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莽an铆UMIDIGI is once again back in Gizchina HQ, with yet another notched Android smartphone, cloned to the max – but with a VERY decent price and typical specifications! Its not so special name is UMIDIGI One Pro and as you can easily understand, it tries to borrow things (names, specs, design) from other phones (iPhone X, Huawei P20 Pro, Honor etc) but manages to retain its low-end character combined with a very aggressive price that’s just 169$ at the time of this presentation.Compared with smartphones of any other brands present in the market, UMiDIGI One Pro is a beautiful, affordable smartphone and comes with really notable features that most of you might even find interesting. 馃槈Enter the UMiDIGI One Pro, the latest in the onslaught of UMiDiGi devices, this time coming in a beautiful Twilight color that will surely blow your mind!UMiDIGI One Pro ReviewIn terms of overall appearance, body build and form, the UMiDIGI One Pro is your typical Huawei/Honor device – packed with pure Android and lower end specs. Actually, it’s a decent low to mid range model, that excels in design and it’s just average in terms of performance in everyday use. It weighs approximately 190 gr. (despite the fact that it hosts a typical 3250 mAh battery) and its size is聽148 x 71,4 x 8,3 mm. This means that it’s really thin, relatively lightweight and very easy to use with one hand – if anyone’s interested.The UMiDIGI One Pro has its main dual camera on the rear but it saves a special place for its fingerprint sensor, just inside the On/Off button that sits at the right side of the device!Yes, it has borrowed the sensor placement that Sony first established in most of their smartphones, and in my eyes, that’s a good decision. The devices frontal is almost empty apart from the notorious notch that sits at the top of the display. Apart from this, there’s just the screen, a selfie camera (with low-end FaceID-like features) and the earpiece of course.UMiDIGI One Pro SpecificationsDisplay:聽5.86 inch, 1520 x 720 Pixel ScreenCPU:聽MT6763 Octa Core 2.0GHzSystem:聽Android 8.1RAM + ROM:聽4GB RAM + 64GB ROMCamera:聽12.0MP + 5.0MP rear camera + 16.0MP front cameraSensor:聽Proximity Sensor, E-compass, Gravity Sensor, Face ID, Light Sensor, Fingerprint Sensor, Gyroscope, NFCSIM Card:聽Nano SIM card + Nano SIM card / TF cardFeature:聽GPS, A-GPS, GLONASSBluetooth:4.2Networks:聽GSM: B2 / B3 / B5 / B8, CDMA BC0 / BC1 –聽WCDMA: B1 / 2 / 4 / 5 / 8, TD-SCDMA: B34 / 39 –聽FDD-LTE: B1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 7 / 8 / 12 / 13 / 17 / 18 / 19 / 20 / 25 / 26 / 28A / 28B, TDD-LTE: B34 / 38 / 39 / 40 / 41Big thanks to UMiDiGi for providing this review unit. You can buy one here 馃檪UMiDIGI One Pro Build QualityThe screen is a聽5.86-inches IPS panel, with a resolution of 1520 x 720 pixels. The display comes with 2.5D curved glass with a typical pixel density, equipped with Cornings Gorilla Glass system for screen protection.The impressive “Twilight” colour of this phone really sold me. I pride myself on being immune to colour choice, but man has this purple-blue-green-ish really sold me. Lets ignore the eye catching color for a moment, the build quality here is good but… not excellent.Surely it has improved from the days of the notorious UMI Super, but still it feels plastic some times – and this isn’t at all bad, for a phone at this price range. In any case, the phone is fairly easy to hold, but not as easy as a five-incher, the thinness does make it feel very small though.The body is made out of plastic and metal, along with a special cover at the back that resembles glass (but it’s not). Its build quality is good as I said before but as with every phone that uses a glossy finish it gets easily smudged and you may end up polishing it every couple of minutes with a small cloth :pUMiDIGI One Pro DisplayThe聽One Pro comes with a capacitive IPS display with typical maximum brightness that could make it hard to use only under direct sunlight. As we mentioned earlier, the screen size is 5.86 inches and has a resolution of 720 x 1520 pixels, providing a 19:9 aspect ratio and a staggering 90% screen/body ratio -> that’s according to the manufacturer.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramThis display does have a slightly blue/purple tint that is almost unnoticeable in real life but does show quite noticeably on camera. Max brightness tops out around 400 nits which is quite respectable for such a panel, and is also relatively viewable under direct sunlight. Touch sensitivity is excellent and the 19:9 aspect ratio allows for excellent one hand use, typical of that of a 5.2 inch smartphone!UMiDIGI One Pro BatteryThe combination of the built-in 3250mAh battery, IPS display, and the聽Helio P23 (MTK6763) SoC should provide average battery life. And while that holds mostly true, I believe its battery life could definitely be better. I managed to get approximately 5 hours of screen on time with ease, ending the day with 18% left. This comes after about 2 hours of YouTube, about an hour of gaming, 1,5 hours of local video playback, and about 3 hours of Bluetooth music in addition to all the miscellaneous items I performed such as Whatsapp, texting, FaceBook etc.The one area where UMiDiGi has to improve on is the standby battery drain. I was getting a guaranteed 1% battery drain every hour, with it jumping up to 1.5% sometimes. This has to be solved if possible through software. UMIDIGI says that the One Pro supports wireless charging and – it does, but with certain hickups: it has to be placed firmly on the OEM wireless charging pad and the charging rate is not that fast. However for a price of 169$ one could forget about these, plug a USB Type-C cable and get on with his life 馃槈UMiDIGI One Pro SoftwareWe have Android 8.1 Oreo running inside the phone, and I must say that UMiDiGis software optimization has taken a step up again over the older models, with this phone feeling even smoother when moving between home screens, going into settings etc. Launching lots of apps at the same time, on the other hand, is a more ponderous process with the Helio P23 chipset struggling (a bit) to keep up with our needs, with 4GB of RAM being all this phone needs. Not an overkill (like having 6GB), but also not 3GB (which is not enough anymore). The Helio P23 doesnt affect gaming, it’s able to play all the games at 720p without issue, Modern combat, Asphalt, lighter games such as Super Mario Run ran without a hitch, even when I was recording the screen at the same time. The phone gets warm on its back side but never gets burning hot. I also ran a malware scan and didnt find anything. The fingerprint sensor is NOT that accurate, so you will have to train it 2-3 times more in order for it to get to “know” you. Let’s say we had an average of 80% success in identifying my thumb – which could be better I guess.UMiDIGI One Pro Connectivity Reception on this phone is great. The device comes with full 4G support (LFDD-LTE: B1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 7 / 8 / 12 / 13 / 17 / 18 / 19 / 20 / 25 / 26 / 28A / 28B, TDD-LTE: B34 / 38 / 39 / 40 / 41), it offers very good connectivity inside large cities, with no dropped calls or problems during communication.WiFi speeds are great, an 800MB file takes 4 minutes (on fast WiFi that is), and Bluetooth range is good also. I used the GPS to navigate to work, and it was fairly accurate and fast. No problems with Google Maps, or Sygic navigation 馃檪 Well done UMIDIGI on this. UMiDIGI One Pro CameraThe camera is a welcomed surprise when using it in day mode! It’s photos offer good detail levels and it can be relatively easy to shoot good photos – as you keep your phone relatively still! Don’t worry the phone snaps photos pretty quickly so you dont have to be a statue forever.Colour reproduction ranges from good to great, with colour sometimes being rather average and showing great saturation and vividness other times. HDR mode, on the other hand, should be left disabled at all times, well almost all times. The HDR mode is way too aggressive, trying to equalize bright and dark spots when they arent that far apart in the first place. You have to leave it off unless there are extremely obvious bright and dark spots, e.g. taking a picture of the sun. In those cases, the aggressive HDR does its job well.Moving on to Bokeh mode, which I see more and more as a gimmick, it adds Bokeh in a very unnatural circle, and not only that the overall quality of the photo is lowered as well. There is also a pro photo mode that works quite well and uses very convenient sliders to change the camera settings. The front facing camera is rather typical also.[flickr_set id=”72157695459236610″]Now for the video. The camera app seems to lag behind real life by about 陆 a second. Now a camera lagging behind real life slightly is normal, but 陆 a second is reserved for low-end cameras, not in a $169 device. In addition, the video recording is weirdly laggy, almost like the video is recording normally for a second, then slow for the next. Overall, these items make for an average video experience, and is really a downside to this phone.UMiDIGI One Pro VerdictHands down, this is a very beautiful – and affordable mid-ranger in the market. UMIDIGI shows signs of improvement with every device they launch: first they try to change their support, then they copy the good features of high end phones and combine them with a pure Android 8.1 Oreo UI that surely delivers.Nope I am not certain that you will get a lot of OTA updates with this device. I got TWO wireless OTA updates during the 10 days I had it in my hands, but they brought bug fixes and small performance improvements. I really hope this phone gets Android 9.0 Pie – UMIDIGI has to surprise us and make a turn towards decent after sales support. This will surely help them improve their sales even more.聽This UMiDIGI One Pro at $169,99 is surely one of the phones one should pay attention to, especially if the design of a phone is high on your “plus” list. It offers typical battery life with a 3250 mAh battery, very good built quality, decent display (nothing much) and a solid chipset with 4GB of RAM for decent everyday use.Buy UMIDIGI One Pro from their official shopam茅rica-mg x cruzeiro esporte clube minuto a minuto莽an铆simbolos bet365

莽an铆The Meizu 16 is the second flagship from Meizu in less than six months and it represents the pinnacle of the brand’s efforts in 2018. It represents the company’s change in strategy as the brand no longer wants to play just a mid-range and entry-level game. With the 16 (or as they say, 16th), Meizu once again wants a ticket to the big league. The Meizu 16th represents a lot of things, but let’s just say, above all the phone maker wants it to be a smashing hit in the premium smartphone arena. Will it be able to do that? Will it threaten stalwarts likes the Mi 8, the OnePlus 6? Well find out in this full review of the Meizu 16. Meizu 16th Design The Meizu 16s awesome design is truly one to look at and marvel at. You’ll know what i mean when you see the front screen pushing the bezels out of the phone to their death. And Meizu should get brownie points for doing this without reaching for an easy notch solution that everyone in the industry has been doing for the past year. The result is a 92.18% non-intrusive screen real estate and it commands attention for sure. I’ve been using the device for some time and every time I’ve walked into a crowd, this phone gets the gazes and along with it, me as well. Meizu said at the launch event that they have poured hundreds of millions of dollars to cram sensors on the mini bezel at the top and here is the finished product. Theres a small LED as well on the top bezel but it lights up for low battery notifications only and no other stuff. That’s half of the design story. The rear of the design is also very well done. It’s a chassis befitting a flagship. The metal back is coated by a 7 layering process of glass that makes it look like ceramic and is completely minimalistic. The edges curve ever so slightly giving the phone a very good in-hand feel. The rear camera housing is indented and rises above the rest of the surface. Meizu has included a transparent case and you might want to slap it on as the back can get scratched easily. Thankfully for us, we have a White version and we’ve been spared from the fingerprint smudge-fest that is otherwise quite visible on other shades. A word of caution though. Due to being a completely glossy glass finish, the Meizu 16 has to be handled with firm grip. I found the device to be super slippery and it gave me the jitters a couple of times when it could have slipped from my hands. Overall, the design is one of the standouts of the Meizu 16 and for that we’d say, mission accomplished!DisplayThe 聽6.0-inch AMOLED display of the handset gives users a great immersive experience, thanks to those nonexistent bezels on the top and bottom. It is crisp, vibrant, and viewing angles are good. However, outdoor visibility isn’t top notch but it isn’t something you would regret too much. Playing games on the display is very entertaining. In short, I don’t have any qualms for about the display. Being a 6.0 incher, it is great for one-handed use for me personally as I have big hands. Meizu 16th PerformanceSince we’re talking about the overall performance, there are two factors here. The Snapdragon 845 with 8GB of RAM is one. It makes light of everything you throw at it. I played a number of games on it with ease. These include those titles that don’t task the CPU heavily as well as some heavy duty ones like PUBG too. My unit has Play Store and other Google Apps pre-installed and the model number M822H is certified by the EEC. So, this could be a European version. Also, theres almost no bloatware on the device except for some Meizu tools like ToolBox and Recorder which have handy features. Take a look at the AnTuTu score below. The other factor is Flyme OS. This is where I have some feedback for Meizu. Despite such ample fire power sitting at its heart, I noticed lag while doing some mundane tasks albeit not for long. But that’s not the real issue. The first few days were great. And then suddenly one day, my unit started to freeze in the middle of nowhere. This happened around 8 times over the course of just a few hours and there was no pattern to it. It would freeze anywhere and restarting it was the only way I could resume using it. Now, this could be a one-off issue with just my review unit but I have got in touch with their personnel to resolve the issue. Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramUpdate: I tried to find a solution to the problem and changed the default system launcher with a Rootless Pixel Launcher and the issue seems to have vanished. There has no been a single free till date since then.聽Also, Flyme OS doesn’t let you change wallpapers, at least a number of review units I checked didn’t have it. Again, this issue is also totally fixable with updates. So I won’t roast the company on this. Also, RAM management could be better, especially with 8GB you could do a lot more. My unit kept four apps in the cache but beyond that, it would have to reload them as I tried it more than once. One more thing that Meizu needs to fix is the notification system. Some apps simply don’t send notifications at all for no reason. For example, ever since i started using the device, i have never received Slack notifications unless i activated the app. This probably means Flyme OS kills the app in the background but i couldn’t do anything to prevent it. Similarly, other apps also shared the same fate. These are the bugs Meizu needs to fix as soon as possible.聽聽 Besides these minor qualms, Flyme OS is Flyme OS. A lot of the UX remains the same. You still don’t get an app drawer. You get an mBack gesture option that allows swipe from corners to go back. This is something Ive always preferred instead of the bottom screen gestures. Other small and nifty features like swiping down for the notification shade, swiping up for the universal search, double tap to wake the screen are all very nice and useful additions. Dropping the notification shade, there are quick toggles for screenshots, screen recording, eye-friendly mode for night and some more all of which are very useful. Meizu debuted something called Super Swipe that is software working behind the scenes to vastly improve touch response. Then theres mEngine 2.0, a new haptic feedback motor in the Meizu 16th that is supposed to be customizable. However, i didnt find any setting to customize it whatsoever on my phone. On-screen fingerprint readerThe on-screen fingerprint reader is one of the main attractions of the Meizu 16th and it works. Meizu does need to work on the accuracy of the sensor but considering the tech is in its infancy, and the price point at which Meizu offers it, it is mind-blowing. Props to the company for doing that. Theres also face scanning and it is really fast. It works very well in daylight but not so well in dark situations. However, it is much faster than the on screen biometric. 聽Thats pretty much it for the performance and features. Overall, the Meizu 16th is a reliable workhorse and you wont feel short of power when you need it.Call reception, SpeakersIve had no troubles with calls. Reception is great, and the Meizu 16th supports VoLTE. However, you need to activate it from settings to make calls over Jios VoLTE network which I use. Voice is crisp and clear over the earpiece and its great. As for speakers, Im very happy with them. Meizus dual speaker setup helps in even crowded public areas and you can hear your phones volume. At top level it quite louder than the average phone and a good plus to have. 聽Meizu 16th BatteryThe battery on the Meizu 16th is a 3,000mAh juice pack and it has Meizus proprietary mCharge tech which is very close to Oppos VOOC in terms of speeds. It is a life saver when you have small batteries that can deplete quickly. For my unit, my usage varies from day to day. Sometimes Im a heavy user and sometimes Im just an average guy. When Ive used the device heavily, Ive had to charge it in the middle of the day. My typical pattern in such days is a lot of YouTube, social media, and messaging with Wi-Fi always on. While for average use, it can last you by the end of the day. But expect no more. A days use is what youll get in average situations. There are two power saving modes and one particular is the aggressive 鈥楽uper Saving Mode that turns off all lights and features (except for phone) and uses the AMOLED panel like Samsung uses it in the power saving mode. Standby times arent the best though as Ive seen the device lose even 7-10 percent battery overnight. Ive had Xiaomi devices that are excellent at this and lose no more than 3 percent and if Meizu optimizes well, it can do as well. I wouldnt mind having a bigger battery and sacrificing some slimness, but it is what it is. 聽Meizu 16th CameraMeizu has used a dual setup for the rear and the Meizu 16 captures crisp shots with good details as long as youre in good lighting situations. Colours are natural and dont look over-saturated. Focus is a wee bit slow and shutter speed as well. Theres 3x optical zoom on the camera and it works ok but you should expect noise obviously when you use it. Low-light performance drops a bit and you’ll see some noise and loss of sharpness. The camera app is pretty basic. It has a few modes like Panorama, Slow-mo, Time-Lapse and Pro.[flickr_set id=”72157673024110848″]Theres portrait mode for Bokeh effects for the front camera and it works but the edge detection feature needs some fine-tuning. I found its blurring to be very uneven in some cases especially with hair. On the flip side, details are well captured and the image looks crisp and has true-to-life colours. Meizu 16 has HDR mode and you have options to switch it to Auto, on or off. Of course, you do get AI beauty features and there are three levels – No beauty, light beauty, and full beauty mode. 聽It also does 4K video recording and I found an odd bug in the Mp4 files. I recorded the POCO F1 launch event in 4K and I played it back after saving it. For some reason, the file failed to play. This happened with other recorded videos as well. Im not sure what this is but it needs a fix as soon as possible. I have some snaps captured from the cameras below and you want to see them. Meizu 16th Final verdict莽an铆As a tall person that never had good balance, when I first saw this pair of hovershoes delivered to me I thought “I’m not sure I’m gonna live long enough to make a review of these”. But, as you can see, I’m still alive and well, so let’s get going with the full review of this amazing and super fun transportation device!KOOWHEEL Hovershoes SpecificationsRange10KMTop聽Speed12KM/HMaximum聽Load聽Weight130KGSMotor聽Size90MMMotor聽Power250W*2Working聽Temp.0鈩?40鈩僊aximum聽Climbing聽Angle9掳Front聽and聽Rear聽Tilt聽Angle80掳Left聽and聽Right聽Tilt聽Angle50掳Battery聽Capacity2AhCharging聽Time2HRecharging聽Time1500Charging聽InputAC100V-240VCharging聽Temp.0鈩?40鈩僀harging聽Output29.4V/1AN.W.3.3KGS*2Dimension227*155*113MMKOOWHEEL Hovershoes UnboxingThe聽KOOWHEEL Hovershoes arrive in a massive box with a ton of聽cushioning so that they get to you in one piece. Inside the box we then find a power adapter for charging, a little bag to carry the wheels with you and the wheels themselves. You don’t need anything more. KOOWHEEL Hovershoes Design & HardwareWell, I’ve never had to deal with this kind of items so I can’t really compare it to anything else. What I can say though, is that they look sleek, they aren’t of some weird color that would probably attract kids. Instead, they’re all black, with some red accents, LEDs that turn red or green depending on the status, the KOOWHEEL logo on top and the name “Hovershoes” on the side.Build quality is really good and I love the four handles (two for each), present on the sides. These make carrying the Hovershoes a simple task; you can also carry them with one hand if you want to. That said, both wheels are pretty heavy at 3.3Kg each, but that’s to be expected. You’re packing a motor, metal wheels and an hopefully big battery inside each of these. Plus they’re entirely made of metal for durability purposes.Overall, the Hovershoes were quite solid, and the fact that they’re still rolling is proof. I think I tested them to their limits and aside a few scratches, they’re still like new.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramKOOWHEEL Hovershoes UsabilityI loved using the聽KOOWHEEL Hovershoes but most importantly, I’m happy I’m still unhurt. I suggest starting out with a couple of supports, I was lucky enough to have some sawhorse table legs lying around, so I used them to help stand up on the wheels.After slowing going forward and back for a couple minutes, I finally tried to go without support and well, I was surprised I didn’t fall.So, I’d say that in around 10 minutes, you’ll be able to learn how to ride these, at home, on a flat surface. I suggest you spend some more time before going on the road as any little bump could break the magic.The聽KOOWHEEL Hovershoes do auto-balance after you turn them on. All you have to do is click the button and then step on them. They’ll auto-calibrate and stay still in an horizontal position. You then move forward by tilting your foot forward, but you probably already know that.These wheels can get quite fast for an home use, meanwhile outside they don’t achieve incredible speeds at聽12Km/h, but then I wouldn’t suggest going and faster. This isn’t an electric bike or scooter, if you mistake on these you can get hurt. So, consider using them as if they were a self-balancing scooter – in pedestrian zones, malls and big houses.KOOWHEEL Hovershoes Battery/RangeI didn’t have a chance of testing the range as I mostly tried them in a parking lot. But I can say that they lasted long enough for me to risk my life a couple times, I’d say over half hour of riding at top speeds (I know because they beep when you reach that) and there was no sign of battery running out juice. This means you can probably use these for an hour, probably more, depending on the speed at which you use them and the angle of climb of the road.More than enough batteryKOOWHEEL Hovershoes VerdictLet’s now get to get verdict, should you get these or not? My answer is: sure, if you can afford them!The聽KOOWHEEL Hovershoes aren’t cheap at $389.99 but they are a lot of fun. If you’re a person that has used a self-balance scooter or other electric transportation vehicle then you already know these type of devices are always pricey.聽KOOWHEEL, albeit dropping the price from an initial $489.99, can’t really do much about it.The materials used on the Hovershoes are premium, the components inside are premium, they work as they’re supposed to, which isn’t always the case with such items and most importantly – they’re unique.If you follow trends and you like to have the latest gadgets, then the聽KOOWHEEL Hovershoes are definitely worth the price as you can hardly find anything like this on the market.Lots of Fun, Worth the Price莽an铆In early 2018 Huawei took over the world by announcing their premium P20 series with astounding photographic abilities. P20 arrived with a full notched display copying iPhone X, and shiny gradient colours, borrowed from its sub-company Honor. Copying, borrowing and even cloning, is a method all smartphone companies use. It is a fast way to capture trends and at the same time promote the company that provides the design – a win-win scenario for most. Everybody does it and hopefully will be doing it in the future. If you are looking for a P20 series lookalike that costs way far less than the original flagship while packing as much value as possible at a low price, Umidigi Z2 is your next phone.This is the second smartphone from Umidigi that arrives in my hands after the amazing UMIDIGI A1 Pro this year and i just cant believe how well the company is upgrading its products year after year. While A1 Pro is the undisputable winner in the entry level category, Z2 comes at the middle one, a place where Xiaomi rules with the Redmi series during the past couple of years. So Z2 has to stand its ground and prove its worth and value. It has a full notched display, 6GB of RAM, stock Android Oreo, a large 3850mAh battery with 18W fast charge, four cameras and an amazing array of global band support. Face Unlock and a shiny gradient coloured back with a fingerprint sensor complete this excellent set of characteristics.Umidigi Z2 Technical SpecificationsOS: Android 8.1CPU: MTK6763V Octa Core 2.0GHzGPU: ARM Mali-G71 MP2ROM: 64GB ROM, TF card up to 256GBRAM: 6GB LPDDR4x RAMDisplay: 6.2 inch, 1080 x 2284 pixelsFront Camera: 16.0MP + 8.0MP dual front cameraBack Camera: 16.0MP + 8.0MP dual back cameraNetwork: GSM / WCDMA / FDD-LTEBands: 2G: GSM B2/B3/B5/B8 CDMA BC0/BC1, 3G: WCDMA B1/B2/B4/B5/B8, 4G: FDD-LTE B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B13/B17/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26/B28SIM: 2 Nano SIM Cards, Dual standbyBluetooth: 4.0Battery: 3850 mAhExtras: Accelerometer, Ambient Light Sensor, Geomagnetic Sensor, Gyroscope, Proximity Sensor, GPSSize: 153.4 x 74.4 x 8.3 mmWeight: 165g UnboxingThe smartphone arrives in a dark gray to black, hard paper box, with an extra half-cover and crafted texture to prove to you that they care even for the small parts – It is the same package that A1 Pro arrived in. The brand name is written in a gold-copper colour in the box- same colour is used in the logo Link to the World typed in the instructions envelope inside. A thank you card is added inside, with details on how to enter a giveaway competition.The bottom of the box has a black sticker with white letters describing the characteristics, the package contents, a warning not to use non approved batteries and the brands email address. The box has dimensions 180 X 90 X 35 mm and weights 430 grams. Inside you will find:1 X UMIDIGI Z21 X Power adapter1 X USB cable1 X USB to 3.5mm audio jack adapter1 X SIM card eject tool1 X Screen protector1 X Silicone Case1 X Manual in English, Italian, Spanish, German and FrenchThe retail box is excellent and complete according to my… taste. I really liked the silicone case as it has a leather type texture with an excellent grip and protection from fingerprints. Another nice touch is that the usb cable is in red – a color that UMI usually choses for some of their models from time to time.DesignThere are three color versions, Phantom (black), Twilight and Twilight Black. I had the latest version in my hands, yes the Twilight Black. It is bluish and black on the top turning purple at the bottom. I prefer this colour to the other two and it looks astonishingly good in the sun. (look below)In the front we can see a huge 6.2 inch display with a 19:9 aspect ratio. The notch in the top resembles the one used in Huawei P20’s display. There is no protection here that i know of, except from the plastic cover attached to the display. The plastic film will be too scratched in the future, will look bad and will downgrade the – in all respect- clean nice looking panel. Dont think about it, go and buy a tempered glass to replace the film and enhance the panels protection. The notch is the place where you can find the microphone, the front-facing dual camera and the usual pack of sensors. There is no LED flash here so your selfies will suffer in low light conditions. Unfortunately there is no notification light either.There are very small bezels on the side and a bigger one on the bottom. This is a full view display with excellent ratio to body of approximately 90% (according to UMI that is). There are no physical keys on the lower bezel. Bezels are smaller than OnePlus 6 but Z2 has a larger notch.The frame is metallic with a dark grey colouring. In the right side it has two metallic buttons, the volume control and the power/lock button. There is a small rattling noise and partial movement when you move your fingers on them but nothing serious to complain about. On the top there is a noise cancellation microphone. In the left you can see double SIM tray. On the lower part you will find the USB type C port and the speaker trays on the left and right of it. As you understood from the retail box content there is no 3.5 mm audio jack. I know this a trend that keeps the width smaller but I believe that Umidigi should include an audio port. It would be an advantage over the competition. Any way the company wanted a 2018 flagship look and there are very few flagships that keep a 3.5mm port. At the side, near the top and bottom a small part of the antenna bands is visible, having the same colour with the SIM tray, a darker tone or gray.The back panel is made from curved glass, something that we dont easily see in the category except from medium to premium devices that cost a couple hundred US dollars more. The way the back panel and the side panel join together is perfect. The shiny gradient coloring is just amazing as I have already told you. Surely the glass is a fingerprint magnet and if you dont like the black silicone case that comes along in the retail box, a transparent case would be just perfect as you could enjoy the glass panel to all its glory. In the center of the panel you can find the double camera. On its left there is a LED flash and on the bottom a fingertip sensor. I really like that the sensor is larger in diameter from the two equally sized lenses – it makes my finger easier to reach and unlock.I also like that there is no bulge in the camera setup. I use my smartphone a lot on my desk and I simply hate bulges. Whenever I try to write something most of the smartphones slide like a boat. Not Z2.I was really astonished the way Umidigi A1 Pro looked and at this price tag I cant but admire what Umidigi has done again!This is an excellent exterior that easily outperforms in beauty any other plastic or metal smartphones in the price category. Not only that! With the colour gradient it is better looking than double-prized flagships – I can confirm it by having a OnePlus 6 in my other hand. The quality is equal to the flagship-killer and that is an amazing accomplishment for half the price.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramHardwareThe screen is the main selling point with a 6.2 inch, 2.5D curved, 19:9 display. It has a FHD+ resolution (2246 X 1080) that covers 90% of the front with 403 ppi. I dont know who builds this panel but Umidigi keeps a close partnership and usually buys from SHARP. The display is bright and vivid and has good contrast. It is visible under the midday sun but not as much as I wanted. Viewing angles are good and since this is a good panel, I suppose this is another SHARP product.This smartphone comes with the MTK6763V SoC known also as Helio P23. It is an 8-core processor with 8 Cortex-A53 cores working at a frequency of 2.0GHz. It is accompanied by a ARM Mali-G71 MP2 GPU working to help with the graphics. Helio P23 and Snapdragon 625 have stellar performance in stability and power usage, and they are still used today by many companies. There are 6GB of LPDDR4x RAM to assist and the G71 proves to be a good GPU. My opinion is that a newer chip could be found here at the expense of having less RAM/ROM. The daily usage should not suffer, however as I had no issues in any task. Of course heavy gaming or multitasking stress the SoC. Benchmark results are the same as in any other Helio P23 driven smartphone. There are 64GB of ROM in the phone. The internal storage can expand up to 256GB with an external SDcard placed in the SIM tray. It supports dual SIM functionality with two nano-SIMs or a nano-SIM and the aforementioned micorSD card.Connectivity is exceptional. It supports Dual 4G LTE, and nearly all available bands, thus is an excellent tool for people that travel a lot. Is supports 2G: GSM B2/B3/B5/B8 CDMA BC0/BC1, 3G: WCDMA B1/B2/B4/B5/B8 TD-SCDMA B34/B3, 4G: FDD-LTE B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B13/B17/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26/B28, TDD-LTE B34/B38/B39/B40/B41. The only caveat here is the lack of NFC.The smartphone has a good sensor pack having GPS (A-GPS, Beidou, GLONASS, GPS), Accelerometer, Ambient Light Sensor, Geomagnetic Sensor, Gyroscope, Proximity Sensor, and FM Radio. Bluetooth has the 4.0 Specification. Navigation works fine with satellites being found fast and having a good precision.Audio is based on a single external speaker at the bottom. It is clear and loud and much better than expected for the price range. Wifi is able to connect to 802.11 a/b/g/n, 2.4G/5GHz Dual-band.Call quality is excellent and video calls are good without any issues. Selfie cam has no LED so keep in mind to have a light source near in video calls.SoftwareThe operating system found in the smartphone is stock Android 8.1. I dont know whether Z2 will be updated to Android 9 Pie. On the first power-on I had an OTA update of 106.43MB! Constant upgrades is the safe path to compete against software oriented companies like Xiaomi or Android One smartphones. So let’s all hope that Umidigi keeps updating Z2, because we cannot say the same for most of their previous models. First boot and set up was fast. I am using Oreo since December so the experience is typical with no issues. In the settings Umidigi has added a few touches here and there. Smart Assistant has options to hide the navigation bar, and flip the buttons, there is a Flip to Mute option for calls, alarms or music and a Sweep QR scanner. Face unlock works properly while having a nice option to lit the display as to brighten up the users face in low light conditions. In the Fingerprint setup there are a lot of options to use the fingerprint sensor. For example you can answer a call or take a screenshot. In the System settings you will find the Android System Update and in the About Phone the Umidigi Wireless Update. The latest Google Security patch level is the one from May – it’s turning a bit old I guess. There is also the well known DuraSpeed setting here as well. This setting allows fine-tuned control over foreground and background apps on a toggle based system. If you want more performance you can toggle your prefered application and it will stop running in the background – there will be no updates or notifications on it.Face Unlock worked in a decent way, it is fast and works most of the time in low light environments with its lit-display option. As always I repeat that it is not a 100% safe method to use and one should prefer the fast and reliable fingerprint sensor. Having said that, I must admit that this is the first phone that Face Unlock is faster to unlock the phone when compared to the two biometric sensors. While the fingerprint sensor works flawlessly the time to lit the display is almost 2 seconds. This is something that Umidigi needs to fix. Multitasking works as long you wont open 100 apps – the software tends to kill them, so the SoC can handle the latest processes.Gaming -considering the SoC- is doable with low graphic settings. Due to the 6GB of LPDDR4x RAM and ARM Mali-G71 MP2 GPU this smartphone is better at gaming than any other Helio P23 or Snapdragon 625 handset. PUGB is playable at medium graphic settings but the experience is lower than Snapdragon 625 smartphones – there are a lot of lags.Sound is good and loud. There is a single speaker. This is not a phone for audiophiles, but for daily usage I was satisfied with the volume and clear sound. My opinion is that is a bit better from the competition in the price range. The back of the phone gets warm even after average usage but nothing more than that. Don’t worry it won’t melt 馃槈CameraThe quad cameras are made from Samsung and consist of a main pair in the back with a 13MP main shooter from Samsung with f/2.0 aperture and a 5MP, f/2.4 aperture lens for the the bokeh effect. A dual LED supports night shots. Facial recognition and selfie countdown are possible from the front camera. The camera application has all the basic stuff you expect these days. There is a Picture and Video main menus with the settings. HDR is seen in a prominent place at the top, while in Picture you can alter with a left to right gesture from the left side between Normal or Bokeh pictures.I cant tell you that I felt happy with the application. It looks and feels very basic and below this price range. You need to swipe to the left or right to access the settings which is typical these days but there is no mark or clues to do so.[flickr_set id=”72157700210394934″]Having said that, the Z2 is a decent camera phone. It is really good in bright light but suffers in low light something usual in this price range. HDR worked properly without losing details or sharpness. Bokeh effect is much better than that of the competition.Taking pictures with the main camera or selfie camera is an enjoyable experience – as you can see from the samples the results are a bit better than that of the competition in the category. In good lighting conditions or outside in bright weather pictures are good. Nightly or low light shots have a lot of noise and details are blurry at least. HDR worked properly without losing details or sharpness.Video recording is up to 1080p. The results are ok, mediocre in bright light, extra noisy in low light. The smartphone has no OIS or EIS and the image is shaking. At least the noise recording is clear and loud.Considering the price I am happy with the whole experience and results.BatteryZ2 has a Li-Pol, non removable, 3850 mAh battery. With medium usage the battery is more than capable to keep the phone lit all the day as with continuous video playback I got 6.5 hours of screen-on-time.The company advertises the quick charge functionality with the 18W charger. It takes 80-90 minutes for a full charge and the device gets a bit warm in the procedure. I didnt see any battery drain in any application or gaming.ConclusionWhat Umidigi did here was to take the typical medium category smartphone and successfully incorporate all the 2018 trends into it. Big full-view bezel-less display, notch, shiny gradient coloring, 6GB RAM, stock Android, quad cameras, face unlock and fast charge, are ALL there in UMIDIGI Z2. The quality of build is very good – i have to stress that.Daily usage is effortless and the battery can keep up until the end. In case of heavy usage the phone has limitations on its SoC even with the existence of high quality RAM.There is no protection or audio jack and you need to consider this by buying a tempered glass and bluetooth headsets. There is no notification light either – something that I find unfortunate.莽an铆Vernee is once again “in the house” here in Gizchina HQ and today they decided to send over one of their slimmest and most efficient rugged Android smartphones and surely one that most of you outgoing professionals out there, will like.聽Say hello to聽Vernee V2 Pro聽a new rugged smartphone -part of their high-end portfolio – equipped with an Helio P23 SoC processor,聽a 2160 x 1080 pixels display and 6GB of RAM for excellent multitasking.Since its official launch some weeks ago, the phone has generally been well received, and we believe, pretty much rightly so. It definitely isn’t a phone that will ‘change everything’, but it’s a fairly nice device – one of聽the slimmest ever designed by the Chinese company and it surely deserves all the praises for this. Let’s take a deeper look in the Vernee V2 Pro review!Vernee V2 Pro: Technical specsDisplay: 5.99 inch, 2160 x 1080 pixels screenCPU: MTK6763 ( Helio P23 ) Octa Core 2GHzSystem: Android 8.1RAM: 6GB – ROM: 64GBCamera: 16.0MP ( SW 21MP )+ 5.0MP rear camera; 8MP ( SW 13MP ) + 5.0MP dual front camerasSensor: G-sensor control, distance sensor, light sensor, electronic compass, gyroscope, geomagnetism, NFC, OTG, fingerprint recognitionSIM Card: dual Nano SIM + dual standbyFeatures: GPS, AGPS, GLONASS, BDSBluetooth: 4.2Dimensions: 164,2 x 79,4 x 12,1 mm / Weight: 259 grNetwork:聽2G: GSM B2, 3, 5, 8 –聽3G: WCDMA B1 / 2 / 4 / 5 / 8 – TD-SCDMA: B34 / 39 –聽4G: FDD-LTE: B1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 7 / 8 / 12 / 17 / 19 / 20, BC0 / BC1 – TDD-LTE: B34 / 38 / 39 / 40 / 41Vernee V2 Pro Review: Design & BuildIt’s always good to start from – whats probably the most important factor in a rugged phone 鈥 its build quality and design. As you might have guessed by reading the review introduction, the Vernee V2 Pro comes as a slim, powerfull rugged device, with a large battery and ample RAM/storage, enough to cover the needs of almost any type of user.The smartphone is indeed slim compared to similar devices currently out with 12mm of thickness. Sure, it wont be as thin as an average smartphone, but if you take into consideration that you usually put an external case on them to avoid damages from drops and whatnot, while you dont need one on the already tough V2 Pro, then were not too far off as far as bulkiness goes.聽Right off the bat, the Vernee V2 Pro will remind you of at least 5-6 other typical mid-range models in the market, just pick one, they’re all the same to me. The only real noticeable feature however is the total absence of a front facing fingerprint scanner, something that adds a lot of points to its general design score, leaving a lot of space for its 5.99 inch display to show off a bit.聽At around the $249 mark (while writing this review), the Vernee V2 Pro isn’t the cheapest Chinese device, but I guess that it does the job. While the Chinese are getting to a point where they almost get the hardware right (full display, 4G/LTE, dual NANO SIM, 6GB RAM, microSD support up to 128GB, FM Radio, OTG, NFC etc.), there’s definitely still a void to fill when it’s software we’re talking about. More on that later.聽Combined with a metal finish and some polycarbonate parts on its body (that is prone to smudges on the back side however), the Vernee V2 Pro is surely a quite tempting device to hold and use. Unfortunately it still has large bezels on top and bottom, even though the company has done their best to “hide” them. They’re not huge, don’t get me wrong, but I guess that’s the price to pay to get a quite efficient, full display smartphone with true IP68 certification.聽The glass on top of the 2.5D display seems to (thankfully) feature some kind of oleophobic coating along with Gorilla Glass 3 protection, so you won’t be seeing a lot of smudges there while in everyday use, something that I really liked during my days with this device in my hands.The Vernee V2 Pro is IP68 water and dust proof, which is a great feature to have, albeit 鈥 in this case 鈥 it needs rubber plugs to make it so. So we have one at the bottom for the USB Type-C port with OTG support and another at the top for the 3.5mm audio jack.聽As far as build quality goes, the聽V2 Pro feels really solid in the hand, it does not make any noise when squeezed as well as when shaken. Kudos to Vernee for the high value production quality. You can easily rely on it for hard work, outgoing experiences, some trips to the sea or to the mountains, with out worrying that it may break. It won’t…Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramVernee V2 Pro Review: Hardware & PerformanceEquipped with Mediatek’s Helio P23 SoC along with 6GB RAM and 64GB of storage, one can surely expect the V2 Pro to provide quite impressive everyday use, with no lags or other issues. You can easily get more than decent performance in everyday use, as it will get the job done for everyday chores, extensive social media, Emails, a bit of Skype, Chrome for browsing etc. No lags, no apps freezing thankfully. While the VOS (V OS) is pretty much vanilla Android, there are still a few areas where it can be improved – the camera app for example, and others here and there. As I write this review, I’ve been notified of another OTA which will hopefully make things better. Don’t get me wrong, it’s quite intuitive as a UI, as it comes with several power saving features, some gestures like 3 fingers screenshot, Picture-in-Picture mode, some Pinned Shortcuts that can help increase your productivity etc.It runs on Android 8.1 Oreo, with full Google Apps support: all the stock apps are waiting for you when the device boots, such as聽Gmail, Youtube, Maps, Google Drive, but there are some other 3rd party apps that must accompany every rugged smartphone like a compass, a pedometer, gyroscope and excellet GPS/A-GPS support with fast location fix and more than 10 satellites connected at any time.There’s also a heart rate sensor located at the back, next to the dual camera of the device. It tries to measure our heart-rate with typical success but I would not rely on it for medical reasons, or anything similar. Performance wise, the V2 Pro is right up there with the likes of other Helio P23 phones. In fact it’s pretty zippy thanks to the lightweight OS (unless it’s having a RAM issue).聽I’ve managed to run several apps all at the same time without having any caching issues. I’d go as far as to say that you really don’t need 6GB of RAM at this point in time if your 4GB RAM is accompanied by decent software. But if your phone comes with 6GB RAM, who am I to turn it down? 馃槈 Moving on to the hardware, it’s been a mixed bag of sorts. The display comes with an impressive聽2160 x 1080 pixels resolution and yes, it is doing its best to fulfill all your needs. All in all it packs a nice and bright panel with some amazing back light consistency聽– no light bleeding whatsoever, with impressive clarity given its size. Well done here Vernee! The sound is.. average I must say. Both the earpiece and the built-in loudspeaker offer typical performance. While the earpiece is still doable, the loudspeaker offers poor sound with virtually no bass, a bit lower volume than expected but if you turn off the sound enhancer settings this helps a lot!聽The Vernee V2 Pro has a non-removable 6200mAH Li-Po battery which has a decent fast charging feature. These days people prefer purchasing fast charging battery smartphones, so take into account that this smartphone needs only 150 minutes to charge completely, with the use of the 9V/2A charger you’ll find inside its main package. As for its battery life while in typical usage, I’ve constantly managed to get over 5 hours of screen on time (5-5,5 hours on an average) when mostly on WiFi, and around the 6 hours mark when on 3G/4G. While this is good, it could get better, especially considering the battery size of 6200mAh.聽As I mentioned before, the fingerprint scanner of the device is positioned at the back, just below the main camera. It is not one of the fastest in the market, but it surely gets the job done, offering 0,1 seconds of recognition time, with an average of 95% success rate while in everyday use. Typical stuff there too, don’t expect anything else.Vernee V2 Pro Review: CameraIf you read the title of our review, then you must already know that the V2 Pro is one of the first rugged smartphones out there, equipped with not 3, but 4 cameras: a聽16.0MP + 5.0MP main pair of lenses along with two 8.0MP + 5.0MP front shooters for selfies with bokeh effects. The 16MP lens can use interpolation to increase its resolution to 21MP, but I wouldn’t suggest it. Just use the true 16MPixels of the sensor, it’s much better.聽The main dual camera is definitely potent enough to take some breathtaking shots I’m sure, but again that’s bottle-necked by the software running on the phone. It’s sad to notice that there’s no manual mode on the camera app, something the V2 Pro definitely deserves.聽The camera聽can capture the images at 4608 x 3456 pixels and record some decent videos of 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution @ 30fps.聽It’s a dual setup that manages to聽focus fast, and thanks to its RAM/SoC combination, saving clicked photos is extremely fast also. As you’d expect, the shutter tends to remain open for a little while longer in low-light situations, which means you’ll often end up with blurred photos. This, in turn, will make you miss OIS. There’s an ‘anti shake’ mode in the settings that you can turn on (probably something based on EIS), but it doesn’t work all that well anyway.[flickr_set id=”72157700394121035″]The front camera can also capture images with a maximum resolution of up to 3264 x 2448 pixels but when it comes to recording the video the results are NOT impressive, as it only records 480p videos @ almost 30fps. Fortunately there’s also a front facing flash that can surely brighten up those selfies during the night, with聽beauty mode and facial recognition.Vernee V2 Pro Review: ConclusionIf you’re in the market for a rugged smartphone with affordable price and some impressive technical specs, then the Vernee V2 Pro is definitely a phone that breaks away from the norm! Equipped with a decent chipset, 6GB RAM and 64GB of storage, along with a large battery (6200 mAh) it can surely become the phone you need for those hard working days, or just a heavy duty device if you’re clumsy.莽an铆Meizu’s much talked about device, the Meizu 16th (Yup, that’s what they call it), is now out. Gizchina were invited at the launch event in Beijing and we also have a review unit of the handset. This is Meizu’s successor to the Meizu 15, which is oddly just around 4 to 5 months old and is now been replaced by a much bigger upgrade. Meizu has also priced the flagship in the most aggressive manner. The base Meizu 16th variant (6GB + 64GB) will set you back by $395. That is an unbelievable price for such flagship grade specifications, especially when it comes with an on-screen fingerprint reader. Yes, both of Meizu’s flagships have the on-screen reader and that is absolutely insane at that price point. Meizu has just two colour variants, the classic Black and White while we’ve heard a Blue version is also coming out soon.First Leaks and live images pointed out to a radical design change mainly for the front of the phone with the flagship duo coming with extremely thin bezels, and they weren’t bluffing. One of the USPs of the phone is the 91.18% screen-to-body ratio that the company spent millions on to get users a cutting edge thin bezel experience, said Meizu at the event. The top bezel hides a number of sensors in that this area and there’s an ear-piece that doubles as a stereo speaker. The front is mostly screen of the Super AMOLED variety. That’s pretty much everything you’ll find on the front. The rear has a glossy finish made with a 7-layer coating process that gives the glass a ceramic feel. The backside curves gently at the edges and the in-hand feel is great and it isn’t as slippery as it would seem to be.Meizu 16th: Contents of the BoxGizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramUnboxing the device, the first thing is the phone itself. All else lies beneath it in two small packages. One of the black boxes beneath the phone has a plastic back cover, a USB Type-C cable, and some paperwork. The other box has a charging brick with a rating of 12V – 2A and a SIM ejector tool. That’s pretty much what you get in the box. We had hopes for a headphone in there but that’s probably a trade-off for the price point at which you’re getting the Meizu 16th.Meizu 16th: First ImpressionsWe have the 8GB + 128GB variant with White colour. In our initial hands-on, we were very pleased to see the rear not showing fingerprint smudges as much as the Black version. The phone is very light tipping the scales at around 150 grams and applying the transparent case doesn’t add much girth or weight which is always a good thing. Sadly though, we found the phone to have no slot for a micro SD card, which wouldn’t worry us as much as some guy who bought the 64GB version. We set up the on-screen fingerprint reader quite easily at first boot and our initial testing showed it worked well but it isn’t exactly as fast as your highly reliable traditional scanner.Our unit comes with the Google Play Store and Android Oreo 8.1 with the latest version of Flyme OS. The very first thing we did was to find the gesture system. And man, you’re going to like the new options thrown in by Meizu. We set our phone to gesture navigation and didn’t use the mBack feature. The gesture system allows users to swipe from the left and right edges which we’ve always been a fan of. So, going back requires a short swipe from the left or right edge of the screen. Also, we tried to change the wallpapers and it seems like the current Flyme OS doesn’t support it, very weird. Meizu 16 All in all, we received many “Hey, what an awesome looking phone.” comments even in our short time with it. That does say a lot about the new flagship. It has killer looks, the hardware to match, and hopefully, it lives up to the expectations Meizu has from it. In case you want to check out the unboxing and first impressions video, we’ll leave a link to that below. Stay tuned for the full review coming up soon on our website and the Gizchina YouTube channel.

