, Tieng viet, Turkish, Greek, Bulgarian, Russian, Ukrainian, Hebrew, Arabic, Thai, Khmer, Korean, Simplified/Traditional Chinese.ChipsetCPU:鑱紿elio P10(MT6755 Octa core 2.0GHz)GPU:鑱組ali-T860SystemAndroid 6.0ScreenDisplay:5.5閳 LG, LTPS OGS screen NTSC: 93%Resolution:鑱?080 *1920 pixels鑱紽HD1.6mm narrow bezelCameraRear camera:Sony IMX258 13MPF/2.0Double color temperature flashesLaser focusFront camera:OV8858 8MP84鎺 wide angleNetwork and Wireless Connectivity2G/3G/4G(FDD,TDD) Up to 150Mbps4G:鑱紽DD-LTE:band鑱?/3/7/8/20TDD-LTE: 38/403G:鑱絎CDMA:Band鑱?/2/5/8WLAN: 802.11a/b/g/n, 2.4G/5GBattery capacity and life3000mAh-3080mAh (Li-POL battery)Quick charge: PE+ 2.5A/1.67A(5V/7V/9V) 1.25A(12V)USB: Type-CSensorG-sensor, P-sensor, L-sensor, Hall, Gyrometer, Breath LED, E-compassOther FeaturesNFC: YESWireless Charge: YESFingerprint: YES(Black Screen Wake up)OTG: YESE-TouchFingerprint ApplockSmart Key(Intelligent Mute Mode etc)Black Screen GestureSizeDimensions:鑱?48.4*73.2*7.3mmWeightAbout145gElephone P9000 Review – Gallery Elephone P9000 Review – ConclusionAnother Elephone phone which promises the earth but lacks in important areas.The camera, once again for Elephone, is the big disappointment this time around. The focus issue could be solved with updates but the lens issue cannot.The fingerprint scanner can be fixed with updates and I hope this actually happens now that the Elephone team are back to work after the Chinese New Year.

We unbox and go hands on with the budget Doogee X6 Android smartphone in this hands on video.Next week at MWC Doogee are scheduled to unveil a flagship smartphone with 2K display and other impressive features, but this sudden interest in high-end phones doesn’t mean that the company no longer make budget devices.The Doogee X6 is the cheapest phone in the Doogee range so far and can be found for about $70 if you search hard enough online.Highlights of the phone are a 5.5-inch display, and the use of a metal strip around the phone with the buttons hidden beneath. The phone is well made too, but big thanks to a chunky design that houses a 3000mAh battery.Doogee X6 SpecificationsGizchina News of the week Join GizChina on Telegram5.5-inch display1280 x 720 resolutionMediatek MT6580 chipset1GB RAM2 mega-pixel front camera5 mega-pixel rear cameraAndroid 5.18 GB memory3000mAh batterySpecs are what you would expect from such an affordable phone, and anyone thinking to buy the handset should keep in mind that the MT6580 SoC is limited to just 3G networks and will not support 4G LTE.As a back up phone, a cheap phone to give your kids, or just a budget device for areas with no LTE the Doogee isn’t a bad device for the money.We unbox and go hands on with the budget Doogee X6 Android smartphone in this hands on video.Next week at MWC Doogee are scheduled to unveil a flagship smartphone with 2K display and other impressive features, but this sudden interest in high-end phones doesn’t mean that the company no longer make budget devices.The Doogee X6 is the cheapest phone in the Doogee range so far and can be found for about $70 if you search hard enough online.Highlights of the phone are a 5.5-inch display, and the use of a metal strip around the phone with the buttons hidden beneath. The phone is well made too, but big thanks to a chunky design that houses a 3000mAh battery.Doogee X6 SpecificationsGizchina News of the week Join GizChina on Telegram5.5-inch display1280 x 720 resolutionMediatek MT6580 chipset1GB RAM2 mega-pixel front camera5 mega-pixel rear cameraAndroid 5.18 GB memory3000mAh batterySpecs are what you would expect from such an affordable phone, and anyone thinking to buy the handset should keep in mind that the MT6580 SoC is limited to just 3G networks and will not support 4G LTE.As a back up phone, a cheap phone to give your kids, or just a budget device for areas with no LTE the Doogee isn’t a bad device for the money.

