Author: Chris Eilers

The next generation of Huawei Ascend P7 was announced to arrive in next month, on 15th April 2015. One month next for its special event, we heard something new about the phone so far. And now, we have a alleged sample of the phone as well.

There is a leaked photo of the device surfaced online a couple of days ago. Needless to say, the images has a resolution of 4160 x 3120 which kindly said that the phone was taken from a 13MP camera. Besides, you can find that the pic is at a good quality even in low light situation. A high image quality can be a huge plus for high-end Huawei P8 due many camera struggles come from the above problem. But from the leaked photo, it highly seems that the Huawei P8 flagship succeed in limiting the noise in the dim light. So, the P8 may have a good camera indeed.

Huawei created the Huawei Honor 6 Plus with dual-rear camera at the same 8MP which totally together to form an 13MP end resolution picture. After that, we don’t know exactly whether Huawei will re-create an amazing dual-camera version on their upcoming flagship, but it could be a single 13 Megapixels also.

Beside from, Huawei has just unveiled a teaser in which emphasize stronger screen and a better camera. Third image points at a possible surprise at the price point.

Besides a high quality camera, the Huawei P8 is expectantly shipped two different variants. One is a standard one with aluminum alloy body while the rest one is a premium high-end edition which features the zirconia ceramic unibody design. In general, the phone will highly design a pretty slim at 6.7mm of thickness.

As our previous posts, the Huawei P8 is hopefully to be packed a 5.2-inch 1080 display, 3GB of RAM and 2Ghz Kirin 930 processor with 64GB storage on-board. Its device is also be powered by the latest 16nm Huawei’s Hisilicon Kirin 930 64-bit octa-core SoC which is the first SOC ever to be produced with 16nm, really thin, while even the latest Snapdragon 810 is baded on 20nm. The phone is speculated to report a fingerprint scanner, but recently, we heard that the company will not added it in their particular flagship device. In addition, the P8 is expected to run on the newest Android 5.0 Lollipop.

As for the price, the P8 is said to be priced at 2999 Yuan but our recent reports said that the phone will have a cheaper price tag of 2888 Yuan which is equivalent into 20759 Philippines pesos. But thanks to the above teaser, its phone might be a lower price than Php 20759 as well.

Anyhow, we have a month ahead of the special event, so keep calmed and we will update more.

Source: Weibo

Asus Zenfone 2 – the famous brand to date, was reported that it will come someday in May. And now, according to a reliable source close to e-commerce site Lazada Philippines, they said that Lazada will probably sell the long-awaited Asus Zenfone 2 on 10th May 2015. 

It seems that the 10th May 2015 is much more accurate than our previous report which mentioned someday in Q2 2015. The Asus Zenfone 2 was launched in Taiwan on last 9th March, officially introduced three different variants: 5.5″ FHD (2GB or 4GB), 5.5″HD (2GB) as well as 5″HD (2GB). We reported that the phone will come in Phi for FHD display version for sure, but not exact handset (2GB or 4GB version) will be available. A price tag of Php 9,800 was also leaked as a possible cost (was probably translated from Taiwanese SRP to Philippines pesos) of the standard Asus Zenfone 2 (FHD display, 2GB of RAM) as well as  Php 12,573 for premium Asus Zenfone 2 (FHD, 4GB of RAM, 32 GB of internal storage). Due to a FHD version will be possibly available, we need to spend amount of money a little bid higher than Php 9,800. Not to high price to own the super impressive Asus Zenfone 2, right?

However, not official price as well as accurate version will come with us. But anyway, at least we have more news and updates about this amazing phone and we can know to handle something.

Much more important thing now, we hope that source is reliable. If it is, you can mark the date of 10th March 2015 as your lucky day cuz you can get in your hands the super affordable and amazing high-specs phone Asus Zenfone 2 and also some other brand and new arrivals on the side as well.

Related: For Asus Zenfone 2 review, Asus Zenfone 2 in official launch date in Taiwan

It’s definitely not such a good news for us. Do you remember the 399 Yuan Xiaomi Redmi phone which get certificated by TENAA at the end of last year? A few days ago, we talk about 399 Yuan Xiaomi phone than is expected to come at the end of this month. But, it seems that the phone will never officially come with us.

Therefore, some days ago, Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun posted in his official Weibo Account, the super cheap LTE enabled device – 399 Yuan handset will be impossibly announced.

He emphasized that Xiaomi are really seriously focus on the quality of products and user experience, and see them as one of the most important thing. He also said that he is directly involved in the company’s process, deeply understand the development and testing many company’s products, therefore, creating a good phone within 399 Yuan is impossible action. More specifically, he posted on Weibo to clarify that Xiaomi had no plans for a super cheap Redmi device.

