Xiaomi Mi 5 and Mi 5 Plus: Here’s what we know so far

XIAOMI

It's been long time coming but looks like Xiaomi is finally set to enthrall audiences across the globe with its next Mi flagship earlier this week. Lei Jun and Co. are holding out a major global event in their home surroundings, wherein two Mi devices; Mi 5 and Mi 5 Plus are to be unveiled, they say.

The device termed Libra has been making the rounds of media table over the past few weeks which is why the dated announcement of 16 July doesn't come across as an out of blue event. In all likelihood, Mi 5 and Mi 5 Plus are the devices lined up and here's what we know about the phones right now.

Both kind of Mi's 
We saw the two-thronged strategy from Xiaomi earlier this year when Mi Note and Mi Note Pro editions were launched and this was start to something bigger, literally. Mi 5 will be nothing bigger than 5.2-inch which seems quite sensible on Xiaomi's part and the Plus variant should have a phablet-sized 6-inch form, if not slightly smaller. Both the flagship options will get industry-standard 2K (1440p) display resolution.

Which Snapdragon SoC then? 
While it's obvious to get a Qualcomm chipset on high-end device (unless you're a HTC) but even then there's a big Snapdragon conundrum running these days. Will my device work fine with 810 or should I opt for safer 808? It's a bold move to opt for 810 with all the heating memoirs running aboard these days. OnePlus has already confirmed its priority by sticking with the 810 but Xiaomi's seems to be undecided about both the aforementioned variants, so we will have to wait for D-Day to see what the company opts for.

More camera power then please 
If Xiaomi wants Mi 5 series to rival the likes of Samsung Galaxy S6 or LG G4 then we want more imaging brilliance laced onto the phones. We're talking about a 16MP rear camera with laser auto-focus if possible and an 8MP shooter on the front for those quality selfie clicks. Bring it on!

Keep the battery running 
High-powered devices can only sustain for longer period if given the right back up solution. Big-size battery with quick charging technology feature is a flagship essential these days and Xiaomi has to stick to those for its sake.

Price it right with one eye on India 
Yes, if Indian market is only second to China for Xiaomi then a quick global-to-India availability needs to happen. One thing is for certain, Xiaomi devices above 20K aren't going to find many takers in the country (Mi 4 proved it) which is either they lower down price of Mi 4 (or discontinue) to shelf the Mi 5 at similar range.

It's Xiaomi vs OnePlus this month and are eyes will be glued to what the Chinese brands have to offer with their latest flagship device have to offer and when their India debut happens, after all that's where the money is these days. Stay tuned.

Le 1s Review

LeEco (the company formerly known as LeTV) is the latest to join the long, long list of Chinese smartphone manufacturers trying their luck in India. The company doesn't have any of the advantages of being an early mover, and no matter how shockingly low it can push prices, it won't be the first to be doing so. Still, there's a lot to like about the Le 1s, which is quite full of interesting features considering its budget price tag.

LeEco hasn't gone only for impressive specifications; it's clearly trying to achieve a level of desirability, as you can immediately see from the Le 1s's metal body. While the much more expensive Le Max(Review | Pictures) took on the might of mainstream flagships and came up looking just a little short, LeEco is hoping that the Le 1s will have much wider appeal.

Look and feel
There's only so far you can go with specifications, and so LeEco has decided to bring premium materials and build quality to the budget smartphone space. The Le 1s is made almost entirely of metal, save for two plastic strips running along the top and bottom of the rear for the various antennas to work. The strips are certainly noticeable, but not as prominent as the plastic antenna lines on theiPhone 6 and 6s series, for example, so some might actually prefer this.

The front face is pretty slick, with black glass surrounding the screen and extending all the way to the two sides. The front camera and sensor window are arranged symmetrically on either side of the earpiece. There are the standard three capacitive Android navigation buttons below the screen, but they're hidden until you tap one, at which point they all light up. The metal band running around the sides has chamfered edges, but the Le 1s manages to avoid looking like an iPhone 5 overall thanks to its proportions.

The primary camera and flash are in one corner of the rear, and there's a silver mirror-finished fingerprint sensor lower down and in the middle. It looks great but is actually a bit slippery, so we'll have to see if form and function are balanced. The company obviously didn't manage to time its rebranding with its India launch, so our test unit had a large LeTV logo - units sold here in the future might say LeEco instead, though we can't be certain about that.

The power and volume buttons are on the right, as expected, and a tray with cutouts for one Nano-SIM and one Micro-SIM is on the left. There's a standard 3.5mm audio socket on top, accompanied by a very non-standard IR emitter. Much more noteworthy is the Type-C USB port on the bottom. Type-C will undoubtedly begin displacing Micro-USB this year but LeEco is still ahead of the curve here. The primary disadvantage is that you won't be able to use any of the USB cables you currently have lying around.

In a very interesting twist, the company ships a non-standard USB cable with a modified type-A plug on the charger end. It works like any other USB cable, except that you don't have to worry about which way is up. In order to achieve this, the plug's inner tongue has been made really thin, and we hope it won't snap.

