Galaxy S9 Plus was top Android phone in May, but Xiaomi, Huawei loom large

• Samsung’s Galaxy S9 Plus was the top-selling Android phone in May 2018, according to Counterpoint Research.
• The Galaxy S9 was in the sixth spot, behind Xiaomi’s Redmi 5A and the latest iPhones.
• Huawei’s P20 Lite was the only Huawei phone to make the list.

---

Samsung has reportedly seen lower than expected sales for the Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus, but you wouldn’t think so when looking at the latest sales statistics. Counterpoint Research has released its list of the best selling smartphones for May 2018, with the S9 Plus and standard S9 taking second and sixth spots respectively.

The number one spot was held by the iPhone 8, while number three and five were held by the iPhone X and iPhone 8 Plus respectively. Counterpoint attributed Apple’s performance to strong promotions in Europe in the run-up to the World Cup, and “steady” post-paid sales in the U.S.

Editor’s Pick

Best Android phones (June 2018): our picks, plus a giveaway

With Android thoroughly dominating the mobile industry, picking the best Android smartphones is almost synonymous with choosing the best smartphones, period. While Android phones have few real opponents on other platforms, internal competition is incredibly …

While Apple regained the top spot, the Galaxy S9 Plus was the most popular Android smartphone on the list. Nevertheless, Counterpoint said Galaxy S9 sales in Europe were “slightly weak” compared to the previous month. Counterpoint senior analyst Pavel Naiya told Android Authority that a combination of factors were to blame for Samsung’s performance, namely Apple’s aggressive campaigns, the OnePlus 6 launch, and the Huawei P20/Honor 10 releases.

Despite the weaker sales in Europe, Naiya says the S9 series is actually doing a little better in general than the Galaxy S8. “If we compared sell-through performance of the first three months after the launch, the S9 series did slightly better (+two percent) globally compared to its previous generation,” the analyst explained.

Counterpoint Research

The P20 Lite was the only Huawei phone to crack the top ten, but Counterpoint said the brand saw growth in China and India. In fact, Counterpoint said the P20 family was among the top sellers in general, grabbing 2.6 percent market share in total.

It’s also worth noting that Huawei’s phones aren’t available via U.S. networks, limiting their affordability and reach compared to Samsung’s devices. It makes you wonder what could’ve been, doesn’t it?

Xiaomi makes waves this month

The Xiaomi Redmi 5A.

Xiaomi is another brand continuing to make waves, according to Counterpoint. The low-end Redmi 5A was the second-most popular Android phone at number four, ahead of the iPhone 8 Plus and vanilla Galaxy S9. It wasn’t the only Xiaomi phone in the top ten, as the Redmi 5 Plus/Note 5 claimed the ninth spot.

The tracking firm cited China and India for Xiaomi’s continued growth, noting that its offline operations were expanding in India. The Chinese brand was also the online sales leader in India, according to Counterpoint data.

The ball is in Xiaomi’s court for now, as it expands to a variety of European markets. The company has recently launched in Spain, Italy, and France, while announcing plans to land in the U.K., Denmark and several other European nations. In fact, Canalys’s Q1 2018 report for Europe noted that Xiaomi was the number four brand on the continent.

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 5.

Naiya cautions that Xiaomi is growing from a small base, but expects the company to be a major player in Europe. “Total sell-through volume for Xiaomi is still low in Europe, but it is starting to make its presence felt and we expect it to rapidly become a significant force as it spreads its wings over more and more countries in the region,” the analyst said.

Editor’s Pick

Vivo X21 review: Fast and fun, but not without compromises

You’re reading a Vivo X21 review, so you’ve hopefully heard of the Chinese brand before. But mention Vivo to a random person on the street, and you’ll probably only get a blank stare. That’s a …

The Vivo X21 and Oppo A83 were the two other phones in the top ten. In Vivo’s case, Counterpoint cited the X21’s under-display fingerprint scanner and associated ads in driving sales, while price cuts helped the A83 stand out.

We don’t see any HMD/Nokia phones on the list, but the senior analyst says it’s another brand that could pressure Samsung. “Like Xiaomi it is starting from a low base. Unlike Xiaomi, it has a rich brand heritage that is resonating well with European consumers.”

Source: Android Zone

The post Galaxy S9 Plus was top Android phone in May, but Xiaomi, Huawei loom large appeared first on TuneMaster.ml.