But, if Xiaomi won’t release the super cheap Redmi, so which exact phone was hit TENAA last year? The phone got through TENAA certification, so its phone will come soon. The device was announced to report the Leadcore 1860 processor with 1GB RAM and a 720p OGS display.

We guess that Xiaomi have had plans a few months back for such a super affordable handset but it looks like the plans are not deployed. As our guess, a phone with GSM / TD-SCDMA / TD-LTE network capabilities for only $65 is too good to be true. Anyway, the phone will not arrive by the end of March for sure.

Chinese smartphone manufacturer Oppo will launch their new mid-range Oppo R7 which allegedly has a super slim as its predecessor – Oppo R5. The new R7 has just got certification from the Indonesian Telecom Certification authority (as the Oppo R7f).

Chinese handset maker Oppo will introduce a new “R series” with a new ultra-slim device R7. As the name reveals that the phone is definitely the next sibling of the super thin Oppo R5 was released on October 2014. The R5 is now in the third position in “World’s slimmest phone” with 4.85mm. So, it seems that the handset will feature a skinny design like its sibling.

As specs-wise, the super thin Oppo R7 will be one of the first device to be shipped MediaTek’s latest processors octa-core 64-bit MT6795 SoC, clocked at 2.2 GHz. The phone will report a 2K display (2.560×1.600 pixel resolution) as well as 4G LTE connectivity and 20.7 MP rear camera.

The most important thing, the phone will be expected to report a skinny design, but we hope that Chinese smartphone creator Oppo will not sacrifice too many features just for the sake of thinness. In fact, the R5 has a thickness of 4.85 mm but it doesn’t support 3.5mm audio jack and poor battery also.

To recap, the Oppo R5 features a 5.2″ full HD AMOLED screen along with a resolution of 1920 x 1080p. Moreover, it is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 SoC as well as 64 bit octa-core. Actually, this phone can not be seen as a truely flagship in term of specifications. Although it comes with a standard set of 13MP in rear camera and 5MP secondary camera. But more interesting, OPPO said that it is just only 01.18 second focus on duration. This feature seems clearly impressive, at least on the theory. Its remaining specs are 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage built-in as well as a 2,000 mAh battery which is naturally non-removable. The phone also is shipped with the trademark VOOC charging technology which support to take the phone from 0% to 75% charge in only 30 minutes.

The Oppo R5 was globally launched last year so we expect to see the new handset to be available internationally as well. There are no words about the price of the device, however, the R5 was priced at $470 or about PHP 21,000, so it highly looks like the R7 will a little bid higher than the mentioned price.

Source

LG manufacturers are juicing the smartphone industrial with their new LG G4 or even LG G4 Note. The phone therefore will ship a slight curve which is similar to the premium LG G Flex2. When we initially just heard about the phone so far, it highly looks like that source can believable. Here are some cases of the device which will indeed have a slightly curved screen, similar to the LG Magna and Spirit that we saw at the MWC.

There are now not official confirmation from LG, but the cases are even on sale at a Chinese retailer site. Besides, in Onleaks, we also see a post which is “LG G4 front panel”. 

Except for some leaked images about its phone, we don’t know anything more about alleged LG G4 well. But, at least, we can know that the phone will possibly have a fingerprint reader on the back, specifically on the Power key. Besides, from our previous (onleaks source again),  the G4 purportedly packs Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 SoC, 16MP camera along with optical image stabilization, and QHD display, Android 5.1 Lollipop, 3GB of RAM, 16GB or 32GB of internal storage as well as 4K video capabilities.

Source: Onleaks, Chinese retailer

Huawei and online search giant Google will team up together to create the next Google Nexus 2015. While the Kirin 930 16nm processor is quite good, even smaller than Snapdragon 810 chip. It seems that Huawei wanna something more powerful, specifically the Kirin 940 or even Kirin 950.

Of course, this makes us curios about what exactly the Kirin 940/950 were about. But thanks to the leaked documentary, we know a little bid about the phone. In detail, the three SoCs (930/940/950) will feature essentially the same architecture of a quad-core set of A53 cores and another with A57 cores. The main differences might belongs to the clock rate.

While the base Kirin 930 will be clocked at 2.0GHz, we will find a higher 2.2 GHz and 2.4 GHz in the 940 and 950 respectively. More interesting, the Kirin 940 and Kirin 950 SoC will even support 25.6GB/s LPDDR4 RAM!

