Motorola Moto G4 Plus

NETWORK	Technology	GSM / HSPA / LTE
	2G bands	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
		GSM 850 / 1900 - XT1644 (USA)
	3G bands	HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1700(AWS) / 1900 / 2100 - XT1644, XT1644 (USA), XT1644 (India)
	4G bands	LTE band 1(2100), 3(1800), 7(2600), 8(900), 20(800) - XT1644
		LTE band 1(2100), 2(1900), 3(1800), 4(1700/2100), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 12(700), 13(700), 25(1900), 26(850), 41(2500) - XT1644 (USA)
		LTE band 1(2100), 3(1800), 5(850), 8(900), 40(2300) - XT1644 (India)
	Speed	HSPA 42.2/5.76 Mbps, LTE Cat4 150/50 Mbps
	GPRS	Yes
	EDGE	Yes

LAUNCH	Announced	2016, May
	Status	Available. Released 2016, May

BODY	Dimensions	153 x 76.6 x 9.8 mm (6.02 x 3.02 x 0.39 in)
	Weight	155 g (5.47 oz)
	SIM	Micro-SIM

DISPLAY	Type	IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
	Size	5.5 inches (~71.2% screen-to-body ratio)
	Resolution	1080 x 1920 pixels (~401 ppi pixel density)
	Multitouch	Yes
	Protection	Corning Gorilla Glass 3

PLATFORM	OS	Android OS, v6.0.1 (Marshmallow)
	Chipset	Qualcomm MSM8952 Snapdragon 617
	CPU	Quad-core 1.5 GHz Cortex-A53 & quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A53
	GPU	Adreno 405

MEMORY	Card slot	microSD, up to 128 GB (dedicated slot)
	Internal	16 GB, 2 GB RAM or 32 GB, 3 GB RAM or 64 GB, 4 GB RAM

CAMERA	Primary	16 MP, f/2.0, phase detection & laser autofocus, dual-LED (dual tone) flash
	Features	Geo-tagging, touch focus, face detection, panorama, auto-HDR
	Video	1080p@30fps, HDR
	Secondary	5 MP, f/2.2, auto-HDR

SOUND	Alert types	Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones
	Loudspeaker	Yes
	3.5mm jack	Yes

COMMS	WLAN	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot
	Bluetooth	v4.1, A2DP, LE
	GPS	Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS
	Radio	FM radio
	USB	microUSB v2.0, USB Host

FEATURES	Sensors	Fingerprint, accelerometer, gyro, proximity
	Messaging	SMS(threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Email, IM
	Browser	HTML5
	Java	No
		- Fast battery charging - Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic - MP3/AAC+/WAV/Flac player - MP4/H.264 player - Photo/video editor - Document viewer

BATTERY		Non-removable Li-Ion 3000 mAh battery

MISC	Colors	Black, White

Connecting people once more: Nokia phones, tablets are coming back

Nokia is back! The former phone king officially announced its plan to return to the world of phones, smartphones and tablets. And to answer your burning question - yes, it will be Android smartphones and tablets!

This move will include the formation of a new company - HMD global Oy, a newly founded company based in Finland that will be headed Arto Nummela as CEO, who was a senior Nokia exec in the past and currently manages a big chunk of Microsoft's phone divisions.

Nokia will take a seat on the board of directors of HMD and will set standards for performance and brand requirements so "that all Nokia-branded products exemplify consumer expectations of Nokia devices, including quality, design and consumer-focused innovation."

HMD will pump $500 million in global marketing over the next three years to revitalize the Nokia name, which has been cooling off after years of relative inactivity.



There's another company FIH Mobile Limited, a subsidiary of Foxconn. It will acquire the rights to Nokia feature phones from Microsoft in the second half of this year for $350 million. It also acquires Microsoft Mobile Vietnam, which along with its 4,500 employees were responsible for manufacturing the Nokia-branded feature phones.

