Xiaomi Mi3 S800 WCDMA : Release is close but still Unknown

We are sorry to announce that the Xiaomi Mi3 has not been released on December, 17th. We are still waiting for the official date to be set but the launch is very close.

It is certain that the Mi3 S800 will be launched this month. We apologize to our customers who pre-ordered the Mi3 S800 and those customers will receive a surprise gift from us.

We will publish an other article when the final release date is set.

Octa Core ThL T100 Monkey King 2 will be launched on December, 17th

ThL just announced the released date of their upcoming Octa Core T100 Monkey King 2 flagship. It is due on December, 17th for Chinese buyers.

We should have it in stock around Christmas for $350/€260. Find below the full specs of the ThL T100 5 inch FHD display with Dual 13 MP cameras.

MediaTek 4G cheap is based on a Octa Core build

China is beginning to give carriers 4G licenses and it seems that MediaTek is eager to go faster than what they initially planned. The 4G LTE Octa Core MT6595 chip was expected to launch for the second half of 2014, now it is set to be available as soon as January.

Qualcomm First 64-bit chip : Snapdragon 410 is an 4G Entry-Level SoC

It is a surprise. Of course, a 64 bit chip was expected from Qualcomm but for high end devices. It seems the first move will be made towards the entry level market.
Qualcomm is gearing up against MediaTek and won't lose the first stop that easily.

Octa Core MT6592 Huawei Honor 3X wants to Take Down the Xiaomi Mi2S

In its upcoming event scheduled on December, 12th, Huawei will unveil 2 smartphones. We talked about the Huawei Honoc 3C destined to compete against the Xiaomi Red Rice but the second future born of Huawei, the Octa Core MT6592 Huawei Honor 3X wants to attack the mid range market and aim directly to rival the Xiaomi Mi2S and its Snapdragon S600.

Xiaomi "Project Ara" is called Magic Cube !

UPDATE 2013/12/10 : The image has now been removed from Weibo.

We were just talking about Xiaomi's move towards a modular smartphone here and Lei Jeu went on Weibo to publish early sketches of Xiaomi's Magic Cube modular smartphone.

Huawei Honor 3C might the first MT6588 Quad Core Smartphone

After losing grounds to the likes of Xiaomi, Huawei wants to get back into the game in China. So, they will move on from their home SoC K3Vx to MediaTek chips.

The Xiaomi Red Rice (HongMi) has changed the entry level smartphones in China and so far, rivals came up short. But Huawei is saying, behind unofficially that their next smartphone would take the throne when it comes to budget phones.Until December, 12th, here is what rumors are talking about.

Xiaomi might work on its "Project Ara"

The photo represents the actual "Project Ara" sponsored by Motorola. It was mainly inspired by the Phoneblocks buzz.

It is a revolutionary concept build from modular parts which have specific functions like one for the CPU, another one for the internal storage, etc... You upgrade only what you need, for example, if you need more RAM, instead of the 1 GB part, replace it with the new 3 GB part.

Vivo Xplay 3S Pricing is Expensive !

The Vivo Xplay 3S must be the most anticipated heavy weight smartphone this December. It is nearing its launching date scheduled on December, 12th in Changsha. The even is name "Let' Xplay".

Pricing leaked through China Mobile upcoming smartphones listings. On the image below, you can see that there are 4G LTE 32 GB and 64 GB versions. Discover the prices after the break.

Xiaomi is aiming at South-East Asia as first steps towards International Market

This is why Hugo Barra has been brought to Xiaomi : to expand the Chinese company outside of China.
So far, Xiaomi sells devices in China, Taiwan and Hong-Kong. During an official visit in Taiwan, Lin Bin, President of Xiaomi, and Hugo Barra said they would like to open an office in Singapore "as soon as possible".

10 000 Xiaomi Red Rice (HongMi) sold out in less than 10 minutes in Taiwan

For its first flash sales outside of China, Xiaomi manages to repeat its success. Given, it is "only" 10 000 Xiaomi Red Rice (HongMi), but the whole stock sold out in 9 min 50 secs.Customers were able to pay via Paypal and also, if they chose so, to pick up their Red Rice at the local Family Mart convenience store.