The more powerful Kirin and Kirin 950 will reportedly feature 4K Video quality as well as dual SIM. According to the report, while the Kirin 930 phone will be launched in Q2 2015, we have to wait until Q3 (3rd quater) and Q4 (4th quarter) 2015 for strong Kirin 940 as well as Kirin 950.

In highlight: Some rumored Huawei upcoming’s smartphone are the Ascend Mate 8, which supposedly comes with a 6-inch QHD display, a new Kirin 930 processor and a $650 price tag; the mysterious Ascend P8, possibly ships a 5-inch HD display, a new Kirin 930 processor, 3GB of RAM and a $490 price tag; and the Ascend D8, which seemingly features a 5.5-inch quad HD display, a Kirin 950 processor, 4GB of RAM and a premium $800 price tag. And now, Huawei will be the next partner of Google for their luxury Google Nexus 2015. Well done, Huawei!!!

The leaked roadmap 

Wow, many of us are really eager and can’t wait to officially see the Asus Zenfone 2 in Phi, expectantly someday in May. We mostly love the phone too much and always wanna search for more updates, news so far as long-hurried guys.

The Asus Zenfone 2, no doubt, is an amazing smartphone, extremely high-end specs but super-affordable price ever. Asus, probably in order to satisfy our passion, was launched a new Video, in which shown up our dream phone in a new interesting way.

Back to the past, the Asus Zenfone 2 was firstly introduced at CES 2015 earlier this year. Only 3 months from their initial launch, the Asus Zenfone 2 have been strongly shaken the market and crazily paid much attention. The phone, therefore, absolutely will be sold as a hot cake.

Asus Zenfone 2 came in three versions in press release in Taiwan last March 9th, from 158 USD to 258 USD (was translated from Taiwanese currency in current rate). The most premium variant Zenfone 2 5.5″FHD, 4GB of RAM, 64-bit Quad-Core processor, 4GB of RAM, 64GB internal Storage, 3000mAh battery and 13MP Shooter which is the first 4GB handset ever, have driven us crazily.

The Asus Zenfone 2 stands out in flagship smartphone range with a super impressive price. The phone is a real proof that most of current flagship smartphones are too pricey. Some smartphones, are partly similar to Zenfone 2 in specs, but stay in 600-700USD range. But Asus has apparently done their homework and might have learned from brands like Xiaomi and Meizu well.

Now Asus has just released the new teaser Video but the most important thing, we hope that the phone will enter as many markets as possible soon.

Related:

Asus Zenfone 2 – Specific Prices in Taiwan

Asus Zenfone 2 – First Impression

Asus Zenfone 2 on Antutu Benchmark – Strong Peformance

Asus Zenfone 2 Comparison – True Flagship Killer

A new VAIO smartphone will be reportedly unveiled in the next time, on March 20th. According to Japanese mobile company Japan Communications Inc., investors of the brand, the first smartphone of VAIO will be introduced soon. The company, therefore, will work as the distributor of the smartphone. In addition, the device will be produced by third party corporations and will be available through Japan Communications and other retailers.

In fact, it’s not the first time the rumors of new VAIO handset shake the market. We heard about this news lately last year so far. Some specs was leaked well also, specifically, the first VAIO smartphone will equip with a 5″ screen along with a mediocre 720p display resolution. Moreover, the reports claimed that the phone will ship with 64-bit Snapdragon 410 MSM8916 clocked at 1.2 GHz accompanied with 2 GB of RAM. Besides, it will run with the latest Android 5.0 Lollipop OS a long with a 13-megapixel rear camera and a 4-megapixel ‘selfie’ shooter. Its phone will be unlocked and SIM free in packing.

As you definitely know, VAIO brand is a prestigious brand for its laptop portfolio. However, the Japanese tech giant manufactures decided to try something new after it mostly sold its shares as the laptops suffered low sales. However, the investors decided to keep running the brand and apparently has plans to further expand the business.

Anyway, if VAIO enters in the smartphone market, it will extremely struggle against Sony’s own line of devices. VAIO’s smartphone is reportedly targeted at business professionals.

It’d better if VAIO hit the market sooner though, but we still hope that the phone will positioned their brand well in smartphone industrial market as they did be successfully.

For the critical part, the VAIO phone reportedly be sold at a price tag of $420 (PHP 18623) price tag, but unfortunately the device sell only in Japan at the time. Honestly, from above listed specs, the price is a little pricey, especially in not really surprised specs in the device.

What do you think about the product from VAIO brand? Do you think the phone will be such a hot one?

