Motorola has done it again. The Moto G made quite the stir in the midrange and the story continues. The next one's up - and this time it's even cheaper. With a 4.3" display of qHD resolution, a dual-core processor, 5MP camera, and a solid 1,980mAh battery, the Motorola Moto E may as well be the ultimate budget phone. One that will probably sell by itself with a €100 price tag.
Back with the Moto G, Motorola managed to disrupt the market for quite a while, making otherwise solid competitors look overpriced and underequipped. Built to a budget but delivering above, the Moto G was one of the unlikely heroes of last season - and continues to exploit the winning formula with new versions adding extra stuff like memory expansion and LTE.

Motorola Moto E official pictures
The Moto E launches straight on Android 4.4 KitKat, which is optimized to run on even modest hardware. A phone of the Moto E's caliber is probably what Google had in mind when designing the KitKat update and little wonder, the Moto E is one of the first entry level phones to take advantage. Even though Motorola is soon to be ex-Google's.

Motorola Moto E official pictures
Motorola is also offering the Moto E in dual-SIM flavor plus you can buy whatever colorful rear cover you like and freshen up your phone anytime. Before we continue with our detailed review, let's take a look at the Moto E key features.

Key features

• 4.3" LCD, 540 x 960px, 256ppi; Gorilla Glass 3 with ambient light sensor
• Android OS v4.4.3 KitKat with a promise for timely updates
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 chipset with dual-core 1.2GHz Cortex-A7 CPU; Adreno 302 GPU and 1GB RAM
• 5 MP fixed-focus camera, FWVGA video recording @ 30fps
• 4GB of built-in storage, expandable via the microSD card slot
• Active noise cancellation with a secondary mic
• 50GB of free Google Drive storage
• 1,980 mAh battery

Main disadvantages

• Non user-removable battery
• Camera doesn't have auto focus and produces low-quality photos and videos
• No camera LED flash
• No front-facing camera
• Comes without a wall charger or a headset

You didn't expect top technology in a £89 smartphone, did you? Of course, the Moto E is bound to lack a feature or two, but that was expected. Motorola never intended to give you a top of the line handset, but the basics are all covered - making calls, texting, emails, social integration, media playback, taking pictures and access to most of the Play Store apps. Android KitKat will make sure it's a smooth ride (most of the time, at least).

Motorola Moto E at ours
So, the Moto E is a snappy budget phone of attractive design and the latest OS version. What could go wrong, right? Our traditional hardware inspection follows right after the break.

Battery life

The Moto E features a 1,980mAh battery, but Motorola didn't specify how long it is expected to last. The capacity isn't too big, but given the efficient chipset and relatively small screen, we were quite optimistic about its prospects.

The Motorola Moto E had below average power draw on stand-by, but did well on the rest of our tests. This helped it to a final endurance rating of 60 hours, which means the Moto E will last exactly two and a half days if you do an hour of calls, an hour of video watching and an hour of web browsing each day.

Connectivity

The Moto E is available in single and dual SIM versions. The dual SIM variety has two distinct versions for different markets. Here's the list of supported bands by model:

• Quad-band GSM (across all models)
• Dual-SIM (Moto E XT1022, XT1025 only)
• 3G: 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100, 21 Mbps HSDPA (Moto E XT1021 only)
• 3G: 2100, 21 Mbps HSDPA (Moto E XT1022 only)
• 3G: 850 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100, 21 Mbps HSDPA (Moto E XT1025 only)

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Motorola Moto E Review GSM Arena

A couple of days ago we showed you the first purported images depicting an upcoming mid-range Nokia smartphone. As this is supposedly going to serve as the successor to the Lumia 820 from 2012, we assume it will be called Lumia 830.
Now it's been spotted in a brand new leaked render, this one courtesy of Chinese search engine Baidu.


The most intriguing thing about it is obviously the new branding: Nokia by Microsoft, as you can see.
As recently as last week it's been rumored that something like this would happen, and in the leaked image above we get our first confirmation of sorts.
So the consequences of Microsoft purchasing Nokia are going to slowly start showing up. One wonders if there isn't a plan to gradually phase out the Nokia brand entirely - maybe in a year or two we'll see Microsoft's name on smartphones by itself.
Until that happens, though, let's focus on the Lumia 830. The new picture tells us that it will have a 13 MP rear camera with Zeiss optics. Previously we heard that it would also sport a 4.5-inch touchscreen, but everything else about it is still a mystery.

