OnePlus 7 is one smartphone that is being talked about a lot these days. And we expect this to continue, as according to various reports, OnePlus 7 will be launched soon. Now, some renders and a 360-degree video of the upcoming OnePlus 7 have surfaced online that are in-line with the reports that suggest that the device will come with a pop-up selfie camera.
Popular tipster Onleaks along with Pricebaba have leaked these renders of the upcoming OnePlus 7 smartphone. With OnePlus 6T, the company decreased the size of its notch. While OnePlus 6 has a regular one that can be seen on iPhones, OnePlus 6T has a waterdrop-shaped notch on top. However, reports suggest that OnePlus 7 smartphone will not sport a notch at all.
And in order to not have a notch on the top of its display, the device will come with a pop-up selfie camera like the one seen on Vivo NEX and Vivo V15 Pro so far. However, there will be a difference in the placement of the pop-up selfie camera of smartphones. While the pop-up selfie camera module is placed on the far right of the top edge, the one on OnePlus 7 sits right in the middle.
While we expected OnePlus 7 to come with an all-screen display, the renders show that does have a rather broad chin at the bottom. According to reports, OnePlus 7 mobile will sport a 6.5-inch display and it is speculated that it will use an AMOLED screen panel for it.
Image courtesy: Pricebaba, @Onleaks
The renders of the smartphone do not show a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, but we are not surprised as the OnePlus 7 is expected to come with an in-display fingerprint scanner. The renders also show a triple rear camera setup clubbed with an LED flash. It can also be seen that the handset will come with an alert slider and a home button on its right edge and the volume rocker will be placed on the left.
At the Mobile World Congress 2019, OnePlus CEO Pete Lau clarified that OnePlus 7 will not come with wireless charging, but instead will the company’s own Warp charging technology. The images confirm this as they have a USB Type-C port at the bottom, right next to the speaker grille of the smartphone. The device will be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 855 processor.
Chinese smartphone brand Realme is all set to launch its Realme 3 smartphone in India today. The smartphone will be powered by 12nm MediaTek Helio P70 processor and will sport a dual camera setup on its back panel. The back panel of the Realme 3 smartphone is expected to come with a physical fingerprint scanner and is said to come with a diamond cut case design.
Although it has not been confirmed yet, Realme is also expected to launch the Realme 3 Pro smartphone at the same event today. Here’s everything that you need to know about the launch of the Realme 3 smartphone:
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Realme 3 launch: How to watch the live stream?
The Chinese smartphone maker is launching the Realme 3 handset at an event in New Delhi today that is set to begin at 12 pm IST. Realme will be live streaming the launch event on its YouTube channel, so you can head there at 12 pm to watch it. We have also embedded the live stream video on this page so you can also watch it here.
Realme 3 specifications
The brand has put up a dedicated microsite on Flipkart that has given away some information about the Realme 3 smartphone. It revealed that the Realme 3 smartphone will be powered by a 12nm MediaTek Helio P70 processor while taking a dig at Redmi Note 7’s 14nm Snapdragon 660 SoC. It was also confirmed that the device will sport a waterdrop-shaped notch on its display and house a 4,230mAh battery. Realme also mentioned that it is more than the 4,000mAh battery on the recently launched Redmi Note 7 smartphone.
A teaser that was released previously also confirmed that the Realme 3 smartphone will come with dual rear cameras. As we mentioned earlier, the Realme 3 smartphone is expected to come with a fingerprint scanner on its back panel and will sport a diamond cut case. It will also have support for Bluetooth v.4.2 support.
We should also mention that the Flipkart listing says that the smartphone will be available at an ‘unbelievable price’. However, we will have to wait for a few more hours before we can confirm the exact pricing.
Cupertino-based technology giant Apple may be developing an Augmented Reality (AR) based headset, similar to Microsoft’s Hololens. This AR based headset could work with the user’s iPhone and put user in a world of augmented reality where computer generated images and graphics are overlaid on to the real world.
According to a report by CNET, the news came as an iPhone engineer published an update titled, ‘Systems, methods and graphical user interfaces for interacting with Augmented and Virtual Reality environments.’ The title is reported to be a part of an existing patent filed by the Cupertino based technology company in August 2018. The patent states that the AR headset could be connected with a computer or an iPhone wirelessly and give the user an experience into the AR world. Apple might also put a ‘touch-sensitive surface’ on the AR so that the user could interact with the environment. The report also mentioned that Apple might release the AR headset next year.
The report further mentioned that Apple is developing prototypes for its AR headset. And these prototypes had a cordless device which could connect and communicate with other separate devices which are powered by the Apple’s processing brain wirelessly. This basically means that the company wishes to add another product which could be used in the ‘Apple Ecosystem’.
The first version of Hololens was launched three years ago in 2016 and Microsoft announced the Hololens 2 at MWC 2019, Barcelona, Spain. According to Microsoft, Hololens 2 comes with more functions, power, accessibility and ease of usage with a new computer system. With the newly launched device, users could directly manipulate the holograms projected through the AR headset like they would manipulate the objects in real world.
Chinese smartphone maker Vivo has slashed the price of its Y91 smartphone in India. The handset, that was launched in January this year, has received a price cut of Rs 1,000 and is now available at Rs 9,990. We should add that after Vivo Y91, the company hasn’t launched any other budget smartphones and with this price cut, it has become even more affordable.
