Tech News: New Smartphone Round Up

Aside from the smartphone release announcements made by other brands this year, the conclusion of CES 2017 introduced smartphones that caught the attention of both the crowd and the press alike. Here we round up the newest smartphone products that you might love to own.

 ZTE Hawkeye

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Starting with something experimental, the ZTE Hawkeye is a crowdsourced project that holds a lot of promise – it has an eye-tracking sensor and self-adhesive back. Who needs touch-screen when your eyes can do the navigating?

 ZTE Blade V8 Pro

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ZTE has its head up high with its new flagship phone, the 5.5-inch Blade V8 Pro that comes with a dual camera and fingerprint sensor. And we know what you’re thinking; yes, it can also produce a ‘bokeh’ effect just like iPhone 7 Plus. Add to that its ability to record in 4K. Inside the hood is a 3GB RAM and 32 GB storage (expandable). The only thing we could have hoped for is that they push for a 4GB RAM instead.

Huawei Mate 9

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Boasting a 5.9-inch screen and the latest Android 7.0 Nougat, the Huawei Mate 9 looks like a strong contender this year as one of the best, if not the best Android phone in the market. And with great size comes a need for great power—in this case, the Mate 9 has Kirin 960 Octa-Core processor and 4GB RAM. But we all know it all boils down to the camera, and the Mate 9 has got it up the gills with its dual lens (collaboration with Leica) with one 20MP Monochrome and one 12MP RGB sensor.

Honor 6X

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A refined version of the 5X, the Honor 6X now sports a dual-camera setup (yes, it’s starting to be a trend now), where it pairs a 12MP camera with 2 MP depth sensor. It may not be of a contender against the big guys, but it surely did make a lot of sales at last week’s CES 2017, selling out in just 25 minutes. Furthermore, the Honor 6X packs the ideal 4GB RAM. The only drawback is the fact that it does not have a USB-C port and no Android Nougat (although they plan to launch one with Nougat in Q2).

Samsung A7

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Sorry, it’s not the S8 (we all know it’s coming soon), but for now Samsung still has a treat with its Samsung A (2017). It has two variants, the A5 with a 5.2-inch screen and the A7 with a 5.7-inch screen. It is water and dust resistant, and has a 16MP high-resolution front and rear camera, It packs a decent 3GB RAM, And while, again, we wished it comes with a 4GB RAM, we can’t complain as it packs a 32GB internal storage that is expandable to up to 256GB. It comes with a USB Type-C port and a fast charging feature.

Blackberry Mercury

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Everyone went crazy with the pre-production prototype of Blackberry’s Mercury in CES 2017 last week. Neither specs nor feature were disclosed, but just by the looks of it, we’re looking at 4.5 to 4.7-inch of screen and the signature keyboard of Blackberry. But that’s about it—we’ll have to patiently wait for further announcements.

Nokia 6

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The former king of mobile is back with the Nokia 6, although you can’t buy it unless you live in China (we know, it sucks). The Nokia 6 is a mid-range smartphone that comes with a Snapdragon 430 SoC and fueled by 4GB RAM—which is totally not bad. It also has 16MP camera, with 8MP front camera. The phone looks stylish and the features look promising.

ASUS ZenFone 3 Zoom

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It’s all about the camera for ASUS’ Zoom series, and the newest 5.5-inch ZenFone 3 Zoom revealed at CES 2017 hits it out of the ballpark. The phone features a dual lens camera with a 12MP and f/1.7 aperture, and best of all, a 2.3x optical zoom. So yes, it functions like the iPhone 7 Plus, just slightly better. It can do the ‘bokeh’ effect and shoot telescopic photos. Its front camera has 13MP using a Sony IMX214 sensor. But the best feature for us is the 5000mAh battery it comes with that will surely satisfy our overreliance on our gadgets. It carries with it a 4GB RAM, Android Nougat, and a 32GB/64GB model (expandable too).

What’s your favorite smartphone for 2017? Tell us below!