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Xolo announced two new smartphones - the budget Q500s IPS with a quad-core processor and the powerful Play 6X-1000 running on a hexa-core chip.
Xolo Q500s IPS features a 4" IPS display of WVGA resolution and comes with two SIM slots. It is powered by MediaTek's MT6582M chipset with a 1.3GHz quad-core Cortex-A7 processor, Mali-400 GPU and 512MB of RAM. The rest of the specs include 4GB of microSD-expandable storage, a 5MP FF camera with 1080p video recording, and a 1,500 mAh battery.

Xolo Q500s IPS
The Xolo Q500s IPS, in addition to the dual-SIM option, supports 3G, Wi-Fi N, Bluetooth 3.0 and GPS.
It will launch soon for INR 5,999 (€74) and will be available in black, white, red, blue and green flavors.
Xolo Play 6X-1000 comes with a bigger 5" IPS display of 720p resolution and is powered by the MediaTek's MT6591 chipset. The MT6591 offers a hexa-core 1.5GHz Cortex-A7 processor, Mali-450GPU and 2GB of RAM. The phone also comes with 8 gigs of expandable storage, an 8MP auto-focus camera with 1080p recording, and a 2,100 mAh battery.

Xolo Play 6X-1000
The Play 6X-1000 features dual-SIM capabilities, 3G connectivity, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS.
Xolo Play 6X-1000 will hit the shelves soon for INR 14,499 (€178) in black and white paintjobs.

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A few days after boasting that it's sold more smartphones in the first half of 2014 than during all of last year, Xiaomi has a new sales number to be proud of.
The Chinese company has passed 10 million units sold for the MI-3, the flagship device it announced last September (and which became available three months after that).
The announcement comes straight from Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun. To celebrate this achievement, the company has released a special edition 'Champagne Gold' variation of the MI-3.
This is only available in China for the moment, but expect it to at some point also make it to the handful of other territories where Xiaomi is currently doing business. And who knows, with a more serious international expansion planned for this year, we may see it in a few other countries too.
In Xiaomi's homeland the gold MI-3 is priced at CNY 1,499 for the 16GB version. That currently equates to $241 or €177, and it's definitely a great price considering the specs you're getting.

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Samsung Galaxy F, the more premium version of the Galaxy S5 flagship, has been in the rumorlands since forever. All the rumors have a few things in common - a metal chassis, a QHD display and Snapdragon 805 chipset with 3GB of RAM.
The Galaxy F has leaked already in official-like renders, alleged live pictures showing super-thin bezels, and confirming some interesting details, including the possible release date.
Today we can show you a Galaxy F live picture shedding some light on the metal frame.

As you can see the frame is quite similar to the iPhone 5/5s one, while the front looks the same as the Galaxy S5. According to our insider source, the Galaxy F is very similar with the Galaxy S5, with a removable plastic back but with aluminum frame identical with the latest iPhones.
As usual you should take this photo with a healthy pinch of salt. There's no way to guarantee the authenticity of the image before Samsung actually goes ahead and announces the device. The good news is that with all those leaks lately, that moment can't be too far away now.
We also want to remind you Samsung did announce an upgraded version of the Galaxy S5 with QHD display and Snapdragon 805 chip - the Galaxy S5 LTE-A. The smartphone is intended only the South Korean market though and won't premiere outside of Samsung's homeland.
Thank you, anonymous tipster, for sending this in!

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As a July 4 special the Home Shopping Network has the Nokia Lumia 635 for the price of $119.95 with a portable battery and car charger as bonus. The offer is good for a device locked to T-Mobile, but doesn't require a long-term contract.
Incidentally this is the first place where you can currently get the Lumia 635 - Home Shopping Network estimates the delivery of the Lumia 635 to users on July 21.


The portable battery comes in three color options and has a 2,200 mAh capacity.
The Lumia 635 is one the first devices to offer Windows Phone 8.1 out of the box and comes with on-screen navigation buttons, a Snapdragon 400 chipset, 5 MP snapper and a 4.5" IPS display.
We have the review if you want to learn more about the Lumia 635.

