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Meizu m1 note hands-on

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We were very impressed with the Meizu MX4 and even more impressed with its bigger counterpart the Meizu MX4 Pro but to cover all interested users, the China-based maker has a cheaper phablet in the face of the Meizu m1 note.

It cuts a few of the more premium hardware characteristics but the looks and feel are every bit as good. The screen is a 5.5″ IPS unit of a lower 1080p resolution (compared to the 1536p of the MX4 Pro) but is every bit as bright and colorful. Read more »

Archos 50 Diamond hands-on

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You may be excused for not being familiar with Archos but the French phone maker has made itself relevant in the markets it operates on with tablets that offer great hardware at very low price points. The company makes more than tablets though – there are also a lot of phones, and the Archos 50 Diamond is their best.

The 50 Diamond is a minimalist smartphone with clean design and a flamboyant lime paint job. It offers a balanced set of abilities that will ensure a reasonable price point and more than reasonable performance. Read more »

Wiko Highway Star 4G and Highway Pure 4G hands-on

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Wiko announced two new smartphones yesterday and we have the hands-on impressions for you now. The Highway Star 4G and Highway Pure 4G are are both quite the lookers but also boast impressive specs.

The higher end of the duo is the Highway Star 4G and rocks a matte aluminum unibody with flat front glass. It also comes in various color options like Silver, Gold, Grey and Bleen (the cyan one). Read more »

Nokia N1 hands-on

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After Microsoft took over Nokia’s devices business we felt we’d never hold another Nokia device again. But as it turned out the company wasn’t done. It’s not exactly clear how much of Nokia there is in the Nokia N1 but after handling it we feel reassured that this is indeed a product of the quality-driven Finish brand we know and love.

The Nokia N1 launched in China solely while the rest of the world is aching to see the low-cost high-end slate launch elsewhere. However the Nokia rep we talked to assures us that the Nokia N1 is coming to Europe – so here goes a sneak peak at what to expect. Read more »

Cyanogen rebrands itself with simpler, less Androidy look

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As Steve Kondik’s software-making company is trying to become more than just CyanogenMod we’re seeing the first rebranding. The new Cyanogen logo is cleaner and sees a clear move away from the Android look.

Cyanogen’s rebrand is more than just a logo change. The company is working with Qualcomm’s reference hardware for Snapdragon 200, 400 and 600 chipsets to build their own software. Read more »

Motrr Galileo flash review

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The Motrr Galileo is an interesting little device that doesn’t divulge much about its purpose by its looks alone. At first glance you might take it for a Bluetooth speaker or something similar. But you would be wrong. Indeed, it’s meant to connect to with your iPhone via Bluetooth but it has nothing to do with music.

The Galileo is a motorized stand that can be used to capture beautiful panoramas or timelapse videos. By mounting an iPhone or GoPro camera on the Galileo, you can capture video and photo footage with seamless motion that could even be remotely controlled. Read more »

ZTE Blade S6 hands-on

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While not a flagship killer by vocation ZTE’s Blade S6 has a lot of potential for its $250 price tag.

It’s built around Qualcomm’s upper-midrange Snapdragon 615 chip that boasts a 64-bit architecture and octa-core prowess for on-demand power and battery preservation, 2GB of RAM, two nano-SIM card slots, a 13MP camera on the back and 5MP on the front along with a 5″ IPS display of 720p resolution. Read more »

Lenovo S90 Sisley battery life test

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After getting the review treatment the Lenovo S90 Sisley is now entering our detailed battery life test overview so that we can compare it to some of its rivals and see what’s what.

We liked a lot about the Sisley in our review like the great design, the good Super AMOLED panel, capable Vibe UI v.2 software and the camera among other things but the battery life was only average. Read more »

Asus Memo Pad 7 ME572C hands-on

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The Asus Memo Pad 7 is a top-tier compact tablet with a 7″ 1200 x 1920px IPS display, 64-bit Intel Atom Z3560 chipset, 2GB of RAM, a 5MP camera and 16GB or 32GB of built in storage that can be expanded with a microSD card.

The Memo Pad 7 also features an attractive design with a textured back, a clean glass front and stereo speakers on the top and bottom (or the sides in landscape mode). Read more »

Samsung Galaxy A5 and A5 Duos battery life test

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It’s time to take a closer look on where the Samsung Galaxy A5 and the Samsung Galaxy A5 Duos battery performance puts them compared to their rivals.

Both phones provide equal browsing, calling and video playback times as those tests don’t care for the dual-SIM functionality and are not affected by it and it’s stand-by where the two part ways. Read more »

Canon unveils new upper-midrange 760D and 750D DLSRs

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Riding its unveiling spree of the new full-frame 5DS and 5DS R and its second ever mirrorless camera in the EOS M3 Canon is also announcing its midrange and upper-midrange DSLRs in the Rebel T6s and T6i (that’s 760D and 750D outside the US).

The two cameras come as successors to the Canon 700D and offer a higher resolution 24.2MP sensor (over the 18MP of old), a new Hybrid CMOS AF III, 19-point all cross-type AF system (probably borrowed from the Canon 70D), 7560px RGB+IR metering sensor as well as built-in Wi-Fi and NFC, which is the first for the Rebel series. Read more »

Lenovo S90 Sisley hands-on

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It seems Lenovo was not impressed with the Apple iPhone 6 and 6 Plus design because it released a smartphone that deliberately looks like the duo. But does it feel like the pair of Apple phones?

The Lenovo S90 Sisley has a unibody contruction with a glass front, aluminum chassis and very little plastic and just looks premium. It’s curved design is also very pleasant to hold, not just behold. Read more »

Samsung NX500 has a flip-out screen, 4K video and retro design

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Samsung’s latest mirrorless interchangeable lens camera is its most powerful yet. The NX500 employs the 28MP APS-C-sized sensor from the NX1 that’s capable of 6480 x 4320px stills and 3840 x 2160px (read 4K) video at 30fps.

The new camera features a retro design and a flip-out 3″ Super AMOLED screen that can rotate for seamless selfies and is touch-sensitive. The NX500 can capture 9 fps stills, its shutter can go as fast as 1/6000s and offers an ISO range of 100-25600 that’s expandable to 51200. Read more »

Samsung Galaxy J1 hands-on

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This is the Samsung Galaxy J1 – the latest entry-level offer by the company that’s set to headline Samsung’s low end on the market.

The phone is set to be priced very attractively and will come in three hardware versions – two will have a 64-bit Marvel Armada Mobile chipset with either single or dual-SIM options and the one we have with us here – a Spreadtrum chip with dual-core 1.2GHz processor and dual-SIM abilities. Read more »

Samsung Galaxy A5 hands-on

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Who said the midrange had to look classless? Not Samsung – the Galaxy A5 is a grand exclamation to the opposite – it’s an upper midrange smartphone with a quality build and quality specs all without pushing you to flagship-worthy expenses.

The Samsung Galaxy A5 flaunts a 6.7mm body with an exquisite flat metal frame with metal buttons, a white pearl finish that flashes different nuances under light, a 5″ 720p panel of Super AMOLED quality up front and a very acceptable weight of 123g. Read more »