Tag: china

Realme named in Fast Company’s 50 Most Innovative Companies in China

We’ve recently taken a look at the Realme 7 5G and have been mightily impressed with the build, camera and overall performance considering the price-tag. It’s a very good phone, and packs speedy 5G connectivity too.. Today Realme have been named 2020 China’s “50 Most Innovative Companies”. It’s …

Huawei ready to offload Honor to potentially dodge US restrictions.

With outgoing US President (and sore loser) Donald Trump causing Huawei and Honor big problems, there’s no guarantee that the new President will immediately overturn the blockers that have stopped handsets being sold with Google apps. Just to bring you up to speed, the crazy orange maniac added …

Royole FlexPai 2 Announced

This bad boy looks only to be arriving in China, but it’s another sexy foldable to add to your “want” list. The Royole FlexPai 2 has the world’s thinnest fully flexible display and runs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 CPU. Folded up, it’s 12.8mm thick and 89.4mm wide, 133.8mm …

Oracle to partner with TikTok

Well, it’s not the most suitable of pairings, but it does now seem that Oracle will be snapping up the US TikTok operation. Oracle have confirmed that Bytedance (who own TikTok) have made them their “trusted technology partner”. President Trump, as with other Chinese tech firms such as …

Huawei becomes the top handset maker

Despite US blockades and the lack of Google Play, Huawei is seeing fantastic sales in China. This has helped to push the company into the number one spot as the top handset maker in the world. Now beating Samsung, and despite blocks on Google apps and 5G network …

The real Huawei. Behind the scenes of their massive Chinese HQ.

The UK have been bullied and pushed into removing Huawei kit from mobile and data networks. Some call it a deeply political decision, with an American trade deal up for grabs and a massively successful Chinese company holding the number two spot in smartphone sales. The big U-turn …

RedMagic 5G Eclipse Black with 12GB RAM. Not just China any more.

Want an ultra-powerful phone which will easily cope with even the most demanding gamers? Check out the RedMagic 5G. A phone with 6.65″ AMOLED screen operating at a mad 144Hz refresh, with 5G connectivity, the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 CPU and Active Liquid-Cooling which includes a Turbo Fan. …

Huawei reduces sales forecasts, delays the Mate X

The Trump Trade Termination is now having a big impact on Huawei. Donald Trump, who spent much of yesterday tweeting about fake news, has put Huawei on a (very short) list of companies that US and US-connected companies must not deal with. The result is a big loss …

Meizu 15 – Review

We have been following and using Meizu devices for quite a while here Coolsmartphone. I personally am a fan of the M Note series of devices from Meizu ever since the good old Meizu M2 Note. The Meizu 15 is Meizu’s flagship for 2018 which also happens to be …

Live from China – The Meizu 15 Unboxing

A hotel room? A review unit? Matteo Doni? Mix up those ingredients and there’s a tasty video in the making. The Meizu 15 launched just yesterday and we were on hand to give it the maximum amount of coverage direct from China. The Meizu 15 has a 5.46″ …

Live from China – The Meizu 15 arrives

We’re live from Wuzhen in China this weekend. It’s the launch of the Meizu 15. It’s got the best camera technology in a Meizu and it’s the first Meizu handset to run on a Qualcomm chipset. There’s also going to be a Meizu 15 Plus, which has the …

Live from China – The Meizu launch

Whats this? Our very own Matteo? In China on business? Yes indeed, but wait a minute, he’s had something arrive. It’s an invite, but this isn’t some dull piece of paper. This is a very posh, plush and official-looking box. Inside there’s something quite special, and there’s even an …

New Meizu 15 Plus images reveal a dual camera and ultra-slim bezels

We’ve got our hands on official images of Meizu’s long-rumoured upcoming flagship phone, the Meizu 15 Plus. We’re expecting this one to be released as part of the Meizu 15th anniversary celebrations, and it’s rumoured that the design was overseen directly by CEO Huang Zhang. Based on the …

#MWC18 – Hands on with the Mi MIX 2

Whilst most of you guys will no doubt upgrade through a network, there’s a dedicated hard-core who will go out an import their own handset instead. OK, perhaps “import” is a bit strong. You’re basically buying it off a website, and they’ll then ship it to you from …

Russia to ban VPN’s and Proxies.