The gold finish isn't for everyone, but that's the only option at the moment on Flipkart, the exclusive retailer. Grip is decent for a phone with a 5.5-inch screen, though one-handed usage is still awkward. The Le 1s weighs 169g but somehow manages not to feel that heavy even with prolonged usage.

Specifications and software
Rather than the Qualcomm processors that have become commonplace in this segment, LeEco has chosen the MediaTek Helio X10, also known as the MT6795T. This is a pretty powerful chip, with eight cores clocked at up to 2.2GHz and integrated PowerVR G6200 graphics. There's also 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, which is sadly not expandable.

The 5.5-inch screen has a resolution of 1080x1920 which is now standard at this price level. There's a 13-megapixel camera on the rear and a 5-megapixel one in front. Unfortunately, the 3000mAh battery is sealed in. 4G is supported across both SIM cards, and there's also Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.1, and A-GPS. FM radio appears to be missing.

The Le 1s runs the rather dated Android 5.0.2 with LeEco's heavy eUI skin. Predictably, it dispenses with the app drawer and there aren't as many customisation options as we've seen before. The most difficult thing to get used to is that all shortcuts and quick settings have been moved to the app switcher screen. It looks like a mashup of iOS 7's Control Center and app switcher and is functional enough, but it seems as though LeEco wanted to be different just for the sake of being different.

There aren't very many preloaded apps - you get Yahoo Weather, and an app called My LeTV which is a gateway to the company's cloud storage and security services. The only other non-default app is called OK Remote Control, which can use the IR emitter or work over Wi-Fi with compatible TVs, most notably LeTV's own). There are no Indian TV and set-top box brands in the list of compatible products, and third-party apps like Peel do not work with the Le 1s.

The phone is also surprisingly sparse when it comes to settings and enhancements. There's no way to shrink the screen's display area for one-handed use, and there are no shortcuts or gestures either. Overall, we're quite surprised by the Le 1s's software shortcomings.

Performance
We liked using the Le 1s for the most part, and while it does feel good in the hand, the software experience is a bit of a let down, making the whole experience feel unpolished. We were happy to note that the phone didn't get too hot in use, even after gaming and running stress tests. Only a bit of warmth could be felt towards the top of the rear.

The screen is bright indoors but not very usable under direct sunlight. Colours look sharp and viewing angles are sufficient, if not great. We were pleasantly surprised by the phone's speaker, which pumped out pretty loud and rich sound.

The primary camera struggled a bit with detailing and exposure but ultimately managed to pull off quite a few good shots. Close-ups were the best, though there was still noise and murkiness to natural textures. Low-light shots looked impressive at first but were completely unusable if enlarged to actual size. You'll be fine if you only want to share photos on social media, but not for anything beyond that. Videos were also adequate for a phone that costs this much.

(Tap to see full-sized images)

Benchmarks showed that the MediaTek Helio X10 SoC can pull a fair amount of weight, exceeding Qualcomm's mid-range offerings such as the Snapdragon 616 in many areas, and closing in on the high-end Snapdragon 808. We logged 52,057 points in AnTuTu and 23,471 overall in Quadrant. As expected, graphics scores lagged just a little bit, with 27fps in GFXBench and 8,552 in 3DMark Ice Storm Extreme. This phone is well up to the challenge of Android gaming and will deliver smooth visuals in any of today's titles.

We were able to loop our battery test video for 7 hours, 51 minutes before the battery died, which is just about average. In everyday situations, we were happy to note that the Le 1s just about got through a regular day's usage. What saved the day though was quick charging - the device comes with a really bulky charger, but it pays off when you can zoom up to a double-digit battery percentage in just a few minutes.

Verdict
LeEco might have been late to the party but it did arrive in style. The company claims that 70,000 units of the Le 1s sold out within two seconds in the first flash sale, and that over 6,00,000 people registered for the chance to claim one. Over three million units have sold in China in the three months since it launched there, so there's clearly no shortage of demand.

Meanwhile, things just keep getting better for value-minded Indian buyers. With this phone, you get considerable power and top-notch specifications, all neatly presented in a very nice package. The most obvious competitor right now is the Lenovo Vibe K4 Note, which has slightly poorer specifications but has better entertainment capabilities including an optional VR headset, which is a totally unique feature. There's also the Moto G (Gen 3) (Review) to consider, if you'd rather have durability and great software than looks and raw performance.

Go for this phone if you're willing to give a brand new player a chance, and if you would really like to have a premium-looking phone that you can show off. However, keep in mind that even though you can now get a lot of the looks and specifications of a high-end flagship, you can't assume that you'll also get the same level of finesse.

HTC One X9

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HTC One X9 smartphone was launched in December 2015. The phone comes with a 5.50-inch touchscreen display with a resolution of 1080 pixels by 1920 pixels at a PPI of 401 pixels per inch. 

