Category: Recent

  • Xiaomi Mi4I review specifications 2GB Qualcomm SoC

    Xiaomi Mi4I review specifications 2GB Qualcomm SoC

    Click for full review Xiaomi Mi4i

    The Xiaomi MI series has been popular for those wanting a mid-priced, powerful mobile. This year’s version, the MI4I has the powerful 64-bit octa-core Snapdragon 615 SoC with the CPUs clocked at 1.7GHz. (more…)

  • Elephone P6000 Pro review specifications 2GB MT6753 budget mobile

    Elephone P6000 Pro review specifications 2GB MT6753 budget mobile

    Hot on the heels of the P7000 release is the announcement of the Elephone P6000 Pro. I owned and reviewed the original P6000 and found it to be a very good phone. (more…)

  • Full Xiaomi Redmi 2 review 2GB 16GB Snapdragon budget mobile

    Full Xiaomi Redmi 2 review 2GB 16GB Snapdragon budget mobile

    Click to skip preview and jump to full review

    Xiaomi is one of the better known China brands and are sold internationally. They’ve come on fiercely, creating solid mobiles with good pricing and taking it to the retail level in various countries. They didn’t really come to the forefront of budget shoppers awareness though until the Xiaomi Hongmi was up for grabs. (more…)

  • Meizu MX5 review specifications Sony IMX220 2.2GHz 3GB MTK Helio X10  mobile

    Meizu MX5 review specifications Sony IMX220 2.2GHz 3GB MTK Helio X10 mobile

    Meizu is widely considered to be one of the top China phone brands. Most of their models carry premium specs along with a mid-range price.

    (more…)

  • Doogee Y100X preview $85 1GB 720P

    Doogee Y100X preview $85 1GB 720P

    Doogee has been marketing towards westerners for a while, but have recently fell out of the limelight and replaced by more aggressive brands such as Elephone. That doesn’t mean they’re out for the count; the Doogee Y100X, aka Doogee Nova, is a budget phone with excellent specs for an $85 mobile. (more…)

  • TCL 3S M3G preview – big battery budget 2GB RAM Qualcomm 1080p mobile

    TCL 3S M3G preview – big battery budget 2GB RAM Qualcomm 1080p mobile

    TCL is an international brand, mainly known for their budget flat screen televisions which are sold around the world. Allied with Alcatel France, over the last couple of years they’ve also produced some solid mobiles. (more…)

  • Newest MTK Droid Tool replacement for MT6752 MT6732

    Newest MTK Droid Tool replacement for MT6752 MT6732

    Over the last few months a large portion of the new phone models have MTK’s newer SoC’s in them. Unfortunately, the creator of MTK Droid Tools has not updated his excellent MTK Droid Tools to fully support these chipsets. (more…)

  • Big China corporations to enter the smartphone war

    Big China corporations to enter the smartphone war

    If the likes of Elephone, iNew, Doogee, Mlais and are feeling the heat now, 2016 is going to be a furnace.

    Due to economic slowdown in China, several heavy hitters are shifting their focus will be entering the smartphone market soon. Here are the manufacturers to keep an eye on. (more…)

  • No. 1 Sun S2 hands on

    No. 1 Sun S2 hands on

    A number of manufacturers have attempted to enter the smartwatch game and mostly they’ve been too clunky and obvious. Perhaps good for wearing at the gym or out for a jog, but likely not something you’d wear to work, school or at a social gathering. (more…)

  • NASA developing part helicopter, part airplane drone

    NASA developing part helicopter, part airplane drone

    NASA has recently unveiled their drone prototype, the GL-10, aka Greased Lightning. The GL-10 is an unmanned vehicle developed at Langley in Hampton, Virginia.

    nasa-greased-lightning-drone-super-169

    This battery-powered drone has a 10’/3m wingspan, 10 electric motors and weighs 28kg. The 10 powerful engines allow for vertical takeoff and landing, similar to a helicopter.

    According to the prototype’s main pilot: “All four engines on the left wing are given the same command. The four engines on the right wing also work in concert. Then the two on the tail receive the same command.”

    Flight tests have already been performed, which successfully demonstrate the vertical takeoff and landing capabilities.

    In a NASA press release, Bill Fredericks stated: “During the flight tests we successfully transitioned from hover to wing-borne flight like a conventional airplane then back to hover again. So far we have done this on five flights,”.

    “We were ecstatic. Now we’re working on our second goal — to demonstrate that this concept is four times more aerodynamically efficient in cruise than a helicopter.”

    We did lose some of the early prototypes to ‘hard landings’ as we learned how to configure the flight control system.

    The GL-10 is actually the 12th in the prototype development phase. To get to the point that GL-10 is at, all 11 prior prototypes were required. NASA engineer David North explains further:  “Each prototype helped us answer technical questions while keeping costs down…We did lose some of the early prototypes to ‘hard landings’ as we learned how to configure the flight control system. But we discovered something from each loss and were able to keep moving forward.”

    nasa-greased-lightning-engineers-super-169

    What are some of the applications the GL-10 could be used for? According to Bill Fredericks: “We have a couple of options that this concept could be good for. It could be used for small package delivery or vertical takeoff and landing, long endurance surveillance for agriculture, mapping and other applications…A scaled up version — much larger than what we are testing now — would make also a great one to four person size personal air vehicle.”

    Fredericks added: “It’s pretty quiet. The current prototype is quieter than a neighbor mowing the lawn with a gas-powered motor.”

    The team will continue working to improve aerodynamic efficiency, and will be demonstrating the drone at upcoming NASA events.

  • Take a look inside the Asus Zenfone 2

    Take a look inside the Asus Zenfone 2

    The Asus Zenfone 2 has been a big hit, offering strong specs in a phone that’s well supported by international brand Asus.

    If you’re curious as to what’s inside the Asus Zenfone 2, you’re not the only one. User shakalaca, the man behind the rooted Asus ROMs, decided to take it a step beyond root and dismantle the Asus Zenfone 2 to see what’s making it tick.

    1. Winbond W978H6KBVX2E 6) SKY77597-11 ( TxRx FEM)
    2. SK hynix H9CKNNNCPTMR PRNUH 501A
    3. Intel P10 H1448 F4486902 PMB6830 (PM IC)
    4. BROADCOM BCM4339XKUBG (WiFi)
    5. Intel P10 PMB9933 C XG726G H1450 F450A513 (Baseband, XMM 7260)

    1. SanDisk SDIN8DE4-32G (eMMC)
    2. Intel 8818 2.3W XG223 H1502 F502A511
    3. Qualcomm SMB1357 (fast charge?!)
    4. Intel P10 H1428 F4288509 PMB5747
    5. ?
    6. SKY77627-11 (PAM)
    7. ?

    Peeking inside we see the Asus Zenfone 2 is all class, including components from Qualcomm, Winbond, Sandisk, Broadcomm, Hynix, and Intel.

    Take a look at the Zenfone 2 review on our forums and join in the discussions.

  • How to change DPI screen density without root

    How to change DPI screen density without root

    A couple of months back I wrote a tutorial on how to change DPI per app. Initially I’d suggested that changing DPI for the entire system may not be the best of ideas. While there are still reasons for wanting to change DPI on a per app basis, I’ve found that for myself the method that works best is a system wide adjustment. (more…)