Meizu have been on a bit of a launch spree of late. While almost every Meizu phone to date has been exceptionally good looking, some have managed to be as popular as the MX2 was during its time.We’re now looking at not one, but two or鑱絜ven鑱絫hree flagship phones every year from Meizu. However, what Meizu have done like a lot of other manufacturers, is they’ve split their phones into categories — the Meilan-seires for budget phones, MX-series with mid-range hardware and high-end performance, and PRO-series for premium flagships.Today we’re taking a look at the Meizu Metal, which essentially falls in the first category.Meizu Metal Review –鑱紻esignWith a full-metal body and a MediaTek Helio X10 processor, the Meizu Metal nearly challenges the MX5, which happened to be one of the best Chinese phones from 2015. The Meizu Metal is heavier, and the metal around the phone seems thicker.With companies adopting 2.5D curved glass as standard, Meizu have ensured they don’t miss out. While 2.5D curved glass can look pretty, in my opinion it is a bit of a subjective matter. I don’t happen to be too big a fan of curved glass on phone screens… but whatever floats the boat for Meizu. No one wants to be behind the competition.At the first glance, the Meizu Metal really looks like a premium phone that could pass off as a $500-600 device. The interesting bit is that the notion still holds when you take the phone in your hands. Full metal, cold, curved glass, and a heft that commands value.But as you spend time with the device, it becomes apparent that the additional weight is something Meizu have put only to make the phone feel like a premium gadget. It should be the other way round, in my book.Nonetheless, let’s talk about鑱絫he design of the phone. From a distance, the Metal looks like any other Meizu phone on the front (new-age ones, i.e., without the trademark halo). The back is pure, monochrome metal which is really pleasing for the eyes. The simple back paired with the new minimalistic Meizu logo makes for a scene鑱絫hat commands a second look.The camera lens does not protrude from the chassis, and it’s all a very levelled and satisfying experience.Overall, the Meizu Metal is a very satisfying phone to hold in the hand. If there’s something I’d change about the phone, it would be the glossy (and scratch-prone) chamfered edges, which are a little tacky in comparison to the rest of the phone.Meizu Metal Review – HardwareWhile Meizu have overdone the weight a bit, the Metal still does impress with whatever else it has on offer on the design and build front. This includes buttons that are precisely made and tactile, and a speaker grill that shouts quality.While the phone’s performance is the major differentiating factor between the Metal and MX5, another thing that you’ll notice right away is the difference in screens. It is safe to say that the Meizu Metal will not eat into the market of the MX5.The screen on the Metal is an IPS LCD panel measuring 5.5-inches diagonally with a 1920 x 1080p FHD resolution. I’ve had no issues with the screen so far — no dead pixels, no light bleeding, no bright spots — but it isn’t a screen I’d write home about. The general colour tone of the display is cold-ish, and while you could change this via the Flyme OS settings, it seems a little artificial.Moving on to the audio properties of the phone. This is one area I’ve had a few issues with. It’s been hit-or-miss for me on most calls, in the sense that sound from the earpiece can be broken at times. I’m not sure if it is a radio issue or one that’s being caused by the speaker, but it is what it is. Also, the loudspeaker can sometimes be a little quiet; but no issues with the quality of sound here.If you use your phone one-handed, the speaker grill can be obscured with your pinkie. That’s the way I hold my phones (pinkie beneath the chin of the phone), and I had this issue more than once.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramMeizu seem to be using the same fingerprint sensor on the Metal as they did on the MX5. It is fast and fairly accurate, but could sometimes suffer from serious lags. This should be attributed to the system (poorly optimised) more than the鑱絝ingerprint sensor.Moving on to the battery section, there’s hardly anything too impressive here. The spec sheet does look nice though with a 3140mAh battery, but that hardly translates into great real-world battery life. Getting through till the evening on a work day is what you can expect from the Meizu Metal. While the ROM isn’t optimised to its fullest, the battery does hold its charge well during sleep. Pro tip: try to restrict network usage to 2G only if you don’t plan to wish to use 3G or 4G data. While most phones get a slight improvement in battery life by doing so, on the Metal is is more significant.Meizu Metal Review – PerformanceIt’d suffice to say that the Meizu Metal has disappointed with its performance. The Flyme 5 update turned out to be a saviour for Meizu when it launched the MX5 last year with a previous iteration of the OS. However, Flyme 5 doesn’t quite manage the same magic on the Metal.Switching between apps can be a bit of a problem if you have a handful of them running all at once (which we all do). Switching back to Google Chrome tabs from another app will, on most cases, cause the tab contents