OPPO F5 new smartphone full review.

OPPO F5 is the company’s entry to the growing population of smartphones with an 18:9 aspect ratio. And more importantly, this is the company’s way of gearing up for the upcoming holiday season, and not being dragged down by the competition.



Aside from its 6-inch FHD+ screen, the OPPO F5 also touts an AI-powered selfie camera, MediaTek’s latest midrange processor, and a facial recognition feature. Are these features enough to blow the competition out in the water? Let’s figure that out in our OPPO F5 review.

Right off the bat, the OPPO F5 a refreshing design — or at least, for an OPPO handset.  The seamless transition of the back panel to the sides, the shiny antenna bands, and the curved corners made it look a bit identical to the OPPO R11. But thanks to its unusual form and shape, the F5 looks a little less like the earlier OPPO devices before it.



Actually, the OPPO F5’s isn’t really one of a kind. The device looks very identical to its archenemy, the Vivo V7+. Besides having a tall, 6-inch display with an 18:9 aspect ratio, the two smartphones share a lot of identical physical features.


For one, the OPPO F5 is also made of plastic. Despite how gorgeous, and metal-like it looks, this thing’s rear cover is made of plastic which is painted to look premium. And just like in our Vivo V7+ review, I barely noticed its second-rate material construction. The device has this premium metal look to it, without the heavy metal weight.



Its sleek design, lightweight, curvy corners and edges make the OPPO F5 look beautiful in my eyes. It’s also really ergonomic to use. However, since it has a tall screen, reaching for the top frame is quite impossible to do single-handedly. That’s considering I have large hands and fingers myself. I can’t access the Notifications tab without using my other hand, or running my fingers all the way up.

Like I said earlier, the F5’s highlight feature is its tall screen. Its 18:9 aspect ratio display is almost borderless, which populates the front of the device with nothing but screen. OPPO was still able to cram in the 20-megapixel sensor on top, together with the other necessary sensors and the earpiece.

However, the space at the chin of the OPPO F5 isn’t roomy enough to house the fingerprint scanner, so it’s been relocated to the back. Meanwhile, the capacitive buttons were also shifted to be on-screen.



The fingerprint sensor at the back is placed right above the reflective and metallic OPPO logo. It is easily reachable by the index finger and it falls naturally once the user gets used to it.

OPPO F5 Specs

On the left side, we have the volume controls while the right houses the lock/power button below the SIM tray. The buttons have an ultra-thin profile with great tactility and it still feels satisfying to press.

Moreover, there’s a noise-canceling microphone on top while at the bottom we have the other built-in mic, the 3.5mm headphone jack, and the loudspeaker.

Overall, I really admire the design of the OPPO F5. It would have been better if they used metal instead of plastic, though. But for me, personally, I like my smartphone light and easy to carry.

Display

Another visual highlight of the OPPO F5 is its display.  What we’re seeing here is a 6-inch FHD+ IPS display, with a high pixel density of 402. The unusual screen resolution was due to its 18:9 aspect ratio, a display feat that more and more companies are starting to adapt.


The screen delivers a standard performance for an IPS panel. The colors are good with deep blacks and average whites. Saturation is just average so it doesn’t exaggerate nor downgrade the color fidelity.

OPPO F5 gaming and apps

Watching movies, playing games, or browsing through pictures on social media is good on this screen. Using the OPPO F5 on landscape mode delivers a more immersive experience. Also, reading materials from websites and what not is a joy on this screen as you don’t have to scroll a lot because there’s more content to be seen by default.



Moreover, the screen panel also delivers enough backlighting to make it still usable during broad daylight. Viewing angles are also not the best, but acceptable and more than enough.

Multimedia

Unlike the V7+, the OPPO F5 doesn’t have a dedicated HiFi chip that ensures impressive audio output. But that doesn’t mean that the sound that’s coming out of this device is terrible. In lieu of a hardware chip, the F5 is equipped with a Real Sound Technology which basically works like a native equalizer in the settings menu. It does improve the sound output, but it’s nothing like a built-in DAC.

Multimedia-OPPO-F5

Plugging in the included earphones delivers decent performance. The treble is acceptable, the bass is present, although they aren’t thumping. The volume is decent for listening in an empty room, although it might not be that audible when traveling or in a noisy environment. I did plug in some decent pair of cans, and unsurprisingly, it sounded way better.

On the other hand, the loudspeaker of the OPPO F5 performed better than the bundled earphones. It has some really loud volume that can fill a small, quiet room. Both the treble and bass are acceptable, although the mids are a bit harsh.

Performance and Hardware

Just this August, MediaTek announced their new midrange SoCs, the Helio P23, and P30. And now, we’re seeing the said Helio P23 chipset on the OPPO  F5. This device is rigged with a 2.5GHz octa-core 16nm processor, 4GB of RAM, and 32GB of expandable storage.

The chipset holds up pretty well during my test. The octa-core processor and 4GB of RAM handled almost any app really well. Browsing through the interface, social media apps, and Google Chrome were seamless. Although there were some very occasional stutters, those are to be expected for a midrange smartphone like this.

The OPPO F5’s multitasking capabilities are also impressive. You can switch between apps, from the basic to high-intensive ones, without breaking a sweat. You can also use some of them, side-by-side, with its Split Screen feature.

OPPO F5 - Color OS

Moving on, gaming on the OPPO F5 is also satisfying. Besides the immersiveness brought by its display, the processor also assures that it will project games with good frame rates. Playing games like Stacks and Mario Run, up to some graphically intensive ones like UFC and NBA Live are pretty enjoyable without noticeable hiccups.

I did notice some stutters on UFC’s menu screen and home page, but nothing too alarming. And since it runs with an  internet connection on, it might just be a latency issue on our network.