The HTC One X9 is powered by octa-core MediaTek Helio X10 processor and it comes with 3GB of RAM. The phone packs 32GB of internal storage that can be expanded up to 2000GB via a microSD card. As far as the cameras are concerned, the HTC One X9 packs a 13-megapixel primary camera on the rear and a 5-megapixel front shooter for selfies. 

The HTC One X9 runs Android 6.0 and is powered by a 3000mAh non removable battery. It measures 153.90 x 75.90 x 7.90 (height x width x thickness) and weighs 170.00 grams. 

The HTC One X9 is a dual SIM (GSM and GSM) smartphone that accepts two Nano-SIM. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, 3G, 4G (with support for Band 40 used by some LTE networks in India). Sensors on the phone include Proximity sensor, Ambient light sensor, Accelerometer, and Gyroscope. 

About HTC

Founded in 1997 as a laptop manufacturer, Taiwan-based HTC soon began making smartphones based on Windows Mobile and Brew. It released the first commercial Android smartphone, the HTC Dream, in 2008, and is today a manufacturer of both Android and Windows based smartphones. HTC re-entered the tablet market with the Google Nexus 9 in 2014.

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HTC Desire 530, Desire 630, Desire 825 Launched at MWC 2016

HTC at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Sunday unveiled three new Desire-range smartphones, the Desire 530, Desire 630, and Desire 825 smartphones. The Taiwanese company also revealed the global variant One X9 smartphone, which was previously unveiled only for China.

The company says that the three new Desire-range smartphones, which feature colourful rear panels complete with unique 'micro splash' paint speckles, will begin rolling out to both retailers and at htc.com, from March. The HTC Desire 530, Desire 630, and Desire 825 smartphones run Android 6.0 Marshmallow with Sense UI on top.

The HTC Desire 530 will be the cheapest among the three unveiled at MWC and features a 5-inch HD display. The single-SIM Desire 530 is powered by a 1.1GHz quad-core Snapdragon 210 processor coupled with 1.5GB of RAM. The smartphone packs 16GB of storage and supports expandable storage via microSD card. The smartphone sports an 8-megapixel rear camera alongside a 5-megapixel front camera. It is backed by a 2200mAH battery.

The Desire 630 also features a 5-inch HD display but unlike the Desire 530 will be available dual-SIM model only. It is powered by a 1.6GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor coupled with 2GB of RAM. Rest of the specifications are the same as the Desire 530 with the only exception being the rear camera on the device. The Desire 630 packs a 13-megapixel rear camera and also houses BoomSound technology.

The HTC Desire 825 shares a lot of identical innards with the Desire 630 smartphone. There are few differences as well as such as it features a 5.5-inch HD display. The HTC Desire 825 will be available in two variants - single-SIM and dual-SIM. The handset also sports a BoomSound stereo speaker with Dolby Audio enhancements and packs 2700mAh battery.

The company also announced that the Desire 825 will come integrated with HTC Sensor Hub, a feature which will let users keep tabs on well-being and record activity, gestures and movement, and will provide real-time stats. The recorded data can be also automatically linked to fitness tracking apps such as Runtastic Running & Fitness, Runkeeper, Endomondo Running and Walking, and Google Fit.

Lastly, the HTC One X9 featuring a similar design as the HTC One A9 was also announced. The company as of now has not detailed any pricing or availability details for the new One X9. To recall, the smartphone was launched at CNY 2,399 (roughly Rs. 24,400) in China. The HTC One X9 will be available in North Asia and EMEA from end of February 2016.

The One X9 is a dual-SIM (Nano-SIM card) handset running the latest Sense UI interface on top of Android. It features a 5.5-inch full-HD (1080x1920 pixels) resolution with a pixel density of 410ppi and also packs Corning Gorilla glass coating. It is powered by a 64-bit octa-core MediaTek Helio X10 SoC, clubbed with 3GB of RAM. The handset includes 32GB of inbuilt storage and supports expandable storage via a microSD card (up to 2TB). On the camera front, the One X9 includes a 13-megapixel autofocus rear camera and a front-facing 5-megapixel fixed-focus camera. The 4G LTE supporting HTC One X9 is backed by a 3000mAh battery.

Commenting on the launch, Chialin Chang, President of Sales, HTC said, "HTC has built its reputation on pairing industry-leading design with smart features. But with customers also seeking personalization, and individuality in addition to treating their phones as fashion accessories, we have needed to create something different. So today we're launching the most unique Desire devices yet."

The company at the launch stressed that the new Desire range phones will be available in choice of colours. The Desire 630 and 825 will come in Stratus White Remix with duo colour micro splash and Graphite Grey Remix with gold micro splash. The Desire 530, on the other hand, will come in Graphite Grey and Solid Stratus White block colours.

The new Desire range packs polycarbonate shell with specially created micro splash effect. "Playing to people's personal tastes, their desire to be different and the fact that smartphones are now as much of a fashion accessory as they are a personal hub, HTC's design team employed a paint process that treats each phone as a canvas," notes HTC in its press statement.

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