Meizu will launch an Octa Core MT6592 4G Device around $330

Meizu, as a premium Chinese manufacturer could move some of its upcoming majors devices to MediaTek chips. Meizu is definitely in attack mode in 2014 and should unveil 4G LTE smartphones sporting the latest Octa Core MT6592 chip and would adopt the same design as the Meizu MX3.

HiLive unveils its Octa Core 2 GHz Smartphone

HiLive comes with its own Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Clone in a brand new Octa Core Hi16 6 Inch Smartphone running at 2 GHz.

ThL T100 Monkey King 2 should launch on December, 10th

ThL T100 also known as the Monkey King 2 is scheduled to hit Chinese's shelves on December, 10th. It is gonna be ThL first Octa Core with a beautiful design and Dual 13 MP Rear and Front Camera. Full specs after the break.

OPPO Find 7 with 4G LTE, Snapdragon S805 and more ?

OPPO Find 7 is expected to be the true successor of the OPPO Find 5 which has been released one year ago. Latest leaks from OPPO weibo account talks about being "4G Ready".
Oddly enough, this was announced the same day about 4G licensing frequencies in China.

Precisions about Octa Core MT6592 Smartphones

 

This is where all the rage is coming from these days. The True Octa Core MT6592 chip from MediaTek has just been available to manufacturers and while some of them unveiled their flagship, there won't be any definitive stocks for worldwide shipping until January at least.

Meizu MX3 adds colors for Christmas

Well it wasn't the biggest secret of these times but it was certainly coming. Meizu finally unveiled colored Back Covers for its Meizu MX3. Additional photos after the break.

Xiaomi PowerBank 10400 mAh comes in various colors !

A few days ago, Xiaomi unveiled its 10400 mAh Powerbank external battery for the mere price of RMB 69. Now it is official that it will come in various colors !

Mlais MX28 is a Super Budget Phone RMB 499

Mlais is really upgrading its game and definitively wants to play a larger part in the Chinese phone market.

The Mlais MX28 is one of the few original design from the manufacturer usually Samsung or HTC inspired and it comes at a super cheap price of RMB 499.

Xiaomi unveils its 10400 mAh Powerbank External Battery, RMB 69 !

Yesterday, Xiaomi started teasing about a new accessory. Well, now the secret's out, it ts a 10400 mAh Powerbank external battery at a very aggressive entry price of RMB 69. It should available on December, 10th.

Jiayu G5 : Quick Review

Summary :

1) Introduction
2) Design
3) Display
4) Benchmarks
5) Battery Life
6) Conclusion

Buy Jiayu G5 from 217.49 €

THL T200 : Another Octa Core has gone official

After presenting the THL T100, THL has decided to push even forward its 2014 line up, unveiling the THL T200 Octa Core.

WCDMA Xiaomi Mi3 S800 : First Batch all Sold Out. 2nd Round Start Now

Our first batch of Xiaomi Mi3 S800 is all sold out. 2nd round start now and shipments will start 10 days after the official launch of December, 17th.

Pre Order now at PhonAsia.com.

WCDMA Xiaomi Mi3 Snapdragon S800 : Pre-Orders Start Now !

It is December, 1st, the clock indicates Midnight : our Pre-orders for the WCDMA Xiaomi Mi3 S800 start Now !

For €359.99, you will get the best of the best.

Xiaomi Mi3 Snpadragon S800 Pre-Orders Start on December, 1st

Our WCDMA Xiaomi Mi3 Snapdragon S800 Pre-orders will start on December, 1st at Midnight GMT+1 (Central Europe Time).

It will happen here.

OPPO R829, Snadragon S600 and 4.5 Inch HD Display

The OPPO Find 5 would have to wait a few more weeks/months to have a true successor since the OPPO R829 is more like a Find 5 Mini but with a better hardware.

This is the first official photo published by OPPO. It is aiming at the "Mini market" and will go against the very successful Xiaomi Mi2S.

Jiayu G2F is the Super Budget Phone cheaper than Xiaomi Red Rice

Since the Xiaomi Red Rice came out, every manufacturers tried to offer their own budget phones without the same success.