Vivo Y91 smartphone has a gradient back panel and a waterdrop-style display notch. The company has also added a dual rear camera setup that comes with AI enhancements. The selfie camera of the device has a face unlock feature and supports portrait mode. At the new price, the smartphone will be competing with smartphones from Xiaomi, Realme and even Samsung’s new M series.
As we mentioned earlier, Vivo Y91 can now be bought at Rs 9,990 and interested buyers can head to Vivo India e-shop, Amazon.in, and Paytm to order the device for themselves. In addition to this, Mumbai-based retailer Mahesh Telecom has suggested via a tweet that offline stores will be offering the Vivo Y91 smartphone at the new price too.
The smartphone was first launched in January this year and it cost Rs 10,990 back then. To recall, the smartphone has a 6.22-inch HD+ Halo FullView display with a screen resolution of 1520×720 pixels and runs Android 8.1 Oreo skinned with Funtouch OS 4.5. Powered by an octa-core MediaTek Helio P22 processor, the device has PowerVR GE8320 GPU and comes with 2GB of RAM.
On the camera front, Vivo Y91 smartphone has a dual rear camera setup that comprises of a 13MP primary sensor with an f/2.2 lens clubbed with a 2MP secondary sensor with an f/2.4 lens. For selfies and video calls, there is an 8MP sensor on the front panel that comes with an f/1.8 lens.
The smartphone has 32GB of onboard storage and can hold a microSD card of up to 256GB. Connectivity options of the Vivo Y91 smartphone include 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth v5.0, GPS, Micro-USB port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Vivo Y91 houses a 4,030mAh battery and comes with a number of sensors like an accelerometer, ambient light sensor, gyroscope, magnetometer, and a proximity sensor.
Just days after Vivo launched its V15 Pro smartphone in India, the company has officially unveiled the younger sibling in a different market too. Vivo V15 Pro has today been launched in Thailand and Malaysia, and much like V15 Pro, it comes with a pop-up selfie camera and a triple rear camera setup.
However, while Vivo 15 Pro (review) is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 SoC, the newly launched V15 smartphone houses MediaTek Helio P70 processor. And instead of an in-display fingerprint scanner like V15 Pro, the Vivo V15 has a physical fingerprint sensor. Here’s a look at the price and specifications of the Vivo V15 smartphone:
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Vivo V15 price
The Vivo V15 smartphone comes with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage. In Thailand, its price has been set at THB 10,999, however, there is no word about the availability of the device. In Malaysia, there is no word about availability as well as the pricing of the Vivo V15 smartphone. the handset is available in Topaz Blue and Glamour Red colour options and comes with a gradient finish. Although we do know that the device will be launched in India, there is no speculation about when it will be launched.
Vivo V15 specifications
Vivo V15 smartphone comes with support for dual SIM cards and runs Android 9.0 Pie skinned with Funtouch OS 9. The smartphone features a 6.53-inch full-HD+ display and is powered by MediaTek Helio P70 processor. The newly launched smartphone comes with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of onboard storage.
On the camera front, Vivo V15 has a pop-up selfie camera with a 32MP sensor that comes with an f/2.0 aperture. It has a triple rear camera setup on its back panel that comprises of a 12MP sensor with an f/1.78 aperture, an 8MP secondary sensor with an f/2.2 aperture and a 5MP sensor with an f/2.4 lens.
The smartphone comes with support for a microSD card of up to 256GB and its connectivity options include 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth v4.2, GPS, FM radio, Micro-USB, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Vivo V15 also has sensors like an accelerometer, ambient light sensor, gyroscope, magnetometer, and a proximity sensor. The smartphone packs a 4,000mAh battery that comes with support for Dual-Engine fast charging technology.
Technology giant Google is taking steps to enhance user privacy in Android smartphones. Have you ever noticed that when you say ‘Ok Google’ your device automatically unlocks? If you found this to be a little disturbing because the feature unlocked your device even when you didn’t want it to, you should be happy. The search giant has decided to get rid of the ability to unlock smartphones with Voice Match and the “Ok Google” command.
So, with an update that it will be rolling out soon, the technology company will fix this ‘problem’. This is being done to make Android smartphones more secure than what they are right now. Post the update, when you say ‘Ok Google’, the ‘Voice Match’ feature would only launch the Assistant interface on the lock screen. Unlike what happens presently, your Android smartphone would not be unlocked just on the basis of voice match.
We should also mention that Google has started rolling out the update already. The Moto Z and Pixel XL smartphones have already lost the ‘feature’ with Google app’s 9.27 update. The same change in functionality will be rolled out to the rest of the devices with Google app’s 9.31 update, according to a report in technology website Engadget.
Currently, on most Android devices, if you say ‘Ok Google’ followed by a question, the smartphone unlocks automatically. With the upcoming update, users will be able to get answers from Google Assistant while their smartphone is locked, but will have to use a biometric scan or password to unlock the device like they normally do.
We should mention that Google has not included the ‘Unlock with Voice Match’ feature in its latest flagship smartphones – Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL. And on CES 2019, the company announced that it will be removing the feature from all Android devices. Seems like Google is keeping up with its promise, as this step would definitely safeguard everyone, as we all know that currently people with who have a voice that is familiar to ours’ can barge into our device just on the basis of a similar voice.
