Vivo V1 and V1 Max get announced for the Indian market

Chinese smartphone maker Vivo has announced a couple of brand new devices for the Indian market today. They are the Vivo V1 and the V1 Max. As you can see, the looks are shared, but the V1 Max is obviously bigger than the V1. With these handsets, Vivo aims to have decent mid-range offerings on sale in India, both in the 'normal' size class as well as in the phablet space. The Vivo V1 comes with a 5-inch 720p HD touchscreen, a 13 MP rear camera with LED flash, a 5 MP wide-angle front snapper with f/2.0 aperture, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of expandable storage, and a 2,300 mAh battery. The SoC used is Qualcomm's 64-bit Snapdragon 410, boasting a 1.2 GHz quad-core Cortex-A53 CPU and an Adreno 306 GPU. The V1 runs Android 5.0 Lollipop, with Vivo's FunTouch OS on top. It has dual-SIM functionality, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS. Oddly enough, Vivo decided not to unveil any specs for the V1 Max at this time. Though if we go by the almost identical looks, we assume the innards will be shared with its smaller sibling as well - for those that make sense. As the screen is bigger, it may be higher-res too, and we should hopefully see a bigger battery inside. Both the V1 and the V1 Max are going to be in the INR 15,000 to 20,000 price range ($236-314), and they will be out in India before the end of July. It's unclear if Vivo plans to launch them in other markets after...

Source: http://www.gsmarena.com/vivo_v1_and_v1_max_get_announced_for_the_indian_market-news-12951.php

Samsung Galaxy A8 stars in more live images

Reviews of not yet announced smartphones usually come from Russia, but this time around we've got just such an occurrence from China. The upcoming, much-rumored, oft-leaked Samsung Galaxy A8 has apparently been reviewed by one Chinese website today. As you can imagine, this means a lot of live, hands-on pictures have been made public. You can see some of them below (click the thumbnails for the full-size files). Samsung Galaxy A8 The Samsung Galaxy A8 has been rumored to launch as the Korean company's thinnest handset to date. These aren't the first live images of it we've seen so far. In fact, there was also a hands-on video recently. And the phone also starred in a promotional brochure in South Korea just a few days ago. More Samsung Galaxy A8 pictures Today's Chinese review also brings us a neat recap of the A8's specs, along with a confirmation that it does indeed feature a fingerprint sensor in its Home button. The phone has a 5.7-inch 1080p Super AMOLED touchscreen, and Qualcomm's Snapdragon 615 chipset is on board, paired with a 1.5 GHz octa-core Cortex-A53 CPU. The A8 has 2GB of RAM, support for microSD cards, a 16 MP rear camera with LED flash, a 5 MP selfie snapper, 4G LTE connectivity, and a 3,050 non-removable battery. It's got a full metal build, and it runs Android 5.1.1 Lollipop with Samsung's TouchWiz UI on top. The dimensions are 157.7 x 76.7 x 5.94 mm. So incredibly slim indeed. As you can see, compared to the A7, the A8 has a much more rounded design and smaller bezels. Now that the cat's fully out of the bag, perhaps Samsung will make the Galaxy A8 official soon. Source (in Chinese) |...

Source: http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_a8_stars_in_more_live_images-news-12950.php

OnePlus 2 will sport 4GB of RAM, company confirms

OnePlus has shared a new detail about the OnePlus 2. According to a post on the company's forum, the smartphone will have 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM. Last week, we reported about a OnePlus 2 ONE A2003 model sporting 4GB of RAM appearing in benchmark listing. OnePlus is banking on the LPDDR4 to bring even faster memory performance to its next flagship. When compared with the LPDDR3 used in previous generation flagships, the LPDD4 offers twice the memory bandwidth while consuming the same power. The OnePlus CEO recently stated that the OnePlus 2 will cost under $450. That's about $150 higher than the original asking price of the OnePlus One ($299), but still lower than what most competing flagships go for....

Source: http://www.gsmarena.com/oneplus_2_will_sport_4gb_of_ram_company_reveals-news-12948.php

Samsung Galaxy J2 has full specs leaked

At this point the Samsung Galaxy J1 (pictured below) is barely five months old, but its maker is already working hard on a successor of sorts. It's going to be called Galaxy J2 (predictably), and it will have the model number SM-J200F. We've seen the J2 getting tested in a benchmark app earlier this month, and now we even get a detailed list of specs for it. Don't expect anything high-end, though. The Samsung Galaxy J2 is said to come with a 4.5-inch 800x480 touchscreen, a 5 MP rear camera, a 2 MP selfie shooter, 1.5 GB of RAM, 8GB of expandable internal storage, and a 2,000 mAh battery. It will run Android 5.1.1 Lollipop, and at the helm we'll find Samsung's own 32-bit Exynos 3475 SoC, featuring a 1.2 GHz quad-core CPU. Its dimensions will be 136 x 69 x 8.3 mm. Compared to its predecessor, we see a slightly bigger screen, 1GB of extra RAM, double the storage space, increased battery capacity, and two extra processor cores (alongside a chipset switch). So despite it still being decidedly low-end, the Galaxy J2 is in fact quite the upgrade in terms of both hardware and software (the J1 runs Android 4.4 KitKat). The J2 could reportedly launch in India first, followed by other developing markets. However, when that will happen is still a mystery. The same goes for the pricing, though obviously this will be...

Source: http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_j2_specs_leak-news-12949.php

EE's Rook is the UK's cheapest 4G smartphone

Source: http://www.gsmarena.com/ees_rook_is_the_uks_cheapest_4g_smartphone-news-12947.php

More Xiaomi Mi5 and Mi5 Plus specs leak

Xiaomi's Mi 4 flagship is due for a refresh sooner rather than later, as it's nearing the 12-month retirement age. An image, which popped up on Weibo, claims to detail its specs, as well as those of the companion Plus model to go along with the regular Mi 5. The Xiaomi Mi 5 is reported to boast a 5.2-inch QHD LCD display, protected by Gorilla Glass 4 and featuring 2.5D edges. Computing power will come from a Snapdragon 810 chipset, though the amount of RAM remains unknown. The source claims that the smartphone will come with a 16MP primary camera, and a 13MP shooter on the front. It will pack a 3,000mAh battery with quick charge support, though the quoted 30% charge in 40 minutes sounds more like an error. The Mi 5 will run Android 5.1 upon launch, and it will cost CNY 2,399 (~$385). Then we get to the Mi5 Plus, which is shaping up like a sequel to the Mi Note Pro. The new model will have a 5.7-inch QHD display, just like the Mi Note Pro, but will introduce improvements in a number of key areas. Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon 820 will power the Mi 5 Plus, and the timing of its mass availability may be the only salvation for the Mi Note Pro's sales. Imaging department will be represented by a 23MP rear camera with OIS and laser autofocus, and a 12MP shooter will be found on the front. Battery capacity is quoted at 3,500mAh, and it is said to take 50 minutes from 0 to 100%, much more impressive than the numbers mentioned for the vanilla Mi 5. An all-metal body is also to be expected, but whether it will be exclusive to the Mi 5 Plus or both models will get, remains to be seen. Today's specs are mostly in line with previous data, though there are a few discrepancies, so we can't be sure which numbers are the real deal. As always, things will get clearer towards launch date. Source |...

Source: http://www.gsmarena.com/xiaomi_mi5_and_mi5_plus_specs_revealed_from_another_source-news-12946.php