Cherry Mobile will announce a new Flare smartphone on October 9, according to an event invite sent by the local tech company today. Not much is known about the upcoming handset, but based on the invite, expect a gold color option with a silver metallic trim, suggesting that we may be looking at the most premium-looking Flare design so far. The black borders surrounding the display may give the phone a borderless appearance when the the screen is turned off. The one metric the Flare series falls short of is design, but that could change soon if what we’ve seen so …
Cherry Mobile MAIA Smart Tab is upgradable to Windows 10
Cherry Mobile didn’t advertise that the dual-OS (Android 4.4 KitKat and Windows 8.1) MAIA Smart Tab is upgradable to Windows 10 when the company announced the 8-inch slate earlier this week, but it turns out it is.
Google unveils Nexus 5X and 6P smartphones
A year after the Nexus 6 was released, Google, as earlier reports suggested, announced not one, but two smartphones to showcase Android 6.0 Marshmallow in its purest (and best) form. Holding the torch for the Internet company’s own brand of mobile devices are the new Nexus 5X and 6P, which promise impressive performance in sleek and well-designed plastic (Nexus 5X) or metal (Nexus 6P) housings, not to mention early access to software and security updates directly from the big G itself. Let’s start with the smaller of the two handsets: the Nexus 5X. Google’s long-expected follow-up to 2013’s Nexus 5 …
Video shows iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus are highly water-resistant
Image via Zach Straley’s YouTube video Apple hasn’t stated explicitly that the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus are water-resistant, though it appears they don’t mind getting a bit wet, as YouTuber Zach Straley found out recently when he soaked the latest iPhones in a bowl of water for over an hour. In his video description, Straley wrote: “Apple’s new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus seem very water-resistant.” The YouTube clip itself, which already has more than 200,000 views as of this writing, runs 7 minutes and 43 seconds. The iPhone 6s and 6s Plus appear to be working perfectly fine after …
Unofficial iPhone 6s doesn’t cost an arm and a leg in PH
Image via macradar.ru Local fans of Apple’s latest — and much-improved — smartphones, it turns out, don’t have to wait too long to get their hands on the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, unlike in previous years where it took parallel importers weeks to bring the newest iPhone to our shores. And when they did, you could bet your bottom peso that it cost an arm and a leg to purchase even the off-contract 16GB model. (Remember the P117,585 iPhone 6 Plus that Revü Philippines co-publisher Alora Uy Guerrero wrote for Yahoo in 2014?) Not this year, though. Retailer Widget City …
Lenovo unveils supersized Phab Plus phone in PH
Apple and OPPO aren’t the only manufacturers that have made a bet on supersized devices lately. Lenovo has thrown its hat into the ring, too, with the announcement of the Phab Plus at the recently held IFA 2015 consumer-electronics fair in Berlin. Today, Lenovo has made the product official in the Philippines. Part phone and part tablet, this new crossover from China fits a massive full-HD screen that spans 6.8 inches diagonally (whoa, nelly!) in a metal unibody casing that measures 7.6mm in depth. The Phab Plus is looking to benefit from a burgeoning trend among smartphone users: Lenovo has observed that …
OPPO PH debuts metal-clad R7 Lite and R7 Plus at aggressive prices
OPPO Philippines has today unveiled the metal-clad R7 Series phones, which are aimed at the mid- to high-end markets Apple and Samsung are courting. And if there’s anything to be taken away from tonight’s festivities, it’s that the makers of the iPhone and Galaxy handsets — and the rest of the industry, for that matter — should be taking notes on how to put together strong contenders in the smartphone space without asking for too much in return. The R7 Lite and R7 Plus retail for a reasonable P13,990 and P21,990, respectively, and based on the extensive time I’ve spent …
Confirmed: iPhone 6s, 6s Plus have 2GB RAM
Even before the Apple iPhone 6s and 6s Plus were made official a few days ago, the rumor mill has been churning with reports that Apple’s latest — and apparently much-improved — iPhones have 2GB of RAM, or double the amount of RAM than their 2014 counterparts. Well, to the surprise of nobody, it turns out that the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus do have 2GB of RAM built into the new A9 chipset, according to iOS developer Hamza Sood who used the Xcode developer software to confirm the bump in memory. The last time Apple put more RAM into …
HOOQ’s catch-up service streams shows 24 hours after they air
Local teleseryes: They’re a cultural phenomenon, regardless of where the general public’s current broadcast-channel allegiance lies. (It’s still a two-horse race, in my opinion.) Teleseryes have transcended through the decades and social and religious barriers. They have made us laugh, cry (a lot), and genuinely care about or hate fictional characters, and we have embraced them and welcomed them into our living rooms as part of our daily routine, even if it sometimes meant skipping the dinner table to eat the night’s grub in front of the TV. Or at least that’s how I remember spending most of my evenings …
Starmobile Knight Elite is a P9,990 Xperia Z3 lookalike
The local market has seen quite a number of great finds in the midrange-phone segment, and, lucky for us, it seems like there’s no end in sight for affordable smartphones with good-to-great specs. Case in point: Starmobile just announced the Starmobile Knight Elite, which is headed to stores on September 15 with a retail price of P9,990. Not bad for a Snapdragon 615-based handset resembling the Sony Xperia Z3 with some genuinely good specs. Both front and rear panels are layered with Corning Gorilla Glass to give the Knight Elite a more upscale appearance worthy of its namesake. The Starmobile Knight …
7 reasons to buy the OPPO R7 Plus
(UPDATE, September 4, 2015: OPPO Philippines will unveil the OPPO R7 Series on September 15th. Stay tuned for a follow-up post after the launch event.) The wait is over: OPPO Philippines’ recent posts on social media put to rest any doubts that the OPPO R7 Series is indeed coming to stores soon. And if the last couple of days are any indication, the R7 Plus may very well be the best tablet-like phone I’ve had the pleasure of using this year.