See also: OPPO A71 Review

Security

Thanks to the iPhone X, facial recognition on smartphones are starting to go mainstream. The OPPO F5 has the said security feature, but it doesn’t have the elaborate sensors that the iPhone X has. But still, the feature works surprisingly well.

The OPPO F5 utilizes the 20-megapixel front camera for scanning the face. And despite that, it still worked well. The device instantly scans my facial features, without having to literally put the device straight up on my face. During my testing, it had a 90% success rate of recognizing my face correctly.

OPPO F5 camera, facial scanner

The scanning technology also works well in a pitch black room, for as long as the screen is bright enough to act and light up your face.



I also tried showing it a picture of mine, and it intelligently refused to recognize it.

But if you’re the traditional kind, you can opt for the fingerprint scanner at the back. And just like the previous OPPO devices that I have tested, the scanner on this thing is insanely fast. It can instantly unlock the device in a mere 0.2 seconds, even when the screen is off.

But if you cant choose what to use, you can have the facial recognition and fingerprint scanner security features active at the same time.

Software

The OPPO F5 gets to have the company’s new ColorOS 3.2, with Google’s Android 7.1 at its core. The new interface brings new features that will utilize the F5’s characters, plus other subtle changes to mark its newness.

The ColorOS 3.2 still has that iOS look and feel to it, which is now more evident as the Control Center has been separated from the Notification tabs. With this version of ColorOS, you can now have access to quick controls by swiping upwards from the bottom of the screen, which is more ergonomic considering the device’s tall display.

OPPO F5 software

It would have been nice to have the volume control slider on the Control Center, but we’re not seeing it here. Although, what we have here is a new feature called OPPO Share, which basically OPPO’s take on Apple’s Airdrop. It lets you send files to any compatible OPPO device 100x faster than Bluetooth (probably via WiFi). The feature also toggles the Bluetooth antenna, so you can still receive files from other Android devices.

Moreover, the OPPO F5’s ColorOS 3.2 also introduces new native apps icons and a “secured” keyboard when typing passwords. Unfortunately, the Split Screen mode only works on most native and Google apps. There’s also a game mode that lets you block distracting notifications to help you focus playing games.

OPPO split screen

You can also take continuous screenshots, clone apps for easier multi-account management, and have easy access to Night Mode to protect your eyes from extreme blue light exposure.

Camera

And since the OPPO F5 belongs to the company’s F-series of smartphones, the device has feature-packed selfie capabilities. OPPO skipped the dual front camera setup, and focused on the new technologies working behind the scenes. The OPPO F5 has a 20-megapixel front camera, combined with an AI-powered beauty mode.



The Face Beauty mode had been present in previous OPPO smartphones and in other competing midrange devices. However, the company wants to separate the F5 by incorporating AI with it. When the said picture mode is activated, OPPO’s “complex algorithms” analyzes your face, so it can apply the right skin enhancement filters.

What’s more interesting is, it can also alter the contours of your face. And during my tests, the AI Face Beauty does work like what OPPO claims, although it’s still not perfect.

As you can see in the samples below, my face still looks a bit natural — as if no filter was added. That’s when the Face Beauty is in auto mode. But when its set to the highest level, you can already notice that it’s, indeed, just a synthetic effect.

I also noticed that my jaw is slightly more symmetrical. You wouldn’t notice it at first glance, but if you examine the image closely, you’d see the difference from the original.

The front camera of the OPPO F5 also has a Bokeh/Portrait mode. And unlike their previous attempts, it’s slightly better this time for as long as you set it correctly, and give the device a second or two to figure that out, it will result in a more believable effect. Your face will be separated from the background, but still with some minor lapses on sides, especially in the hair area.

But even when the AI Face Beauty is off, the selfie camera works really well. The images taken looks bright, with good colors and contrast, impressive sharpness, and decent dynamic range.

With its wide aperture of f/2.0 and an on-screen flash feature, taking pictures at low-light scenarios are also possible. .

We also have the 16-megapixel primary camera at the back. During a bright, sunny day, the sensor can take great pictures. The colors appear natural, contrast is average, and just like most smartphone cameras, the dynamic range is nothing to write home about.

The device also has poor low-light performance. Noise and grains are just everywhere. But depending on your preference, the images taken are still fairly usable.

The OPPO F5 is also guilty of trying to oversharpen the images. It’s barely noticeable if you’re just looking at it on a smartphone. But zooming in on a large monitor shows the muddy evidence of oversharpening.

But overall, I’m pretty satisfied with the camera’s performance.

The OPPO F5 is powered by a 3200mAh battery. It might not be an ideal size to complement its large 6-inch FHD+ screen, but considering the power-efficiency promises of the new MediaTek Helio P23 processor, there’s really not much to worry about.

And during my tests, the battery did deliver impressive performance. In a whole day of casual use — internet browsing through 4G LTE, sending messages and listening to music — I ended up with about 25% to 35% battery juice left before the night comes to a close.

OPPO-F5-battery-life

PCMark’s battery tests also garnered an average of 9 hours and 20 minutes of screen-on time before the battery reached 20%. That’s almost 1-hour shy than the V7+’s result. But that’s understandable since it has a slightly bigger battery and a lower resolution.

Connectivity

The OPPO F5 can run on two nano SIM cards. Both of which can support 4G LTE. I haven’t experienced any issues with while browsing the internet via LTE. For as long as there’s 4G reception in the area, the connection was fast and reliable on the device’s part.

I also have no complaints when it comes to call quality. I can hear the voice of the person I’m talking to clearly from the earpiece, even when there’s considerable noise in the surroundings. It also appears that the dual microphone setup picked up my voice well as I didn’t encounter any complaints from the other party on the line.

