September is going to be an exciting time for
Chinese phone fans, and Android fans in general as the
Xiaomi Mi3,
Meizu MX3 and
Oppo N! will
launch. Keep reading to get full
details, rumours and photos!
Xiaomi Mi3
The Xiaomi
Mi3 is without doubt one of the most anticipated
phones to come out of
China this year. Xiaomi hit the nail right on the head with both the Xiaomi M1 and Mi2, and we have big expectations for the Mi3!
Although we have seen plenty of purported leaked photos of the
Xiaomi Mi3, the
leaks are often followed up by further photos which contradict the first!
We were pretty sure we had a good idea that the
Mi3 would be a much blocker looking device when compared to current Xiaomi
phones after seeing the above photos, but the most recent
leaks suggest a less angular and much
uglier design.Xiaomi have been quite good at keeping their
phones a secret right up until
launch and we wouldn’t be all that surprised if we haven’t seen the final
Mi3 design yet!
Xiaomi Mi3 specifications Speculation of what the phone might be packing seems to have settled down, and most
tech sites and insiders are sure the Xiaomi
Mi3 will have a 1920 x
1080 resolution FHD display measuring between 5-inch and 5.5-inch. Both the Snapdragon 800 and Nvida Tegra 4 quad-core processors have been shortlisted, but we believe the Qualcomm chip is the one we will see in the phone.
Insiders also suggest the
Mi3 will have up to 3GB RAM, 5-mega-pixel front camera, 13 mega-pixel rear camera and 3400mAh battery.
We can also look at the Xiaomi Mi2A and recent accessory launches and MIUI updates for more clues. The Mi2A, the mid-range Xiaomi, has
NFC and 5Ghz WIFI and we believe the
flagship phone will get these feature also.
Xiaomi’s new headphone plus updates to the MIUI ROM to boost sound quality suggest the
Mi3 could also pack a new stereo amplifier and may even come bundled with the ‘piston earbuds’.
Xiaomi Mi3 pricing and launch date The last 2
flagship phones from Xiaomi both launched at an incredible 1999 Yuan ($320) for the base 16GB version, and with the price reductions to the Xiaomi Mi2S we think a price of around 1999 Yuan for the
Mi3 won’t be to far from the mark, but we won’t be to shocked to see a slightly (very slightly) higher price.
The
Mi3 will be available through
China, Taiwan and HongKong (we might get another surprise at
launch), but we don’t expect easy availability outside of China.
Xiaomi will
launch the
Mi3 at an event in Beijing on 5th September and we will be there to cover the show.
Meizu MX3
Meizu have had a hard time lately, and they are not enjoying playing second fiddle to the ever poplar Xiaomi. For the
Meizu MX3 (which might not even be the
phones name)
Meizu are planing to shake things up a little.
Rather than
launch an all new
design,
Meizu are sticking to their current
design style but instead are looking to compete on price with the
MX3, something
Meizu have never attempted to do before! The most recent
news is that at least 2 version of the
MX3 will be available, an entry-level 16GB version with no
NFC and a top-of-the-range model with up to 128GB memory.
It is also rumoured that the entry-level Meizu could cost as little as 1999 Yuan ($320) with the 32GB model being offered at 2498 Yuan ($408). That’s Xiaomi money! Couple those prices with Meizu’s very good build quality and it could very well be time to get excited about Meizu again!
Meizu have been a lot less easier to read with the
MX3, but that isn’t to say we haven’t got a few clues to what is going on under the MX3’s stylish exterior!
It looks like
Meizu are sticking with their old chip manufacturer for the
MX3, meaning that the new phone is going to be powered by a Samsung Exynos 5 Octa chipset, the same processor found in the Samsung Galaxy S4!
Other hardware
details include 2GB RAM, 13 mega-pixel rear camera,
NFC (except on the 16GB version), 5.1-inch
1080 x 1800 resolution display and the new Flyme 3.0 ROM based on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean.
Meizu have already sent out the invitations for the
MX3 launch and we will finally see the new
Meizu phone on 2nd September at the Water Cube in Beijing!
The
MX3 will be available in
China and Hong Kong as well as Russia.
Oppo N1
We have known for months that the
Meizu and Xiaomi next generation
phones would
launch around September time, but word that the new
Oppo is going to be launched during the same month has come as quite a surprise!
Even with only a few weeks of
leaks, tipsters and
Oppo themselves have been providing us with tantalizing clues about the new Android device which Oppo hope will be a worthy successor to the Excellent Find 5!
The only
details we have concerning the
design of the phone are these alleged leaked photos which appeared today. The images show a narrow oblong phone (a
design we hope the Xiaomi
Mi3 will share).
We can see from
Oppo’s own
leaks that USB, headphone jack and speaker position on these
spy photos match what Oppo is saying is part of the
Oppo N1, so we are quite confident that this is the actual phone.
The current
Oppo Find 5 is a 5-inch
1080 phone, and rumours say that the Oppo
N1 will be a larger 5.5-inch model but (from Oppo again) we know the
N1 will be easy to use one-handed.
If we look at the current top of the range
Oppo Find 5, the
China only China Mobile version which as a Snapdragon 600 processor, we can guess the
N1 will have an updated Snapdragon 800 chip. We can also assume at least 2GB RAM (probably 3GB) and
NFC, which seems to be popping up on every
Chinese phone this year.
Oppo’s own teasers tell us that the
N1 will have a rear touch panel which could help using the phone 1 handed, and we also expect the 12 mega-pixel Oppo N-lens to make an appearance on the phone.
The
Oppo Color ROM is expected to, in fact we believe Oppo will offer the
N1 with either an Original Oppo ROM, the Color ROM and even a stock Android ROM just as they have with the new Oppo R819.
Oppo N1 launch and pricing We know the
Oppo N1 will
launch in September but we don’t know where the launch event will take place or when! We also don’t know how much the
N1 is going to cost, but a price of around 2999 Yuan ($490) sounds about right and is also the price the Find 5 went on sale for.
Oppo will first
launch the
N1 in
China, but it will be quickly made available internationally through the official Oppo store and country based distributors.
Which Phone are you waiting for?
If you had asked me which phone,
Xiaomi Mi3,
Oppo N1 or
Meizu MX3, am I most excited to see last week I would have said the Xiaomi, but the
news of Meizu’s change in marketing and the innovative features of the Oppo
N1 make these
phones just as tantalising!
I honestly can’t pick one of these
phones over the others just now, but how about you guys? Which phone are you most excited to see? Which are you most likely to buy? Let us know in the comments section below!