LG G3 users on T-Mobile receive an update to Android Lollipop

In the United States, LG started rolling out Android 5.0 Lollipop for G3 owners on the Sprint and AT&T network since early February. And now, LG G3 owners on T-Mobile also received the firmware update.

LG G3 owners on the T-Mobile network don't have to wait for an OTA update to Android Lollipop. The firmware is available via the LG Mobile Support Tool for a PC.

With the LG Mobile Support Tool, all users need to do is connect the T-Mobile LG G3 to a PC or Mac to install the new update. The latter carries software version D85120b and build version LRX21Y.

Android Lollipop brings Material Design with fluid animations, 3D views, and multi-colored themes to LG G3. A brand new ART runtime is also implemented.

Source | Via

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Images of LG G4 in a protective case make the rounds

Images of the yet to be announced LG G4 wearing a protective case made the rounds online, courtesy of the manufacturer of mobile accessories Verus. The successor of LG G3 will make its official debut next month, on April 28.

The case maker’s images appear to fall in line with the recently leaked early press renders of LG G4. They showcase a slightly curved display, coupled with controls layout similar to the one found in LG G3. The actual cases are set to become available on April 30 - two days after the launch of LG G4.

Rumored specifications of LG G4 include Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 with hexa-core CPU, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, and 5.5” QHD display. There will be a 16MP main camera and 8MP front-facing snapper on board.

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Huawei's mobile division wraps up 2014 with record revenue

Huawei released its audited annual report for 2014. The Chinese tech giant posted record revenue of $46.5 billion and net profit of $4.5 billion - up 20.6% and 32.7% respectively from the previous year.

The company’s Consumer Business Group which designs and manufactures smartphones and tablets saw its annual revenue grow by almost a third (32.6%) from 2013 to $12 billion. Healthy demand for the company’s smartphones and tablets drove the revenue bump.

The manufacturer invested $6.6 billion for research and development in 2014. That is 14.2% of Huawei’s revenue and 29.4% more than in 2013. Overall, the company has spent a whopping $30.7 billion on R&D over the past decade.

Huawei will likely continue growing throughout 2015. The company will launch its next flagship smartphone, the Huawei P8 on April 15.

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Xiaomi gives the Mi4 a price reduction in China

Xiaomi gave the Mi4 smartphone a price reduction in China. From April 8 onwards, the popular high-end smartphone will cost 1,799 Yuan (about $290), down from 1,999 Yuan (about $322).

A slightly lower end variant of the Xiaomi Mi4 with 2GB of RAM will cost 1,699 Yuan (about $274) in China. Previously, it was priced at 1,799 Yuan.

Considering its new price tag, the Xiaomi Mi4 surely offers a lot of smartphone for the money. The smartphone features Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chipset, 5” 1080p display, 13MP main camera, and 8MP front-facing unit.

The new Xiaomi Mi4 pricing falls in line with the company's plans to boost its sales. The company plans to sell 100 million smartphones this year.

Via

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Asus Zenfone 2 series hands-on: First look

GSMArena team, 31 March 2015.

Introduction

Asus announced the European expansion of its Zenfone 2 lineup on March 30 at a special press event held in Paris. The spotlight was shared between the Zenfone 2 lineup, its new accessories, the Transformer Book Chi hybrids and the latest ZenBooks.

The Zenfone 2 was announced earlier this year at CES, but Asus is now determined to push across the European market. The first country to get the Zenfone 2 series is France. There the different sub-models are already available for purchase and Asus is offering some nice perks such as a tempting return and refund policy in case you are not satisfied with you Zenfone 2.

Asus Transformer Book Chi T100 and T300 are also available for purchase. The two hybrids are quite attractive because of the detachable keyboards, powerful processors, the adequate on-board storage, and the affordable prices.

The latest Asus ZenBook laptops are already making their way on to the market with some impressively slimmed down bodies stuffed with powerful hardware.

Want to know more? We continue just after the break.