The Bluetooth v4.2 antenna didn’t show any problems connecting to my wireless speaker and headphones as well. There’s no noticeable latency or distortion even from afar. The WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n also connected seamlessly on our wireless network.

Verdict

The OPPO F5 is a refreshing product from the company, in many different ways. Unlike their previous releases, OPPO got pretty close on getting the right blend on this one. The OPPO F5 offers a pretty compelling and acceptable value for the price, despite falling short on some areas.



The huge 6-inch 18:9 screen with a sharp FHD+ resolution is probably the best display you can get for a midrange device. The freshly baked Helio P23 processor handles every task impressively as well. The Beauty Mode on its 20-megapixel camera turned to be a little less like a gimmick thanks to its AI accomplice. Images taken with AI turned on proved to be a little better as compared to the auto mode.

OPPO F5 Philippines - NoypiGeeks

I also liked the new facial recognition feature. It introduced me to a new way of unlocking my smartphone, effectively. And of course, the impressive battery longevity is the icing on the cake.

However, the OPPO F5 is not without its flaws. For one, the use of plastic is a major turn off. For this price tag, we should already be expecting a top-of-the-line, premium-made smartphone. Also, it would be nice to see OPPO bring importance to their device’s audio capabilities.

Overall, the OPPO F5 is an interesting device. And if you’re shopping in the midrange section, this is one of the few smartphones that you should be looking at.

Pricing and Availability of OPPO F5

The OPPO F5 has a price tag of Php15,990. Those who pre-ordered the device is subject to a free OLike Bluetooth Speaker that’s worth Php2,990.

Alternatively, you can also get the device via Home Credit. It’s available for an 6-months, 0% installment plans. You just have to pay a 20% down payment to get going and pay the rest in monthly.

http://list-phones.com/catalogue/OPPO-F5 - full specs.

Razer Phone - the best smartphone for gamers.

Now comes the new self-titled Razer Phone, coming as it does from a company that is heavily invested in delivering products to the PC gaming community, which is looking to bring a smartphone to market that is focused on the needs of gamers in 2017.

The immediate impact of the phone comes from the design, which is a brutal form factor. The smooth edges and corners that are beloved by other manufacturers are replaced with a rectangular boxlike structure.

This of course echoes the look of 2016’s Nextbit Robin. Given that Razer purchased the company in January, this should not come as too much of a surprise. Razer has moved away from the various color choices to stick with a black that matches its laptop and peripherals range. If you’re familiar with the Razer styling then this phone is instantly recognisable. It’s also recognisable as a potential Robin 2, which is delightful confluence of styles.

What is missing from the Razer tick box is the Chroma lighting system. Almost every Razer peripheral has the ability for a custom LED glow, while the laptop keys are individually lit in customisable patterns. The engineering to make the Razer snake logo on the back of the Razer Phone have the Chroma effect would compromise other parts of the smartphone package, so you get an etched logo in grey (or one of 1337 limited edition handsets with the Razer logo in the corporate green color).

When you also consider the cold nature of the metal case and the resulting increase in weight, this is a handset that ignores a number of the modern tenets of smartphone design. It definitely feels more like a small laptop than a big smartphone.

Also echoing the Razer ethos are the specifications. They have been turned up as far as is possible for a commercial smartphone. The SnapDragon 835 is pretty standard nowadays for a high-end Android device, but it’s paired up with a class-leading 8 GB of RAM. That allows more applications to stay ‘in memory’ when you switch between apps which will help with loading times on your favorite games, and gives the interface more room to operate in comfortably.

There’s been a lot of work done on the screen, and I’d argue this is the key selling point of the Razer Phone. Its 5.7 inch LCD screen with 2560x1440 resolution - numbers you might see on other devices - but the party trick is the refresh rate. This can go as high as 120 Hz, which results in incredibly smooth graphics, and transitions with a lack of artefacts. The screen refresh rate is also synced to the graphics co-processor, which means that each frame is drawn and sent to the screen in time to be fully redrawn on the screen.

That’s not especially useful for the likes of Facebook, but on a fast-moving driving game such as Gear Club, the difference is noticeable. And when do switch to Facebook, you can use Razer’s Game Booster software (one of the few first-party Android apps on the Razer Phone) to throttle back the screen refresh rate, the CPU speed, and the screen resolution to save on battery power. This can be set on an app by app basis, and allows the user the ability to balance out the use of the high specs against their battery power.

The refresh rate is high, but the screen is still a big drain on the battery. It’s not as bright as competing handsets, so you’re going to be running the backlight at a much higher level than you might expect. While LCD is always going to be less vibrant than the OLED displays of the iPhone X and the Samsung Galaxy S8, the Razer Phone’s screen feels a little bit more washed out than I would hope for. Neither of these are deal-killers, but the Razer Phone’s high-end specs are coming in at $699 so something has to give and i suspect it’s the screen.

The twin stereo speakers are also on show during landscape gaming. Mounted either side of the screen the speakers (each of which have their own amp) are THX certified, and use the Dolby Atmos system. These speakers are loud, subjectively some of the loudest speakers I’ve heard on a mobile device. The sound is throw directly forward from the screen, your fingers and thumbs don’t block the speaker, and while you will have to tweak the graphical equalizer you can get enough bass out of these to feel some raw energy when playing.

Top of the line processors, fast and lush graphics, brilliant audio… make no bones about it, if your only consideration is core specifications, then purchasing the Razer Phone is an easy choice.

But it’s not perfect.