VAIO Phone hands-on

VAIO Phone specs:
5-inch HD TFT IPS display @1280 x 720 resolution
1.2GHz quad-core processor
2GB RAM
16GB storage
Expandable up to 64GB via microSD
13MP rear camera
Wi-Fi
Bluetooth 4.0
LTE
71.3 x 141.5 x 7.95mm (dimensions)
130 grams (weight)
2,500mAh battery
Android 5.0 Lollipop

Source: Japanese, Vaio

Wow. This is not the first time that Apple’s flagship device had undergone a “lookalike” process, and it will not be the last for sure. There are too many “lookalike iPhone” smartphones in the market at the moment, as Dakele 3 for an instance.

After launching the Ulefone Be pro earlier this year and planing to release a smaller version. Now we have another device of Ulefone well, therefore, being noticed that you should more carefully observe this phone and the original Apple iPhone 6 cuz not too much difference in design. This phone is even more beautiful than its inspiration.

A single leaked image has surfaced showing us what we can expect next from Chinese phone maker Ulefone and their new Dare N1 flagship.From the leaked photo, we can easily realize that the phone has many similarities with Apple iPhone 6, especially in alloy chassis, aluminum frame and home button. But this phone has added Android navigation buttons on either side. Its home button is expected to ship with the same fingerprint recognition as the iPhone too.

Ulefone Be Pro Prices and Release Date

Ulefone has not officially commented any thing about its phone so far. But some reliable sources said that the phone will be rumored to equip with an octacore processor, 3GB of RAM, 5.5-inch HD display as well as a standard 13 mega-pixel primary shooter.What do you think about this phone, guys?

The Asus Zenfone 2 was officially launched in Philippines a couples of days ago including prices and specific versions so far. People are getting crazy and eager to get this phone soon. 

The Asus Zenfone 2 is undeniable to be treat as one of the most famous and hottest device to date. It is the first 4GB phone as well as on the top on Antutu Benchmark for a time. The phone won prestigious TF Design Award also. But, over than that, the Zenfone 2 is priced at a entry price tag from amazing 158USD.

According to Asus, there are now 15 million users all over the world already. Their pre-orders on March are 500,000 units while they plans to sell doubly in April or possibly 3 million shipping in next months. With the very popular Quad-Core Intel Chip, a huge Full HD 5.5″ display and 4GB RAM we are sure this success story will continue.

We are very interested how the Asus Zenfone 2 Specs compare to other 2015 flagships though. We previously gave you our first comparison between Zenfone 2 and other current phone at that time: Asus Zenfone 2 Flagship killer. But now, due to some new launched flagship smartphones, it seems that its position is in the same.

Our comparison this time is about Asus Zenfone 2 and some other phones in the same price range, like OnePlus One, Xiaomi Mi 4 but also much more expensive ones: Xiaomi Mi Note or new Samsung Galaxy S6.

As specs-wise, the Asus Zenfone 2 equipped with a large 5.5″ FHD display (1920×1080 resolution) and a density of 403 (lower than Samsung devices but still at a very good feature). The display is protected by Gorilla Glas 3 and has a slight 3.3 mm bezel, giving ZenFone 2 a remarkable 72% screen-to-body ratio for a maximized viewing experience. Moreover, its phone will be powered by a 64 Bit Quadcore Intel Atom Z3580 at 2.3 Ghz, which can easily hold its own against Snapdragon 805 and Exynos 7 Octa Cpu. If there are weaknesses, its more in the graphics department. In addition to, the phone also be covered by plastic chassis, but still give the sophisticated feel and luxury design at all.

Antutu Benchmark performance: Asus Zenfone 2 has over 50,000 Antutu Benchmark points which apparently overtake Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and Meizu MX4 well, of course other Android powering phones. While we can not totally count on the source will, at least, it shown us a strong performance of Zenfone 2 in some first imagination.

For the price, the Zenfone 2 started from 158 USD for smaller version of 5″ HD and nearly 300 USD for the most impressive 5.5″ FHD, 4GB version. In our comparison, needless to say, the Zenfone 2 is the cheapest phone.

The 4GB version easily shakes their brand up to a much higher level and be one of the top leaders under a price tag of 300USD price range for 2015. For 158 USD the 5″Asus Zenfone 2 might even be the best Android Smartphone for under 200 USD as well.

Camera department: In our previous report, we compared camera quality between Asus Zenfone 2 and Samsung Galaxy Note 4. Its winner thanks to a 13MP Camera with a 5 part lens and f2.0 aperture, dual LED flash and  a 5MP Shooter with 85 Degree wide angle lense. Even in low light condition, the Pixel Master Camera of the Asus Zenfone 2 performs really well.