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Rumored Qualcomm Snapdragon 815 chipset doesn't exist

A couple of months ago we first heard a rumor talking about a purported Snapdragon 815 chipset from Qualcomm. This was supposed to carry ARM's big.LITTLE architecture, with an octa-core CPU, Adreno 450 GPU, LPDDR4 memory support, and a MDM9x55 built-in modem with Cat.10 LTE capabilities. The Snapdragon 815 was apparently going to be made using a 20nm process.

There's only one problem with all of the above, it turns out. It's all fiction. At least this is what Qualcomm itself says, through the voice of Jon Carvill, the company's Senior Director of Public Relations.

He spoke to Fudzilla and clearly stated that Qualcomm has no plans for a Snapdragon 815 SoC. In fact, the company's next top of the line mobile offering will be the Snapdragon 820, the successor to the Snapdragon 810.

The Snapdragon 820 is expected to sample in the latter part of this year, while devices powered by it should be out either at the end of 2015 or at the beginning of 2016 - that is, if there won't be any delays. In the mobile chipset industry delays are nothing out of the ordinary, though, keep that in mind.

The Snapdragon 820 will be built using a FinFET process, and it will be the first 64-bit SoC to come with a Qualcomm custom core, named Kyro. This will be based on ARMv8, but will be designed by Qualcomm. For comparison, note that the current king of Qualcomm chipsets, the Snapdragon 810, uses ARM-designed cores in a big.LITTLE configuration.

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Gold 64GB Galaxy S6 and S6 edge now on pre-order at T-Mobile

Both the Samsung Galaxy S6 and the Galaxy S6 edge are now available to pre-order from T-Mobile USA in gold, with 64GB of built-in storage space.

T-Mobile started taking pre-orders for Samsung's latest top of the line smartphones on March 27, but up until today the magenta carrier only offered up the black and white color versions for them.

The gold-colored handsets have been marked as "coming soon" during this period, but now they're finally up for grabs as well.

If you pre-order a gold Galaxy S6 or S6 edge from Samsung today, you can expect delivery before April 10, which is the official release date for both models in the US. This is the same for all colors of the devices, with T-Mobile trying to send every pre-ordered unit out as soon as possible, maybe even before the launch day.

For now the gold S6 and S6 edge are only offered with 64GB of storage, though we assume the entry-level 32GB iterations will soon be up for pre-order too, along with those coming with 128GB.

As for pricing, for a 64GB Galaxy S6 you need to put down $99.99, then followed by 24 monthly payments of $27.50. For the S6 edge you put down $99.99, followed by 24 monthly installments of $31.66.

Source 1 • Source 2 | Via 1 • Via 2

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Samsung Galaxy Alpha will get Lollipop alongside the Note II

Samsung's websites for Finland and Denmark are giving us some interesting information about which devices the company plans to bring Android Lollipop to next.

As you may know, the Galaxy Note 4, Galaxy Note Edge, Galaxy Note 3, Galaxy S5, Galaxy S5 Active, and Galaxy S4 have already received the tasty treat, at least in certain regions. But what's next for Samsung?

Well, it turns out the Korean company also plans to bring Lollipop to the Galaxy Note II, Galaxy Alpha, and Galaxy S5 Mini.

We've already heard about Lollipop making it to the Galaxy S5 Mini, as well as the Galaxy Note II - but another official confirmation is good to have. This also marks the first time Samsung has said anything conclusive about the Galaxy Alpha with regard to the Lollipop update, so it's good news for owners of that model too.

Rollouts for the S5 Mini, Alpha, and Note II are apparently scheduled to happen "later in 2015", and unfortunately no more specific details are available right now. Previously, Samsung's French arm said Q2 was the time frame for the Galaxy S5 Mini's Lollipop update, so maybe that's true for all three handsets. If so, you're looking at a maximum of three months of waiting, from this point on, for the new software.

As for the Galaxy Note II, it's nice to see Samsung still care about a device that's two and a half years old.

Thanks for sending this in, Aamer Siddiqui and Peter!