The biggest omission for me is the 3.5 mm stereo headphone jack. While a USB-C adaptor is packaged in the box, if you’re going to pitch your handset as “the ultimate in mobile entertainment” I think that omitting one of the most widely used ports for audio output (and arguably audio input as well) is a mistake. There is looking to the future and pushing new standards but the Razer Phone is more about ‘what works best right now’ and for me having the obvious connector hang outside the chassis on a needless dongle is the wrong approach.

I’ll discount using bluetooth here. While it may be fine for music and media, the latency and bandwidth during gaming, especially P2P gaming with voice comms, is not what you need for a device focused on delivering gaming performance.

And while it’s nothing to do with gaming or media, the lack of waterproofing on the phone is disappointing.

Then there’s the battery. At 4000 mAh it’s one of the larger smartphone batteries currently available. Which is why I’m surprised that it feels much smaller in my week of using the handset. Yes it gets through Android’s standard ‘working day’ from morning through to the end but I expected more. The screen refresh is dynamic to help preserve battery life, the screen’s peak brightness is lower than competing handsets and the SnapDragon 835 should be a known quantity. Hopefully firmware updates can increase the efficient use of the monster battery inside the handset.

Finally, the Razer Phone is an Android device that needs to prove itself in one other important regard. The Razer Phone ships with Android 7.1. Although the update to Oreo is expected early in 2018, and I’ve no reason to question Razer’s intentions, there has to be a question mark over its ability to consistently deliver software updates and security patches. Until these physically start to appear over the air it’s impossible to say whether the handset will remain as up to date as the competition.

I think the secret to understanding the Razer Phone comes down to understanding the phone is expected to deliver for the company. At the fictional base of Mazlow’s Hierarchy Of Smartphones, you want power. The Razer Phone delivers that in one of the most masculine Android smartphone packages I’ve seen in a long time.

Above that comes those looking for as much performance out of their apps as possible. For some that could be battery life, but the Razer Phone is for people who want the extra power to be able to play smartphone games.

But this is not a handheld gaming device like the PS Vita or the Nokia N-Gage. This is an Android device that pushes the specifications and hardware inside a relatively unadventurous shell. There are no physical controls, d-pads or sticks on the handset, there’s no ergonomic fit for your hands for long gaming sessions, and you are restricted to Android’s suite of games - which with the best will in the world will rarely match up to home consoles or PC rights.

The hardware inside the Razer Phone, especially the 120 Hz screen, can lift up the performance of many mobile games, so the handset does deliver a solid boost without demanding anything from the game developer. Developers can of course code apps to use the 120 Hz screen, but I suspect those will be developers that have a relationship with Razer or enticed to push the envelope. I don’t expect this option to be standard.

Pure gaming machines need killer games. And the killer games for Android don’t always need the killer specs that the Razer Phone offers.

So who is the Razer Phone for? It’s not a gaming phone, but it is a phone for gamers. There is a difference. Gamers need a smartphone in their pocket just like everyone else, and it will be in their nature to carry a phone that offers the best experience of Android games.

For me the answer lies not in the gaming part, or the phone part. It likes in the Razer part. This is a smartphone that represents the ethos of the company behind it. This is a phone that sits alongside Razer’s peripherals that are designed to create the best environment for playing games. It’s a Razer peripheral in exactly the same was as the Man O’War headset, the Mamba wireless mouse, and the Ornata keyboard. If you’re part of the Razer community (and there are rather a lot of them) and you’re in the market for a new smartphone, purchasing the Razer Phone is an easy decision to make.

Razer has an existing relationship with this community. The community trusts the Razer name and sees it as a fashionable choice as well as a trusted manufacturer. That makes selling a niche smartphone (and the Razer Phone is clearly a niche smartphone) an attractive proposition. Razer has a built-in audience, it gains experience in the smartphone market while lowering its risk and exposure, and if it gains any new fans because of the specifications and the visibility of the phone, so much the better.

This is a handset for the faithful and the soon to be converted.
See full specs here http://list-phones.com/catalogue/Razer-Phone

LG Q8 is a smaller like waterproof LG V20

The LG Q8 just popped up on the company's Italian site, detailing a new phone that will seem startlingly like the LG V20. That's actually what's likable about it.

The LG V20 was a good phone, but it wasn’t perfect. It had great audio, a dual-lens cameras ready for wide-angle photos, and a removable battery to its credit.

But it was a phablet-sized phone, which makes it a nonstarter for some people, and it fell behind in performance as soon as Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 821 chipset came out.

What the LG Q8 does isn’t much different than the V20. It’s got most of the same blood and guts as the V20, running Android Nougat 7.0 on the same Snapdragon 820. 

Both feature a dual-camera system on the rear, a 1440p display the front, and a special marquee screen at the top for shortcuts and extra on-screen buttons.

The LG Q8 does have some differences, though. Among the more notable are its IP67 rating against water and dust, letting it sit at the bottom of a meter of water for up to 30 minutes.

It’s also more pocket friendly, with a shorter and narrower frame and a 5.2-inch display. It’s likely to be priced more favorably than the V20 as well.



About that LG Q8 price

The V20 was by all means a flagship phablet when it launched. And with flagship status comes flagship prices. It launched in late 2016 with a price tag of $799 for an unlocked model, topping even the base iPhone 7 Plus price.

Since the the LG Q8 is carrying around a chipset that’s older than all the other big phones hitting the market, like the OnePlus 5 and Samsung Galaxy S8 with their Snapdragon 835 chipsets, it would be a misstep to try pricing the Q8 in the same ballpark. 

That means mobile users will likely be able to get their hands on this scaled-down version of the LG V20 at a nice budget price.

While the LG Q8 doesn’t gain much favor from its chipset or internal storage limited to 32GB, it still offers a lot that budget tend to miss.