Software giant Microsoft is all set to add a useful feature to its Excel app for Android as well as iOS. With the upcoming update, users who use Microsoft Excel app will be able to click a picture of a printed data table and then convert it into an editable table.
However, the feature is initially rolling out on the Android version of the Excel app and will soon make its way to the iOS app too. The software giant will be using artificial intelligence to implement this feature. Furthermore, even image recognition will be used so that users of the app don’t have to manually input the hardcopy data.
We should also mention that this feature will be available to Microsoft 365 users. That’s not all. The company will also get Microsoft Account security alerts to its Authenticator app. These security alerts can be used for your personal accounts like Outlook.com. The feature would send you notifications when an account password is changed and about other account related activities.
Sometime back, the software giant also announced that it will be ending support for the Windows 7 operating system. However, if your laptop currently runs on the operating system there’s no need to panic, as Microsoft has also said that this step will come into action starting January 14, 2020. So, that gives users enough time to upgrade.
We should mention that Microsoft ended mainstream support for Windows 7 operating system back in 2015. And the recent announcement that the company made talks about the free security updates that Microsoft provides for Windows 7. After the aforementioned date, the software major will stop rolling out those too at the beginning of next year. So, if you choose to not upgrade your operating system, your laptop will be vulnerable to security hacks.
However, if you are an enterprise user, you needn’t worry as you will get more time to upgrade. This is because the company had announced last year that it will be offering Windows 7 Extended Security Updates till January 2023.
Chinese smartphone company Vivo’s sub-brand iQOO has finally launched its gaming smartphone in China. Vivo iQoo is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 855 SoC, and comes with 44W fast charging. It also has some gaming-centric features like pressure-sensitive buttons on its sides and liquid cool technology.
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Vivo iQOO gaming smartphone price and availability
Vivo iQOO gaming smartphone‘s first sale in China will begin on March 6 and registrations for the same are open already. The price of the 6GB RAM/128GB storage model of the handset is 2,998 yuan, which is approximately Rs 31,700, and the model that comes with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage costs 3,298 yuan, which is approximately Rs 34,900.
A third variant that comes with 256GB storage is priced at 3,598 yuan, which is approximately Rs 38,000. The most high-end model has 12GB RAM and 256GB storage is priced at 4,298 yuan which, on conversion, becomes Rs 45,500. The device is available in Blue and Orange colour options.
Vivo iQOO gaming smartphone specifications
The newly launched Vivo iQOO gaming smartphone comes with a 6.41-inch display that has a resolution of 2,340 x1,080 pixels and sports a waterdrop-shaped notch on top. The device also has an in-display fingerprint scanner. Vivo iQOO gaming smartphone comes with a triple rear camera with a 12MP Sony IMX363 sensor, a 12MP wide-angle sensor, and a 2MP depth-sensor. On the front, there is a 12MP sensor that can be used for selfies and video calls.
The handset is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 processor paired with up to 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. The device houses a 4,000mAh battery and comes with support for Vivo’s 44W SuperFlash charging technology that is said to charge the smartphone in 45 minutes.
It also comes with a ‘Super Liquid Cooling’ technology that can keep the smartphone cool during long gaming sessions.
We should mention that the Vivo iQOO gaming smartphone has a Multi-turbo gaming feature that can boost app startup by 30%. It also helps in uninterrupted gaming sessions by making sure that the smartphone can switch between 4G and Wi-Fi on its own.
On February 20, Samsung launched its latest Galaxy S10 flagship smartphones. The new smartphones by Samsung have a feature using which users can remap the Bixby button. Samsung also rolled out the same feature for its older Galaxy flagships including Galaxy S8, Galaxy S8+, Galaxy S9, Galaxy S9+, Galaxy Note 8 and Galaxy Note 9. So, the update would roll out to all Samsung Galaxy smartphones that have a dedicated Bixby button and have the One UI based on Android Pie running on them.
With the update, you can remap it to launch any other app of your choice including camera, Twitter, Gmail, Google Maps.
However, you will not be able to re-program the Bixby button to launch another digital assistant of your choice. So, if you have a preference for Google Assistant or Cortana, you would still have to rely on apps to use them as they can’t be made to work via the Bixby button.
But even then, this update is a welcome change for most Samsung Galaxy flagship mobile users as Bixby never really became a favourite among masses. Other digital assistants from Google, Amazon and Apple have always garnered more appreciation.
Here’s look at how you can remap the Bixby button on your Samsung Galaxy S8, Galaxy S8+, Galaxy S9, Galaxy S9+, Galaxy Note 9 and Galaxy Note 8:
Update your Bixby app to version 2.1.04.18 or higher. You can only remap the button with this version.
Launch the Bixby app on your Samsung smartphone and press on the three-dot icon on the right side of the screen.
Click on the Settings option.
Scroll down and click on the configuration options under Bixby key.
Here, you will find the option of launching Bixby on a single press or on a double press. It is worth noticing that Bixby cannot be disabled completely. It will either launch at a single press or a double press. You would also be able to choose from here which app you want to launch instead.
We really hope to see an option of launching Google Assistant or Cortana or Amazon’s Alexa via the Bixby button too. However, for now, this cannot be done as the update does not support it.