Source 1 (in Finnish) • Source 2 (in Danish) | Via

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Meizu MX Supreme leaks again, Nokia connection still uncertain

Nokia is rumored to be in cahoots with Meizu to get back into mobile phones. According to the deal with Microsoft there can't be any new Nokia-branded phones until 2016, but the new device is known as the Meizu MX Supreme.

Will that kind of loophole even work? We don't know and there's not much info about the phone itself other than the division of labor – Meizu will be making the device while Nokia designs the hardware and software. A photo leaked previously that focuses on the Home button – which may or may not house a fingerprint sensor.

A new photo gives us a better look at the device, which looks fairly similar to the MX4 Pro. That phone has a 20.7MP camera with a large sensor and 2160p video capture, which will be well-suited for Nokia's camera know-how.

If any of this is true, of course. At this point it's not even clear if this is set to be an Android or a Windows Phone device.

Thank you for the link, Claudiu!

Source | Via

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Xiaomi announces Mi Note Pink edition at $403

China-based Xiaomi announced a new Mi Note Pink edition in an exclusive packing for the ladies with penchant for pink gadgets. As part of the exclusive packaging, Xiaomi includes a 5,000 mAh power bank.

That's the second special edition for the smartphone this month - earlier Xiaomi introduced the Mi Note Bamboo edition with rear panel made from natural bamboo.

The limited edition Mi Note Pink has the same hardware as the regular version. It features 5.7-inch 1080p curved Gorilla Glass 3 display, powered by quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 mobile chipset, 3GB RAM, 16GB storage, 13MP OIS camera at the back, 4MP camera in the front, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac and packs a non-removable 3,000 mAh battery.

The 13MP rear camera can record 4K quality video while the front facing camera can support 1080p video calls. Xiaomi has also included the fast charging feature which boosts the battery to 60 percent in 30 minutes.

However, the Mi Note does miss out on expandable storage, NFC, FM Radio and ships with Android 4.4 KitKat based MIUI. As of now, Xiaomi hasn’t clarified the availability of the Mi Note Pink edition.

Do check our Mi Note review to learn more about this large screen phone. Source

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Galaxy S6 and S6 edge may double the S5 pre-orders in the US

The popularity of the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge took even Samsung by surprise as the company is reportedly scrambling to build enough units. Pre-orders in Switzerland are said to be quadruple what the Galaxy S5 drew in.

Now Korean media is reporting that the US market is seeing higher demand too - allegedly US carriers have seen double the pre-orders they did when launching the S5. The Galaxy S6 and S6 edge hit US carriers last Friday and are expected to ship on April 11.

These numbers haven’t been officially confirmed by Samsung or by the carriers, however analysts are predicting a total of 55 million sales globally this year.

SK Telecom and KT will be pulling the launch two days forward as SK is in hot water with the KCC due to illegal subsidies to draw in consumers. Rival carrier KT was looking forward to some special Galaxy S6 promotion to draw in some of KT's customer base.

Source (in Korean) | Via

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Gionee V381 Specs surface in benchmark scores

A new mid-range Gionee device is definitely in the works and has already made the rounds at both the Chinese certification authority TENAA and as a freshly leaked GFXBench result. The handset is duded Gionee V381 and from the looks of it is a mid-range offer, with a slightly odd specs sheet.

The phone should be powered by a quad-core MediaTek MT6752 chipset, clocked at 1.3 GHz and a Mali-T760 GPU. This is not a particularly popular combination, but it should offer adequate mid-range performance. It is, however, not entirely new for the Chinese manufacturer and can be spotted in the upcoming Gionee Elife S7 as well.

Diving further into the V381 specs sheet, we find that the phone will have only 1GB of RAM and 8GB of onboard storage, extendable via SD card. Cameras include a 12MP main shooter with BSI Sensor, LED Flash, Full HD 1080p video recording, or even 4k, depending on which information you trust and a 2MP model on the front, capable of 720p. Luckily, the phone will be 4G-enabled with LTE TDD 2300 MHz and LTE FDD 1800 MHz.