Dual-camera systems aren’t showing up on many cheap phones yet, and 2,560x1440 pixel displays are especially rare at low prices. For music lovers, it even has a special DAC for high quality audio playback, and can record 24-bit/192KHz audio in the FLAC format. 

You won’t find many phones that do what the Q8 will do in the sub-$600 category.

Though it’s not certain the Q8 will hit those low prices, it seems likely that LG will use the Q8 to introduce the premium features of the V20 to a wider audience. See full specification here http://list-phones.com/catalogue/LG-Q8

OnePlus 6 smartphone detailed information and concept photos.

OnePlus has really disrupted the market with its series of very good, reasonably priced phones. The OnePlus 5 continues this tradition, albeit at a price that’s closing in on its more expensive rivals – if they weren’t galloping away towards an even higher price, that is.

Still, OnePlus’ motto is “never settle” and that gives us licence to think about next year’s OnePlus 6.

The Chinese company had teased a mysterious event in Paris on 19 September which many thought may be a OnePlus 6 event, or more likely a OnePlus 5T. Instead, this meeting ended up being a collaboration event during fashion week with French designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac.

Then, the OnePlus 5 went out of stock in both the UK and US. At the time of writing, only the gold version of the OnePlus 5 is available direct from the manufacturer, while O2 is still offering the Slate Gray models in both storage options, but only if you get the phone on a contract. This led to the following leaked image on Slashleaks, which suggests a OnePlus 6 – or 5T perhaps – that looks a lot like the Samsung Galaxy S8.


We're not 100% convinced, to put it mildly – and not least because it's a pretty low-resolution shot that would be extremely easy to fabricate. It's entirely possible that the OnePlus 6 will ape the S8's edge-to-edge design, but this doesn't feel like proof one way or another. Especially given OnePlus' watchword has always been price, and this kind of display tech pushes costs up – just look at the £1,000 iPhone X.

Information is near non-existent at this point, there are a few hints of what the OnePlus 6 may hold if you dig deep enough. Here's a round up of them.

OnePlus 6: Rumours

As you might imagine, there the ren’t really any rumours yet –  though during a recent Reddit AMA, founder Carl Pei did joke that the rumour mill would start spinning when he asked a user if they prefered the fingerprint scanner on the front or back of a handset. At the very least, you have to say the company is open-minded its designs, but you'd hardly call relocating the fingerprint reader a commitment.

Other than that, expect the phone to continue with a dual lens camera, given the success of the model on the OnePlus 5. We’d expect a screen resolution upgrade this time to 2K to help VR content shine, but we’ve been expecting that for some time now, so who knows?

If you’re concerned that the OnePlus 4 will follow in the footsteps of Apple and Motorola in ditching the headphone jack, we think you’re safe. That’s not to say that OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei hasn’t considered it – it’s just that he put the matter to his Twitter followers, who roundly dismissed the idea:


Just because nothing has been announced, doesn't mean that people can't madly speculate. The most interesting concept design comes courtesy of Upcoming Phones which imagines the handset following modern trends for thin bezels and an end-to-end display. Complete fiction or not, you have to concede that it would be quite a looker:


The trouble with these kind of videos is they tend to imagine that money is no object. For a company like OnePlus that likes to undercut the opposition, you can't really imagine the OnePlus 6 having everything suggested, but if nothing else it makes for an appealiong wishlist.

OnePlus 6: Release date

Let’s take a look at the history book: The OnePlus One launched in April 2014. The OnePlus 2 followed in July 2015, and the OnePlus 3 emerged in June 2016. The OnePlus 3T was bucked the trend with November 2016, but it was an incremental update, before the OnePlus 5 arrived in June 2017.

With that in mind, June-July 2018 seems like a good bet – unless they treat us to a OnePlus 5T.

: Price

The OnePlus series has undergone some serious price inflation since it first launched. The OnePlus One launched at £229. The OnePlus 2 nudged it up to £239, before the OnePlus 3 pushed it to £309. Then Brexit pushed the price of that up to £329, before the OnePlus 3T appeared at £399. The OnePlus 5 arrived at a price of £450.


In a recent Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything), the company suggested it would consider making a smartphone that costs over $800 (~£612). During the same AMA, CEO Carl Pei quite reasonably added: “Costs are increasing YoY, we only make flagship products, and we don't believe in selling products at a loss.”

See related
OnePlus 5 review: The best mid-range smartphone around is unbeatable value for money
With these two factors in mind, you’d expect the gradual inflation to continue – but crucially for the company to remain competitive compared to other handsets.  With that in mind, my prediction is a handset that costs £500 when it launches – but as ever, we’ll revise this when more details on the specification come through.

OnePlus 5 fresh reivew.

There are certain things you can usually count on in a OnePlus phone: great performance, an awesome price, and a touch of originality. But with the OnePlus 5, you’re only getting the first two parts of the three-part equation.


The OnePlus 5 is packed with the latest components on the inside, but its display is nothing special. It’s still a good deal cheaper than other premium phones, but even at a starting price of $479, it’s not quite a killer bargain. And its design, while nice-looking, is derivative of both previous OnePlus phones as well as Apple’s aging iPhone 7 Plus.

This time around, OnePlus’s new flagship isn’t about being different. It’s about fitting in. Indeed, OnePlus’s marketing slogan may be “Never Settle,” but it feels like we’re doing an awful lot of settling with the OnePlus 5.

