At presentation in Beijing Meizu introduced its most budget smartphone called Meizu M3s.

Like many other Meizu smartphones, M3s looks like iPhone 6S. However, it is rather a good side than the disadvantage. The body Meizu M3s is made of metal with plastic elements on the top and bottom of smartphone. Wireless modules are located under the plastic. This time even the Chinese have decided to copy pink gold color. Also smartphone is available in gray, silver, gold colors.

Meizu M3s has hybrid slot for SIM card + microSD card. It is located on the left side of smartphone.

Suddenly: fingerprint reader

Chinese company released affordable smartphone for $ 110 with fingerprint reader. By the way, the button with fingerprint reader is touch. At first, it is not very comfortable, but eventually you get used very quickly. It’s a “trick” from Meizu.

Meizu M3s: Good screen

Meizu M3s has a 5-inch screen with HD-resolution. It is not the highest resolution for smartphone, but do not forget about the modest price. We immediately notice the black frame around the display, which stands out from the smartphone design.

IPS-matrix screen with wide viewing angles. Not so long age oleophobic coating and 2.5D-glass have been features of flagships, but now they are available even for low-end models!

Meizu M3s: High performance

We did not have time to download applications, but immediately after unpacking we notice that Flyme UI on top of Android 5.1 works very fast.

Smartphone has eight-core processor MediaTek MT6750 with a frequency of 1.5 GHz and a graphics accelerator Mali-T860. The younger version of Meizu M3s uses 2GB, and high model is available with 3GB of RAM. Built-in memory is also different depending on the version – 16GB or 32GB.

Meizu M3s cannot be called smartphone for mobile gamers, but it can cope with simple games and basic tasks.

Decent price for a camera

Meizu M3s has 13 MP main camera that gives quite nice pictures in normal daylight or at dusk. But in the dark the expected noise appears and autofocus begins to “blunt”.

For such a price the camera is quite decent, but do not expect miracles from it. The same can be said about the 5-megapixel front-facing camera.

Meizu M3s: Autonomy

The capacity of the internal battery Meizu M3s is 3020 mAh. Not bad for such dimensions. Considering the processor and a screen with low resolution, you should not have a serious problems with autonomy.

Our tests show that full charged Meizu M3s works for about 4.5 hours of mobile gaming or 7-7.5 hours of video playback. Good result!

Full recharge from 0 to 100% smartphone requires exactly 2 hours.

Price and competitors Meizu M3s

The pre-orders for Meizu M3s with 2GB RAM and 16GB internal memory are available for just 700 yuan ($106). The older model with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage was estimated at 900 yuan ($136). But the price may differ in different countries.

The main competitor Meizu M3S is Xiaomi Redmi 3 and little more expensive, but much more interesting smartphone Honor 5X.

The post Review Meizu M3s: metal smartphone with fingerprint reader for $110 appeared first on Smarterphone.

In 2003 the company Fly introduced new phone Fly S288, which is actively promoted as the thinnest mobile device on the market. Phone has become very popular, and the leading world manufacturers have begun to develop their own devices that are thinner than 1 cm.

Progress does not stop, engineers constantly remove unnecessary millimeters. In 2016 smartphones with the thickness of more than 1 cm called “bricks”.

According to rumors, Apple want to remove 3.5 mm jack for the next iPhone to reduce the thickness for some millimeters.

However, there are smartphones on the market which are thinner than iPhone 6 for more than 1mm. We choose TOP 3 the thinnest smartphones in 2016.

3rd place: Fly Tornado Slim

In September 2014 Gionee has released smartphone Elite S5.1, which hit the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s slimmest smartphone.

Its thickness was 5.15 mm. Later the company Fly has released more productive model, known as Fly Tornado Slim Octa. Now it is difficult to find Tornado Slim in sale, but possible. Price Fly Tornado Slim is about $160.

The smartphone Price Fly Tornado Slim has an eight-processor MediaTek MT6592. The amount of RAM is just 1 GB and built-in storage – 16 GB that cannot be extended. The screen with a diagonal of 4.8-inches has a HD resolution and is covered by Gorilla glass.

Despite a very thin body, the manufacturer has equipped a good camera. Fly Tornado Slim used a miniature matrix of 8MP. But you should not expect very good photos from this smartphone.

2nd place: Oppo R5

Second place in the ranking of the thinnest smartphones is another Chinese device.

Oppo R5 was released in October 2014, followed by the Gionee/Fly. Its thickness – 4.85 mm, 0.3 mm smaller than the above-mentioned models. At the start of the sales price Oppo R5 was $500, but now (in 2016) it is almost impossible to find smartphone.

Features Oppo R5 include eight-core Snapdragon 615, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage. The screen with 5.2- inches has a resolution of 1920×1080 pixels, so that at the time of the smartphone could be the flagship, and in 2016 it still does not seem completely outdated.

13MP camera is not so bad for its class. It is able to make a good photos and write video in Full HD. 2000 mAh battery is enough for 5.2-inch FHD screen and the eight-processor. But the worst thing that Oppo R5 have no usual mini-jack 3.5 mm. Headphones are connected to MicroUSB connector.

1st place: Vivo X5 Max

The first place of thinnest smartphones is Vivo X5 Max, which was released at the end of 2014.

Price Vivo X5 Max at the start of sales was about $500. Although smartphone was released to two years ago, Vivo X5 Max is thinnest smartphone in 2016.