All in all, the Gionee V381 is firmly settled in mid-range territory, by today's standards. There is still some controversy, surrounding its display. TENAA lists it as a 5.0-inch panel, while GFXBench says it's 4.6 inches with a quite disappointing resolution of 960x540 pixels, which would definitely be a bummer. So for now, the display remains a mystery.

The single-SIM phone should measure 144.2 x 71.0 x 9.5 mm and weigh in at 180.4 grams and RUM Android 4.4.4 KitKat out-of-the-box. The battery in the unit will have a generous 4200mAh capacity and should provide a lot of juice, which mostly makes up for the fact that it will be non-removable.

Information on connectivity and sensors is also present, so apart from the display, we have a pretty complete picture of the upcoming Gionee V381. Availability and pricing are still unclear.

Source 1 | Source 2(in Chinese) | Via

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Xiaomi Redmi 2A with Leadcore chipset announced for $97

Xiaomi has announced new Redmi 2A smartphone in China with an attractive $97 price tag. The Redmi 2A packs a mobile chipset from the company that Xiaomi acquired last year.

The new Redmi 2A is the affordable version of the existing Redmi 2 which costs $112. .

Redmi 2A features a 4.7-inch 720p display and is powered by a Leadcore L1860C chipset, which offers quad-core 1.5GHz CPU and Mali-T628MP2 GPU. It offers 8MP snapper at the back and a 2MP front camera.

The smartphone comes with 4G LTE dual SIM dual standby support and it runs Android 5.0 Lollipop with MIUI on top. The Redmi 2A draws its power from a 2,200 mAh battery.

Source

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YU Yureka to get a Lollipop update in first week of April

Micromax birthed YU Televentures has been taking direct shots with tongue-in-cheek references at Mi India as part of its online promotion for its next handset. In the meantime, the existing owners of the Yureka handset raised a query against the anticipated Lollipop update.

YU support team's email response to many concluded that the Lollipop update for the Yureka can be expected in the first week of April. For Yureka, the Lollipop update would basically arrive packaged as the CyanogenMod 12S version.

Apparently, the CyanogenMod 12S update has been delayed for all supporting devices. Even OnePlus missed it along with the deadline for OxygenOS.

Thanks for the tip, Pankaj!

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Xiaomi Mi Pad 2 leaked in live images

A year is a long time in the contemporary mobile world and even if tablets could have it a bit easier than smartphones, a proper update can never hurt. In this particular case we're talking about the Xiaomi Mi Pad 7.9, which was announced back in March last year and is apparently due to be replaced soon.

Clues on the matter can be taken from a few hot leaked images of what is allegedly going to be the Mi Pad 2. The supposed future tablet has borrowed design elements from the Mi Note/Mi Note Pro flagship phablet pair, resulting in more refined looks than the all-plastic predecessor.

Actually, it's fair to say that it's a Mi Note, stretched to Mi Pad proportions, as the rumor has it it will pack a similar glass back and slightly curved front panel.

Additionally, the overall layout of the front is similar, with a central earpiece and sensor arrangement, an offset front camera and a Mi logo.

An also leaked machined metal frame promises solid build while keeping weight manageable.

Now that earpiece hints at a 3G/LTE version as well, as opposed to the Wi-Fi only first-gen. The report claims that the new version will come with Android 5.0 out of the box, skinned with the company's home-brewed MIUI 6 overlay.

Sadly, there are no specs to accompany the photos, and we also have no way of verifying any of this, but it looks credible enough to be the real thing. Also... don't take the stack of bills as a reference to the device price - CNY100,000 translates roughly to $16,000, not really in line with current market trends.

Via

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Moto X now available in red Horween leather back

Motorola has introduced a new color option for the Moto X 2014. You can now choose the red color option for the Horween leather back on your phone through Moto Maker. The red joins the existing black, orange, brown, blue, and football red (for Verizon) options.

The new color is available through the Moto Maker in the US, UK, France, Germany, and Mexico. It's priced the same at $25 as other leather options.