With the exception of the ultra-budget OnePlus X, OnePlus’s handsets have all had 5.5-inch screens. The OnePlus 5 continues this trend, using the exact same display found in the OnePlus 3 and 3T: a 5.5-inch, 1920x1080 screen with a pixel density of 401ppi. It’s not a bad display by any means, but it falls behind the the QHD screens on the Galaxy S8 and the LG G6.

oneplus5 full shot

Christopher Hebert/IDG
The OnePlus 5 has the same 5.5-inch AMOLED screen as the 3 and the 3T.
Like earlier OnePlus models, a home button/fingerprint sensor remains on the front, as do capacitive back and recent buttons. OnePlus positions the OnePlus 5 as an alternative to the premium Android flagships, but with chunky bezels and an oversized frame, this latest model is more comparable to last year’s phones than this year’s. And it’s not even water-resistant. It’s just dull.

OnePlus still insists on shipping its phones with a full-fledged screen protector. This might have been charming with the OnePlus One, but now it’s just annoying. Once I took mine off, the phone looked and felt remarkably better, accentuating the curves of its 2.5D glass edges, and giving the mirrored home button proper room to breathe.

An Android phone in iPhone’s clothing

If the OnePlus 5 looks like a OnePlus 3T from the front, the back is all iPhone 7 Plus, with a dual camera setup in the top left corner and a OnePlus logo where the Apple symbol would be. Copying Apple isn’t the worst strategy to follow, but for a company with six phones under its belt, it seems unnecessary.

oneplus5 iphone comparison

Michael Simon/IDG
Quick: Which one is the OnePlus 5 and which is the iPhone 7?

At least the rear enclosure looks sharp. Available in gray, black, and gold, its polished aluminum surface is a nice contrast to the glass backs of its competitors, but it does easily pick up visible scratches. It’s also a little slippery to the touch, but its palm-friendly contours and thinness will probably limit the number of drops.

If you’re opposed to your Android phone looking so much like an iPhone, OnePlus again offers a series of official cases in a variety of faux finishes such as carbon fiber and wood grain. They fit nicely without adding much bulk, but I can’t help but wish OnePlus had designed the phone with as much flair and creativity as its cases.

oneplus5 side buttons
Christopher Hebert/IDG
OnePlus’s Do Not Disturb slider is the best thing to happen to Android phones.
Around the edges, OnePlus continues to offer a handy alert slider that instantly turns on Do Not Disturb, as well as a USB-C port, dual SIM slot, and a headphone jack. OnePlus poked a bit of fun at Apple during the unveiling of the OnePlus 5, but headphone jack jokes are getting tired, and OnePlus actually treats audio output as something of an afterthought: The box still doesn’t include earbuds, though the company will sell you some for $20 extra.

The fastest Android phone around

With a Snapdragon 835 processor and up to 8GB of RAM, the OnePlus 5 is an absolute beast. This is the third phone with Qualcomm’s top-of-the-line chip that I’ve tested, and it felt significantly faster than either the S8 or the HTC U11. We’re talking zippy animations, speedy apps, and stutter-free scrolling.

I didn’t include benchmark charts in this review because OnePlus has admitted to gaming its phone to deliver high scores. It’s a shame, because I don’t see any reason why it had to fudge the numbers. If you’re looking for one of the fastest Android phones money can buy, the OnePlus 5 has to be right at the top of the list. The 8GB of RAM in my review unit helped keep the system humming along, and the phone’s virtually bloat-free OS gives it a Pixel-like smoothness out of the box.

Even the fingerprint sensor is absurdly fast. Granted, Google’s next handset will likely up the ante once again, but for now, the OnePlus 5 doesn’t just look like an iPhone 7—it feels as fast as one too.

oneplus5 dash chargeChristopher Hebert/IDG
Dash Charge helps fill up an empty OnePlus 5 in a jiffy.
Its battery is no slouch, either. While OnePlus didn’t deliver the monstrous 4,000mAh battery that was rumored, the one it has easily powers through a full day of heavy use, despite being 100mAh smaller than the battery in the 3T (3,300mAh vs. 3,400mAh). For reference, our benchmark tests showed it lasting a remarkable 10 hours (versus 6:54 for the 3T), and I have no reason to doubt those numbers are legit. The OnePlus 5 lasted long after my LG G6 needed a charge, and was neck-and-neck with the Galaxy S8+.

The OnePlus 5 also supports OnePlus’ Dash Charge system, which fills it up faster than its Quick Charging peers. However, you’ll still need to use the cumbersome red cable to get the benefits, and sadly the aluminum back means we still have to wait for wireless charging.

A better camera but still not great

OnePlus is touting the 5’s camera as its biggest upgrade, and it’s hard to dispute that claim. OnePlus’s cameras have never really competed with the Galaxies and Pixels of the world, and the 5 certainly closes the gap.

oneplus5 camera

Christopher Hebert/IDG

OnePlus has added a second camera to the 5, but it still doesn’t compare to the best Android shooters.
But even with a custom Sony image sensor and a dual camera system that combines a 16MP lens with a 20MP telephoto len, the OnePlus 5 isn’t quite in the same league as its premium peers. The lack of optical image stabilization and its relatively small 1.12 µm pixel size are the biggest drawbacks, but its processing prowess isn’t quite there yet either. It’s not a bad camera by any means—in fact it’s quite good for a phone that costs less than $500—but in my testing it was a step below what I saw with the industry leaders.

oneplus 5 campera comparison

IDG
In bright sunlight the OnePlus 5 (left) focused quickly, but the images were a bit too cool. The LG G6 (center) went in the other direction, and the Pixel (right) was spot on.
That said, the OnePlus 5 generally took great shots very quickly, with fast auto focus and shutter speed, even in HDR mode. The camera app is particularly good, with a clean layout and an excellent pro mode that even includes a tiny histogram. However, demanding shutterbugs might not be so keen on the results.

oneplus5 camera comparison low light

IDG
In harsh low light, the OnePlus 5 (left) produced noisy, out-of-focus images, while the LG G6 (center) and Pixel (right) performed much better.
Colors were vibrant if a bit on the cool side, but the excellent detail it was able to capture at a normal distance disappeared when using the 1.6x optical zoom. And in extreme low light, images were noisier than its competitors and the fast auto focus struggled mightily, often resulting in unusable shots.