Russian President, Vladimir Putin, has now signed a law due to come into force in November banning technologies which allow users access to banned websites. These sites are on a list which has been created by the Russian government and extends to virtual private networks (VPN’s) and proxies. …

Honor 9 Official! (In China…)

Honor, Huawei’s brand for the “Digital Natives”, announced their latest flagship in China. The Honor 9 is now official in their home country, with a shiny metal and glass body, dual cameras and familiar chipsets… Here is the full specifications from what we have learnt so far: 5.15″ …

MWC – Hey Honor. Perform some Magic in Europe!

Imagine a pebble. One of those really cool pebbles that you find at the beach. Those ones that you use for skimming across the water. They’re brilliant aren’t they? Here at Mobile World Congress I’ve managed to get some time with the Honor Pebble Magic. It’s very pebble …

MWC – Oh wow, I’m in love! Hands-on with the Xiaomi Mi MIX

This morning I talk a walk to the China Mobile stand and there, amongst the robots and networking kit, was the Xiaomi Mi MIX we covered last year. This, though, was my first time seeing it in the flesh and .. woaha… A 6.4″ display oozes right to …

Huawei Honor Magic appears in China

Magic! Honor pulled quite a number in China yesterday unveiling the Honor Magic, a smartphone all curves and shiny glass. The Honor Magic has an interesting spec sheet to say the least, as it differs from most device SKUs on the current smartphone market. The screen is a …

Meizu Pro 6 Plus and Flyme 6 announced

Meizu today announced their new flagship and updated Android-based OS: the Meizu Pro 6 Plus and Flyme 6. Meizu, one of our favourite Chinese smartphone companies, has been incrementally improving its product line-up in terms of hardware for a few years now. Their devices have a tightly integrated …

Meizu announce the Meizu M3E

One of our favourite Chinese smartphone makers just announced a new device in China today. At a funky event in Beijing, Meizu presented the Meizu M3E to the world and we are looking at another super midranger. The M3E spec sheet is strikingly similar to the M3 Note, …

Xiaomi announces the Redmi Pro

At a press event in Beijing yesterday Xiaomi, the Chinese tech company, officially unveiled the Redmi Pro smartphone. Redmi is the affordable range of smartphones Xiaomi has been manufacturing and selling since 2013. The brand new Redmi Pro is Xiaomi’s first Redmi device to sport a 13MP dual-camera …

OnePlus 3 – Review

OnePlus seem to have been in the news quite a lot recently, and this time it seems to be for all the right reasons. No over the top, morally and ethically questionable campaigns or events this time. It’s all about the OnePlus 3, the third flagship from the …

Apple hit further problems in China

After the recent ban on the iTunes Movies and iBooks store in China, Apple seem to be heading for some further trouble there. This time around, it is relating to it’s current flagships – the iPhone 6 & 6s. Apple’s been suing Samsung endlessly on patents & design …

Apple iTunes Movies & iBook Stores out of China

In the last week the Chinese Government have ousted Apple’s movies and book stores following advice from their regulator, the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television. American Tech companies have always had issues with expansion in China, although Apple bucked this trend with more freedom. Both …

Meizu M3 Note Officially Launches

Meizu, the Chinese smartphone brand, has launched the M3 Note. Some of you may recall Leigh’s impressions of the M1 Note, or my own take on the M2 Note. Well, the M3 Note is here and will be officially available from April 11th in China. No details are …

HTC One X9 leaks out in crystal-clear shots

I properly love the HTC One A9. Although I loved the quality of the HTC One M7, M8 and M9 – I wanted something fresh and new. The HTC One A9 was it, and our HTC One A9 review resulted in a high score. You might’ve seen more …

Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 – Review

This is the review of the Xiaomi Redmi Note 2, an affordable 5.5” smartphone which hails from the largest smartphone vendor in China (third largest smartphone vendor… in the World…). The Redmi Note 2 was announced and released in August 2015, and as with all other Redmi branded …

Xiaomi announces more lifestyle products

Yesterday Xiaomi officially unveiled the Redmi Note 3, but this wasn’t all the company had to announce. During the same event Xiaomi announced the Mi Pad 2 and the Mi Air Purifier 2. Lets start with the Xiaomi Mi Pad 2, which as the name suggests is the …

Meizu M2 Note – Review

Meizu is a brand not particularly well known here in the UK. Leigh recently reviewed the Meizu M1 Note, and I have been using a Meizu M2 Note for a few months now. This is my review of the Meizu M2 Note, a device purchased from Shenzhen Chigon …

Inside Huawei – Part Two. [FEATURE]

After far too much alcohol, I’m experiencing a painful ride across Shenzhen in the warm morning heat. The three hours of sleep and my 30-second “panic repacking” of my suitcase hasn’t gone well. I felt a lot like this guy.. After mixing my drinks and visiting a number …

Inside Huawei – Part One. [FEATURE]

I enter into the Huawei Cloud Park. It’s a modern office complex with relaxed-looking staff holding coffee as they scan through security terminals. I walk past some PR girls wearing the now familiar Honor T-shirts. They’re holding teddy bears and flowers. I’m not entirely sure why, but it’s …

China – The land where your smartphone was born. [FEATURE]

This week you’ll see special series of posts documenting my trip to China and my inside look into Huawei. China has the world’s biggest economy, and people buy more smartphones than anywhere else. One in five people on Earth are Chinese, and as I begin to fly over …

HTC One ME announced in China

This puppy looks to be a plastic version of the One M9+ for the Chinese market. It’s got the same measurements of the M9+ (150.99 x 71.99 x 9.75 mm) but is obviously lighter (at 155 grams) due to the fantastic plastic construction. The specs also remain fairly …

ECOO E04 – 4G octa-core smartphone with 5.5″ screen for less.

OK, I promise I’m going to stop doing this. It’s almost like my eBay addiction, where I look for random gadgets and then forget I’ve purchased them until they arrive a short while later. At the moment, because I’m using an LG G3, I’ve got used to a …

Atongm W008 Smartwatch Review. Do you really need the Apple Watch?

Since I typed my original post about this device it’s now dropped in price. At around £40 and supported by lots of supposed “5 star reviews” it seemed appealing, so I thought it was worth a dabble. Fancy a cheap smartwatch? Let’s see what it’s really like. First …

Lenovo Vibe Z2 Announced

Lenovo have just revealed there new Flagship Mobile to the world via Google+ and YouTube.  The phone was revealed not long ago by some leaked photos.  But is now online in an official video included below.  Its a really smart looking phone and the specs below look rather …

Apple stocks fall in wake of Nokia deal in China.

It is a conflicting tale of two major companies, one was once the biggest manufacturer of mobile phones in the world whilst one was on the verge of bankruptcy. Fast forward in time and the roles, whilst not completely reversed are almost exactly the polar opposite. Apple, who …

ZTE Hit trouble – Profit warnings send shares tumbling

Shares in mobile-maker ZTE have fallen 17% following warnings that half-year profits could go down by a massive 80%. To make matters worse there’s rumours that 12,000 staff are to be pushed out the door, plus the FBI are investigating the sale of banned kit to Iran. ZTE …

New Samsung GT-B9120 Android Flip Phone Announced For China

The flip form factor has suffered a rapid decline since the heady days of the original Motorola Razr and the Samsung A300. The touchscreen revolution and the emergence of the smartphone almost put paid to thoughts of any revival.  Until now. Samsung have announced a re-emergence of the …