Source • Via

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Upcoming Huawei P8 reveals its specs during a TENAA visit

The yet to be announced Huawei P8 revealed its specifications in a TENAA certification filing. The Chinese giant’s next flagship smartphone is expected to make its official debut in a little over two weeks, on April 15.

As expected, the TENAA filing reveals the specifications of the upcoming device. They include a 64-bit Kirin 930 chipset with octa-core CPU, 3GB of RAM, and 32GB of built-in memory, which can be further expanded via microSD card slot.

A 5.2” 1080p display and 13MP main camera will also be part of the setup. The device will boot Android Lollipop.

Huawei P8’s TENAA images reveal an slim body with metal frame and ultra-thin bezels. The smartphone is expected to carry a sub-$500 price tag when it hits the shelves.

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The unveiling of LG G4 is officially set for April 28

LG G4 will make its official debut next month, on April 28. The Korean giant sent out save the date press invites for the unveiling of its next generation flagship smartphone.

In a manner befitting a flagship smartphone, the LG G4 unveiling will be a truly global affair. It will take place in New York, London, Paris, Seoul, Singapore, and Istanbul.

The official invite hints that the upcoming LG G4 will feature leather in its build. Past rumors have already suggested that the Korean manufacturer will focus on using premium materials in its next flagship.

Rumored specifications of LG G4 include Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 with hexa-core CPU, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of storage, and 5.5” QHD display. There will be a 16MP main camera and 8MP front-facing snapper on board.

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MediaTek Helio is a new family of high-end mobile chipsets

The Taiwanese chipmaker MediaTek launched a brand new family of high-end mobile chipsets dubbed Helio. The new product lineup will take on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 series and Samsung’s Exynos in the top end of the market.

The MediaTek Helio X10 series will debut first. The 64-bit chipset will pack and octa-core setup with 2.2GHz Cortex-A53 cores. The newcomer offers support for 120Hz display refresh rates, as well as slow-motion video capture at 480fps.

A Helio P-series will debut later this year. There is no word on what specs the product range will offer.

The first smartphones with MediaTek Helio internals will debut in Q2. The latter officially kicks off in April, so we won’t have to wait long to find out what MediaTek has been up to.

Source | Via

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Verizon rolls out Android Lollipop update for LG G2

Android Lollipop update season is still upon us, and going strong by all accounts. The latest smartphone to be blessed with an upgrade that will make it run Lollipop is LG's G2. Specifically, Verizon's LG G2.

The carrier nicknamed Big Red has already posted the update documentation (available here in PDF form), which means the new software should start rolling out today.

As always, though, keep in mind that such rollouts are staged, so it might be a few days before you see the update reach your phone. In case you're impatient, you can always check for it manually by using the menu inside of Settings.

After applying the update, you'll be running software version VS98039A. The new release updates LG's UI overlay to that employed by the G3, aside from bringing you all the things that Google changed in Lollipop.

The new lock screen is in too, complete with notifications, and the Android buttons get a new design. Settings are searchable, and floating action buttons can be seen everywhere.

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iPhone 6C rear casing reportedly shown in leaked pictures

Last week we first heard about the prospect of Apple launching an iPhone 6C later this year, and today we already get a couple of images purportedly depicting its rear shell.

The iPhone 6C is supposed to be the successor to the iPhone 5C (which didn't come last year at the unveiling of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus). Rumor has it that the iPhone 6C will become official alongside the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus this fall.

It's been alleged to come with a 4-inch touchscreen, just like the iPhone 5C, but with the A8 chipset employed by the iPhone 6. That said, the iPhone 6S should get an A9 SoC, so the 6C will be one generation behind in that regard (as was the 5C when it launched).

The iPhone 6C is to have a Touch ID fingerprint sensor, as well as NFC support. In terms of design, little will be changed when comparing it to its predecessor. As you can see from the photos above, the body will be very colorful, and made out of plastic. It does however look like the 6C will get a dual-LED flash, as well as two distinct speaker grilles on the bottom.