莽an铆Apple was, and in some form still is, the driving force behind the improvement of some Android smartphones. The first iPhone was heavily copied and cloned to a huge extend from the rest of the mobile industry and this practice goes on until today. Every year store shelves are filled with similar or exact copies of the latest iPhone design. 2018 trend is a full view, 18:9 aspect ratio display design, with a notch and top-left vertically positioned cameras, copying iPhone X.A few companies stay away from this practice, with Samsung being the strongest example, along with its superior notch-less design in Galaxy S series. Some companies prefer their own full view notch-less design but they keep the iPhone X pack panel positioning: best example being Xiaomis Mi Mix 2s. As you can understand, every trip to a smartphone store today, makes us go very fast from whow! to shear boredom every year – and year after year.Meizu is a relatively small Chinese company with a long history in innovation. With a huge dose of panache Meizu decided to celebrate its 15 years in the smartphone industry by improving its MX line, topping its characteristics. Their creation is called Meizu 15: it has no 18:9 display, no notch, no back-left vertical positioned cameras. Meizu broke the mold of those boring iPhone X copies, with their anniversary Meizu 15, 15 Plus and 15 Lite smartphones, the zenith of MX series.Most would expect a flagship series with top of the selve parts. Meizu did things differently here too. They focused on the middle category (and the relevant price range) by selecting last years Exynos 8895 SoC for the Plus model and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 for the standard model! After a couple of years with low profits, Meizu wanted a smartphone for the masses. With an affordable price their devices could sell easier than a premium flagship that Meizu had planned for the future (Meizu 16 series). The company wanted more and more people to buy their phones, in order to prove to the largest possible extend, their level of expertise and excellence. The standard model arrived in my hands and tries to do exactly that: catch my eye when compared to the more famous Chinese, South Korean and US brands, made by a company that likes to differ.Meizu 15 CharacteristicsDisplay: 5.46-inch (1080 脳 1920 pixels) Full HD Super AMOLED display, 10000:1 contrast ratioSoC: Octa Core Snapdragon 660 14nm Mobile Platform (Quad 2.2GHz Kryo 260 + Quad 1.8GHz Kryo 260 CPUs) with Adreno 512 GPUMemory: 4GB RAM with 64GB / 128GB internal memoryOperational System: Android 7.1.2 (Nougat) with Flyme OS 7Photography: 12MP rear camera with wide-angle lens, 1/2.3鈥 Sony IMX380 sensor, 1.55渭m pixel size, f/1.8 aperture, Four-axis OIS, PDAF, Laser auto-focus, secondary 20MP telephoto lens, Sony IMX350 sensor, f/2.0 aperture, 6-LED ring LED flash. 20MP front-facing camera.Network: 2G: GSM B2/B3/B5/B8, 3G: WCDMA B1/B2/B5/B8, 4G: FDD-LTE B1/B3/B5/B8, TDD-LTE B34/B38/B39/B40/B41Dimensions: 143脳72.7脳7.25 mmWeight: 152gConnectivity: 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 ac (2.4GHz + 5GHz), Bluetooth 4.2, GPS + GLONASS, USB Type-CBattery: 3000mAh battery with mCharge fast chargingCharacteristics: GPS, Miracast, OTG, Type-C, fingerprint ID, Face Unlock, 3.5mm audio jack, Stereo speakers.Meizu 15 PackagingThe smartphone arrived in a black premium box that has a soft-feel and matte black information and brand marking. It looks and feels luxurious with the Meizu 15th Anniversary written in the tray that keeps the mobile inside.聽 Inside you will find:1 脳 Phone1 脳 Built-in Battery1 脳 Type-C Cable1 脳 Eject Pin1 脳 User Manual1 脳 Power AdapterBeing a 15th Anniversary product I would expect something more like a protective case, etc. Nevertheless, the package is quite pleasing.Meizu 15 DesignFrom the first look in its box, Meizu 15 is a beauty created to be loved unconditionally. The wide聽 body has the 16:9 aspect ratio panel with almost no side bezels (width of 1.175mm), a design reminiscent of MX4. Picking it up you notice the display that has a brighter tone of black than the one of the body. The upper and lower bezels have the same height. The upper has a visible selfie-cam in the center. The speaker is a small horizontal line near the frame. The lower bezel has a fingerprint sensor in the center. No side bezels exist as we said, and that is that, a clean minimal front.The corners of the protective glass dive into the unibody frame. The frame is made from surgical-grade 316L stainless steel and aluminum alloy/composite specially build to feel plastic. The top and bottom have a external noise canceling microphone. On the left side of the phone you’ll find the volume adjustment buttons. The right side has a power button right under the top positioned SIM tray. The bottom has from left to right, a 3.5 mm headphone jack, a USB-C port and a loudspeaker. The buttons do not rattle, their feel and position is great. The back part of the frame is u-shaped, brushed with a horizontal pattern for design seen only when light is reflected on the black variant.Both cameras are located at the top center, positioned vertically with a LED ring below them. On top and bottom we can see the antennae bands near the middle frame in a designed adopted by Meizu long before Apple or anyone else did. The bands have a pattern that looks like the Ancient Greek border lines in pottery and architecture.The fine exterior does absolutely nothing to keep fingerprints or smudges off. With dimensions of 143 X 72.7 X 7.25 mm and weight of 152 grams the smartphone feels compact and it is easy to handle. Feeling it around there are no parts protruding – apart from the camera ring – it rises a bit over the camera glass adding another layer of protection to it.I am adding Meizu 15 in my top 5 beauties of the year, next to Vivo NEX, Oppo Find X, Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus and Xiaomi Mi Mix 2s. The total is an apogee of minimalism. A beauty that derives from clean lines and discretion: Meizu even kept its brand logo hidden in black matte in the back, seen only under the reflection of the light.Meizu 15 HardwareThe display is an OLED panel of 5.46 inches having a 79.8% screen-to-body ratio thanks to the custom panel design by Samsung. Black is deep and colors are bright and saturated. Resolution is up to Full HD (1080 脳 1920 pixels) which is not perfect but not bad for the size. The display is really vivid, it has high contrast with a ppi density of 403. Brightness is excellent, the display is readable under Athenss midsummer sun, and聽 can easily compare to other Samsung AMOLED panels. Viewing angles and color temperature are excellent. The latter can be set from Flyme in case some people prefer warmer or colder colors. While Gorilla Glass is not mentioned I dont believe the company would let their anniversary product unprotected. Another fine touch is that fact that the software adds palm rejection, a nice thing to have with so small side bezels.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramFingerprint reader button works as a home button as seen in all smartphones that keep their reader in front. Meizu took its traditional mBack button and enhanced it to Super mBack. mBack was used to navigate the UI with gestures and Super mBack adds a haptic motor. The haptic motor adds custom feedback to on-screen controls – Ive added my birthday in PUBG Mobile, the smartphone rattling in month and year changes and a wide smile appeared in my face. The button – it is not really a button, just a specific place pushed inside the screen – It is also equipped with pressure sensors to recognize taps and long presses. The fingerprint reader is very accurate and fast and is small enough to impress us with its performance in recognition. Face Unlock works with the selfie cam and the smartphone can be set to wake when picked, but to tell you the truth I rarely used it for unlocking. Meizu is really proud of its work on its facial recognition software. It is very fast with not false positives but struggles in low light conditions – typical of a technology that has no Infrared sensors.The standard model was positioned in the upper part of the middle price category. The reasonable choice was Qualcomms Snapdragon 660, a choice made also from Xiaomi when they decided to downgrade their Mi Note series. SD 660 has eight Kryo 260 cores, 4 clocked at 1.8GHz and 4 at 2.2 GHz. GPU is Adreno 512 and RAM is at 4GB. The SoC has been used in all premium-mid tier smartphones in 2017 and some companies as Oppo used it in their annual flagships. With that said the chipset comes very close to flagship abilities as seen in the benchmark suites. Daily usage is great. Gaming and multitasking have no issues while at the same time its price is kept low.There is no option for expanding the storage space so you need to choose wisely between the 64 and 128 GB models.Meizu 15 supports dual SIM functionality with two nano Sims. It supports 2G: GSM B2/B3/B5/B8, 3G: WCDMA B1/B2/B5/B8, 4G: FDD-LTE B1/B3/B5/B8, TDD-LTE B34/B38/B39/B40/B41. Navigation works flawlessly with satellites being found fast and having good precision.聽Wifi is of 802.11ac/b/g/n standard and Bluetooth of 4.2. Call quality is excellent and video calls are good without any issues.Meizu 15 SoftwareMeizu is known for its lightweight custom Android OS, called Flyme OS that (at the time of this review) is at its 7.0.2 version still being based on Nougat 7.1.1. Meizu’s interface聽is a vast improvement over the previous version (FlyMe 6) and the company claims that is was worked down to pixel level. I am not a Flyme expert, I havent used it since MX4 Pro but I can confirm a few things. Firstly, I have to say well don to its multilingual support, with no Chinese popping up in smaller menus or applications other than the in house browser. It is clean and fast. The design of Flyme 7 is comparable to iOS in some details and its general approach. Minimalism and clean lines as in the exterior are adding a pinch of art, finesse and elegance.At the same time I cant seem to handle mBack or Smart Touch simulated smart button, as the gestures have proven to be more difficult than I had imagined. I believe that my own stock Android smartphone is keeping me off from mastering Flymes philosophy of handling its gimmicks. Always-on display can be enabled along with raise to wake up. The later paired with face recognition makes unlocking effortless. Notification area, search page and task switcher are designed nicely and are very practical to use. Nougat supports split-screen and Flyme has a nice way to support it from the task switcher. Diving in Flyme you can find many options existing in some of the other heavily customized MIUI or EMUI OS’s. Vault, guest mode, multi-user, permission and notifications, all have various options to be customized to your specific needs.聽 Meizu has added a Game mode that prioritizes resources and keeps the user undisturbed from external apps. In house applications are beautiful and you can download anything else from Meizus App Store or Google Play Store of course. I can find only one bad and that is Nougat of course. Flyme should proceed to Oreo as soon as possible, as Android P is already reaching its production stage in a few months. While playing around i found a bug. A simple stupid bug not found in any other smartphone that has passed from my hands ever: I cannot change the background image, either from the themes application of the gallery due to my version not supporting it. Waiting for an update then?Meizu 15 CameraMeizu 15 is to the company what Mi Note 3 is to Xiaomi. The best camera phone ever made from Meizu. Starting with that fact lets describe the camera set-up. Meizu has adopted a dual-camera setup with a main Sony IMX 380 12 megapixel sensor (f/1.8 aperture, 1.55碌m, 1/2.3-inch). The secondary 20 megapixel (1/2.8″, 1.0碌m) is a telephoto lens with two tasks: 2x lossless zoom (can go to 3x interpolated) and bokeh effect. There is a 4-axis OIS, PDAF and laser autofocus. The circular LED consists of six smaller individual LEDs and it’s used for photography along with an extra notification LED existing on the front. There is some AI support here – there where some annotations in night shots but not the plethora of AI support that I have seen in Huawei P20 Pro or other releavant devices. The camera application is clean too, simple to use but I would prefer it to be a bit faster from mode to mode. You can find Portrait (bokeh), Photo, Video and More. The later includes Pro mode, Panorama, Scan, Time-lapse, Slow-Motion and Square. HRD and Beautify along with a small menu of settings provide the most minimal set up seen in such a good camera and price category. Daily pictures and Portrait mode provide excellent examples with bright colors almost equal to this year flagships. HDR is being supported brilliantly without over saturating the pictures while color is represented accurately without adding effects. Night shots have some noise but not enough to disappoint us. They are more than good. Meizu took the latest Sony sensor and added the best software she could produce. This is really Meizus best camera phone by far. There is one extra thing to add on. Optical zoom is one of the best I have found in any smartphone of the same segment![flickr_set id=”72157699287916074″]At the front of the phone,there’s a 20 megapixel selfie camera with f/2.0 aperture. AI is supported here as well and the result is not bad at all. Beautify is supported on both front and back side cameras.Video quality is good but not excellent. 4K and 1080p both at 30fps provide clear videos with good sound. Colours are good, sound is good, zoom is good, for everyday usage there is nothing extra to ask for. Meizu could add image stabilisation, but sadly they did not – probably because it would increase its price.Meizu 15 BatteryA 3000mAh battery is hidden in the sleek metal body of the device, while the AMOLED screen and the energy sufficient Snapdragon 660 provide good results. The phone provides 11-12 SOT in case of direct YouTube video playback which is 5-6 hours of daily usage. The phone made it every night with 10-15% with medium usage. My opinion in smartphones is that battery life is never sufficient and I would prefer the body to be thicker – thus packing a 4000mAh battery.Flyme has two modes to enhance battery life. Low Power mode controls Bluetooth, GPS, sound, haptic engine etc to ensure that you will make it until the end of the day in case you dont have your charger along. Super saving mode changes the home-screen to black and white and disables mostly everything than phone calls and messages. With 32% right now (at the time I am writing these words) I have one day and three hours remaining battery life in case of emergency. Not bad. 馃槈Fast charging is supported with an mCharge 4 charger. This is an excellent charger to include and with a 3000mAh battery you will need to carry it around in case of heavy usage. Charging is fast at only 45 minutes from zero to 100 percent!Meizu 15 ConclusionThis is an anniversary phone for Meizus 15th year in the smartphone industry. Huawei. BBK (Oppo, Vivo, OnePlus) and Xiaomi monopolize the Chinese market and Meizu is strangling to keep a part of the sales.Meizu 15 is the zenith of MX series excellent design, a design we would see in any smartphone today if iPhone X did not exist last year. Meizu provided the best they could: excellent camera, excellent sound, brilliant design, a fast OS and one of the best fast chargers. Meizu did one thing wrong: the price is not low enough unfortunately – not as low as it could be. At $400+ the category is dominated either by flagship killers from OnePlus and Xiaomi or last years flagships that have superior chipsets and overall characteristics. I am not into gaming so my daily usage is more than covered from this beautiful phone. I would love to have it as my daily driver if it was not for that price. Meizu 16 is at the corner so a price drop on the 15 should be imminent in my humble opinion.What Meizu 15 does correctly is to provide a statement to the Chinese market that they can handle being different. If you are not into the “mainstream” products, Meizu 15 is an excellent choice. Meizu is up there with the rest of the great smartphone producers, even if they got a bit sidetracked during the previous years.莽an铆The huge demand for bezel-less smartphones has placed several smartphone manufacturers in the middle of a race for the best offering. The advent of 18:9 screens have brought us the possibility of having handsets with large displays, but without sacrificing size, ergonomics and design.Now it’s possible to have a 6-inch smartphone that is comfortable to hold, and also a 5.7-inch smartphone that would sit alongside old 5.2-inch devices. The Chinese smartphone industry is betting high on this new trend, and Umidigi is no exception. The Umidigi A1 Pro is the latest company’s offering for the budget segment, with a nice design, compact display, and specs that don’t compromise the performance of a $99 smartphone. Keep reading, and you’ll know more about this decent package. – Main Specs:Display: 5.5-inch 1440×720 pixels LCD IPS panelCPU: MT6739 Quad-Core 1.5GHzSystem: Android 8.1 OreoStorage: 3GB RAM + 16GB ROMCameras: 13MP + 5MP f/2.0 dual back cameras and 5MP f/2.4 front-facing snapperSensors: Gravity Sensor, Proximity Sensor, Gyroscope, Magnetic Field SensorFeatures: GPS, GlonassBluetooth: 4.0SIM Card: Dual SIM Dual Standby, 2 Nano SIM or 1 Nano SIM + microSD cardNetworks: 2G: GSM B2/3/5/83G: WCDMA B1/2/4/5/84G: LTE FDD B1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/17/19/20LTE TDD B38/40/41Size: 145.3 x 69.1 x 8.5mmWeight: 173gBattery: 3150mAhPackage and Accessories:The Umidigi A1 Pro comes inside a plain black package with the Umidigi Logo written in gold letters. There is cool cover above the standard box, you’ll just need to swipe it to have access to the box with all the contents. Behind the box, we have some details about the Umidigi A1 Pro specifications.Inside the box we have the standard set of acessories that Umidigi often includes with most of its handsets:Protective CaseSmall ManualUSB Type-C casePower Adapter 5V/2AScreen Protector (Installed on the phone)Sim NeedleOf course, this isn’t the biggest package of accessories provided by a manufacturer, but it’s good to have the enough for the daily adventures. I dunno how the glass rear back would stand against non-flat surfaces, also it’s good to have a screen protector for avoiding unnecessary scratches.When it comes to the main package itself, Umidigi provided a long USB Type-C cable that seems to be made of quality materials. Judging from this, I really need to say how impressive is to have the new standard on a 99$ smartphone – for example Xiaomi could learn a thing or two from these small companies.Design:The strongest point of Umidigi A1 Pro, to not mention the price, is its design. The handset mixes the best of design languages to combine into a phone that for sure doesn’t look to be cheap as it is. While on the front we have a 5.5-inch 18:9 display that could easily be confused as a 5.0-inch smartphone, on the back Umidigi choose a glossy back that really makes the device stand out against competition on this segment. The dual-camera setup is vertically aligned on the middle of the phone, with the dual LED flash marking its presence as well.The materials itself doesn’t look to be really made out of glass, but of a thin plastic frame, however, the look is what matters… as a consequence, the back of this handset is a fingerprint magnet, and should scratch easily. So grab the back cover included on the package.Turning back to the display, Umidigi deserves some applause for trimming down the 5.5-inch display to a 5.0-inch pocket-friendly form factor. Is this result of a wizardry? Of course not, it’s one of the results achieved by the 18:9 trend, large and taller displays that does not hurt design. On the top portion of the smartphone, we can spot the 5MP selfie snapper, the ear speaker, and the sensors. Unfortunately, there’s no Notification LED which the absence is really annoying.If you’re looking for a cheap phone that fits perfectly on your pocket, the A1 Pro is a good choice. I’ve been using bigger than 5.5-inch smartphones for the past years, and this smartphone really looks smaller than it is, but the 5.5-inch HD+ display is really there.Moving to the bottom of the smartphone, we can find the USB C port alongside the 3.5mm headphone jack, that marks a presence here. With the addition of USB Type-C, Umidigi could have chosen to drop the old headphone port, but thankfully the company decided to keep the old and loved port. On the bottom, we can also find the speaker grill and the microphone.Moving to the top, we can find the SIM tray, where the user can opt between using Dual SIM nano cards or a single SIM + microSD for further expanding the 16GB onboard storage.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramTo conclude the design section of this review, the Umidigi A1 Pro houses the Volume and Power button on the right side, while on the left there’s nothing to write about. Worth mentioning that in order to make a compact phone, Umidigi had to place the 173g of this smartphone in a minor form-factor, so the phone feels heavier and thicker (8.3mm) than it looks.Hardware:The strong selling point of this smartphone, probably won’t be its hardware but everything that you can acquire with this combination of specs. The display itself is one of the good sides of this smartphone, despite its 1440×720 pixels of resolution, the display looks good enough for multimedia content and everyday usage. However, against strong sunlight, its visibility becomes compromised, out of this scenario you can easily spot the content on this compact 18:9 panel.This budget, beauty and pocket-friendly smartphone are powered by MediaTek’s favorite processor for the budget segment – The 1.5GHz QuadCore MT6739 SoC. The processor itself is a cost-effective chipset made for the low-end segment its 1.5GHz 4xA53 cores can handle most tasks, while also offering a low energy consumption. The graphical power is ensured by the MG PowerVR GE8100 GPU clocked at 570MHz.This combination of specs makes a smartphone that can handle average tasks like web-browsing, social media apps, multimedia content, however, things start to be a little messy when you try to play games, you’ll be able to play casual games but the more intensive graphical gaming will have a poor performance. Thankfully, Umidigi included 3GB of RAM on this smartphone, so you won’t have applications resetting in the background all the time. When it comes to storage we have 16GB that can be further expanded via a microSD card. The handset supports dual SIM dual standby funcionality, its coverage includes the following networks/frequencies:2G: GSM B2/3/5/83G: WCDMA B1/2/4/5/84G: LTE FDD B1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/17/19/20LTE TDD B38/40/41The sensor package inside this smartphone is composed of the Accelerometer Sensor, Light Sensor, Orientation Sensor, Proximity Sensor, Gyroscope, Magnetic Field Sensor and Pressure Sensor. The Bluetooth 4.0 is pretty stable on this smartphone, so I could easily hear music through my Bluetooth Headphone without drops or any kind of issue. The navigation power is ensured by GPS, A-GPS, and Glonass. The lock times can be a little longer if you are inside the house, but they are pretty fast and precise if you’re outside. The WiFi connectivity also works pretty fine with good reception and zero drops, LTE is fast and Call Quality is also great. Video Calls are also stable, but can become a little laggy if you’re running a lot of tasks in the background.Software:One of the amazing characteristics of this smartphone is on the fact that it is running Android 8.1 Oreo right out the box. It’s amazing to see Umidigi providing an updated version of Android, while some other manufacturers are still shipping phones with the two years old Android 7.1.2.The software itself is complete stock, there some customizations made by Umi here or there, but the main part is made of Google’s Pure 8.1 Oreo. The interface is entirely pure without any kind of fancy menu or weird icon pack if you enjoy the experience of an Android One smartphone will really love this handset. One of the custom additions made by Umi on the A1 Pro is the addition of a Face Unlock feature.To enroll your face, you’ll just need to find the “Face Unlock” section in the main Settings menu, after that you can “Start Enroll” and place your face on the circle to get your face recognized. It works only when the screen is on, and isn’t more convenient than placing your finger on the fingerprint sensor, however, if you like new things you can try the Face Unlock feature.Worth noting, that since Umidigi A1 Pro comes with Android 8.1 Oreo it has Project Treble compatibility. That means that the device could theoretically receive faster updates once that Google releases new versions of Android, but we don’t know if this will be the case since Umidigi isn’t a company with a good update track for its smartphones. However, the Treble viability could facilitate the process of porting a from the handset. I tried to flash a Custom Treble GSI (Generic System Image) on the A1 Pro, without success and the phone got stuck at boot. Let’s see if in the future we’ll have a GSI that is compatible with A1 Pro, for now, Treble is just a cool addition to this phone. The handset comes with Android 8.1.0 and brings the April Google Security Patch. Right on the top of the About Phone menu, we can see the Wireless Update option, there we can find if Umidigi has provided any kind of update for the smartphone.Camera:Of course, one of the main market strategies adopted by Umidigi with the A1 Pro uses the dual-camera setup placed on this smartphone back. The setup consists of a pair of 13MP and 5MP sensors with f/2.0 lens aperture. The camera application itself is pretty simple bringing the Photo, Video, Panorama, Beauty, and Bokeh Mode. The Photo, Video and Panorama modes are self-explanatory, while the Beauty mode consists in a kind of beautify effect pre-loaded when you take a picture, it can be useful for selfies, but the results look rather generic. The Bokeh effect tries to mimic the loved effect of Portrait pictures, however, on the practice, it is far from perfection. Like we have seen on previous smartphones equipped with two cameras, the Bokeh effect is nothing more than a blur effect towards a circle that you can adjust. The rear camera can take up to 13MP pictures and record up to 1080p 30FPS video footages. It has EZL mode for reducing the shooter delay, Anti-shake mode, EIS, Auto Scene detection, Timer mode, White Balance control and Anti-flicker. During the sunlight I could take some decent pictures with the A1 Pro, the problem comes at night. Overall, the focus speed is decent enough for fast snaps, and pictures are detailed in most scenarios. When it comes to the Bokeh effect, it isn’t the best way to take portrait pictures, and you’ll need some tweaking in order to take decent pictures with that blurred effect. The pair of dual cameras does a decent job in what Umidigi proposes with the A1 Pro, it’s a $99 phone that can take good-looking pictures in light environments. Turn off the lights, and you’ll have a lot of noise everywhere. However, even in dark conditions, the pictures are “usable” enough. The double LED flash also make wonder in some extreme situations, so it’ll be a good friend, of course, if you don’t mind using it. The selfie camera in counterpart surprised me in a good sense. The 5MP f/2.4 unit can take some detailed pictures of the sunlight, and doesn’t lose much its quality inside the house or in darker environments. The Beauty mode can improve the selfies, but that results in pictures that are too much artificial for my taste.The camera can take some decent video footages as well, however, don’t expect to see the more smooth and stable videos. While EIS is present, the results achieved with it are just average and 30FPS is only the bare minimum nowadays, however, take in mind that this is a smartphone made for the low-end budget segment.Battery:The Umidigi A1 Pro packs a non-removable 3,150mAh battery. This capacity is more than enough for an entire day of usage, due to the low-end processor and the resolution it is easy to get through an entire day of work and arrive at home with more than 20% of juice.Of course, if you’re a gaming person you can easily drain this battery, especially when this processor and GPU doesn’t seem to enjoy gaming sections. Furthermore, the MT6739 still is made of the old 28nm architecture, that can’t stand against the benefits of newer SoCs made at the 14nm process. I just hope that MediaTek starts to ship its new line of 12nm processors for the low-end segment and let the old MT673x line have a rest. Through a day of medium usage that consists of some hours of web-browsing, Telegram, WhatsApp, and Slack, I was able to achieve 5 hours of screen usage with 10% of battery left. Of course, the results could be better with some tweaking on the software. If you’re a heavy user, then you’ll probably get 3:30 to 4:00 hours of screen usage.If you charge your phone during the night, you’ll probably have more than enough juice to use it for the entire day. But if you’ll need to charge your phone, Umidigi provided a 5V/2A charger that can fully charge the A1 Pro in 1hour and a half.Conclusion:If you’re looking for a good backup phone that can easily fit in your pocket, but that also have a beauty tall display the Umidigi A1 Pro is a good choice of a smartphone on the $99 segment. Also, it is a perfect phone for kids due to its cost and small form-factor.One of the things that I really enjoyed during my usage is that despite the not-so-fast processor the 3GB of RAM provided a pleasant experience with apps being kept on the background. At this segment is pretty common to see handsets with just 2GB of RAM, while it is enough amount, 2GB is just the bare minimum for Android, so having 3GB of RAM is a great advantage of A1 Pro against its competition on the segment. Also, worths noting that this cheap package includes the new USB Type-C standard, it doesn’t seem to be made of poor materials and works as it should. So, in 2018 is there any excuse for keep using micro USB ports?The downsides of this smartphone? Well, before putting any nail on the A1 coffin, I would like to say that at $99 it’s hard to find something that succeeds on every aspect and the A1 Pro does a decent job in what it is proposed to do. Of course, camera performance could be better at night, but it’s hard to find a good phone below the $400 price ratio that can perform well at night. The worse aspect of this phone should be the choice of processor, the MT6739 really isn’t enough anymore for today’s standards. A good octa-core processor like the MT6750 would be a perfect choice for this smartphone, even if it increases a little on the price.The Notification LED is also absent here, probably for cutting some costs, but would an RGB or single-light LED really make a big difference on the final price? It’s a matter of taste, but I’ve been using the LED as a notification reminder during the past years since I usually use my phone in the Do Not Disturb mode. The only way to avoid delayed notifications is to use a custom app for Ambient Mode.莽an铆We finally received the newly released Ophelia HS700 drone. This company is not well known in drone manufacturing but I was quite fascinated with the first impression that it gave me. Personally, I think that this product is perfect for beginners but professionals who love the height and distance will also find this drone useful. In this review, we will discuss the salient details and here are all you need to know.Ophelia HS700 Drone 鈥 Tech SpecsMotor2204 1500KV Brushless MotorCamera12 MP 1080p FHDFlight Time15 MinutesFlight Height/Distance150m high and 1000m distanceBattery2800 mAh Li-Polymer batteryAppOphelia GPS on Google Play StoreController1km distance @ 2.4GHzPhysical Dimensions220 x 220 x 155 mm, about 608gOphelia HS700 鈥 Whats In The BoxThe box of the Ophelia HS700 is quite rich and has multiple accessories that you will need to assemble before you get a working drone. The box itself looks quite matured and the unit I received has a black box with HS700 and some specs written on sides of the box. The box is about the shape of a portable backpack and it is convenient to hold. Inside the box, we can find the following1 x Drone HS700 Ophelia1 x Remote Controller1 x Drone Battery8 x Propellers2 x Landing Gears1 x Camera1 x Camera Mat1 x Phone Holder1 x Balance Charger1 x Charge Transfer Box1 x USB Cable1 x Screwdriver1 x Propeller Spanner1 x Explosion-Proof Bag1 x Manual1 x 8GB TF Card (installed in the camera)Ophelia HS700 鈥 Design & AppearanceThe Holy Stone Ophelia HS700 comes with a sleek design. This drone is not foldable like the DJI Mavic Air and other expensive drones out there but it is portable enough to fit in a very small space thus it will not give you any storage problems. The unit I received comes in black colour with a silver lining which gives it a premium appearance. The body of this device is molded with a top-notch plastic material and only the propeller holder is forged from metal (its 98% covered with plastic). I was particularly impressed with the quality of the plastic build. Even after a few accidents and flying it against a concrete wall (I needed those accidents to confirm the strength of the build material), the drone stayed solid with no scratch and only the propellers sustained very minor scratches.Installation, Flight and FunctionsHonestly, you dont need a “professor” to help you install the components of this drone. The Ophelia HS700 comes with a detailed manual with a simple glance, you will certainly install this drone without problems. Before the flight, please ensure that you have paired the transmitter, calibrate the Gyro and compass. These processes are quite easy and are well outlined in the user manual. The take-off of the Ophelia HS700 and the movements are faster than I anticipated but the controls are cool and steady. After the calibrations, you have to press the power button and the propellers will start spinning. Once the spinning start, you got 10 seconds to take off else the propellers will stop spinning.Although it is listed that the maximum flight height is 120m, it was more like 150m to me and the flight distance hit 800m. The aerodynamic structure of this drone, lightweight body, and slick design significantly increase its flight stability. The Ophelia HS700 reaches a speed of 25 km/h, and up to 60 km/h when flying downwind. It was quite interesting that I was able to fly this drone for about 15 minutes (drones hardly exceed 10 minutes) but the uninteresting part of this is the battery charging time. It took almost 270 minutes for a full charge and there is no spare battery. So you should have it in mind that after 15-18 minutes of fun, you will need to wait for about 300 minutes before you catch some fun again. Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramCameraThis drone comes with a 12 MP 1080p camera with a 120掳 Wide-angle lens and it can be adjusted up to 90掳 manually. It produces FHD images at 1920 x 1080 resolution. It also gives 1080P resolution videos @25fps. Although this drone comes with a FHD camera, the video at a higher height seems shaky and the images got some noise as you can see above. Nevertheless, with a little tweak on the video, it is acceptable. Image of Landscape at Maximum Height, over 120mAPP CompatibilityThe APP is Ophelia GPS and it weighs only 78MB. It is quite easy to use if you choose to use APP control. However, note that you can fly this drone with or without the app. After downloading the app, launch a search of the available Wi-Fi networks and select HolyStoneFPV_銆

莽an铆*.Then wait for your phone to connect to the Wi-Fi network. When the connection is established, you will see a Wi-Fi logo on your smartphone display. You can then go to the Ophelia GPS app and proceed.The app is quite simple to use although it packs some advanced features such as Follow Me Mode 鈥 can lock target automatically to capture the best moments, Point Fly and Track Radius 鈥 can automatically move the drone using the GPS system. You can also make the drone follow a preset route automatically or use 3D VR glasses to see the world through the eyes of a bird.Youll find the image captured by the drone to be stable and fluid due to the 2204 1500KV brushless motors which provide more power and a smoother flying experience while making less noise. The Ophelia HS700 also uses the new enhanced 5G WiFi HD video transmission system for a higher distance so that you can fly farther in a safe way.Below is a video to help you set up this drone if the manual is “too complicated”莽an铆*.Then wait for your phone to connect to the Wi-Fi network. When the connection is established, you will see a Wi-Fi logo on your smartphone display. You can then go to the Ophelia GPS app and proceed.The app is quite simple to use although it packs some advanced features such as Follow Me Mode 鈥 can lock target automatically to capture the best moments, Point Fly and Track Radius 鈥 can automatically move the drone using the GPS system. You can also make the drone follow a preset route automatically or use 3D VR glasses to see the world through the eyes of a bird.Youll find the image captured by the drone to be stable and fluid due to the 2204 1500KV brushless motors which provide more power and a smoother flying experience while making less noise. The Ophelia HS700 also uses the new enhanced 5G WiFi HD video transmission system for a higher distance so that you can fly farther in a safe way.Below is a video to help you set up this drone if the manual is “too complicated”銆莽an铆We finally received the newly released Ophelia HS700 drone. This company is not well known in drone manufacturing but I was quite fascinated with the first impression that it gave me. Personally, I think that this product is perfect for beginners but professionals who love the height and distance will also find this drone useful. In this review, we will discuss the salient details and here are all you need to know.Ophelia HS700 Drone 鈥 Tech SpecsMotor2204 1500KV Brushless MotorCamera12 MP 1080p FHDFlight Time15 MinutesFlight Height/Distance150m high and 1000m distanceBattery2800 mAh Li-Polymer batteryAppOphelia GPS on Google Play StoreController1km distance @ 2.4GHzPhysical Dimensions220 x 220 x 155 mm, about 608gOphelia HS700 鈥 Whats In The BoxThe box of the Ophelia HS700 is quite rich and has multiple accessories that you will need to assemble before you get a working drone. The box itself looks quite matured and the unit I received has a black box with HS700 and some specs written on sides of the box. The box is about the shape of a portable backpack and it is convenient to hold. Inside the box, we can find the following1 x Drone HS700 Ophelia1 x Remote Controller1 x Drone Battery8 x Propellers2 x Landing Gears1 x Camera1 x Camera Mat1 x Phone Holder1 x Balance Charger1 x Charge Transfer Box1 x USB Cable1 x Screwdriver1 x Propeller Spanner1 x Explosion-Proof Bag1 x Manual1 x 8GB TF Card (installed in the camera)Ophelia HS700 鈥 Design & AppearanceThe Holy Stone Ophelia HS700 comes with a sleek design. This drone is not foldable like the DJI Mavic Air and other expensive drones out there but it is portable enough to fit in a very small space thus it will not give you any storage problems. The unit I received comes in black colour with a silver lining which gives it a premium appearance. The body of this device is molded with a top-notch plastic material and only the propeller holder is forged from metal (its 98% covered with plastic). I was particularly impressed with the quality of the plastic build. Even after a few accidents and flying it against a concrete wall (I needed those accidents to confirm the strength of the build material), the drone stayed solid with no scratch and only the propellers sustained very minor scratches.Installation, Flight and FunctionsHonestly, you dont need a “professor” to help you install the components of this drone. The Ophelia HS700 comes with a detailed manual with a simple glance, you will certainly install this drone without problems. Before the flight, please ensure that you have paired the transmitter, calibrate the Gyro and compass. These processes are quite easy and are well outlined in the user manual. The take-off of the Ophelia HS700 and the movements are faster than I anticipated but the controls are cool and steady. After the calibrations, you have to press the power button and the propellers will start spinning. Once the spinning start, you got 10 seconds to take off else the propellers will stop spinning.Although it is listed that the maximum flight height is 120m, it was more like 150m to me and the flight distance hit 800m. The aerodynamic structure of this drone, lightweight body, and slick design significantly increase its flight stability. The Ophelia HS700 reaches a speed of 25 km/h, and up to 60 km/h when flying downwind. It was quite interesting that I was able to fly this drone for about 15 minutes (drones hardly exceed 10 minutes) but the uninteresting part of this is the battery charging time. It took almost 270 minutes for a full charge and there is no spare battery. So you should have it in mind that after 15-18 minutes of fun, you will need to wait for about 300 minutes before you catch some fun again. Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramCameraThis drone comes with a 12 MP 1080p camera with a 120掳 Wide-angle lens and it can be adjusted up to 90掳 manually. It produces FHD images at 1920 x 1080 resolution. It also gives 1080P resolution videos @25fps. Although this drone comes with a FHD camera, the video at a higher height seems shaky and the images got some noise as you can see above. Nevertheless, with a little tweak on the video, it is acceptable. Image of Landscape at Maximum Height, over 120mAPP CompatibilityThe APP is Ophelia GPS and it weighs only 78MB. It is quite easy to use if you choose to use APP control. However, note that you can fly this drone with or without the app. After downloading the app, launch a search of the available Wi-Fi networks and select HolyStoneFPV_莽an铆UMIDIGI is once again back in Gizchina HQ, with yet another notched Android smartphone, cloned to the max – but with a VERY decent price and typical specifications! Its not so special name is UMIDIGI One Pro and as you can easily understand, it tries to borrow things (names, specs, design) from other phones (iPhone X, Huawei P20 Pro, Honor etc) but manages to retain its low-end character combined with a very aggressive price that’s just 169$ at the time of this presentation.Compared with smartphones of any other brands present in the market, UMiDIGI One Pro is a beautiful, affordable smartphone and comes with really notable features that most of you might even find interesting. 馃槈Enter the UMiDIGI One Pro, the latest in the onslaught of UMiDiGi devices, this time coming in a beautiful Twilight color that will surely blow your mind!UMiDIGI One Pro ReviewIn terms of overall appearance, body build and form, the UMiDIGI One Pro is your typical Huawei/Honor device – packed with pure Android and lower end specs. Actually, it’s a decent low to mid range model, that excels in design and it’s just average in terms of performance in everyday use. It weighs approximately 190 gr. (despite the fact that it hosts a typical 3250 mAh battery) and its size is聽148 x 71,4 x 8,3 mm. This means that it’s really thin, relatively lightweight and very easy to use with one hand – if anyone’s interested.The UMiDIGI One Pro has its main dual camera on the rear but it saves a special place for its fingerprint sensor, just inside the On/Off button that sits at the right side of the device!Yes, it has borrowed the sensor placement that Sony first established in most of their smartphones, and in my eyes, that’s a good decision. The devices frontal is almost empty apart from the notorious notch that sits at the top of the display. Apart from this, there’s just the screen, a selfie camera (with low-end FaceID-like features) and the earpiece of course.UMiDIGI One Pro SpecificationsDisplay:聽5.86 inch, 1520 x 720 Pixel ScreenCPU:聽MT6763 Octa Core 2.0GHzSystem:聽Android 8.1RAM + ROM:聽4GB RAM + 64GB ROMCamera:聽12.0MP + 5.0MP rear camera + 16.0MP front cameraSensor:聽Proximity Sensor, E-compass, Gravity Sensor, Face ID, Light Sensor, Fingerprint Sensor, Gyroscope, NFCSIM Card:聽Nano SIM card + Nano SIM card / TF cardFeature:聽GPS, A-GPS, GLONASSBluetooth:4.2Networks:聽GSM: B2 / B3 / B5 / B8, CDMA BC0 / BC1 –聽WCDMA: B1 / 2 / 4 / 5 / 8, TD-SCDMA: B34 / 39 –聽FDD-LTE: B1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 7 / 8 / 12 / 13 / 17 / 18 / 19 / 20 / 25 / 26 / 28A / 28B, TDD-LTE: B34 / 38 / 39 / 40 / 41Big thanks to UMiDiGi for providing this review unit. You can buy one here 馃檪UMiDIGI One Pro Build QualityThe screen is a聽5.86-inches IPS panel, with a resolution of 1520 x 720 pixels. The display comes with 2.5D curved glass with a typical pixel density, equipped with Cornings Gorilla Glass system for screen protection.The impressive “Twilight” colour of this phone really sold me. I pride myself on being immune to colour choice, but man has this purple-blue-green-ish really sold me. Lets ignore the eye catching color for a moment, the build quality here is good but… not excellent.Surely it has improved from the days of the notorious UMI Super, but still it feels plastic some times – and this isn’t at all bad, for a phone at this price range. In any case, the phone is fairly easy to hold, but not as easy as a five-incher, the thinness does make it feel very small though.The body is made out of plastic and metal, along with a special cover at the back that resembles glass (but it’s not). Its build quality is good as I said before but as with every phone that uses a glossy finish it gets easily smudged and you may end up polishing it every couple of minutes with a small cloth :pUMiDIGI One Pro DisplayThe聽One Pro comes with a capacitive IPS display with typical maximum brightness that could make it hard to use only under direct sunlight. As we mentioned earlier, the screen size is 5.86 inches and has a resolution of 720 x 1520 pixels, providing a 19:9 aspect ratio and a staggering 90% screen/body ratio -> that’s according to the manufacturer.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramThis display does have a slightly blue/purple tint that is almost unnoticeable in real life but does show quite noticeably on camera. Max brightness tops out around 400 nits which is quite respectable for such a panel, and is also relatively viewable under direct sunlight. Touch sensitivity is excellent and the 19:9 aspect ratio allows for excellent one hand use, typical of that of a 5.2 inch smartphone!UMiDIGI One Pro BatteryThe combination of the built-in 3250mAh battery, IPS display, and the聽Helio P23 (MTK6763) SoC should provide average battery life. And while that holds mostly true, I believe its battery life could definitely be better. I managed to get approximately 5 hours of screen on time with ease, ending the day with 18% left. This comes after about 2 hours of YouTube, about an hour of gaming, 1,5 hours of local video playback, and about 3 hours of Bluetooth music in addition to all the miscellaneous items I performed such as Whatsapp, texting, FaceBook etc.The one area where UMiDiGi has to improve on is the standby battery drain. I was getting a guaranteed 1% battery drain every hour, with it jumping up to 1.5% sometimes. This has to be solved if possible through software. UMIDIGI says that the One Pro supports wireless charging and – it does, but with certain hickups: it has to be placed firmly on the OEM wireless charging pad and the charging rate is not that fast. However for a price of 169$ one could forget about these, plug a USB Type-C cable and get on with his life 馃槈UMiDIGI One Pro SoftwareWe have Android 8.1 Oreo running inside the phone, and I must say that UMiDiGis software optimization has taken a step up again over the older models, with this phone feeling even smoother when moving between home screens, going into settings etc. Launching lots of apps at the same time, on the other hand, is a more ponderous process with the Helio P23 chipset struggling (a bit) to keep up with our needs, with 4GB of RAM being all this phone needs. Not an overkill (like having 6GB), but also not 3GB (which is not enough anymore). The Helio P23 doesnt affect gaming, it’s able to play all the games at 720p without issue, Modern combat, Asphalt, lighter games such as Super Mario Run ran without a hitch, even when I was recording the screen at the same time. The phone gets warm on its back side but never gets burning hot. I also ran a malware scan and didnt find anything. The fingerprint sensor is NOT that accurate, so you will have to train it 2-3 times more in order for it to get to “know” you. Let’s say we had an average of 80% success in identifying my thumb – which could be better I guess.UMiDIGI One Pro Connectivity Reception on this phone is great. The device comes with full 4G support (LFDD-LTE: B1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 7 / 8 / 12 / 13 / 17 / 18 / 19 / 20 / 25 / 26 / 28A / 28B, TDD-LTE: B34 / 38 / 39 / 40 / 41), it offers very good connectivity inside large cities, with no dropped calls or problems during communication.WiFi speeds are great, an 800MB file takes 4 minutes (on fast WiFi that is), and Bluetooth range is good also. I used the GPS to navigate to work, and it was fairly accurate and fast. No problems with Google Maps, or Sygic navigation 馃檪 Well done UMIDIGI on this. UMiDIGI One Pro CameraThe camera is a welcomed surprise when using it in day mode! It’s photos offer good detail levels and it can be relatively easy to shoot good photos – as you keep your phone relatively still! Don’t worry the phone snaps photos pretty quickly so you dont have to be a statue forever.Colour reproduction ranges from good to great, with colour sometimes being rather average and showing great saturation and vividness other times. HDR mode, on the other hand, should be left disabled at all times, well almost all times. The HDR mode is way too aggressive, trying to equalize bright and dark spots when they arent that far apart in the first place. You have to leave it off unless there are extremely obvious bright and dark spots, e.g. taking a picture of the sun. In those cases, the aggressive HDR does its job well.Moving on to Bokeh mode, which I see more and more as a gimmick, it adds Bokeh in a very unnatural circle, and not only that the overall quality of the photo is lowered as well. There is also a pro photo mode that works quite well and uses very convenient sliders to change the camera settings. The front facing camera is rather typical also.[flickr_set id=”72157695459236610″]Now for the video. The camera app seems to lag behind real life by about 陆 a second. Now a camera lagging behind real life slightly is normal, but 陆 a second is reserved for low-end cameras, not in a $169 device. In addition, the video recording is weirdly laggy, almost like the video is recording normally for a second, then slow for the next. Overall, these items make for an average video experience, and is really a downside to this phone.UMiDIGI One Pro VerdictHands down, this is a very beautiful – and affordable mid-ranger in the market. UMIDIGI shows signs of improvement with every device they launch: first they try to change their support, then they copy the good features of high end phones and combine them with a pure Android 8.1 Oreo UI that surely delivers.Nope I am not certain that you will get a lot of OTA updates with this device. I got TWO wireless OTA updates during the 10 days I had it in my hands, but they brought bug fixes and small performance improvements. I really hope this phone gets Android 9.0 Pie – UMIDIGI has to surprise us and make a turn towards decent after sales support. This will surely help them improve their sales even more.聽This UMiDIGI One Pro at $169,99 is surely one of the phones one should pay attention to, especially if the design of a phone is high on your “plus” list. It offers typical battery life with a 3250 mAh battery, very good built quality, decent display (nothing much) and a solid chipset with 4GB of RAM for decent everyday use.Buy UMIDIGI One Pro from their official shop

UMIDIGI is once again back in Gizchina HQ, with yet another notched Android smartphone, cloned to the max – but with a VERY decent price and typical specifications! Its not so special name is UMIDIGI One Pro and as you can easily understand, it tries to borrow things (names, specs, design) from other phones (iPhone X, Huawei P20 Pro, Honor etc) but manages to retain its low-end character combined with a very aggressive price that’s just 169$ at the time of this presentation.Compared with smartphones of any other brands present in the market, UMiDIGI One Pro is a beautiful, affordable smartphone and comes with really notable features that most of you might even find interesting. 馃槈Enter the UMiDIGI One Pro, the latest in the onslaught of UMiDiGi devices, this time coming in a beautiful Twilight color that will surely blow your mind!UMiDIGI One Pro ReviewIn terms of overall appearance, body build and form, the UMiDIGI One Pro is your typical Huawei/Honor device – packed with pure Android and lower end specs. Actually, it’s a decent low to mid range model, that excels in design and it’s just average in terms of performance in everyday use. It weighs approximately 190 gr. (despite the fact that it hosts a typical 3250 mAh battery) and its size is聽148 x 71,4 x 8,3 mm. This means that it’s really thin, relatively lightweight and very easy to use with one hand – if anyone’s interested.The UMiDIGI One Pro has its main dual camera on the rear but it saves a special place for its fingerprint sensor, just inside the On/Off button that sits at the right side of the device!Yes, it has borrowed the sensor placement that Sony first established in most of their smartphones, and in my eyes, that’s a good decision. The devices frontal is almost empty apart from the notorious notch that sits at the top of the display. Apart from this, there’s just the screen, a selfie camera (with low-end FaceID-like features) and the earpiece of course.UMiDIGI One Pro SpecificationsDisplay:聽5.86 inch, 1520 x 720 Pixel ScreenCPU:聽MT6763 Octa Core 2.0GHzSystem:聽Android 8.1RAM + ROM:聽4GB RAM + 64GB ROMCamera:聽12.0MP + 5.0MP rear camera + 16.0MP front cameraSensor:聽Proximity Sensor, E-compass, Gravity Sensor, Face ID, Light Sensor, Fingerprint Sensor, Gyroscope, NFCSIM Card:聽Nano SIM card + Nano SIM card / TF cardFeature:聽GPS, A-GPS, GLONASSBluetooth:4.2Networks:聽GSM: B2 / B3 / B5 / B8, CDMA BC0 / BC1 –聽WCDMA: B1 / 2 / 4 / 5 / 8, TD-SCDMA: B34 / 39 –聽FDD-LTE: B1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 7 / 8 / 12 / 13 / 17 / 18 / 19 / 20 / 25 / 26 / 28A / 28B, TDD-LTE: B34 / 38 / 39 / 40 / 41Big thanks to UMiDiGi for providing this review unit. You can buy one here 馃檪UMiDIGI One Pro Build QualityThe screen is a聽5.86-inches IPS panel, with a resolution of 1520 x 720 pixels. The display comes with 2.5D curved glass with a typical pixel density, equipped with Cornings Gorilla Glass system for screen protection.The impressive “Twilight” colour of this phone really sold me. I pride myself on being immune to colour choice, but man has this purple-blue-green-ish really sold me. Lets ignore the eye catching color for a moment, the build quality here is good but… not excellent.Surely it has improved from the days of the notorious UMI Super, but still it feels plastic some times – and this isn’t at all bad, for a phone at this price range. In any case, the phone is fairly easy to hold, but not as easy as a five-incher, the thinness does make it feel very small though.The body is made out of plastic and metal, along with a special cover at the back that resembles glass (but it’s not). Its build quality is good as I said before but as with every phone that uses a glossy finish it gets easily smudged and you may end up polishing it every couple of minutes with a small cloth :pUMiDIGI One Pro DisplayThe聽One Pro comes with a capacitive IPS display with typical maximum brightness that could make it hard to use only under direct sunlight. As we mentioned earlier, the screen size is 5.86 inches and has a resolution of 720 x 1520 pixels, providing a 19:9 aspect ratio and a staggering 90% screen/body ratio -> that’s according to the manufacturer.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramThis display does have a slightly blue/purple tint that is almost unnoticeable in real life but does show quite noticeably on camera. Max brightness tops out around 400 nits which is quite respectable for such a panel, and is also relatively viewable under direct sunlight. Touch sensitivity is excellent and the 19:9 aspect ratio allows for excellent one hand use, typical of that of a 5.2 inch smartphone!UMiDIGI One Pro BatteryThe combination of the built-in 3250mAh battery, IPS display, and the聽Helio P23 (MTK6763) SoC should provide average battery life. And while that holds mostly true, I believe its battery life could definitely be better. I managed to get approximately 5 hours of screen on time with ease, ending the day with 18% left. This comes after about 2 hours of YouTube, about an hour of gaming, 1,5 hours of local video playback, and about 3 hours of Bluetooth music in addition to all the miscellaneous items I performed such as Whatsapp, texting, FaceBook etc.The one area where UMiDiGi has to improve on is the standby battery drain. I was getting a guaranteed 1% battery drain every hour, with it jumping up to 1.5% sometimes. This has to be solved if possible through software. UMIDIGI says that the One Pro supports wireless charging and – it does, but with certain hickups: it has to be placed firmly on the OEM wireless charging pad and the charging rate is not that fast. However for a price of 169$ one could forget about these, plug a USB Type-C cable and get on with his life 馃槈UMiDIGI One Pro SoftwareWe have Android 8.1 Oreo running inside the phone, and I must say that UMiDiGis software optimization has taken a step up again over the older models, with this phone feeling even smoother when moving between home screens, going into settings etc. Launching lots of apps at the same time, on the other hand, is a more ponderous process with the Helio P23 chipset struggling (a bit) to keep up with our needs, with 4GB of RAM being all this phone needs. Not an overkill (like having 6GB), but also not 3GB (which is not enough anymore). The Helio P23 doesnt affect gaming, it’s able to play all the games at 720p without issue, Modern combat, Asphalt, lighter games such as Super Mario Run ran without a hitch, even when I was recording the screen at the same time. The phone gets warm on its back side but never gets burning hot. I also ran a malware scan and didnt find anything. The fingerprint sensor is NOT that accurate, so you will have to train it 2-3 times more in order for it to get to “know” you. Let’s say we had an average of 80% success in identifying my thumb – which could be better I guess.UMiDIGI One Pro Connectivity Reception on this phone is great. The device comes with full 4G support (LFDD-LTE: B1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 7 / 8 / 12 / 13 / 17 / 18 / 19 / 20 / 25 / 26 / 28A / 28B, TDD-LTE: B34 / 38 / 39 / 40 / 41), it offers very good connectivity inside large cities, with no dropped calls or problems during communication.WiFi speeds are great, an 800MB file takes 4 minutes (on fast WiFi that is), and Bluetooth range is good also. I used the GPS to navigate to work, and it was fairly accurate and fast. No problems with Google Maps, or Sygic navigation 馃檪 Well done UMIDIGI on this. UMiDIGI One Pro CameraThe camera is a welcomed surprise when using it in day mode! It’s photos offer good detail levels and it can be relatively easy to shoot good photos – as you keep your phone relatively still! Don’t worry the phone snaps photos pretty quickly so you dont have to be a statue forever.Colour reproduction ranges from good to great, with colour sometimes being rather average and showing great saturation and vividness other times. HDR mode, on the other hand, should be left disabled at all times, well almost all times. The HDR mode is way too aggressive, trying to equalize bright and dark spots when they arent that far apart in the first place. You have to leave it off unless there are extremely obvious bright and dark spots, e.g. taking a picture of the sun. In those cases, the aggressive HDR does its job well.Moving on to Bokeh mode, which I see more and more as a gimmick, it adds Bokeh in a very unnatural circle, and not only that the overall quality of the photo is lowered as well. There is also a pro photo mode that works quite well and uses very convenient sliders to change the camera settings. The front facing camera is rather typical also.[flickr_set id=”72157695459236610″]Now for the video. The camera app seems to lag behind real life by about 陆 a second. Now a camera lagging behind real life slightly is normal, but 陆 a second is reserved for low-end cameras, not in a $169 device. In addition, the video recording is weirdly laggy, almost like the video is recording normally for a second, then slow for the next. Overall, these items make for an average video experience, and is really a downside to this phone.UMiDIGI One Pro VerdictHands down, this is a very beautiful – and affordable mid-ranger in the market. UMIDIGI shows signs of improvement with every device they launch: first they try to change their support, then they copy the good features of high end phones and combine them with a pure Android 8.1 Oreo UI that surely delivers.Nope I am not certain that you will get a lot of OTA updates with this device. I got TWO wireless OTA updates during the 10 days I had it in my hands, but they brought bug fixes and small performance improvements. I really hope this phone gets Android 9.0 Pie – UMIDIGI has to surprise us and make a turn towards decent after sales support. This will surely help them improve their sales even more.聽This UMiDIGI One Pro at $169,99 is surely one of the phones one should pay attention to, especially if the design of a phone is high on your “plus” list. It offers typical battery life with a 3250 mAh battery, very good built quality, decent display (nothing much) and a solid chipset with 4GB of RAM for decent everyday use.Buy UMIDIGI One Pro from their official shopIf you’re into tech-devices, smartphones and anything related to it, there are a set of things that you can’t live without. Cables, Chargers, Cases are commonly listed by most tech-lovers, however, there is something that particularly gives life to our world of dreams – The Power Strips.While some of us, are from a past when Power Strips were only used to connect devices to an electric current, nowadays they offer a plenty of additional features that expand the usability while also facilitate the life of many users in different environments. BESTEK is one among the companies that are really concerned about delivering products that offer usability, practicality, and portability. Based on this, today we’re going to take a deep look in one of its most recent products – The BESTEK MRJ8002.UNBOXING:The MRJ-8002 came in a simple plain box, no fancy design, and no gimmicks. At first sight, it looks pretty simple, but let’s have in mind that it’s the content what matters. Once again, we can’t judge a book by its cover, and the content does not disappoint. PACKAGE CONTENT:BESTEK MRJ-8002USER MANUALLike previously mentioned the package is just a plain card box hiding the user’s manual and the Power Strip.Get the BESTEK-MRJ8002 from hereBESTEK MRJ-8002:Moving directly to the Power Strip the MRJ-8002 brings a design that is rather different from the standard power strips. Instead of being a simple rectangle with plug holes, it brings a more modern design that stands in an office and fits neatly on top of a table. The BESTEK MRJ-8082 has 8 numbered outlets in total, 4 in the left side and 4 on the right side. The front of the Power Strip is made of a plain black glass finish that goes from the bottom covering the entire top of the device. On the top, we can find 4 USB 3.0 Ports that are protected by small silicone caps that can be easily removed. On the bottom, we have the rotating stand that can be adjusted in order to get the Power Strip fixed over a surface.The 8 sockets support AC Input: 100-125V and comes in the US standard of Plugs. So if you have a ton of devices with EU Plugs, be careful before ordering the BESTEK MRJ-8002. Otherwise, grab some adapters and let the fun begin.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on Telegram The Top USB Port combo is made of three ports with 5V/7.5A Auto 0~2.4A and a single port that brings Qualcomm QuickCharge 2.0 Support V/2.4A, 9V/1.6A, 12V/1.1A. During my tests this latter port managed to deliver the expected results, making my Redmi Note 5 Pro charge from 59% to 90% in less than 40min. These results can vary from user to user and may depend on what you’re running in your phone while it is charging. After inserting the Redmi Note 5 Pro in the QC2.0 port I was a bit disappointed and concerned to see only a 950mA max rate on the Ampere application. However, it took only a few seconds for the Qualcomm QuickCharge 2.0 to take action by doubling the charging rate.The other USB ports are just standard 3.0 ports, so don’t expect more than 2.5A of charging rate on it. However, the combo of USB ports is perfect for placing other devices and also they’ll greatly expand the capabilities of your office. There’s a neat and interesting thing in the BESTEK MRJ-8002. After putting it in the wall socket and pressing the Power button in the rear, the product logo lights up, as well as small indicators of each USB port with their respective capabilities.