Popular instant messaging app WhatsApp is working on a number of new features like Dark Mode, a group invitation control feature and others. And now, reports of a new ‘Advanced Search’ feature have surfaced online. It is being said that the feature will let users search for photos, links, audio, GIF images and videos. This will, of course, be beside the usual text search that is already present on the app. The Advanced Search will also show recent searches too.
However, we should mention that the report said that the feature would first be available to all iOS beta app users in a future update. And eventually, it will trickle down to WhatsApp users too.
It is worth noticing that WhatsApp already has a Search feature would enable users to search for specific chats. However, as of now, users can only search for texts. With ‘Advanced Search’, users will be able to search different types of messages and even media like images, GIFs, videos, documents, links and audio.
The news about this upcoming feature was first reported by WABetaInfo, a Twitter account that keeps a track of WhatsApp’s beta versions. The report claims that once you tap on the Advanced Search bar, you will be informed about how many media files are stored in your WhatsApp Storage.
So, if you tap on Photos, WhatsApp will open all the pictures in the groups and chats in the form of a list. There will also be a preview before that, so you would be able to avoid going through each photo individually to see it. You can also filter your search further by typing more specific words in your search bar.
The Advanced Search will work similarly in case of GIFs, links, or documents. As we mentioned earlier, you would also be able to see your recent history and searches if you want.
However, this feature is currently under development and it will be made available to all iOS beta app users in the next few days. If you wish to become a WhatsApp iOS user, you would have to download the TestFlight app from App Store and request for a slot. And if you wish to become a WhatsApp beta user on Android, you can read our step-by-step guide to know how.
Social media giant Facebook is reportedly working on its own cryptocurrency and the company’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg is very ambitious about this new project. Over 50 engineers have been busy working on the new cryptocurrency that the social media plans to launch.
But then, Facebook is not the only one who is working on this. Even apps like Telegram and Signal want to roll out their new cryptocurrencies in the next one year, according to The New York Times.
The report cited people familiar with the matter saying, “The most anticipated but secretive project is underway at Facebook. The company is working on a coin that users of WhatsApp, which Facebook owns, could send to friends and family instantly.”
Telegram, which has almost 300 million users globally, is working on its own digital coin and so is Signal. The report further mentions that there are other apps in South Korea, Kakao and Line that will also be rolling out their own digital currency.
To recall, Facebook has a plan of merging Messenger, Telegram, and Instagram, and because of this, the digital currency would reportedly reach “2.7 billion people who use one of the three apps each month”.
We should mention that last year, Facebook’s long time in-charge David Marcus, said in a blog post that the company is setting up a small of group of people to understand how to best leverage Blockchain across Facebook.
Facebook also promoted Evan Cheng as the Director of Engineering at its Blockchain division, which shows how important the project is to the company and the fact that it is serious about it.
Other than this, Zuckerberg has also been quoted saying that users soon will be able to login to Facebook with Blockchain-based authentication.
In an interview with Harvard Law professor Jonathan Zittrain, Zuckerberg said, “I’m thinking about going back to decentralised or Blockchain authentication. Although I haven’t figured out a way to make this workout but this is around authentication and basically granting access to your information and to different services.”
The company has also said in a statement, “Like many other companies, Facebook is exploring ways to leverage the power of Blockchain technology.”
Chinese gaming giant Tencent has announced that it will be adding curbs on underage video-game playing. The company will be doing this in order to support the Chinese government’s crackdown on youth gaming addiction. The fact that scores of young people have become addicted to games from Tencent has cast a cloud over the company’s biggest revenue source.
According to Tencent, it has now imposed a digital lock on some of its games. So with these locks in place, players under 13 years of age will have to ask their guardians to open the game for them. We should say that this should definitely prove to be effective as it will give parents some level of control over the kind of time their child is spending playing video games.
The digital lock will first be enabled on the Chinese versions of Honor of Kings and PUBG Mobile, both of which are extremely popular games and have scores of fans across the globe.
We should mention that the government in China had last year announced some new controls on the number of games that can be played on the internet and has imposed a limit on the number of new releases. It had also come up with rules for underage players in order to decrease their screen time. Right after President Xi Jinping called everyone in the country to pay more attention to optical health, the Chinese government had said that the curbs that they have imposed are justified as they are a way to stop the worsening near-sightedness among minors.
Tencent has already launched a real-name identification system for its game Honour of Kings in order to impose restrictions on playtime for youths.
We should also add that it is not only in China that the company is facing flak for its games being too addictive. There are many in India who want a ban imposed on PUBG Mobile too. The Gujarat government has told all the primary schools in the state to ban the game within school premises. There is a student body in Jammu and Kashmir that wants a ban on PUBG Mobile because they say the game contributed to their poor results in examinations. There are also people who want a nation-wide ban imposed on the popular game for being too addictive.
Twitter users are finally going to get a feature which they wanted for a long time – the one that lets you hid your tweets. This new ‘Hide Tweet’ feature was confirmed by the company itself today. According to Twitter, with the new ‘Hide Tweet’ feature the users will now have the option to protect their conversations. The feature was spotted in Twitter’s code first and is now available from a list of other choices which appear when the user clicks the ‘Share’ button on a tweet. The ‘Hide Tweet’ will mute or block a user but at the same time it will offer some control over the conversation.