Hopefully you've had your standard-issue grain of salt nearby for all of this, as it's nothing but an unconfirmed rumor at this point. If the iPhone 6C does become reality, then expect it to be offered for free or $99 with a new two-year contract in the US.

Thanks for the tip, Ashwin!

Source | Via 1 (in French) • Via 2

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Sony Xperia Z4 gets benchmarked revealing specs

Earlier today we saw the LG G4 getting put through the paces of GFXBench, and thus having its most important specs revealed. And now it's apparently the turn of Sony's upcoming Xperia Z4.

This device was spotted in the same benchmark's database, which is clearly a sign that someone at Sony is already busy testing it.

And like all such benchmark results, this one too gives us a pretty complete list of specs for the device. The Xperia Z4 will sport Qualcomm's Snapdragon 810 chipset, unlike the aforementioned LG G4 which will apparently employ a Snapdragon 808.

Sony's Z4 should also have a 5.1-inch 1080p touchscreen, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of built-in storage, a 20 MP rear camera with LED flash, a 5 MP front snapper, Bluetooth, GPS, NFC, and Wi-Fi. It currently runs Android 5.0.2 Lollipop.

All of this information comes from the GFXBench data for the Sony E6553, which we assume to be the Xperia Z4 because it would make sense given Sony's naming convention. The letter in the model number changes each year, so for 2014 it was D, and Sony's first flagship of last year (the Z2) had the model number D65xx, while the Z3 was D66xx. Since the Z4 will be the first (and possibly only) top of the line handset from the company this year, an E65xx designation seems extremely likely.

Source | Via (in Dutch)

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Asus launches Zenfone 2 in Europe, available tomorrow

Today Asus has finally made the Zenfone 2 official for Europe. After already having sold 10 million Zenfones, mostly in Asia (but also Brazil), and reaching sales levels of 1.5 million units per month, Asus thinks Europeans will be interested in the Zenfone 2 range as well.

Three Zenfone 2 models will be up for grabs in France starting tomorrow. While we can assume more European countries will follow soon, Asus hasn't said anything specific.

The 'flaghsip' version of the Zenfone 2, the one with the model number ZE551ML (pictured above), will be available for €299 for a limited time, after which the price will become €349.

This is the model that sports 4GB of RAM, 32GB of built-in storage, and an Intel Atom Z3580 SoC, with a 2.3 GHz quad-core CPU, along with a 5.5-inch 1080p touchscreen, microSD card slot, 4G LTE support, a 13 MP rear camera with dual-LED flash, a 5 MP selfie shooter, and a 3,000 mAh battery. It runs Android 5.0 Lollipop with Asus ZenUI on top.

Next up, there's the Zenfone 2 ZE550ML. This has the same screen size, but the resolution is just 720p, and the chipset is different too - in this case an Intel Atom Z3560 with a 1.8 GHz quad-core CPU. This model comes with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of expandable storage, and will cost €249.

Finally, the lowest-end of the bunch is the Zenfone 2 ZE500CL, which is going to battle it out with the Moto Gs of the world. It's also the cheapest Zenfone 2, as you'd expect, at €179.

For that amount of cash you get a smaller 5-inch 720p display, an 8 MP rear camera, a 2 MP front-facing unit, an Intel Atom Z2560 SoC with 1.6 GHz dual-core CPU, 2GB of RAM, 8GB of built-in storage, and a 2,500 mAh battery. Like its siblings, it too runs Android 5.0 Lollipop out of the box.

While it does have LTE support, the ZE500CL tops out at Cat.3, which means theoretical peak download speeds of up to 100Mbps, whereas the 5.5-inch versions both enjoy Cat.4 LTE, going up to 150Mbps.

Asus also announced three accessories for Europe. A 10,050 mAh power bank called ZenPower will retail for €39.99, a simple flip cover will go for €29.99, while a 'deluxe' flip cover will cost €39.99.

If you aren't too sure about a Zenfone, Asus will apparently give you a two-month trial period, during which you can get your money back if you aren't satisfied. We assume there are some conditions for this offer, though they haven't been made public yet.

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