The Meizu 16 is the second flagship from Meizu in less than six months and it represents the pinnacle of the brand’s efforts in 2018. It represents the company’s change in strategy as the brand no longer wants to play just a mid-range and entry-level game. With the 16 (or as they say, 16th), Meizu once again wants a ticket to the big league. The Meizu 16th represents a lot of things, but let’s just say, above all the phone maker wants it to be a smashing hit in the premium smartphone arena. Will it be able to do that? Will it threaten stalwarts likes the Mi 8, the OnePlus 6? Well find out in this full review of the Meizu 16. Meizu 16th Design The Meizu 16s awesome design is truly one to look at and marvel at. You’ll know what i mean when you see the front screen pushing the bezels out of the phone to their death. And Meizu should get brownie points for doing this without reaching for an easy notch solution that everyone in the industry has been doing for the past year. The result is a 92.18% non-intrusive screen real estate and it commands attention for sure. I’ve been using the device for some time and every time I’ve walked into a crowd, this phone gets the gazes and along with it, me as well. Meizu said at the launch event that they have poured hundreds of millions of dollars to cram sensors on the mini bezel at the top and here is the finished product. Theres a small LED as well on the top bezel but it lights up for low battery notifications only and no other stuff. That’s half of the design story. The rear of the design is also very well done. It’s a chassis befitting a flagship. The metal back is coated by a 7 layering process of glass that makes it look like ceramic and is completely minimalistic. The edges curve ever so slightly giving the phone a very good in-hand feel. The rear camera housing is indented and rises above the rest of the surface. Meizu has included a transparent case and you might want to slap it on as the back can get scratched easily. Thankfully for us, we have a White version and we’ve been spared from the fingerprint smudge-fest that is otherwise quite visible on other shades. A word of caution though. Due to being a completely glossy glass finish, the Meizu 16 has to be handled with firm grip. I found the device to be super slippery and it gave me the jitters a couple of times when it could have slipped from my hands. Overall, the design is one of the standouts of the Meizu 16 and for that we’d say, mission accomplished!DisplayThe 聽6.0-inch AMOLED display of the handset gives users a great immersive experience, thanks to those nonexistent bezels on the top and bottom. It is crisp, vibrant, and viewing angles are good. However, outdoor visibility isn’t top notch but it isn’t something you would regret too much. Playing games on the display is very entertaining. In short, I don’t have any qualms for about the display. Being a 6.0 incher, it is great for one-handed use for me personally as I have big hands. Meizu 16th PerformanceSince we’re talking about the overall performance, there are two factors here. The Snapdragon 845 with 8GB of RAM is one. It makes light of everything you throw at it. I played a number of games on it with ease. These include those titles that don’t task the CPU heavily as well as some heavy duty ones like PUBG too. My unit has Play Store and other Google Apps pre-installed and the model number M822H is certified by the EEC. So, this could be a European version. Also, theres almost no bloatware on the device except for some Meizu tools like ToolBox and Recorder which have handy features. Take a look at the AnTuTu score below. The other factor is Flyme OS. This is where I have some feedback for Meizu. Despite such ample fire power sitting at its heart, I noticed lag while doing some mundane tasks albeit not for long. But that’s not the real issue. The first few days were great. And then suddenly one day, my unit started to freeze in the middle of nowhere. This happened around 8 times over the course of just a few hours and there was no pattern to it. It would freeze anywhere and restarting it was the only way I could resume using it. Now, this could be a one-off issue with just my review unit but I have got in touch with their personnel to resolve the issue. Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramUpdate: I tried to find a solution to the problem and changed the default system launcher with a Rootless Pixel Launcher and the issue seems to have vanished. There has no been a single free till date since then.聽Also, Flyme OS doesn’t let you change wallpapers, at least a number of review units I checked didn’t have it. Again, this issue is also totally fixable with updates. So I won’t roast the company on this. Also, RAM management could be better, especially with 8GB you could do a lot more. My unit kept four apps in the cache but beyond that, it would have to reload them as I tried it more than once. One more thing that Meizu needs to fix is the notification system. Some apps simply don’t send notifications at all for no reason. For example, ever since i started using the device, i have never received Slack notifications unless i activated the app. This probably means Flyme OS kills the app in the background but i couldn’t do anything to prevent it. Similarly, other apps also shared the same fate. These are the bugs Meizu needs to fix as soon as possible.聽聽 Besides these minor qualms, Flyme OS is Flyme OS. A lot of the UX remains the same. You still don’t get an app drawer. You get an mBack gesture option that allows swipe from corners to go back. This is something Ive always preferred instead of the bottom screen gestures. Other small and nifty features like swiping down for the notification shade, swiping up for the universal search, double tap to wake the screen are all very nice and useful additions. Dropping the notification shade, there are quick toggles for screenshots, screen recording, eye-friendly mode for night and some more all of which are very useful. Meizu debuted something called Super Swipe that is software working behind the scenes to vastly improve touch response. Then theres mEngine 2.0, a new haptic feedback motor in the Meizu 16th that is supposed to be customizable. However, i didnt find any setting to customize it whatsoever on my phone. On-screen fingerprint readerThe on-screen fingerprint reader is one of the main attractions of the Meizu 16th and it works. Meizu does need to work on the accuracy of the sensor but considering the tech is in its infancy, and the price point at which Meizu offers it, it is mind-blowing. Props to the company for doing that. Theres also face scanning and it is really fast. It works very well in daylight but not so well in dark situations. However, it is much faster than the on screen biometric. 聽Thats pretty much it for the performance and features. Overall, the Meizu 16th is a reliable workhorse and you wont feel short of power when you need it.Call reception, SpeakersIve had no troubles with calls. Reception is great, and the Meizu 16th supports VoLTE. However, you need to activate it from settings to make calls over Jios VoLTE network which I use. Voice is crisp and clear over the earpiece and its great. As for speakers, Im very happy with them. Meizus dual speaker setup helps in even crowded public areas and you can hear your phones volume. At top level it quite louder than the average phone and a good plus to have. 聽Meizu 16th BatteryThe battery on the Meizu 16th is a 3,000mAh juice pack and it has Meizus proprietary mCharge tech which is very close to Oppos VOOC in terms of speeds. It is a life saver when you have small batteries that can deplete quickly. For my unit, my usage varies from day to day. Sometimes Im a heavy user and sometimes Im just an average guy. When Ive used the device heavily, Ive had to charge it in the middle of the day. My typical pattern in such days is a lot of YouTube, social media, and messaging with Wi-Fi always on. While for average use, it can last you by the end of the day. But expect no more. A days use is what youll get in average situations. There are two power saving modes and one particular is the aggressive 鈥楽uper Saving Mode that turns off all lights and features (except for phone) and uses the AMOLED panel like Samsung uses it in the power saving mode. Standby times arent the best though as Ive seen the device lose even 7-10 percent battery overnight. Ive had Xiaomi devices that are excellent at this and lose no more than 3 percent and if Meizu optimizes well, it can do as well. I wouldnt mind having a bigger battery and sacrificing some slimness, but it is what it is. 聽Meizu 16th CameraMeizu has used a dual setup for the rear and the Meizu 16 captures crisp shots with good details as long as youre in good lighting situations. Colours are natural and dont look over-saturated. Focus is a wee bit slow and shutter speed as well. Theres 3x optical zoom on the camera and it works ok but you should expect noise obviously when you use it. Low-light performance drops a bit and you’ll see some noise and loss of sharpness. The camera app is pretty basic. It has a few modes like Panorama, Slow-mo, Time-Lapse and Pro.[flickr_set id=”72157673024110848″]Theres portrait mode for Bokeh effects for the front camera and it works but the edge detection feature needs some fine-tuning. I found its blurring to be very uneven in some cases especially with hair. On the flip side, details are well captured and the image looks crisp and has true-to-life colours. Meizu 16 has HDR mode and you have options to switch it to Auto, on or off. Of course, you do get AI beauty features and there are three levels – No beauty, light beauty, and full beauty mode. 聽It also does 4K video recording and I found an odd bug in the Mp4 files. I recorded the POCO F1 launch event in 4K and I played it back after saving it. For some reason, the file failed to play. This happened with other recorded videos as well. Im not sure what this is but it needs a fix as soon as possible. I have some snaps captured from the cameras below and you want to see them. Meizu 16th Final verdictAs a tall person that never had good balance, when I first saw this pair of hovershoes delivered to me I thought “I’m not sure I’m gonna live long enough to make a review of these”. But, as you can see, I’m still alive and well, so let’s get going with the full review of this amazing and super fun transportation device!KOOWHEEL Hovershoes SpecificationsRange10KMTop聽Speed12KM/HMaximum聽Load聽Weight130KGSMotor聽Size90MMMotor聽Power250W*2Working聽Temp.0鈩?40鈩僊aximum聽Climbing聽Angle9掳Front聽and聽Rear聽Tilt聽Angle80掳Left聽and聽Right聽Tilt聽Angle50掳Battery聽Capacity2AhCharging聽Time2HRecharging聽Time1500Charging聽InputAC100V-240VCharging聽Temp.0鈩?40鈩僀harging聽Output29.4V/1AN.W.3.3KGS*2Dimension227*155*113MMKOOWHEEL Hovershoes UnboxingThe聽KOOWHEEL Hovershoes arrive in a massive box with a ton of聽cushioning so that they get to you in one piece. Inside the box we then find a power adapter for charging, a little bag to carry the wheels with you and the wheels themselves. You don’t need anything more. KOOWHEEL Hovershoes Design & HardwareWell, I’ve never had to deal with this kind of items so I can’t really compare it to anything else. What I can say though, is that they look sleek, they aren’t of some weird color that would probably attract kids. Instead, they’re all black, with some red accents, LEDs that turn red or green depending on the status, the KOOWHEEL logo on top and the name “Hovershoes” on the side.Build quality is really good and I love the four handles (two for each), present on the sides. These make carrying the Hovershoes a simple task; you can also carry them with one hand if you want to. That said, both wheels are pretty heavy at 3.3Kg each, but that’s to be expected. You’re packing a motor, metal wheels and an hopefully big battery inside each of these. Plus they’re entirely made of metal for durability purposes.Overall, the Hovershoes were quite solid, and the fact that they’re still rolling is proof. I think I tested them to their limits and aside a few scratches, they’re still like new.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramKOOWHEEL Hovershoes UsabilityI loved using the聽KOOWHEEL Hovershoes but most importantly, I’m happy I’m still unhurt. I suggest starting out with a couple of supports, I was lucky enough to have some sawhorse table legs lying around, so I used them to help stand up on the wheels.After slowing going forward and back for a couple minutes, I finally tried to go without support and well, I was surprised I didn’t fall.So, I’d say that in around 10 minutes, you’ll be able to learn how to ride these, at home, on a flat surface. I suggest you spend some more time before going on the road as any little bump could break the magic.The聽KOOWHEEL Hovershoes do auto-balance after you turn them on. All you have to do is click the button and then step on them. They’ll auto-calibrate and stay still in an horizontal position. You then move forward by tilting your foot forward, but you probably already know that.These wheels can get quite fast for an home use, meanwhile outside they don’t achieve incredible speeds at聽12Km/h, but then I wouldn’t suggest going and faster. This isn’t an electric bike or scooter, if you mistake on these you can get hurt. So, consider using them as if they were a self-balancing scooter – in pedestrian zones, malls and big houses.KOOWHEEL Hovershoes Battery/RangeI didn’t have a chance of testing the range as I mostly tried them in a parking lot. But I can say that they lasted long enough for me to risk my life a couple times, I’d say over half hour of riding at top speeds (I know because they beep when you reach that) and there was no sign of battery running out juice. This means you can probably use these for an hour, probably more, depending on the speed at which you use them and the angle of climb of the road.More than enough batteryKOOWHEEL Hovershoes VerdictLet’s now get to get verdict, should you get these or not? My answer is: sure, if you can afford them!The聽KOOWHEEL Hovershoes aren’t cheap at $389.99 but they are a lot of fun. If you’re a person that has used a self-balance scooter or other electric transportation vehicle then you already know these type of devices are always pricey.聽KOOWHEEL, albeit dropping the price from an initial $489.99, can’t really do much about it.The materials used on the Hovershoes are premium, the components inside are premium, they work as they’re supposed to, which isn’t always the case with such items and most importantly – they’re unique.If you follow trends and you like to have the latest gadgets, then the聽KOOWHEEL Hovershoes are definitely worth the price as you can hardly find anything like this on the market.Lots of Fun, Worth the PriceIn early 2018 Huawei took over the world by announcing their premium P20 series with astounding photographic abilities. P20 arrived with a full notched display copying iPhone X, and shiny gradient colours, borrowed from its sub-company Honor. Copying, borrowing and even cloning, is a method all smartphone companies use. It is a fast way to capture trends and at the same time promote the company that provides the design – a win-win scenario for most. Everybody does it and hopefully will be doing it in the future. If you are looking for a P20 series lookalike that costs way far less than the original flagship while packing as much value as possible at a low price, Umidigi Z2 is your next phone.This is the second smartphone from Umidigi that arrives in my hands after the amazing UMIDIGI A1 Pro this year and i just cant believe how well the company is upgrading its products year after year. While A1 Pro is the undisputable winner in the entry level category, Z2 comes at the middle one, a place where Xiaomi rules with the Redmi series during the past couple of years. So Z2 has to stand its ground and prove its worth and value. It has a full notched display, 6GB of RAM, stock Android Oreo, a large 3850mAh battery with 18W fast charge, four cameras and an amazing array of global band support. Face Unlock and a shiny gradient coloured back with a fingerprint sensor complete this excellent set of characteristics.Umidigi Z2 Technical SpecificationsOS: Android 8.1CPU: MTK6763V Octa Core 2.0GHzGPU: ARM Mali-G71 MP2ROM: 64GB ROM, TF card up to 256GBRAM: 6GB LPDDR4x RAMDisplay: 6.2 inch, 1080 x 2284 pixelsFront Camera: 16.0MP + 8.0MP dual front cameraBack Camera: 16.0MP + 8.0MP dual back cameraNetwork: GSM / WCDMA / FDD-LTEBands: 2G: GSM B2/B3/B5/B8 CDMA BC0/BC1, 3G: WCDMA B1/B2/B4/B5/B8, 4G: FDD-LTE B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B13/B17/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26/B28SIM: 2 Nano SIM Cards, Dual standbyBluetooth: 4.0Battery: 3850 mAhExtras: Accelerometer, Ambient Light Sensor, Geomagnetic Sensor, Gyroscope, Proximity Sensor, GPSSize: 153.4 x 74.4 x 8.3 mmWeight: 165g UnboxingThe smartphone arrives in a dark gray to black, hard paper box, with an extra half-cover and crafted texture to prove to you that they care even for the small parts – It is the same package that A1 Pro arrived in. The brand name is written in a gold-copper colour in the box- same colour is used in the logo Link to the World typed in the instructions envelope inside. A thank you card is added inside, with details on how to enter a giveaway competition.The bottom of the box has a black sticker with white letters describing the characteristics, the package contents, a warning not to use non approved batteries and the brands email address. The box has dimensions 180 X 90 X 35 mm and weights 430 grams. Inside you will find:1 X UMIDIGI Z21 X Power adapter1 X USB cable1 X USB to 3.5mm audio jack adapter1 X SIM card eject tool1 X Screen protector1 X Silicone Case1 X Manual in English, Italian, Spanish, German and FrenchThe retail box is excellent and complete according to my… taste. I really liked the silicone case as it has a leather type texture with an excellent grip and protection from fingerprints. Another nice touch is that the usb cable is in red – a color that UMI usually choses for some of their models from time to time.DesignThere are three color versions, Phantom (black), Twilight and Twilight Black. I had the latest version in my hands, yes the Twilight Black. It is bluish and black on the top turning purple at the bottom. I prefer this colour to the other two and it looks astonishingly good in the sun. (look below)In the front we can see a huge 6.2 inch display with a 19:9 aspect ratio. The notch in the top resembles the one used in Huawei P20’s display. There is no protection here that i know of, except from the plastic cover attached to the display. The plastic film will be too scratched in the future, will look bad and will downgrade the – in all respect- clean nice looking panel. Dont think about it, go and buy a tempered glass to replace the film and enhance the panels protection. The notch is the place where you can find the microphone, the front-facing dual camera and the usual pack of sensors. There is no LED flash here so your selfies will suffer in low light conditions. Unfortunately there is no notification light either.There are very small bezels on the side and a bigger one on the bottom. This is a full view display with excellent ratio to body of approximately 90% (according to UMI that is). There are no physical keys on the lower bezel. Bezels are smaller than OnePlus 6 but Z2 has a larger notch.The frame is metallic with a dark grey colouring. In the right side it has two metallic buttons, the volume control and the power/lock button. There is a small rattling noise and partial movement when you move your fingers on them but nothing serious to complain about. On the top there is a noise cancellation microphone. In the left you can see double SIM tray. On the lower part you will find the USB type C port and the speaker trays on the left and right of it. As you understood from the retail box content there is no 3.5 mm audio jack. I know this a trend that keeps the width smaller but I believe that Umidigi should include an audio port. It would be an advantage over the competition. Any way the company wanted a 2018 flagship look and there are very few flagships that keep a 3.5mm port. At the side, near the top and bottom a small part of the antenna bands is visible, having the same colour with the SIM tray, a darker tone or gray.The back panel is made from curved glass, something that we dont easily see in the category except from medium to premium devices that cost a couple hundred US dollars more. The way the back panel and the side panel join together is perfect. The shiny gradient coloring is just amazing as I have already told you. Surely the glass is a fingerprint magnet and if you dont like the black silicone case that comes along in the retail box, a transparent case would be just perfect as you could enjoy the glass panel to all its glory. In the center of the panel you can find the double camera. On its left there is a LED flash and on the bottom a fingertip sensor. I really like that the sensor is larger in diameter from the two equally sized lenses – it makes my finger easier to reach and unlock.I also like that there is no bulge in the camera setup. I use my smartphone a lot on my desk and I simply hate bulges. Whenever I try to write something most of the smartphones slide like a boat. Not Z2.I was really astonished the way Umidigi A1 Pro looked and at this price tag I cant but admire what Umidigi has done again!This is an excellent exterior that easily outperforms in beauty any other plastic or metal smartphones in the price category. Not only that! With the colour gradient it is better looking than double-prized flagships – I can confirm it by having a OnePlus 6 in my other hand. The quality is equal to the flagship-killer and that is an amazing accomplishment for half the price.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramHardwareThe screen is the main selling point with a 6.2 inch, 2.5D curved, 19:9 display. It has a FHD+ resolution (2246 X 1080) that covers 90% of the front with 403 ppi. I dont know who builds this panel but Umidigi keeps a close partnership and usually buys from SHARP. The display is bright and vivid and has good contrast. It is visible under the midday sun but not as much as I wanted. Viewing angles are good and since this is a good panel, I suppose this is another SHARP product.This smartphone comes with the MTK6763V SoC known also as Helio P23. It is an 8-core processor with 8 Cortex-A53 cores working at a frequency of 2.0GHz. It is accompanied by a ARM Mali-G71 MP2 GPU working to help with the graphics. Helio P23 and Snapdragon 625 have stellar performance in stability and power usage, and they are still used today by many companies. There are 6GB of LPDDR4x RAM to assist and the G71 proves to be a good GPU. My opinion is that a newer chip could be found here at the expense of having less RAM/ROM. The daily usage should not suffer, however as I had no issues in any task. Of course heavy gaming or multitasking stress the SoC. Benchmark results are the same as in any other Helio P23 driven smartphone. There are 64GB of ROM in the phone. The internal storage can expand up to 256GB with an external SDcard placed in the SIM tray. It supports dual SIM functionality with two nano-SIMs or a nano-SIM and the aforementioned micorSD card.Connectivity is exceptional. It supports Dual 4G LTE, and nearly all available bands, thus is an excellent tool for people that travel a lot. Is supports 2G: GSM B2/B3/B5/B8 CDMA BC0/BC1, 3G: WCDMA B1/B2/B4/B5/B8 TD-SCDMA B34/B3, 4G: FDD-LTE B1/B2/B3/B4/B5/B7/B8/B12/B13/B17/B18/B19/B20/B25/B26/B28, TDD-LTE B34/B38/B39/B40/B41. The only caveat here is the lack of NFC.The smartphone has a good sensor pack having GPS (A-GPS, Beidou, GLONASS, GPS), Accelerometer, Ambient Light Sensor, Geomagnetic Sensor, Gyroscope, Proximity Sensor, and FM Radio. Bluetooth has the 4.0 Specification. Navigation works fine with satellites being found fast and having a good precision.Audio is based on a single external speaker at the bottom. It is clear and loud and much better than expected for the price range. Wifi is able to connect to 802.11 a/b/g/n, 2.4G/5GHz Dual-band.Call quality is excellent and video calls are good without any issues. Selfie cam has no LED so keep in mind to have a light source near in video calls.SoftwareThe operating system found in the smartphone is stock Android 8.1. I dont know whether Z2 will be updated to Android 9 Pie. On the first power-on I had an OTA update of 106.43MB! Constant upgrades is the safe path to compete against software oriented companies like Xiaomi or Android One smartphones. So let’s all hope that Umidigi keeps updating Z2, because we cannot say the same for most of their previous models. First boot and set up was fast. I am using Oreo since December so the experience is typical with no issues. In the settings Umidigi has added a few touches here and there. Smart Assistant has options to hide the navigation bar, and flip the buttons, there is a Flip to Mute option for calls, alarms or music and a Sweep QR scanner. Face unlock works properly while having a nice option to lit the display as to brighten up the users face in low light conditions. In the Fingerprint setup there are a lot of options to use the fingerprint sensor. For example you can answer a call or take a screenshot. In the System settings you will find the Android System Update and in the About Phone the Umidigi Wireless Update. The latest Google Security patch level is the one from May – it’s turning a bit old I guess. There is also the well known DuraSpeed setting here as well. This setting allows fine-tuned control over foreground and background apps on a toggle based system. If you want more performance you can toggle your prefered application and it will stop running in the background – there will be no updates or notifications on it.Face Unlock worked in a decent way, it is fast and works most of the time in low light environments with its lit-display option. As always I repeat that it is not a 100% safe method to use and one should prefer the fast and reliable fingerprint sensor. Having said that, I must admit that this is the first phone that Face Unlock is faster to unlock the phone when compared to the two biometric sensors. While the fingerprint sensor works flawlessly the time to lit the display is almost 2 seconds. This is something that Umidigi needs to fix. Multitasking works as long you wont open 100 apps – the software tends to kill them, so the SoC can handle the latest processes.Gaming -considering the SoC- is doable with low graphic settings. Due to the 6GB of LPDDR4x RAM and ARM Mali-G71 MP2 GPU this smartphone is better at gaming than any other Helio P23 or Snapdragon 625 handset. PUGB is playable at medium graphic settings but the experience is lower than Snapdragon 625 smartphones – there are a lot of lags.Sound is good and loud. There is a single speaker. This is not a phone for audiophiles, but for daily usage I was satisfied with the volume and clear sound. My opinion is that is a bit better from the competition in the price range. The back of the phone gets warm even after average usage but nothing more than that. Don’t worry it won’t melt 馃槈CameraThe quad cameras are made from Samsung and consist of a main pair in the back with a 13MP main shooter from Samsung with f/2.0 aperture and a 5MP, f/2.4 aperture lens for the the bokeh effect. A dual LED supports night shots. Facial recognition and selfie countdown are possible from the front camera. The camera application has all the basic stuff you expect these days. There is a Picture and Video main menus with the settings. HDR is seen in a prominent place at the top, while in Picture you can alter with a left to right gesture from the left side between Normal or Bokeh pictures.I cant tell you that I felt happy with the application. It looks and feels very basic and below this price range. You need to swipe to the left or right to access the settings which is typical these days but there is no mark or clues to do so.[flickr_set id=”72157700210394934″]Having said that, the Z2 is a decent camera phone. It is really good in bright light but suffers in low light something usual in this price range. HDR worked properly without losing details or sharpness. Bokeh effect is much better than that of the competition.Taking pictures with the main camera or selfie camera is an enjoyable experience – as you can see from the samples the results are a bit better than that of the competition in the category. In good lighting conditions or outside in bright weather pictures are good. Nightly or low light shots have a lot of noise and details are blurry at least. HDR worked properly without losing details or sharpness.Video recording is up to 1080p. The results are ok, mediocre in bright light, extra noisy in low light. The smartphone has no OIS or EIS and the image is shaking. At least the noise recording is clear and loud.Considering the price I am happy with the whole experience and results.BatteryZ2 has a Li-Pol, non removable, 3850 mAh battery. With medium usage the battery is more than capable to keep the phone lit all the day as with continuous video playback I got 6.5 hours of screen-on-time.The company advertises the quick charge functionality with the 18W charger. It takes 80-90 minutes for a full charge and the device gets a bit warm in the procedure. I didnt see any battery drain in any application or gaming.ConclusionWhat Umidigi did here was to take the typical medium category smartphone and successfully incorporate all the 2018 trends into it. Big full-view bezel-less display, notch, shiny gradient coloring, 6GB RAM, stock Android, quad cameras, face unlock and fast charge, are ALL there in UMIDIGI Z2. The quality of build is very good – i have to stress that.Daily usage is effortless and the battery can keep up until the end. In case of heavy usage the phone has limitations on its SoC even with the existence of high quality RAM.There is no protection or audio jack and you need to consider this by buying a tempered glass and bluetooth headsets. There is no notification light either – something that I find unfortunate.Vernee is once again “in the house” here in Gizchina HQ and today they decided to send over one of their slimmest and most efficient rugged Android smartphones and surely one that most of you outgoing professionals out there, will like.聽Say hello to聽Vernee V2 Pro聽a new rugged smartphone -part of their high-end portfolio – equipped with an Helio P23 SoC processor,聽a 2160 x 1080 pixels display and 6GB of RAM for excellent multitasking.Since its official launch some weeks ago, the phone has generally been well received, and we believe, pretty much rightly so. It definitely isn’t a phone that will ‘change everything’, but it’s a fairly nice device – one of聽the slimmest ever designed by the Chinese company and it surely deserves all the praises for this. Let’s take a deeper look in the Vernee V2 Pro review!Vernee V2 Pro: Technical specsDisplay: 5.99 inch, 2160 x 1080 pixels screenCPU: MTK6763 ( Helio P23 ) Octa Core 2GHzSystem: Android 8.1RAM: 6GB – ROM: 64GBCamera: 16.0MP ( SW 21MP )+ 5.0MP rear camera; 8MP ( SW 13MP ) + 5.0MP dual front camerasSensor: G-sensor control, distance sensor, light sensor, electronic compass, gyroscope, geomagnetism, NFC, OTG, fingerprint recognitionSIM Card: dual Nano SIM + dual standbyFeatures: GPS, AGPS, GLONASS, BDSBluetooth: 4.2Dimensions: 164,2 x 79,4 x 12,1 mm / Weight: 259 grNetwork:聽2G: GSM B2, 3, 5, 8 –聽3G: WCDMA B1 / 2 / 4 / 5 / 8 – TD-SCDMA: B34 / 39 –聽4G: FDD-LTE: B1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 7 / 8 / 12 / 17 / 19 / 20, BC0 / BC1 – TDD-LTE: B34 / 38 / 39 / 40 / 41Vernee V2 Pro Review: Design & BuildIt’s always good to start from – whats probably the most important factor in a rugged phone 鈥 its build quality and design. As you might have guessed by reading the review introduction, the Vernee V2 Pro comes as a slim, powerfull rugged device, with a large battery and ample RAM/storage, enough to cover the needs of almost any type of user.The smartphone is indeed slim compared to similar devices currently out with 12mm of thickness. Sure, it wont be as thin as an average smartphone, but if you take into consideration that you usually put an external case on them to avoid damages from drops and whatnot, while you dont need one on the already tough V2 Pro, then were not too far off as far as bulkiness goes.聽Right off the bat, the Vernee V2 Pro will remind you of at least 5-6 other typical mid-range models in the market, just pick one, they’re all the same to me. The only real noticeable feature however is the total absence of a front facing fingerprint scanner, something that adds a lot of points to its general design score, leaving a lot of space for its 5.99 inch display to show off a bit.聽At around the $249 mark (while writing this review), the Vernee V2 Pro isn’t the cheapest Chinese device, but I guess that it does the job. While the Chinese are getting to a point where they almost get the hardware right (full display, 4G/LTE, dual NANO SIM, 6GB RAM, microSD support up to 128GB, FM Radio, OTG, NFC etc.), there’s definitely still a void to fill when it’s software we’re talking about. More on that later.聽Combined with a metal finish and some polycarbonate parts on its body (that is prone to smudges on the back side however), the Vernee V2 Pro is surely a quite tempting device to hold and use. Unfortunately it still has large bezels on top and bottom, even though the company has done their best to “hide” them. They’re not huge, don’t get me wrong, but I guess that’s the price to pay to get a quite efficient, full display smartphone with true IP68 certification.聽The glass on top of the 2.5D display seems to (thankfully) feature some kind of oleophobic coating along with Gorilla Glass 3 protection, so you won’t be seeing a lot of smudges there while in everyday use, something that I really liked during my days with this device in my hands.The Vernee V2 Pro is IP68 water and dust proof, which is a great feature to have, albeit 鈥 in this case 鈥 it needs rubber plugs to make it so. So we have one at the bottom for the USB Type-C port with OTG support and another at the top for the 3.5mm audio jack.聽As far as build quality goes, the聽V2 Pro feels really solid in the hand, it does not make any noise when squeezed as well as when shaken. Kudos to Vernee for the high value production quality. You can easily rely on it for hard work, outgoing experiences, some trips to the sea or to the mountains, with out worrying that it may break. It won’t…Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramVernee V2 Pro Review: Hardware & PerformanceEquipped with Mediatek’s Helio P23 SoC along with 6GB RAM and 64GB of storage, one can surely expect the V2 Pro to provide quite impressive everyday use, with no lags or other issues. You can easily get more than decent performance in everyday use, as it will get the job done for everyday chores, extensive social media, Emails, a bit of Skype, Chrome for browsing etc. No lags, no apps freezing thankfully. While the VOS (V OS) is pretty much vanilla Android, there are still a few areas where it can be improved – the camera app for example, and others here and there. As I write this review, I’ve been notified of another OTA which will hopefully make things better. Don’t get me wrong, it’s quite intuitive as a UI, as it comes with several power saving features, some gestures like 3 fingers screenshot, Picture-in-Picture mode, some Pinned Shortcuts that can help increase your productivity etc.It runs on Android 8.1 Oreo, with full Google Apps support: all the stock apps are waiting for you when the device boots, such as聽Gmail, Youtube, Maps, Google Drive, but there are some other 3rd party apps that must accompany every rugged smartphone like a compass, a pedometer, gyroscope and excellet GPS/A-GPS support with fast location fix and more than 10 satellites connected at any time.There’s also a heart rate sensor located at the back, next to the dual camera of the device. It tries to measure our heart-rate with typical success but I would not rely on it for medical reasons, or anything similar. Performance wise, the V2 Pro is right up there with the likes of other Helio P23 phones. In fact it’s pretty zippy thanks to the lightweight OS (unless it’s having a RAM issue).聽I’ve managed to run several apps all at the same time without having any caching issues. I’d go as far as to say that you really don’t need 6GB of RAM at this point in time if your 4GB RAM is accompanied by decent software. But if your phone comes with 6GB RAM, who am I to turn it down? 馃槈 Moving on to the hardware, it’s been a mixed bag of sorts. The display comes with an impressive聽2160 x 1080 pixels resolution and yes, it is doing its best to fulfill all your needs. All in all it packs a nice and bright panel with some amazing back light consistency聽– no light bleeding whatsoever, with impressive clarity given its size. Well done here Vernee! The sound is.. average I must say. Both the earpiece and the built-in loudspeaker offer typical performance. While the earpiece is still doable, the loudspeaker offers poor sound with virtually no bass, a bit lower volume than expected but if you turn off the sound enhancer settings this helps a lot!聽The Vernee V2 Pro has a non-removable 6200mAH Li-Po battery which has a decent fast charging feature. These days people prefer purchasing fast charging battery smartphones, so take into account that this smartphone needs only 150 minutes to charge completely, with the use of the 9V/2A charger you’ll find inside its main package. As for its battery life while in typical usage, I’ve constantly managed to get over 5 hours of screen on time (5-5,5 hours on an average) when mostly on WiFi, and around the 6 hours mark when on 3G/4G. While this is good, it could get better, especially considering the battery size of 6200mAh.聽As I mentioned before, the fingerprint scanner of the device is positioned at the back, just below the main camera. It is not one of the fastest in the market, but it surely gets the job done, offering 0,1 seconds of recognition time, with an average of 95% success rate while in everyday use. Typical stuff there too, don’t expect anything else.Vernee V2 Pro Review: CameraIf you read the title of our review, then you must already know that the V2 Pro is one of the first rugged smartphones out there, equipped with not 3, but 4 cameras: a聽16.0MP + 5.0MP main pair of lenses along with two 8.0MP + 5.0MP front shooters for selfies with bokeh effects. The 16MP lens can use interpolation to increase its resolution to 21MP, but I wouldn’t suggest it. Just use the true 16MPixels of the sensor, it’s much better.聽The main dual camera is definitely potent enough to take some breathtaking shots I’m sure, but again that’s bottle-necked by the software running on the phone. It’s sad to notice that there’s no manual mode on the camera app, something the V2 Pro definitely deserves.聽The camera聽can capture the images at 4608 x 3456 pixels and record some decent videos of 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution @ 30fps.聽It’s a dual setup that manages to聽focus fast, and thanks to its RAM/SoC combination, saving clicked photos is extremely fast also. As you’d expect, the shutter tends to remain open for a little while longer in low-light situations, which means you’ll often end up with blurred photos. This, in turn, will make you miss OIS. There’s an ‘anti shake’ mode in the settings that you can turn on (probably something based on EIS), but it doesn’t work all that well anyway.[flickr_set id=”72157700394121035″]The front camera can also capture images with a maximum resolution of up to 3264 x 2448 pixels but when it comes to recording the video the results are NOT impressive, as it only records 480p videos @ almost 30fps. Fortunately there’s also a front facing flash that can surely brighten up those selfies during the night, with聽beauty mode and facial recognition.Vernee V2 Pro Review: ConclusionIf you’re in the market for a rugged smartphone with affordable price and some impressive technical specs, then the Vernee V2 Pro is definitely a phone that breaks away from the norm! Equipped with a decent chipset, 6GB RAM and 64GB of storage, along with a large battery (6200 mAh) it can surely become the phone you need for those hard working days, or just a heavy duty device if you’re clumsy.