This time, the Jiayu G2F is a serious competitor. It sports similar specs for only RMB 499.

THL T100 Octa Cores aka Monkey King 2 is now Official with MT6592 chip

The THL T100 Monkey King 2 with the Octa Cores MT6592 chip from Mediatek should officially launch next month.

It has officially been presented, and the least we could say it that it is living up to the standards set by the first Monkey King. King Kong has returned and should claim one of the top spot among mid range smartphone.

Xiaomi Mi3 vs Mi2S vs Mi2A vs Red Rice (HongMi) : Photo Shootout Full Comparison

Welcome to the most impressive Photo comparison between all the Xiaomi Devices.

Summary : 
1) Outdoors: Park Scene

2) Outdoors : Macro Photos

3) Indoors : Good Light Conditions

4) Indoors : Low Light Conditions

5) Indoors : Very Low Light Conditions

6) Indoors : Pitch Black Conditions

2013 Christmas Guide : Best Chinese Smartphones

Welcome to our 2013 Christmas Guide. It has been a full year with several big flagships from different manufacturers especially Xiaomi and Meizu : Mi2S, Mi2A, Red Rice, MX2, MX3. So which one should you buy ? Here is your answer.

Summary :
1) Entry Level Smartphones
2) Mid Range Smartphones
3) High End Smartphones

Xiaomi RED RICE (HongMi) WCDMA : In Depth Review

Summary :

1) Introduction

2) Design

3) Display

4) Software

5) Benchmarks

6) Camera

7) Speakerphone & Battery Life

8) Conclusion

Buy Xiaomi Red Rice WCDMA at PhonAsia.com.

ZOPO ZP998 is official : World First True Octa-Core

The ZOPO ZP998 Octa Cores is finally here, the world first MediTeck 8 cores MT6592 powered smartphone and it seems to be already quite something.

The design takes after the ZP990 but with a 8 cores beast inside and much more.

MediaTek Octa Core MT6592 vs Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 : This is 2014 !

MediaTek presented its "True Octa Core" back in July and now, it is nearing its launch with several manufacturers set to release devices in the coming hours/days : ZOPO ZP998 (November, 21st), Coolpad Grand View 4 (November, 20th), Mlais MX69 Pro (November, 20th), Green Orange NX (November, 21st).

A few hours ago, MediaTek finally gave us the final specs of the upcoming MT6592 and earlier today, Qualcomm presented the Snapdragon 805 which will be coming next year.

Xiaomi Mysterious device is a Wireless Router

Secret's out. While we were indicating yesterday that it could have been a wireless, it is indeed one.

More official photos after the break from the Xiaomi Forums.

Vivo Xplay 3S is coming and it's rather big : detachable Lens on the way

As you may already know, the Xplay 3S is coming with a 2xHD resolution 2560 x 1440 pixels. To put down to rest rumors, Vivo confirmed itself the official specs : Snapdragon S800, 3 GB of RAM, 4G LTE, USB 3.0 (like the Galaxy Note 3), F1.8 aperture lens and a Hi-Fi chip.

Xiaomi is preparing to launch a new device

The only clue that Xiaomi gave us is the actual launch date set to be on November, 20th.
It looks like the a PC like device "à la" new Mac Pro but the release of a PC device is unlikely. Most rumors talk about a router device. It sure is mysterious.

International Xiaomi WCDMA Mi3 might indeed come on December, 17th

Xiaomi published this good looking Gif on its new Google+ page.

In Depth Comparison Review : Xiaomi Mi3 vs Xiaomi Mi2S

Summary :

1) Introduction

2) Design

3) Display

4) Software

5) Benchmarks

6) Camera

7) Speakerphones & Battery Life

8) Conclusion

Xiaomi HongMi Red Rice WCDMA in stock at Phonasia.com

Our first 2 batches of HongMi all sold out. Because of the important number of orders, there is now a 2 weeks delay before shipment.

You can order the Xiaomi HongMi Red Rice on our store for $229.99. Only black version is available.