to be fetched from the cache. While I understand that the phone is limited with 2GB of RAM, there are other phones that do better with the same amount.The bottomline — the ROM needs optimisation. Meizu Metal Review – CameraAfter being very鑱絠mpressed with the Meizu Metal camera in the low light situations, I took the phone with me on a trip to see how well it performs in various different situations.It turns out the camera is an average sensor, one that I’d rank below 2014’s Xiaomi Mi 4… or even the Redmi Note 3 for that matter. HDR will allow you to take some nice and dramatic pictures, but that’ll require you to keep the phone steady for 3-4 seconds.All Meizu Metal Camera Samples Meizu Metal Review – SpecificationsModelMeizu m1 metal aka Meizu MetalSIM CardDual SIMColorGray, WhiteCapacityRAM: 2GBROM: 16GB/32GBLanguageMulti LanguageChipsetCPU: MediaTek MT6795 Helio X10SystemFlyme 5鑱?based on Android 5.1)ScreenDisplay size: 5.5-inchesResolution:鑱?920 x 1080 pixelsCamerasRear: 鑱?3 mega-pixelFront: 鑱? mega-pixelBattery capacityNon-removable 3140mAhMeizu Metal Review – Gallery Meizu Metal Review –鑱紺onclusionThe Meizu Metal is a phone that’s great to look at and awesome to hold, but still leaves a bit to be desired on the performance front. This is a bigger concern than it seems, because there are a lot of phones that are cheaper than the Meizu Metal that don’t suffer from problems exhibited by this phone. Meizu Metal: Buy nowMeizu have been on a bit of a launch spree of late. While almost every Meizu phone to date has been exceptionally good looking, some have managed to be as popular as the MX2 was during its time.We’re now looking at not one, but two or鑱絜ven鑱絫hree flagship phones every year from Meizu. However, what Meizu have done like a lot of other manufacturers, is they’ve split their phones into categories — the Meilan-seires for budget phones, MX-series with mid-range hardware and high-end performance, and PRO-series for premium flagships.Today we’re taking a look at the Meizu Metal, which essentially falls in the first category.Meizu Metal Review –鑱紻esignWith a full-metal body and a MediaTek Helio X10 processor, the Meizu Metal nearly challenges the MX5, which happened to be one of the best Chinese phones from 2015. The Meizu Metal is heavier, and the metal around the phone seems thicker.With companies adopting 2.5D curved glass as standard, Meizu have ensured they don’t miss out. While 2.5D curved glass can look pretty, in my opinion it is a bit of a subjective matter. I don’t happen to be too big a fan of curved glass on phone screens… but whatever floats the boat for Meizu. No one wants to be behind the competition.At the first glance, the Meizu Metal really looks like a premium phone that could pass off as a $500-600 device. The interesting bit is that the notion still holds when you take the phone in your hands. Full metal, cold, curved glass, and a heft that commands value.But as you spend time with the device, it becomes apparent that the additional weight is something Meizu have put only to make the phone feel like a premium gadget. It should be the other way round, in my book.Nonetheless, let’s talk about鑱絫he design of the phone. From a distance, the Metal looks like any other Meizu phone on the front (new-age ones, i.e., without the trademark halo). The back is pure, monochrome metal which is really pleasing for the eyes. The simple back paired with the new minimalistic Meizu logo makes for a scene鑱絫hat commands a second look.The camera lens does not protrude from the chassis, and it’s all a very levelled and satisfying experience.Overall, the Meizu Metal is a very satisfying phone to hold in the hand. If there’s something I’d change about the phone, it would be the glossy (and scratch-prone) chamfered edges, which are a little tacky in comparison to the rest of the phone.Meizu Metal Review – HardwareWhile Meizu have overdone the weight a bit, the Metal still does impress with whatever else it has on offer on the design and build front. This includes buttons that are precisely made and tactile, and a speaker grill that shouts quality.While the phone’s performance is the major differentiating factor between the Metal and MX5, another thing that you’ll notice right away is the difference in screens. It is safe to say that the Meizu Metal will not eat into the market of the MX5.The screen on the Metal is an IPS LCD panel measuring 5.5-inches diagonally with a 1920 x 1080p FHD resolution. I’ve had no issues with the screen so far — no dead pixels, no light bleeding, no bright spots — but it isn’t a screen I’d write home about. The general colour tone of the display is cold-ish, and while you could change this via the Flyme OS settings, it seems a little artificial.Moving on to the audio properties of the phone. This is one area I’ve had a few issues with. It’s been hit-or-miss for me on most calls, in the sense that sound from the earpiece can be broken at times. I’m not sure if it is a radio issue or one that’s being caused by the speaker, but it is what it is. Also, the loudspeaker can sometimes be a little quiet; but no issues with the quality of sound here.If you use your phone one-handed, the speaker grill can be obscured with your pinkie. That’s the way I hold my phones (pinkie beneath the chin of the phone), and I had this issue more than once.