Meizu’s much talked about device, the Meizu 16th (Yup, that’s what they call it), is now out. Gizchina were invited at the launch event in Beijing and we also have a review unit of the handset. This is Meizu’s successor to the Meizu 15, which is oddly just around 4 to 5 months old and is now been replaced by a much bigger upgrade. Meizu has also priced the flagship in the most aggressive manner. The base Meizu 16th variant (6GB + 64GB) will set you back by $395. That is an unbelievable price for such flagship grade specifications, especially when it comes with an on-screen fingerprint reader. Yes, both of Meizu’s flagships have the on-screen reader and that is absolutely insane at that price point. Meizu has just two colour variants, the classic Black and White while we’ve heard a Blue version is also coming out soon.First Leaks and live images pointed out to a radical design change mainly for the front of the phone with the flagship duo coming with extremely thin bezels, and they weren’t bluffing. One of the USPs of the phone is the 91.18% screen-to-body ratio that the company spent millions on to get users a cutting edge thin bezel experience, said Meizu at the event. The top bezel hides a number of sensors in that this area and there’s an ear-piece that doubles as a stereo speaker. The front is mostly screen of the Super AMOLED variety. That’s pretty much everything you’ll find on the front. The rear has a glossy finish made with a 7-layer coating process that gives the glass a ceramic feel. The backside curves gently at the edges and the in-hand feel is great and it isn’t as slippery as it would seem to be.Meizu 16th: Contents of the BoxGizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramUnboxing the device, the first thing is the phone itself. All else lies beneath it in two small packages. One of the black boxes beneath the phone has a plastic back cover, a USB Type-C cable, and some paperwork. The other box has a charging brick with a rating of 12V – 2A and a SIM ejector tool. That’s pretty much what you get in the box. We had hopes for a headphone in there but that’s probably a trade-off for the price point at which you’re getting the Meizu 16th.Meizu 16th: First ImpressionsWe have the 8GB + 128GB variant with White colour. In our initial hands-on, we were very pleased to see the rear not showing fingerprint smudges as much as the Black version. The phone is very light tipping the scales at around 150 grams and applying the transparent case doesn’t add much girth or weight which is always a good thing. Sadly though, we found the phone to have no slot for a micro SD card, which wouldn’t worry us as much as some guy who bought the 64GB version. We set up the on-screen fingerprint reader quite easily at first boot and our initial testing showed it worked well but it isn’t exactly as fast as your highly reliable traditional scanner.Our unit comes with the Google Play Store and Android Oreo 8.1 with the latest version of Flyme OS. The very first thing we did was to find the gesture system. And man, you’re going to like the new options thrown in by Meizu. We set our phone to gesture navigation and didn’t use the mBack feature. The gesture system allows users to swipe from the left and right edges which we’ve always been a fan of. So, going back requires a short swipe from the left or right edge of the screen. Also, we tried to change the wallpapers and it seems like the current Flyme OS doesn’t support it, very weird. Meizu 16 All in all, we received many “Hey, what an awesome looking phone.” comments even in our short time with it. That does say a lot about the new flagship. It has killer looks, the hardware to match, and hopefully, it lives up to the expectations Meizu has from it. In case you want to check out the unboxing and first impressions video, we’ll leave a link to that below. Stay tuned for the full review coming up soon on our website and the Gizchina YouTube channel.Apple was, and in some form still is, the driving force behind the improvement of some Android smartphones. The first iPhone was heavily copied and cloned to a huge extend from the rest of the mobile industry and this practice goes on until today. Every year store shelves are filled with similar or exact copies of the latest iPhone design. 2018 trend is a full view, 18:9 aspect ratio display design, with a notch and top-left vertically positioned cameras, copying iPhone X.A few companies stay away from this practice, with Samsung being the strongest example, along with its superior notch-less design in Galaxy S series. Some companies prefer their own full view notch-less design but they keep the iPhone X pack panel positioning: best example being Xiaomis Mi Mix 2s. As you can understand, every trip to a smartphone store today, makes us go very fast from whow! to shear boredom every year – and year after year.Meizu is a relatively small Chinese company with a long history in innovation. With a huge dose of panache Meizu decided to celebrate its 15 years in the smartphone industry by improving its MX line, topping its characteristics. Their creation is called Meizu 15: it has no 18:9 display, no notch, no back-left vertical positioned cameras. Meizu broke the mold of those boring iPhone X copies, with their anniversary Meizu 15, 15 Plus and 15 Lite smartphones, the zenith of MX series.Most would expect a flagship series with top of the selve parts. Meizu did things differently here too. They focused on the middle category (and the relevant price range) by selecting last years Exynos 8895 SoC for the Plus model and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 for the standard model! After a couple of years with low profits, Meizu wanted a smartphone for the masses. With an affordable price their devices could sell easier than a premium flagship that Meizu had planned for the future (Meizu 16 series). The company wanted more and more people to buy their phones, in order to prove to the largest possible extend, their level of expertise and excellence. The standard model arrived in my hands and tries to do exactly that: catch my eye when compared to the more famous Chinese, South Korean and US brands, made by a company that likes to differ.Meizu 15 CharacteristicsDisplay: 5.46-inch (1080 脳 1920 pixels) Full HD Super AMOLED display, 10000:1 contrast ratioSoC: Octa Core Snapdragon 660 14nm Mobile Platform (Quad 2.2GHz Kryo 260 + Quad 1.8GHz Kryo 260 CPUs) with Adreno 512 GPUMemory: 4GB RAM with 64GB / 128GB internal memoryOperational System: Android 7.1.2 (Nougat) with Flyme OS 7Photography: 12MP rear camera with wide-angle lens, 1/2.3鈥 Sony IMX380 sensor, 1.55渭m pixel size, f/1.8 aperture, Four-axis OIS, PDAF, Laser auto-focus, secondary 20MP telephoto lens, Sony IMX350 sensor, f/2.0 aperture, 6-LED ring LED flash. 20MP front-facing camera.Network: 2G: GSM B2/B3/B5/B8, 3G: WCDMA B1/B2/B5/B8, 4G: FDD-LTE B1/B3/B5/B8, TDD-LTE B34/B38/B39/B40/B41Dimensions: 143脳72.7脳7.25 mmWeight: 152gConnectivity: 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 ac (2.4GHz + 5GHz), Bluetooth 4.2, GPS + GLONASS, USB Type-CBattery: 3000mAh battery with mCharge fast chargingCharacteristics: GPS, Miracast, OTG, Type-C, fingerprint ID, Face Unlock, 3.5mm audio jack, Stereo speakers.Meizu 15 PackagingThe smartphone arrived in a black premium box that has a soft-feel and matte black information and brand marking. It looks and feels luxurious with the Meizu 15th Anniversary written in the tray that keeps the mobile inside.聽 Inside you will find:1 脳 Phone1 脳 Built-in Battery1 脳 Type-C Cable1 脳 Eject Pin1 脳 User Manual1 脳 Power AdapterBeing a 15th Anniversary product I would expect something more like a protective case, etc. Nevertheless, the package is quite pleasing.Meizu 15 DesignFrom the first look in its box, Meizu 15 is a beauty created to be loved unconditionally. The wide聽 body has the 16:9 aspect ratio panel with almost no side bezels (width of 1.175mm), a design reminiscent of MX4. Picking it up you notice the display that has a brighter tone of black than the one of the body. The upper and lower bezels have the same height. The upper has a visible selfie-cam in the center. The speaker is a small horizontal line near the frame. The lower bezel has a fingerprint sensor in the center. No side bezels exist as we said, and that is that, a clean minimal front.The corners of the protective glass dive into the unibody frame. The frame is made from surgical-grade 316L stainless steel and aluminum alloy/composite specially build to feel plastic. The top and bottom have a external noise canceling microphone. On the left side of the phone you’ll find the volume adjustment buttons. The right side has a power button right under the top positioned SIM tray. The bottom has from left to right, a 3.5 mm headphone jack, a USB-C port and a loudspeaker. The buttons do not rattle, their feel and position is great. The back part of the frame is u-shaped, brushed with a horizontal pattern for design seen only when light is reflected on the black variant.Both cameras are located at the top center, positioned vertically with a LED ring below them. On top and bottom we can see the antennae bands near the middle frame in a designed adopted by Meizu long before Apple or anyone else did. The bands have a pattern that looks like the Ancient Greek border lines in pottery and architecture.The fine exterior does absolutely nothing to keep fingerprints or smudges off. With dimensions of 143 X 72.7 X 7.25 mm and weight of 152 grams the smartphone feels compact and it is easy to handle. Feeling it around there are no parts protruding – apart from the camera ring – it rises a bit over the camera glass adding another layer of protection to it.I am adding Meizu 15 in my top 5 beauties of the year, next to Vivo NEX, Oppo Find X, Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus and Xiaomi Mi Mix 2s. The total is an apogee of minimalism. A beauty that derives from clean lines and discretion: Meizu even kept its brand logo hidden in black matte in the back, seen only under the reflection of the light.Meizu 15 HardwareThe display is an OLED panel of 5.46 inches having a 79.8% screen-to-body ratio thanks to the custom panel design by Samsung. Black is deep and colors are bright and saturated. Resolution is up to Full HD (1080 脳 1920 pixels) which is not perfect but not bad for the size. The display is really vivid, it has high contrast with a ppi density of 403. Brightness is excellent, the display is readable under Athenss midsummer sun, and聽 can easily compare to other Samsung AMOLED panels. Viewing angles and color temperature are excellent. The latter can be set from Flyme in case some people prefer warmer or colder colors. While Gorilla Glass is not mentioned I dont believe the company would let their anniversary product unprotected. Another fine touch is that fact that the software adds palm rejection, a nice thing to have with so small side bezels.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramFingerprint reader button works as a home button as seen in all smartphones that keep their reader in front. Meizu took its traditional mBack button and enhanced it to Super mBack. mBack was used to navigate the UI with gestures and Super mBack adds a haptic motor. The haptic motor adds custom feedback to on-screen controls – Ive added my birthday in PUBG Mobile, the smartphone rattling in month and year changes and a wide smile appeared in my face. The button – it is not really a button, just a specific place pushed inside the screen – It is also equipped with pressure sensors to recognize taps and long presses. The fingerprint reader is very accurate and fast and is small enough to impress us with its performance in recognition. Face Unlock works with the selfie cam and the smartphone can be set to wake when picked, but to tell you the truth I rarely used it for unlocking. Meizu is really proud of its work on its facial recognition software. It is very fast with not false positives but struggles in low light conditions – typical of a technology that has no Infrared sensors.The standard model was positioned in the upper part of the middle price category. The reasonable choice was Qualcomms Snapdragon 660, a choice made also from Xiaomi when they decided to downgrade their Mi Note series. SD 660 has eight Kryo 260 cores, 4 clocked at 1.8GHz and 4 at 2.2 GHz. GPU is Adreno 512 and RAM is at 4GB. The SoC has been used in all premium-mid tier smartphones in 2017 and some companies as Oppo used it in their annual flagships. With that said the chipset comes very close to flagship abilities as seen in the benchmark suites. Daily usage is great. Gaming and multitasking have no issues while at the same time its price is kept low.There is no option for expanding the storage space so you need to choose wisely between the 64 and 128 GB models.Meizu 15 supports dual SIM functionality with two nano Sims. It supports 2G: GSM B2/B3/B5/B8, 3G: WCDMA B1/B2/B5/B8, 4G: FDD-LTE B1/B3/B5/B8, TDD-LTE B34/B38/B39/B40/B41. Navigation works flawlessly with satellites being found fast and having good precision.聽Wifi is of 802.11ac/b/g/n standard and Bluetooth of 4.2. Call quality is excellent and video calls are good without any issues.Meizu 15 SoftwareMeizu is known for its lightweight custom Android OS, called Flyme OS that (at the time of this review) is at its 7.0.2 version still being based on Nougat 7.1.1. Meizu’s interface聽is a vast improvement over the previous version (FlyMe 6) and the company claims that is was worked down to pixel level. I am not a Flyme expert, I havent used it since MX4 Pro but I can confirm a few things. Firstly, I have to say well don to its multilingual support, with no Chinese popping up in smaller menus or applications other than the in house browser. It is clean and fast. The design of Flyme 7 is comparable to iOS in some details and its general approach. Minimalism and clean lines as in the exterior are adding a pinch of art, finesse and elegance.At the same time I cant seem to handle mBack or Smart Touch simulated smart button, as the gestures have proven to be more difficult than I had imagined. I believe that my own stock Android smartphone is keeping me off from mastering Flymes philosophy of handling its gimmicks. Always-on display can be enabled along with raise to wake up. The later paired with face recognition makes unlocking effortless. Notification area, search page and task switcher are designed nicely and are very practical to use. Nougat supports split-screen and Flyme has a nice way to support it from the task switcher. Diving in Flyme you can find many options existing in some of the other heavily customized MIUI or EMUI OS’s. Vault, guest mode, multi-user, permission and notifications, all have various options to be customized to your specific needs.聽 Meizu has added a Game mode that prioritizes resources and keeps the user undisturbed from external apps. In house applications are beautiful and you can download anything else from Meizus App Store or Google Play Store of course. I can find only one bad and that is Nougat of course. Flyme should proceed to Oreo as soon as possible, as Android P is already reaching its production stage in a few months. While playing around i found a bug. A simple stupid bug not found in any other smartphone that has passed from my hands ever: I cannot change the background image, either from the themes application of the gallery due to my version not supporting it. Waiting for an update then?Meizu 15 CameraMeizu 15 is to the company what Mi Note 3 is to Xiaomi. The best camera phone ever made from Meizu. Starting with that fact lets describe the camera set-up. Meizu has adopted a dual-camera setup with a main Sony IMX 380 12 megapixel sensor (f/1.8 aperture, 1.55碌m, 1/2.3-inch). The secondary 20 megapixel (1/2.8″, 1.0碌m) is a telephoto lens with two tasks: 2x lossless zoom (can go to 3x interpolated) and bokeh effect. There is a 4-axis OIS, PDAF and laser autofocus. The circular LED consists of six smaller individual LEDs and it’s used for photography along with an extra notification LED existing on the front. There is some AI support here – there where some annotations in night shots but not the plethora of AI support that I have seen in Huawei P20 Pro or other releavant devices. The camera application is clean too, simple to use but I would prefer it to be a bit faster from mode to mode. You can find Portrait (bokeh), Photo, Video and More. The later includes Pro mode, Panorama, Scan, Time-lapse, Slow-Motion and Square. HRD and Beautify along with a small menu of settings provide the most minimal set up seen in such a good camera and price category. Daily pictures and Portrait mode provide excellent examples with bright colors almost equal to this year flagships. HDR is being supported brilliantly without over saturating the pictures while color is represented accurately without adding effects. Night shots have some noise but not enough to disappoint us. They are more than good. Meizu took the latest Sony sensor and added the best software she could produce. This is really Meizus best camera phone by far. There is one extra thing to add on. Optical zoom is one of the best I have found in any smartphone of the same segment![flickr_set id=”72157699287916074″]At the front of the phone,there’s a 20 megapixel selfie camera with f/2.0 aperture. AI is supported here as well and the result is not bad at all. Beautify is supported on both front and back side cameras.Video quality is good but not excellent. 4K and 1080p both at 30fps provide clear videos with good sound. Colours are good, sound is good, zoom is good, for everyday usage there is nothing extra to ask for. Meizu could add image stabilisation, but sadly they did not – probably because it would increase its price.Meizu 15 BatteryA 3000mAh battery is hidden in the sleek metal body of the device, while the AMOLED screen and the energy sufficient Snapdragon 660 provide good results. The phone provides 11-12 SOT in case of direct YouTube video playback which is 5-6 hours of daily usage. The phone made it every night with 10-15% with medium usage. My opinion in smartphones is that battery life is never sufficient and I would prefer the body to be thicker – thus packing a 4000mAh battery.Flyme has two modes to enhance battery life. Low Power mode controls Bluetooth, GPS, sound, haptic engine etc to ensure that you will make it until the end of the day in case you dont have your charger along. Super saving mode changes the home-screen to black and white and disables mostly everything than phone calls and messages. With 32% right now (at the time I am writing these words) I have one day and three hours remaining battery life in case of emergency. Not bad. 馃槈Fast charging is supported with an mCharge 4 charger. This is an excellent charger to include and with a 3000mAh battery you will need to carry it around in case of heavy usage. Charging is fast at only 45 minutes from zero to 100 percent!Meizu 15 ConclusionThis is an anniversary phone for Meizus 15th year in the smartphone industry. Huawei. BBK (Oppo, Vivo, OnePlus) and Xiaomi monopolize the Chinese market and Meizu is strangling to keep a part of the sales.Meizu 15 is the zenith of MX series excellent design, a design we would see in any smartphone today if iPhone X did not exist last year. Meizu provided the best they could: excellent camera, excellent sound, brilliant design, a fast OS and one of the best fast chargers. Meizu did one thing wrong: the price is not low enough unfortunately – not as low as it could be. At $400+ the category is dominated either by flagship killers from OnePlus and Xiaomi or last years flagships that have superior chipsets and overall characteristics. I am not into gaming so my daily usage is more than covered from this beautiful phone. I would love to have it as my daily driver if it was not for that price. Meizu 16 is at the corner so a price drop on the 15 should be imminent in my humble opinion.What Meizu 15 does correctly is to provide a statement to the Chinese market that they can handle being different. If you are not into the “mainstream” products, Meizu 15 is an excellent choice. Meizu is up there with the rest of the great smartphone producers, even if they got a bit sidetracked during the previous years.The huge demand for bezel-less smartphones has placed several smartphone manufacturers in the middle of a race for the best offering. The advent of 18:9 screens have brought us the possibility of having handsets with large displays, but without sacrificing size, ergonomics and design.Now it’s possible to have a 6-inch smartphone that is comfortable to hold, and also a 5.7-inch smartphone that would sit alongside old 5.2-inch devices. The Chinese smartphone industry is betting high on this new trend, and Umidigi is no exception. The Umidigi A1 Pro is the latest company’s offering for the budget segment, with a nice design, compact display, and specs that don’t compromise the performance of a $99 smartphone. Keep reading, and you’ll know more about this decent package. – Main Specs:Display: 5.5-inch 1440×720 pixels LCD IPS panelCPU: MT6739 Quad-Core 1.5GHzSystem: Android 8.1 OreoStorage: 3GB RAM + 16GB ROMCameras: 13MP + 5MP f/2.0 dual back cameras and 5MP f/2.4 front-facing snapperSensors: Gravity Sensor, Proximity Sensor, Gyroscope, Magnetic Field SensorFeatures: GPS, GlonassBluetooth: 4.0SIM Card: Dual SIM Dual Standby, 2 Nano SIM or 1 Nano SIM + microSD cardNetworks: 2G: GSM B2/3/5/83G: WCDMA B1/2/4/5/84G: LTE FDD B1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/17/19/20LTE TDD B38/40/41Size: 145.3 x 69.1 x 8.5mmWeight: 173gBattery: 3150mAhPackage and Accessories:The Umidigi A1 Pro comes inside a plain black package with the Umidigi Logo written in gold letters. There is cool cover above the standard box, you’ll just need to swipe it to have access to the box with all the contents. Behind the box, we have some details about the Umidigi A1 Pro specifications.Inside the box we have the standard set of acessories that Umidigi often includes with most of its handsets:Protective CaseSmall ManualUSB Type-C casePower Adapter 5V/2AScreen Protector (Installed on the phone)Sim NeedleOf course, this isn’t the biggest package of accessories provided by a manufacturer, but it’s good to have the enough for the daily adventures. I dunno how the glass rear back would stand against non-flat surfaces, also it’s good to have a screen protector for avoiding unnecessary scratches.When it comes to the main package itself, Umidigi provided a long USB Type-C cable that seems to be made of quality materials. Judging from this, I really need to say how impressive is to have the new standard on a 99$ smartphone – for example Xiaomi could learn a thing or two from these small companies.Design:The strongest point of Umidigi A1 Pro, to not mention the price, is its design. The handset mixes the best of design languages to combine into a phone that for sure doesn’t look to be cheap as it is. While on the front we have a 5.5-inch 18:9 display that could easily be confused as a 5.0-inch smartphone, on the back Umidigi choose a glossy back that really makes the device stand out against competition on this segment. The dual-camera setup is vertically aligned on the middle of the phone, with the dual LED flash marking its presence as well.The materials itself doesn’t look to be really made out of glass, but of a thin plastic frame, however, the look is what matters… as a consequence, the back of this handset is a fingerprint magnet, and should scratch easily. So grab the back cover included on the package.Turning back to the display, Umidigi deserves some applause for trimming down the 5.5-inch display to a 5.0-inch pocket-friendly form factor. Is this result of a wizardry? Of course not, it’s one of the results achieved by the 18:9 trend, large and taller displays that does not hurt design. On the top portion of the smartphone, we can spot the 5MP selfie snapper, the ear speaker, and the sensors. Unfortunately, there’s no Notification LED which the absence is really annoying.If you’re looking for a cheap phone that fits perfectly on your pocket, the A1 Pro is a good choice. I’ve been using bigger than 5.5-inch smartphones for the past years, and this smartphone really looks smaller than it is, but the 5.5-inch HD+ display is really there.Moving to the bottom of the smartphone, we can find the USB C port alongside the 3.5mm headphone jack, that marks a presence here. With the addition of USB Type-C, Umidigi could have chosen to drop the old headphone port, but thankfully the company decided to keep the old and loved port. On the bottom, we can also find the speaker grill and the microphone.Moving to the top, we can find the SIM tray, where the user can opt between using Dual SIM nano cards or a single SIM + microSD for further expanding the 16GB onboard storage.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramTo conclude the design section of this review, the Umidigi A1 Pro houses the Volume and Power button on the right side, while on the left there’s nothing to write about. Worth mentioning that in order to make a compact phone, Umidigi had to place the 173g of this smartphone in a minor form-factor, so the phone feels heavier and thicker (8.3mm) than it looks.Hardware:The strong selling point of this smartphone, probably won’t be its hardware but everything that you can acquire with this combination of specs. The display itself is one of the good sides of this smartphone, despite its 1440×720 pixels of resolution, the display looks good enough for multimedia content and everyday usage. However, against strong sunlight, its visibility becomes compromised, out of this scenario you can easily spot the content on this compact 18:9 panel.This budget, beauty and pocket-friendly smartphone are powered by MediaTek’s favorite processor for the budget segment – The 1.5GHz QuadCore MT6739 SoC. The processor itself is a cost-effective chipset made for the low-end segment its 1.5GHz 4xA53 cores can handle most tasks, while also offering a low energy consumption. The graphical power is ensured by the MG PowerVR GE8100 GPU clocked at 570MHz.This combination of specs makes a smartphone that can handle average tasks like web-browsing, social media apps, multimedia content, however, things start to be a little messy when you try to play games, you’ll be able to play casual games but the more intensive graphical gaming will have a poor performance. Thankfully, Umidigi included 3GB of RAM on this smartphone, so you won’t have applications resetting in the background all the time. When it comes to storage we have 16GB that can be further expanded via a microSD card. The handset supports dual SIM dual standby funcionality, its coverage includes the following networks/frequencies:2G: GSM B2/3/5/83G: WCDMA B1/2/4/5/84G: LTE FDD B1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/17/19/20LTE TDD B38/40/41The sensor package inside this smartphone is composed of the Accelerometer Sensor, Light Sensor, Orientation Sensor, Proximity Sensor, Gyroscope, Magnetic Field Sensor and Pressure Sensor. The Bluetooth 4.0 is pretty stable on this smartphone, so I could easily hear music through my Bluetooth Headphone without drops or any kind of issue. The navigation power is ensured by GPS, A-GPS, and Glonass. The lock times can be a little longer if you are inside the house, but they are pretty fast and precise if you’re outside. The WiFi connectivity also works pretty fine with good reception and zero drops, LTE is fast and Call Quality is also great. Video Calls are also stable, but can become a little laggy if you’re running a lot of tasks in the background.Software:One of the amazing characteristics of this smartphone is on the fact that it is running Android 8.1 Oreo right out the box. It’s amazing to see Umidigi providing an updated version of Android, while some other manufacturers are still shipping phones with the two years old Android 7.1.2.The software itself is complete stock, there some customizations made by Umi here or there, but the main part is made of Google’s Pure 8.1 Oreo. The interface is entirely pure without any kind of fancy menu or weird icon pack if you enjoy the experience of an Android One smartphone will really love this handset. One of the custom additions made by Umi on the A1 Pro is the addition of a Face Unlock feature.To enroll your face, you’ll just need to find the “Face Unlock” section in the main Settings menu, after that you can “Start Enroll” and place your face on the circle to get your face recognized. It works only when the screen is on, and isn’t more convenient than placing your finger on the fingerprint sensor, however, if you like new things you can try the Face Unlock feature.Worth noting, that since Umidigi A1 Pro comes with Android 8.1 Oreo it has Project Treble compatibility. That means that the device could theoretically receive faster updates once that Google releases new versions of Android, but we don’t know if this will be the case since Umidigi isn’t a company with a good update track for its smartphones. However, the Treble viability could facilitate the process of porting a from the handset. I tried to flash a Custom Treble GSI (Generic System Image) on the A1 Pro, without success and the phone got stuck at boot. Let’s see if in the future we’ll have a GSI that is compatible with A1 Pro, for now, Treble is just a cool addition to this phone. The handset comes with Android 8.1.0 and brings the April Google Security Patch. Right on the top of the About Phone menu, we can see the Wireless Update option, there we can find if Umidigi has provided any kind of update for the smartphone.Camera:Of course, one of the main market strategies adopted by Umidigi with the A1 Pro uses the dual-camera setup placed on this smartphone back. The setup consists of a pair of 13MP and 5MP sensors with f/2.0 lens aperture. The camera application itself is pretty simple bringing the Photo, Video, Panorama, Beauty, and Bokeh Mode. The Photo, Video and Panorama modes are self-explanatory, while the Beauty mode consists in a kind of beautify effect pre-loaded when you take a picture, it can be useful for selfies, but the results look rather generic. The Bokeh effect tries to mimic the loved effect of Portrait pictures, however, on the practice, it is far from perfection. Like we have seen on previous smartphones equipped with two cameras, the Bokeh effect is nothing more than a blur effect towards a circle that you can adjust. The rear camera can take up to 13MP pictures and record up to 1080p 30FPS video footages. It has EZL mode for reducing the shooter delay, Anti-shake mode, EIS, Auto Scene detection, Timer mode, White Balance control and Anti-flicker. During the sunlight I could take some decent pictures with the A1 Pro, the problem comes at night. Overall, the focus speed is decent enough for fast snaps, and pictures are detailed in most scenarios. When it comes to the Bokeh effect, it isn’t the best way to take portrait pictures, and you’ll need some tweaking in order to take decent pictures with that blurred effect. The pair of dual cameras does a decent job in what Umidigi proposes with the A1 Pro, it’s a $99 phone that can take good-looking pictures in light environments. Turn off the lights, and you’ll have a lot of noise everywhere. However, even in dark conditions, the pictures are “usable” enough. The double LED flash also make wonder in some extreme situations, so it’ll be a good friend, of course, if you don’t mind using it. The selfie camera in counterpart surprised me in a good sense. The 5MP f/2.4 unit can take some detailed pictures of the sunlight, and doesn’t lose much its quality inside the house or in darker environments. The Beauty mode can improve the selfies, but that results in pictures that are too much artificial for my taste.The camera can take some decent video footages as well, however, don’t expect to see the more smooth and stable videos. While EIS is present, the results achieved with it are just average and 30FPS is only the bare minimum nowadays, however, take in mind that this is a smartphone made for the low-end budget segment.Battery:The Umidigi A1 Pro packs a non-removable 3,150mAh battery. This capacity is more than enough for an entire day of usage, due to the low-end processor and the resolution it is easy to get through an entire day of work and arrive at home with more than 20% of juice.Of course, if you’re a gaming person you can easily drain this battery, especially when this processor and GPU doesn’t seem to enjoy gaming sections. Furthermore, the MT6739 still is made of the old 28nm architecture, that can’t stand against the benefits of newer SoCs made at the 14nm process. I just hope that MediaTek starts to ship its new line of 12nm processors for the low-end segment and let the old MT673x line have a rest. Through a day of medium usage that consists of some hours of web-browsing, Telegram, WhatsApp, and Slack, I was able to achieve 5 hours of screen usage with 10% of battery left. Of course, the results could be better with some tweaking on the software. If you’re a heavy user, then you’ll probably get 3:30 to 4:00 hours of screen usage.If you charge your phone during the night, you’ll probably have more than enough juice to use it for the entire day. But if you’ll need to charge your phone, Umidigi provided a 5V/2A charger that can fully charge the A1 Pro in 1hour and a half.Conclusion:If you’re looking for a good backup phone that can easily fit in your pocket, but that also have a beauty tall display the Umidigi A1 Pro is a good choice of a smartphone on the $99 segment. Also, it is a perfect phone for kids due to its cost and small form-factor.One of the things that I really enjoyed during my usage is that despite the not-so-fast processor the 3GB of RAM provided a pleasant experience with apps being kept on the background. At this segment is pretty common to see handsets with just 2GB of RAM, while it is enough amount, 2GB is just the bare minimum for Android, so having 3GB of RAM is a great advantage of A1 Pro against its competition on the segment. Also, worths noting that this cheap package includes the new USB Type-C standard, it doesn’t seem to be made of poor materials and works as it should. So, in 2018 is there any excuse for keep using micro USB ports?The downsides of this smartphone? Well, before putting any nail on the A1 coffin, I would like to say that at $99 it’s hard to find something that succeeds on every aspect and the A1 Pro does a decent job in what it is proposed to do. Of course, camera performance could be better at night, but it’s hard to find a good phone below the $400 price ratio that can perform well at night. The worse aspect of this phone should be the choice of processor, the MT6739 really isn’t enough anymore for today’s standards. A good octa-core processor like the MT6750 would be a perfect choice for this smartphone, even if it increases a little on the price.The Notification LED is also absent here, probably for cutting some costs, but would an RGB or single-light LED really make a big difference on the final price? It’s a matter of taste, but I’ve been using the LED as a notification reminder during the past years since I usually use my phone in the Do Not Disturb mode. The only way to avoid delayed notifications is to use a custom app for Ambient Mode.The huge demand for bezel-less smartphones has placed several smartphone manufacturers in the middle of a race for the best offering. The advent of 18:9 screens have brought us the possibility of having handsets with large displays, but without sacrificing size, ergonomics and design.Now it’s possible to have a 6-inch smartphone that is comfortable to hold, and also a 5.7-inch smartphone that would sit alongside old 5.2-inch devices. The Chinese smartphone industry is betting high on this new trend, and Umidigi is no exception. The Umidigi A1 Pro is the latest company’s offering for the budget segment, with a nice design, compact display, and specs that don’t compromise the performance of a $99 smartphone. Keep reading, and you’ll know more about this decent package. – Main Specs:Display: 5.5-inch 1440×720 pixels LCD IPS panelCPU: MT6739 Quad-Core 1.5GHzSystem: Android 8.1 OreoStorage: 3GB RAM + 16GB ROMCameras: 13MP + 5MP f/2.0 dual back cameras and 5MP f/2.4 front-facing snapperSensors: Gravity Sensor, Proximity Sensor, Gyroscope, Magnetic Field SensorFeatures: GPS, GlonassBluetooth: 4.0SIM Card: Dual SIM Dual Standby, 2 Nano SIM or 1 Nano SIM + microSD cardNetworks: 2G: GSM B2/3/5/83G: WCDMA B1/2/4/5/84G: LTE FDD B1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/17/19/20LTE TDD B38/40/41Size: 145.3 x 69.1 x 8.5mmWeight: 173gBattery: 3150mAhPackage and Accessories:The Umidigi A1 Pro comes inside a plain black package with the Umidigi Logo written in gold letters. There is cool cover above the standard box, you’ll just need to swipe it to have access to the box with all the contents. Behind the box, we have some details about the Umidigi A1 Pro specifications.Inside the box we have the standard set of acessories that Umidigi often includes with most of its handsets:Protective CaseSmall ManualUSB Type-C casePower Adapter 5V/2AScreen Protector (Installed on the phone)Sim NeedleOf course, this isn’t the biggest package of accessories provided by a manufacturer, but it’s good to have the enough for the daily adventures. I dunno how the glass rear back would stand against non-flat surfaces, also it’s good to have a screen protector for avoiding unnecessary scratches.When it comes to the main package itself, Umidigi provided a long USB Type-C cable that seems to be made of quality materials. Judging from this, I really need to say how impressive is to have the new standard on a 99$ smartphone – for example Xiaomi could learn a thing or two from these small companies.Design:The strongest point of Umidigi A1 Pro, to not mention the price, is its design. The handset mixes the best of design languages to combine into a phone that for sure doesn’t look to be cheap as it is. While on the front we have a 5.5-inch 18:9 display that could easily be confused as a 5.0-inch smartphone, on the back Umidigi choose a glossy back that really makes the device stand out against competition on this segment. The dual-camera setup is vertically aligned on the middle of the phone, with the dual LED flash marking its presence as well.The materials itself doesn’t look to be really made out of glass, but of a thin plastic frame, however, the look is what matters… as a consequence, the back of this handset is a fingerprint magnet, and should scratch easily. So grab the back cover included on the package.Turning back to the display, Umidigi deserves some applause for trimming down the 5.5-inch display to a 5.0-inch pocket-friendly form factor. Is this result of a wizardry? Of course not, it’s one of the results achieved by the 18:9 trend, large and taller displays that does not hurt design. On the top portion of the smartphone, we can spot the 5MP selfie snapper, the ear speaker, and the sensors. Unfortunately, there’s no Notification LED which the absence is really annoying.If you’re looking for a cheap phone that fits perfectly on your pocket, the A1 Pro is a good choice. I’ve been using bigger than 5.5-inch smartphones for the past years, and this smartphone really looks smaller than it is, but the 5.5-inch HD+ display is really there.Moving to the bottom of the smartphone, we can find the USB C port alongside the 3.5mm headphone jack, that marks a presence here. With the addition of USB Type-C, Umidigi could have chosen to drop the old headphone port, but thankfully the company decided to keep the old and loved port. On the bottom, we can also find the speaker grill and the microphone.Moving to the top, we can find the SIM tray, where the user can opt between using Dual SIM nano cards or a single SIM + microSD for further expanding the 16GB onboard storage.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramTo conclude the design section of this review, the Umidigi A1 Pro houses the Volume and Power button on the right side, while on the left there’s nothing to write about. Worth mentioning that in order to make a compact phone, Umidigi had to place the 173g of this smartphone in a minor form-factor, so the phone feels heavier and thicker (8.3mm) than it looks.Hardware:The strong selling point of this smartphone, probably won’t be its hardware but everything that you can acquire with this combination of specs. The display itself is one of the good sides of this smartphone, despite its 1440×720 pixels of resolution, the display looks good enough for multimedia content and everyday usage. However, against strong sunlight, its visibility becomes compromised, out of this scenario you can easily spot the content on this compact 18:9 panel.This budget, beauty and pocket-friendly smartphone are powered by MediaTek’s favorite processor for the budget segment – The 1.5GHz QuadCore MT6739 SoC. The processor itself is a cost-effective chipset made for the low-end segment its 1.5GHz 4xA53 cores can handle most tasks, while also offering a low energy consumption. The graphical power is ensured by the MG PowerVR GE8100 GPU clocked at 570MHz.This combination of specs makes a smartphone that can handle average tasks like web-browsing, social media apps, multimedia content, however, things start to be a little messy when you try to play games, you’ll be able to play casual games but the more intensive graphical gaming will have a poor performance. Thankfully, Umidigi included 3GB of RAM on this smartphone, so you won’t have applications resetting in the background all the time. When it comes to storage we have 16GB that can be further expanded via a microSD card. The handset supports dual SIM dual standby funcionality, its coverage includes the following networks/frequencies:2G: GSM B2/3/5/83G: WCDMA B1/2/4/5/84G: LTE FDD B1/2/3/4/5/7/8/12/17/19/20LTE TDD B38/40/41The sensor package inside this smartphone is composed of the Accelerometer Sensor, Light Sensor, Orientation Sensor, Proximity Sensor, Gyroscope, Magnetic Field Sensor and Pressure Sensor. The Bluetooth 4.0 is pretty stable on this smartphone, so I could easily hear music through my Bluetooth Headphone without drops or any kind of issue. The navigation power is ensured by GPS, A-GPS, and Glonass. The lock times can be a little longer if you are inside the house, but they are pretty fast and precise if you’re outside. The WiFi connectivity also works pretty fine with good reception and zero drops, LTE is fast and Call Quality is also great. Video Calls are also stable, but can become a little laggy if you’re running a lot of tasks in the background.Software:One of the amazing characteristics of this smartphone is on the fact that it is running Android 8.1 Oreo right out the box. It’s amazing to see Umidigi providing an updated version of Android, while some other manufacturers are still shipping phones with the two years old Android 7.1.2.The software itself is complete stock, there some customizations made by Umi here or there, but the main part is made of Google’s Pure 8.1 Oreo. The interface is entirely pure without any kind of fancy menu or weird icon pack if you enjoy the experience of an Android One smartphone will really love this handset. One of the custom additions made by Umi on the A1 Pro is the addition of a Face Unlock feature.To enroll your face, you’ll just need to find the “Face Unlock” section in the main Settings menu, after that you can “Start Enroll” and place your face on the circle to get your face recognized. It works only when the screen is on, and isn’t more convenient than placing your finger on the fingerprint sensor, however, if you like new things you can try the Face Unlock feature.Worth noting, that since Umidigi A1 Pro comes with Android 8.1 Oreo it has Project Treble compatibility. That means that the device could theoretically receive faster updates once that Google releases new versions of Android, but we don’t know if this will be the case since Umidigi isn’t a company with a good update track for its smartphones. However, the Treble viability could facilitate the process of porting a from the handset. I tried to flash a Custom Treble GSI (Generic System Image) on the A1 Pro, without success and the phone got stuck at boot. Let’s see if in the future we’ll have a GSI that is compatible with A1 Pro, for now, Treble is just a cool addition to this phone. The handset comes with Android 8.1.0 and brings the April Google Security Patch. Right on the top of the About Phone menu, we can see the Wireless Update option, there we can find if Umidigi has provided any kind of update for the smartphone.Camera:Of course, one of the main market strategies adopted by Umidigi with the A1 Pro uses the dual-camera setup placed on this smartphone back. The setup consists of a pair of 13MP and 5MP sensors with f/2.0 lens aperture. The camera application itself is pretty simple bringing the Photo, Video, Panorama, Beauty, and Bokeh Mode. The Photo, Video and Panorama modes are self-explanatory, while the Beauty mode consists in a kind of beautify effect pre-loaded when you take a picture, it can be useful for selfies, but the results look rather generic. The Bokeh effect tries to mimic the loved effect of Portrait pictures, however, on the practice, it is far from perfection. Like we have seen on previous smartphones equipped with two cameras, the Bokeh effect is nothing more than a blur effect towards a circle that you can adjust. The rear camera can take up to 13MP pictures and record up to 1080p 30FPS video footages. It has EZL mode for reducing the shooter delay, Anti-shake mode, EIS, Auto Scene detection, Timer mode, White Balance control and Anti-flicker. During the sunlight I could take some decent pictures with the A1 Pro, the problem comes at night. Overall, the focus speed is decent enough for fast snaps, and pictures are detailed in most scenarios. When it comes to the Bokeh effect, it isn’t the best way to take portrait pictures, and you’ll need some tweaking in order to take decent pictures with that blurred effect. The pair of dual cameras does a decent job in what Umidigi proposes with the A1 Pro, it’s a $99 phone that can take good-looking pictures in light environments. Turn off the lights, and you’ll have a lot of noise everywhere. However, even in dark conditions, the pictures are “usable” enough. The double LED flash also make wonder in some extreme situations, so it’ll be a good friend, of course, if you don’t mind using it. The selfie camera in counterpart surprised me in a good sense. The 5MP f/2.4 unit can take some detailed pictures of the sunlight, and doesn’t lose much its quality inside the house or in darker environments. The Beauty mode can improve the selfies, but that results in pictures that are too much artificial for my taste.The camera can take some decent video footages as well, however, don’t expect to see the more smooth and stable videos. While EIS is present, the results achieved with it are just average and 30FPS is only the bare minimum nowadays, however, take in mind that this is a smartphone made for the low-end budget segment.Battery:The Umidigi A1 Pro packs a non-removable 3,150mAh battery. This capacity is more than enough for an entire day of usage, due to the low-end processor and the resolution it is easy to get through an entire day of work and arrive at home with more than 20% of juice.Of course, if you’re a gaming person you can easily drain this battery, especially when this processor and GPU doesn’t seem to enjoy gaming sections. Furthermore, the MT6739 still is made of the old 28nm architecture, that can’t stand against the benefits of newer SoCs made at the 14nm process. I just hope that MediaTek starts to ship its new line of 12nm processors for the low-end segment and let the old MT673x line have a rest. Through a day of medium usage that consists of some hours of web-browsing, Telegram, WhatsApp, and Slack, I was able to achieve 5 hours of screen usage with 10% of battery left. Of course, the results could be better with some tweaking on the software. If you’re a heavy user, then you’ll probably get 3:30 to 4:00 hours of screen usage.If you charge your phone during the night, you’ll probably have more than enough juice to use it for the entire day. But if you’ll need to charge your phone, Umidigi provided a 5V/2A charger that can fully charge the A1 Pro in 1hour and a half.Conclusion:If you’re looking for a good backup phone that can easily fit in your pocket, but that also have a beauty tall display the Umidigi A1 Pro is a good choice of a smartphone on the $99 segment. Also, it is a perfect phone for kids due to its cost and small form-factor.One of the things that I really enjoyed during my usage is that despite the not-so-fast processor the 3GB of RAM provided a pleasant experience with apps being kept on the background. At this segment is pretty common to see handsets with just 2GB of RAM, while it is enough amount, 2GB is just the bare minimum for Android, so having 3GB of RAM is a great advantage of A1 Pro against its competition on the segment. Also, worths noting that this cheap package includes the new USB Type-C standard, it doesn’t seem to be made of poor materials and works as it should. So, in 2018 is there any excuse for keep using micro USB ports?The downsides of this smartphone? Well, before putting any nail on the A1 coffin, I would like to say that at $99 it’s hard to find something that succeeds on every aspect and the A1 Pro does a decent job in what it is proposed to do. Of course, camera performance could be better at night, but it’s hard to find a good phone below the $400 price ratio that can perform well at night. The worse aspect of this phone should be the choice of processor, the MT6739 really isn’t enough anymore for today’s standards. A good octa-core processor like the MT6750 would be a perfect choice for this smartphone, even if it increases a little on the price.The Notification LED is also absent here, probably for cutting some costs, but would an RGB or single-light LED really make a big difference on the final price? It’s a matter of taste, but I’ve been using the LED as a notification reminder during the past years since I usually use my phone in the Do Not Disturb mode. The only way to avoid delayed notifications is to use a custom app for Ambient Mode.

Microwear recently released two new products one of which is the premium Microwear L2 smartwatch, the other is a smart bracelet called Microwear X2 or X2 Plus. Thanks to the company, we were able to review both the smart accessories. Here we share our thoughts about the Microwear X2.Microwear X2DesignThe Microwear X2 is the company’s first smartband. Unlike the L2, the X2 is more of a round-design wearable although the screen or dial inside is rectangular. Also, the screen itself isn’t touch responsive but you can interact with it through touch via a touch button below the screen.In terms of design, it is a different product which is unlike the metal-made L2 but is also a lot cheaper. The straps are also made of edible silicone instead of stainless steel. The sporty and trendy look of the bracelet hints that it is made to withstand daily wear and tear and is suitable for sports enthusiasts.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramThe Microwear X2 also has IP68 waterproofing like the Microwear L2 which is great for a bracelet that costs nothing more than $32. The highlight of the bracelet is its great battery life due to the smaller OLED screen. The watch’s 480mAh battery can last you 180 days in standby mode and advertised regular use is 70 to 90 days. The battery life on the Microwear X2 is so good, I haven’t had to charge the wearable ever since it came out of the box. The 0.96-inch display is quite bright, has a wide colour gamut, and high contrast.Microwear X2: Fitness FeaturesIn terms of features, the standout function is blood oxygen as well as blood pressure measurement. This is probably something we missed on the Microwear L2 and it makes the X2 a true fitness companion. The measurements work very well especially the heart rate tracker gives strong clues of pulse. Also, it does measure heart rate in real time so that takes it a step further than the Microwear L2 which doesn’t measure blood pressure levels. Besides, it has all the 8 sports and fitness tracking modes like the L2 including running, riding, climbing, badminton and so on.If you forgot, it also has a dedicated mode for measuring your performance in intimate moments just like the L2. The running mode was fairly accurate when it came to the accuracy of steps take. However, we didn’t get to try out the other modes like badminton sadly. Still, the amount of options at the modest price of $33 is really great.Navigation and Smart Features The navigation of these modes is quite easy. You use the touch-sensitive button beneath the display to scroll between different apps and modes. Once you’re on a particular mode, you use the side keys to enter the app.The Microwear doesn’t skip on the smart functions of a watch either with notification pushing available. The watch will sync with both iOS and Android phones and give users missed call notifications, messages, and more. Only you won’t be able to receive calls because it doesn’t have a speaker. However, you can’t reply to the notifications on the X2 itself. There are six to seven different watch faces which range from a simple analog style clock to different digital designs. The digital faces display more information like steps, heart rate, date and some display temperature as well. Visit Microwear Official SiteFinal thoughts: You can’t go wrong with it聽Microwear is a Chinese brand that mostly dabbles in accessories like sports watches, fitness bands, and Android watches. It is a seven-year-old brand whose latest product is the Microwear L2 (Waterproof) smartwatch that launched around ten days ago. The company was kind enough to send us a review unit and we used the smartwatch extensively and here’s our review of the same.Microwear L2: DesignIn terms of design, the Microwear L2 is a very neatly crafted wearable and the one that reached us was a Black variant that comes with a USB charger cable and some user guides. It has really well built stainless steel straps that look premium just like the smartwatch itself. The straps are also adjustable in accordance to your wrist size with a hook buckle as and when needed and the buckle has a flip lock. The one sent to me fit me perfectly and I didn’t need to change adjust anything. The straps can be replaced and the company also has silicone straps if you don’t like metal straps.Talking about the dial, it is circular and most importantly it is IP68 waterproof-rated. So, you can practically dive with it. However, IP68 is limited to 1.5 meters and around 30 minutes. The watch is bit hefty but it isn’t something you can’t live with. The watch weighs around 70 grams.Microwear L2: Specs Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramThe Microwear L2 has a 1.3-inch display with 240 x 240p resolution. In our daily use, we found it to be serving its purpose well. Viewing angles on it are good, brightness is also good, and daylight visibility is also not an issue. The display is touch responsive and worked well in our regular use of the device. It also has two physical buttons that can aid in navigation. If you’re looking for more basic specs here they are:CPU: 1.1GHz MTK2502RAM: 32MROM: 32MCompatible OS: Android 4.4 and above, IOS 8.0 and aboveBattery: 380 mAh, 2-3 working daysBluetooth Version: 3.0, 4.0 Visit Microwear Official SiteMicrowear L2: FeaturesWhere the Microwear L2 really shines is in its features and battery life. Not only can it serve as a smartwatch, it can also double up as a fitness companion. For the former, I was able to use the built-in calculator, alarm clock, calendar, stopwatch, and music apps very comfortably. Needless to say, it connects with both iOS and Android for calls and message alerts. The L2 uses Bluetooth 4.0 and can take and receive calls all by itself, thanks to the integrated speaker. This is a really great feature especially the price at which it is being offered. It can also display notifications from Facebook, and Twitter and it supports around 20 languages which include most of the European ones.If you’re a sports fanatic, you’ll be pleasantly surprised to see the Microwear L2 tracks 10 types of sports activities. This includes walking, running, swimming, cycling, mountain climbing, basketball, and many more. I was able to use the mode and it tracked my running and walking perfectly. It also has an optical heart rate monitor that can work also in a motion state. The L2 can also measure atmospheric pressure with a barometer and it also has a compass, something greatly useful for hill climbers and travellers.Other important features include a sedentary reminder that alerts you when you’ve been sitting for too long. The sleep monitor comes with a chart that allows users to gauge sleep quality over time and I found it to be handy. Interestingly, the Microwear L2 can also be used as a smart remote camera, I found.If you’re a casual fitness lover or someone who doesn’t do extreme sports or someone who isn’t stats-driven sports enthusiast then I think the Microwear L2 is for you, especially if you don’t want to spend more.The other highlighted feature of the smartwatch is its battery. It promises a standby of 100 hours and 10 hours of continuous use while on Bluetooth. In our use, we were quite happy to see it push through our whole day of regular use and that’s the best you can ask from a smartwatch right now.Final thoughts

Microwear is a Chinese brand that mostly dabbles in accessories like sports watches, fitness bands, and Android watches. It is a seven-year-old brand whose latest product is the Microwear L2 (Waterproof) smartwatch that launched around ten days ago. The company was kind enough to send us a review unit and we used the smartwatch extensively and here’s our review of the same.Microwear L2: DesignIn terms of design, the Microwear L2 is a very neatly crafted wearable and the one that reached us was a Black variant that comes with a USB charger cable and some user guides. It has really well built stainless steel straps that look premium just like the smartwatch itself. The straps are also adjustable in accordance to your wrist size with a hook buckle as and when needed and the buckle has a flip lock. The one sent to me fit me perfectly and I didn’t need to change adjust anything. The straps can be replaced and the company also has silicone straps if you don’t like metal straps.Talking about the dial, it is circular and most importantly it is IP68 waterproof-rated. So, you can practically dive with it. However, IP68 is limited to 1.5 meters and around 30 minutes. The watch is bit hefty but it isn’t something you can’t live with. The watch weighs around 70 grams.Microwear L2: Specs Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramThe Microwear L2 has a 1.3-inch display with 240 x 240p resolution. In our daily use, we found it to be serving its purpose well. Viewing angles on it are good, brightness is also good, and daylight visibility is also not an issue. The display is touch responsive and worked well in our regular use of the device. It also has two physical buttons that can aid in navigation. If you’re looking for more basic specs here they are:CPU: 1.1GHz MTK2502RAM: 32MROM: 32MCompatible OS: Android 4.4 and above, IOS 8.0 and aboveBattery: 380 mAh, 2-3 working daysBluetooth Version: 3.0, 4.0 Visit Microwear Official SiteMicrowear L2: FeaturesWhere the Microwear L2 really shines is in its features and battery life. Not only can it serve as a smartwatch, it can also double up as a fitness companion. For the former, I was able to use the built-in calculator, alarm clock, calendar, stopwatch, and music apps very comfortably. Needless to say, it connects with both iOS and Android for calls and message alerts. The L2 uses Bluetooth 4.0 and can take and receive calls all by itself, thanks to the integrated speaker. This is a really great feature especially the price at which it is being offered. It can also display notifications from Facebook, and Twitter and it supports around 20 languages which include most of the European ones.If you’re a sports fanatic, you’ll be pleasantly surprised to see the Microwear L2 tracks 10 types of sports activities. This includes walking, running, swimming, cycling, mountain climbing, basketball, and many more. I was able to use the mode and it tracked my running and walking perfectly. It also has an optical heart rate monitor that can work also in a motion state. The L2 can also measure atmospheric pressure with a barometer and it also has a compass, something greatly useful for hill climbers and travellers.Other important features include a sedentary reminder that alerts you when you’ve been sitting for too long. The sleep monitor comes with a chart that allows users to gauge sleep quality over time and I found it to be handy. Interestingly, the Microwear L2 can also be used as a smart remote camera, I found.If you’re a casual fitness lover or someone who doesn’t do extreme sports or someone who isn’t stats-driven sports enthusiast then I think the Microwear L2 is for you, especially if you don’t want to spend more.The other highlighted feature of the smartwatch is its battery. It promises a standby of 100 hours and 10 hours of continuous use while on Bluetooth. In our use, we were quite happy to see it push through our whole day of regular use and that’s the best you can ask from a smartwatch right now.Final thoughtsWith the popularity of smart wearable devices, more and more customers are switching to fitness trackers from classic watches and bracelets. Though the market is full of various brands that are offering different smartbands, the Xiaomis models stand out. The first two generations of Mi Bands were popular due to the sense of technology and practicality. Thats why they were accepted by customers easily. However, the Mi Band 2 was launched two years ago. And the company has had to update this product line. It happened on May 31, which the manufacturer announced the Xiaomi Mi Band 3. It got much attention from all corners of the globe. So we should find out what changes made it catch users eyes.Also Check Xiaomi Mi Band 3 DealXiaomi Mi Band 3 DesignIn recent years, Xiaomi products have come in changed packaging. The Mi Band 3 is no exception. Compared with the previous two generations of bands, the Xiaomi Mi Band 3 has a distinctly different packaging style. Instead of a yellow paper box, it uses a new style of white flip plastic design. The main body of the product can also be seen directly through the outer packaging.The box includes the main body of the Mi Band 3, the wristband, the charging cable, and the manual. Though there are various color options, including black, blue, and orange, the main body is black for all variants. Even聽the聽translucent variant uses the graphite black body.The appearance is the biggest difference between the Xiaomi Mi Band 3 and the previous two generations of bracelets. The main body of this version is treated with a black process that hides the non-pressable button. The bracelet panel is treated with a UV coating process and is covered with an anti-fingerprint coating. As for the look and feel experience, the Mi Band 3 has a stronger sense of integration, with a more exquisite and compact texture than the previous two generations.The back of the body is still equipped with a photoelectric heart rate sensor, which will have a green light when working. It is worth mentioning the treatment of the back of the main body is different from the previous models. It adopts a treatment process similar to that of the wristband.The charging connectors are on the bottom. Compared with the traditional USB interface, the charging method eliminates the inconvenience caused by plugging and unplugging, and also saves valuable internal space.In the first two generations, the problem related to the separation of the main body from the wristband has been solved in the Mi Band 3. Now it adopts a larger nesting area on the wristband to securely hold the main body on the wristband. According to the introduction, the Xiaomi Mi Band 3 adopts a two-color one-piece molding process of encapsulation to increase the ring area to achieve tight meshing.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramThe wristband is basically connected to the front of the body, and there is no obvious separation between them. It should be noted that the Mi Band 3 cannot be separated from the wristband from the front (outside), but needs to be separated from the back (inside). In other words, the bands body can be effectively prevented from falling off inadvertently.The design of the wristband is identical to the previous model. It uses the same snap-on solution. However, the manufacturer has used a higher quality material, which is felt from the first touch. Its skin-like texture hints we are dealing with a well-designed product.In addition to the difference in the appearance of the main body, the screen is further enlarged. So it not only looks different but also provides better touch operations. The Xiaomi Mi Band 3 uses a 0.78-inch OLED display with a resolution of 128 x 80 and a 193ppi pixel density. As the company likes to say, this band can display up to 24 Chinese characters. And from this point of view, it has obvious advantages over other bracelets on the market.Xiaomi Mi Band 3 OperationsCompared with the previous generation, the full-screen touch scheme significantly enriches the interaction mode.One of the Xiaomi Mi Band 3s selling points is the 5ATM waterproofing certification. Thus, it can be used when swimming. But we should note the screen loses its touch functionality in the water like many smartphones.In line with the previous Mi bracelet, it is also used on the smartphone with the 鈥楳i Fit app, and the sync process is also the same. Through the app, users can view the status, function management, etc. The Xiaomi Mi Band 3 supports many reminder functions such as the sedentary reminder, event reminder, etc. Plus, it supports a real-time heart rate detection function and views sleep quality.Thanks to the screen size increase, the Mi Band 3 can implement way more functions directly from the bodys screen. Say, we can view the date and time, bands status, motion information, heart rate, weather forecast, mobile notifications, and so on. All operations can be listed by sliding on the screen and selecting via a long press.If the motion information and other data are shown in a common way, the message notification function has been updated. Now the Xiaomi Mi Band 3 will show the message content by swiping left and right on the screen.Even do not dream of replying to those messages via the Mi Band 3.One of the features we liked most is the ability to use the stopwatch, find the phone, and dial style options directly from the screen. No need to open the APP to implement these operations.