Precisions about Snapdragon S800 WCDMA Xiaomi Mi3 Pre-Orders

We received a large number of questions about the upcoming Xiaomi Mi3. PhonAsia will have a limited stock at launch and we are opening our pre-orders on December, 1st. Shipments will start one week after the release date (December, 17th).

International Xiaomi Mi3 WCDMA Snapdragon S800 is coming next Month

The International Xiaomi Mi3 Snapdragon S800 is finally coming. Lei Jun, CEO of Xiaomi just announced the news and the much anticipated smartphone would come sometime in December (we expect 17th). A shortage is to be expected since only a handful of S800 Mi3 should be released, most likely 100 000 units. PhonAsia would have a few of them. 

Xiaomi HongMi Red Rice WCDMA already sold out at PhonAsia.com

We began yesterday to sell the HongMi. We had very limited stock and as expected it is already sold out.

PhonAsia will try to get its hands on a few more next week on the next batch. Stay tuned on PhonAsia for more informations.

First shipments start on November 11th. 

Xiaomi HongMi WCDMA Red Rice is available Now at PhonAsia.com

Finally, it is here, the best ratio price quality smartphone of the market is compatible with WCDMA 3G Network. The Xiaomi HongMi (Red Rice) works on the 2100 MHz 3G frequency which is compatible with most western countries.

Official Xiaomi Mi3 Tegra 4 In-Depth Full Review (Video available)

Summary

01) Introduction
02) Design and Handling
03) 5 Inch Full HD Display
04) ROM MIUI V5
05) Web Browsing
06) Camera & Photos
07) Benchmarks
08) GPS
09) Keyboard
10) Call Quality & Battery Life
11) Conclusion

First Promo Nexus 5 Video

First official promo video only focuses on the new 8MP Camera with OIS.

Nexus 5 is finally Official. Opens at $349

It is finally here. One of the brightest side of official Nexus 5 launch, it is definitively the end of all those leaks and rumors.

The Truth behind Android Benchmarks' Scores

The Beginning : How it all started

Even yesterday, an allegedly Snapdragon S800 Mi3 leaked out on Antutu and there was a lot of talking surrounding the low score and a few theories quickly attached to it.
Cheating in benchmarking has always been the most popular sport in the PC world. We were just hoping it wouldn't becoming one so fast so soon in Android. The first one caught was the Samsung Galaxy 4 in late June via a post at Beyond3D from @AndreF.
Lately, Samsung, has been caught doing it again with the Note 3. This time, it was Arstechnicawhich spotted it.
Samsung took most of the heat, but what about others manufacturers ?

Xiaomi Mi3 64GB just got approved by Chinese Officials

While Xiaomi has successfully launched their latest flagship, the Mi3 in China, the success was achieved despite the lack of the 64 GB version.

Xiaomi Mi3 S800 Spotted on Antutu

The long awaited International S800 based Xiaomi Mi3 is finally (unofficially) showing off its face. While Tegra 4 based version is enjoying its time and selling quite well, no news so far towards its twin brother, the WCDMA supported version.
We wrote an article explaining the delay.

Breaking News : Xiaomi HongMi (Red Rice) WCDMA is OFFICIALLY launching on November, 5th !

Yesterday, we just talked about a commentary from Lei Jun, CEO of Xiaomi. Today, he went even farther, much farther.

CEO of Xiaomi announces that HongMi (Red Rice) is indeed coming

It is been quite a while since the last appearance of the Xiaomi HongMi in the news. Our last report talked about Chinese officials giving their approval to a HongMi WCDMA release.

It's Sunday : Photo of the Week 08, Xiaomi Mi3 Tegra 4 in action

This photo has been taken by my Xiaomi Mi2S.

So, I am halfway through my Xiaomi Mi3 Tegra 4 Review which will be published within the next 24h. So stay tuned to our blog or our Youtube channel.

We have already done the unboxing of the Mi3.

Another BIRD enters the arena

Bird is a small Chinese Tech Company which has just unveiled 2 new devices :
- Bird Snapdragon XL powered by an 8 Core MediaTek MT6592 SoC
- Bird Snapdragon HD destined to compete against the Xiaomi HongMi

There is absolutely no link whatsoever between Bird and Qualcomm despite using the name "Snapdragon".