Nokia has signed an agreement with FIH "to establish a collaboration framework to support the building of a global business for Nokia-branded mobile phones and tablet."

As Nokia's announcement warns "there is still much work for HMD to do, so you’ll need to wait a bit longer to see what the next wave of Nokia phones and tablets look like."

Meizu Pro 6 Edge or Pro 7 with curved screen shows up, may launch in H2

The double curved screens made popular by Samsung with its recent edge-branded smartphones are starting to catch on even among competing manufacturers, it seems. Case in point: Meizu. The Chinese company is working on its own 'edge' handset, which might launch in the second half of this year. The existence of the phone has apparently been confirmed by Meizu CEO Huang Zhang.

An image supposedly depicting the handset has been leaked in China, and you can see it below. The phone will either be called Meizu Pro 6 Edge or Pro 7. It's expected to cost at least $450, and will run Meizu's upcoming Flyme OS 6 based on Android. This version of the software will have some kind of dedicated 'edge shortcuts' functionality, something similar to Samsung's Edge Screen we assume.





Other information about the device isn't available yet, but it should sport flagship-level specs to go with that display.

Nubia exec teases Z11 Max with 83.27% screen-to-body ratio

ZTE's nubia sub-brand has already announced the Z11 mini, the first member in its Z11 family. And earlier this month we've seen the other two devices in the line getting certified for sale in China by TENAA. So both the Z11 and the Z11 Max should become official soon.

In the meantime, Ni Fei, nubia's general manager and co-founder, has decided to start teasing the Z11 Max. He's done so on Weibo by posting the image you can see below.





The render of the upcoming Z11 Max is accompanied by a claim that should bring very good news to people who love big displays on phones but hate handsets that are themselves huge. It turns out that the Z11 Max will come with an 83.27% screen-to-body ratio, which is up there with the best in the business.

This has obviously been achieved by using minimal bezels, both on the sides of the display but also the top and bottom of the phone. As per TENAA's images from a while back, the nubia Z11 Max should sport a metal construction and a fingerprint scanner on the back.

Spec-wise, we'll get a 6-inch 1080p touchscreen, a 16 MP rear camera, an 8 MP selfie shooter, Qualcomm's Snapdragon 652 chipset, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of expandable storage, and a 4,000 mAh battery. It's likely to run Android 5.1 Lollipop underneath nubia's own UI.

Sony Xperia XA Ultra

Sony

VERDICT

An impressive-looking phone that will be empowered by a mid-range price. The front facing camera offers smarts that others can't match.

PROS:

• Great edge-to-edge screen
• Strong front-facing camera

CONS:

• Price unknown
• Unproven CPU

If you're wondering why there are so many big-screen phones out there at the moment, then you're probably missing the point. They're designed to hit a certain market, a more youthful user that cares less about phoning their parents and wants more to take pictures of themselves and browse the web or use apps.

Well, that's the theory that Sony's putting forward for the reason it's created the Sony Xperia XA Ultra - a large-screen version of its forthcoming Xperia UA handset.

It's simple to see what this phone is all about, as it's got a 6-inch screen and a hugely powerful front-facing camera - both of which are designed to attract the more youthful user, as well as appealing to a segment of the lucrative Asian audience.

And this thing is BIG, make no mistake. As you can see in the pictures, it's something of a palm stretcher, although what impresses the most is how easy it is to wrap your hand around it.

I'm not saying that it's comfortable, but at the same time the edge to edge display allows for a larger screen in a chassis that you might see on a phone 5.5-inch display.

The Full HD screen is pretty clear too, with Sony using its tech smarts to make everything look crisp and clear. It's not got the clarity of something like the Google Nexus 6P, but at the same time we're expecting a cheaper price for the Xperia XA Ultra.

The specs aren't too bad for a phone aimed at the youth market (where you'd expect the price to be a little lower) with a Helio P10 CPU on board from Mediatek, 3GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage - which can be expanded using a microSD card.

Sadly that's not adoptable to let you expand the internal memory for increased app storage, but Sony says it's still looking at that tech at the moment.