With the popularity of smart wearable devices, more and more customers are switching to fitness trackers from classic watches and bracelets. Though the market is full of various brands that are offering different smartbands, the Xiaomis models stand out. The first two generations of Mi Bands were popular due to the sense of technology and practicality. Thats why they were accepted by customers easily. However, the Mi Band 2 was launched two years ago. And the company has had to update this product line. It happened on May 31, which the manufacturer announced the Xiaomi Mi Band 3. It got much attention from all corners of the globe. So we should find out what changes made it catch users eyes.Also Check Xiaomi Mi Band 3 DealXiaomi Mi Band 3 DesignIn recent years, Xiaomi products have come in changed packaging. The Mi Band 3 is no exception. Compared with the previous two generations of bands, the Xiaomi Mi Band 3 has a distinctly different packaging style. Instead of a yellow paper box, it uses a new style of white flip plastic design. The main body of the product can also be seen directly through the outer packaging.The box includes the main body of the Mi Band 3, the wristband, the charging cable, and the manual. Though there are various color options, including black, blue, and orange, the main body is black for all variants. Even聽the聽translucent variant uses the graphite black body.The appearance is the biggest difference between the Xiaomi Mi Band 3 and the previous two generations of bracelets. The main body of this version is treated with a black process that hides the non-pressable button. The bracelet panel is treated with a UV coating process and is covered with an anti-fingerprint coating. As for the look and feel experience, the Mi Band 3 has a stronger sense of integration, with a more exquisite and compact texture than the previous two generations.The back of the body is still equipped with a photoelectric heart rate sensor, which will have a green light when working. It is worth mentioning the treatment of the back of the main body is different from the previous models. It adopts a treatment process similar to that of the wristband.The charging connectors are on the bottom. Compared with the traditional USB interface, the charging method eliminates the inconvenience caused by plugging and unplugging, and also saves valuable internal space.In the first two generations, the problem related to the separation of the main body from the wristband has been solved in the Mi Band 3. Now it adopts a larger nesting area on the wristband to securely hold the main body on the wristband. According to the introduction, the Xiaomi Mi Band 3 adopts a two-color one-piece molding process of encapsulation to increase the ring area to achieve tight meshing.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramThe wristband is basically connected to the front of the body, and there is no obvious separation between them. It should be noted that the Mi Band 3 cannot be separated from the wristband from the front (outside), but needs to be separated from the back (inside). In other words, the bands body can be effectively prevented from falling off inadvertently.The design of the wristband is identical to the previous model. It uses the same snap-on solution. However, the manufacturer has used a higher quality material, which is felt from the first touch. Its skin-like texture hints we are dealing with a well-designed product.In addition to the difference in the appearance of the main body, the screen is further enlarged. So it not only looks different but also provides better touch operations. The Xiaomi Mi Band 3 uses a 0.78-inch OLED display with a resolution of 128 x 80 and a 193ppi pixel density. As the company likes to say, this band can display up to 24 Chinese characters. And from this point of view, it has obvious advantages over other bracelets on the market.Xiaomi Mi Band 3 OperationsCompared with the previous generation, the full-screen touch scheme significantly enriches the interaction mode.One of the Xiaomi Mi Band 3s selling points is the 5ATM waterproofing certification. Thus, it can be used when swimming. But we should note the screen loses its touch functionality in the water like many smartphones.In line with the previous Mi bracelet, it is also used on the smartphone with the 鈥楳i Fit app, and the sync process is also the same. Through the app, users can view the status, function management, etc. The Xiaomi Mi Band 3 supports many reminder functions such as the sedentary reminder, event reminder, etc. Plus, it supports a real-time heart rate detection function and views sleep quality.Thanks to the screen size increase, the Mi Band 3 can implement way more functions directly from the bodys screen. Say, we can view the date and time, bands status, motion information, heart rate, weather forecast, mobile notifications, and so on. All operations can be listed by sliding on the screen and selecting via a long press.If the motion information and other data are shown in a common way, the message notification function has been updated. Now the Xiaomi Mi Band 3 will show the message content by swiping left and right on the screen.Even do not dream of replying to those messages via the Mi Band 3.One of the features we liked most is the ability to use the stopwatch, find the phone, and dial style options directly from the screen. No need to open the APP to implement these operations.Chinese companies have grown very fond of rugged smartphones over the past few years, and – no doubt- Blackview is one of them! Their latest beast may not be IP68 certified, but it surely can be considered (by their standards at least) as their flagship for this year and if you take into account its main specs, price and performance then I guess you can give them some credit.It’s called Blackview P10000 Pro and its main features are self explanatory if you pay attention to its name: 11000 mAh (yes, not just 10.000mAh!) battery and Premium (Pro) design combined, in order to provide a very decent device that can surely stay far from its charger for more than 3-4 days, while offering premium quality in everyday use and impressive camera performance.So is it another addition to Blackview’s large portfolio of large battery smartphones or does it truly deliver in terms of usability, performance, camera and – obviously- battery life? Keep reading and you will surely find out what it’s all about…Blackview P10000 Pro – Main specsDisplay: 6.0 inch 2160 x 1080 pixels IPS screenCPU: MTK6763 Octa Core 2.0GHzSystem: Android 7.1Storage: 4GB RAM + 64GB ROMCameras: 16.0MP + 0.3MP dual back cameras and 13.0MP + 0.3MP dual front camerasSensors: Gravity Sensor, Gyroscope, Geomagnetic Sensor, Proximity SensorFeatures: GPS, GlonassBluetooth: 4.1SIM Card: dual SIM dual standby, 2 x Nano SIM card and a TF card can be inserted at the same timeNetworks: 2G: GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz – 3G: WCDMA 900/2100MHz – 4G: FDD-LTE B1/B3/B7/B8/B20Size: 16.50 x 7.70 x 1.46 cmWeight: 293 gr.Battery: 11.000 mAhBasic packageWhen you first buy the device, you will find it inside a white hard paper box with the band name and it’s main specifications. The box has dimensions 1.50 x 21.50 x 5.20 cm and weights 775 grams. Inside you will find:Back Case x 1Blackview P10000 Pro x 1Earphones x 1Earphones Adapter x 1English Manual x 1OTG Cable x 1Phone Holder x 1Power Adapter x 1Screen Protector x 1SIM Needle x 1USB Cable x 1As always, Blackview has once again offered one of the most complete packages you will find in the market, and this can only be good. All of the accessories are in white colour, but what stands out is the large black case that completely covers the huge device, while protecting it from scratches. Don’t forget, this isn’t an IP68 certified phone, so you will NEED a protective case if you’re a bit clumsy like me 馃槈DesignThe first impression we had from this mobile phone is that it could be a piece missing from… the Batmobile or a Transformers figure. Most large battery phones are usually “ugly”, leaving design in the last place of their priorities. This is NOT the case with P10000 Pro as the phone looks quite impressive and boasts quality. The materials are made to withstand and you will find polycarbonate alloys in the main body “hugging” the phone thus protecting it. For a phone equipped with an 11.000 mAh battery, the Blackview P10000 Pro has similar dimensions to a large 5.5 inch phone, sized at 16.50 x 7.70 x 1.46 cm, but a lot heavier at 293 grams. The device is available in 2 different variants, Mirror Silver and Mirror Grey. Note that the phone we had during the test was the Mirror Grey one and -in my opinion- possibly the best color choice out of the pair.The front has a 6 inch, 18:9 aspect ratio display, covered with Corning Gorilla Glass 5. An extra protective film is applied upon. There is no physical button in the lower bezel and a very small hole on the left side hides the microphone.The frame is made from aluminium and magnesium and is exposing only the middle part of each side, with screws that are visible as a design aspect. It looks industrial and good indeed. The right side has four metallic buttons: volume rocker, the power/lock button and the fingerprint sensor that has been moved there. The other side has a cover for the SIM tray and at the lower frame we can see the USB-C charging slot. Due to the depth of the metal cover, the USB-C cable has a long tip, longer than usual cables – in order to reach it. In case you forgot your charger and charging cable, other USB-C charging cables wont do the job.The back of the phone has an industrial – business design that looks nice, along with the camera installation/LED flash and the company logo available in plain sight. The 2 main cameras are positioned vertically in the top center with the LED flash right below. All in all it looks great – to me at least 馃槈The lower part of the back panel has the brand in a silver texture with angled lines engraved on it. Under it with small black letters one can read: Designed by Blackview Assembled in China. Blackview is a Hong Kong company and probably wants you to notice that for some weird reason 馃檪The bezel sizes are reasonable. To the left and right of the screen they are very thin. The top of the phone houses all of the speakers, cameras, and sensors, and it still manages to keep a fairly low profile. The bottom chin could be a LOT smaller, but its manageable.There is a lot of details and a lot of work done on the exterior of the smartphone and i can only say good words for it.HardwareThe 6 inch display is the main selling point of Blackview P10000 Pro. It has a FHD+ resolution (2160 x 1080 pixels) that covers a typical percentage of the front side, leaving quite large bezels on top and bottom. It can depict 16.7 million colors with a relatively average PPI. However the display is bright and vivid and comes with a really high contrast. Note that this display is an IPS panel, manufactured by Sharp. Its a reasonable display that produces a nice image. It would have been nice to see a UHD resolution, but that would significantly impact the battery life.This business-like smartphone comes with an MTK6763 chipset also known as Helio P23. Thats comprised of eight ARM Cortex-A53 cores, four of which are clocked at up to 2.0GHz while the remaining four are clocked at 1.51GHz. It is accompanied by a dual core Mali-G71 MP2 GPU working at 700MHz. The processor is found on most middle category phones and is quite reliable, having no issues. Blackview added a typical 4GB RAM and 64GB of internal storage, that can also be expanded with a maximum of 128GB microSD card. It supports dual SIM functionality with two nano-SIMs along with a microSD slot – thankfully!It also supports 4G: FDD B1 2100MHz, FDD B20 800MHz, FDD B3 1800MHz, FDD B7 2600MHz, FDD B8 900MHz, 3G: WCDMA Band 1 (2100MHz), Band 8 (900MHz) and 2G: GSM Band 2 (1900MHz), Band 3 (1800MHz), Band 5 (850MHz), Band 8 (900MHz).The smartphone comes with a whole lot of sensors, such as Rotation Vector, Gyroscope, Geomagnetic, Proximity, Light, Gravity, Acceleration, Liner Acceleration and Direction Sensors. There’s also Bluetooth 4.2 compativility, while its navigation features support GPS, A-GPS and Glonass, working fine with all the available satellites being locked on fast with impressive precision.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on Telegram Compass works flawlessly as well, along with full Wifi 802.11 b/g/n and WiFi Hotspot support. Call quality is excellent and video calls are good without any issues.SoftwareThe operating system found in the smartphone is based on Android 7.1 but it’s not “vanilla” Android. It’s the typical Blackview – pimped ROM, that has been modified by the Chinese manufacturer in certain features.After setting up the account – a normal procedure for all phones – the user sees a blacked out skin, with metal looking icons in all system apps. Notification screen and settings are also skinned. The black look is nice and suits the external industrial look. Notification bar has all the available options someone could ask for. Except from the usual ones found in pure Android Nougat, one can find Eye protection – a functionality that dims the screen to filter blue light, QRcode – opens a qrcode scanner, and Screen Record – records the screen when touched, adding a red circle in the screen that has to be touched to stop the recording. More options exist when setting up the bar: Hotspot, Invert colors, Data saver, and Cast. When the user adds Developer Options in the Notification setup the user can also see Android Easter Egg, Show layout bounds, Profile GPU rendering and Nearby (Google Play services).Long pressing the display in the Home screen reveals the usual menu that allows access to the Wallpapers, Widgets and Settings options. Selecting the Wallpapers we see a Blackview app with options for Themes, Lock and Desktop wallpapers. Themes has only the metallic look and there is no option to download more like in Xiaomis MIUI. Read more about Blackview P10000 Pro.Official SiteOne thing that makes this device stand out is the Face Recognition software you will find inside. It promises to accurately recognize your face with very good (but not impeccable) results, especially in out door activities. It doesn’t work well when in dark rooms as it doesn’t have Infra Red sensors (like iPhone X for example). In any case the Face Recognition looks good as an add on, but I wouldn’t rely my phone’s sensitive data on this. You’d better use the fingerprint sensor placed on the side. Inside the app launcher, you will find all the pre-installed applications from Google, along with some added from Blackview, such as Browser, a Compass, ETWS (presents alerts and has many options to show these alerts by voice, vibration and sound), a File Manager, a typical FM Radio receiver, Music, Sound Recorder, Torch and System Manager. System Manager has a menu where the user can set a Power Manager, clean Rubbish, Freeze apps, Autoboot apps, Lock apps and Auto clean. There is no bloatware, which is a nice differentiation from other Chinese ROMs. Next are the Display, Notifications, Sound, Apps, Storage, Battery and Memory. Blackview has added some touches here. Sound has an audio enhancement option that can boost the speaker volume. Battery has a Standby intelligent power saving along with Performance and power saving options. The latter has Sports and Normal mode. Memory has a Background auto clean memory option that cleans up the memory a few seconds after the display turns off. There are also some other gesture, usability options such as:Gesture – has a single option to double click the power button to open the cameraFull Screen mode – selects the applications the can open in full screenSOS call – has settings for a SOS function as to activate calls/sms/flash for helpGesture motion – it enables multiple operations using gestures on the displayGesture Unlock – similar option to the aboveOne-handed mode – enables a smaller UI by sliding sideways on the bottom of the screenFast Capture – uses the volume buttons to fast capture screenshots or videoSplit Screen – a help screen on how to enable split screen on NougatQRCode Scan – a simple barcode scanner etc.My impressions are excellent from using the software. It is fast, it can handle multitasking and I just loved all the options provided by the P10000 Pro. Not bad Blackview, not bad at all…CameraThe monstrous P10000 Pro has a really decent camera, one that allows for typical photos during daylight, really adequate shots during night and the same goes for the videos (recorded in 3gp format). Image quality is reasonable enough in strong light or simpler scenes. The front facing cameras have two lenses. One for a wide angle, and the other for a minor zoom. The dual rear cameras work the same.The double camera setup in the back consists of a 16MP main shooter and a 0,3MP secondary telephoto lens specially-tuned for low-light conditions in a mode Blackview calls Super Night Shooting. The main Sony IMX298 camera has f / 2.0 aperture and the secondary f / 2.2. A LED flash helps in low light shots. The dual camera selfie shooter has a 13.0MP + 0.3MP resolution (Sony IMX135 main lens), offering typical selfie/portrait shots with the help of a forward face LED soft-flash alongside the usual ambient light sensor.[flickr_set id=”72157694962498702″]The included camera app is basic, but it gets the job done. You have several options for fake bokeh, or beauty mode. Theres a basic black and white filter provided, as well HDR mode. HDR modes takes multiple pictures at different exposures, then combine the images. You dont have any additional configuration options, but it does a good job at capturing more detail in the shadows.Each mode has its own settings. For example, if you want to shoot video, there are options for Scene mode (night, sunset, portrait, night portrait, etc), Video quality (set as FHD), location, shutter sound etc.I used the aperture mode a lot. Most budget smartphones with a double camera setup create a bokeh effect using the software and blurring the background around the main object. The aperture mode here does a real job focusing and blurring the background having a setting to open-close the cameras aperture. I really enjoyed it and is one of the best portrait/bokeh setups I have seen. Pro mode has options to alter the white balance, ISO, focus and light. People that like to take manual pictures will appreciate the setup. Photo mode has also a filter selection like Sepia, Mon, Negative, and a typical HDR mode.Selfies have only Video, Photo, Beauty and Mono modes. The main object here is well presented but the surroundings look like it is wider and closer to the screen. It is like looking at a mirror whose angles are closer to you shaped like the inside of a spoon. The image is clear but my head looked very small over a huge chest. Some people might like this setup, but I am not one of them.While the camera can just about keep up for photos, it cannot for video. Theres no option to shoot in high frame rates, or even any resolution higher than 1080p. Footage struggles to look sharp, even if the colors are good.BatteryP10000 Pro packs a non-removable, 11.000 mAh battery. This allegedly provides enough power to run the phone for seven days. While seven days might be a bit of a stretch unless you are a very light user, you can realistically expect to achieve 3 to 4 days of solid use.Blackview suggest the following usage times can be achieved:Phone calls: 60 hoursListening to music: 80 hoursWatching videos: 40 hoursStandby: 1200 hours (50 days)Playing games: 18 hoursWhile some of these times are very optimistic, not all of them are impossible to achieve, especially if you limit the energy heavy usage such as the screen, wireless, or updates.There’s no need to feel bad about it however, as the device comes with 5V/5A fast charging charger, that is able to charge the phone in -roughly- 70 minutes, heating up at the same time the back panel of the device.Using the OTG cable you can also charge any other electronic device something very helpful when you are working or having fun outdoors.ConclusionThis is an excellent large battery phone that offers a nice modern-looking display, equipped with a good set of dual cameras. The processor, combined with 4GB RAM and 64GB of ROM offer a smooth everyday experience without any issues in multitasking or heavy gaming. Battery is great in terms of stand by time and the huge internal storage offers many choices in time spending when no WiFi or data connection exists.I enjoyed the many features of the UI, especially the camera application. Don’t forget that it’s a true business smartphone, offering an FM radio, a compass, GPS navigation, an alarm receiver and an alarm sender. It comes pre-installed with all the necessary “goodies” from Google and Blackview has added anything missing like extra gesture support, a file manager, a more versatile music player, a system manager application etc.I have to admit that Blackview’s flagship model provides almost everything one would expect from a mid-range, business-like smartphone – giving a lot of credits to its durability, performance and sturdiness. The Face Unlock feature is good but… not it doesn’t work always so don’t rely on it. No, really don’t!Chinese companies have grown very fond of rugged smartphones over the past few years, and – no doubt- Blackview is one of them! Their latest beast may not be IP68 certified, but it surely can be considered (by their standards at least) as their flagship for this year and if you take into account its main specs, price and performance then I guess you can give them some credit.It’s called Blackview P10000 Pro and its main features are self explanatory if you pay attention to its name: 11000 mAh (yes, not just 10.000mAh!) battery and Premium (Pro) design combined, in order to provide a very decent device that can surely stay far from its charger for more than 3-4 days, while offering premium quality in everyday use and impressive camera performance.So is it another addition to Blackview’s large portfolio of large battery smartphones or does it truly deliver in terms of usability, performance, camera and – obviously- battery life? Keep reading and you will surely find out what it’s all about…Blackview P10000 Pro – Main specsDisplay: 6.0 inch 2160 x 1080 pixels IPS screenCPU: MTK6763 Octa Core 2.0GHzSystem: Android 7.1Storage: 4GB RAM + 64GB ROMCameras: 16.0MP + 0.3MP dual back cameras and 13.0MP + 0.3MP dual front camerasSensors: Gravity Sensor, Gyroscope, Geomagnetic Sensor, Proximity SensorFeatures: GPS, GlonassBluetooth: 4.1SIM Card: dual SIM dual standby, 2 x Nano SIM card and a TF card can be inserted at the same timeNetworks: 2G: GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz – 3G: WCDMA 900/2100MHz – 4G: FDD-LTE B1/B3/B7/B8/B20Size: 16.50 x 7.70 x 1.46 cmWeight: 293 gr.Battery: 11.000 mAhBasic packageWhen you first buy the device, you will find it inside a white hard paper box with the band name and it’s main specifications. The box has dimensions 1.50 x 21.50 x 5.20 cm and weights 775 grams. Inside you will find:Back Case x 1Blackview P10000 Pro x 1Earphones x 1Earphones Adapter x 1English Manual x 1OTG Cable x 1Phone Holder x 1Power Adapter x 1Screen Protector x 1SIM Needle x 1USB Cable x 1As always, Blackview has once again offered one of the most complete packages you will find in the market, and this can only be good. All of the accessories are in white colour, but what stands out is the large black case that completely covers the huge device, while protecting it from scratches. Don’t forget, this isn’t an IP68 certified phone, so you will NEED a protective case if you’re a bit clumsy like me 馃槈DesignThe first impression we had from this mobile phone is that it could be a piece missing from… the Batmobile or a Transformers figure. Most large battery phones are usually “ugly”, leaving design in the last place of their priorities. This is NOT the case with P10000 Pro as the phone looks quite impressive and boasts quality. The materials are made to withstand and you will find polycarbonate alloys in the main body “hugging” the phone thus protecting it. For a phone equipped with an 11.000 mAh battery, the Blackview P10000 Pro has similar dimensions to a large 5.5 inch phone, sized at 16.50 x 7.70 x 1.46 cm, but a lot heavier at 293 grams. The device is available in 2 different variants, Mirror Silver and Mirror Grey. Note that the phone we had during the test was the Mirror Grey one and -in my opinion- possibly the best color choice out of the pair.The front has a 6 inch, 18:9 aspect ratio display, covered with Corning Gorilla Glass 5. An extra protective film is applied upon. There is no physical button in the lower bezel and a very small hole on the left side hides the microphone.The frame is made from aluminium and magnesium and is exposing only the middle part of each side, with screws that are visible as a design aspect. It looks industrial and good indeed. The right side has four metallic buttons: volume rocker, the power/lock button and the fingerprint sensor that has been moved there. The other side has a cover for the SIM tray and at the lower frame we can see the USB-C charging slot. Due to the depth of the metal cover, the USB-C cable has a long tip, longer than usual cables – in order to reach it. In case you forgot your charger and charging cable, other USB-C charging cables wont do the job.The back of the phone has an industrial – business design that looks nice, along with the camera installation/LED flash and the company logo available in plain sight. The 2 main cameras are positioned vertically in the top center with the LED flash right below. All in all it looks great – to me at least 馃槈The lower part of the back panel has the brand in a silver texture with angled lines engraved on it. Under it with small black letters one can read: Designed by Blackview Assembled in China. Blackview is a Hong Kong company and probably wants you to notice that for some weird reason 馃檪The bezel sizes are reasonable. To the left and right of the screen they are very thin. The top of the phone houses all of the speakers, cameras, and sensors, and it still manages to keep a fairly low profile. The bottom chin could be a LOT smaller, but its manageable.There is a lot of details and a lot of work done on the exterior of the smartphone and i can only say good words for it.HardwareThe 6 inch display is the main selling point of Blackview P10000 Pro. It has a FHD+ resolution (2160 x 1080 pixels) that covers a typical percentage of the front side, leaving quite large bezels on top and bottom. It can depict 16.7 million colors with a relatively average PPI. However the display is bright and vivid and comes with a really high contrast. Note that this display is an IPS panel, manufactured by Sharp. Its a reasonable display that produces a nice image. It would have been nice to see a UHD resolution, but that would significantly impact the battery life.This business-like smartphone comes with an MTK6763 chipset also known as Helio P23. Thats comprised of eight ARM Cortex-A53 cores, four of which are clocked at up to 2.0GHz while the remaining four are clocked at 1.51GHz. It is accompanied by a dual core Mali-G71 MP2 GPU working at 700MHz. The processor is found on most middle category phones and is quite reliable, having no issues. Blackview added a typical 4GB RAM and 64GB of internal storage, that can also be expanded with a maximum of 128GB microSD card. It supports dual SIM functionality with two nano-SIMs along with a microSD slot – thankfully!It also supports 4G: FDD B1 2100MHz, FDD B20 800MHz, FDD B3 1800MHz, FDD B7 2600MHz, FDD B8 900MHz, 3G: WCDMA Band 1 (2100MHz), Band 8 (900MHz) and 2G: GSM Band 2 (1900MHz), Band 3 (1800MHz), Band 5 (850MHz), Band 8 (900MHz).The smartphone comes with a whole lot of sensors, such as Rotation Vector, Gyroscope, Geomagnetic, Proximity, Light, Gravity, Acceleration, Liner Acceleration and Direction Sensors. There’s also Bluetooth 4.2 compativility, while its navigation features support GPS, A-GPS and Glonass, working fine with all the available satellites being locked on fast with impressive precision.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on Telegram Compass works flawlessly as well, along with full Wifi 802.11 b/g/n and WiFi Hotspot support. Call quality is excellent and video calls are good without any issues.SoftwareThe operating system found in the smartphone is based on Android 7.1 but it’s not “vanilla” Android. It’s the typical Blackview – pimped ROM, that has been modified by the Chinese manufacturer in certain features.After setting up the account – a normal procedure for all phones – the user sees a blacked out skin, with metal looking icons in all system apps. Notification screen and settings are also skinned. The black look is nice and suits the external industrial look. Notification bar has all the available options someone could ask for. Except from the usual ones found in pure Android Nougat, one can find Eye protection – a functionality that dims the screen to filter blue light, QRcode – opens a qrcode scanner, and Screen Record – records the screen when touched, adding a red circle in the screen that has to be touched to stop the recording. More options exist when setting up the bar: Hotspot, Invert colors, Data saver, and Cast. When the user adds Developer Options in the Notification setup the user can also see Android Easter Egg, Show layout bounds, Profile GPU rendering and Nearby (Google Play services).Long pressing the display in the Home screen reveals the usual menu that allows access to the Wallpapers, Widgets and Settings options. Selecting the Wallpapers we see a Blackview app with options for Themes, Lock and Desktop wallpapers. Themes has only the metallic look and there is no option to download more like in Xiaomis MIUI. Read more about Blackview P10000 Pro.Official SiteOne thing that makes this device stand out is the Face Recognition software you will find inside. It promises to accurately recognize your face with very good (but not impeccable) results, especially in out door activities. It doesn’t work well when in dark rooms as it doesn’t have Infra Red sensors (like iPhone X for example). In any case the Face Recognition looks good as an add on, but I wouldn’t rely my phone’s sensitive data on this. You’d better use the fingerprint sensor placed on the side. Inside the app launcher, you will find all the pre-installed applications from Google, along with some added from Blackview, such as Browser, a Compass, ETWS (presents alerts and has many options to show these alerts by voice, vibration and sound), a File Manager, a typical FM Radio receiver, Music, Sound Recorder, Torch and System Manager. System Manager has a menu where the user can set a Power Manager, clean Rubbish, Freeze apps, Autoboot apps, Lock apps and Auto clean. There is no bloatware, which is a nice differentiation from other Chinese ROMs. Next are the Display, Notifications, Sound, Apps, Storage, Battery and Memory. Blackview has added some touches here. Sound has an audio enhancement option that can boost the speaker volume. Battery has a Standby intelligent power saving along with Performance and power saving options. The latter has Sports and Normal mode. Memory has a Background auto clean memory option that cleans up the memory a few seconds after the display turns off. There are also some other gesture, usability options such as:Gesture – has a single option to double click the power button to open the cameraFull Screen mode – selects the applications the can open in full screenSOS call – has settings for a SOS function as to activate calls/sms/flash for helpGesture motion – it enables multiple operations using gestures on the displayGesture Unlock – similar option to the aboveOne-handed mode – enables a smaller UI by sliding sideways on the bottom of the screenFast Capture – uses the volume buttons to fast capture screenshots or videoSplit Screen – a help screen on how to enable split screen on NougatQRCode Scan – a simple barcode scanner etc.My impressions are excellent from using the software. It is fast, it can handle multitasking and I just loved all the options provided by the P10000 Pro. Not bad Blackview, not bad at all…CameraThe monstrous P10000 Pro has a really decent camera, one that allows for typical photos during daylight, really adequate shots during night and the same goes for the videos (recorded in 3gp format). Image quality is reasonable enough in strong light or simpler scenes. The front facing cameras have two lenses. One for a wide angle, and the other for a minor zoom. The dual rear cameras work the same.The double camera setup in the back consists of a 16MP main shooter and a 0,3MP secondary telephoto lens specially-tuned for low-light conditions in a mode Blackview calls Super Night Shooting. The main Sony IMX298 camera has f / 2.0 aperture and the secondary f / 2.2. A LED flash helps in low light shots. The dual camera selfie shooter has a 13.0MP + 0.3MP resolution (Sony IMX135 main lens), offering typical selfie/portrait shots with the help of a forward face LED soft-flash alongside the usual ambient light sensor.[flickr_set id=”72157694962498702″]The included camera app is basic, but it gets the job done. You have several options for fake bokeh, or beauty mode. Theres a basic black and white filter provided, as well HDR mode. HDR modes takes multiple pictures at different exposures, then combine the images. You dont have any additional configuration options, but it does a good job at capturing more detail in the shadows.Each mode has its own settings. For example, if you want to shoot video, there are options for Scene mode (night, sunset, portrait, night portrait, etc), Video quality (set as FHD), location, shutter sound etc.I used the aperture mode a lot. Most budget smartphones with a double camera setup create a bokeh effect using the software and blurring the background around the main object. The aperture mode here does a real job focusing and blurring the background having a setting to open-close the cameras aperture. I really enjoyed it and is one of the best portrait/bokeh setups I have seen. Pro mode has options to alter the white balance, ISO, focus and light. People that like to take manual pictures will appreciate the setup. Photo mode has also a filter selection like Sepia, Mon, Negative, and a typical HDR mode.Selfies have only Video, Photo, Beauty and Mono modes. The main object here is well presented but the surroundings look like it is wider and closer to the screen. It is like looking at a mirror whose angles are closer to you shaped like the inside of a spoon. The image is clear but my head looked very small over a huge chest. Some people might like this setup, but I am not one of them.While the camera can just about keep up for photos, it cannot for video. Theres no option to shoot in high frame rates, or even any resolution higher than 1080p. Footage struggles to look sharp, even if the colors are good.BatteryP10000 Pro packs a non-removable, 11.000 mAh battery. This allegedly provides enough power to run the phone for seven days. While seven days might be a bit of a stretch unless you are a very light user, you can realistically expect to achieve 3 to 4 days of solid use.Blackview suggest the following usage times can be achieved:Phone calls: 60 hoursListening to music: 80 hoursWatching videos: 40 hoursStandby: 1200 hours (50 days)Playing games: 18 hoursWhile some of these times are very optimistic, not all of them are impossible to achieve, especially if you limit the energy heavy usage such as the screen, wireless, or updates.There’s no need to feel bad about it however, as the device comes with 5V/5A fast charging charger, that is able to charge the phone in -roughly- 70 minutes, heating up at the same time the back panel of the device.Using the OTG cable you can also charge any other electronic device something very helpful when you are working or having fun outdoors.ConclusionThis is an excellent large battery phone that offers a nice modern-looking display, equipped with a good set of dual cameras. The processor, combined with 4GB RAM and 64GB of ROM offer a smooth everyday experience without any issues in multitasking or heavy gaming. Battery is great in terms of stand by time and the huge internal storage offers many choices in time spending when no WiFi or data connection exists.I enjoyed the many features of the UI, especially the camera application. Don’t forget that it’s a true business smartphone, offering an FM radio, a compass, GPS navigation, an alarm receiver and an alarm sender. It comes pre-installed with all the necessary “goodies” from Google and Blackview has added anything missing like extra gesture support, a file manager, a more versatile music player, a system manager application etc.I have to admit that Blackview’s flagship model provides almost everything one would expect from a mid-range, business-like smartphone – giving a lot of credits to its durability, performance and sturdiness. The Face Unlock feature is good but… not it doesn’t work always so don’t rely on it. No, really don’t!Smart speakers or virtual assistants, whatever name you decide to call them, they are very useful, handy, and they are winning the world. There is a statistics showing smart speakers are now owned by one in six Americans. Those products are not only used in home automation, but also in business. Initially, maybe the smart speakers have been launched with another purpose in mind. But now everything has entirely changed. Say, Amazon Echo should be made to boost the sales. The Google Home is ideal for making searches. The Apple HomePod provides superb sound quality and works perfect with Siri. This list is too long. And as you see, each of them may have an original mission. But what about business? Why the smart speakers cant be used for business purposes? They sport all the necessary features to make your business work more efficiently. Of course, they may help in daily office tasks and during conference meetings. In this sense, the Jabra brand seems to be a step forward in comparison to other smart speaker makers. But a few days ago eMeet introduced the first AI smart conference speaker dubbed as the OfficeCore M2. The Jabra 710 has been very popular recently. But with the launch of this amazing speaker, eMeet is going to get the crown.Actually, eMeet has a huge experience in making smart conference speakers. Its previous flagship, the OfficeCore M1 was very popular and was competing with the Jabra 510. As for the OfficeCore M2, it is targeting the Jabra 710, we guess. Our protagonist was announced back on May 15. It made a huge stir because eMeet develops and markets high-tech conferencing devices, came in with a high-performance Bluetooth portable speakerphone that integrates the functionality of VoiceIA algorithm background noise and echo suppression, AI algorithm sound capture and automatic volume adjustment, 4 high sensitive MEMS digital microphones array, and Bluetooth 4.2 technology into a compact and portable device. Thus, we are dealing with a conference speaker that will fix all the bugs met during multi-person meetings and calls. We also know how annoying badly adjusted microphones can be during conferences. So as the name suggests, the eMeet OfficeCore M2 should provide corresponding solutions.In order to take a look at its look, learn the hardware features, and find out what business-oriented features it comes with, we have got our hands on it. So lets dig deeper and test it.eMeet OfficeCore M2 UnboxingIn comparison to the OfficeCore M1, this model is more compact. Therefore, it can be placed in a smaller box. The company has done just that. The OfficeCOre M2 is placed in a black box (at least, the one we got was black). Inside the package, we can find two cables (USB and AUX), a user manual in a few languages (including English), and the speaker itself.Note: there are models that are packed with a Bluetooth USB adapter. The one we got doesnt have.eMeet OfficeCore M2 AppearanceThe first thing caught our eyes is its more compact design. The top surface is slant. In the central part, we can find the main operational keys. They are not press-able. By the way, this is the second biggest difference. So you will interfere with the OfficeCore M2 through taps and touches, of course, when you are not using voice commands.The overall size and weight are familiar to other models on the market. It comes with dimensions of 125x125x35mm and weighs 300 grams only. However, unlike the previous model, there is no carrying case. So you should acquire it separately.As we said, the keys are placed in the central part. The one on the top is the intelligent assistant button. On the opposite area, we can see the power on/off button. The input source switch button and the volume down button are on the left area. The answering/hanging up telephone button and the volume up button are on the right. There is also a status indicating light above the power button. Finally, the mute/recording button is in the very center.Apart from this, a few interfaces are placed on the side. They include a lock hole, an AUX audio input, a 3.5mm audio jack input, a micro USB port, and four microphone holes placed around the perimeter.At last, as you can see, the speaker grill is on the top. So the sound comes not from the bottom. This also means you can put in on any surface without worrying the sound will be muffled.eMeet OfficeCore M2 PerformanceBefore we start you should be informed there are several variants of this product. The one we are testing is the simplest version. However, there are also the OfficeCore M2ce, OfficeCore M2 Record, and OfficeCore M2ce Record. This simply means the one we are reviewing has no recording ability.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramTo turn it on, just press and keep the power button for three seconds. The speaker will light up. Like the previous model, there is a light strip around the edge.Bringing plug-and-play and multiple connection solutions, the eMeet speaker can connect in seconds with virtually any smart devices and integrates seamlessly with all communication platforms via Bluetooth, the AUX port, or via USB wire. Though it comes in a compact size, there is a built-in 2500mAh Li-ion battery, which allows users to easily move anywhere. So your conference calls will take place in any available places. By the way, the battery provides 12 hours of continuous talk-time and fully recharge in 3-4 hours.You can check the status of the remaining power by short pressing the power button. If the power state is low, the light strip will be red. When everything is ok, its green. By the way, the OfficeCore M2 supports OTG charging. So you can use your smartphone or a power bank to charge it. The same can be done when connected to the laptop.As we said, first, you can connect it to the computer or laptop via the USB cable. This is the most common thing you can do.As we are dealing with a smart speaker that can be used for listening audio, there is a special AUX support. So you can use the corresponding cable to connect through the AUX interface.But we guess you would like to use wireless technologies. Use the Bluetooth option to connect it to your phone. When it is paired, the indicator will stop blinking. By the way, it is packed with a Bluetooth 4.2 (Qualcomm CSR8670) module, compared to the 4.1 version of the Jabra 710.Note: If there are several sources, choose the one you need via the voice source switch button. You will have a hunch which source you are at by colors. Say, when it is blue, you are connected via Bluetooth; when it is white, you are connected via the AUX source; and finally, when it is green, you are using the USB connectivity option.The eMeet OfficeCore M2 is packed with 4 high sensitive MEMS digital omnidirectional microphones that can catch the sound from all sides (360 degrees support). Many will think this number is not sufficient because the M1 comes with six speakers. The next group of users will be satisfied with this number when comparing with the Jabras 1 microphone. But the truth is we are dealing with a smart product. Unlike its competitors, this model is able to recognize the origin of the sound due to the intervention of AI. The OfficeCore M2 sports an intelligent LED lamp that indicates the direction from where the sound comes. So the one who is talking can know whether his/her voice is being picked up or not. These microphones accurately identify human voice positions to only capture vocal sound to a distance up to 33ft away with 12 people in one room (8-10 meters away (against the 3-5 meters of the Jabra and the 8 meters of OfficeCore M1)). So the users only hear what matters most.As for the sound quality and the speaker, our protagonist comes with a sound output increased by 300% and the microphone pick-up distance increased by 150%. The AI algorithm for noise suppression and echo cancellation has increased by 200% while the full duplex calling effect increased by 180%. When turning the volume up or down a blue LED turns on and off step by step to indicate the volume level. In addition, there are LED indicators for the battery level as well as a mute indicator that turns the LED red whenever microphones are muted.The call buttons operation is simple 鈥 press it when you want to answer the call and press again to hang up. But if you want to reject the call, press it for 3 seconds.This conference speaker can count on Artificial Intelligence and a DNN-based VoiceIA algorithm (Deep Neural Network) that effectively eliminates background noise and deliver natural two-way conversations. So we can state the eMeet OfficeCore M2 is the most sophisticated, portable Bluetooth speakerphone available today.The eMeet OfficeCore M2 is compatible with multiple software and platforms, including Skype, Avaya, Gizmo Project, Wechat, Google Gtalk and many others. Plus, it supports most digital assistants (Siri, Cortana or Google Now). So there is nothing comparable with the Jabra 710 that only supports Skype, Microsoft Lync, Cisco, Avaya, FaceTime and a few others.You just have to tap the button on the top to call the voice assistant installed on your phone. Through voice commands, you can make phone calls, send messages, learn about weather and make other operations implemented through smart speakers.At last, the M2 features multipoint connection that allows infinite expandability by linking together via wire as many M2 speakerphones as the user want to enjoy superior sound for the best voice collaboration, while the Jabra speaker can only be interfaced with another device and M1 does not support this function.Vernee is once again “in the house” here in Gizchina HQ and today they decided to send over their slimmest ever Android smartphone and surely one that most of those novices out there will love in an instant.It’s called Vernee M6 and it’s part of their聽mid-range portfolio, equipped with an MT6750 processor, an HD display and 4GB of RAM (which is pretty typical for smartphones within this price range).Since its official launch some weeks ago, the phone has generally been well received, and we believe, pretty much rightly so. It definitely isn’t a phone that will ‘change everything’, but it’s a fairly nice device – the slimmest ever designed by the Chinese company and it surely deserves all the praises for this. Let’s take a deeper look in the Vernee M6 review!Vernee M6: Technical specsDisplay:聽5.7 inch 1440 x 720 pixels IPS screenSize: 15.40 x 7.32 x 0.69 cm / 6.06 x 2.88 x 0.27 inchesWeight: 150 gr.CPU:聽MTK6750 Octa Core 1.5GHzGPU: Mali-T860 MP2System:聽Android 7.0Storage:聽4GB RAM + 64GB ROMCameras:聽13.0MP ( SW 16.0MP )聽back camera and聽8.0MP ( SW 13.0MP )聽front cameraBattery: 3300 mAhSensors:聽Ambient Light Sensor, E-compass, Gravity Sensor, Proximity SensorFeatures:聽GPS, GLONASS, OTG, Audio Jack 3.5mmBluetooth:聽4.0SIM Card:聽dual SIM dual standby, 1 Nano SIM card + 1 Nano SIM card and 1 TF card can be inserted at the same timeNetwork: SIM 1:聽GSM B2/B3/B5/B8 –聽WCDMA B1/B5/B8 –聽CDMA BC0 –聽FDD-LTE B1/B3/B5/B7/B8/B19/B20 –聽TDD-LTE B38/40SIM 2:聽GSM B2/B3/B5/B8 –聽WCDMA B1/B5/B8Vernee M6 Review: Design & BuildRight off the bat, the Vernee M6 will remind you of at least 5-6 other typical mid-range models in the market, just pick one, they’re all the same to me. The only real noticeable feature however is the total absence of a front facing fingerprint scanner, something that adds a lot of points to its general design score, leaving a lot of space for its 5.7 inch HD+ display to show off a bit.At around the $150 mark ($149 while writing this review), the Vernee M6 isn’t the cheapest Chinese device, but I guess that it does the job. While the Chinese are getting to a point where they almost get the hardware right (full display, 4G/LTE, dual SIM, 4GB RAM, etc.), there’s definitely still a void to fill when it’s software we’re talking about. More on that later.Combined with a metal finish and an elegantly designed body (that is prone to smudges on the back side however), the Vernee M6 is definitely a treat to the eyes. What it could’ve done with, as mentioned, is a bit of heft to it.One gripe with the build I have is that the bezels on top and above the display are not as tiny as one would like to believe, or as they’re shown in some promo photos. They’re not huge, don’t get me wrong, but I guess that’s the price to pay (plus 149$) to get a budget, full display smartphone with a mere 6.9mm of thickness.Also, the SIM and microSD trays seem shaky. At first I thought they hadn’t fit in place well enough, but despite ensuring that they had, the wobble in the trays remained. Perhaps something Vernee could take care of in their future models.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramWhile Vernee as a brand is more or less new in the market, I’m pretty sure they have faces on their team that have been around for a while… which makes mistakes like these a little irritating. The glass on top of the 2.5D display seems to (thankfully) feature some kind of oleophobic coating, so you won’t be seeing a lot of smudges there while in everyday use, something that I really liked during my days with this device in my hands.聽Despite its metal finish, the rear of the phone does feel like plastic at times (especially when you’re taking the phone in your hands for the first time), but I can confirm it’s metal. Vernee probably could work on this a bit more as well, i.e., on giving the metal a more ‘metallic’ feel.Vernee M6 Review: Hardware & PerformanceGiven the kind of pedigree the phone had (courtesy MTK6750 SoC), I was expecting to see a semi-average, typical performance. Yes, it performed exactly as one would expect, with this well known – and heavily used- chipset by Mediatek. Decent performance in everyday use, it will get the job done for everyday chores, some social media, Emails, a bit of Skype, Chrome for browsing etc, but don’t expect anything more. So you won’t get performance-hungry gaming titles, no super swift everyday response for proffesional, heavy duty users etc. It’s a typical mid-ranger device, priced at 149,99$ – that’s all. You get the point, don’t you? While the OS is pretty much vanilla Android, there’s still a few glitches here and there. As I write this review, I’ve been notified of another OTA which will hopefully make things better. Performance wise, the M6 is right up there with the likes of other MT6750 phones. In fact it’s pretty zippy thanks to the lightweight OS (unless it’s having a RAM issue).聽I’ve managed to run quite a few apps all at the same time without having any caching issues. I’d go as far as to say that you really don’t need 6GB of RAM at this point in time if your 4GB RAM is accompanied by decent software. All in all, I’d give the M6 a 7.5/10 for it’s performance. Good thing here is that there’s still scope for it to get to 8-8.5 with improved software!!Moving on to the hardware, it’s been a mixed bag of sorts. The display is a HD+ IPS unit — at 1440 x 720 pixels resolution and yes, I know some of you would prefer a FHD+ panel, but guys, the chipset won’t manage, come on. The display all in all, packs a nice and bright panel with some amazing back light consistency聽– no light bleeding whatsoever. Well done here Vernee! The sound is.. not what I expected. Both the earpiece and the built-in loudspeaker offer average performance. While the earpiece is still doable, the loudspeaker offers poor sound with virtually no bass, a bit lower volume than expected but if you turn off the sound enhancer settings this helps a lot!The Vernee M6 has a non-removable Li-Po battery which has no fast charging feature. These days people prefer purchasing fast charging battery smartphones, so take into account that this smartphone needs almost 2.5 hours to charge completely. As for its battery life while in typical usage, I’ve constantly managed to get over 4,5 hours of screen on time (4-5 hours on an average) when mostly on WiFi, and around the 5 hours mark when on 3G/4G. While this is good, it could get better, especially considering the battery size of 3300mAh.As I mentioned before, the fingerprint scanner of the device is positioned at the back, just below the main camera. It is not one of the fastest in the market, but it surely gets the job done, offering 0,1 seconds of recognition time, with an average of 95% success rate while in everyday use. Typical stuff there too, don’t expect anything else.Vernee M6 Review: CameraDespite the lack of features and a poor HDR mode, the Vernee M6 can take some decent photos. The 16MP camera sensor (13MP in fact, and uses interpolation) is definitely potent enough to take some breathtaking shots I’m sure, but again that’s bottle-necked by the software running on the phone. It’s sad to notice that there’s no manual mode on the camera app, somethin2121g the M6 definitely deserves. The camera focuses fast, and thanks to its RAM/SoC combination, saving clicked photos is extremely fast also. As you’d expect, the shutter tends to remain open for a little while longer in low-light situations, which means you’ll often end up with blurred photos. This, in turn, will make you miss OIS. There’s an ‘anti shake’ mode in the settings that you can turn on (probably something based on EIS), but it doesn’t work all that well anyway.[flickr_set id=”72157669180293368″]The device also features a single LED flash, 0.2-second fast focus and f/2.0 aperture. And there’s a selfie camera placed in front, packing an 8MP sensor (13MP with interpolation) with beauty mode and facial recognition.As for video, there’s no 4K video support, just full HD (1080p) at less than 30fps.Vernee M6 Review: ConclusionThe Vernee M6 is definitely a phone that breaks away from the norm, and tried to go the extra mile, providing an exceptional everyday “grip” with its 6.9mm of thickness – it’s really slim, you’re gonna love it- along with typical performance and an average battery life.Vernee is once again “in the house” here in Gizchina HQ and today they decided to send over their slimmest ever Android smartphone and surely one that most of those novices out there will love in an instant.It’s called Vernee M6 and it’s part of their聽mid-range portfolio, equipped with an MT6750 processor, an HD display and 4GB of RAM (which is pretty typical for smartphones within this price range).Since its official launch some weeks ago, the phone has generally been well received, and we believe, pretty much rightly so. It definitely isn’t a phone that will ‘change everything’, but it’s a fairly nice device – the slimmest ever designed by the Chinese company and it surely deserves all the praises for this. Let’s take a deeper look in the Vernee M6 review!Vernee M6: Technical specsDisplay:聽5.7 inch 1440 x 720 pixels IPS screenSize: 15.40 x 7.32 x 0.69 cm / 6.06 x 2.88 x 0.27 inchesWeight: 150 gr.CPU:聽MTK6750 Octa Core 1.5GHzGPU: Mali-T860 MP2System:聽Android 7.0Storage:聽4GB RAM + 64GB ROMCameras:聽13.0MP ( SW 16.0MP )聽back camera and聽8.0MP ( SW 13.0MP )聽front cameraBattery: 3300 mAhSensors:聽Ambient Light Sensor, E-compass, Gravity Sensor, Proximity SensorFeatures:聽GPS, GLONASS, OTG, Audio Jack 3.5mmBluetooth:聽4.0SIM Card:聽dual SIM dual standby, 1 Nano SIM card + 1 Nano SIM card and 1 TF card can be inserted at the same timeNetwork: SIM 1:聽GSM B2/B3/B5/B8 –聽WCDMA B1/B5/B8 –聽CDMA BC0 –聽FDD-LTE B1/B3/B5/B7/B8/B19/B20 –聽TDD-LTE B38/40SIM 2:聽GSM B2/B3/B5/B8 –聽WCDMA B1/B5/B8Vernee M6 Review: Design & BuildRight off the bat, the Vernee M6 will remind you of at least 5-6 other typical mid-range models in the market, just pick one, they’re all the same to me. The only real noticeable feature however is the total absence of a front facing fingerprint scanner, something that adds a lot of points to its general design score, leaving a lot of space for its 5.7 inch HD+ display to show off a bit.At around the $150 mark ($149 while writing this review), the Vernee M6 isn’t the cheapest Chinese device, but I guess that it does the job. While the Chinese are getting to a point where they almost get the hardware right (full display, 4G/LTE, dual SIM, 4GB RAM, etc.), there’s definitely still a void to fill when it’s software we’re talking about. More on that later.Combined with a metal finish and an elegantly designed body (that is prone to smudges on the back side however), the Vernee M6 is definitely a treat to the eyes. What it could’ve done with, as mentioned, is a bit of heft to it.One gripe with the build I have is that the bezels on top and above the display are not as tiny as one would like to believe, or as they’re shown in some promo photos. They’re not huge, don’t get me wrong, but I guess that’s the price to pay (plus 149$) to get a budget, full display smartphone with a mere 6.9mm of thickness.Also, the SIM and microSD trays seem shaky. At first I thought they hadn’t fit in place well enough, but despite ensuring that they had, the wobble in the trays remained. Perhaps something Vernee could take care of in their future models.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramWhile Vernee as a brand is more or less new in the market, I’m pretty sure they have faces on their team that have been around for a while… which makes mistakes like these a little irritating. The glass on top of the 2.5D display seems to (thankfully) feature some kind of oleophobic coating, so you won’t be seeing a lot of smudges there while in everyday use, something that I really liked during my days with this device in my hands.聽Despite its metal finish, the rear of the phone does feel like plastic at times (especially when you’re taking the phone in your hands for the first time), but I can confirm it’s metal. Vernee probably could work on this a bit more as well, i.e., on giving the metal a more ‘metallic’ feel.Vernee M6 Review: Hardware & PerformanceGiven the kind of pedigree the phone had (courtesy MTK6750 SoC), I was expecting to see a semi-average, typical performance. Yes, it performed exactly as one would expect, with this well known – and heavily used- chipset by Mediatek. Decent performance in everyday use, it will get the job done for everyday chores, some social media, Emails, a bit of Skype, Chrome for browsing etc, but don’t expect anything more. So you won’t get performance-hungry gaming titles, no super swift everyday response for proffesional, heavy duty users etc. It’s a typical mid-ranger device, priced at 149,99$ – that’s all. You get the point, don’t you? While the OS is pretty much vanilla Android, there’s still a few glitches here and there. As I write this review, I’ve been notified of another OTA which will hopefully make things better. Performance wise, the M6 is right up there with the likes of other MT6750 phones. In fact it’s pretty zippy thanks to the lightweight OS (unless it’s having a RAM issue).聽I’ve managed to run quite a few apps all at the same time without having any caching issues. I’d go as far as to say that you really don’t need 6GB of RAM at this point in time if your 4GB RAM is accompanied by decent software. All in all, I’d give the M6 a 7.5/10 for it’s performance. Good thing here is that there’s still scope for it to get to 8-8.5 with improved software!!Moving on to the hardware, it’s been a mixed bag of sorts. The display is a HD+ IPS unit — at 1440 x 720 pixels resolution and yes, I know some of you would prefer a FHD+ panel, but guys, the chipset won’t manage, come on. The display all in all, packs a nice and bright panel with some amazing back light consistency聽– no light bleeding whatsoever. Well done here Vernee! The sound is.. not what I expected. Both the earpiece and the built-in loudspeaker offer average performance. While the earpiece is still doable, the loudspeaker offers poor sound with virtually no bass, a bit lower volume than expected but if you turn off the sound enhancer settings this helps a lot!The Vernee M6 has a non-removable Li-Po battery which has no fast charging feature. These days people prefer purchasing fast charging battery smartphones, so take into account that this smartphone needs almost 2.5 hours to charge completely. As for its battery life while in typical usage, I’ve constantly managed to get over 4,5 hours of screen on time (4-5 hours on an average) when mostly on WiFi, and around the 5 hours mark when on 3G/4G. While this is good, it could get better, especially considering the battery size of 3300mAh.As I mentioned before, the fingerprint scanner of the device is positioned at the back, just below the main camera. It is not one of the fastest in the market, but it surely gets the job done, offering 0,1 seconds of recognition time, with an average of 95% success rate while in everyday use. Typical stuff there too, don’t expect anything else.Vernee M6 Review: CameraDespite the lack of features and a poor HDR mode, the Vernee M6 can take some decent photos. The 16MP camera sensor (13MP in fact, and uses interpolation) is definitely potent enough to take some breathtaking shots I’m sure, but again that’s bottle-necked by the software running on the phone. It’s sad to notice that there’s no manual mode on the camera app, somethin2121g the M6 definitely deserves. The camera focuses fast, and thanks to its RAM/SoC combination, saving clicked photos is extremely fast also. As you’d expect, the shutter tends to remain open for a little while longer in low-light situations, which means you’ll often end up with blurred photos. This, in turn, will make you miss OIS. There’s an ‘anti shake’ mode in the settings that you can turn on (probably something based on EIS), but it doesn’t work all that well anyway.[flickr_set id=”72157669180293368″]The device also features a single LED flash, 0.2-second fast focus and f/2.0 aperture. And there’s a selfie camera placed in front, packing an 8MP sensor (13MP with interpolation) with beauty mode and facial recognition.As for video, there’s no 4K video support, just full HD (1080p) at less than 30fps.Vernee M6 Review: ConclusionThe Vernee M6 is definitely a phone that breaks away from the norm, and tried to go the extra mile, providing an exceptional everyday “grip” with its 6.9mm of thickness – it’s really slim, you’re gonna love it- along with typical performance and an average battery life.

China Mobile is the Chinese equivalent of Vodafone in Europe, AT&T in the USA, and Vodafone (again) in India so its not surprising that they released a cell phone.However, what is surprising is the price, and we dive in deep.China Mobile A3s ReviewStarting at just $65, the China Mobile A3s forces everyone to rethink what a budget phone can offer, undercutting the king of the budget segment, the Redmi 5A by a good $30, a fortune in this price range.Does China Mobiles attempt at reigning supreme in the budget market succeed?$65China Mobile A3s SpecificationsProcessorSnapdragon 425 ProcessorDisplay5.2 1280×720 IPS DisplayRAM2GBStorage16GB eMMCOperating SystemAndroid 7.1 NougatCameras8MP Rear, 5MP FrontBattery2,800mAhPhysical Dimensions74.0 mm x 148.0 mm x 8.7 mm, 150gChina Mobile A3s HardwareAs is expected in the budget segment, the phone has a hard, plastic exterior that has the advantage of being very light and fairly strong while forgoing the premium feeling you get with metal and glass phones. The result is a phone that is fairly droppable due to its light weight and durable body, something that cannot be said of any glass covered flagship made.The phone utilizes a microUSB connector and a 3.5mm headphone jack, a port that gets rarer as the phone price goes up. Capacitive buttons are included (my favourite!) below the screen.The phone does not look sleek or beautiful, with large bezels surrounding the screen, however the phone is still relatively compact by 2018 standards and easy to hold also. In my opinion, the A3s is ugly enough that there will be some people who would rather die than be caught using a phone like this, however at the price I dont think its right to complain.Light, Durable, UglyChina Mobile A3s DisplayThe phone has a decent IPS LCD display with a 720p resolution, and it looks fine. In my opinion, IPS LCD technology has advanced to the point where good looking displays can be made relatively cheaply. I do have a complaint about this phone though, and that would be maximum brightness. Its fairly hard to see in direct, bright sunlight.Its fineChina Mobile A3s AudioWe find adequate speakers on the China Mobile A3s, the volume gets adequately loud, the quality is adequate, its nothing special, youre going to miss the bass on action heavy movie scenes and bass heavy tracks, but its perfectly serviceable.China Mobile A3s BatteryThe China Mobile A3s gets slightly less battery life than I would have expected when you combine the Snapdragon 425 and a 2,800mAh battery.The most similar phone to this would be the Xiaomi Redmi 4A, and I was able to get around 5-6 hours of screen on time consisting of web browsing, some Youtube, and some photos, no gaming in this mix. While that is a respectable result, Im fairly certain that you should be able to squeeze out about an hour of so more screen on time, owing mostly to software optimization. I was seeing faster than normal standby battery drain than should be appropriate, and hopefully it can be fixed in the next OTA update.Not BadGizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramChina Mobile A3s Software & PerformanceAndroid 7.1 Nougat is included in the phone, and there is a light skin that replaces the notification shade and settings menu. The launcher is also changed to remove the app drawer, but a custom launcher fixes that quick. The stock keyboard on this phone is Touchpal, something Ive seen on other budget devices, and Im not a fan, I always switch to Google Keyboard.Performance is somewhat slow on the stock launcher, replace it with NOVA launcher and its much zippier. App launch speed is fairly typical for the Snapdragon 425, it does take a moment to launch bigger apps, but its mostly good enough for your basic social media and web surfing.Multitasking is hard on this device. 2GB of RAM is not enough in 2018 and the end result of that is that whenever you minimize an app, it basically clears it from memory if you open another app because there isnt enough, resulting in the app relaunching every time.You can do some light gaming like Clash Royale or Candy Crush, however dont expect this to play PubG or Modern Combat.The fingerprint sensor works very well, it is very accurate and fairly quick when you consider the price, no its not a Oneplus 5T, but it takes a reasonable amount of time to unlock.China Mobile A3s ConnectivityThis phone is almost completely incompatible in North America, but it does fully support European bands so European residents need not worry.WiFi reception is quite stellar on this device as is Bluetooth connectivity and range, however GPS does not work as well as I expected, locking on was fairly slow and the GPS jumped around a little bit.China Mobile A3s Camera The cameras here can take some very decent photos. If you take macro shots you can get some very nice detail, colour saturation, and dynamic contrast. However in suboptimal conditions, grain is introduced almost immediately. Colour reproduction actually stays fairly similar but the detail takes a nosedive.It has a fairly slow shutter speed which means motion blur is introduced with moderate movement.The front facing camera is pretty bad, its 2MP interpolated to 5MP, so you can guess how bad its going to be.You can film up to 1080p video, but the detail level is closer to 720p. Colour reproduction is actually still pretty decent, but detail is bad enough to make the video quality bad.China Mobile A3s Camera Gallery China Mobile A3s VerdictMost of the phone can be described as good enough, which is definitely considered praise when you account for the measly price tag with the next step up a good $30 more, namely the Xiaomi Redmi 5A. Theres no doubt the Redmi 5A is a better phone than the China Mobile A3s, but is it $30 better? Not in my opinion.China Mobile is the Chinese equivalent of Vodafone in Europe, AT&T in the USA, and Vodafone (again) in India so its not surprising that they released a cell phone.However, what is surprising is the price, and we dive in deep.China Mobile A3s ReviewStarting at just $65, the China Mobile A3s forces everyone to rethink what a budget phone can offer, undercutting the king of the budget segment, the Redmi 5A by a good $30, a fortune in this price range.Does China Mobiles attempt at reigning supreme in the budget market succeed?$65China Mobile A3s SpecificationsProcessorSnapdragon 425 ProcessorDisplay5.2 1280×720 IPS DisplayRAM2GBStorage16GB eMMCOperating SystemAndroid 7.1 NougatCameras8MP Rear, 5MP FrontBattery2,800mAhPhysical Dimensions74.0 mm x 148.0 mm x 8.7 mm, 150gChina Mobile A3s HardwareAs is expected in the budget segment, the phone has a hard, plastic exterior that has the advantage of being very light and fairly strong while forgoing the premium feeling you get with metal and glass phones. The result is a phone that is fairly droppable due to its light weight and durable body, something that cannot be said of any glass covered flagship made.The phone utilizes a microUSB connector and a 3.5mm headphone jack, a port that gets rarer as the phone price goes up. Capacitive buttons are included (my favourite!) below the screen.The phone does not look sleek or beautiful, with large bezels surrounding the screen, however the phone is still relatively compact by 2018 standards and easy to hold also. In my opinion, the A3s is ugly enough that there will be some people who would rather die than be caught using a phone like this, however at the price I dont think its right to complain.Light, Durable, UglyChina Mobile A3s DisplayThe phone has a decent IPS LCD display with a 720p resolution, and it looks fine. In my opinion, IPS LCD technology has advanced to the point where good looking displays can be made relatively cheaply. I do have a complaint about this phone though, and that would be maximum brightness. Its fairly hard to see in direct, bright sunlight.Its fineChina Mobile A3s AudioWe find adequate speakers on the China Mobile A3s, the volume gets adequately loud, the quality is adequate, its nothing special, youre going to miss the bass on action heavy movie scenes and bass heavy tracks, but its perfectly serviceable.China Mobile A3s BatteryThe China Mobile A3s gets slightly less battery life than I would have expected when you combine the Snapdragon 425 and a 2,800mAh battery.The most similar phone to this would be the Xiaomi Redmi 4A, and I was able to get around 5-6 hours of screen on time consisting of web browsing, some Youtube, and some photos, no gaming in this mix. While that is a respectable result, Im fairly certain that you should be able to squeeze out about an hour of so more screen on time, owing mostly to software optimization. I was seeing faster than normal standby battery drain than should be appropriate, and hopefully it can be fixed in the next OTA update.Not BadGizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramChina Mobile A3s Software & PerformanceAndroid 7.1 Nougat is included in the phone, and there is a light skin that replaces the notification shade and settings menu. The launcher is also changed to remove the app drawer, but a custom launcher fixes that quick. The stock keyboard on this phone is Touchpal, something Ive seen on other budget devices, and Im not a fan, I always switch to Google Keyboard.Performance is somewhat slow on the stock launcher, replace it with NOVA launcher and its much zippier. App launch speed is fairly typical for the Snapdragon 425, it does take a moment to launch bigger apps, but its mostly good enough for your basic social media and web surfing.Multitasking is hard on this device. 2GB of RAM is not enough in 2018 and the end result of that is that whenever you minimize an app, it basically clears it from memory if you open another app because there isnt enough, resulting in the app relaunching every time.You can do some light gaming like Clash Royale or Candy Crush, however dont expect this to play PubG or Modern Combat.The fingerprint sensor works very well, it is very accurate and fairly quick when you consider the price, no its not a Oneplus 5T, but it takes a reasonable amount of time to unlock.China Mobile A3s ConnectivityThis phone is almost completely incompatible in North America, but it does fully support European bands so European residents need not worry.WiFi reception is quite stellar on this device as is Bluetooth connectivity and range, however GPS does not work as well as I expected, locking on was fairly slow and the GPS jumped around a little bit.China Mobile A3s Camera The cameras here can take some very decent photos. If you take macro shots you can get some very nice detail, colour saturation, and dynamic contrast. However in suboptimal conditions, grain is introduced almost immediately. Colour reproduction actually stays fairly similar but the detail takes a nosedive.It has a fairly slow shutter speed which means motion blur is introduced with moderate movement.The front facing camera is pretty bad, its 2MP interpolated to 5MP, so you can guess how bad its going to be.You can film up to 1080p video, but the detail level is closer to 720p. Colour reproduction is actually still pretty decent, but detail is bad enough to make the video quality bad.China Mobile A3s Camera Gallery China Mobile A3s VerdictMost of the phone can be described as good enough, which is definitely considered praise when you account for the measly price tag with the next step up a good $30 more, namely the Xiaomi Redmi 5A. Theres no doubt the Redmi 5A is a better phone than the China Mobile A3s, but is it $30 better? Not in my opinion.

