Vivo Launches the Z1 Lite in China

Vivo has launched another mid-ranger alongside a rebranded Y93 in China. Called Z1 Lite, it looks quite similar to the V9 but with less impressive specifications.
That’s not to say that the phone is bad, not at all. Let’s see what it brings to the saturated mid-ranger market.

Design and Display

Starting off with the design, as mentioned earlier, it looks a lot like the Vivo V9. There’s the same 6.26″ Full HD+ IPS LCD display, with a notch. Vivo Z1 Lite also supports Face Unlock.
The notch houses the front camera and the usual slew of sensors. On the back is a dual camera setup along with a capacitive fingerprint sensor. There’s no USB-C on this, it makes do with an old microUSB port instead.

Internals and Storage

Powering the Z1 Lite is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 626 SoC, with 4 GB RAM and 32 GB of internal storage. There’s a microSD card slot onboard, allowing an additional 256 GB of storage.
There’s Vivo’s FunTouch OS onboard on top of Android 8.1 Oreo, no Android Pie on this phone. There’s also Vivo’s own Jovi assistant on the Z1 Lite, but it only works in Chinese.

Cameras

This is where Vivo made compromises with the Z1 Lite. It comes with a 16 MP f/2.0 lens paired with a 2 MP f/2.4 depth-sensing camera, which will primarily be used for bokeh effect and portrait mode. There’s an LED flash as well as PDAF available as well.
The front features a single 16 MP unit inside the notch.

Battery and Price

Vivo Z1 Lite runs on a 3,260 mAh battery with no fast charging onboard, which is a pity.

It is currently available in China for a price of CNY 1,098 (~Rs. 21,000). It will come in Red, Aurora Blue, and Black colors.

Vivo Z1 Lite Specifications

• CPU: Octa-core 2.2 GHz Cortex-A53
• GPU: Adreno 506
• Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon 626
• OS: Android 8.1 Oreo, FunTouch OS
• Networks: 2G, 3G, 4G LTE
• Display:
  • 6.26” 19:9 IPS LCD with FHD+ (2280 x 1080) resolution
• Memory:
  • RAM: 4 GB
  • Internal: 32 GB
  • Card slot: yes.
• Camera:
  • Primary: 16 MP f/2.0 + 2 MP f/2.4, phase detection autofocus, LED flash
  • Secondary: 16 MP
• Connectivity: microUSB, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS
• Fingerprint scanner; Face Unlock
• Battery: 3260 mAh
• Price: CNY 1,098 (~Rs. 21,000)

Huawei Y9 2019 Review: Size and Battery Life of a Tablet

Huawei’s Y-series has always targeted budget consumers and has always had a lower price point compared to other Huawei smartphones. This year the Y9 2019 comes in at a price of Rs. 37,999. That is not mid-range pricing, so does it at least have the specifications to justify its price?
We got our hands on the Y9 2019 to find out exactly that. We’ve already unboxed the phone on Facebook Live so it’s time now to dive into the full review of the device.

Unlike other upper-midrange Huawei phones we’ve reviewed so far, Y9 2019 doesn’t feature a glass sandwich design. It makes do with a plastic back, which is made to look like glass and feels fragile when you hold it in your hand.
There’s no USB Type-C port on the Y9 2019, but we’ve come to accept it as a reality that Huawei will only use microUSB ports for its mid-rangers.
The power button and volume rocker on the side of the phone are a bit too close but good design choice saves the day here. The power button is textured and you can easily tell that you’re pressing the volume buttons or the power button, making things less confusing.
Its display is massive, with a 6.5″ IPS Full HD+ (1080 x 2340) resolution panel and a 19.5:9 aspect ratio, thanks to the notch at the top. Viewing angles were good and you won’t have any problems using the display outdoors in direct sunlight. However, the display is a bit on the reflective side.
The bezels aren’t all that thin, which make the phone a bit bulkier compared to flagships with a similar screen size. Playing games and using the phone for multimedia apps was a pleasure thanks to its large screen size.

Performance

Huawei Y9 2019 comes with a HiSilicon Kirin 710 processor along with 4 GB RAM and 64 GB of storage. Storage is expandable via a microSD card slot.
Day to day performance was nothing out of the ordinary, apps opened up fast with no stuttering or lag when switching between them. Multitasking was also a breeze, with none of the apps reloading. Heavier apps did reload, but only when I had a lot of other apps open in the background as well.
Gaming needs are handled by the Mali-G51 GPU. Framerates weren’t exactly high but were stable. Typical mid-ranger stuff.