How to spot a fake phone

Spend enough time on the internet and you’re bound to come across a horror story or two of some unfortunate soul duped into spending hundreds of dollars on a counterfeit or fake phone. It may look like a brand new Samsung Galaxy S9 from the outside, but it’s not even close on the inside, with a cheap camera, outdated processor, and other cheaper components instead of the real thing.

Counterfeiting Samsung’s high-end products is big business in China. According to AnTuTu’s 2017 knock-off smartphone report, Samsung smartphones accounted for over 36 percent of the counterfeit market last year, significantly outpacing the iPhone’s 7.7 percent and Huawei’s meager 3.4 percent. The European Galaxy S7 Edge was by far the most faked phone on the list. The company’s 2017 report found 2.64 percent of the 17,424,726 verified phones that ran its benchmarks were knock-offs. That’s 460,000 confirmed fakes out there just based on this single sample. Given there are more than a billion smartphones on the market, that extrapolates to many millions of knockoffs.

Antutu

Buying a new phone from a reputable retailer is your safest bet, but that’s not always possible. The growing market for second hand, refurbished, and cheaper import phones is a hotbed of potential shady products and knock-offs. If you want to avoid wasting your cash on a fake phone, here’s our easy guide to help check that your new phone is authentic.

Symptoms to watch for: Shoddy exterior

The most obvious place to detect a fake phone is the exterior design; buttons in the wrong place, bezels that don’t look quite right, or a camera housing that isn’t flush when it should be. Unfortunately, well-executed dodgy devices aren’t so easy to detect from the outside, they only become obvious once you start using them.

If you’re dealing with a private seller, the first port of call is to make sure the device actually turns on. Even if you’re not there in person, the seller should be able to provide images with the screen on, and probably even send you a short video or GIF of them flicking through the UI. Never be afraid to ask for a closer look at the screen, even if it’s just for cracks and scratches.

Knockoff software is usually a dead give away, particularly if the UI or app icons don’t match the official device theme. You can get to know a new device just by watching some YouTube videos of reviews. Keep an eye out for strange looking launchers and icons, missing features or menus, or non-standard pre-installed apps.

Redskull To the untrained eye, it’s not easy to spot this fake Galaxy S9 at a casual glance. It’s the one on the right by the way.

Performance is equally important here, and it’s the main point that victims notice after purchase. Counterfeit handsets often include cheaper processors, which stutter and lag their way through daily use. Some apps and toggles probably won’t even run because the operating system is only skin deep, so be sure to have a good dig through the OS and a few apps to make sure everything works correctly. If you can’t do so in person, you can always ask for video evidence. This is generally good advice for buying used or refurbished phones anyway — it’s helpful for detecting if aging handsets have any battery or processor problems.

As always, be sure to follow general buying rules for used products too. Don’t agree to pay outside of official platforms where you won’t be protected, meet in mutually agreeable locations, and avoid requests to bring cash on a first meet. Pushy unofficial sellers who won’t answer detailed questions are, as always, a major warning sign too.

If a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Testing the phone out

While it’s not always possible, we highly advise checking out second hand and refurbished phones in person before handing over big sums of money. This way you can not only double check the physical condition of the handset but also run a few simple tests to make sure it’s not a fake phone on the inside either.

Check that the hardware matches up

A fake phone will scrimp out on cheaper hardware alternatives to make a profit. The most common scams involve using poor quality cameras, omitting NFC or fingerprint components, and even running homebrew software on cheaper processors. Fortunately, it’s very easy to find official spec sheets from handset manufacturers online to double check against the phone in your hands.

Display resolution, UI themes, and processing hardware are the best ways to check for counterfeit hardware.

First, make sure all the hardware works. Toggle Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, NFC, and any other features on and off. Maybe even connect to another device or network. Checking the fingerprint scanner options are actually in the security settings menu isn’t a bad idea either, even if the seller isn’t keen on you locking the phone with your print before buying.

Don’t forget to test out the cameras either. Make sure both the front and back cameras work and have all the features promised with the device, like a wide angle lens or telephoto zoom. A fake camera app’s features and layout are always different from official software. Finally, take a picture and check the megapixel count. You can do this by pressing the info button in the default gallery app or Google Photos. A clearly inferior camera module will be pretty easy to spot based on the photos it takes, even as viewed on the phone.