Good selfies, bad portraits

The marquee feature of the OnePlus 5’s camera is portrait mode, another me-too feature borrowed from the iPhone 7 Plus. But OnePlus doesn’t pull it off nearly as well.

oneplus 5 portrait mode

IDG
The portrait mode on the OnePlus 5 is just OK. In this image, there’s too much definition in the blurred background, and my son’s left arm and hair aren’t crisp.
For one, the depth effect isn’t pronounced enough. The subject stands out, but the faux bokeh isn’t as intense as it is on the iPhone. And OnePlus’ processing leaves quite a bit to be desired. Even when shooting against a solid background, it often took several attempts to lock in on my subject, and the edges tended to be extremely soft. Of course, Apple’s method isn’t perfect either, but even after numerous attempts, I was unable to shoot a flawless portrait shot with the OnePlus 5.

oneplus camera comparison nature

The One Plus 5 (left) picked up the detail of the leaves better than the LG G6 (center), but only the Pixel (right) got the color just right.
The 16MP front camera is essentially the same as the 3T’s, with blemish-removal sliders and a full-screen selfie “flash.” Electronic image stabilization helps a bit when the lights go down, but like the rear camera, for best results you’ll want to stick to bright spots.

Oxygen OS is a breath of fresh air

OnePlus has always stayed faithful to Android with OxygenOS, and on the OnePlus 5, it’s nearly identical to Nougat. Sure, the build includes a few extra apps, but they’re removable, and you might not want to dump them. For example, File Manager is something Google might want to adopt for Android P, offering an overview of everything stored on your phone and providing a fingerprint-protected folder for your sensitive documents.

oneplus5 app drawer
Christopher Hebert/IDG
The OnePlus 5’s app drawer is refreshingly roomy.
This version of OxygenOS is based on the next-to-latest version, 7.1.1, but it feels as fresh as can be. Honestly, the only things I missed from my Pixel phone were the weather widget and the ability to type requests to Google Assistant—both small quibbles for sure. OnePlus’ OS is refreshingly clean and light, all of which makes the phone feel even faster.

Even without any clutter, though, OnePlus manages to add some pretty cool enhancements to Nougat. The practical Shelf returns with app shortcuts, and expanded gestures let you tweak the navigation to your liking. But the best feature by far is Reading Mode.

oneplus 5 reading mode IDG
Reading Mode on the OnePlus 5 lets you designate certain apps for optimal viewing.
Instead of a dark mode or a simple blue light filter, the OnePlus 5 mimics the reflective, grayscale e-ink screens of Kindles and other e-readers, while also adapting the screen to the light around it. The result is nothing less than the most pleasant reading experience I’ve ever had on a phone.

Should you buy it?

There are a lot of reasons to buy the OnePlus 5. Performance-wise, it feels like the fastest phone around. It’s also thin and light, and has a headphone jack. And its retail price is cheaper than the Snapdragon 835 phones from Samsung and HTC by a fairly significant margin.

oneplus5 full Christopher Hebert/IDG

One Plus’s tagline is Never Settle, but it feels like you’re doing a lot of settling with the 5.
But let’s break it down. You can either pay $479 for 64GB of storage and 6GB of RAM, or $539 for 128GB of storage and 8GB of RAM. That’s kind of a no-brainer decision  (especially since you can't expand the storage with an SD card), so for most buyers, the OnePlus 5 will cost just about $540. That’s a great price—and certainly a better deal than the $750 Galaxy S8, or the $650 HTC U11 and LG G6.

However... with giveaways and carrier discounts, smart shoppers rarely pay full retail price for those phones. And when you factor in the lack of earbuds—an omission that was easier to overlook when OnePlus phones cost $299 and Samsung wasn’t shipping AKG buds—the difference isn’t quite so stark. And, as before, Verizon customers need not apply.

Beyond that, a brand new flagship phone, even a mid-range one, should feel like the very best piece of hardware you can buy. While the OnePlus 5 is a beast on the inside, its user-facing features—from superficial aesthetics to an outdated display—already feel quite stale. And in a year or two, the OnePlus 5 will probably feel downright ancient.

If such things don’t concern you, and you’re a happy AT&T or T-Mobile customer, you won’t find a better way to spend $550 on a phone. But for my money, I’d like to see a OnePlus flagship add up to something a little more than the sum of its specs.

CAT's latest rugged smartphone - Cat S41.

Cat, or Caterpillar, a brand licensed by Bullitt from the US-based construction machinery manufacturing company of the same, on Thursday launched new durable smartphones and a tablet at IFA 2017 in Berlin. Built by Bullitt, the Cat S41 and Cat S31 smartphones come with a rugged build, water resistance, drop/ vibration proofing, military grade protection, and large batteries. The Cat S31 is priced at GBP 299 (roughly Rs. 24,700), and the Cat S41 is priced at GBP 399 (roughly Rs. 32,900). The S41 is already available on the company's website, while the S31 will be made available sometime later this year. The company has also unveiled a Windows 10-based tablet called the Cat T20, and it is priced at GBP 599 (roughly Rs. 49,500). There are no availability details revealed for the tablet.

Both the smartphones run on Android Nougat, and support dual-SIM slots. The devices sport a unique design aesthetic with a rubber back to withstand drops and falls; and bent edges to help cushion the fall further.