The Chinese smartphone market is flooded with manufacturers and the competition is really strong. While we can call the likes of Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO, and vivo “first class” Chinese smartphone manufacturers, the likes of Bluboo falls in the “second class” category. Bluboo tried to do something spectacular with the Bluboo S3 as it combines a massive 6-inch display (almost 91% screen-to-body ratio) with a monstrous 8,500 mAh battery. After the initial announcement of this device at MWC 2018, this smartphone hit the market on April 18 and I have now received a Maple Gold unit for review.Bluboo S3 – Succinct SpecsProcessorMediaTek MTK6750T Octa-core processor clocking 1.5GHzDisplay6-inch 1080 x 2160P 18:9 FHD+ DisplayRAM4GBStorage64GB eMMCOperating SystemAndroid 7.0 Nougat (Android 8.0 On its way)Cameras21MP/5MP Rear Cameras, 13MP FrontBattery8,500mAh聽12V/2A fast chargePhysical Dimensions157.8 x 75.5 x 1.1 mm, 282gBluboo S3 – What’s In The BoxThe box of the Bluboo S3 is quite rich and it has multiple interface聽options such that you wouldn’t need to buy a connecting medium. The box itself looks quite matured and the unit I received has a black box with “Bluboo 8500 mAh” written in the top left corner which is advertising the huge battery of this smartphone. “S3” is stylishly written at the bottom of the front surface of the box. In the box, we can find the following1 x Bluboo S3 smartphone unit1 x Power Adapter1 x USB Cable1 x USB 3.0 Type-C to USB 3.0 Type-A connector1 x USB 3.0 Type-C to Headphone port cable1 x USB 2.0 Type-A to USB 3.0 Type-C/Micro USB 5 Pin/Apple Lighting connector1 x Screen protector1 x phone pouch1x Sim Tray ejector pinA user manual in multiple languages Bluboo S3 – Design & AppearanceAt first glance, there is nothing out of the ordinary in the design of the Bluboo S3. However, a closer look gives a different idea. The rear has a skid proof texture design which gives some sort of friction between the palm and the device thus preventing easy falls. The rear is molded from a golden plastic material which flexes when a small force is applied, however, I can only hope that this beautiful Maple Gold colour doesn’t聽wear off easily. Its rear is curved on all four edges聽for a better grip and handheld feel though the sides have聽more curvature than the top/bottom.聽聽The sides are molded from a zinc alloy using the time-consuming CNC laser process. When you pick up this smartphone, you can’t help but notice its massive 282g weight which is not surprising given its huge battery. The fingerprint sensor is lodged in the back just beneath the vertically aligned dual rear cameras and the LED flash lies astride them to the left.聽The fingerprint sensor is quite good, it is well positioned and it unlocks the phone even while in sleep mode. There were a few times where I needed two scans for the fingerprint sensor to respond but overall, it responds at first touch. We have the SIM tray on the right side and the power/volume button to the left. Thus there is nothing out of the ordinary here. The only port on this phone is a USB-Type-C port which doubles for charging and for headphone. Generally, the design of the Bluboo S3 is good especially the rear design which compliments its weight.This smartphone supports two nano-SIMs and an SD card. However, it should be noted that the two SIMs and SD card cannot be used simultaneously. You have two options, either you use two SIMs with no SD card or you use one SIM and the SD card. Be careful with the SIM tray as you pull it out, it is quite fragile and I almost destroyed it.Bluboo S3 Hardware & PerformanceThe Bluboo S3 is powered by a MediaTek聽MTK6750T processor which certainly has its shortcomings.聽One thing I noticed is that within a short time of usage, the zinc alloy sides of the Bluboo S3 becomes so hot (definitely above 40 degrees) and the company did not include an option to cool down the phone when overheating but thanks to the heat absorbing pouch, this shortfall can be curtailed. This phone comes with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage which can be expanded up to 256GB. The RAM makes multitasking great and it is just sufficient because there is barely anyone that needs more than 4GB in a smartphone. Enough storage means that you are safe from downloading fears. City Racing using Xiaomi Mi Note 2 (GPU: Adreno 530) City Racing using Bluboo S3 (GPU: Mali-T860 MP2). Notice the colour loss The graphics are handled by an ARM Mali T860 GPU @650MHz which falls short of requirements for graphically demanding games. I tried it with City Racing and聽Asphalt 8. It could barely display the proper colours of sections of the game and it was a bit slower than usual. For its current $150 price tag which could rise to $200, this will be a gamble for gamers.SoftwareThe operating system of Bluboo S3 looks just like stock Android but the company has added a few tweaks which allow you to聽update the app icons, themes, and wallpapers. This smartphone currently runs on Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box but the Android Oreo update is coming. Well, the Face ID will be supported when the device is updated to Android Oreo. Since the Oreo update is not currently available in my region, I have to exercise some patience.Generally, the operability of this device is seamless but I noticed some聽bugs in the Bluetooth where it would turn on automatically and attempt to connect with my Xiaomi Mi AI speaker. However, when the speaker is turned off, the Bluetooth seems to behave better. Unfortunately, I NEVER turn off my speaker so it was quite annoying. In addition, when the phone is put on flight mode and returned back to normal, the Bluetooth automatically turns on. These bugs can be easily fixed with an OTA so it shouldn’t be a problem.DisplayBluboo S3 is not left out in the current 18:9 aspect ratio trend which recently penetrated the smartphone manufacturing industry. You wouldn’t need more than 70% brightness even in outdoor environments which is great. However, the colours are not very saturated and it seems a bit whitish. Nevertheless, this smartphone is equipped with MiraVision which significantly enhanced the image quality. Touch sensitivity and viewing angle are perfect. Generally, it was absolutely fun to fiddle this smartphone. This 6-inch phone with聽2160 x 1080 display resolution comes with a screen guard on the display and in the box, you also find an extra screen guard.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramSound QualityBluboo S3 sound quality is not the best in the smartphone industry but it is fair enough for the price. Its got a lot of treble with little or no bass. Its speaker volume needed about 70% for effective hearing. However, calls via headphone are far better and online audio/video calls ran smoothly since it supports聽VoLTE. Overall, the sound quality is acceptable.CameraThe Bluboo S3 comes with Samsung made camera sensors. On the rear, we have a聽21MP+5MP dual cameras while in front, we have a聽13MP shooter. I took the joy of taking some images with these cameras to assess their performance.Dual Rear CamerasThe聽21MP+5MP dual cameras actually did not disappoint in a bright light environment. However, the same can not be said for low-light situations. Its images during the day are quite good and you can see the colour saturation in most of the green photos. There is no noise and the image details are well captured. The background blur feature works quite well and the PIP mode (lets you capture an object and your face simultaneously) is also another interesting feature. Background Blur effect Moving Vehicle Rear camera PIP mode. The image is blur because the phone is heated During the night, the situation changes. The images are just average and you can see a significant amount of noise in the background. Interestingly, the rear camera captures moving objects (cars, animals, etc) with high precision which is quite cool but it is not equipped with anti-shake so you can’t be jittering while you take photos. Background Blur Effect Selfie ShooterThe selfie shooter did not fall short of my expectation of a 13MP camera. Its images have good details and colour saturation during the day but at night, the situation is similar to what I observed in the rear camera. When indoors (daytime), a bit of noise comes into the image but generally, it is impressive. Indoor image has some noise Front camera PIP mode Overall, I can not say that the camera department of Bluboo S3 is excellent but I can confidently say that it is well above average. Poor CPU Affects CameraThis sub-section became very necessary because of what I observed as I went on a photo taking spree. I never put off my data connection, I’m always on my phone so you can call me a heavy user. The Bluboo S3 was pretty worked up when I started taking my last set of images. It was freaking hot (many thanks to its highly insulative pouch and plastic rear, I didn’t notice the rising temperature) and I got this error message“Device is too hot. Camera will exit in 30 seconds. Please try again later.”At this point, I still kept shooting photos but the camera collapsed after 30 seconds as warned. Being a stubborn phone user, I was curious so I kept bringing up the camera each time it went down. After a while, it couldn’t shoot decent images anymore and I had to wait for about 20/30 minutes before it came back to normal. This is caused by the uncontrolled heating of the processor. In addition, I couldn’t delete images from the camera when the error message popped up. I had to wait till the phone cooled to perform the function.Battery – Save The Best For LastFor the Bluboo S3聽Review, I saved the best for last. This is the ONLY section of this smartphone I can score 100%+ without hesitation. The Bluboo S3 has a monstrous 8500 mAh battery with ultra-fast 12V/2A charging and 1A output reverse charging function. It gets to full charge in about 2.5 hours. I carried out a couple of tests on this battery and the results were EXCELLENT. On moderate usage, it can last for 6 days while on standby mode, you get 42 days.Video TestI charged the Bluboo S3 to 100% and set the brightness and volume at 70%, my data connection was on and I connected the volume output to a Bluetooth speaker. After one hour of watching an FHD+ video at聽2160 x 1080 resolution, I had 99%. After another 30 minutes, I had 96% and after another 30 minutes, I had 93%. This means that only 7% power was lost in 2hours of video time. With this performance, the Bluboo S3 will conveniently give you 18 hours video time.Hotspot/Internet TestThis consumes more power than any other aspect of this phone. The phone was set as described in the video test. The hotspot and data were put on. After one hour of usage, I had 93% power remaining. With this, the Bluboo S3 will deliver 14 hours of constant hotspot/internet browsing time. However, if you just put on the hotspot but you are not fiddling the phone, the battery lasts much more (over 20 hours)Gaming TestI set the Bluboo S3 as聽described in the video test with an active data connection and played City Racing. After one hour of gaming, I lost only 1%. After another one hour, I lost 2%. Doing the math, this smartphone delivers nothing less than 50 hours gaming time (may vary with the game demands). But gamers may not appreciate this power capability because the gaming graphics loses colour in some sections as stated earlier and the phone gets quite hot too (you will definitely need the pouch to prevent the heat).Powerbank FunctionUsing the聽USB 3.0 Type-C to USB 3.0 Type-A connector, I was able to charge my No. 1 D7 Pro W smartwatch phone to 100% with the Bluboo S3 within 4hours. It also charged my feature phone but when I tried it with my Mi Note 2, it didn’t add any percentage to the battery but the Mi Note 2 didn’t lose power.The Chinese smartphone market is flooded with manufacturers and the competition is really strong. While we can call the likes of Huawei, Xiaomi, OPPO, and vivo “first class” Chinese smartphone manufacturers, the likes of Bluboo falls in the “second class” category. Bluboo tried to do something spectacular with the Bluboo S3 as it combines a massive 6-inch display (almost 91% screen-to-body ratio) with a monstrous 8,500 mAh battery. After the initial announcement of this device at MWC 2018, this smartphone hit the market on April 18 and I have now received a Maple Gold unit for review.Bluboo S3 – Succinct SpecsProcessorMediaTek MTK6750T Octa-core processor clocking 1.5GHzDisplay6-inch 1080 x 2160P 18:9 FHD+ DisplayRAM4GBStorage64GB eMMCOperating SystemAndroid 7.0 Nougat (Android 8.0 On its way)Cameras21MP/5MP Rear Cameras, 13MP FrontBattery8,500mAh聽12V/2A fast chargePhysical Dimensions157.8 x 75.5 x 1.1 mm, 282gBluboo S3 – What’s In The BoxThe box of the Bluboo S3 is quite rich and it has multiple interface聽options such that you wouldn’t need to buy a connecting medium. The box itself looks quite matured and the unit I received has a black box with “Bluboo 8500 mAh” written in the top left corner which is advertising the huge battery of this smartphone. “S3” is stylishly written at the bottom of the front surface of the box. In the box, we can find the following1 x Bluboo S3 smartphone unit1 x Power Adapter1 x USB Cable1 x USB 3.0 Type-C to USB 3.0 Type-A connector1 x USB 3.0 Type-C to Headphone port cable1 x USB 2.0 Type-A to USB 3.0 Type-C/Micro USB 5 Pin/Apple Lighting connector1 x Screen protector1 x phone pouch1x Sim Tray ejector pinA user manual in multiple languages Bluboo S3 – Design & AppearanceAt first glance, there is nothing out of the ordinary in the design of the Bluboo S3. However, a closer look gives a different idea. The rear has a skid proof texture design which gives some sort of friction between the palm and the device thus preventing easy falls. The rear is molded from a golden plastic material which flexes when a small force is applied, however, I can only hope that this beautiful Maple Gold colour doesn’t聽wear off easily. Its rear is curved on all four edges聽for a better grip and handheld feel though the sides have聽more curvature than the top/bottom.聽聽The sides are molded from a zinc alloy using the time-consuming CNC laser process. When you pick up this smartphone, you can’t help but notice its massive 282g weight which is not surprising given its huge battery. The fingerprint sensor is lodged in the back just beneath the vertically aligned dual rear cameras and the LED flash lies astride them to the left.聽The fingerprint sensor is quite good, it is well positioned and it unlocks the phone even while in sleep mode. There were a few times where I needed two scans for the fingerprint sensor to respond but overall, it responds at first touch. We have the SIM tray on the right side and the power/volume button to the left. Thus there is nothing out of the ordinary here. The only port on this phone is a USB-Type-C port which doubles for charging and for headphone. Generally, the design of the Bluboo S3 is good especially the rear design which compliments its weight.This smartphone supports two nano-SIMs and an SD card. However, it should be noted that the two SIMs and SD card cannot be used simultaneously. You have two options, either you use two SIMs with no SD card or you use one SIM and the SD card. Be careful with the SIM tray as you pull it out, it is quite fragile and I almost destroyed it.Bluboo S3 Hardware & PerformanceThe Bluboo S3 is powered by a MediaTek聽MTK6750T processor which certainly has its shortcomings.聽One thing I noticed is that within a short time of usage, the zinc alloy sides of the Bluboo S3 becomes so hot (definitely above 40 degrees) and the company did not include an option to cool down the phone when overheating but thanks to the heat absorbing pouch, this shortfall can be curtailed. This phone comes with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage which can be expanded up to 256GB. The RAM makes multitasking great and it is just sufficient because there is barely anyone that needs more than 4GB in a smartphone. Enough storage means that you are safe from downloading fears. City Racing using Xiaomi Mi Note 2 (GPU: Adreno 530) City Racing using Bluboo S3 (GPU: Mali-T860 MP2). Notice the colour loss The graphics are handled by an ARM Mali T860 GPU @650MHz which falls short of requirements for graphically demanding games. I tried it with City Racing and聽Asphalt 8. It could barely display the proper colours of sections of the game and it was a bit slower than usual. For its current $150 price tag which could rise to $200, this will be a gamble for gamers.SoftwareThe operating system of Bluboo S3 looks just like stock Android but the company has added a few tweaks which allow you to聽update the app icons, themes, and wallpapers. This smartphone currently runs on Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box but the Android Oreo update is coming. Well, the Face ID will be supported when the device is updated to Android Oreo. Since the Oreo update is not currently available in my region, I have to exercise some patience.Generally, the operability of this device is seamless but I noticed some聽bugs in the Bluetooth where it would turn on automatically and attempt to connect with my Xiaomi Mi AI speaker. However, when the speaker is turned off, the Bluetooth seems to behave better. Unfortunately, I NEVER turn off my speaker so it was quite annoying. In addition, when the phone is put on flight mode and returned back to normal, the Bluetooth automatically turns on. These bugs can be easily fixed with an OTA so it shouldn’t be a problem.DisplayBluboo S3 is not left out in the current 18:9 aspect ratio trend which recently penetrated the smartphone manufacturing industry. You wouldn’t need more than 70% brightness even in outdoor environments which is great. However, the colours are not very saturated and it seems a bit whitish. Nevertheless, this smartphone is equipped with MiraVision which significantly enhanced the image quality. Touch sensitivity and viewing angle are perfect. Generally, it was absolutely fun to fiddle this smartphone. This 6-inch phone with聽2160 x 1080 display resolution comes with a screen guard on the display and in the box, you also find an extra screen guard.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramSound QualityBluboo S3 sound quality is not the best in the smartphone industry but it is fair enough for the price. Its got a lot of treble with little or no bass. Its speaker volume needed about 70% for effective hearing. However, calls via headphone are far better and online audio/video calls ran smoothly since it supports聽VoLTE. Overall, the sound quality is acceptable.CameraThe Bluboo S3 comes with Samsung made camera sensors. On the rear, we have a聽21MP+5MP dual cameras while in front, we have a聽13MP shooter. I took the joy of taking some images with these cameras to assess their performance.Dual Rear CamerasThe聽21MP+5MP dual cameras actually did not disappoint in a bright light environment. However, the same can not be said for low-light situations. Its images during the day are quite good and you can see the colour saturation in most of the green photos. There is no noise and the image details are well captured. The background blur feature works quite well and the PIP mode (lets you capture an object and your face simultaneously) is also another interesting feature. Background Blur effect Moving Vehicle Rear camera PIP mode. The image is blur because the phone is heated During the night, the situation changes. The images are just average and you can see a significant amount of noise in the background. Interestingly, the rear camera captures moving objects (cars, animals, etc) with high precision which is quite cool but it is not equipped with anti-shake so you can’t be jittering while you take photos. Background Blur Effect Selfie ShooterThe selfie shooter did not fall short of my expectation of a 13MP camera. Its images have good details and colour saturation during the day but at night, the situation is similar to what I observed in the rear camera. When indoors (daytime), a bit of noise comes into the image but generally, it is impressive. Indoor image has some noise Front camera PIP mode Overall, I can not say that the camera department of Bluboo S3 is excellent but I can confidently say that it is well above average. Poor CPU Affects CameraThis sub-section became very necessary because of what I observed as I went on a photo taking spree. I never put off my data connection, I’m always on my phone so you can call me a heavy user. The Bluboo S3 was pretty worked up when I started taking my last set of images. It was freaking hot (many thanks to its highly insulative pouch and plastic rear, I didn’t notice the rising temperature) and I got this error message“Device is too hot. Camera will exit in 30 seconds. Please try again later.”At this point, I still kept shooting photos but the camera collapsed after 30 seconds as warned. Being a stubborn phone user, I was curious so I kept bringing up the camera each time it went down. After a while, it couldn’t shoot decent images anymore and I had to wait for about 20/30 minutes before it came back to normal. This is caused by the uncontrolled heating of the processor. In addition, I couldn’t delete images from the camera when the error message popped up. I had to wait till the phone cooled to perform the function.Battery – Save The Best For LastFor the Bluboo S3聽Review, I saved the best for last. This is the ONLY section of this smartphone I can score 100%+ without hesitation. The Bluboo S3 has a monstrous 8500 mAh battery with ultra-fast 12V/2A charging and 1A output reverse charging function. It gets to full charge in about 2.5 hours. I carried out a couple of tests on this battery and the results were EXCELLENT. On moderate usage, it can last for 6 days while on standby mode, you get 42 days.Video TestI charged the Bluboo S3 to 100% and set the brightness and volume at 70%, my data connection was on and I connected the volume output to a Bluetooth speaker. After one hour of watching an FHD+ video at聽2160 x 1080 resolution, I had 99%. After another 30 minutes, I had 96% and after another 30 minutes, I had 93%. This means that only 7% power was lost in 2hours of video time. With this performance, the Bluboo S3 will conveniently give you 18 hours video time.Hotspot/Internet TestThis consumes more power than any other aspect of this phone. The phone was set as described in the video test. The hotspot and data were put on. After one hour of usage, I had 93% power remaining. With this, the Bluboo S3 will deliver 14 hours of constant hotspot/internet browsing time. However, if you just put on the hotspot but you are not fiddling the phone, the battery lasts much more (over 20 hours)Gaming TestI set the Bluboo S3 as聽described in the video test with an active data connection and played City Racing. After one hour of gaming, I lost only 1%. After another one hour, I lost 2%. Doing the math, this smartphone delivers nothing less than 50 hours gaming time (may vary with the game demands). But gamers may not appreciate this power capability because the gaming graphics loses colour in some sections as stated earlier and the phone gets quite hot too (you will definitely need the pouch to prevent the heat).Powerbank FunctionUsing the聽USB 3.0 Type-C to USB 3.0 Type-A connector, I was able to charge my No. 1 D7 Pro W smartwatch phone to 100% with the Bluboo S3 within 4hours. It also charged my feature phone but when I tried it with my Mi Note 2, it didn’t add any percentage to the battery but the Mi Note 2 didn’t lose power.

Zebronics Max Pro Gaming Keyboard Review:The craziest thing about Mechanical Keyboards is that they tend to bridge the gap between the new generation non-tactile keyboards to the ones from the typewriter era. Most budget keyboards today use dome-switch technology, which helps to budget the expenses of the manufacturer. But leading to posses a relatively lacky and mushy feel to its users. This is what mechanical keyboards are trying to solve by offering a tactile feedback for each button press. Once you choose to shift to a mechanical keyboard, then you might never shift back. In this line-up Zebronics has released a new add-on to its max series: the Zebronics Max Pro!Design:Talking about the design, there are some major aesthetic changes that elevates the design & overall feel, making the Zebronics Max Pro a worthy follow-up to its predecessor.This time Zebronics has choose to adapt the black matte exterior instead of the glossy finish. The keyboard weighs around 1.3kgs and is designed to withstand stress, thus offering a rigid experience. The only drawback I saw on the design aspect is that it lacks a wrist rest. This is one major feature I look forward when purchasing a gaming keyboard. But yes! if you’re looking for a durable keyboard that respects the scarcity of your desk space, then I think the Zebronics Max Pro will suit your choice. Also this time Zebronics has done a great job in choosing the perfect font, it certainly offers justice to the overall design choice. The device has a 1.8m Braided Cable which is really flexible & rigid. The best part is that the matte surface does not attract too many fingerprints as well.The Max Pro is every gamer’s Dream Budget KeyboardGizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramGaming & Features:One of the key features of a good mechanical keyboard is called N-Key Rollover. This feature helps to detect each key-press independently. Which means you wouldn’t miss to record a key when several keys are pressed simultaneously. And that’s perfectly been carried out by the Zebronics Max Pro. The Keys are pretty tactile and gives a great feel while coding or playing games. Usually most of the mechanical keyboards use Cherry MX switches but leading to an increased net price. Thus Zebronics wanted to make the keyboard affordable by choosing the Outemu Switches. When I first heard that Zebronics are using Outemu, I didn’t actually have a good feel about this choice. Though it did kind-off prove me wrong! The Outemu switches are crisp, loud, and gives a pretty tactile feedback.Zebronics Max Pro Gaming Keyboard Review:The craziest thing about Mechanical Keyboards is that they tend to bridge the gap between the new generation non-tactile keyboards to the ones from the typewriter era. Most budget keyboards today use dome-switch technology, which helps to budget the expenses of the manufacturer. But leading to posses a relatively lacky and mushy feel to its users. This is what mechanical keyboards are trying to solve by offering a tactile feedback for each button press. Once you choose to shift to a mechanical keyboard, then you might never shift back. In this line-up Zebronics has released a new add-on to its max series: the Zebronics Max Pro!Design:Talking about the design, there are some major aesthetic changes that elevates the design & overall feel, making the Zebronics Max Pro a worthy follow-up to its predecessor.This time Zebronics has choose to adapt the black matte exterior instead of the glossy finish. The keyboard weighs around 1.3kgs and is designed to withstand stress, thus offering a rigid experience. The only drawback I saw on the design aspect is that it lacks a wrist rest. This is one major feature I look forward when purchasing a gaming keyboard. But yes! if you’re looking for a durable keyboard that respects the scarcity of your desk space, then I think the Zebronics Max Pro will suit your choice. Also this time Zebronics has done a great job in choosing the perfect font, it certainly offers justice to the overall design choice. The device has a 1.8m Braided Cable which is really flexible & rigid. The best part is that the matte surface does not attract too many fingerprints as well.The Max Pro is every gamer’s Dream Budget KeyboardGizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramGaming & Features:One of the key features of a good mechanical keyboard is called N-Key Rollover. This feature helps to detect each key-press independently. Which means you wouldn’t miss to record a key when several keys are pressed simultaneously. And that’s perfectly been carried out by the Zebronics Max Pro. The Keys are pretty tactile and gives a great feel while coding or playing games. Usually most of the mechanical keyboards use Cherry MX switches but leading to an increased net price. Thus Zebronics wanted to make the keyboard affordable by choosing the Outemu Switches. When I first heard that Zebronics are using Outemu, I didn’t actually have a good feel about this choice. Though it did kind-off prove me wrong! The Outemu switches are crisp, loud, and gives a pretty tactile feedback.

After a well-received K1, Koolnee launched the K1 Trio which is just its second smartphone launch. However, it sure as hell doesn’t look like one. Even the Koolnee K1 was a very well-built phone and it received a lot of attention. The Koolnee K1 Tri aspires to be something more than the Koolnee K1. It wants to provide modern features like extremely thin bezels and an overall great phone at a very affordable price.We used the phone for quite some time and we’re upbeat about the latest smartphone. We’ll let you know about them in detail in our review below. Also, the final verdict will be at the end for which we will first pen down our experiences with the device.Koolnee K1 Trio Looks and BuildThe Koolnee K1 Trio amazes with its looks and charm. It has a sleek and silky smooth metal design with a unique colour. At the top, it leaves a very slender room for the earpiece and a couple of sensors. At the bottom is a sizable chin for the biometrics. Apart from that, its almost edge to edge. A minor gripe was the placement of the volume button and power button on the opposite side. I had trouble using it in landscape mode as I accidentally pressed one of those buttons quite a few times. As I said in the unboxing, it is heavy and I never got used to the extra weight of the device. It is manageable in daily use though. You’ll feel the extra grams during your long in-hand sessions.The front fingerprint reader is good enough for daily use but not as fast as, say, the Redmi Note 5 Pro. However, it is very accurate. I almost never had to double scan my finger in my days of use. The rear has a curved 4D Glass design but I doubt its glass as it seems plasticy when you knock it. The handset is a bit slippery and smudgy too but not as much as the Honor 9 Lite. The corners are also steel-made with chamfered edges, the likes you’ve seen on the Galaxy S6. All in all, the Koolnee K1 Trio has just an awesome design fit to be in the premium segment.DisplayThe front 6.0-inch screen is the star of the show that makes the smartphone a joy for multimedia users. The display of the Koolnee K1 Trio is colour accurate and very bright. You’re not going to have trouble in outdoor usage with it. Also, the viewing angles are great too. Touch sensitivity is perfect as well and you couldn’t ask for more with this display. I, for once, was satisfied with the ample real estate when I played games.Sound QualitySound levels were a bit on the lower side than most average speakers, I must say. During my content consumption, I found myself cranking up the volume to high levels many times to get desired levels. But, it doesn’t differ by much. If you’re alone by yourself, you won’t notice that much of a difference. Call quality was via the earpiece was good but the phone doesn’t support VoLTE which I use in India. So, I had to take. The headphone jack also does its job and won’t get you complaining if you’re used to average quality.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramPerformance The Koolnee K1 Trio possesses the MediaTek Helio P23 chipset. In my regular tasks, the processor served well most of the time. There were instances where the CPU would skip a heartbeat but that was pretty rare. All I’m saying is that it isn’t as fluid as the Snapdragon 630 series. If you’re coming from something like that, you’ll notice the difference straight away. Also, at such a low price point, the handset has 6GB of RAM and 12GB of storage which I found to be a very welcome addition. That amount of RAM does help the processor in multitasking and games and I found myself downloading a lot of content because of that huge extra onboard storage. That amount of storage is a highlight of the K1 Trio with a $240 price tag.Casual gaming isn’t at all a worry on this phone as I tried a number of titles like Clash of Clans and Crash of Cars both of which aren’t graphically intensive. Some graphically intensive games like Asphalt 8 for example mostly work well but you can notice some frame drops in a while. In conclusion, the Helio P23 while not as buttery smooth as the Snapdragon 636, it can get your job done.SoftwareIn terms of software, the Koolnee K1 Trio comes with a very close to stock UI. There’s absolutely no bloatware on the phone which is pleasant to see. Even though it is mostly stock, Koolnee does throw in some good customization tweaks in the mix. It comes with Face Unlock which I found to be working reasonably well. Its home button also doubles as a one-touch navigation key. The on-screen navigation buttons can be disabled if users wish to do so. It isn’t anywhere near as fast as the OnePlus 5T version though. Also, low light is where it isn’t ideal to use. I do feel the lack of the notification LED on the phone.聽I encountered some bugs in the UX whereby the Bluetooth would turn on randomly along with the GPS and it was annoying. However, this might get fixed with an OTA.The Koolnee K1 Trio comes with Android 7.1.1 and we’re not sure whether we’ll see Android Oreo on this. At least we haven’t heard about an official confirmation. The UX does need some polishing here and there. At places, there are obvious wrong English wordings and sentences that don’t make sense at all. Thankfully, these are issues that can be fixed with software updates.BatteryThe battery is another highlight of the phone. The heaviness of the device can be overlooked by the 4,200mAh battery. The handset lasted me a day easily even at times of heavy use. Koolnee has optimized the software well for longevity. You’ll have to be resilient to push this battery to its limits. Sadly, it doesn’t come with fast charging or USB Type-C. Without it, the K1 Trio is quite slow to charge. I mostly charge my devices at night and I never needed to charge the K1 Trio mid-day.CameraI kept the camera for the last part because it is the weakest point of the Koolnee K1 Trio. That is more so in the case of the selfie shooter. Apart from being positioned a bit awkwardly, the K1 Trio selfie camera just lacks the quality for daily use. It picks grainy shots with noise even in daylight situations. And there isn’t adequate detail at all. And you can forget about night shots since day shots even aren’t good enough. It does have a beauty mode but the best you can get out of this shooter is with plenty of light. Even then it lacks colour accuracy. Well, there are compromises to be made with the Koolnee K1 Trio, and the biggest one is in the selfie department. The rear camera is much more bearable than the selfie lens. It manages to capture good details and colour accuracy is good as well. It does tend to overexpose and oversaturate in some situations. Also, it doesn’t have an auto HDR mode and the lens takes a lot of time to focus on subjects. Take a look at the images we took with the rear shooters in the above gallery.Koolnee K1 Trio: Final ThoughtsAfter a well-received K1, Koolnee launched the K1 Trio which is just its second smartphone launch. However, it sure as hell doesn’t look like one. Even the Koolnee K1 was a very well-built phone and it received a lot of attention. The Koolnee K1 Tri aspires to be something more than the Koolnee K1. It wants to provide modern features like extremely thin bezels and an overall great phone at a very affordable price.We used the phone for quite some time and we’re upbeat about the latest smartphone. We’ll let you know about them in detail in our review below. Also, the final verdict will be at the end for which we will first pen down our experiences with the device.Koolnee K1 Trio Looks and BuildThe Koolnee K1 Trio amazes with its looks and charm. It has a sleek and silky smooth metal design with a unique colour. At the top, it leaves a very slender room for the earpiece and a couple of sensors. At the bottom is a sizable chin for the biometrics. Apart from that, its almost edge to edge. A minor gripe was the placement of the volume button and power button on the opposite side. I had trouble using it in landscape mode as I accidentally pressed one of those buttons quite a few times. As I said in the unboxing, it is heavy and I never got used to the extra weight of the device. It is manageable in daily use though. You’ll feel the extra grams during your long in-hand sessions.The front fingerprint reader is good enough for daily use but not as fast as, say, the Redmi Note 5 Pro. However, it is very accurate. I almost never had to double scan my finger in my days of use. The rear has a curved 4D Glass design but I doubt its glass as it seems plasticy when you knock it. The handset is a bit slippery and smudgy too but not as much as the Honor 9 Lite. The corners are also steel-made with chamfered edges, the likes you’ve seen on the Galaxy S6. All in all, the Koolnee K1 Trio has just an awesome design fit to be in the premium segment.DisplayThe front 6.0-inch screen is the star of the show that makes the smartphone a joy for multimedia users. The display of the Koolnee K1 Trio is colour accurate and very bright. You’re not going to have trouble in outdoor usage with it. Also, the viewing angles are great too. Touch sensitivity is perfect as well and you couldn’t ask for more with this display. I, for once, was satisfied with the ample real estate when I played games.Sound QualitySound levels were a bit on the lower side than most average speakers, I must say. During my content consumption, I found myself cranking up the volume to high levels many times to get desired levels. But, it doesn’t differ by much. If you’re alone by yourself, you won’t notice that much of a difference. Call quality was via the earpiece was good but the phone doesn’t support VoLTE which I use in India. So, I had to take. The headphone jack also does its job and won’t get you complaining if you’re used to average quality.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramPerformance The Koolnee K1 Trio possesses the MediaTek Helio P23 chipset. In my regular tasks, the processor served well most of the time. There were instances where the CPU would skip a heartbeat but that was pretty rare. All I’m saying is that it isn’t as fluid as the Snapdragon 630 series. If you’re coming from something like that, you’ll notice the difference straight away. Also, at such a low price point, the handset has 6GB of RAM and 12GB of storage which I found to be a very welcome addition. That amount of RAM does help the processor in multitasking and games and I found myself downloading a lot of content because of that huge extra onboard storage. That amount of storage is a highlight of the K1 Trio with a $240 price tag.Casual gaming isn’t at all a worry on this phone as I tried a number of titles like Clash of Clans and Crash of Cars both of which aren’t graphically intensive. Some graphically intensive games like Asphalt 8 for example mostly work well but you can notice some frame drops in a while. In conclusion, the Helio P23 while not as buttery smooth as the Snapdragon 636, it can get your job done.SoftwareIn terms of software, the Koolnee K1 Trio comes with a very close to stock UI. There’s absolutely no bloatware on the phone which is pleasant to see. Even though it is mostly stock, Koolnee does throw in some good customization tweaks in the mix. It comes with Face Unlock which I found to be working reasonably well. Its home button also doubles as a one-touch navigation key. The on-screen navigation buttons can be disabled if users wish to do so. It isn’t anywhere near as fast as the OnePlus 5T version though. Also, low light is where it isn’t ideal to use. I do feel the lack of the notification LED on the phone.聽I encountered some bugs in the UX whereby the Bluetooth would turn on randomly along with the GPS and it was annoying. However, this might get fixed with an OTA.The Koolnee K1 Trio comes with Android 7.1.1 and we’re not sure whether we’ll see Android Oreo on this. At least we haven’t heard about an official confirmation. The UX does need some polishing here and there. At places, there are obvious wrong English wordings and sentences that don’t make sense at all. Thankfully, these are issues that can be fixed with software updates.BatteryThe battery is another highlight of the phone. The heaviness of the device can be overlooked by the 4,200mAh battery. The handset lasted me a day easily even at times of heavy use. Koolnee has optimized the software well for longevity. You’ll have to be resilient to push this battery to its limits. Sadly, it doesn’t come with fast charging or USB Type-C. Without it, the K1 Trio is quite slow to charge. I mostly charge my devices at night and I never needed to charge the K1 Trio mid-day.CameraI kept the camera for the last part because it is the weakest point of the Koolnee K1 Trio. That is more so in the case of the selfie shooter. Apart from being positioned a bit awkwardly, the K1 Trio selfie camera just lacks the quality for daily use. It picks grainy shots with noise even in daylight situations. And there isn’t adequate detail at all. And you can forget about night shots since day shots even aren’t good enough. It does have a beauty mode but the best you can get out of this shooter is with plenty of light. Even then it lacks colour accuracy. Well, there are compromises to be made with the Koolnee K1 Trio, and the biggest one is in the selfie department. The rear camera is much more bearable than the selfie lens. It manages to capture good details and colour accuracy is good as well. It does tend to overexpose and oversaturate in some situations. Also, it doesn’t have an auto HDR mode and the lens takes a lot of time to focus on subjects. Take a look at the images we took with the rear shooters in the above gallery.Koolnee K1 Trio: Final ThoughtsIt took a while to arrive but its finally here. We know we’re a bit late with this one but customs and legal hurdles got in way of the package and hence the delay. The Koolnee K1 Trio promises to be your Xiaomi Mi Mix on a budget. Its UPS is the tri-bezel-less screen which is bezel-less from three sides. That’s why it’s called K1 Trio. Coming from Koolnee, an established decade-old manufacturer, it is one of the premium products in their portfolio alongside the Koolnee K1. Koolnee isn’t that much known outside of China but with the tagline “Beyond Expectations,” the company has plans to expand to other countries in Asia.Koolnee K1 Trio: UnboxingThe review unit we received came in a plain white box with just a simple Koolnee branding on the top. That’s it. There aren’t any colours or phone images on the top of the box. Inside you get the phone itself, a standard wall charger and a micro USB adapter, and some booklets and manuals. There’s no back cover although the phone did have a pre-applied screen protector. Oh, and you also do get a SIM ejector tool. That’s pretty much it for the unboxing experience.Koolnee K1 Trio: First ImpressionsMy first impressions for the Koolnee K1 Trio were like, “Wow, this is a great build and design”. For around $250, you get a premium glossy shiny build that will definitely turn heads. I know because mine did. There are two colour options for the Koolnee K1 Trio. The review unit I got was the cool Blue colour. It is somewhat reminiscent of the Coral Blue on the Galaxy S9. It just looks different than all other blue colours and stands out of the crowd. However, the front has a different shade of Blue than the back.Also, the full metal-build of the phone comes with curved edges at the back which makes holding the phone easy. I could also see the back cameras rise above the chassis and create a small bump. The handset also has chamfered edges again made entirely out of metal.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramThe front has what Koolnee calls 4D Glass on top of a 6.0-inch Full-HD+ display. And it does look good with those minimal bezels, I must say. It is worth noting that the top does have a bezel albeit a very slim one that houses the ear-piece and a couple of sensors. Still, the front design of the handset just looks great and you’ll love the look of it. The bottom chin is somewhat thick as it houses a fingerprint reader. But it is still smaller than the one on the likes of the Maze Alpha. I didn’t mind the bottom bezel much especially because I like a front fingerprint reader.On the other hand, the 8MP selfie shooter is also on the bottom which was a pretty awkward experience for me. If you’ve used the Mi Mix or any other phone with a bottom selfie camera, you know what I mean.Also, I found the Koolnee K1 Trio to be somewhat heavy. That is even after using a Redmi Note 5 Pro. I noticed the phone remarkably weighs around 214 grams which is obviously heavier than most phones in this range. We can understand this might be due to the 4,200mAh juice pack and the metal build. The rear is very prone to get smudges and fingerprints on the rear side so you’ll have to keep a cloth with you if you don’t want that.The volume buttons are on the left while the power button is on the right side and this can be a bit problematic when you use the phone in landscape mode. The buttons are just a bit wobbly, especially the volume button, but they work well.It took a while to arrive but its finally here. We know we’re a bit late with this one but customs and legal hurdles got in way of the package and hence the delay. The Koolnee K1 Trio promises to be your Xiaomi Mi Mix on a budget. Its UPS is the tri-bezel-less screen which is bezel-less from three sides. That’s why it’s called K1 Trio. Coming from Koolnee, an established decade-old manufacturer, it is one of the premium products in their portfolio alongside the Koolnee K1. Koolnee isn’t that much known outside of China but with the tagline “Beyond Expectations,” the company has plans to expand to other countries in Asia.Koolnee K1 Trio: UnboxingThe review unit we received came in a plain white box with just a simple Koolnee branding on the top. That’s it. There aren’t any colours or phone images on the top of the box. Inside you get the phone itself, a standard wall charger and a micro USB adapter, and some booklets and manuals. There’s no back cover although the phone did have a pre-applied screen protector. Oh, and you also do get a SIM ejector tool. That’s pretty much it for the unboxing experience.Koolnee K1 Trio: First ImpressionsMy first impressions for the Koolnee K1 Trio were like, “Wow, this is a great build and design”. For around $250, you get a premium glossy shiny build that will definitely turn heads. I know because mine did. There are two colour options for the Koolnee K1 Trio. The review unit I got was the cool Blue colour. It is somewhat reminiscent of the Coral Blue on the Galaxy S9. It just looks different than all other blue colours and stands out of the crowd. However, the front has a different shade of Blue than the back.Also, the full metal-build of the phone comes with curved edges at the back which makes holding the phone easy. I could also see the back cameras rise above the chassis and create a small bump. The handset also has chamfered edges again made entirely out of metal.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramThe front has what Koolnee calls 4D Glass on top of a 6.0-inch Full-HD+ display. And it does look good with those minimal bezels, I must say. It is worth noting that the top does have a bezel albeit a very slim one that houses the ear-piece and a couple of sensors. Still, the front design of the handset just looks great and you’ll love the look of it. The bottom chin is somewhat thick as it houses a fingerprint reader. But it is still smaller than the one on the likes of the Maze Alpha. I didn’t mind the bottom bezel much especially because I like a front fingerprint reader.On the other hand, the 8MP selfie shooter is also on the bottom which was a pretty awkward experience for me. If you’ve used the Mi Mix or any other phone with a bottom selfie camera, you know what I mean.Also, I found the Koolnee K1 Trio to be somewhat heavy. That is even after using a Redmi Note 5 Pro. I noticed the phone remarkably weighs around 214 grams which is obviously heavier than most phones in this range. We can understand this might be due to the 4,200mAh juice pack and the metal build. The rear is very prone to get smudges and fingerprints on the rear side so you’ll have to keep a cloth with you if you don’t want that.The volume buttons are on the left while the power button is on the right side and this can be a bit problematic when you use the phone in landscape mode. The buttons are just a bit wobbly, especially the volume button, but they work well.