Run CPU-Z

As we’ve mentioned, a counterfeit processor is a major red flag and will ruin your experience with your new phone, so it’s definitely worth comparing the chip in the phone against the official spec sheet.

You don’t need to take the phone apart to do this, you just need to quickly install CPU-Z from the Play Store. CPU-Z will give you a rundown of the key processing and low-level software components running inside the phone, which makes it virtually impossible to spoof. 

Once installed, you can check out details about the CPU and GPU hardware on the opening page. If you’re not really into that technical stuff, the Device tab will give you the name of the processor chip under Hardware, which you can simply check against the spec sheet. You’ll also find the amount of RAM and the phone’s display resolution listed on this page, which again will instantly flag up any knock-offs. You can also install AIDA64 to cross-reference some details.

Download CPU-Z from Google Play

Download AIDA64 from Google Play

Compare the IMEI number

All of the above will help you spot a cheap fake phone, but it won’t help against stolen or blacklisted products. To do this, you’ll want to check out the International Mobile Equipment Identification number (IMEI) against the claims made by your seller.

Each phone’s cellular modem is given a unique 15 digit IMEI number. It’s registered against the phone’s make and model number, used to register and lock devices to specific networks, and can also be blacklisted to block phones or SIMs if they’re stolen.

A phone’s IMEI can tell you the model associated with it, network compatibility, and if the handset has been stolen.

You can find a phone’s IMEI number in the About Phone section of the Android Settings menu. Alternatively, simply type *#06# into the phone’s dialer and a box will pop up with the number. The IMEI is also included on the phone’s box, making it a cinch to double-check if your prospective purchase comes in its original packaging. Alternatively, popping the number into the imei.info website will give you a breakdown of the handset’s status.

The IMEI number is also very helpful for checking if the phone is locked to a specific network. If you’re promised an unlocked phone, you certainly won’t want to find out it’s locked when you pop your SIM in. Sometimes sellers simply don’t check this information, others use the allure of an unlocked phone to bring in unsuspecting customers.

Been scammed? What now?

It’s not always possible to check all this with online sellers, but if you end up with a dud handset it’s not the end of the road. Legal protections will vary depending on your country of residence and chasing up fraudulent sellers is often a lost cause, but your method of payment can offer a level of protection.

Cash is best avoided, both due to the lack of a paper trail and inability to recover payment, even if you did get a receipt. Credit cards are better than debit, cash cards, or bank transfers in this regard too, as your bank can usually dispute a transaction to obtain a chargeback. Always check your specific bank’s terms and conditions. When buying online, PayPal offers inclusive buyer protection specifically covering knock-off goods and used products. Be sure to obtain proof of purchase and a detailed description of the item from the seller to act as evidence, just in case. It’s also a good idea to familiarize yourself with the seller’s reputation online via reviews and forum posts before committing to a purchase. A quick Google ahead of time might save you lots of agony after the fact.

Related Articles

Best phones under 15,000 rupees in India

Companies like Xiaomi, Motorola, and more recently Honor and Nokia have changed the game in India with budget-friendly smartphones that offer impressive performance and features. This has given rise to a whole new budget category in …

Best budget phones with (near) bezel-less displays

The smartphone industry is a notoriously fickle beast where bold innovations are just a few fatal steps away from becoming the latest flash-in-the-pan gimmick. Every now and again though, there’s a design quirk that sticks …

With all of the above in mind, you should be well prepared and protected against ending up with a fake phone. Chances of encountering one are slim, but it’s always best to be prepared. If you have any of your own tips or experiences to share, be sure to leave a comment below.

Source: Android Zone

The post How to spot a fake phone appeared first on TuneMaster.ml.

6 Best Business Phone Services for Small Business (2018)

Are you looking for the best business phone service for your WordPress powered website? Adding a phone service can help you efficiently manage calls with customers. In this article, we have hand-picked some of the best business phone services that you can use along with your WordPress site.

Why and When You Need a Business Phone Service?

You can just add your landline or mobile phone number to your WordPress site and use that to receive customer calls. However, your phone number wouldn’t look professional, and you will not be able to communicate effectively.

Adding a proper business phone service allows you to do the following:

• You can easily track call duration, hold times, wait times, and overall usage.
• Most business phone services come with call forwarding, caller ID, call waiting, call routing, and more.
• Share one number among several users simultaneously
• You can use a desk phone, mobile, or a computer to receive and make calls
• Easily add new employees without calling in a technician.
• Business phone services transmit voice over internet, which means you can take your local or toll-free number anywhere you want. All you will need is a high-speed internet connection.