Camera Quality

There’s been a trend we’ve seen in Huawei phones, with dual front and back cameras (4 total). We see this trend in the Y9 2019 as well.
It comes with a 16 MP f/2.0 camera on the back with a 2 MP f/2.4 depth sensing module. On the front, Y9 2019 has a 13 MP main camera with a f/1.8 aperture with a similar 2 MP f/2.4 lens for portrait mode shots.
The camera app is similar to other Huawei phones, with shooting modes on the right side of the viewfinder with AI mode, HDR and other toggles on the left.
The AI mode oversaturates the colors and doesn’t really improve image quality. HDR didn’t improve the dynamic range or recover shadows from the images either. The camera quality was good but not great with some noise creeping in for the daylight shots. Low light shots weren’t exactly good, with a lot of noise and next to no detail.
The front cameras offered similar levels of quality but the portrait mode was a hit or miss, especially in low light.
Here are the camera samples we used for our review.

Camera Samples

Battery Life

Arguably the best thing about the Y9 2019 was its battery life. It has a large 4,000 mAh battery unit, but it lacks fast charging.
Huawei phones are generally good in terms of battery life thanks to their software optimizations. Y9 2019 was especially good in our case.
In our use, we played games on the phone, used it for social media and watching videos on YouTube. Mobile data was on all day and the brightness remained between 50-100%. With all that the phone gave us a screen on time of 9 hours (!) with 4% remaining.
Even if you’re a power user, you’ll still be able to get a lot out of the Y9 2019.

Verdict

Overall the phone is a complete package with a nice looking design, decent performance, good cameras and an all-day battery. The battery life, in particular, was pretty good, with the phone’s large screen not hindering it in any way. Speaking of the large display, the phone is well suited for multimedia consumption and gaming.
Huawei Y9 2019 definitely deserves its price of Rs. 37,999 and is a good option if you go for it.

The World’s First 5G Phone Connected to a 5G Network Today

As we slowly edge closer to the full commercial launch of 5G, companies are speeding up tests for 5G implementation as well.
This time Verizon has made the headlines for completing the first 5G data transmission on a smartphone. They used a Moto Z3 for the test and tested several things including web browsing and video calls.
The test was conducted in partnership with Samsung Electronics America and Qualcomm Technologies Inc and was done on a 3GPP 5G New Radio (NR) network.
The Moto Z3 in question had a special 5G Moto mod attached, which will be made available to everyone sometime in 2019.
Verizon tested the connection on its own 28 GHz spectrum, with a Samsung built 5G New Radio solution and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X50 modem for the data transfer. QTM052 mmWave antenna modules were used for the test.

Not The First?

You might recall Oppo and Xiaomi making similar announcements in the past, however, all they’ve tested is the 5G connection, they haven’t actually sent or received mobile data through the Find X and Mi Mix 3 respectively.

They didn’t share anything other than a screenshot showing the phone running 5G. Verizon, on the other hand, tested it out with a Moto Z3 in real life applications, making video calls, browsing the internet and more.

In any case, 2019 will be a major year for 5G development and implementation, with Verizon shaping up to be a major contender in the race to be the first to commercially launch 5G.

Huawei Y9 2019 Now Comes in Aurora Purple

Huawei Y9 2019 has been getting all the love from Pakistan. The smartphone is now available in Aurora Purple color. The Huawei Y9 2019 is embedded with Artificial Intelligence and is the successor to the Huawei Mate 10 lite.
Huawei Y9 2019 features the GPU Acceleration Technology (GPU Turbo), to improve the graphics-processing efficiency by 60% while reducing SoC power consumption by 30%. This device features a 6.5-inch, notched FullView Display and Quad-cameras in a sleek design.

Huawei Y9 2019 also boasts the latest Kirin 710 octa-core chipset and 64 GB storage, offering up to 75% more power enabling smoother operation.
The 6.5″ FullView Display, with a high screen-to-body ratio provides a seamless bezel-less experience. The 16MP+2MP front dual camera and 13MP+2MP rear dual camera boast AI scene sensing. It detects 22 AI scenarios and adjusts camera settings to get the best photos.
Other smart features include; Fingerprint 4.0 identification, Simple Mode for elderly users, Games-Suite, Karaoke mode, Party mode and Histen 5.0, while the TÜV Rheinland certified ‘Eye-Comfort Mode’ makes reading e-books easier on the eyes.

