Monthly Archives: June 2017

The Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra, one of Sony's many latest releases and the successor to the XA Ultra, is incredibly large at 6 inches, which will excite many users who prefer a bit more screen real estate on their phones. Being cheaper than its pricier large-screen alternatives in the Oppo R9s Plus, Huawei Mate 9, and Samsung Galaxy S8+, can the XA1 Ultra be a viable mid-range large phone? In this post, we'll have a look at all its features and see how it stacks up.

Design

Body & Screen

As you'd expect, the Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra is quite a big unit. It isn't ridiculously

HTC's latest budget handset - the Desire 650, is certainly an interesting phone on first glance, with HTC advertising a 'half smooth, half groove' design to give you a more comfortable grip, and easily recognise the direction the phone is facing. How does it fare in other features though? In this post, we'll have a look.

Design, Build and Screen

Although the HTC Desire 650 has a plastic back as you would expect for a phone in its price range, its 'half smooth, half groove' design certainly makes up for some of it as it looks good. The screen size is 5 inch, the standard for compact, non-plus sized phones. The resolution is only 1280 x 720 pixels, once again expected from phone in its price range and size. HTC

Optus are shutting down all its 2G networks on 1 August 2017, and Vodafone will soon follow suit on 30 September 2017. If you are still using a phone which only has 2G bands, it is best to upgrade to a 3G or 4G phone as soon as possible because after these closure dates, 2G networks will no longer be available for you to make or receive calls. The good news is that the upgrade won't be as expensive as it used to be, as there are now many cheap 3G or 4G phones now available for under $100. Here are 5 great options for under $100, the first two options being keypad phones, and remaining three options touchscreen smartphones.

Aspera F26

The Aspera F26 is a cheap

Are you after a great smartphone on a budget? Luckily in 2017 there are many phones which are cheap yet still powerful and aesthetically pleasing. Here is a list of the 5 best phones under $300 at Mobileciti, sorted in ascending order of price.

ZTE Blade V2

ZTE have long been well-known in the budget phone market, and the ZTE Blade V2 is a clear example of why. It features excellent specifications of a 5 inch 720p screen to give you easy viewing. It also has 4G bands, most importantly Band 28, a fast band that Telstra and Optus use. Camera quality is decent, with a 8 megapixel back camera and 5 megapixel front camera. The only downside

UPDATE OCTOBER 2017: Since this post in May, there have been many more Dual SIM 4G+3G phones released, such as the Motoroola Moto Z2 Play, Moto G5S/G5S Plus, Huawei Y7 and LG Q6. Check them out in the Mobileciti Dual SIM 4G/3G page. 

After the success of our first Dual Sim 4G+3G Phones post in late 2016, there are now many more dual sim phones released in the first six months of 2017. This is in response to the imminent closure of all Australian 2G networks, with Telstra already shut down last year, Optus shutting down 1 August 2017, and Vodafone shutting down 30 September 2017. As

While most of the attention will be on the release of Huawei's P10 and P10 Plus two weeks ago, Huawei has also silently released another budget phone, the GR5 2017. Promising a considerable upgrade over last years GR5, how does it fare in comparison to the rest? In this review, we'll have a first look at the Huawei GR5 2017.

Design

Build and Screen

Huawei has been known for its excellent build quality, and the latest GR5 2017 is no exception. A metal unibody gives the GR5 a premium look and feel, as well as excellent protection. Likewise to last years model, the Huawei GR5 2017 has a 5.5 inch screen with