If you are running an online store or a small business website, then adding a professional business phone service can help you grow your business. You can use it to build better customer relations with professional sales and support provided over the phone.

That being said, let’s take a look at the top business phone services that you can use with your WordPress site.

1. Nextiva

Nextiva is the best business phone service in terms of features and ease of use. They offer a large set of features, with quick setup and reasonable pricing. It comes with a simple web-based admin panel which makes it easy for small business owners to easily manage the platform like a pro.

Nextiva’s VOIP phone service for small businesses includes advanced call routing, unlimited free domestic calling, voicemail to email and text, online faxing, and more.

You also get a free local or toll-free number, free number porting, and all the standard features like caller ID, call forwarding, routing, custom greetings, and more. As a platform Nextiva also offers CRM, Live Chat, online surveys, call analytics, and other solutions that work well with the phone service.

Pricing for Nextiva’s phone service starts from $19.95 per user every month. Their pricing gets cheaper as you add more users. You can also create a pre-paid account to save more money.

Note: We use Nextiva for our business.

2. RingCentral

RingCentral is another popular phone service for businesses of all size. It is one of the most feature-rich business phone services on the market. It includes all the standard features you would need including call forwarding, caller ID, call waiting and transfer, share one line on multiple devices and users, and more.

Apart from that, it also comes with video meetings with screen sharing, 1000 toll-free minutes, and integrations with Gsuite, Dropbox, Microsoft, and other services. It comes with an intuitive web-based administration that makes it super easy to set up and manage your calls.

Their Essentials plan starts at $19.99 per month for each user (billed annually) and you can add up to 10 users. Other plans come at different pricing and features.

3. GrassHopper

GrassHopper offers virtual phone numbers over VOIP phone service and is great for solopreneurs and small businesses. A virtual phone number means it can forward calls to any numbers or devices. However, for outgoing calls you will still need a regular phone line.

They offer intuitive web and mobile apps to manage your account and phone service. You can use multiple extensions for your number, and you can choose from local, toll-free, and vanity phone numbers. It offers US, Canada, and UK based local and toll-free numbers.

GrassHopper comes with all standard features like call forwarding, routing, waiting, call hold music, voicemail to email transcripts, and more. It is perfect for remote teams because you can add extensions that can be used from anywhere using mobile or desktop apps.

Their plans start from $29.99 per month with 1 number and up to 3 extensions.

4. Phone.com

Phone.com is another good option for small business phone service. They offer a simple web and app-based administration panel with standard phone service features like call forwarding, call routing, caller ID, conference calling, and more.

They include several European countries and Canada in their local call minutes which makes calling to those countries way cheaper. You can also integrate your business phone service to third-party CRM software like Salesforce and Zoho.

They have two types of pricing options pay per minute and unlimited. Pay per minute plans start from $12.99 per month and unlimited plans start from $22.99 per month.

5. Vonage

Vonage is another excellent business phone service with tons of features to make your business communication more effective. Apart from the standard cloud VOIP services, it uses Amazon Chime to integrate online meetings and video conferencing to their platform.

It comes with a web-based control panel which allows you to easily set up, add new users, and manage your calls. It also includes features like mobile access which makes it a good fit for remote teams with no hardware requirements.

Their mobile plan starts at $19.99 per user every month but it is limited in features. The premium plan at $29.99 and advanced plan at $39.99 offer you the best combination of features and usage limits.

6. 8×8

8×8 is another good option for small business phone service. Their prices are slightly lower than other top business phone companies, but they also lack some of the advanced features offered by their competitors.

8×8’s VOIP phone service includes all the standard features like call forwarding, number sharing, voicemail to audio email, automatic call attendance, mobile apps, chat, SMS, and more.

Their pricing structure varies based on the plan you choose. You can start for $24.99 per user each month with 250 outbound minutes to the US and Canada and $0.029/minute thereafter. For unlimited minutes you can choose plans starting at $39.99 per user each month.

We hope this article helped you find the best business phone service for your WordPress site. You may also want to see our guide on how to create a free business email address and the best email marketing services for small business.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post 6 Best Business Phone Services for Small Business (2018) appeared first on WPBeginner.

Source: Wordpres

The post 6 Best Business Phone Services for Small Business (2018) appeared first on TuneMaster.ml.