Similarly, a ‘View Hidden Tweets’ feature was also found, which allows the users to unhide the previously hidden tweets by the original tweet poster. The new Twitter feature was first found by Jane Manchun Wong, who tweeted about the feature on Thursday. According to Wong, she found the feature hidden within the code of Twitter Android application.
Later, a Twitter spokesperson confirmed the news that the feature was truly being developed by the company.
However, till now the function of the Hide Tweet button was unclear – we were not sure if the button would hide the tweet from everyone’s view or just from the person who had clicked the hide button. If the former was true, then there it could be a serious issue as people could hide their suspicious and offending tweets from everyone’s views.
On Thursday, Twitter Senior PM Michelle Yasmeen Haq posted an explanation about what the Hide Tweet feature is all about and what would it do.
Twitter is testing replies moderation. It lets you to hide replies under your tweets, while providing an option to show the hidden replies pic.twitter.com/dE19w4TLtp
We often hear from heavy Tweeters that they want to be able to protect their conversations…
People who start interesting conversations on Twitter are really important to us, and we want to empower them to make the conversations they start as healthy as possible by giving them some control.
We think of conversations as an ecosystem of different groups: authors, repliers, the audience and the platform. We try to balance the experience across all four groups, and we are continuously exploring ways to shift the balance without overcorrecting.
We already see people trying keep their conversations healthy by using block, mute, and report, but these tools don’t always address the issue. Block and mute only change the experience of the blocker, and report only works for the content that violates our policies.
With this feature, the person who started a conversation could choose to hide replies to their tweets. The hidden replies would be viewable by others through a menu option.
We think the transparency of the hidden replies would allow the community to notice and call out situations where people use the feature to hide content they disagree with. We think this can balance the product experience between the original Tweeter and the audience.
In the coming months, we plan to start testing this publicly so stay tuned for more and keep telling us what you think!
Twitter has already been under constant pressure from fans and critics alike and most agree that it needs to improve its overall conversational health on the platform. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey in a recent interview said that Twitter was looking into new ways to proactively enforce and promote health. That’s why blocking or reporting a user or tweet was last resorts.
It should also be kept in mind that Twitter tests a lot of new things and features that they never implement on the actual public platform. So, only time will tell when the company will implement the new feature on the actual social platform.
Vivo recently launched its V15 Pro smartphone in India that is touted to come with a triple rear camera setup, a pop-up selfie camera and an in-display fingerprint scanner. The company has also added a 48MP primary sensor on the Vivo V15 Pro smartphone. But is the company only talking about these features to market the device better? Or is Vivo V15 Pro actually that good? Read the rest of our review to find out:
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Design and Display
Vivo V15 Pro smartphone’s front panel is completely dominated by the nearly bezel-less display. It comes without a notch on its screen thanks to the pop-up selfie camera that is similar to the one we saw on the company’s NEX handset. While this smartphone can provide the same full-screen experience like the NEX smartphone, there are some aspects that are better in spite of the fact that the latter is a flagship and the former falls in the mid-range segment. For instance, the device has a face unlock feature, which NEX doesn’t and Vivo V15 Pro’s in-display fingerprint scanner works better than the one seen on the company’s flagship.
Flip over, and you will see that the design of the back panel of Vivo V15 Pro is very impressive. The top left corner of the rear panel of the mobile has a black-coloured strip that houses the triple rear camera setup of the smartphone, LED flash as well as the pop-up selfie camera module. Vivo V15 Pro is available in Topaz Blue and Ruby Red colour variants and the one that we got for review was dressed in Blue.
The smartphone has a plastic body and we have to admit that in this price segment, we did expect something better. However, we should add that in no way does it hamper the device’s look. In fact, if you are someone who gets worried about the glass back panels fragility, this may actually prove to be better for you.
One handed usage on the smartphone was not a problem at all. Its rounded corners and slightly curved back panel helped with that a lot. While the right edge of the Vivo V15 Pro comes with the volume rocker and power buttons, the left one has the Google Assistant key and the microSD card slot. The top houses the 3.5mm headphone jack and the bottom has a microUSB port, SIM card slot, and the speaker grill placed on it.
To sum it up, we would say that we really liked many aspects of the design of this smartphone. The pop-up selfie camera gave the handset a very futuristic look, and the back panel is quite a stunner. We liked the fact that no fingerprint smudges stay on the device’s rear panel and the gradient colours add to its premium look. Some may not like the plastic finish, but it wasn’t an issue for us.
Coming to the 6.39-inches full HD+ Super AMOLED display of the smartphone, we really liked it. The colours were very rich and the blacks were deep. So no matter what you use your device for – watching videos or gaming – your experience will be a good one, also because there is no notch on top. We could easily use the smartphone under sunlight and the viewing angles were consistent.
Coming to the in-display fingerprint scanner of the smartphone, it was better than Vivo NEX, but we have to admit one thing: It didn’t recognise our fingerprint all the time. This was particularly true when our finger was moist. However, it is definitely an improvement over earlier models. In a nutshell, we would say that our experience with the smartphone’s display was a good one. It is one of the good aspects of the Vivo V15 Pro.