Another plus of Zenfone 2 is Dual-Sim support which will definitely a huge advantage in Asis markets, accompanied with highly expensive Xiaomi Mi Note also.

Samples: Asus Zenfone 2 Camera vs Samsung Galaxy Note 4

For battery, Xiaomi is powered by 3000 mAh, honestly, which is sufficient, but not great for the 5.5″ Full HD Screen. Anyway, we want to thanks Asus for their trying on improving their battery life than other previous phones.

In conclusion: The Asus Zenfone 2 officially launched in Taiwan on March 9th and probably comes in Phi someday in May. The 5″, 2GB version will be sold at 158 USD while the 5.5 FHD, 4GB model for a price of 285 USD. For more updates about its release price, pls kindly find here.

In our comparison, compared to high-end Samsung Galaxy S6, Xiaomi Mi Note, iPhone 6 Plus or OnePlus One and Samsung Galaxy Note 4, the Zenfone 2 is the cheapest phone, a powerful chipset, highest RAM, an expandable memory via microSD, a standard screen size, high pixel density… For under 300 USD (PHP 12614), the Zenfone is extremely a good deal ever.

Asus Zenfone 2 hands-on

Huawei had a successful 2014 with many launched high-end smartphone, including Huawei Honor 6 Plus, the larger Huawei Ascend Mate 7. Huawei lovers just heard about new Huawei Mediapad X2 tablet at MWC or upcoming Huawei P8. Huawei are on the top world’s largest smartphone maker and attracts too much attention today. They will be the next partner of Google for creating Google Nexus 2015. They has their own Huawei Kirin CPU’s are incredibly strong. Besides, they was unveiled new watch could cost $1000 at MWC which is seen as the best-looking Android Wear Smartwatch up to date.

Interestingly, we are now learning about their new accessory which was leaked on Chinese forums yesterday. Therefore, the source said that Huawei will launch their 13,000mAh powerbank. From the leaked pics well, it’s not hard for us to understand where the inspiration comes from? The powerbank is similar to classic Xiaomi powerbank in design and textured finish. The device even features a similar power button, and LED notification system to the Xiaomi version plus dual USB.

The fierce war between Huawei and Xiaomi are now more and more interesting, Huawei apparently learnt many thing from Xiaomi well. But at least, it’s not really important when now Huawei have been positioning their brand well.

We have heard tons of rumors about the next Google’s cooperation for their next Google Nexus. Even if that hasn’t been confirmed by either Google or the Chinese company, more reports are continuously shaking the market by revealing more and more purported details about the upcoming Google Nexus phone. It highly looks like the Huawei will be the next Google Nexus 2015 maker.

The Google Nexus 5 made by LG was a incredibly success of Google to date. The handset was emphasized for its balance of excellent technical specifications, strong performance, and affordable price. Its phone, even in some way, was regarded as one of the best smartphone which was released back in 2013. Therefore, of course, Google strongly want to recreate the success of the Google Nexus 5. But who is their next option?

Keving Yang, the director of the prestigious iSuppli, one of the top Market Research Company worldwide, wrote on his Weibo, Huawei will the new partner of Google for their Google Nexus 2015. While it’s not really clear that Huawei will make the next flagships or tablets, it seems that we got a good news due to the confirmation of LG. LG will be the makes of one of the next Google devices 2015.

And, whatever, Huawei, after introducing Dual-Camera Huawei Honor 6 Plus, Huawei Ascend Mate 7 absolutely prove that they can able to create high-end flagship smartphone. Besides, Huawei had a very good 2014 along with very strong devices in 2014. Anyway, Huawei is a very worthy manufacturer for the new Nexus.

Needless to say, their own Huawei Kirin CPU’s are amazingly strong in term of raw processing power. The mysterious Huawei P8 will be probably powered by the newest Kirin 930 16nm processor – the first SOC ever, same as the Huawei Mediapad X2 was just unveiled at MWC. The Kirin 930 processor is built on a smaller 16nm process than Qualcomm’s top Snapdragon 810 chip. So if Google come up with Huawei, Google might even decide to use Huawei’s Kirin CPU in their devices well.

In conclusion: Google will partner with Huawei for the next Google Nexus 2015. This is definitely good news for Huawei lovers. While the Motorola Google Nexus 6 is really expensive, stay at upper level. Combine with Huawei, we hope that the next Google Nexus 7 will be much more affordable again, just like Google Nexus 5 and Nexus 4.