Xiaomi’s Mi 4c is an affordable powerhouse, according to leaks
Image via Electrony.net The midrange Xiaomi Mi 4i has been out just a couple of months in the Philippines, but it is already at risk of being overtaken in the pecking order of desirable smartphones. Or, at least, that is what will likely happen next if the rumors surrounding the upcoming Mi 4c do turn out to be true. A photo of the Mi 4c’s retail packaging has revealed pretty much every detail about the device, right down to its battery capacity and USB connector standard. It appears the 4c will be, in many ways, similar to the 4i so …
OPPO Mirror 5 now comes with free Internet for 2 months
I previously reviewed the OPPO Mirror 5, and noted it was one of the best that the bargain segment has seen in terms of design and all-around performance, which may not come as a surprise to anyone who has played around with the phone. And if you thought it couldn’t get any better, OPPO Philippines is throwing in a Globe prepaid SIM card with 100MB of free monthly data for two months, saving you about P200, to help you get the most out of your shiny new gadget. This offer lasts until November 30, and applies to purchases in OPPO …
This ZenFone 2 has more storage than a base-model MacBook Pro
Image via ASUS Fanaticos You’d think ASUS would have run out of ZenFone 2 ideas by now, given that its popular smartphone line probably already has more variants than the Encyclopedia Britannica has volumes, but it hasn’t. Enter the ZenFone 2 Deluxe Special Edition, yet another new addition to the growing ZenFone family. The kicker this time around is an insane amount of onboard storage for something that fits most pockets. “Just how much storage are we talking about here?” you ask. 256GB. To put things into perspective, that’s twice the capacity of the ZenFone 2 Deluxe and, more impressively, …
The curious case of the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+
I’m worried about Samsung. Not because its profits continue to fall on the back of the market’s lukewarm reaction to the now-discounted Galaxy S6, arguably its most compelling smartphone yet. Not because it has tampered with the Galaxy formula by jettisoning microSD expansion and removable batteries, much to the disappointment of long-time fans. Not because Apple’s market dominance shows no signs of slowing. I’m just worried, because Friday’s announcement could have ended with one super-sized phone, except it ended with two. In one corner: a Samsung sequel that, as expected, puts its extra screen real estate to even better use and rightfully bills …
Breaking up with cable TV
Do you remember the last time you sat through a movie or TV show on cable TV? We don’t. We cut the cord months ago, and our crystal ball predicts we’re never going back now that decent subscription-based video-on-demand services have made their way to the Philippines. For your own setup at home, you may want to consider a streaming box like the ones reviewed on the Coolest Gadgets website. That’s just us. We know that not everyone — perhaps even you — is ready to part ways with the cable companies. We can’t blame you. First, cable TV has …
Samsung Galaxy Note 5: two steps forward, one step back
Image via Forbes A mere hours after their worldwide launch, the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge+ made their official debut in the Philippines today, with pricing and availability in tow. “Isn’t it a little too early for a Galaxy Note reboot?” you may ask. “What about the Galaxy S6 Edge? The paint hasn’t even dried on Samsung’s co-flagship yet following its release a few months ago.” I get your point, but Samsung had to pull the trigger to give its latest devices a lengthy head start in the retail race against Apple. Samsung’s profits are still falling, …
OPPO Mirror 5 now official in PH, will retail for P9,990
OPPO is no stranger to making quality phones with few, if any, compromises on design and build quality, and its latest offering doesn’t seem too different from what we’re used to seeing from the company, despite a lower-than-expected price tag. The OPPO Mirror 5, which, in essence, is the more affordable brother of the R1x that preceded it. You could argue that the Mirror 5 is OPPO’s answer to the higher-end version of Motorola’s Moto G (and, to a lesser extent, the recently announced Cherry Mobile One G1), what with an IPS display that spans 5 inches across and a …
Samsung Galaxy Note 5 leaks in full ahead of PH launch
Image via iNoob We’re only a few days away removed from Samsung’s 2015 Unpacked event in New York (and its Philippine version on August 14), and at this point, as is the case every year, we know almost everything about the company’s next flagbearer — or should I say “flagbearers”? Under the bright lights of the Big Apple, Samsung is all but sure to announce the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge Plus — the name implies it’s supposed to be the bigger brother of the Galaxy S6 Edge. [frame src=”https://www.revu.com.ph/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Samsung-Galaxy-Note-51.jpg” target=”_self” width=”620″ height=”412″ alt=”Premium WordPress Themes” align=”center” prettyphoto=”false”] Samsung …
Lenovo Vibe Shot review: good camera, better phone
Android has improved tremendously since its commercial launch in 2008 — its latest — and sweetest — iteration yet, Android Lollipop, is easily among the best in the business.