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Oppo is apparently working on a new thing. Said thing will come with "the best audio quality excellence", as well as overall "high quality" (according to Google Translate).
So what could this be? The only detail we have about it right now is the teaser image you can see below - which shows us the box it will come packaged in, undoubtedly.

The teaser originates at Oppo's Indonesian Twitter account, and alongside it the Chinese company posted that more information should become available tomorrow.
Whether or not this means we'll actually see a new handset announced is up for debate, though. First of all, there's no indication in the tweet that we're talking about a phone here. The word used is "product", which could mean anything.
Obviously though we're intrigued by the possibility that it is indeed a smartphone that Oppo has fitted with some top of the line audio innards. Audio quality isn't something many big device makers are especially focused on these days, so that could turn out to be a rather important differentiating factor for such a handset.
Still, it could just be an accessory. Anyway, we'll hopefully find out for sure in less than 24 hours.

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If you want to purchase an HTC Desire 816 mid-range phablet but the current color palette doesn't satisfy you, then you'll be happy to know that a pink model has just been spotted in Hong Kong.
This comes to complement the five other color options that we've known about so far for the Desire 816: black, white, red, gray, and green.
The pink HTC Desire 816 has been launched in Hong Kong earlier today, alongside the Desire 610 and Desire 616.


HTC Desire 816 in pink
The three devices have been photographed together at the launch event, and what you see above are the resulting live images.
For now, the pink Desire 816 is limited to Hong Kong, so if you're located elsewhere you can't officially get one. HTC hasn't announced plans to make it global.
This may change in the future, though, as smartphone makers love to release new color versions of existing devices from time to time.
The pink variant has the same innards as its differently colored siblings, of course, so you're getting an identical experience - aside from the hue. If you want to learn more about the HTC Desire 816, check out our review.

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Oppo Find 7 pre-orders are now live and you can already reserve you Astro Black or White flavor. The smartphone will set you back $599 if you order it from within the USA or €479 if you are getting it via the EU store.

Oppo Find 7 is the company's upgraded version of its Find 7a flagship. It comes with a 5.5" IPS display of QHD resolution, plus it runs on the fastest Snapdragon 801 chipset with a quad-core Krait 400 CPU @2.5GHz and 3GB of RAM. For the additional €80 or $100 you are paying over the Find 7a you will be also getting 32GB internal storage instead of 16GB and stereo speakers.
The Find 7 is available via OppoStyle online store. It is an officially endorsed retailer by Oppo, so it is the closest to official as it can get. Pre-orders are now active and the first batch of the Find 7 flagships will ship in early July.
If you are interested in the Oppo Find 7, maybe our review of its Oppo Find 7a sibling will help you decide.

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The newest Android device from Indian smartphone maker Micromax is available to order starting today. Strangely though, this has happened even though the Canvas Gold A300 hasn't been officially introduced yet.
Sure, it got leaked last week, but Micromax hasn't acknowledged it so far (perhaps because it's been too busy with its new Windows Phones).

Micromax Canvas Gold A300
Regardless, you can now order a Micromax Canvas Gold A300 from Infibeam, and the online retailer even claims to have the handset in stock. Shipping is expected to take 5-6 days, but is free within India.
All of the leaked specs of the A300 have been confirmed by the online store's listing. The phablet sports a 5.5-inch 1080p touchscreen, a 16MP rear camera, and a 5MP front snapper. Running the show is a 2 GHz octa-core processor, along with 2GB of RAM.
There's 32 GB of built-in storage space (which doesn't seem to be expandable), an FM radio, and 21 Mbps HSPA support with dual-SIM functionality. A 2300 mAh battery should keep things powered up, and the software that comes preinstalled is Android 4.4.2 KitKat.
The Micromax Canvas Gold A300 can be yours for Rs. 24000, which right now means around $400.

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Last week, the OnePlus One should have started shipping to the first people who got invites to buy it. But there's now a way to get a One without the need to wait for an invite.
The Chinese online retailer Oppomart claims to have OnePlus One units in stock and ready to be shipped - worldwide, no less. Oppomart however isn't affiliated with Oppo as its name might imply, so how trustworthy ordering from there might be is up for debate. There are also a few caveats you should know about.