Those internal specs apparently will allow for a two day battery life - it's hard to believe many phones can match that number at the moment, but it will be interesting to test whether Sony has deployed its full range of power-saving smarts here to help achieve that number.

Let's talk cameras - and there's some powerful spec on offer here. The rear camera has a 21.5MP sensor (which is an odd number, but hey, that's what it is) and a 1/2.4 aperture Exmor RS sensor. Indeed, the test pics I took weren't terrible at all, even in varying light levels.

Sadly there's no predictive hybrid autofocus used on the XA Ultra, the technique on offer with the Xperia X where it'll guess where an object is going to be in order to keep the picture as sharp as possible.

The front facing camera on the Xperia XA Ultra is a powerful sensor, with a 16MP Exmor RS sensor coming with a very wide angle picture taking ability and optical image stabilisation. In short, great selfies even in low light (with a screen flash on offer as well to help when things are a little darker).

There's also a new feature used here, one that takes the usual HDR option (where a sequence of shots are snapped at various exposures and mixed together) to another level.

The Xperia XA uses a similar theory but adds a flash into one of the photos, meaning you've got a perfect level of brightness for the fore and background of the snap - at least, that's the theory as I wasn't able to test this.

You can use a hand to start the selfie too, where the phone will recognise your palm and start the selfie countdown when needed.

In terms of design, there's not a lot to say about this phone that's not the same as other Sony devices already. The boxy design is back, but at the same time it's got a nicely rounded metallic rim, and feels very well constructed.

The Sony Xperia XA Ultra will be coming in black, lime gold and white. The good news is that the release date has been set for July and it'll be coming to the UK and (likely) the US, although the latter isn't confirmed. Sadly, no word on price though.

Early verdict

The Sony Xperia XA Ultra is a phone that will live and die by its price - there's clearly a new wave of handsets coming from the Japanese brand under the 'X' moniker, and this is the big-screen, youth-oriented model that would previously have sat in the 'C' or 'M' lines.

Whether this replaces those ranges or sits alongside remains to be seen - but without things like the USB Type C connector that's coming in a lot of flagship phones, there's definitely room for improvement here.

That said, the powerful selfie camera and beautiful edge to edge display are winning traits of this phone - if the brand gets the pricing right, the Sony Xperia XA Ultra could be an affordable phablet with very few flaws.

Sony Xperia X

Sony

VERDICT

Sony needs to define who exactly this phone is aimed at - it's a touch expensive given its weaker specs compared to the competition

PROS:

• Smart design
• Hi-Res Audio
• Powerful camera

CONS:

• Not as pretty as the XA
• Not water resistant

The Sony Xperia X is a curious device. I say curious because I don't really know what kind of phone it is.

I could look at the CPU used, the screen size and resolution and the intended market - but based on what Sony's telling me, the first two points aren't really relevant and there's no information on which sort of buyer the Xperia X is aimed at.

It's very much a Sony phone though, stuffed to the brim with components from all departments in the company: screen tech from Bravia, audio from the Hi-Res Audio workers and the DSLR team working in tandem with the smartphone guys to make a compelling spec list.

But given we've been waiting for the Xperia Z6, the all new flagship, for ages it's hard to know if this is the new phone or just a side-range that sits alongside the Xperia Z choices - and given Sony doesn't seem to know the answer to this question - or just isn't telling me - it's hard to gauge.

What we do know now is that this phone is £459 in the UK (around $660 / AU$900), which is pretty expensive indeed - not quite flagship prices, but a lot more than I was expecting.

Design

The Xperia X is a phone that, as shown by the spec list below, is dripping with Sony heritage. Coming with a 5-inch Full HD screen, it sits within the same industrial-style design that the previous handsets have used.

It's something of a shame really - and that's not to say there's anything wrong with what's been put together here. No, the front glass is strong and slightly curved at the sides, the back is all metal and the sides, while plastic, really fold into the chassis well.