Performance and Cameras
Performance is something many mid-level smartphones try to offer. Does the Vivo V15 Pro excel in this area? Let’s find out. Before that, let’s run you down through its specifications. Vivo V15 Pro runs Android 9.0 Pie skinned with FunTouch OS 9. It features a 6.39-inch Ultra FullView FHD+ Super AMOLED display that has an on-screen fingerprint scanner, too. Powered by an 11nm octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 AIE processor clubbed with 6GB of RAM, the device packs 128GB of internal storage. For more storage, users can add a microSD card of up to 256GB.
On the camera front, Vivo V15 Pro sports a triple camera setup on its back panel that includes a 48MP million quad pixel sensor with f/1.8 aperture, an 8MP super wide angle sensor with f/2.2 aperture and a 5MP sensor with f/2.4 aperture. For selfies and video calls, there is a 32MP pop-up front camera that has an f/2.0 aperture. The smartphone’s cameras come with AI enhancements. Vivo V15 Pro houses a 3,700mAh battery that has support for Dual-Engine Fast Charging.
Coming to the software of the device, it is a heavily customised version of Android, unlike most other smartphones that have been launched recently. Like all other Vivo smartphones, the Quick Settings are not integrated with the notification panel, but instead can be accessed by swiping up from the bottom edge of the smartphone.
On the downside, Vivo V15 Pro came with a lot of bloatware. The pre-installed apps on the device include UC browser, Amazon, Facebook, PhonePe, Paytm, WPS Office and a number of Vivo’s native applications. We personally prefer smartphones that come with no bloatware. The closer a smartphone’s software is to stock Android, the better and cleaner it is.
Vivo V15 Pro smartphone has the motorbike and gaming modes that promise to enhance the experience. Furthermore, it also comes with the Jovi assistant, which lets you put smart reminders and has features like smart planning and image recognizer. The smartphone also supports motion-based gestures and a virtual easy touch button.
Coming to its performance, the Vivo V15 Pro is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 processor and it comes with 6GB RAM and 128GB onboard storage. The device runs smoothly. There was no lag while launching or switching between apps and the smartphone didn’t slow down even when we had 10 apps running in the background.
We tried gaming on the device and even graphics hungry games like PUBG Mobile ran very smoothly. When we tried playing games like Asphalt 9: Legends while using our smartphone for navigation, the smartphone still handled it without heating up.
The 3,700mAh battery is another good aspect of the Vivo V15 Pro smartphone. It lasted easily more than a day with usage involving social media browsing, gaming, watching YouTube videos and shows on Hotstar, and more.
But we still wouldn’t call it the best aspect of Vivo V15 Pro, as we feel that the cameras of the smartphone deserve to be called that. In some aspects, the device’s cameras even surpass the ones on Vivo NEX. Yes, in some aspects only. The device has a triple rear camera setup comprising of a 48MP primary sensor, 8MP wide-angle lens and 5MP depth of field sensor.
But then, we should point out that the 48MP primary camera of the smartphone combines four 0.8μm pixels into one 1.6μm pixel as it uses the Samsung GM1 sensor. This basically means that you get images that are 12MP in resolution. The company does provide an option to shoot images in 48MP resolution too and you can enable it via Settings. However, we preferred the 12MP images. Needless to say, the images taken were absolutely stunning. They were sharp, clear, rich in details and colours. We managed to click some very high-quality images during our time with the smartphone. The macro shots, especially, turned out to be really great.
In addition to this, you also have the option of clicking 120-degree wide-angle images and portrait shots whose depth of field you can adjust. There are also options that enable you to click live photos, apply filters, use AR stickers and beauty mode. Vivo V15 Pro’s camera also comes with AI-enabled scene recognition and portrait framing.
We personally found these additions to be very useful. And the images taken from the wide-angle lens and the shots with depth enabled turned out to be good too. The best thing about the smartphone’s photography is that its performance remains consistent when it is being used in the dark too. However, there was one thing that we were not very happy with. When we tried shooting 4K videos with the camera, it took the sensor abnormally long to focus on certain objects at times. It was slightly annoying, as the rest of the experience that we had with the cameras was very good.
Now, let’s talk about the 32MP pop-up selfie camera. We simply loved it. However, we should again point out that the images you will get will have a resolution of 8MP. The images taken with the selfie camera were really good. And the best part is that it didn’t make our skin look artificially smooth or turn our skin unnaturally light just to make the images look ‘good’.
Although we were a little sceptical about how the face unlock would work, it worked each and every time for us. In fact, we preferred it over the in-display fingerprint scanner. It even worked in the dark, which is a very big plus on our test sheets.
We ran a few benchmarks on our device. While it scored 2,390 and 6,503 in Geekbench 4, it managed a 1,80,694 in Antutu. All indicating good performance.
Verdict and Final Thoughts
We have to admit, when we first started using the Vivo V15 Pro smartphone, we thought it had several features that the company claimed to have added in order to market it better. However, we were very happy to be proven off beam. The triple rear cameras were superb, the selfie camera gives amazing results, the battery life lasts long and the device has a vibrant display.
The performance of the smartphone was powerful and it could handle graphic heavy games and multi-tasking with ease. However, the plastic body may not be liked by all and the fingerprint scanner could be better. But then, the pros dwarf the cons, and at Rs 28,990, we totally recommend you to go for the Vivo V15 Pro. Trust us, you wouldn’t regret it.
