Nubia launching phones in India Soon

Nubia are building up their social media presence ahead of a launch in India later in the year.

India has become one of the markets for Chinese phone makers to break in to. OnePlus, Oppo, Xiaomi have all launched in the market with rumours that Huawei and now Nubia will be heading there soon also.

At this moment Nubia have set up a website for India (www.nubia.in) along with dedicated Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts.

It is still early days but it has been suggested that the first device to arrive in the Indian market will be the Nubia Z9 Mini. The Z9 Mini features a 5-inch full HD display, Snapdragon 615, 2GB RAM and 16 mega-pixel F2.0 main camera.

How much are our Indian readers willing to pay for the Nubia Z9 Mini?

$483 for the Snapdragon 615 Oppo R7?

We’re already used to the idea that Oppo phones always have an added premium, but how to you guys feel about the possibility of $483 for the Oppo R7?

If you have seen the various photos and video’s of a borderless Oppo phone posted online then you have seen the Oppo R7. The R7 is set to be a slender magnesium phone with zero bezel design heading to launch later this month.

Specifications for the new phone include a 5-inch 1080p display, octacore Snapdragon 615 chipset, 2GB RAM, 16GB internal memory, 2320mAh battery , 13 mega-pixel camera and a thickness of only 6.3mm.

If the leaks are anything to go by then it is a lovely looking machine with a beautifully crafted design, but it is going to be a little pricey.

Leaked images from an internal Oppo presentation show that Oppo intend to target the Huawei P8 with the R7 and will price the phone at 2999 Yuan (The P8 is 2888 Yuan). That’s roughly $483 for a Snapdragon 615 phone!

Huawei D8, P8, Honor 7, Mate 8 and 4 more models launching this year!

Huawei are reported to have 8 new smartphones in the works according to a leaked roadmap. Details of the models after the jump.

Early today we posted a road map with 4 new Xiaomi phone models listed for release before the end of the year. While those devices are interesting they aren’t all that relevant to phone fans outside of Xiaomi’s launch zones, on the other hand the Huawei models posted on the same roadmap are likely to be available.

Huawei apparently have 8 models to Xiaomi’s 4, those induce the Huawei Ascend D8, Huawei Mate 8, Huawei Honor 7 and 3 other Huawei Honor models.

The first model is set for release later this month (May). According to the roadmap (hope you have your salt shakers ready) the Huawei Ascend D8 will boast a 5.5-inch 2K display, metal body and Hisilcon processor.

Xiaomi Mi4i will go on sale in Singapore and Hong Kong next week

When the Xiaomi Mi4i launched, Xiaomi promised that they would release the phone for sale in a couple of countries including Singapore and Hong Kong. Now, Xiaomi has announced that the phone will go on sale in both markets on the 12th of May, which is next week. Singapore and Hong Kong are the first countries to receive the phone after India.

Announced on the 23rd of April in the Indian capital New Delhi, the Mi4i is a mid-range smartphone and comes with specifications such as a 5-inch full HD display protected by Corning’s Concore Glass, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage and octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor. It runs on an Android 5.0-based MIUI v6, has a 13MP rear camera with dual-LED flash, a 5MP front shooter, a decently sized 3120 mAh battery and 4G LTE support. It also has dual sim capabilities and a feature called Sunlight Display which should help screen legibility in direct sunlight.

4800mAh Elephone P4000 will be announced tomorrow for only $129.99

Elephone’s entry in to the large battery space, the Elephone P4000, will be officially announced tomorrow along with an amazing low price.

Chinese phone makers are now concerning themselves with battery size than ever before and recently we have seen a flood of phones with large batteries entering the market. Elephone, not wanting to be left behind, will tomorrow finally announced the Elephone P4000.

Truecaller will now come integrated in Cyanogen OS ROMs

Caller ID is quite the ‘in’ thing now. Facebook’s doing it, so are a lot of other companies; but the biggest name perhaps in the caller ID space, at least on Android, remains to be Truecaller.

In a recent development, it was learnt that Cyanogen OS would now come baked with Truecaller integration. If you haven’t used Truecaller, let me tell you what it means. It means you’ll be seeing in a little window the name of the person who’s trying to call you, despite not having saved the contact info of the caller.

From personal experience, I can confirm Truecaller works pretty well, but at an expense. It can give you a bit of a privacy scare if not used with caution. What is cool though is the fact that you will be presented with an option of opting out of the service once your phone is up and running.

Ulefone Be Touch now on sale for under $200

To say Ulefone’s made a comeback would be an understatement. A couple or so back, the company was quite talked about, but then it somehow disappeared somewhere… only resurrect itself earlier this year with not only a handful of new devices, but with a much more aggressive marketing campaign.