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramMeizu seem to be using the same fingerprint sensor on the Metal as they did on the MX5. It is fast and fairly accurate, but could sometimes suffer from serious lags. This should be attributed to the system (poorly optimised) more than the鑱絝ingerprint sensor.Moving on to the battery section, there’s hardly anything too impressive here. The spec sheet does look nice though with a 3140mAh battery, but that hardly translates into great real-world battery life. Getting through till the evening on a work day is what you can expect from the Meizu Metal. While the ROM isn’t optimised to its fullest, the battery does hold its charge well during sleep. Pro tip: try to restrict network usage to 2G only if you don’t plan to wish to use 3G or 4G data. While most phones get a slight improvement in battery life by doing so, on the Metal is is more significant.Meizu Metal Review – PerformanceIt’d suffice to say that the Meizu Metal has disappointed with its performance. The Flyme 5 update turned out to be a saviour for Meizu when it launched the MX5 last year with a previous iteration of the OS. However, Flyme 5 doesn’t quite manage the same magic on the Metal.Switching between apps can be a bit of a problem if you have a handful of them running all at once (which we all do). Switching back to Google Chrome tabs from another app will, on most cases, cause the tab contents to be fetched from the cache. While I understand that the phone is limited with 2GB of RAM, there are other phones that do better with the same amount.The bottomline — the ROM needs optimisation. Meizu Metal Review – CameraAfter being very鑱絠mpressed with the Meizu Metal camera in the low light situations, I took the phone with me on a trip to see how well it performs in various different situations.It turns out the camera is an average sensor, one that I’d rank below 2014’s Xiaomi Mi 4… or even the Redmi Note 3 for that matter. HDR will allow you to take some nice and dramatic pictures, but that’ll require you to keep the phone steady for 3-4 seconds.All Meizu Metal Camera Samples Meizu Metal Review – SpecificationsModelMeizu m1 metal aka Meizu MetalSIM CardDual SIMColorGray, WhiteCapacityRAM: 2GBROM: 16GB/32GBLanguageMulti LanguageChipsetCPU: MediaTek MT6795 Helio X10SystemFlyme 5鑱?based on Android 5.1)ScreenDisplay size: 5.5-inchesResolution:鑱?920 x 1080 pixelsCamerasRear: 鑱?3 mega-pixelFront: 鑱? mega-pixelBattery capacityNon-removable 3140mAhMeizu Metal Review – Gallery Meizu Metal Review –鑱紺onclusionThe Meizu Metal is a phone that’s great to look at and awesome to hold, but still leaves a bit to be desired on the performance front. This is a bigger concern than it seems, because there are a lot of phones that are cheaper than the Meizu Metal that don’t suffer from problems exhibited by this phone. Meizu Metal: Buy nowOur Elephone P9000 has just arrived with all the available Elephone P9000 accessories. Take a look at this Helio P10 phone now and read our first impressions.The Elephone P9000 comes in an all new plastic box which is barely wide/long enough for the phone to fit in. The reason for the small packaging is partly due to the compact design of the phone but most due to the few included accessories.In the box is the P9000, a heavy duty USB Type C wire, quick start guide, SIM tray tool and a silicone case to keep the rear of the phone in as new condition while you use it.You will notice that from the accessories a mains charger isn’t included in the box, but Elephone do offer a fast charging Pump Express charger as an after market accessory for $14.99. There is also a wireless charger for the same price, and there is also a 2.5D tempered glass screen cover and flip case available for the P9000 too.The first thing that I noticed is just how lightweight the P9000 is. When I first picked up the phone (in this unboxing) I considered for a moment that the battery wasn’t inside! The battery is of course built-in and at 3000mAh is a fairly good size.Our black version of the Elephone P9000 features a super glossy black face which you might think will easily pick up fingerprints, but so far its as shiny as it was when I first got my hands on it.This being the standard P9000, the phone still retains bezels but they are very very narrow. In fact the bezels all around are narrower than most 5.5-inch phones, and the P9000 is a couple of mm shorter and narrower (but a lot lighter) than the OnePlus 2.An alloy chassis is standard on flagship phones, and the Elephone P9000 follows the trend with a metal chassis with matt grey finish and polished edges which really pop agains the black front and rear panels.