Chinese smartphone brand OnePlus has become very regular with Android updates lately. It was very prompt about rolling out the latest Android update to OnePlus 6, OnePlus 5T and OnePlus 5 smartphones. And now, the company has announced that it will be skipping the Android 8.1 Oreo update on its OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T smartphones. Instead, it will directly be updating them to Android Pie.
While it has now been confirmed that the company will be rolling out the update to OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T, it will only be followed by the security patch update that is all set to come to the devices.
OnePlus community manager, David Y confirmed this on the company’s forum page that is full of queries about the timeline of Android Pie coming to the OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T handsets. He said that the company will first be rolling out a security patch based on Android Oreo, and then the Android Pie update will follow. His comment on the platform read, “Can’t you guys just go and do something more meaningful than chasing the update…(facepalm).”
However, we should mention that even though there is a confirmation about the update, there is no specific date or timeline that has been mentioned by the company yet. But then, once you get the Android security patch update, the Android Pie update should arrive soon.
We should mention that OnePlus has been responding to queries about the delayed Android Pie update to its OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T users very regularly.
In an unrelated piece of news today, OnePlus has rolled out an update to OnePlus 5 and OnePlus 5T smartphones that will bring Google Duo integration to the devices. The same update is also expected to come to OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T smartphones soon. With this, users will be able to video call their contacts via the contact list only and they wouldn’t have to go a separate app to do so.
The update was initially scheduled to roll out to OnePlus 6T, OnePlus 6, OnePlus 5T, OnePlus 5, OnePlus 3T and OnePlus 3 smartphones.
Social media giant Facebook has today added a new feature to its service today that will let users share events via Stories. The feature, which is now rolling out globally, lets users add events they are attending to Stories so that they can share it with their friends. This way, interested friends can be a part of the event too. Till now, one could create events on Facebook, and invite his friends to it or to other existing events on the social media platform.
Facebook also sent notifications to users when one of their friends showed an interest in a particular event or marked himself as ‘Going’. However, now things are set to change as when you will go to an event page now, you will see the option of ‘Share to Your Story’ there. Facebook is only rolling out this feature globally after it has been successful in the US, Mexico and Brazil.
We should also mention that the Story format also has an ‘Interested’ button and it is for those who will see the event in their friend’s Story. It will work exactly as it does in the News Feed. Other than this, you can also now send an event as a ‘group message’ to all the users who wish to attend.
According to reports, the new feature has been made for young users on the social media platform. Facebook’s user base has been decreasing as a number of young people on the website have slowly migrated to apps like Instagram and Snapchat.
To recall, Facebook had announced some new features for its ‘Groups’ which help admins to manage their groups in a way that is simpler than earlier. Group admins can now access some post formatting tools that help them inform a group member when they violate rules of the group. They can also now search through membership requests by the names and filter them according to dates.
Facebook will soon also be holding its F8 conference in the next few months and it has opened registrations for the same already. The event is all set to take place in San Jose, California. It will begin on April 30 and go on till May 1.
Viewsonic, a company known for making visual products like monitor, displays and projectors has launched a 4K projector named X10-4K LED at an event in Mumbai today. Two other projectors as well were launched alongside the 4K projector – M1+ portable projector and the LS800 HD.
Speaking about the launch of the new products, Muneer Ahmad, Business Head of Projectors, ViewSonic India said “We are delighted to launch X10-4K, LS800 HD and M1+ projectors with an aim to provide high quality products to our customers. The new 4K Ultra HD Lamp Free Smart Theatre X10-4K LED Portable Projector delivers impressive display and intelligent performance. Continuing our legacy of providing the best of products to our audience, the new projectors are packed with the latest smart technologies giving users an incredible and truly immersive visual and audio experience.”
ViewSonic X10-4K LED portable projector price, specifications and features
The ViewSonic X10 4K projector features Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant Voice Control compatibility, which basically means that the projector can register sound and can be controlled by voice commands. It also packs an integrated Smart TV interface so that the user can stream TV shows and movies from online sources like YouTube and Netflix. The projector comes with an integrated Harmon Kardon speakers and other built-in smart technologies. The newly launched device includes HDMI 2.0/HDCP 2.2, USB 2.0 Type-A, Type-C, Audio In/Out, and RJ45 for connectivity.
The X10 4K LED portable projector sports a DLP 4K Ultra HD (3840 x 2160 pixel) chip with XPR technology. It promises an operational life of up to 30,000 hours and comes with a built-in OS and Android Aptoide store from where the user can download apps. The 4K LED projector from ViewSonic features 125% of Rec.709 colour accuracy and Frame Interpolation technology which reduces motion blur and ensures fluid multimedia content projection. Along with that, it has HDR content support which promises detailed video playback, contrast, and vivid colors. It has a lightweight design and is easily carriable as it comes with a handle.
The ViewSonic X10 4K LED portable projector will cost Rs 3,50,000 and will be available from spring of 2019.
ViewSonic M1+ LED portable projector price, specifications and features
The other projector launched by the company is the ViewSonic M1+ LED ultra-portable projector. Just like the X10 4K LED projector, the M1+LED projector is also mobile and weighs less than two pounds. It comes with a built-in battery that, according to the company, will give up to six hours of battery life and the LEDs used in it has up to 30,000 usage hours. It comes with 300 ANSI lumens of brightness and 1,20,000:1 contrast ratio along with dual Harman Kardon speakers.