Xiaomi Mi 9 Leaks With 48 MP Triple Cameras and Top Notch Specs

Xiaomi is one of those companies that keep releasing new phones all year round. Which makes it hard to keep a record of all the phones they release.
However, this doesn’t apply to the company’s flagship Mi-n series (n being a number). This year in April, Xiaomi released the Mi 8 with dual cameras and a notched AMOLED display. It’s very likely that the Chinese phone maker will release the Mi 9 around the same time in 2019.

Leaked Image

As we get closer to 2019, leaks have finally started coming in about the upcoming flagship smartphone. Well known leaker and tipster Benjamin Geskin has leaked an image of the Mi 9 with its possible specifications.
Here’s what the Mi 9 might look like:

Leaked Specifications

Geskin’s leaked specifications mention a 6.4-inch AMOLED display. As you can see from the image above, Xiaomi Mi 9 will have a smaller display notch, with smaller bezels compared to the Mi 8. The design is mostly similar, other than the triple camera setup on the back, which looks quite like Huawei P20 Pro’s camera setup.
Speaking of the camera setup, Geskin says that it will have a 48 (!) MP Sony IMX586 camera as its main lens, with a 13 MP and a 16 MP shooter alongside.

Another small but important detail is the fingerprint scanner. It appears that the Mi 9 will feature an under-display fingerprint reader. Having this type of a fingerprint scanner onboard the Mi 9 is not out of the question as the Mi 8 Explorer Edition had it too, as well as the more recent Mi Mix 3.
Hardware-wise it will have a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8150 with 6/8 GB RAM, however, it might go as high as 10GB for a separate variant of the Mi 9.

Battery, 5G Support and More

It will be powered by a 3,700 mAh battery unit and will support wireless charging as well as Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 5.0 standard for fast charging.
Lastly, another rumor mentions that Mi 9 will support 5G as well, and will be the second phone by Xiaomi to support the new standard. Mi Mix 3 5G edition will be the first to support it, and will be released in Q1 2019.
As mentioned earlier, Xiaomi Mi 9 will be launched in April 2019.

Torture Test Proves Mi Mix 3’s Sliding Mechanism is The Best [Video]

Slider phones may have died a long time ago, but that hasn’t stopped companies like Xiaomi and Huawei from making them.
Xiaomi unveiled the Mi Mix 3 a few weeks ago, which was the phone maker’s first foray into the sliding phone genre. The Mix series is known for its end to end bezelless displays with no notches and for their ceramic build.

At the event, Xiaomi mentioned that the phone can be slid open and closed 300,000 times without any problems, affirming that the slider was durable and won’t wear out with time. An independent tester has beaten that number, going as high as 600,000 with the phone’s slider working normally.

Mi Mix 3 Slider Test

Here’s the video of their test:
As seen in the video, the person set up the phone with a robot that was programmed to slide the phone up and down continuously 600,000 times. Once done, the person took it off and showed that the phone’s slider was still snappy and resistive, with no degradation in the magnets’ force.
Unlike Oppo and Vivo’s sliding cameras, Xiaomi opted for a mechanical slider instead of an automatic one. Their solution was to use Neodymium magnets, improving the resistance when the phone is slid up or down.

Possible Problems

With this test, you should rest assured that the Mi Mix 3’s slider won’t wear out over time. What you should worry about is the gigantic display as it is very likely to break from the smallest drop. There’s also the problem of waterproofing as the Mi Mix 3 doesn’t have any sort of IP rating.
Regardless, this is an impressive achievement by Xiaomi and if it’s successful, it might usher in an era of sliding smartphones in the near future.
We will update you as soon as we hear anything about the Mi Mix 3 coming to Pakistan. Watch this space for more on Xiaomi.

Oppo A7 Unboxing: What Do You Get With a Budget Midranger?

OPPO’s A series has always been about budget smartphones, catering to a specific market and not targeted at power users.
Today we have with us the A7 and OPPO is hoping to change the perceptions usually associated with the A series. So this year, at least on paper, the A7 comes with improved performance, camera, and display.

However, a final verdict cannot be passed today in the first impressions of the phone so stay tuned for the full review of the A7, coming in the following days.