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on Telegram Dotted around the metal chassis are USB Type C, drilled holes for the speaker, physical smart button on the left with SIM tray, 3.5mm head phone jack at the top and finally power and volume controls on the right.Elephone have given this black version of the Elephone P9000 a sandstone finish. It looks the same as the finish of the standard OnePlus 2, but it’s not as rough to the touch.On the rear you will also find the ELE logo, fingerprint scanner, 13 mega-pixel Sony main camera, laser focus and dual LED flash.Elephone have really upped their game with the P9000 not only is it a good looking phone, but it is surprisingly lightweight, and well made to boot!Specifications are impressive too. The Elephone P9000 has NFC, wireless charging, USB Type C, laser focus, and very nice 5.5-inch 1920 x 1080 display.The P9000 is also the first Helio P10 smartphone we have used so far and the octacore chipset gets 4GB RAM and 32GB internal memory for good measure.It’s also the first Mediatek powered phone we have used with Android 6.0! There’s a lot of new things to see in the settings on Android 6.0, but the UI is very similar to Lollipop.The P9000 has a lot of interesting features to look at, so keep posted for our unboxing and hands on video, Elephone P9000 Android 6.0 video, and also benchmarks for the Helio P10 chipset coming very soon.Elephone P9000 hands on galleryOur Elephone P9000 has just arrived with all the available Elephone P9000 accessories. Take a look at this Helio P10 phone now and read our first impressions.The Elephone P9000 comes in an all new plastic box which is barely wide/long enough for the phone to fit in. The reason for the small packaging is partly due to the compact design of the phone but most due to the few included accessories.In the box is the P9000, a heavy duty USB Type C wire, quick start guide, SIM tray tool and a silicone case to keep the rear of the phone in as new condition while you use it.You will notice that from the accessories a mains charger isn’t included in the box, but Elephone do offer a fast charging Pump Express charger as an after market accessory for $14.99. There is also a wireless charger for the same price, and there is also a 2.5D tempered glass screen cover and flip case available for the P9000 too.The first thing that I noticed is just how lightweight the P9000 is. When I first picked up the phone (in this unboxing) I considered for a moment that the battery wasn’t inside! The battery is of course built-in and at 3000mAh is a fairly good size.Our black version of the Elephone P9000 features a super glossy black face which you might think will easily pick up fingerprints, but so far its as shiny as it was when I first got my hands on it.This being the standard P9000, the phone still retains bezels but they are very very narrow. In fact the bezels all around are narrower than most 5.5-inch phones, and the P9000 is a couple of mm shorter and narrower (but a lot lighter) than the OnePlus 2.An alloy chassis is standard on flagship phones, and the Elephone P9000 follows the trend with a metal chassis with matt grey finish and polished edges which really pop agains the black front and rear panels.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on Telegram Dotted around the metal chassis are USB Type C, drilled holes for the speaker, physical smart button on the left with SIM tray, 3.5mm head phone jack at the top and finally power and volume controls on the right.Elephone have given this black version of the Elephone P9000 a sandstone finish. It looks the same as the finish of the standard OnePlus 2, but it’s not as rough to the touch.On the rear you will also find the ELE logo, fingerprint scanner, 13 mega-pixel Sony main camera, laser focus and dual LED flash.Elephone have really upped their game with the P9000 not only is it a good looking phone, but it is surprisingly lightweight, and well made to boot!Specifications are impressive too. The Elephone P9000 has NFC, wireless charging, USB Type C, laser focus, and very nice 5.5-inch 1920 x 1080 display.The P9000 is also the first Helio P10 smartphone we have used so far and the octacore chipset gets 4GB RAM and 32GB internal memory for good measure.It’s also the first Mediatek powered phone we have used with Android 6.0! There’s a lot of new things to see in the settings on Android 6.0, but the UI is very similar to Lollipop.The P9000 has a lot of interesting features to look at, so keep posted for our unboxing and hands on video, Elephone P9000 Android 6.0 video, and also benchmarks for the Helio P10 chipset coming very soon.Elephone P9000 hands on gallery

Oukitel have made a name for themselves over the past year making phones with big batteries and long battery life. In this review we take a good look at the Oukitel K4000.The Oukitel K4000 is Oukitel鈥檚 mid range smartphone and boasts a good-sized 4000mAh battery in a phone with just a 5-inch HD display, its not the largest battery phone they offer though! In the Oukitel range there is also the K10000 with 10,000mAh battery, K6000 and a K4000 Pro is due with 4600mAh battery, but for this review we are concentrating on the current K4000. Check out the Oukitel website for more details.Oukitel K4000 Review – DesignOpen up the box and pick up the Oukitel K4000 and it鈥檚 weight and thickness quickly make themselves known. With a screen of just 5-inch the 11mm 208g phone looks portly on first inspection, but once you wrap your hand around it you realise that it鈥檚 still easier to handle than a 5.5-inch phone despite its girth.Oukitel designed the K4000 to appear bezel-less with the screen off so we have a 5-inch screen plus black borders all around. Its a design that bothers some but not me personally after all a bezel is a bezel regardless of the colour.Our version of the K4000 is the white model with white face and white removable rear panel. A black version is also available.Up front the 