First and foremost, you're going to be paying $399 for the 16GB version of the phone, which is currently the only one in stock. That's exactly $100 more than what OnePlus itself is asking for.
Furthermore, the devices you buy this way won't come with CyanogenMod 11S preinstalled. Rather, they ship with... Color OS, which is essentially Oppo's interpretation of what an Android skin should be. There go any doubts you might have had whether the two manufacturers are actually affiliated.
That's because the OnePlus One is being sold in two different ways across the globe. Everywhere but China you have to go through the dreaded invite system to get one. In China, though, it's available from time to time in batches - a sales model pioneered by Xiaomi.
However, the main difference between the Chinese OnePlus One and the international model is the software inside. That, and the 4G LTE band support.
So before you order a OnePlus One, do check whether this Chinese stock will play nice with your particular carrier's bands. The units sold by Oppomart work on 1800/2100/2600 MHz for 4G, and 850/900/1900/2100 MHz for 3G.

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After having been on sale in countless other places for a long while, the Nokia Lumia 1320 is finally out in the US.
You can get one right away from Cricket, the carrier that was recently acquired by AT&T and now serves as its prepaid arm.


The Lumia 1320 is priced at $279.99, and there's obviously no need for you to sign a long-term contract to get it. What's more, if you buy one until July 10, you can receive $50 back in the form of a Visa rebate card.
The mid-range phablet can be paired with Cricket's plans that start at $40 per month for unlimited talk, text, and data (with the first 500MB going up to 4G LTE speeds).
If you're not sure whether the Lumia 1320 is right for you, you can take a look at our review to help make up your mind.

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Even though the LG G3 hasn't yet appeared in any markets outside of Korea, rumors of a model that sports a more robust Snapdragon 805 processor have surfaced. Even more compelling is that the device could come as early as July - the same month that the current LG G3 is expected to hit most retailers.


A Snapdragon 805 chip could be just the boost the G3 needs, as the higher resolution causes the Snapdragon 801 SoC to perform below what its 1080p rivals manage. The QHD display requires more processing power, which the Snapdragon 805 should provide plenty of, as well as a theoretical download speed of 225Mbps thanks to the integrated Qualcomm MDM9635 modem.
Samsung has also been rumored to be in development of a Snapdragon 805 variant of its Galaxy S5 flagship, which could go by the nickname Galaxy S5 Prime, or Galaxy F.
The "Prime" moniker has also been tossed around in LG's camp, and the upcoming G3 variant could be the G Prime, a name that LG has recently trademarked.
We'll have more on this story as it develops, so stick around.

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It looks like LG is really hitting its stride. The Korean cell phone manufacturer is expected to ship 15-16 million smartphones this quarter alone. This is will be a 20-30% increase from last quarter.
The increase in sales come courtesy of LG's recently released flagship, the G3. 100,000 G3's were sold just five days into its launch in the phone's native Korea alone. Sources predict that LG will ship 10-12 million units of the G3 during the lifespan of the phone.


It's not crazy to think that the phone will be a large success, especially considering how many units the G2 sold. The G3 is also the first smartphone to ship with a 5.5" display with a QHD resolution.

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There haven't really been sparks flying between Sony and HTC. It doesn't look like a rivalry capable of producing the kind of ripples one would expect of a clash involving Samsung and Apple, or LG and Samsung. Yet, HTC and Sony have been contributing to the platform no less - and are the two brands that make Android look its best, both on the inside and the outside.
You do know better than take this as a beauty pageant, don't you? These two have bigger things on their mind - and we don't mean world peace. Standard-setting build and finish are matched by just as premium internals. The very first flagships to break cover this year, these two still have what it takes to be season-shapers: connectivity, screen resolution, audio, imaging and processing power.


There seem to be the right dose of respect each way but not without a dash of envy in those looks they throw at each other. After all, what we have here is probably the best Android has to offer in terms of industrial design. Two unibody smartphones by makers that have taken the skill of molding aluminum and metal and glass to an art form. Both have quality stereo speakers, great displays and both are powered by the cutting edge in chipset technology. The very latest Android experience is available right out of the box.
Sounds like a level field, but let's look at what may tip the scales one way or the other.