The thickness Vivo X5 Max is 3.98 mm and even by the standards of 2016 it has a competitive characteristics.

Vivo X5 is equipped with eight-core chip MT6752, 2GB RAM and 16GB of memory.

The screen size Vivo X5 Max is 5.5-inch and resolution of 1920×1080 pixels. 13MP camera is not impressive, but not bad. I am glad that 3.5mm jack was not removed.

The post TOP 3 the thinnest smartphones in 2016 appeared first on Smarterphone.

There are brands from which you do not expect something special. Usually they offer a cheap product that has an attractive price and good specifications. However, there are other brands that target on premium high-end market. They release smartphones with an excellent performance and innovative designs. Among the Chinese companies only Huawei and Xiaomi could make a good competition for Samsung and Apple. But this year Vivo has taken an important place in Asian and global market.

A few years ago hardly anyone had heard of Vivo smartphones. However, during the first quarter of this year, Vivo has sold no less smartphones than the world’s leading manufacturers. In practical terms Vivo takes 5% of the global smartphone market share. Moreover, Vivo has replaced Xiaomi from the list of the top smartphone manufacturer in the world.

We decided to find out what people found interesting in Vivo and what Chinese company offers to its customers.

Vivo X6

Smartphone was launched in 2015. Vivo X6 has the 64-bit processor MediaTek MT6752, 4GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. Its powerful screen Super AMOLED 5.2 inch 1080p offers a high quality picture, and covers 69% of the available surface in the front panel.

In the photographic section, Vivo X6 has a 12.8-megapixel main camera with a focal aperture of f/2.2 and a front camera of 8 megapixels for high quality selfies. Finally, it is worth mentioning that smartphone has a battery of 3000 mAh compatible with fast charging.

Its price is around 350 euros.

Vivo Xplay 3S

The main phablet of Vivo and one of the oldest smartphone has a giant 6-inch IPS display with QuadHD resolution. Smartphone has a considerable weight of 174 grams and a thickness of 8.7 millimeters.

Inside Vivo Xplay 3S is well-known Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor, 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage, accompanied by 3200 mAh battery.

Vivo Xplay 3S has a 13-megapixel main camera with focal aperture f/1.8 and a front 5 megapixel camera.

Unfortunately, Vivo does not support the operating system updates, so smartphone is working on Android 4.4.2 KitKat. The price Vivo Xplay 3S is about 410 euros.

Vivo Xplay 5 Elite

The main Vivo flagship of this year is Vivo Xplay 5 Elite. This powerful smartphone has curved edges like Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge and S7 Edge. Vivo Xplay 5 Elite has 5.43 inch screen Super AMOLED with resolution 1440p QuadHD. Inside smartphone is one of the most powerful combination in the market: Qualcomm Snapdragon 820, 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage.

Vivo Xplay 5 Elite has a main 16-megapixel camera with Sony IMX298 lens and aperture f/2.0.

Among other features of Vivo Xplay 5 Elite: 3600 mAh battery with fast charging, Android 5.1 Lollipop with own brand UI, dual SIM, 4G and fingerprint sensor.

The price Vivo Xplay 5 Elite is 700 euros.

We recommend: Vivo Xplay 5 Elite with 6GB of RAM is faster than iPhone 6s.

The post Why Vivo is the best Chinese manufacturer of smartphones? TOP 3 Vivo Smartphones appeared first on Smarterphone.

The flagships are the latest smartphones of manufacturers. New smartphones cost twice as its predecessors, and the improvements are not so many. Every year, we discuss the most advanced technologies, but sometimes forget about our pocket. Meanwhile, last year’s models (or even earlier) are significantly reduced price. We explain which of flagship smartphones worth to buy now.

Samsung Galaxy S6

Samsung Galaxy S6 has a similar design Galaxy S7. Last year Galaxy S6 is a spectacular smartphone with a camera, screen and premium materials. Also Galaxy S6 has been updated to Android 6.0 Marshmallow.

Starting price: $769.

Current price: $469 (Amazon 03/07/2016)

LG G4

LG G4 is close to perfection. LG reduced the price of last year’s smartphone that make you want to buy it. Currently you can buy LG G5 from $359.00, while its starting price was $715. Smartphone has quality camera and screen.

Starting price: $715

Current price: $359.00 (Amazon 07/03/2016)

Huawei P8

Huawei is one of the leading manufacturers in the world. Huawei P8 has a stylish and premium design with aluminum body and glass. We are faced with one of the highest quality Chinese smartphone, which also works on Android 6.0.

Starting price: $549

Current price: $356.10 (Amazon 07/03/2016)

Sony Xperia Z3

Sony Xperia Z3 and Xperia Z3+ were the best Sony smartphones, but after the presentation of Xperia Z5 they have become ex-flagships. Eegant glass design, Full HD screen, 20.7 MP camera with very good results, and a battery life out of the ordinary are the main attractions of this smartphone.

Starting price: $769

Current price: $346.00 (Amazon 03/07/2016)

HTC One M8

HTC One M8 has some excellent features: an innovative design, very polished interface and a high quality camera. It is difficult to find smartphone with such beautiful design, excellent front speakers and battery with good working time. In addition HTC One M8 has received Android 6.0 Marshmallow.

Starting price: $802

Current price: $289.98 (Amazon 07/03/2015)

The post Ex-flagships 2016: best time to buy main smartphones of the last year appeared first on Smarterphone.