5-inch HD panel is neatly tucked behind a sheet of glass with a nice 2.5D curve to the edge. 3 non back lit hardware buttons live on the chin and a 5 mega-pixel camera is easily visible at the very top to the left of the proximity sensor.Like most current mid range phones, the Oukitel K4000 has a metal chassis, and in this case it appears to be a machined steel frame which might explain some of the extra weight.The flat sided metal chassis has 45 degree bevel cut at front and rear, and unsurprisingly we find a few features dotted around such as volume and power controls on the right, 3.5mm headphone jack in the top and USB in the base.There are no SIM trays as the plastic rear panel can be removed to gain access to the dual SIM and micro SD area, plus the user replaceable 4000mAh battery.With the curved rear cover in place, shaped with a round contour to fit in your palm, you will find a 13 mega-pixel rear camera, single LED flash, speaker opening and Oukitel logo.Despite the weight, the phone is actually quiet comfortable in the hand, and overall build quality is respectable, although our sample model does have a rattle coming from somewhere inside.Oukitel K4000 Review – HardwareYou won鈥檛 find any fancy features in the Oukitel K4000, this is a phone designed to have a big battery and offer the longest run time possible. Compared to some phones the lack of dual LED flash, and fingerprint scanner might be a turn off for some users.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramWhat the K4000 does have is a large 4000mAh battery, and as it only has to pump juice to a 5-inch 1280 x 720 display, 1.0Ghz Octacore chipset and 2GB RAM the cell does聽a good job of keeping you powered up while on the go. During our time with the phone we managed about 4 hours and 40 minutes of screen on time with LTE and WIFI running.As the K4000 has a MT6735 chipset the phone runs on FDD-LTE B1/B3 and B7. Other connectivity options include Hotknot, Bluetooth and WIFI.The no fuss features of the K4000 continue with the cameras which include a 5 mega-pixel front camera for selfies and a 8 mega-pixel rear camera and single LED flash on the rear.Oukitel K4000 Review – PerformanceIn this day and age we are use to phones with at least 3GB RAM and processors running at much more than 1.0Ghz. The K4000 was really designed to be kind to the battery rather than offer out-and-out performance.Benchmarks are obviously quite low compared to some phones, but in real life the phone works well. Oukitel have done a good job with the Lollipop based rom, and it feels much snappier than the hardware would suggest.On the original ROM I had issues with the settings menus failing, but an OTA update has solved this. Oukitel K4000 Review – CameraMoving on to cameras, the rear camera on the K4000 is actually an 8 mega-pixel sensor which has been interpolated to 13 mega-pixels.The sensor itself is fine, but I feel the lens on the camera let the performance down.聽If there are any bright light sources around (such as a bright blue sky) the resulting image is washed out. Keep away from dark and light extremes though and the camera can take some useable photos.Oukitek K4000 camera samples Oukitel K4000 Review – Gallery Oukitel K4000 Review – ConclusionChecking online聽for the Oukitel K4000 brings up listings of the phone costing $115, and to be honest I would be happy to spend this much on the phone just for a back up with good battery. If you can live with the weight and lack luster聽camera, you will be rewarded with pretty good performance and a nice dose of battery life.Oukitel have made a name for themselves over the past year making phones with big batteries and long battery life. In this review we take a good look at the Oukitel K4000.The Oukitel K4000 is Oukitel鈥檚 mid range smartphone and boasts a good-sized 4000mAh battery in a phone with just a 5-inch HD display, its not the largest battery phone they offer though! In the Oukitel range there is also the K10000 with 10,000mAh battery, K6000 and a K4000 Pro is due with 4600mAh battery, but for this review we are concentrating on the current K4000. Check out the Oukitel website for more details.Oukitel K4000 Review – DesignOpen up the box and pick up the Oukitel K4000 and it鈥檚 weight and thickness quickly make themselves known. With a screen of just 5-inch the 11mm 208g phone looks portly on first inspection, but once you wrap your hand around it you realise that it鈥檚 still easier to handle than a 5.5-inch phone despite its girth.Oukitel designed the K4000 to appear bezel-less with the screen off so we have a 5-inch screen plus black borders all around. Its a design that bothers some but not me personally after all a bezel is a bezel regardless of the colour.Our version of the K4000 is the white model with white face and white removable rear panel. A black version is also available.Up front the 5-inch HD panel is neatly tucked behind a sheet of glass with a nice 2.5D curve to the edge. 3 non back lit hardware buttons live on the chin and a 5 mega-pixel camera is easily visible at the very top to the left of the proximity sensor.Like most current mid range phones, the Oukitel K4000 has a metal chassis, and in this case it appears to be a machined steel frame which might explain some of the extra weight.The flat sided metal chassis has 45 degree bevel