The newest model launch from the Chinese OEM is the Ulefone Be Touch. While it may not have the most powerful internals (mind you, it does come with a powerful CPU), it is the design similarity with the iPhone 6 that makes it quite popular. Another thing that keeps the device in the news is the fingerprint sensor — which will be of touch and not swipe type.

Full specifications of the phone include a 5.5-inch 1280 x 720p screen, an octa-core 64-bit MediaTek MT6752 SoC, 3GB RAM, 16GB ROM a 13 mega-pixel rear camera, 5 mega-pixel front camera and a 2550mAh battery.

The device can be ordered for $197.89 via GearBest by using coupon code ‘BETOUCH’ (minus the quotes). Is it going to be your next device? Let us know in the comments below. Meanwhile, do await our review of the phone!

Huawei P8 heading to South Pacific Region

The flagship Huawei P8 will be making an appearance in the South Pacific Region in June.

If you happen to be in Singapore on the 2nd June, then you might be able to check out the official launch of the flagship Huawei P8. Huawei have sent out invitations to the launch were the P8, P8 Max and also P8 Lite will make an appearance.

The standard P8 is a 5.2-inch smartphone with Kirin octacore chipset, 3GB RAM and 13 mega-pixel main camera plus OIS. The Huawei P8 Max is a supersized device with 4650mAh battery boasting up to 2 days of battery life.

Pricing for all 3 versions of the phone along with release dates will be announced on the 2nd June.

DT Giveaway: Dive face-first into virtual reality with this LG G3 and VR headset

Most virtual reality headsets are super expensive, and they typically only work with one smartphone, so if you want to explore virtual worlds, you have to shell out big bucks for both the VR headset and the phone. Luckily, we’ve got an awesome giveaway for one lucky Digital Trends’ reader: a Sprint LG G3 smartphone and the VR headset for G3.
Even though LG’s G3 is a year old now, and the company has launched its successor the G4, it’s still one of the very best phones that money can buy. The G3’s Quad HD screen and powerful camera with laser autofocus put it ahead of its competitors last year, and really the only spec that’s slightly outdated is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor. Regardless, the G3 is fast and responsive, and our positive feelings for the phone still stand. We gave it our highest Editor’s Choice award when it came out, so the G3 comes highly recommended.

Yu Yureka to have open sales on May 6 and 7

Micromax is making way for the next phone from its subsidiary, Yu. To accomplish that, the company will be selling the Yu Yureka in an open sale that will last two days or 48 hours.

Following Xiaomi’s ‘flash sale’ model, Yu Yureka aspirants usually have to register beforehand in order to give themselves a chance to buy the phone. The Cyanogen OS device is India-only at the moment, and is made available through Amazon.

Things such as these can happen when a company follows the marketing model that Yu does; the primary idea is to maintain a demand that is, at all times, greater than supply.

Yu has its next — the Yu Yuphoria — sitting tight for a launch 10 days from now, i.e., 12th May. Clearly, there seems to be some leftover stock of the Yureka that the company is keen to get rid of. Things such as these can happen when a company follows the marketing model that Yu does; the primary idea is to maintain a demand that is, at all times, greater than supply.

Xiaomi Mi 4 now available in Malaysia, but it doesn’t look like a great buy

Xiaomi Malaysia today finally announced the availability of the ex-flagship, i.e., the Mi 4 for the Malaysian market.

The Mi 4 hasn’t been Xiaomi’s most successful phone. In Malaysia, the phone will get to buyers via a rather unexpected channel — via a local distributor in Mont Asia. If you have your hopes high, you’d be disappointed to know that the Mi 4 sold in Malaysia will have no 4G LTE capabilities… and along with that, have a price tag of RM 1,199 (US$333), making it one among the more expensive phones from the Far East being sold in the country.

Having said that, I’d also like to mention that the Mi 4 is a mighty fine phone; the metal chassis and the camera happen to be two of its highest points. The phone might however bog down to other devices like the OnePlus One, etc. in Malaysia.

The Mi 4 has a 2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor, 3GB of RAM and a 5-inch 1080p display. To find out more, you may want to read our review… meanwhile, if you’re looking to go for a 5-inch phone this year, the upcoming Mi 4i might be an option worth considering.

Lenovo Vibe Z2 Pro is getting the Android Lollipop OTA in India

The Vibe Z2 Pro is among the more powerful phones Lenovo has produced, and the smartphone is getting a critical update in India.

According to GSMArena, users of the Vibe Z2 Pro in India are getting the update to Android Lollipop after Lenovo first started rolling out the update for its devices in February.

The update corresponds to build number K920_S226_150429_ROW, which happens to be over a gigabyte in size. Naturally, it would make sense for you to be on a stable WiFi network before attempting the upgrade.

As is the case with every other device, the Lollipop update is expected to make the phone even snappier, and allow for a lot better app compatibility. Are you a Lenovo Vibe Z2 Pro user? If yes, do let us know what you think about this update if you’ve already have it flashed onto your Z2 Pro!