I have to be honest, I’m a guy who doesn’t use Bluetooth headsets/earbuds/headphones in his everyday life. I don’t find them to be comfortable for once, but I also tend to always bring my phone to my ear every time it rings – and perhaps that’s not the smartest thing I could do.I also hate cords and having huge headphones protruding from my head so all of the above have led me to a life of solitude – as far as 螔luetooth聽headsets/earbuds/ headphones are concerned. That’s why when I got this small beauty called聽Wavefun Micro Mini Earbud, I wasn’t THAT “hyped” to do a review –聽 I admit it. Alas I was mistaken… and that’s the reason why:Wavefun Micro Mini Earbud: basic packageWAVEFUN Micro Mini Bluetooth EarpieceMagnetic USB Charging DockWhite Color Gift BoxS/M/L Black Ear TipsEnglish User ManualIt’s really easy to activate and connect your phone to the聽Wavefun Micro Mini Earbud the first time you receive its package. Just turn it on by pressing continuously the first (protruding) button until the notification LED in the middle pulses in red-blue color – indicating that it’s waiting to pair with your smartphone. Go to the Bluetooth Settings of your device, locate the WAVEFUN Micro device and select it. That’s all, pairing complete 馃檪Wavefun Micro Mini Earbud: main featuresMINI & LIGHT WEIGHT: It’s surely one of the smallest earbuds on the market, weighing only 3,9 gr. while providing exceptional ease of use and portability. Its dimensions are聽3.5 x 2.4 x 1.1 inches making it REALLY easy to misplace or even lose it, so try to be careful where you place it when you’re not using it.聽In fact I did manage to misplace it for a couple of days, but I finally remembered that I had placed it inside my trouser’s pocket once. And thankfully my wife hadn’t put it yet in the washing machine.COMFORT & SECURE FIT IN EITHER EAR: It’s ergonomically-designed and in its basic package you will find 3 different sized ear plugs, that ensure a great snug and secure fit in your ear, no matter which one you prefer: left or right.聽It fits exceptionally in the ear. It doesn’t move at all, and you can easily use it while running, walking, cycling or whatever you do that needs excessive body movement. Trust me, as long as you choose the right ear plug, you won’t have any issue with its fit in your ear.聽Very good SOUND quality: It’s excellent for everyday phone calls, with impressive maximum volume, enabling you to use it even in crowded areas, or while you’re in a busy street, or in a room full of people talking. The caller will NOT complain about the clarity of your voice, but you won’t complain either about the volume of each phone call.聽It’s louder than other budget Bluetooth earbuds that are available in the market, providing a decent communication experience for the average user.聽Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramIf you want to listen to music on the other hand (why would anyone would use a single earbud for music?) then you won’t be impressed. It’s Bluetooth 4.1 compatible and uses a聽CSR8610 chip for audio, providing decent treble and non-existent bass obviously. Don’t get me wrong, you can enjoy your favorite songs from your phone if you want, but surely there are way better stereo headsets and headphones in the market that provide excellent music quality.聽Note also that it has voice notifications like 芦Power On/Power Off, Phone Connected, Phone Disconnected etc).You’re gonna love its MAGNETIC USB CHARGER: It’s really easy to charge it using it, just by connecting it to any available USB port: on your PC, laptop, on a power outlet with an adaptor, directly from a power bank etc.聽You only have to place the Earbud close to the hole of its charger and instantly the magnets there will attract it with significant strength, making sure it doesn’t slip. A red indicator light shines when it’s charging and it goes off when charging is complete 馃槈 It’s that simple.It takes approximately 1 hour to fully charge it, enabling you to talk for almost 5 hours straight before it needs to be recharged. Alternatively you can keep it in stand by mode for several days (80 hours or so), depending the use of course.DUAL BUTTONS, for easy Siri/Google Assistant support: Given its REALLY small size, one would think that there would be no space for extra buttons etc. Fortunately this is NOT the case here, as the聽Wavefun Micro Mini Earbud comes with two buttons: one for the typical聽answer/end and play /Pause functions and a second to reduce volume and skip songs.聽It’s also compatible with most Smartphone Assistants such as Siri (iOS), Google Assistant (Generic Android), Bixby (Samsung) etc. You can easily activate it by聽holding the main button for 2 seconds.聽Given its current price, I really cannot find something negative to tell about this gem that could possibly change the way I have been using smartphones all my life :p And that’s making me use a Bluetooth headset/Earbud during the everyday use of my smartphone.聽Just make sure you always know where you put it, and that you don’t misplace it (like I did). I know there are several other similar gadgets out there (at the same price range) but all I can say for this specific is that it SURELY is worth its money.聽I have to be honest, I’m a guy who doesn’t use Bluetooth headsets/earbuds/headphones in his everyday life. I don’t find them to be comfortable for once, but I also tend to always bring my phone to my ear every time it rings – and perhaps that’s not the smartest thing I could do.I also hate cords and having huge headphones protruding from my head so all of the above have led me to a life of solitude – as far as 螔luetooth聽headsets/earbuds/ headphones are concerned. That’s why when I got this small beauty called聽Wavefun Micro Mini Earbud, I wasn’t THAT “hyped” to do a review –聽 I admit it. Alas I was mistaken… and that’s the reason why:Wavefun Micro Mini Earbud: basic packageWAVEFUN Micro Mini Bluetooth EarpieceMagnetic USB Charging DockWhite Color Gift BoxS/M/L Black Ear TipsEnglish User ManualIt’s really easy to activate and connect your phone to the聽Wavefun Micro Mini Earbud the first time you receive its package. Just turn it on by pressing continuously the first (protruding) button until the notification LED in the middle pulses in red-blue color – indicating that it’s waiting to pair with your smartphone. Go to the Bluetooth Settings of your device, locate the WAVEFUN Micro device and select it. That’s all, pairing complete 馃檪Wavefun Micro Mini Earbud: main featuresMINI & LIGHT WEIGHT: It’s surely one of the smallest earbuds on the market, weighing only 3,9 gr. while providing exceptional ease of use and portability. Its dimensions are聽3.5 x 2.4 x 1.1 inches making it REALLY easy to misplace or even lose it, so try to be careful where you place it when you’re not using it.聽In fact I did manage to misplace it for a couple of days, but I finally remembered that I had placed it inside my trouser’s pocket once. And thankfully my wife hadn’t put it yet in the washing machine.COMFORT & SECURE FIT IN EITHER EAR: It’s ergonomically-designed and in its basic package you will find 3 different sized ear plugs, that ensure a great snug and secure fit in your ear, no matter which one you prefer: left or right.聽It fits exceptionally in the ear. It doesn’t move at all, and you can easily use it while running, walking, cycling or whatever you do that needs excessive body movement. Trust me, as long as you choose the right ear plug, you won’t have any issue with its fit in your ear.聽Very good SOUND quality: It’s excellent for everyday phone calls, with impressive maximum volume, enabling you to use it even in crowded areas, or while you’re in a busy street, or in a room full of people talking. The caller will NOT complain about the clarity of your voice, but you won’t complain either about the volume of each phone call.聽It’s louder than other budget Bluetooth earbuds that are available in the market, providing a decent communication experience for the average user.聽Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramIf you want to listen to music on the other hand (why would anyone would use a single earbud for music?) then you won’t be impressed. It’s Bluetooth 4.1 compatible and uses a聽CSR8610 chip for audio, providing decent treble and non-existent bass obviously. Don’t get me wrong, you can enjoy your favorite songs from your phone if you want, but surely there are way better stereo headsets and headphones in the market that provide excellent music quality.聽Note also that it has voice notifications like 芦Power On/Power Off, Phone Connected, Phone Disconnected etc).You’re gonna love its MAGNETIC USB CHARGER: It’s really easy to charge it using it, just by connecting it to any available USB port: on your PC, laptop, on a power outlet with an adaptor, directly from a power bank etc.聽You only have to place the Earbud close to the hole of its charger and instantly the magnets there will attract it with significant strength, making sure it doesn’t slip. A red indicator light shines when it’s charging and it goes off when charging is complete 馃槈 It’s that simple.It takes approximately 1 hour to fully charge it, enabling you to talk for almost 5 hours straight before it needs to be recharged. Alternatively you can keep it in stand by mode for several days (80 hours or so), depending the use of course.DUAL BUTTONS, for easy Siri/Google Assistant support: Given its REALLY small size, one would think that there would be no space for extra buttons etc. Fortunately this is NOT the case here, as the聽Wavefun Micro Mini Earbud comes with two buttons: one for the typical聽answer/end and play /Pause functions and a second to reduce volume and skip songs.聽It’s also compatible with most Smartphone Assistants such as Siri (iOS), Google Assistant (Generic Android), Bixby (Samsung) etc. You can easily activate it by聽holding the main button for 2 seconds.聽Given its current price, I really cannot find something negative to tell about this gem that could possibly change the way I have been using smartphones all my life :p And that’s making me use a Bluetooth headset/Earbud during the everyday use of my smartphone.聽Just make sure you always know where you put it, and that you don’t misplace it (like I did). I know there are several other similar gadgets out there (at the same price range) but all I can say for this specific is that it SURELY is worth its money.聽

Smartisan is not an old company. Founded in May 2012, theyve released less than 10 phones to date mostly in the Chinese market. The phone in question is the Smartisan Nut Pro 2, a very promising smartphone with a promising price tag. In addition audiophiles, this is most likely the best phone loudspeaker you can buy on the market today, more details in the audio section below.Smartisan Nut Pro 2 ReviewPersonally, the Snapdragon 660 processor is the perfect mix of power and battery efficiency for me, and Ive used three of them to date, the Xiaomi Mi Note 3, the Elephone U Pro, and the Smartisan Nut Pro 2. Ive praised the Mi Note 3 as a great but overpriced device (but is frequently on sale), and its objectively the best phone out of these three. That being said, the Smartisan Nut Pro 2 comes close, very close, and heres why.Very PromisingSmartisan Nut Pro 2 SpecificationsProcessorSnapdragon 660 Octacore ProcessorDisplay5.99 2160×1080 IPS LCDRAM3/4/6GBStorage32/64/128/256GB eMMCOperating SystemAndroid 7.1 NougatCameras12MP IMX386 with OIS, 20MP FrontBattery3,500mAhPhysical Dimensions15.44 x 7.34 x 0.74 cm, 156gSmartisan Nut Pro 2 HardwareIve never been a fan of glass phones, but lately my daily drivers have all been glass, and the Smartisan Nut Pro 2 is my latest daily driver with a glass back. That being said, the phone is very well made and unbelievably light. Combine the featherweight 156g and perfect weight distribution and the Nut Pro 2 feels like slippery, light Styrofoam in your hand.This thing is solid, a metal band keeping the guts of the phone firmly in place, and dropping this on a wooden floor yielded absolutely no scratches, just my heart hitting the floor in fear. While I like the design of the phone, fairly boxy, and a dual tone black/bronze colour scheme, the boxiness does make the phone feel larger than say the curved Mi Note 3 or stunning Elephone U Pro, but it does have fairly minimal bezels.A lack of a headphone jack could be a dealbreaker for some.Insanely LightSmartisan Nut Pro 2 DisplayIm probably going to get a bunch of crap for saying this, but Ill go ahead and say it anyway. The Smartisan Nut Pro 2s LCD display is THE best LCD display Ive ever seen. The primary driver for my love of the display is the insanely high contrast, higher than any LCD display Ive ever seen (that includes the majors like Samsung, Apple, LG, Sony). In fact its good enough that moving from an AMOLED display to this LCD isnt a major transition in terms of colour saturation (I like oversaturated colours if you noticed).Max brightness tops out around 550 nits which allows for easy sunlight legibility, and touch sensitivity is excellent, easily useable with cloth gloves.I do have one complaint, and the auto brightness is very aggressive. In pretty much 98% of situations, the brightness could be lowered by a good 20% and still be more than bright enough for use. Thats a lot of battery needlessly wasted.Smartisan Nut Pro 2 AudioIll get less crap for saying this than my adulation of the display, but the speakers here are the best phone speakers Ive never heard by far.While the Galaxy S9 might have the best speakers yet in a Samsung phone, the Smartisan Nut Pro 2 still surpasses the S9 and every other phone Ive heard comfortably.Where the Nut Pro 2 excels is audio quality. No matter what kind of audio youre playing, an action movie like the Avengers, a conversation filled TV show, or any kind of music, the Smartisan has a rich, vibrant body that not only provides copious amounts of bass but is clear and undistorted at the same time. While other phones might deliver similar volumes and clarity, they lack the rich, vibrant body the Smartisan has. Even youtube videos without bass heavy tracks give comfortable amounts of low frequencies that emulate the real sound a lot better than toher devices.Where the audio diverges a little bit is the bass output. Its a lot more punchy and deep than any other smartphone Ive used (except the Razer phone), however the Smartisan outputs more of a natural, non-fatiguing bass without being muddy. Its not as deep or rich as the Google Home or Apple Homepod, but its a cell phone for crying out loud.One area where the Smartisan might not match up to the Galaxy S9 or the iPhone X would be volume, but even within this supposed downside is a ray of sunshine. Sure, the S9 or the X are louder, but at the very top end of the S9/iPhone Xs speaker volumes, you can hear the speakers are slightly unbalanced, with mids and highs slightly overpowering the bass which results in slightly harsher sound quality. The Smartisan at its maximum volume sounds just as natural as it would at low volume, no change in the balance or power of each set of frequencies.Quick edit to discuss the ZTE Axon 7, I have used it and while the ZTE is able to output much heavier bass and has incredible stereo separation compared to the Smartisan Nut Pro 2, the bass on the Axon 7 is muddier than the Smartisan and the audio output on the Axon 7 is generally less crystal clear or natural than the Smartisan, hard to believe, I know.Smartisan Nut Pro 2 BatteryIve seen slightly better battery life out of other Snapdragon 660 phones than the Smartisan Nut Pro 2, specifically the Xiaomi Mi Note 3. I can still get 10 hours of screen on time easily on the Smartisan, but the standby battery drain is higher than Ive seen on other devices and I hope Smartisan fixes it as soon as possible, because battery drain during smartphone use is actually fairly reasonable, even doing things like Youtube, gaming, or taking photos.Dont forget the auto brightness is fairly aggressive, so youre losing a good 5-10% (estimate) off the top of the battery life also.Batterys GoodSmartisan Nut Pro 2 Software & PerformanceThe phone I obtained came with a reseller custom ROM with Google Services stuffed into the ROM, resulting in frequent freezing, copious amounts of lag, and the inability to update. I had to perform a deepflash operation to get the stock ROM back onto the phone but once it was on, I was quite satisfied.The Smartisan comes with Android 7.1 Nougat with no promises from Smartisan updating to Android 8.0 Oreo.Smartisans UI is a direct skin of the skeumorphic design language of the iPhone 4 era, with the settings menu a direct copy of iOS. Whether you like it or not is personal opinion, but I suspect many people reading this would probably dislike it.Smartisan has added three major features to Android, namely Big Bang, One Touch, and Idea Pills. Big Bang is basically Google Translate baked into the phone that allows you to translate almost anything including photos, while Idea Pills is in essence a quick note taking app that allows one to quickly take text notes or voice messages to capture fleeting inspiration. There is a dedicated Idea Pills hardware button that allows one to access the function easily, and unfortunately this button cannot be remapped to something else.One Touch is the only function that I personally find the most useful and fairly innovative. Activating One Touch (by hardware combo or swiping from a phone corner) shrinks to screen down to allow for very quick and intuitive copy and pasting between apps, something I do use occasionally.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramThe Smartisan UI is very polished and fast and while I do find launching apps on this phone a smidge slower than the Mi Note 3s MIUI9, its still very well polished and bug free.Multitasking on my 6GB unit was flawless, and gaming on the phone was perfect also, the phone got warm after about 30 minutes of gaming.The fingerprint sensor is fast and very accurate even with ripped or wet fingers, and face unlock is slightly slower than other phones but is good enough to use on a daily basis, even at night with minimal lighting.Smartisan Nut Pro 2 ConnectivityThe Smartisan Nut Pro 2 supports a rather unorthodox assortment of LTE bands, namely 1,2,3,4,5,7,8.Users in Canada will be pleased as the Nut Pro 2 is fully supported on Rogers, Bell and any subsidiaries that use these two networks, but Telus users will have to pass.Its a little more complicated in the USA, but suffice it to say that you will get 3G connecitivity on all the carriers (that are not CDMA) but 4G doesnt work on all of them.Sprint is completely incompatible with the Smartisan while AT&T and Verizon do use bands 2,4,5, however these 3 bands are not the carriers main bands and thus you wont get 4G connectivity in large swathes of the states. Buy the Smartisan Nut Pro 2The only carrier which is compatible with the Smartisan is T-Mobile. T-Mo uses band 4 and 12 as their main network bands with band 4 being more widespread than band 12. This means that the Smartisan will work on T-Mobile in certain cities.This phone will also work for any European users, but in a rather unconventional move this phone does not support LTE Band 20, just bands 3 and 7. It will still work, but do be careful.WiFi reception, Bluetooth reception, and GPS performance are all excellent. The 256GB version of this phone supports NFC while the phones with smaller storage capacities don’t. I installed Android Pay on this phone to check if it worked, and it looks like it does.Smartisan Nut Pro 2 CameraThe Smartisan Nut Pro 2 utilizes the IMX386 sensor with OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) which results in very good photos in daylight. Detail in these photos is excellent, and in all actuality I believe the sharpening algorithm used by Smartisan is slightly better than Xiaomis Mi Note 3, zooming into each photo as far as you can yields fairly aliased edges, something that the Mi Note 3 cant quite match.However, where the Smartisan does fall behind is colour reproduction. While the colours in photos are generally pretty accurate, they arent as pretty or deeply saturated the same way the Mi Note 3 does. Colours do look a little drab unless youre taking a photo of something exceptionally colourful. This seems to me to be a software decision as opposed to a lack of optimization, as the colours are generally fairly true to life without being oversaturated.HDR mode works very well in high dynamic range environments but washes the photos out in photos where HDR is not needed.The bokeh mode here is quite stellar. While there is no option to adjust bokeh while youre taking the photo, you can adjust it after the fact which in my opinion is a better option. The foreground/background separation is quite good and the edges are fairly separated, however the camera does make mistakes sometimes and will occasionally put a small part of the foreground into the background.Low light performance is decent also as the OIS helps keep the phone steady to avoid introducing blur into the photo and to keep the shutter open longer. While you do get some noise and grain in each low light photo, its not a horrible amount.The front facing camera is surprisingly good quality. With a high 20MP count, photos taken with this front camera are actually a lot better than rear cameras on many phones below $150. Great detail, decent colour reproduction, and fairly good dynamic range. It is capable of taking decent 1080p video as well.The rear facing camera is capable of filming 4K video at a 4:3 aspect ratio without stabilization, and a cropped 16:9 aspect ratio with stabilization on.The stabilization on the phone is unreal. Filming my dog while walking produced a video that looked like it was filmed using a gimbal, and even a full tilt sprint yielded very useable footage. The video is cropped somewhat (by 10-15%) so you do lose out on some pixels with stabilization on, and for the vast majority of people, its worth it.The video quality is very sharp brimming with detail as long as there is not a lot of movement in the video. Once you do introduce movement, you get a lot of ugly artifacting which looks to me to be a software issue and the 4K video looks a lot more like noisy 1080p.Smartisan Nut Pro 2 Camera Gallery Smartisan Nut Pro 2 VerdictThe Nut Pro 2 is a stellar phone by almost all measures of the word. It hits all the important checkboxes, a well built body, incredible display and speakers, good battery life and performance, and a great camera. However, there are a couple of items that could be dealbreakers depending on your preferences.First of all, its glass, and glass phone haters need not apply (ironically its my daily driver). The software is a direct copy of 2014 iOS and is locked down in strange places, and finally the video camera starts artifacting if too much motion is introduced.While these issues can be deal breakers, they are a small price to pay for such a great device. I recommend purchasing the 32/64GB version of this phone as that seems to be the best bang for your buck, starting at just $315USD at various retailers, youre not going to find a much better phone than this. Buy the Smartisan Nut Pro 2Smartisan is not an old company. Founded in May 2012, theyve released less than 10 phones to date mostly in the Chinese market. The phone in question is the Smartisan Nut Pro 2, a very promising smartphone with a promising price tag. In addition audiophiles, this is most likely the best phone loudspeaker you can buy on the market today, more details in the audio section below.Smartisan Nut Pro 2 ReviewPersonally, the Snapdragon 660 processor is the perfect mix of power and battery efficiency for me, and Ive used three of them to date, the Xiaomi Mi Note 3, the Elephone U Pro, and the Smartisan Nut Pro 2. Ive praised the Mi Note 3 as a great but overpriced device (but is frequently on sale), and its objectively the best phone out of these three. That being said, the Smartisan Nut Pro 2 comes close, very close, and heres why.Very PromisingSmartisan Nut Pro 2 SpecificationsProcessorSnapdragon 660 Octacore ProcessorDisplay5.99 2160×1080 IPS LCDRAM3/4/6GBStorage32/64/128/256GB eMMCOperating SystemAndroid 7.1 NougatCameras12MP IMX386 with OIS, 20MP FrontBattery3,500mAhPhysical Dimensions15.44 x 7.34 x 0.74 cm, 156gSmartisan Nut Pro 2 HardwareIve never been a fan of glass phones, but lately my daily drivers have all been glass, and the Smartisan Nut Pro 2 is my latest daily driver with a glass back. That being said, the phone is very well made and unbelievably light. Combine the featherweight 156g and perfect weight distribution and the Nut Pro 2 feels like slippery, light Styrofoam in your hand.This thing is solid, a metal band keeping the guts of the phone firmly in place, and dropping this on a wooden floor yielded absolutely no scratches, just my heart hitting the floor in fear. While I like the design of the phone, fairly boxy, and a dual tone black/bronze colour scheme, the boxiness does make the phone feel larger than say the curved Mi Note 3 or stunning Elephone U Pro, but it does have fairly minimal bezels.A lack of a headphone jack could be a dealbreaker for some.Insanely LightSmartisan Nut Pro 2 DisplayIm probably going to get a bunch of crap for saying this, but Ill go ahead and say it anyway. The Smartisan Nut Pro 2s LCD display is THE best LCD display Ive ever seen. The primary driver for my love of the display is the insanely high contrast, higher than any LCD display Ive ever seen (that includes the majors like Samsung, Apple, LG, Sony). In fact its good enough that moving from an AMOLED display to this LCD isnt a major transition in terms of colour saturation (I like oversaturated colours if you noticed).Max brightness tops out around 550 nits which allows for easy sunlight legibility, and touch sensitivity is excellent, easily useable with cloth gloves.I do have one complaint, and the auto brightness is very aggressive. In pretty much 98% of situations, the brightness could be lowered by a good 20% and still be more than bright enough for use. Thats a lot of battery needlessly wasted.Smartisan Nut Pro 2 AudioIll get less crap for saying this than my adulation of the display, but the speakers here are the best phone speakers Ive never heard by far.While the Galaxy S9 might have the best speakers yet in a Samsung phone, the Smartisan Nut Pro 2 still surpasses the S9 and every other phone Ive heard comfortably.Where the Nut Pro 2 excels is audio quality. No matter what kind of audio youre playing, an action movie like the Avengers, a conversation filled TV show, or any kind of music, the Smartisan has a rich, vibrant body that not only provides copious amounts of bass but is clear and undistorted at the same time. While other phones might deliver similar volumes and clarity, they lack the rich, vibrant body the Smartisan has. Even youtube videos without bass heavy tracks give comfortable amounts of low frequencies that emulate the real sound a lot better than toher devices.Where the audio diverges a little bit is the bass output. Its a lot more punchy and deep than any other smartphone Ive used (except the Razer phone), however the Smartisan outputs more of a natural, non-fatiguing bass without being muddy. Its not as deep or rich as the Google Home or Apple Homepod, but its a cell phone for crying out loud.One area where the Smartisan might not match up to the Galaxy S9 or the iPhone X would be volume, but even within this supposed downside is a ray of sunshine. Sure, the S9 or the X are louder, but at the very top end of the S9/iPhone Xs speaker volumes, you can hear the speakers are slightly unbalanced, with mids and highs slightly overpowering the bass which results in slightly harsher sound quality. The Smartisan at its maximum volume sounds just as natural as it would at low volume, no change in the balance or power of each set of frequencies.Quick edit to discuss the ZTE Axon 7, I have used it and while the ZTE is able to output much heavier bass and has incredible stereo separation compared to the Smartisan Nut Pro 2, the bass on the Axon 7 is muddier than the Smartisan and the audio output on the Axon 7 is generally less crystal clear or natural than the Smartisan, hard to believe, I know.Smartisan Nut Pro 2 BatteryIve seen slightly better battery life out of other Snapdragon 660 phones than the Smartisan Nut Pro 2, specifically the Xiaomi Mi Note 3. I can still get 10 hours of screen on time easily on the Smartisan, but the standby battery drain is higher than Ive seen on other devices and I hope Smartisan fixes it as soon as possible, because battery drain during smartphone use is actually fairly reasonable, even doing things like Youtube, gaming, or taking photos.Dont forget the auto brightness is fairly aggressive, so youre losing a good 5-10% (estimate) off the top of the battery life also.Batterys GoodSmartisan Nut Pro 2 Software & PerformanceThe phone I obtained came with a reseller custom ROM with Google Services stuffed into the ROM, resulting in frequent freezing, copious amounts of lag, and the inability to update. I had to perform a deepflash operation to get the stock ROM back onto the phone but once it was on, I was quite satisfied.The Smartisan comes with Android 7.1 Nougat with no promises from Smartisan updating to Android 8.0 Oreo.Smartisans UI is a direct skin of the skeumorphic design language of the iPhone 4 era, with the settings menu a direct copy of iOS. Whether you like it or not is personal opinion, but I suspect many people reading this would probably dislike it.Smartisan has added three major features to Android, namely Big Bang, One Touch, and Idea Pills. Big Bang is basically Google Translate baked into the phone that allows you to translate almost anything including photos, while Idea Pills is in essence a quick note taking app that allows one to quickly take text notes or voice messages to capture fleeting inspiration. There is a dedicated Idea Pills hardware button that allows one to access the function easily, and unfortunately this button cannot be remapped to something else.One Touch is the only function that I personally find the most useful and fairly innovative. Activating One Touch (by hardware combo or swiping from a phone corner) shrinks to screen down to allow for very quick and intuitive copy and pasting between apps, something I do use occasionally.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramThe Smartisan UI is very polished and fast and while I do find launching apps on this phone a smidge slower than the Mi Note 3s MIUI9, its still very well polished and bug free.Multitasking on my 6GB unit was flawless, and gaming on the phone was perfect also, the phone got warm after about 30 minutes of gaming.The fingerprint sensor is fast and very accurate even with ripped or wet fingers, and face unlock is slightly slower than other phones but is good enough to use on a daily basis, even at night with minimal lighting.Smartisan Nut Pro 2 ConnectivityThe Smartisan Nut Pro 2 supports a rather unorthodox assortment of LTE bands, namely 1,2,3,4,5,7,8.Users in Canada will be pleased as the Nut Pro 2 is fully supported on Rogers, Bell and any subsidiaries that use these two networks, but Telus users will have to pass.Its a little more complicated in the USA, but suffice it to say that you will get 3G connecitivity on all the carriers (that are not CDMA) but 4G doesnt work on all of them.Sprint is completely incompatible with the Smartisan while AT&T and Verizon do use bands 2,4,5, however these 3 bands are not the carriers main bands and thus you wont get 4G connectivity in large swathes of the states. Buy the Smartisan Nut Pro 2The only carrier which is compatible with the Smartisan is T-Mobile. T-Mo uses band 4 and 12 as their main network bands with band 4 being more widespread than band 12. This means that the Smartisan will work on T-Mobile in certain cities.This phone will also work for any European users, but in a rather unconventional move this phone does not support LTE Band 20, just bands 3 and 7. It will still work, but do be careful.WiFi reception, Bluetooth reception, and GPS performance are all excellent. The 256GB version of this phone supports NFC while the phones with smaller storage capacities don’t. I installed Android Pay on this phone to check if it worked, and it looks like it does.Smartisan Nut Pro 2 CameraThe Smartisan Nut Pro 2 utilizes the IMX386 sensor with OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) which results in very good photos in daylight. Detail in these photos is excellent, and in all actuality I believe the sharpening algorithm used by Smartisan is slightly better than Xiaomis Mi Note 3, zooming into each photo as far as you can yields fairly aliased edges, something that the Mi Note 3 cant quite match.However, where the Smartisan does fall behind is colour reproduction. While the colours in photos are generally pretty accurate, they arent as pretty or deeply saturated the same way the Mi Note 3 does. Colours do look a little drab unless youre taking a photo of something exceptionally colourful. This seems to me to be a software decision as opposed to a lack of optimization, as the colours are generally fairly true to life without being oversaturated.HDR mode works very well in high dynamic range environments but washes the photos out in photos where HDR is not needed.The bokeh mode here is quite stellar. While there is no option to adjust bokeh while youre taking the photo, you can adjust it after the fact which in my opinion is a better option. The foreground/background separation is quite good and the edges are fairly separated, however the camera does make mistakes sometimes and will occasionally put a small part of the foreground into the background.Low light performance is decent also as the OIS helps keep the phone steady to avoid introducing blur into the photo and to keep the shutter open longer. While you do get some noise and grain in each low light photo, its not a horrible amount.The front facing camera is surprisingly good quality. With a high 20MP count, photos taken with this front camera are actually a lot better than rear cameras on many phones below $150. Great detail, decent colour reproduction, and fairly good dynamic range. It is capable of taking decent 1080p video as well.The rear facing camera is capable of filming 4K video at a 4:3 aspect ratio without stabilization, and a cropped 16:9 aspect ratio with stabilization on.The stabilization on the phone is unreal. Filming my dog while walking produced a video that looked like it was filmed using a gimbal, and even a full tilt sprint yielded very useable footage. The video is cropped somewhat (by 10-15%) so you do lose out on some pixels with stabilization on, and for the vast majority of people, its worth it.The video quality is very sharp brimming with detail as long as there is not a lot of movement in the video. Once you do introduce movement, you get a lot of ugly artifacting which looks to me to be a software issue and the 4K video looks a lot more like noisy 1080p.Smartisan Nut Pro 2 Camera Gallery Smartisan Nut Pro 2 VerdictThe Nut Pro 2 is a stellar phone by almost all measures of the word. It hits all the important checkboxes, a well built body, incredible display and speakers, good battery life and performance, and a great camera. However, there are a couple of items that could be dealbreakers depending on your preferences.First of all, its glass, and glass phone haters need not apply (ironically its my daily driver). The software is a direct copy of 2014 iOS and is locked down in strange places, and finally the video camera starts artifacting if too much motion is introduced.While these issues can be deal breakers, they are a small price to pay for such a great device. I recommend purchasing the 32/64GB version of this phone as that seems to be the best bang for your buck, starting at just $315USD at various retailers, youre not going to find a much better phone than this. Buy the Smartisan Nut Pro 2

This is one of those reviews where you read how bad of a trainwreck it is, and after you read it, let me know if this changes your perspective on Chuwi.Chuwi Hi9 ReviewI was honestly pretty excited for the Chuwi Hi9 as I was looking for a great 8.4 tablet for media consumption as my Xiaomi 3:2 Mipad 3 was getting on my nerves in certain situations.However, a major issue coupled with a myriad other smaller problems prevent this from being a seller even on firesale.WreckedChuwi Hi9 SpecificationsProcessorMTK8173 Octacore ProcessorDisplay8.4 2560×1600 IPS LCDRAM4GBStorage64GB eMMCOperating SystemAndroid 6.0 MarshmallowCameras8MP Camera, 2MP FrontBattery5,000mAhPhysical Dimensions21.60 x 12.80 x 0.70 cm, 373gChuwi Hi9 HardwareThe build quality was promising. It was made of matte plastic which is one of my favourite materials for use in a tablet or phone. It has that nice rubbery feeling that is pleasing to touch and unfortunately picks up fingerprints also. However, this thing creaks louder than an old man with arthritis. Grab both ends of the tablet and twist it lightly and it creaks to no end. It feels very cheaply made and unfortunately is cheaply made also.Promotional pictures suggested a tablet with minimal bezels, but they are far from that. While the bezels are not hideously massive, they are quite different from what the promo pictures suggested, with fairly sizeable side bezels and a large and bottom bezel. This is definitely not a beautiful device.There is a microUSB slot and a microSD card slot included up top also.Creaks like an old manChuwi Hi9 DisplayThe display is pretty much the only good part of this device, a pretty good quality LCD display with a high resolution of 2560×1600. I have to say that the display looks very good, reading comics and watching content is an absolute pleasure. With the 16:10 aspect ratio, letterboxing is minimal on TV shows and less severe on movies. In my opinion, 16:10 is the best aspect ratio for reading manga/comics as well. Maximum brightness tops out around 400 nits, not bad, and can be used barely in sunlight. However, this is where we encounter the first major problem, the touch sensitivity is very bad. Ive reviewed many tablets and the sensitivity is one of the worse ones around, dragging your finger across the screen without enough force will cause the screen to stop registering your finger, and it honestly hampers the overall experience quite a bit. My feeling is that Chuwi tried cutting costs by using a smaller touch module than was required, causing sensitivity to be rather bad.Chuwi Hi9 AudioAudio quality is barely average, quality is generally very hollow and tinny with a lack of bass. In addition, you do get distortion at max volume which is a bit disappointing.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramChuwi Hi9 BatteryThe 5000mAh battery gives an average of about 5 hours of screen on time which is nowhere near enough for any serious tablet user. The culprit here would be twofold, the Mediatek CPU not being power efficient and a lack of power optimization, which means that the battery is not utilized to its full capacity.Batterys no goodChuwi Hi9 Software & PerformanceApart from the poor touch performance, the software on the Hi9 doesnt fare well either. We see here Android 7.1 Nougat and slightly laggy performance most likely due to the high resolution of 2560×1600. Swiping between home screens and accessing the notifications tray has some slight lag that isnt present in other tablets like the Mi Pad 3, however launching apps is fairly fast and multitasking isnt a problem either.Playing intense games at smooth framerates was difficult due to the high resolution, however less intense games ran quite well. The tablet did get fairly warm during gaming but never got burning hot.Chuwi Hi9 ConnectivityThe WiFi performance is a dealbreaker here. WiFi speeds top out around 10 feet (3m) away from the router, but any farther than that (5-10m) and WiFi speeds drop by at least half and latency (ping) shoots through the roof. Once you move closer to the 12m range (or add walls inbetween) and WiFi just stops working. Its quite ridiculous how bad the WiFi reception is on the Chuwi Hi9, and it doesnt look like software updates are going to do anything. Both cameras are fairly low quality that is to be expected from tablets in general.Chuwi Hi9 VerdictThe Chuwi Hi9 is promising on paper only as Chuwis execution is rather poor. Dismal WiFi reception coupled with lacking touch sensitivity makes this a solid dont buy for anyone looking for a tablet.While the display is fairly nice, other minor problems like creaky build quality and subpar battery life hamper the already crippled tablet to the point of no return. Hopefully Chuwi pulls its pants up for the next tablet, the Chuwi Hi9 Air. Buy the Chuwi Hi9This is one of those reviews where you read how bad of a trainwreck it is, and after you read it, let me know if this changes your perspective on Chuwi.Chuwi Hi9 ReviewI was honestly pretty excited for the Chuwi Hi9 as I was looking for a great 8.4 tablet for media consumption as my Xiaomi 3:2 Mipad 3 was getting on my nerves in certain situations.However, a major issue coupled with a myriad other smaller problems prevent this from being a seller even on firesale.WreckedChuwi Hi9 SpecificationsProcessorMTK8173 Octacore ProcessorDisplay8.4 2560×1600 IPS LCDRAM4GBStorage64GB eMMCOperating SystemAndroid 6.0 MarshmallowCameras8MP Camera, 2MP FrontBattery5,000mAhPhysical Dimensions21.60 x 12.80 x 0.70 cm, 373gChuwi Hi9 HardwareThe build quality was promising. It was made of matte plastic which is one of my favourite materials for use in a tablet or phone. It has that nice rubbery feeling that is pleasing to touch and unfortunately picks up fingerprints also. However, this thing creaks louder than an old man with arthritis. Grab both ends of the tablet and twist it lightly and it creaks to no end. It feels very cheaply made and unfortunately is cheaply made also.Promotional pictures suggested a tablet with minimal bezels, but they are far from that. While the bezels are not hideously massive, they are quite different from what the promo pictures suggested, with fairly sizeable side bezels and a large and bottom bezel. This is definitely not a beautiful device.There is a microUSB slot and a microSD card slot included up top also.Creaks like an old manChuwi Hi9 DisplayThe display is pretty much the only good part of this device, a pretty good quality LCD display with a high resolution of 2560×1600. I have to say that the display looks very good, reading comics and watching content is an absolute pleasure. With the 16:10 aspect ratio, letterboxing is minimal on TV shows and less severe on movies. In my opinion, 16:10 is the best aspect ratio for reading manga/comics as well. Maximum brightness tops out around 400 nits, not bad, and can be used barely in sunlight. However, this is where we encounter the first major problem, the touch sensitivity is very bad. Ive reviewed many tablets and the sensitivity is one of the worse ones around, dragging your finger across the screen without enough force will cause the screen to stop registering your finger, and it honestly hampers the overall experience quite a bit. My feeling is that Chuwi tried cutting costs by using a smaller touch module than was required, causing sensitivity to be rather bad.Chuwi Hi9 AudioAudio quality is barely average, quality is generally very hollow and tinny with a lack of bass. In addition, you do get distortion at max volume which is a bit disappointing.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramChuwi Hi9 BatteryThe 5000mAh battery gives an average of about 5 hours of screen on time which is nowhere near enough for any serious tablet user. The culprit here would be twofold, the Mediatek CPU not being power efficient and a lack of power optimization, which means that the battery is not utilized to its full capacity.Batterys no goodChuwi Hi9 Software & PerformanceApart from the poor touch performance, the software on the Hi9 doesnt fare well either. We see here Android 7.1 Nougat and slightly laggy performance most likely due to the high resolution of 2560×1600. Swiping between home screens and accessing the notifications tray has some slight lag that isnt present in other tablets like the Mi Pad 3, however launching apps is fairly fast and multitasking isnt a problem either.Playing intense games at smooth framerates was difficult due to the high resolution, however less intense games ran quite well. The tablet did get fairly warm during gaming but never got burning hot.Chuwi Hi9 ConnectivityThe WiFi performance is a dealbreaker here. WiFi speeds top out around 10 feet (3m) away from the router, but any farther than that (5-10m) and WiFi speeds drop by at least half and latency (ping) shoots through the roof. Once you move closer to the 12m range (or add walls inbetween) and WiFi just stops working. Its quite ridiculous how bad the WiFi reception is on the Chuwi Hi9, and it doesnt look like software updates are going to do anything. Both cameras are fairly low quality that is to be expected from tablets in general.Chuwi Hi9 VerdictThe Chuwi Hi9 is promising on paper only as Chuwis execution is rather poor. Dismal WiFi reception coupled with lacking touch sensitivity makes this a solid dont buy for anyone looking for a tablet.While the display is fairly nice, other minor problems like creaky build quality and subpar battery life hamper the already crippled tablet to the point of no return. Hopefully Chuwi pulls its pants up for the next tablet, the Chuwi Hi9 Air. Buy the Chuwi Hi9

Oukitel is one of many China-based smartphone OEMs and during the past few years has managed to launch some really interesting devices that boast impressive standby times and all-in-all decent聽performance. However this time, they decided to go with the “notch” flow and managed to be one of the first Android OEM’s that designed their own version of an iPhone – X clone, called Oukitel U18.The device is surely something you won’t forget about the first time you see its display, when this impressive notch pops out from the top of the panel. It’s the first of its kind in the U Series and quite possibly one of the most interesting iPhone X clones out there.Our little friend here packs a聽4,000mAh battery inside, providing impressive stand by/talk time results that you will surely enjoy, but it’s still low priced (just $159) and has decent everyday performance, with no problems or mishaps.Let’s have a closer look on what this affordable device can do, OK?Solid Build and the notch stands outOukitel U18 review – Technical specsThe Oukitel U18 packs聽a 5,85-inch 720p (1512 x 720) display which is extremely tough (up to 9H hardness), being able to withstand more than 800MPa of stress value. It’s equipped with Mediatek’s聽MT6750T SoC, paired with a Mali-T860 MP2 GPU, 4GB of RAM as well as 64GB of internal storage (it’s NOT expandable unfortunately) for apps, games, and media. On its back we can find a dual camera setup with a 13-megapixel snapper (16-megapixel interpolated) +5MP secondary lens, along with a LED flash next to it. There’s also an 8-megapixel shooter (for… typical selfie shots I am afraid) available up front.This is one of the first iPhone X clones as we foretold you, and it runs on Android 7.0 Nougat – with no way of knowing yet if it will get some Oreo upgrades. It’s not stock Android, no, but it’s really close to pure Android, as Oukitel has managed to add just some of their very own features (mostly gestures), a typical, light-weight launcher and a (not that impressive) icon theme.Oukitel U18 main Features:Display:聽5.85 inch 1512 x 720 pixels HD+ screenCPU:聽MTK6750T Octa Core 1.5GHzSystem:聽Android 7.0Storage:聽4GB RAM + 64GB ROMCameras:聽13.0MP + 5.0MP ( SW 16.0MP + 5.0MP )聽dual back cameras and聽8.0MP ( SW 13.0MP )聽front cameraNetworks:聽2G: GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz –聽3G: WCDMA 900/2100MHz –聽4G: FDD-LTE B1/B3/B7/B8/B20Hardware And Build qualityLet’s start with the “elephant” in the room OK? The first thing you notice when this phone appears in front of you (out of its box) is the notch that’s placed on the top of the display. It’s almost half the panel in width and聽 -in it- you will find the selfie camera, a proximity sensor along with the speaker.聽I have to admit that when you lookthis U18 model from upfront you get the feeling that it is indeed a decent iPhone X clone. The display however is not as impressive as the OLED panel that the iPhone has, but it still does the job I guess. It has a resolution of just聽1512 x 720 pixels (HD+), a size of 5,85 inches with 21:9 ratio and a really impressive brightness even in broad daylight.聽If you’ve had an Oukitel smartphone in the past, then you’d probably know that they’re almost all bulky devices. The same thing applies to the Oukitel U18 model I’m afraid, as it weighs 213 grams and it’s approximately 10mm thick. However these numbers feel normal on this type of phones – specifically the ones with large batteries like most Oukitel smartphones. This one packs a 4000 mAh battery so it’s more or less expected to be this heavy, but it’s also really durable with an extremely solid build. It’s made out of metal and some parts plastic, in case you were wondering.聽Oukitel decided to create a number of videos recently, in order to promote this device, and pretty much every one of them boasted about its battery life and the notch of course. Here’s one of them just for… the fun of it:In everyday use, the Oukitel U18 may be heavy but still, there’s a reason one will choose this phone isn’t there? It has a small footprint thanks to its 21:9 aspect ratio display, so it can easily fit into most pockets, or allow for one handed use with impressive performance (for a budget Android smartphone that is).Oh, let’s not forget that there’s a fingerprint scanner placed at the back of the device, providing quite fast fingerprint recognition with almost 90% success rate. You can use it to lock applications, unlock the phone and it can “read” fingerprints in 360 degrees.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramConnectivity/Call performanceConnectivity/Call performance is聽one of the most important (and deciding) factors for me, when I test a phone. How good it sounds, what type of signal reception it has and how well its speaker works. The Oukitel U18 did quite well in this test by my standards.聽The phone call quality was satisfactory, but nothing that is worth bragging about. I was able to call others and receive calls on this device without any issues, with quite good sound quality and volume.I found its speaker to be “rough” I guess, with loud “noise” when ringtones were played back, but nothing that could disappoint me I guess. I have to say that the microphone was quite solid and the overall connectivity via both data and Wi-Fi networks was consistent. I didnt experience any problems with 3G/4G or Wi-Fi during my tests, all web pages/social networks were easily accessible via WiFi but the signal strength when I was a bit far from my router dropped quite easily.I didn’t face any disconnections thankfully but the WiFi range drops rapidly after 10-12 meters walk from the WiFi router. The 4G speeds were average, with good reception wherever I went, zero dropped calls/connections and a decent all in all performance.Battery consumptionWell here’s where this phone (and most Oukitel devices) does a decent job! One of the main selling points of the Oukitel U18 is its battery life, and for a good reason. It comes with 4000 mAh capacity, but the Android 7.0 operating system is beautifully optimized to offer great standby and talk times, that will surely – SURELY – satisfy you.The Oukitel U18 can stay away from its charger for almost 2 days if you use it wisely, and offers good stand by times when you put it to rest. I “pushed” the device as much as I could:聽I played some games, browsed the internet, did tons of messaging and YouTube, phone calls as well but it just went from 74% to 49% by the end of the first day, confirming that it’s a decent “energy” phone. In any case, I know you will ask yourselves, so here it is:quite bezel-less, with decent battery times but… that’s all there’s to expect. Camera: not the iPhone-X clone you’d hope forFirst of all: don’t choose the phones of this category (devices with large batteries) purely for their imaging features. It’s not where they’re good at, and they know it. You should know it too. So the Oukitel U18 confirms all of the above and proves to be an average camera phone equipped with a dual camera setup on its back, equipped with a 13-megapixel snapper (16-megapixel interpolated) + a 5MP secondary lens, along with a LED flash next to it.Its main camera can shoot decent photos in good lighting conditions (the colors could be better overall), but it tends to provide somewhat colder images than it should. When the light isnt that good, however, it doesnt perform that well, as expected with most Chinese smartphones in this category and price range. It can also shoot FHD (1080p) videos at 25 fps, with average quality and some high contrast issues. There are also several other settings and modes such as FaceBeauty Shot, HDR, Blur, Mono, Panorama, PRO (allows the user to make his own adjustments manually) etc.[flickr_set id=”72157664477382347″]There’s also a LED flash placed next to the main camera. It manages to light up the images, but it doesn’t do what it should: it basically ruins selfies, letting them turn out unnatural and youll probably opt not to use flash, at least in most situations.聽The same goes for the 8MP selfie camera that’s placed in front, inside the notch obviously.聽The images lack details and are nothing to brag about, thats for sure, but it will do more than a good job if you shoot selfies from time to time, and the same goes for video calls via Skype etc.Operating System – Nougat insideThe Oukitel U18 runs on Android 7.0.1 Nougat with a simple icon theme and a typical lockscreen made by the Chinese company, so it’s not “pure” Android, but it’s really “lightweight” and easy to move around in the menus. Oukitel uses their own launcher with some special effects, desktop settings for those of you who love to tweak a bit their phones and includes a set of Gesture Options.聽You can, for example, double tap the capacitive home button in order to wake up the device, and you can do the same in order to lock it. All of these gestures can be disabled in settings by the way. As far as the notification shade, settings and a number of other parts of the software are concerned, this is stock Android 7.0 Nougat. It’s one of the reasons Oukitel U18 manages to perform as it should, and its definitely a huge “plus” for this smartphone.So, is it worth it?Oukitel is surely one of the decent聽manufacturers if you’re in the market for an affordable device with solid battery life. This one goes a step further and tries to take advantage of this whole “notch frenzy”, providing a smartphone that – when you look its front side- is very similar to the iPhone X, with a semi-bezel less display, a notch and a decent price.聽I must say that this model from Oukitel was quite decent in its battery performance -even though its 4000 mAh capacity is NOT the largest in the market today. However, it performs well in average – everyday use, and most novice or semi-experienced Android users will enjoy it – no doubt about it. After all its price nowadays (approximately 159$) is great for those who have limited budget to spend on a phone.It really looks like UMiDiGi is on a streak these past months, releasing a new flagship phone every now and then, before the old one has even reached the hands of consumers. But with so many competitors in the market, the OEM Chinese company is trying to upgrade the smartphones it produces, by adding many more features to the new ones. Compared with smartphones of any other brands present in the market,聽UMIDIGI S2 Lite聽is a beautiful, affordable smartphone and comes with really interesting features.Enter the UMiDiGi S2 Lite, the latest in the onslaught of UMiDiGi devices, this time coming in bright red.UMiDiGi S2 Lite聽ReviewIn terms of overall appearance, body build and form, the UMIDIGI S2 Lite takes resemblance from its predecessors, the S2 and S2 Pro. Actually, theres a 99% chance you would fail at differentiating the three devices on the basis of looks if placed side by side. It weighs approximately 186 gr. (thanks to its massive 5100 mAh battery) and its size is聽158 x 74,8 x 8,8 mm. This means that it’s really thin for a phone with such a large battery- and this is good, believe me.The UMiDIGI S2 Lite has its main dual camera on the rear and a fingerprint sensor right below them. On the front, there is neither no capacitive button nor home button. The devices frontal is almost empty. Only the screen, selfie camera and secondary earpiece play occupancy.UMiDiGi S2 Lite聽SpecificationsDisplay:聽5.99 inch 1440 x 720 pixels Capacitive 5 points screenCPU:聽MTK6750T Octa Core 1.5GHzSystem:聽Android 7.0Storage:聽4GB RAM + 32GB ROMCameras:聽16.0MP + 5.0MP聽dual back cameras and聽5.0MP聽front cameraSensors:聽Gravity Sensor, Ambient Light Sensor, Proximity Sensor, E-compassFeatures:聽GPSBluetooth:聽4.0SIM Card:聽dual SIM dual standby, 2 x nano SIM card and 1 TF card can be inserted at the same timeNetworks:聽2G: GSM B2/B3/B5/B8 –聽3G: WCDMA B1/B2/B5/B8 –聽4G: FDD-LTE B1/B3/B7/B8/B20Big thanks to UMiDiGi for providing this review unit. You can buy one here 馃檪UMiDiGi S2 Lite聽Build QualityThe screen is a聽5.99-inches IPS panel, with a HD+ resolution of 720 x 1440 pixels. The display comes with 2.5D curved glass with a聽268.78 PPI pixel density, equipped with Cornings Gorilla Glass system for screen protection.The bright, chili red colour of this phone really sold me. I pride myself on being immune to colour choice, but man has this red really sold me. Lets ignore the eye catching color for a moment, the build quality here is good but… not excellent. It looks and feels like every previous UMiDiGi phone all the way back to the UMi Super which isnt totally a bad thing. The phone is fairly easy to hold, but not as easy as a five-incher, the thinness does make it feel very small though.The metal body is well made, the metal feels a bit thin on the back and tolerances are generally sharp with one possible exception; the camera module. Im not sure if this is a quality control issue or a design choice, but the dual camera module is about a half a millimeter off center (up and down). This does not affect the functionality or performance of the phone in any way.聽UMIDIGI S2 Lite DisplayThe S2 Lite has a rear camera on its back with a finger sensor below it. It has no home button or menu bottom in the front. As we mentioned earlier, the screen size is 5.99 inches and has HD resolution of 720 x 1440 pixels. The display has 2.5D curved glass and Corning Gorilla Glass 4 protection.This display does have a slightly blue/purple tint that is almost unnoticeable in real life but does show quite noticeably on camera. Max brightness tops out around 400 nits which is quite respectable for such a panel, and is also quite easily viewable under direct sunlight. Touch sensitivity is excellent and Gorilla Glass 4 provides scratch protection and a smooth surface to swipe on.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramUMIDIGI S2 Lite BatteryThe combination of the 5100mAh battery, IPS display, and the聽MTK6750T SoC should provide great battery life. And while that holds mostly true, I believe its battery life could definitely be better. I managed to get approximately 6,3 hours of screen on time with ease, ending the day with 20% left. This consisted of about 2 hours of YouTube, about an hour of gaming, 2 hours of local video playback, and about 4 hours of Bluetooth music in addition to all the miscellaneous items I performed such as Whatsapp, texting, FaceBook etc.The one area where UMiDiGi has to improve on is the standby battery drain. I was getting a guaranteed 1% battery drain every hour, with it jumping up to 1.5% sometimes. This has to be solved if possible through software. Charging the phone through USB-C took me about 2.5 hours without using a MediaTek PumpExpress charger.UMIDIGI S2 Lite SoftwareWe have Android 7.0 Nougat running inside the phone, and I must say that UMiDiGis software optimization has taken a step up again over the older models, with this phone feeling even smoother when moving between home screens, going into settings etc. Launching lots of apps at the same time, on the other hand, is a more ponderous process with the MTK6750T chipset struggling (a bit) to keep up with our needs, with 4GB of RAM being all this phone needs. Not an overkill (like having 6GB), but also not 3GB (which is not enough anymore). The MTK6750T doesnt affect gaming, it’s able to play all the games at 720p without issue, Modern combat, Asphalt, lighter games such as Super Mario Run ran without a hitch, even when I was recording the screen at the same time. The phone gets warm on its back side but never gets burning hot. I also ran a malware scan and didnt find anything. The fingerprint sensor is very accurate and works with wet fingerprints, but it’s quite slow.UMIDIGI S2 Lite Connectivity Reception on this phone is great. The device comes with full 4G support (LTE: FDD B1 2100MHz,FDD B20 800MHz,FDD B3 1800MHz,FDD B7 2600MHz,FDD B8 900MHz), it offers very good connectivity inside large cities, with no dropped calls or problems during communication. WiFi speeds are great, an 800MB file takes 4 minutes (on fast WiFi that is), and Bluetooth range is good also. I used the GPS to navigate to work, and it was fairly accurate and fast. There is no NFC so you cannot use Android Pay. UMIDIGI S2 Lite CameraThe camera is the weakest part of the phone, I am afraid. While I hesitate to call the entire camera bad, the photos dont come out amazing either. In normal mode, detail is not bad as long as you keep your phone relatively still, the phone snaps photos pretty quickly so you dont have to be a statue forever.Colour reproduction ranges from OK to great, with colour sometimes being rather average and showing great saturation and vividness other times. HDR mode, on the other hand, should be left disabled at all times, well almost all times. The HDR mode is way too aggressive, trying to equalize bright and dark spots when they arent that far apart in the first place. You have to leave it off unless there are extremely obvious bright and dark spots, e.g. taking a picture of the sun. In those cases, the aggressive HDR does its job well.Moving on to Bokeh mode, which I see more and more as a gimmick, it adds Bokeh in a very unnatural circle, and not only that the overall quality of the photo is lowered as well. There is also a pro photo mode that works quite well and uses very convenient sliders to change the camera settings. The front facing camera is rather average also.[flickr_set id=”72157693447901825″]Now for the video. The camera app seems to lag behind real life by about 陆 a second. Now a camera lagging behind real life slightly is normal, but 陆 a second is reserved for low-end cameras, not in a $170 device. In addition, the video recording is weirdly laggy, almost like the video is recording normally for a second, then slow for the next. Overall, these items make for an unpleasant video experience, and is really a downside to this phone.UMiDiGi S2 Lite聽VerdictHands down, this is a very beautiful – and affordable mid-ranger in the market. It is indeed a “Lite” variant of a very powerful smartphone (UMIDIGI S2) but still remains quite impressive in everyday use, with a complete package, decent performance but simply adequate camera.This S2 Lite at $169 is surely one of the phones one should pay attention to, especially if the design of a phone is high on your “plus” list. It offers impressive battery life with a 5100 mAh battery, very good built quality, decent display (nothing much) and an adequate chipset with 4GB of RAM for decent everyday use. Buy the UMIDIGI S2 Lite from GearbestIt really looks like UMiDiGi is on a streak these past months, releasing a new flagship phone every now and then, before the old one has even reached the hands of consumers. But with so many competitors in the market, the OEM Chinese company is trying to upgrade the smartphones it produces, by adding many more features to the new ones. Compared with smartphones of any other brands present in the market,聽UMIDIGI S2 Lite聽is a beautiful, affordable smartphone and comes with really interesting features.Enter the UMiDiGi S2 Lite, the latest in the onslaught of UMiDiGi devices, this time coming in bright red.UMiDiGi S2 Lite聽ReviewIn terms of overall appearance, body build and form, the UMIDIGI S2 Lite takes resemblance from its predecessors, the S2 and S2 Pro. Actually, theres a 99% chance you would fail at differentiating the three devices on the basis of looks if placed side by side. It weighs approximately 186 gr. (thanks to its massive 5100 mAh battery) and its size is聽158 x 74,8 x 8,8 mm. This means that it’s really thin for a phone with such a large battery- and this is good, believe me.The UMiDIGI S2 Lite has its main dual camera on the rear and a fingerprint sensor right below them. On the front, there is neither no capacitive button nor home button. The devices frontal is almost empty. Only the screen, selfie camera and secondary earpiece play occupancy.UMiDiGi S2 Lite聽SpecificationsDisplay:聽5.99 inch 1440 x 720 pixels Capacitive 5 points screenCPU:聽MTK6750T Octa Core 1.5GHzSystem:聽Android 7.0Storage:聽4GB RAM + 32GB ROMCameras:聽16.0MP + 5.0MP聽dual back cameras and聽5.0MP聽front cameraSensors:聽Gravity Sensor, Ambient Light Sensor, Proximity Sensor, E-compassFeatures:聽GPSBluetooth:聽4.0SIM Card:聽dual SIM dual standby, 2 x nano SIM card and 1 TF card can be inserted at the same timeNetworks:聽2G: GSM B2/B3/B5/B8 –聽3G: WCDMA B1/B2/B5/B8 –聽4G: FDD-LTE B1/B3/B7/B8/B20Big thanks to UMiDiGi for providing this review unit. You can buy one here 馃檪UMiDiGi S2 Lite聽Build QualityThe screen is a聽5.99-inches IPS panel, with a HD+ resolution of 720 x 1440 pixels. The display comes with 2.5D curved glass with a聽268.78 PPI pixel density, equipped with Cornings Gorilla Glass system for screen protection.The bright, chili red colour of this phone really sold me. I pride myself on being immune to colour choice, but man has this red really sold me. Lets ignore the eye catching color for a moment, the build quality here is good but… not excellent. It looks and feels like every previous UMiDiGi phone all the way back to the UMi Super which isnt totally a bad thing. The phone is fairly easy to hold, but not as easy as a five-incher, the thinness does make it feel very small though.The metal body is well made, the metal feels a bit thin on the back and tolerances are generally sharp with one possible exception; the camera module. Im not sure if this is a quality control issue or a design choice, but the dual camera module is about a half a millimeter off center (up and down). This does not affect the functionality or performance of the phone in any way.聽UMIDIGI S2 Lite DisplayThe S2 Lite has a rear camera on its back with a finger sensor below it. It has no home button or menu bottom in the front. As we mentioned earlier, the screen size is 5.99 inches and has HD resolution of 720 x 1440 pixels. The display has 2.5D curved glass and Corning Gorilla Glass 4 protection.This display does have a slightly blue/purple tint that is almost unnoticeable in real life but does show quite noticeably on camera. Max brightness tops out around 400 nits which is quite respectable for such a panel, and is also quite easily viewable under direct sunlight. Touch sensitivity is excellent and Gorilla Glass 4 provides scratch protection and a smooth surface to swipe on.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramUMIDIGI S2 Lite BatteryThe combination of the 5100mAh battery, IPS display, and the聽MTK6750T SoC should provide great battery life. And while that holds mostly true, I believe its battery life could definitely be better. I managed to get approximately 6,3 hours of screen on time with ease, ending the day with 20% left. This consisted of about 2 hours of YouTube, about an hour of gaming, 2 hours of local video playback, and about 4 hours of Bluetooth music in addition to all the miscellaneous items I performed such as Whatsapp, texting, FaceBook etc.The one area where UMiDiGi has to improve on is the standby battery drain. I was getting a guaranteed 1% battery drain every hour, with it jumping up to 1.5% sometimes. This has to be solved if possible through software. Charging the phone through USB-C took me about 2.5 hours without using a MediaTek PumpExpress charger.UMIDIGI S2 Lite SoftwareWe have Android 7.0 Nougat running inside the phone, and I must say that UMiDiGis software optimization has taken a step up again over the older models, with this phone feeling even smoother when moving between home screens, going into settings etc. Launching lots of apps at the same time, on the other hand, is a more ponderous process with the MTK6750T chipset struggling (a bit) to keep up with our needs, with 4GB of RAM being all this phone needs. Not an overkill (like having 6GB), but also not 3GB (which is not enough anymore). The MTK6750T doesnt affect gaming, it’s able to play all the games at 720p without issue, Modern combat, Asphalt, lighter games such as Super Mario Run ran without a hitch, even when I was recording the screen at the same time. The phone gets warm on its back side but never gets burning hot. I also ran a malware scan and didnt find anything. The fingerprint sensor is very accurate and works with wet fingerprints, but it’s quite slow.UMIDIGI S2 Lite Connectivity Reception on this phone is great. The device comes with full 4G support (LTE: FDD B1 2100MHz,FDD B20 800MHz,FDD B3 1800MHz,FDD B7 2600MHz,FDD B8 900MHz), it offers very good connectivity inside large cities, with no dropped calls or problems during communication. WiFi speeds are great, an 800MB file takes 4 minutes (on fast WiFi that is), and Bluetooth range is good also. I used the GPS to navigate to work, and it was fairly accurate and fast. There is no NFC so you cannot use Android Pay. UMIDIGI S2 Lite CameraThe camera is the weakest part of the phone, I am afraid. While I hesitate to call the entire camera bad, the photos dont come out amazing either. In normal mode, detail is not bad as long as you keep your phone relatively still, the phone snaps photos pretty quickly so you dont have to be a statue forever.Colour reproduction ranges from OK to great, with colour sometimes being rather average and showing great saturation and vividness other times. HDR mode, on the other hand, should be left disabled at all times, well almost all times. The HDR mode is way too aggressive, trying to equalize bright and dark spots when they arent that far apart in the first place. You have to leave it off unless there are extremely obvious bright and dark spots, e.g. taking a picture of the sun. In those cases, the aggressive HDR does its job well.Moving on to Bokeh mode, which I see more and more as a gimmick, it adds Bokeh in a very unnatural circle, and not only that the overall quality of the photo is lowered as well. There is also a pro photo mode that works quite well and uses very convenient sliders to change the camera settings. The front facing camera is rather average also.[flickr_set id=”72157693447901825″]Now for the video. The camera app seems to lag behind real life by about 陆 a second. Now a camera lagging behind real life slightly is normal, but 陆 a second is reserved for low-end cameras, not in a $170 device. In addition, the video recording is weirdly laggy, almost like the video is recording normally for a second, then slow for the next. Overall, these items make for an unpleasant video experience, and is really a downside to this phone.UMiDiGi S2 Lite聽VerdictHands down, this is a very beautiful – and affordable mid-ranger in the market. It is indeed a “Lite” variant of a very powerful smartphone (UMIDIGI S2) but still remains quite impressive in everyday use, with a complete package, decent performance but simply adequate camera.This S2 Lite at $169 is surely one of the phones one should pay attention to, especially if the design of a phone is high on your “plus” list. It offers impressive battery life with a 5100 mAh battery, very good built quality, decent display (nothing much) and an adequate chipset with 4GB of RAM for decent everyday use. Buy the UMIDIGI S2 Lite from GearbestIve just received my Elephone U Pro and Im so impressed with it that Im already considering making it my daily driver without fully testing it. Thats obviously a fools errand, as further testing will reveal flaws in a device, no matter how good the first impressions are.Elephone聽U ProElephone was founded in 2014 with many ups and downs. Gizchina veterans will remember the P3000, P7000, P9000 fondly, while keeping in mind the missteps that Elephone has made, and Elephone’s first Snapdragon release carries many implications. Not only is it expensive to negotiate with Qualcomm for their Snapdragon processors, but it is also expensive to use, and the Elephone U Pro is a perfect example of that.Starting at $450, this is the most expensive phone Elephone has ever produced by a long shot, and the Qualcomm chipset is only part of that.Amazing on PaperElephone U Pro SpecificationsProcessorQualcomm Snapdragon 660 ProcessorDisplay6.0 2160×1080 AMOLED displayRAM4/6GBStorage64/128GB eMMCOperating SystemAndroid 8.0 OreoCameras13MP Camera, 5MP FrontBattery3,500mAhPhysical Dimensions15.4 x 7.2 x 0.84 cm, 166gBig thanks to Gearbest for providing this review unit.Elephone U Pro UnboxingThe unboxing experience is rather ordinary, a regular box with sparse accessories. The phone itself holds promise, but the packaging and accessories are rather mundane.Ordinary Unboxing ExperienceElephone U Pro PhoneThe phone feels decent, but not amazing. Many flagships from other manufacturers like UMiDiGi and Ulefone will take down the build quality here by a mile. The frame is made of metal, the front sports Gorilla Glass 5, but the back is most likely plastic as a metal cover would interfere with wireless charging. There is no headphone jack as is the trend nowadays, and we have a USB-C port also.How the phone looks is a completely different story. Its curved on the back and the front and it looks absolutely gorgeous. Anybody not eyes deep in Chinese Tech would instantly think this was a Galaxy S8 (barring the logo on the back of course) and with good reason. It resembles its Samsung namesake almost completely.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramThe bezels are slim, the screen is curved beautifully, as Elephone takes its design aesthetics to the next step (albeit copied).Elephone U Pro SoftwareElephone has mentioned that it took them almost 300 days to bring this phone to market, due to the many challenges they faced, and getting Oreo on this phone is certainly one of them. General use is fairly fast and fluid, not as fast as the Oneplus 5T, but fast enough. I get the strange feeling that the animations are built completely for speed with little to no thought given to fluidity, which gives some animations the feeling of choppiness.Face unlock and the fingerprint sensor are both adequate but fall far behind even the Mi Note 3 in terms of speed, and the vibration engine feels a tiny bit weird.Elephone U Pro First ImpressionsAs you could probably tell, I’m trying pretty hard to nitpick problems with the Elephone U Pro here, and at first glance there really aren’t many. When I use a Xiaomi phone, I know I can expect a certain level of quality, however with Elephone, no such level can be expected. Elephone has sometimes failed me and sometimes gone far beyond my expectations, and I sincerely hope its the latter. Stay tuned for my full review coming up very soon. Buy the Elephone U ProElephone U Pro Video