No, it's a shame because this is meant to be a new chapter for Sony, and that was a chance to rip up what it's done before and start with a blank slate, a phone design that starts a new direction and maybe appeals to a new set of consumers.

There's still the same lozenge power button on the side, which doubles as the power key, and as the phone isn't water resistant this time around doesn't have extra flaps to cover the charging port, which lives at the bottom (and sadly isn't USB Type-C, which Sony tells me is just a timing issue from when it created the phone).

The smaller screen is still sharp and vivid and the 5-inch form factor slides into the hand pretty well, although it's not a patch on the beautiful edge-to-edge display of the Xperia XA, which is curiously cheaper than the more well-specified X.

The power under the hood comes from the new-but-mid-range Snapdragon 650 CPU from Qualcomm, and combined with 3GB RAM is a decent enough combination of battery-saving and grunt to run the phone.

That said, the Xperia X didn't like taking a lot of large (23MP) photos in a row, as it began to slow down rapidly after that. I'll give this a pass though, as I'm among the first in the world to get a hands on experience with this phone and it's very much early software - and camera speed optimisation is one of the first to improve.

The camera is clearly the big hitter on the Xperia X, the only part of the phone that's higher-spec than the previous Xperia Z5. It's the same 23MP camera, but with Predictive Hybrid autofocus.

What those overly complicated words mean is that the phone can go from sleep to tracking an object in space very, very quickly - the tests we did showing the camera could go from sleeping to taking a picture in 0.6 seconds were indeed proved true.

It doesn't mean you'll get a GREAT picture, as you're pretty much guessing at the framing of the shot, but it's a nifty ability if you're rushing to get a snap of your child pulling over the laundry bin or your dog doing something hound-like - you know, the usual stuff the human race is obsessed with.

There's still some tidying up to do on the camera, as some of my test shots weren't amazing - but then again, some were. Sony's attitude seems to be that it recognises what it's missed with the camera in the past, and is looking to make the phone more user-friendly to get great shots from without having to mess around with the professional settings.

The battery life on the Xperia X should also last longer - not just in terms of time between charges, but also the length of time before your battery becomes so awful that you need change your phone.

That's another way to get around the lack of removable battery that some smartphone fans still clamour for (although microSD card is supported).

The system works by constantly monitoring the charge going into the battery and then making sure the phone is completely removed from the charging while the wall outlet is still plugged in. I obviously couldn't test this yet, but a long time shooting with the phone for an afternoon didn't make anywhere near the dent in the battery performance that I was expecting.

There are some other decent features as well, from the smoother lock screen to the continued use of Hi-Res Audio. I don't understand why the brand has given up on water resistance, one of its key selling points, though.

The overall ethos of Sony's new Xperia X range is yet to be defined - after all, this isn't even the first X smartphone from Sony, as the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 was actually the first to bear the moniker and was very much a flagship device (although it was NOT a great phone...) but it's hard to see who this is aimed at.

Early verdict

The Sony Xperia X is a phone that's just crying out for an identity to hold onto; a cheap price, a superb build quality, a stunning screen, and it has none of those things. At first glance it's a slightly different Xperia Z with lower spec.

But dig a little bit deeper and you'll see a phone that's wanted to come out and play for a while, but it couldn't because the other kids in school were having none of it. Then it grew up and got much better looking BECAUSE it was alternative, and suddenly the world was very much interested in what this handsome hunk of tech has to say.

The price of £459 in the UK is confusing, as it seems to suggest the Xperia X is going to be a flagship phone, one that's worthy of taking the Z's place at the head of the line.

The camera is great, the audio strong and the battery has potential - but I still think we should have seen a new design ethos from Sony when the new phones came out. Then again, I've been banging that drum for years - maybe it's time to admit this is just what Sony does to its phones.

Either way though, the Xperia X needs the 'why should I buy it?' answer when in your local phone shop choosing between the reams of options, and I can't think of anything amazing off the top of my head - just very good elements.