HTC One (M8) over the Sony Xperia Z2

• Metal unibody
• Built-in amps for the stereo speakers
• 5MP front-facing camera
• Dual LED dual-tone flash
• Dual rear camera setup for depth-of-field effects
• IR port and remote functionality

Sony Xperia Z2 over the HTC One (M8)

• Water resistant and dust proof glass-coated unibody
• Bigger display - 5.2" over 5.0"
• Higher still image resolution- 20.7 MP over 4 MP
• Higher resolution video - 2160p over 1080p
• More RAM - 3GB over 2GB
• Bigger battery - 3200mAh over 2600mAh

OK, even those pretty evenly composed lists seem to give the Sony Xperia Z2 the upper hand. A bigger screen (at pretty much the same body size overall), bigger battery, higher-res stills and videos and more RAM carry more value perhaps than a higher resolution selfie cam and an IR blaster. And even if the HTC One (M8) should turn on the offensive, the water-resistant Sony Xperia Z2 can always take it where the enemy wouldn't venture.
The lack of IP certification and the questionable choice of camera are potentially HTC's biggest disadvantages. On the other hand, 4K videos spell storage trouble while stereo speakers in a water-proofed body are no match for an identical setup where each has its own amplifier. There're a lot of things to consider - is it raw image quality that matters the most or is it image sharing and creative effects? Is it audio you care the most about or protection against the elements?

HTC One (M8) and Sony Xperia Z2
If you're looking to get the very best Android has to offer, these two are definitely in the running. In terms of style and feel, Sony and HTC are not making it easier on anyone. But hey, we would be disappointed if they did. Yet, there's nothing more subjective than good looks - we'll try to get them out of the equation (but not out of the story) and hope it's still going to be a tight game.

User interfaces

It's a story as old as the platform itself - we have two handsets powered by Android but looking nothing like each other. Both the HTC One (M8) and the Sony Xperia Z2 run on Android 4.4.2 KitKat but while the first comes with the Sense 6 launcher, the second one uses the latest Xperia UI, resulting in a rather different user interface.
To give you an idea we have short videos showing both in action.

The Sense 6 lockscreen has the usual functionality - there's a clock, weather info, lockscreen widgets and four shortcut slots that mirror the four docked apps you have on the homescreen. The unlock button gives you three options - a swipe up for the last opened app, swipe to the left for the homescreen and a swipe to the right to BlinkFeed.
As a cool bonus you can unlock the One (M8) without the assistance of the power button. A double tap will show you the lockscreen, a swipe up will unlock the device, a swipe down will prompt voice call and finally you get swipe left for the homescreen and a swipe right for BlinkFeed.

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HTC One (M8) VS Sony Xperia Z2 Reviews GSM Arena

It looks like the Lenovo Vibe Z from last year is due to get a follow-up pretty soon. That's because a Lenovo K920 has been spotted at China Mobile's booth at Mobile Asia Expo.

And since the Vibe Z bears the model number K910, the purpose of the new device becomes instantly clear.
The Lenovo K920 features a unibody design that looks metallic but probably isn't. In terms of specs it will be a beast, coming with a 6-inch 2560x1440 pixel touchscreen, which in fact is Lenovo's first to have such a high resolution. A 16MP camera is on the rear and a 5MP unit is there for selfies.

Lenovo K920
The phone will be powered by Qualcomm's quad-core Snapdragon 801 chipset, with a CPU clocked at 2.5 GHz, and will sport 3 GB of RAM. Internal storage is set at 32GB, and you can expect Android 4.4 KitKat to be on board.
The K920 has support for China Mobile's TD-LTE, complete with dual-SIM functionality. Whether there will ever be a version of the smartphone for other parts of the world is unclear at this point, as is when it will be released in China (or even officially announced).
Update: An eagle-eyed reader contacted us to point out that you can actually (if barely) make out the words Optical Anti-Shake next to the camera sensor on the K920's back. This seems to be what Lenovo is going to call the Optical Image Stabilization feature that we know from smartphones made by other companies.

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