Cat S41
Starting with the Cat S41, Bullit says the smartphone is 'beyond IP68 certified', surviving immersion in up to 2 metres of water for up to 1 hour, and is drop proof for up to 1.8 metres on concrete. It has passed the MIL-STD 810G certification as well, and supports category 4 vibration proofing. The Cat S41 sports the latest corning Gorilla Glass 5 scratch-resistance, and has a mammoth battery that comes with a battery sharing feature allowing you to juice up other devices as well.

The Cat S41 sports a 5-inch full-HD (1080x 1920 pixels) IPS display with auto switch support and wet finger and glove support as well. It is powered by a 2.3GHz MediaTek Helio P20 MT6757 octa-core processor paired with 3GB of RAM. Internal storage is offered at 32GB with expandable memory option via a microSD card slot (up to 2TB). It sports a 13-megapixel rear sensor with PDAF, and LED flash support. At the front, there is an 8-megapixel fixed focus camera as well.

It packs a 5000mAh battery that is rated to offer up to 38 hours of talk time (on 3G), and 44 days of standby time. It comes with the battery sharing feature that lets you charge other devices as well. Connectivity options include 4G LTE, FM radio, 3.5mm audio jack, Bluetooth 4.1, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Micro-USB port with OTG support, and GPS/ A-GPS. The Cat S41 smartphone measures 152x75x12.85mm and it weighs 218 grams. On board sensors include accelerometer, ambient light sensor, digital compass, and proximity sensor.

BLU Studio J8

BLU Studio J8 was officially announced in August 2017, Device released in August 2017
Mobile Network Support and Band

BLU Studio J8 have Dual Card Slots,BLU Studio J8 support all GSM Based network providers. BLU Studio J8 mobile device support 2G Band Frequency at GSM 850,GSM 900,GSM 1800,GSM 1900 and Hight Speed 3G Network Band at HSDPA 850,HSDPA 900,HSDPA 1700,HSDPA 1900,HSDPA 2100,comes with network handling support with Network settings and work offline with flight Mode.
Device Body Design and Display

BLU Studio J8 is a Full touch Bar device and it have device dimension with 155 x 77 x 10 mm, Exactly 155.7 x 77.6 x 8.9 mm. Phone weight including the Battery 183g. Phone gave a dedicated Volume,Power,Fingerprint Key. BLU Studio J8 display enhanced with IPS LCD Capacitive TouchScreen capable to display 16M Colors at ~267 ppi Pixel Density Touch screen with Multi Touch Support optimized by . Display Resolution of this phone is 720 x 1280 pixels (HD) compact with the 5.5 Inch display with Mode.Device has Loudspeaker to amplify music playback and tones,
Device Hardware and Operating System

BLU Studio J8 equipped for Android 7.0 (Nougat) Operating System, Device hardware empoweredby MediaTek, MT6580 Chipsetand Quad Core Processor Processor handle manipulate tasks,at the speed of 1.3 GHz.device have 1 GB RAM.BLU Studio J8 have internal storage 8 GB.memory can upgrade Upto 64 GB with MicroSD.BLU Studio J8 have 8.0 MP Cameraand there is no Camera Flashand 5.0 MP Secondary front Camera.
Device Photography and Video

BLU Studio J8 8.0 MP and Photo output come at 8.0 MP, 3264 x 2448 Pixels Resolution in size camera help us to catch our favorite movements at Photographs and Videos high quality.Photo as includes date tagging and GPS based Geo Tagging.VideoVideo Recording at 1080p 30 FPSquality. Camera has powerful Digital Zoom digital zoom help us to focus objects very clear. Autofocus,Touch focus,Face Detection,Smile detection,HDR,Face Beauty,Gesture Shot,Low Light Mode features also help us to take more precious photos for our daily use.Camera has powerful digital zoom help us to focus objects very clear. BLU Studio J8 have secondary front camera and takes high quality photos as well Enhanced Camera features like TV Output helps to connect our device directly through LED, LCD TV through BLU Studio J8.BLU Studio J8 have Sweep Panorama to take pictures around you.
Memory and Entertainment Features

BLU Studio J8 Supports major auto Formats WAV,AAC,AMR,MP3,WMA,MIDI,FLAC,OGG and video Formats 3GP,MP4,FLV,WMV,AVI,DivX,MKV,H.264,H.263, device haveMini headphone headphone jackBLU Studio J8 have internal storage 8 GB help to storage enough data of music and video files.expendable memory can upgrade Upto 64 GB with MicroSD Memory Card.BLU Studio J8 supports Stereo FM Radio along with FM Recording feature.Device have the power to playback musics Up to 12 Hrs through standard Media Player.able to play videos Up to 4 Hrs
Internet and Data Communication
http://list-phones.com/uploads/phones/BLU-Studio-J8/thumbs/full/back_BLU-Studio-J8.jpg
http://list-phones.com/uploads/phones/BLU-Studio-J8/thumbs/full/front_BLU-Studio-J8.jpg

BLU Studio J8 Supports 2G Transfersand 3G TransfersData Transfer with GPRS and with EDGE.Data communication speed through HSDPA 21 Mbps,HSPA plus,Data connection also through Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, WiFi Direct.Wi-Fi supports dual band Hotspot support to share internet connection through BLU Studio J8. Device support to browse web pages through with Google Chrome Browser, which supports you to browse web pages.browser also supports Adobe Flash .
Personal data transfers through Bluetooth 4.0 Device comes with which helps to view mapsand locate our location through GPS Tracking help us for Navigation or Direction . Device supports messaging features SMS,MMS,Email,Push Mail,IM,Hangouts.