Ive just received my Elephone U Pro and Im so impressed with it that Im already considering making it my daily driver without fully testing it. Thats obviously a fools errand, as further testing will reveal flaws in a device, no matter how good the first impressions are.Elephone聽U ProElephone was founded in 2014 with many ups and downs. Gizchina veterans will remember the P3000, P7000, P9000 fondly, while keeping in mind the missteps that Elephone has made, and Elephone’s first Snapdragon release carries many implications. Not only is it expensive to negotiate with Qualcomm for their Snapdragon processors, but it is also expensive to use, and the Elephone U Pro is a perfect example of that.Starting at $450, this is the most expensive phone Elephone has ever produced by a long shot, and the Qualcomm chipset is only part of that.Amazing on PaperElephone U Pro SpecificationsProcessorQualcomm Snapdragon 660 ProcessorDisplay6.0 2160×1080 AMOLED displayRAM4/6GBStorage64/128GB eMMCOperating SystemAndroid 8.0 OreoCameras13MP Camera, 5MP FrontBattery3,500mAhPhysical Dimensions15.4 x 7.2 x 0.84 cm, 166gBig thanks to Gearbest for providing this review unit.Elephone U Pro UnboxingThe unboxing experience is rather ordinary, a regular box with sparse accessories. The phone itself holds promise, but the packaging and accessories are rather mundane.Ordinary Unboxing ExperienceElephone U Pro PhoneThe phone feels decent, but not amazing. Many flagships from other manufacturers like UMiDiGi and Ulefone will take down the build quality here by a mile. The frame is made of metal, the front sports Gorilla Glass 5, but the back is most likely plastic as a metal cover would interfere with wireless charging. There is no headphone jack as is the trend nowadays, and we have a USB-C port also.How the phone looks is a completely different story. Its curved on the back and the front and it looks absolutely gorgeous. Anybody not eyes deep in Chinese Tech would instantly think this was a Galaxy S8 (barring the logo on the back of course) and with good reason. It resembles its Samsung namesake almost completely.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramThe bezels are slim, the screen is curved beautifully, as Elephone takes its design aesthetics to the next step (albeit copied).Elephone U Pro SoftwareElephone has mentioned that it took them almost 300 days to bring this phone to market, due to the many challenges they faced, and getting Oreo on this phone is certainly one of them. General use is fairly fast and fluid, not as fast as the Oneplus 5T, but fast enough. I get the strange feeling that the animations are built completely for speed with little to no thought given to fluidity, which gives some animations the feeling of choppiness.Face unlock and the fingerprint sensor are both adequate but fall far behind even the Mi Note 3 in terms of speed, and the vibration engine feels a tiny bit weird.Elephone U Pro First ImpressionsAs you could probably tell, I’m trying pretty hard to nitpick problems with the Elephone U Pro here, and at first glance there really aren’t many. When I use a Xiaomi phone, I know I can expect a certain level of quality, however with Elephone, no such level can be expected. Elephone has sometimes failed me and sometimes gone far beyond my expectations, and I sincerely hope its the latter. Stay tuned for my full review coming up very soon. Buy the Elephone U ProElephone U Pro VideoWelcome to the era of “slim” huge battery smartphones聽guys! We have one of them to show you today, but I think this specific device has more to say about its performance than others. Meet Blackview P6000, a phone that boasts a huge battery inside but still has the looks to impress some of the most demanding users.Blackview promotes this model as one of their “huge” battery smartphones but at the same time a device that boasts a noteworthy design, along with decent performance in everyday use.聽With a well-built design and many great features, this smartphone is perfect for those who are looking for a durable phone, with more demanding features at a… quite hefty price unfortunately.聽聽So if you’re ready to go by its increased weight (at 236 gr.) then you won’t have any problem spotting its awesome design, the impressive built quality and obviously its huge 6180 mAh battery that can surely offer more than 2 full days of heavy usage!Enough said lets have a look at this Blackview P6000 review.IMPRESSIVE battery performanceBlackview P6000 鈥 Technical specificationsDisplay:聽5.5 inch 1920 x 1080 pixels IPS screenCPU:聽MTK6757CD Octa Core 2.6GHzSystem:聽Android 7.1.1Storage:聽6GB RAM + 64GB ROMCameras:聽8.0MP front and 21.0MP + 0.3MP dual rear cameras聽Sensors:聽Gravity Sensor, Gyroscope, Geomagnetic SensorFeatures:聽GPS, GlonassBluetooth:聽4.1SIM Card:聽dual SIM dual standby, 2 Nano SIM cardsNetworks:聽2G: GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz – 3G: WCDMA 900/2100MHz – 4G: FDD-LTE B1/B3/B7/B8/B20Blackview P6000 review: Design and general appearanceI have to be honest, I loved the basic design of the Blackview P6000 – especially its blue glossy back that is probably one of the best looking I’ve seen during the past years.聽It’s no doubt, an elegant device and if you’re interested to know more, you will be glad to know it’s available in black and blue color versions. Its dimensions are聽154 x 76 x 9.8 mm (LxWxH) but due to its massive 6180 mAh battery it weighs approximately 236 gr. This means it can provide a relatively slim body with a relatively good handling experience. I have to admit that one of the outstanding features of the Blackview P6000 is surely its 5.5-inch display with 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution, offering really crisp menus. It provides exceptional response times, along with 2.5D curved glass on top.The inclusion of Gorilla Glass 3 means that it will be quite a bit less prone to damage than smartphones it competes with. However, it isnt the most modern display either since it still features a square display ratio compared to even some more budget-friendly handsets 鈥 at 16:9. Color saturation appears natural and touch interactions are rapid and responsive.聽Blackview has equipped the P6000 with the adaptive display software many users have come to expect from a modern smartphone. That means brightness can be set to auto-adapt to keep things visible and save battery, font sizes and overall display size can be adjusted as needed to keep everything reading clearly. The colors of the display may be rather washed, but the images are crisp, with good viewing angles and a fully responsive panel if I may add.聽All in all a decent display 鈥 especially for a smartphone on this price range.聽There’s a home button placed in front that houses the fingerprint scanner. If you look just above, you will find 4 on display keys on the lower side of the display, that work as planned and allow for complete operation of the device.聽On the top of the screen, there’s a selfie camera, a speaker and a LED flash.Note that the back side of the device is made of glossy material and some parts plastic, that surely create an impressive design all in all but it comes with… a twist. This means that it may look beautiful but it turns out to be a fingerprint magnet, leaving fingerprint marks all over the place.聽You can also find two cameras at the back side and a dual LED flash, that offers the necessary light during night for some typical photos.The fingerprint scanner can unlock the phone in less than 0.1 second with almost 98% success rate. It can basically store up to 5 different fingerprints and can recognize them all from 360 degrees, something thats a standard nowadays.聽The P6000 does support the 3.5mm earphone port and this is something that will probably put a smile to the face of all those of you out there who prefer to use their own classy old fashioned headphones. The charging port is available at the bottom of the smartphone and a microphone hole is placed next to the dual cameras at the back. So overall the buttons and other features are perfectly placed.聽Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramHardware & PerformanceIn terms of performance, the聽Blackview P6000 comes with the MediaTek MT6757 processor operating at a high frequency of 2.6 GHz. It packs 6GB RAM and 64GB ROM, providing聽high-end gaming and multitasking a fast and smooth experience.聽I opened many apps, switched between them, watched videos, played a game (GT聽Racing聽2) and the performance is buttery smooth. Nothing felt sluggish, and there was no significant lag. Oh and if youre into checking benchmark results, then you should know that the Blackview P6000 scored 78286聽points in AntuTu along with an exceptional GPS reception. I didnt have any issues with GPS related apps since it uses most of the available satellites every time. It could be connected to more I guess, in order to offer even better results when scanning for our location. Moreover, the storage can be expandable up to 128 GB with the use of microSD card. For the graphics, it has the Mali T880 GPU that can surely cope with most of your gaming tastes, even if you’re a demanding user. OK, it’s not a flagship model, but it will surely be able to offer decent gaming performance with most titles available in the Play Store. The operating system of the Blackview P6000 is Android 7.1 Nougat. It can also be upgraded to higher Android Oreo but the Chinese manufacturer hasn’t disclosed yet when (and if) this will happen. Rumors say that the update could arrive to the owners of the phone by Spring – it remains to be seen. Moreover, you can also find the attractive features such as ambient light sensor, gravity sensor, proximity sensor, and so on. With a battery backup of 6180 mAh, the Blackview P6000 doesnt need any power bank or repeated charging at all. You wont have to worry about the power going down while playing games, watching videos and doing stuff on it. In fact, Blackview P6000 smartphone is your best partner while traveling as it doesnt strangle you by showing reduced battery level during such odd circumstances.Blackview P6000 review: Android software and UI performanceIf you like pimped user interfaces, then you will surely gonna love the Blackview P6000 in terms of UI and software. The device comes with its own UI (based on AOSP Android 7.1.1) which is surprisingly solid, fast and easy to use.聽That means that, aside from a few basic Google and essential AOSP apps, the phone doesnt come with any bloatware to speak of. In fact, the only application that probably wouldnt be expected with a stock version of Android is the included Compass app.Blackview however has managed to add some features of their own choosing to the device such as several customization options like System Motion, Gestures control and the ability to lock apps with the fingerprint scanner which is common these days.聽Double tapping the home screen or a long-press on the same can be set to perform custom actions. The same can be done with the power button, with a double tap capable of launching the camera application and a long-press 鈥 when the screen is turned off 鈥 being custom-assignable. Gesture navigation through the fingerprint scanner is also available.Dual camera performanceIf you’re interested in the imaging features of the device, then this might seem awkward, but it didn’t manage to impress us. The rear camera is a dual-sensor setup of聽a primary camera built on Sonys IMX230 Exmor RS sensor platform with an f/2.0 aperture and a secondary 0.3-megapixel, 2.25渭m GalaxyCore GC0310 sensor for phase detection and other dual-sensor features. There’a also a dual tone LED flash next to them, along with several typical settings for聽autofocus, digital zoom, face detection, HDR mode, manual adjustments mode, a dozen or more real-time filters, and the ability to shoot continuous photos 鈥 as well as having the capability to shoot RAW images via a settings toggle.It can take decent photos, but they are generally whitewashed. Even with HDR mode, the quality of the photos is not any better.聽Note that one camera is used for creating the bokeh effect and other will capture the image with quite good portrait photos and decent performance in low light conditions.Both cameras have independent vision processing unit, which enables background blurring in real time. It also allows you to choose where to focus (touch focus) and where to blur, with the ability to adjust the intensity of blurring, too. Video recording of the device isn’t something that can surely impress us either I am afraid.聽聽Theres no optical image stabilization to be found on Blackviews P6000, no slo-mo capability but at least video recording is shot at 30fps.Have a look at some of our聽sample photos,聽taken from the dual camera of the Blackview P6000. Just click the gallery below:[flickr_set id=”72157691704821341″]Battery consumptionThe Blackview P6000 is equipped with a 6180mAh battery that surely trumps any other competitor in the market, offering awesome battery life that can reach up to 2 days of full usage with no issues at all. The device comes with an energy efficient processor and generally it performs well, working great in cooperation with the Android Nougat interface in order to block access to battery “hungry” apps, reduce energy consumption when possible and all those little things that make our lives easier when using a smartphone.It’s battery tests were impressive and lead to a whopping 7 hours of screen-on time, even with a full (hard core) usage. During our tests we managed to reduce its battery capacity to 59% (from 100%) after almost 13 hours (!) of typical tasks聽simultaneously, such as listening to music, gaming, editing documents, browsing and others.Note also that – according to Blackview- the P6000 comes with Quick Charge 2.0 support and charges at 12V/2A. However this didn’t appear to be true, as it takes a little bit over 3 hours to fully charge this 6180 mAh battery.Thankfully however there is no overheating when there’s continuous charging or prolonged gaming in extreme conditions. Blackview did a good job on this and the phone feels safe to use even though we’re holding a massive 6180 mAh battery in our hands.Conclusion 鈥 Our opinionA Beautiful, huge battery phoneI really enjoyed this small beauty from Blackview, I have to admit. Given the fact that it’s considered to be technically a mid-range smartphone, it surely doesn’t act like one. It boasts an impressive design, a huge battery that transforms it into a power machine with more than 40 hours of usage, a full HD display with decent ppi, great brightness during daylight and a quite impressive chipset for mid-range users.It packs聽6GB RAM + 64GB ROM聽that surely result in excellent multi-tasking and storage capabilities, not to mention that it also packs a microSD slot (up to 128GB). It currently costs 249$ and I guess this is something that one has to take into consideration.聽

Welcome to the era of “slim” huge battery smartphones聽guys! We have one of them to show you today, but I think this specific device has more to say about its performance than others. Meet Blackview P6000, a phone that boasts a huge battery inside but still has the looks to impress some of the most demanding users.Blackview promotes this model as one of their “huge” battery smartphones but at the same time a device that boasts a noteworthy design, along with decent performance in everyday use.聽With a well-built design and many great features, this smartphone is perfect for those who are looking for a durable phone, with more demanding features at a… quite hefty price unfortunately.聽聽So if you’re ready to go by its increased weight (at 236 gr.) then you won’t have any problem spotting its awesome design, the impressive built quality and obviously its huge 6180 mAh battery that can surely offer more than 2 full days of heavy usage!Enough said lets have a look at this Blackview P6000 review.IMPRESSIVE battery performanceBlackview P6000 鈥 Technical specificationsDisplay:聽5.5 inch 1920 x 1080 pixels IPS screenCPU:聽MTK6757CD Octa Core 2.6GHzSystem:聽Android 7.1.1Storage:聽6GB RAM + 64GB ROMCameras:聽8.0MP front and 21.0MP + 0.3MP dual rear cameras聽Sensors:聽Gravity Sensor, Gyroscope, Geomagnetic SensorFeatures:聽GPS, GlonassBluetooth:聽4.1SIM Card:聽dual SIM dual standby, 2 Nano SIM cardsNetworks:聽2G: GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz – 3G: WCDMA 900/2100MHz – 4G: FDD-LTE B1/B3/B7/B8/B20Blackview P6000 review: Design and general appearanceI have to be honest, I loved the basic design of the Blackview P6000 – especially its blue glossy back that is probably one of the best looking I’ve seen during the past years.聽It’s no doubt, an elegant device and if you’re interested to know more, you will be glad to know it’s available in black and blue color versions. Its dimensions are聽154 x 76 x 9.8 mm (LxWxH) but due to its massive 6180 mAh battery it weighs approximately 236 gr. This means it can provide a relatively slim body with a relatively good handling experience. I have to admit that one of the outstanding features of the Blackview P6000 is surely its 5.5-inch display with 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution, offering really crisp menus. It provides exceptional response times, along with 2.5D curved glass on top.The inclusion of Gorilla Glass 3 means that it will be quite a bit less prone to damage than smartphones it competes with. However, it isnt the most modern display either since it still features a square display ratio compared to even some more budget-friendly handsets 鈥 at 16:9. Color saturation appears natural and touch interactions are rapid and responsive.聽Blackview has equipped the P6000 with the adaptive display software many users have come to expect from a modern smartphone. That means brightness can be set to auto-adapt to keep things visible and save battery, font sizes and overall display size can be adjusted as needed to keep everything reading clearly. The colors of the display may be rather washed, but the images are crisp, with good viewing angles and a fully responsive panel if I may add.聽All in all a decent display 鈥 especially for a smartphone on this price range.聽There’s a home button placed in front that houses the fingerprint scanner. If you look just above, you will find 4 on display keys on the lower side of the display, that work as planned and allow for complete operation of the device.聽On the top of the screen, there’s a selfie camera, a speaker and a LED flash.Note that the back side of the device is made of glossy material and some parts plastic, that surely create an impressive design all in all but it comes with… a twist. This means that it may look beautiful but it turns out to be a fingerprint magnet, leaving fingerprint marks all over the place.聽You can also find two cameras at the back side and a dual LED flash, that offers the necessary light during night for some typical photos.The fingerprint scanner can unlock the phone in less than 0.1 second with almost 98% success rate. It can basically store up to 5 different fingerprints and can recognize them all from 360 degrees, something thats a standard nowadays.聽The P6000 does support the 3.5mm earphone port and this is something that will probably put a smile to the face of all those of you out there who prefer to use their own classy old fashioned headphones. The charging port is available at the bottom of the smartphone and a microphone hole is placed next to the dual cameras at the back. So overall the buttons and other features are perfectly placed.聽Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramHardware & PerformanceIn terms of performance, the聽Blackview P6000 comes with the MediaTek MT6757 processor operating at a high frequency of 2.6 GHz. It packs 6GB RAM and 64GB ROM, providing聽high-end gaming and multitasking a fast and smooth experience.聽I opened many apps, switched between them, watched videos, played a game (GT聽Racing聽2) and the performance is buttery smooth. Nothing felt sluggish, and there was no significant lag. Oh and if youre into checking benchmark results, then you should know that the Blackview P6000 scored 78286聽points in AntuTu along with an exceptional GPS reception. I didnt have any issues with GPS related apps since it uses most of the available satellites every time. It could be connected to more I guess, in order to offer even better results when scanning for our location. Moreover, the storage can be expandable up to 128 GB with the use of microSD card. For the graphics, it has the Mali T880 GPU that can surely cope with most of your gaming tastes, even if you’re a demanding user. OK, it’s not a flagship model, but it will surely be able to offer decent gaming performance with most titles available in the Play Store. The operating system of the Blackview P6000 is Android 7.1 Nougat. It can also be upgraded to higher Android Oreo but the Chinese manufacturer hasn’t disclosed yet when (and if) this will happen. Rumors say that the update could arrive to the owners of the phone by Spring – it remains to be seen. Moreover, you can also find the attractive features such as ambient light sensor, gravity sensor, proximity sensor, and so on. With a battery backup of 6180 mAh, the Blackview P6000 doesnt need any power bank or repeated charging at all. You wont have to worry about the power going down while playing games, watching videos and doing stuff on it. In fact, Blackview P6000 smartphone is your best partner while traveling as it doesnt strangle you by showing reduced battery level during such odd circumstances.Blackview P6000 review: Android software and UI performanceIf you like pimped user interfaces, then you will surely gonna love the Blackview P6000 in terms of UI and software. The device comes with its own UI (based on AOSP Android 7.1.1) which is surprisingly solid, fast and easy to use.聽That means that, aside from a few basic Google and essential AOSP apps, the phone doesnt come with any bloatware to speak of. In fact, the only application that probably wouldnt be expected with a stock version of Android is the included Compass app.Blackview however has managed to add some features of their own choosing to the device such as several customization options like System Motion, Gestures control and the ability to lock apps with the fingerprint scanner which is common these days.聽Double tapping the home screen or a long-press on the same can be set to perform custom actions. The same can be done with the power button, with a double tap capable of launching the camera application and a long-press 鈥 when the screen is turned off 鈥 being custom-assignable. Gesture navigation through the fingerprint scanner is also available.Dual camera performanceIf you’re interested in the imaging features of the device, then this might seem awkward, but it didn’t manage to impress us. The rear camera is a dual-sensor setup of聽a primary camera built on Sonys IMX230 Exmor RS sensor platform with an f/2.0 aperture and a secondary 0.3-megapixel, 2.25渭m GalaxyCore GC0310 sensor for phase detection and other dual-sensor features. There’a also a dual tone LED flash next to them, along with several typical settings for聽autofocus, digital zoom, face detection, HDR mode, manual adjustments mode, a dozen or more real-time filters, and the ability to shoot continuous photos 鈥 as well as having the capability to shoot RAW images via a settings toggle.It can take decent photos, but they are generally whitewashed. Even with HDR mode, the quality of the photos is not any better.聽Note that one camera is used for creating the bokeh effect and other will capture the image with quite good portrait photos and decent performance in low light conditions.Both cameras have independent vision processing unit, which enables background blurring in real time. It also allows you to choose where to focus (touch focus) and where to blur, with the ability to adjust the intensity of blurring, too. Video recording of the device isn’t something that can surely impress us either I am afraid.聽聽Theres no optical image stabilization to be found on Blackviews P6000, no slo-mo capability but at least video recording is shot at 30fps.Have a look at some of our聽sample photos,聽taken from the dual camera of the Blackview P6000. Just click the gallery below:[flickr_set id=”72157691704821341″]Battery consumptionThe Blackview P6000 is equipped with a 6180mAh battery that surely trumps any other competitor in the market, offering awesome battery life that can reach up to 2 days of full usage with no issues at all. The device comes with an energy efficient processor and generally it performs well, working great in cooperation with the Android Nougat interface in order to block access to battery “hungry” apps, reduce energy consumption when possible and all those little things that make our lives easier when using a smartphone.It’s battery tests were impressive and lead to a whopping 7 hours of screen-on time, even with a full (hard core) usage. During our tests we managed to reduce its battery capacity to 59% (from 100%) after almost 13 hours (!) of typical tasks聽simultaneously, such as listening to music, gaming, editing documents, browsing and others.Note also that – according to Blackview- the P6000 comes with Quick Charge 2.0 support and charges at 12V/2A. However this didn’t appear to be true, as it takes a little bit over 3 hours to fully charge this 6180 mAh battery.Thankfully however there is no overheating when there’s continuous charging or prolonged gaming in extreme conditions. Blackview did a good job on this and the phone feels safe to use even though we’re holding a massive 6180 mAh battery in our hands.Conclusion 鈥 Our opinionA Beautiful, huge battery phoneI really enjoyed this small beauty from Blackview, I have to admit. Given the fact that it’s considered to be technically a mid-range smartphone, it surely doesn’t act like one. It boasts an impressive design, a huge battery that transforms it into a power machine with more than 40 hours of usage, a full HD display with decent ppi, great brightness during daylight and a quite impressive chipset for mid-range users.It packs聽6GB RAM + 64GB ROM聽that surely result in excellent multi-tasking and storage capabilities, not to mention that it also packs a microSD slot (up to 128GB). It currently costs 249$ and I guess this is something that one has to take into consideration.聽If you have an active lifestyle, owning a smartwatch is mandatory. Usually, people who dont like to sit tight and are feeling adventurous, cant rely on smartphones that drainage quickly, are way bigger in comparison to wearables, can be damaged easily, and cost more. In all these cases, they should look for a reliable smartwatch. Today we are going to talk about the worlds first 4G-enabled Android smartwatch. The Microwear H5 has been announced recently, but it managed to win many customers hearts. Of course, there are a few drawbacks as well. So well try to be as impersonal as possible. But one thing is clear 鈥 the H5 can compete with many popular smartwatches even without any effort.Microwear H5 DesignThe box is black with no logo and product name. The only printing we can see on it is 鈥楽mart Wear. The packaging is black, while the phrase is silver. Inside the box, we can find only the smartwatch and a USB cable to charge it like an ordinary Android phone. So, on one hand, the manufacturer comes in with the minimum accessories and a simple packaging, but on the other, we are dealing with a $100 smartwatch. I mean we used to see some product details and manufacturer information on the box. As for the box content, wed like to find some instructions or user manuals, because those who pay such a money want to learn about everything coming with a product.First, we have to say this is not a waterproof product. Though we used to see many smartwatches available on the market come with an IP67 rate, the manufacturer has decided not to certify this device. But there are some reasons for that. And honestly, we accept Microwears decision because the H5 doesnt look like other wearables. As we can see, there is a micro USB interface put on the left side. And though it affects the waterproofness, it is way comfortable for using because you can plug your phones cable and charge it. Thus no additional accessory is needed like the fancy attachable magnetic units.Another thing we like, the Microwear H5 also uses a new technology by placing the nano-Sim card slot on the right upper corner of the back. As you remember, the previous models require a complete back cover removal to insert the card. But as its selling point is the 4G support, the company decided to make it easier to use. There is a special cover that should be removed to insert the card. Actually, its opened easily with a little effort, and can be placed back in the same way. The only problem we had was related to the SIM card removal. Although we guess you wont insert/remove frequently SIM cards.The manufacturer has placed the speaker on the left upper corner with an ambition phrase of 鈥?D Sound. We dont think you will be using it for listening music. So the quality is quite sufficient for calling.A rectangular button to turn on/off the phone as well as to unlock is placed on the right side. It supports a few modes: Long press for power on/off, short press to return to standby interface, short press again for screen off, short press to brighten when the screen is off.It also comes with a camera. But what we dont like is the angle it is placed at. Actually, it is placed at 45 degrees, that simply means when you hold your hand or the smartwatch in front of your face, the camera wont capture your face. So it turns out, the Microwear H5 is packed with a 2MP camera (interpolated to 5MP) and it comes with a stylish look, but it is useless in most cases. This is the biggest shortcoming of this device.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramAt last, the Microwear H5 sports a 1.54-inch screen with a resolution of 240×240 pixel and uses a TFT display technology. This is a really good screen providing a great viewing performance. Its responsive and we didnt face any lags during the testing.The chassis is made of a stainless steel, thats why the smartwatch weighs around 70 grams. The straps are made of TPU. It also has CE and RoSH certifications.Microwear H5 Hardware and PerformanceThe Microwear H5 is packed with an MT6737 quad-core processor. It uses 4 ARM Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 1.3GHz. This chip is mainly used on low-end smartphones. So its appearance on the H5 promises a smartphone-level experience. Apart from the chip, it is packed with a 1GB of RAM and 8GB of ROM. At last, there is a 600mAh battery that provides a few days of a normal use. It will take about 180 minutes to fully charge.Though this is a 4G-enabled smartwatch, it wont work on all bands. The H5 supports GSM 2G call and networks, WCDMA 3G networks, FDD 4G, TDD 4G networks, but it does not support CDMA 2G call or networks. Though we couldnt test it for 4G connectivity, the 3G performance was quite stable and acceptable.Microwear H5 SoftwareThe smartwatch runs on Fun OS based on Android 6.0. This is not the latest version, but you wont find many smartwatches running on a higher version. Plus, Android 6.0 differs from Android 5.0 a lot. And FunOS comes with many customizations. So it turns out the Microwear H5 runs on Googles operating system and gets the most goodies it offers, but thanks to customization of FunOS you get a quite new UI experience. Actually, it works like other smartwatches UIs, but due to the good hardware and highly responsive screen, its easy and pleasant to interact with the H5.This smartwatch comes with many functions. So lets get acquainted with the most of them.First, long press the standby dial, slip right and left to select the watch face you want, and tap to confirm.Swipe down to access the status bar. We have three pages. The first one shows the remaining battery power, the cellular connection type, the data connection (on/off), and WiFi connection. The second page comes with a feature to wake screen on wrist raise, notifications, SOS, and flight mode. The third page contains other four icons to set a vibration, sound off, and a normal ringing. There is also an icon to display your running apps, Bluetooth, and overall display brightness/sleep time.Swipe up to access up to 7 functions. As we are dealing with a sports watch, there are fitness apps for all purposes: Compass/Sleep Monitor/Pedometer/Heart Rate/Weather/Air pressure/Altitude.A right swipe will bring everything on fitness including Walking, Outdoor run, Indoor run, Mountain climbing, Cross country, Half Marathon, Full Marathon, Ride, Sports History, and Sports Settings.Swipe left to enter the menu. There is Clock (Stopwatch, Alarm, and Timer), Communication (Phone, Messaging, and Contacts), Browser, Tools (Calculator and Calendar), Style (change the way it displays the icons), Watch management (Download and File manager, Audio Center (Sound record and Music), Multimedia (Gallery and Videos), Play store to download other compatible apps, etc. One of the most noteworthy features is the USB Tethering that turns your smartwatch into a Wi-Fi modem that provides Wi-Fi connectivity via a USB cable.Conclusion

If you have an active lifestyle, owning a smartwatch is mandatory. Usually, people who dont like to sit tight and are feeling adventurous, cant rely on smartphones that drainage quickly, are way bigger in comparison to wearables, can be damaged easily, and cost more. In all these cases, they should look for a reliable smartwatch. Today we are going to talk about the worlds first 4G-enabled Android smartwatch. The Microwear H5 has been announced recently, but it managed to win many customers hearts. Of course, there are a few drawbacks as well. So well try to be as impersonal as possible. But one thing is clear 鈥 the H5 can compete with many popular smartwatches even without any effort.Microwear H5 DesignThe box is black with no logo and product name. The only printing we can see on it is 鈥楽mart Wear. The packaging is black, while the phrase is silver. Inside the box, we can find only the smartwatch and a USB cable to charge it like an ordinary Android phone. So, on one hand, the manufacturer comes in with the minimum accessories and a simple packaging, but on the other, we are dealing with a $100 smartwatch. I mean we used to see some product details and manufacturer information on the box. As for the box content, wed like to find some instructions or user manuals, because those who pay such a money want to learn about everything coming with a product.First, we have to say this is not a waterproof product. Though we used to see many smartwatches available on the market come with an IP67 rate, the manufacturer has decided not to certify this device. But there are some reasons for that. And honestly, we accept Microwears decision because the H5 doesnt look like other wearables. As we can see, there is a micro USB interface put on the left side. And though it affects the waterproofness, it is way comfortable for using because you can plug your phones cable and charge it. Thus no additional accessory is needed like the fancy attachable magnetic units.Another thing we like, the Microwear H5 also uses a new technology by placing the nano-Sim card slot on the right upper corner of the back. As you remember, the previous models require a complete back cover removal to insert the card. But as its selling point is the 4G support, the company decided to make it easier to use. There is a special cover that should be removed to insert the card. Actually, its opened easily with a little effort, and can be placed back in the same way. The only problem we had was related to the SIM card removal. Although we guess you wont insert/remove frequently SIM cards.The manufacturer has placed the speaker on the left upper corner with an ambition phrase of 鈥?D Sound. We dont think you will be using it for listening music. So the quality is quite sufficient for calling.A rectangular button to turn on/off the phone as well as to unlock is placed on the right side. It supports a few modes: Long press for power on/off, short press to return to standby interface, short press again for screen off, short press to brighten when the screen is off.It also comes with a camera. But what we dont like is the angle it is placed at. Actually, it is placed at 45 degrees, that simply means when you hold your hand or the smartwatch in front of your face, the camera wont capture your face. So it turns out, the Microwear H5 is packed with a 2MP camera (interpolated to 5MP) and it comes with a stylish look, but it is useless in most cases. This is the biggest shortcoming of this device.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramAt last, the Microwear H5 sports a 1.54-inch screen with a resolution of 240×240 pixel and uses a TFT display technology. This is a really good screen providing a great viewing performance. Its responsive and we didnt face any lags during the testing.The chassis is made of a stainless steel, thats why the smartwatch weighs around 70 grams. The straps are made of TPU. It also has CE and RoSH certifications.Microwear H5 Hardware and PerformanceThe Microwear H5 is packed with an MT6737 quad-core processor. It uses 4 ARM Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 1.3GHz. This chip is mainly used on low-end smartphones. So its appearance on the H5 promises a smartphone-level experience. Apart from the chip, it is packed with a 1GB of RAM and 8GB of ROM. At last, there is a 600mAh battery that provides a few days of a normal use. It will take about 180 minutes to fully charge.Though this is a 4G-enabled smartwatch, it wont work on all bands. The H5 supports GSM 2G call and networks, WCDMA 3G networks, FDD 4G, TDD 4G networks, but it does not support CDMA 2G call or networks. Though we couldnt test it for 4G connectivity, the 3G performance was quite stable and acceptable.Microwear H5 SoftwareThe smartwatch runs on Fun OS based on Android 6.0. This is not the latest version, but you wont find many smartwatches running on a higher version. Plus, Android 6.0 differs from Android 5.0 a lot. And FunOS comes with many customizations. So it turns out the Microwear H5 runs on Googles operating system and gets the most goodies it offers, but thanks to customization of FunOS you get a quite new UI experience. Actually, it works like other smartwatches UIs, but due to the good hardware and highly responsive screen, its easy and pleasant to interact with the H5.This smartwatch comes with many functions. So lets get acquainted with the most of them.First, long press the standby dial, slip right and left to select the watch face you want, and tap to confirm.Swipe down to access the status bar. We have three pages. The first one shows the remaining battery power, the cellular connection type, the data connection (on/off), and WiFi connection. The second page comes with a feature to wake screen on wrist raise, notifications, SOS, and flight mode. The third page contains other four icons to set a vibration, sound off, and a normal ringing. There is also an icon to display your running apps, Bluetooth, and overall display brightness/sleep time.Swipe up to access up to 7 functions. As we are dealing with a sports watch, there are fitness apps for all purposes: Compass/Sleep Monitor/Pedometer/Heart Rate/Weather/Air pressure/Altitude.A right swipe will bring everything on fitness including Walking, Outdoor run, Indoor run, Mountain climbing, Cross country, Half Marathon, Full Marathon, Ride, Sports History, and Sports Settings.Swipe left to enter the menu. There is Clock (Stopwatch, Alarm, and Timer), Communication (Phone, Messaging, and Contacts), Browser, Tools (Calculator and Calendar), Style (change the way it displays the icons), Watch management (Download and File manager, Audio Center (Sound record and Music), Multimedia (Gallery and Videos), Play store to download other compatible apps, etc. One of the most noteworthy features is the USB Tethering that turns your smartwatch into a Wi-Fi modem that provides Wi-Fi connectivity via a USB cable.ConclusionThe Maze Alpha X is the most promising bezel-less phone Ive used to date. Good battery life, well optimized software, and a great screen are still let down by one critical part of the phone that many other Chinese companies also fail to get right.Maze Alpha X ReviewMaze is a very new company and their very first phone (Maze Blade) had massive bezels and a mirror like finish, their second phone (Maze Alpha) was quite a good device, and now they are trying their luck with the Maze Alpha X. The phone isnt packed to the brim with great specifications, Maze has chosen instead to use midrange parts in the phone, Helio P25 processor, 6GB of RAM, and a 3900mAh battery. Will this phone be an even bigger hit than the older Maze Alpha? Spoiler alert: It wont, but what part of the phone is the huge letdown?So Close to PerfectMaze Alpha X SpecificationsProcessorMTK6757 Helio P25 Octacore ProcessorDisplay6.0 2160×1080 IPS LCDRAM6GBStorage64GB eMMCOperating SystemAndroid 7.0 NougatCameras13MP Camera, 5MP FrontBattery3,900mAhPhysical Dimensions15.64 x 7.46 x 0.81 cm, 209gBig thanks to Gearbest for providing this review unit.Maze Alpha X HardwareJust like the older Maze Alpha, the Maze Alpha X has a glass front, a glass back, and a metal band running around it. To be honest I really dont like glass phones anymore because they are not only slippery but they are fragile as well, its so easy to crack the glass back on this phone. There isnt even a case included for this phone either so you have to get your own. Something else to note is that this phone is very heavy most likely because of the glass front and back and the metal band, definitely not the lightest phone out there.The bezels on the front of the phone are respectable, there are some very decently small side bezels and an OK top bezel, and the bottom bezel is surprisingly small, its definitely not as big as the older Maze Alpha, the bottom bezel contains the fingerprint sensor and the selfie camera that does take photos up your nose, but it doesnt affect me too much.There is one weird issue, the USB-C port is deep enough that about 30% of my USB-C cables dont work, but the other 70% longer cables work. I think the port here is a tad deep. The USB-C cable included in the box does work nicely though.Well Built, but glass though…Maze Alpha X DisplayThe display on the Maze Alpha X is a 2160×1080 resolution on a 6 display and the screen is quite gorgeous. It is a great LCD display that is very crisp and pretty to look at. If you have some nice colourful photos like Ive got here, you can see how saturated and deep the colours are and the photos just look amazing. The display does look a bit dramatic compared to other phones, to explain a bit more I mean that the display has that dark, thunderstorm dramatic kind of look that is not present in other devices.The maximum brightness hits about 450-500 nits which is good enough so that you can see it in bright sunlight, but its still not as visible as AMOLED displays.Finally, the touchscreen is Gorilla Glass 5 and the back glass is Gorilla Glass 4 which means you dont need to worry about it scratching, but you do need to worry about it smashing.Maze Alpha X AudioThe Maze Alpha X has decent audio, the maximum volume with the volume enhancer off is pretty average, its definitely not loud enough to listen to in super loud environments. Although there is a lack of bass as with many other Chinese phones, I found the speaker to be more than adequate for most users.Maze Alpha X BatteryNow battery life, after using the Ulefone Power 3 and the Vernee X, I have to readjust my perspective on battery life again. The Maze Alpha X was able to get around 5 hours of screen on time over 3 days of standby, I have to say that the standby battery life is very good most of the time, I lost 3% overnight, however if you left a few apps open without killing the process (Antutu, Asphalt, Viki/Rakuten) I lost 3% in an hour. So far Ive only encountered massive standby battery drain with the three apps mentioned above, any other app left open doesnt drain battery like this. My use was moderate to heavy use, some Reddit, taking photos, Youtube, gaming, and benchmarks, this was definitely a good mix of use so its pretty representative of the use you might get, might be a bit more or less depending on how strong the cell towers are around you. I would say 7-8 hours of screen on time is definitely pretty possible on this phone, however dont forget the original Maze Alpha with the same battery, processor and bigger screen could get 9-10 hours easily, so more software optimization is needed.Gizchina News of the week Join GizChina on TelegramBatterys not badMaze Alpha X Software & PerformanceMaze did an excellent job optimizing the software, its super fluid and smooth, and when navigating the UI its actually in some cases faster and smoother than any of my Xiaomi MIUI phones and almost on par with the Xiaomi Mi A1. Its so nice to be able to navigate the phone so effortlessly and fluidly with no stutters. There are virtual buttons that you can hide, and you can actually use the phone without virtual buttons, short tap on the home button is back, and long press is home. However, this is where my first issue comes in. The home button is not responsive at all, you have to tap very hard on the button to get any sort of feedback which makes the experience so much worse.Launching apps is fairly quick, keeping up with the most well optimized Helio P20 series chips and sometimes beating them, this Maze Alpha X creeps close to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 in terms of app launching speeds which is a testament to Mazes software optimization. Multi-tasking is great as there is plenty of RAM to go around.Gaming wasnt a problem either, I could play many intense games like Asphalt Rally Racing, Mortal Kombat, and Modern Combat (by the way, did the game NOVA disappear from the Play Store?) without slowdowns. Graphic settings had to be turned down in a couple of games but FPS stayed steady.The fingerprint sensor is accurate but fairly slow, it looks like Maze didnt spend a lot of time optimizing or carefully selecting a good fingerprint sensor, seeing how its slow and unresponsive.Maze Alpha X ConnectivityLTE reception was average and so was the speed. I didnt see anything outstanding with the radio performance here. WiFi reception was average also, with speeds dropping off noticeably (but not significantly) once I moved about 30 feet away from my router. Bluetooth works fine, and GPS was slow to lock and jumped around a bit.Maze Alpha X CameraThe camera on the Maze Alpha X is not great. Maze actually did a decent job hiding the copious amounts of noise if you dont zoom in too far, but you still see it under certain conditions. In great lighting conditions the noise is fairly well hidden from the naked eye, especially on the phone screen. Place it on a 24 monitor and you have to look closely to see the noise. However, once the sun disappears in any way, shape or form, Maze cant stop the noise from taking over the photos. You can see the noise easily on a computer screen and it gets exponentially worse as lighting gets darker.However, with all that being said, I was able to take one absolutely great photo of my dog in overcast conditions, lots of detail, great colour reproduction, and nice contrast. However, the background is still quite noisy. This leads me to believe that the cameras problem is software, not hardware, since I was able to take such a great photo.The front facing camera is average here. Video quality maxes out at 1080p and it suffers from the same problem the photos do, the noise. Its very visible if lighting is not absolutely optimum.Maze Alpha X Camera Gallery Maze Alpha X VerdictMaze nailed every aspect of the Alpha X except for the camera. My dislike of the phone material (glass) is personal opinion and there are many who love it, the display, battery life, and performance are all great, but the camera is very weak. However, I am led to believe that the problem is software since I was able to take one good photo. However at this point, the Maze Alpha X is a no go, and I do not recommend you buy it over the Ulefone Power 3. However, as always, check out the Redmi 5 Plus before you do anything as that still represents the best value to performance of any midrange device. Buy the Maze Alpha X