cut at front and rear, and unsurprisingly we find a few features dotted around such as volume and power controls on the right, 3.5mm headphone jack in the top and USB in the base.There are no SIM trays as the plastic rear panel can be removed to gain access to the dual SIM and micro SD area, plus the user replaceable 4000mAh battery.With the curved rear cover in place, shaped with a round contour to fit in your palm, you will find a 13 mega-pixel rear camera, single LED flash, speaker opening and Oukitel logo.Despite the weight, the phone is actually quiet comfortable in the hand, and overall build quality is respectable, although our sample model does have a rattle coming from somewhere inside.Oukitel K4000 Review – HardwareYou won鈥檛 find any fancy features in the Oukitel K4000, this is a phone designed to have a big battery and offer the longest run time possible. Compared to some phones the lack of dual LED flash, and fingerprint scanner might be a turn off for some users.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramWhat the K4000 does have is a large 4000mAh battery, and as it only has to pump juice to a 5-inch 1280 x 720 display, 1.0Ghz Octacore chipset and 2GB RAM the cell does聽a good job of keeping you powered up while on the go. During our time with the phone we managed about 4 hours and 40 minutes of screen on time with LTE and WIFI running.As the K4000 has a MT6735 chipset the phone runs on FDD-LTE B1/B3 and B7. Other connectivity options include Hotknot, Bluetooth and WIFI.The no fuss features of the K4000 continue with the cameras which include a 5 mega-pixel front camera for selfies and a 8 mega-pixel rear camera and single LED flash on the rear.Oukitel K4000 Review – PerformanceIn this day and age we are use to phones with at least 3GB RAM and processors running at much more than 1.0Ghz. The K4000 was really designed to be kind to the battery rather than offer out-and-out performance.Benchmarks are obviously quite low compared to some phones, but in real life the phone works well. Oukitel have done a good job with the Lollipop based rom, and it feels much snappier than the hardware would suggest.On the original ROM I had issues with the settings menus failing, but an OTA update has solved this. Oukitel K4000 Review – CameraMoving on to cameras, the rear camera on the K4000 is actually an 8 mega-pixel sensor which has been interpolated to 13 mega-pixels.The sensor itself is fine, but I feel the lens on the camera let the performance down.聽If there are any bright light sources around (such as a bright blue sky) the resulting image is washed out. Keep away from dark and light extremes though and the camera can take some useable photos.Oukitek K4000 camera samples Oukitel K4000 Review – Gallery Oukitel K4000 Review – ConclusionChecking online聽for the Oukitel K4000 brings up listings of the phone costing $115, and to be honest I would be happy to spend this much on the phone just for a back up with good battery. If you can live with the weight and lack luster聽camera, you will be rewarded with pretty good performance and a nice dose of battery life.

Like many new Chinese smartphones the Ulefone Power comes with a fingerprint scanner, but Ulefone have been smart enough to add a few extra features.Fingerprint scanners are the norm on Chinese phones these days, but it’s still rare to see a Chinese phone that has a fingerprint scanner that can do anything more than similar unlock your phone.Ulefone have been a little smarter with their fingerprint scanner on the Ulefone Power though and added useful features that many users will appreciate:Application lockFingerprint quick startFingerprint camera controlThe first feature is the obviously the most useful of the bunch and means that you can not only secure your phone as a whole but also lock individual applications.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramFingerprint quick start is a neat feature too, and because the Ulefone Power asks you to identify each fingerprint it means you could have up to 10 fingerprint activated shortcuts on the phone.You can see the Ulefone Power fingerprint scanner features in the above video. More details will come in our upcoming Ulefone Power review.Like many new Chinese smartphones the Ulefone Power comes with a fingerprint scanner, but Ulefone have been smart enough to add a few extra features.Fingerprint scanners are the norm on Chinese phones these days, but it’s still rare to see a Chinese phone that has a fingerprint scanner that can do anything more than similar unlock your phone.Ulefone have been a little smarter with their fingerprint scanner on the Ulefone Power though and added useful features that many users will appreciate:Application lockFingerprint quick startFingerprint camera controlThe first feature is the obviously the most useful of the bunch and means that you can not only secure your phone as a whole but also lock individual applications.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramFingerprint quick start is a neat feature too, and because the Ulefone Power asks you to identify each fingerprint it means you could have up to 10 fingerprint activated shortcuts on the phone.You can see the Ulefone Power fingerprint scanner features in the above video. More details will come in our upcoming Ulefone Power review.

Today we go hands on with the Ulefone Power in this unboxing and hands on video.Following on from our hands on and first impressions with the Ulefone Power yesterday, here is an unboxing and hands on video to give you a more detailed look at the new device.Ulefone Power SpecificationsModel:Touch ID:Ulefone PowerFingerprint Scanner, Unlock in 0.1-0.3s,Multi-functionSim Card:Dual sim dual standby.Both SIM slots are compatible with 4G, respectively. When they work at the same time, only one of them can receive LTE service and the other GSM.You can choose in settings which one for 4G.Color:聽Blue / White / WoodenCapacityRAM:聽3GB LPDDR3 RAMROM: 16GB聽(Mircro SD card Up to 128GB)Multi-LanguagesEnglish as default(For Multi-languages ,please refer to the screenshot showed above)ChipsetCPU :聽64Bit MTK MT6753 processor Octa core 1.3GHzGPU :聽Mali T720 MPSystemAndroid 5.1 Lollipop / Upgrade Android 6.0 / u-LauncherScreenDisplay Size: 5.5-inch ScreenResolution:聽FHD 1920*1080 pixelsMaterial:聽Corning庐 Gorilla庐 Glass 3Type:LTPS聽AUO (2.5D Arc screen)CameraRear Camera13MP 4th generation camera Sony IMX214,F1.8 Aperture,Dual FlashGizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramFront Camera5.0MP (OmniVision OV5648)Video:1080PNetwork and Wireless Connectivity4G: FDD-LTE:聽800/900/1800/2100/2600 (band20,band3,band1,band7,band8)3G:WCDMA聽900/2100 (band8,band1)2G:GSM聽850/900/1800/1900 (band5,band8,band3,band2)WIFI : SupportPositioning:聽GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, Digital CompassBluetooth:聽Bluetooth 4.0Battery capacity and lifeSONY 6050mAh Lithium-ion Polymer BatteryStandby Time: 4聽DaysCharger: 9V/2A-3A Quick chargeQuick Charge 5 Min聽 Talking time : 2 HoursQuick Charge 30 Min聽 Normal use : 1 DayQuick Charge 90-120 Min聽聽 Full ChargeSensorG-sensor, Light Sensor ,Proximity Sensor ,Hall Effect SensorFunctions聽Infrared,FM,OTG,Hotknot,Miracast,Gestures to wake up,Smart Power saving modeSizeDimensions: 155聽x 77聽x 9.5mmToday we go hands on with the Ulefone Power in this unboxing and hands on video.Following on from our hands on and first impressions with the Ulefone Power yesterday, here is an unboxing and hands on video to give you a more detailed look at the new device.Ulefone Power SpecificationsModel:Touch ID:Ulefone PowerFingerprint Scanner, Unlock in 0.1-0.3s,Multi-functionSim Card:Dual sim dual standby.Both SIM slots are compatible with 4G, respectively. When they work at the same time, only one of them can receive LTE service and the other GSM.You can choose in settings which one for 4G.Color:聽Blue / White / WoodenCapacityRAM:聽3GB LPDDR3 RAMROM: 16GB聽(Mircro SD card Up to 128GB)Multi-LanguagesEnglish as default(For Multi-languages ,please refer to the screenshot showed above)ChipsetCPU :聽64Bit MTK MT6753 processor Octa core 1.3GHzGPU :聽Mali T720 MPSystemAndroid 5.1 Lollipop / Upgrade Android 6.0 / u-LauncherScreenDisplay Size: 5.5-inch ScreenResolution:聽FHD 1920*1080 pixelsMaterial:聽Corning庐 Gorilla庐 Glass 3Type:LTPS聽AUO (2.5D Arc screen)CameraRear Camera13MP 4th generation camera Sony IMX214,F1.8 Aperture,Dual FlashGizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramFront Camera5.0MP (OmniVision OV5648)Video:1080PNetwork and Wireless Connectivity4G: FDD-LTE:聽800/900/1800/2100/2600 (band20,band3,band1,band7,band8)3G:WCDMA聽900/2100 (band8,band1)2G:GSM聽850/900/1800/1900 (band5,band8,band3,band2)WIFI : SupportPositioning:聽GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, Digital CompassBluetooth:聽Bluetooth 4.0Battery capacity and lifeSONY 6050mAh Lithium-ion Polymer BatteryStandby Time: 4聽DaysCharger: 9V/2A-3A Quick chargeQuick Charge 5 Min聽 Talking time : 2 HoursQuick Charge 30 Min聽 Normal use : 1 DayQuick Charge 90-120 Min聽聽 Full ChargeSensorG-sensor, Light Sensor ,Proximity Sensor ,Hall Effect SensorFunctions聽Infrared,FM,OTG,Hotknot,Miracast,Gestures to wake up,Smart Power saving modeSizeDimensions: 155聽x 77聽x 9.5mm