For connectivity, the ViewSonic M1+LED ultra-portable projector comes with Bluetooth, HDMI, USB 2.0, USB Type C, Audio Out and a MicroSD card reader. It packs the solid-state LED technology which makes the projector mercury and lamp free. It costs Rs 60,000 and will be available from Spring of 2019.
M1+
ViewSonic LS800 HD price, features and specifications
The last projector unveiled by the company is named ViewSonic LS800HDand it is a Full HD 1080p phosphor-based projector. It features a brightness of 5,000 ANSI Lumens and a contrast ratio of 1,00,000:1 with up to 30,000 hours of light source life. The LS800HD comes with ViewSonic’s SuperColor technology and it promises to deliver advanced colour reproduction. Unlike the abovementioned projectors from ViewSonic, the LS800HD is focused mainly for the offices and schools or universities.
The ViewSonic LS800 HD will be priced at Rs 3,65,000 and just like the other two projectors, it too will be available from Spring of 2019.
OnePlus has released its new software update for its OnePlus 5 and OnePlus 5T smartphones with a build number OxygenOS 9.0.4. The latest software update from OnePlus brings many improvements and a number of changes over the older version of software. The update also brings deep integration of Google Duo – a feature that was recently announced by the company.
According to OnePlus, the update will be released today onwards and will reach a limited number of users at first. The update will be rolled out according to the region and some regions might get the update sooner than the others. But it is confirmed that over the next few days, the update will be rolled out to all the other OnePlus 5 and OnePlus 5T users.
A post on OnePlus’s official forum stated that OxygenOS 9.0.4 update for the OnePlus 5 and OnePlus 5T includes the Android security patch of January along with improved stability for OTA upgrades, bug fixes, system improvements and more. Other than that, the latest update also brings network stability and deep integration with Google Duo, that will bring video calling features to Call Logs, Contacts, Dial Pad and Messaging.
The OxygenOS 9.0.4 is being rolled as an OTA (over-the-air) update and OnePlus 5 and OnePlus 5T users will receive the notification once the update has reached their region. The size of the update is 1,741MB. If the users haven’t received the update notification, they would need to update their smartphone manually. They would need to go to Settings, then head to System and then to Software updates. Once clicked, the update will start downloading. Once downloaded, the users can update their devices to the latest OxygenOS.
Yesterday, OnePlus was said that it was going to roll out the beta version of the new OxygenOS for OnePlus 6 and OnePlus 6T too. So, we might see the updates in its newer phones as well. Prior to that, the company had revealed that its previous models, OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T will be getting the latest Android Pie update soon. The newest update was supposed to arrive mid-2018 but the company failed to do so.
Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi is best known for its affordable phones and most of its devices that are unveiled in China are also launched in India sooner or later. But then, there is a Xiaomi handset which hasn’t been launched in India till now – Black Shark.
Xiaomi Black Shark is a gaming smartphone by the company and competes with the likes of Asus ROG phone or Razer Phone 2. But it will change soon as Xiaomi is setting up a Black Shark phone brand HQ in India, and this can point towards the launch of the gaming smartphone in the country.
Xiaomi’s Black Shark gaming phone was launched a year ago and had a limited release only in the UK and Europe. But the Chinese smartphone manufacturer is still working to bring its gaming phone in other markets as well. Black Shark is Xiaomi’s sub-brand, much like Poco, which was started back in 2017. But this year, the company announced that they will be setting up a Black Shark HQ in Bengaluru, India.
In the first half of 2018 the Xiaomi Black Shark was launched followed by its successor, the Xiaomi Black Shark Helo which was released in the second half of the year. But bringing the Black Shark to India might get mixed views as the smartphone is priced higher than other Xiaomi phones. It might match the price of Xiaomi Mi 8, or may be priced even higher. It is also true that Xiaomi’s Poco F1, which was also launched under a sub-brand, received mixed reviews because it was priced a little higher than regular Xiaomi smartphones. But still the phone sold and made headlines, it packed a flagship processor but wasn’t priced like the other flagships like the OnePlus 6T or Samsung Note 9, both of which were powered by the same processor as Poco F1.
Similarly, Xiaomi Black Shark is powered by Snapdragon 845 SoC and has up to 8GB of RAM. It comes with 128GB of storage and houses a 4,000mAh battery. Currently, it is not known when the Black Shark will be made available in India but Xiaomi is sending out press releases to announce of its arrival in the country.
Rest easy that you'll never have to leave accidentally mid-battle 🎮🔫
Black Shark's Gamedock gives you the ability to switch off the keypad, find out more below! pic.twitter.com/4I5E9eC1Iw
The Indian HQ of Black Shark will be led by David Li who is the current Vice President of the company’s global division. He will be responsible for managing the overall operations and production of Black Shark in India. In the newly formed team is ex-OnePlus communications head, Chirag Nagendra who will be handling the brand building and coming up with communications strategy for India’s marketing campaign.
Popular battle royale game Fortnite has just rolled out its Season 8 update. And with this latest update, the game has got a number of changes. But before we get started about the changes, we should mention what’s going on in the background story as of now. The Ice King’s castle’s powerful prisoner has been set free, and now, he has bought fire and flame to Fortnite. However, there is a new treasure as well.
But in order to get that, the player has to deal with pirates, ninjas and other fighters. Furthermore, a new weapon has been added in Season 8 called the Pirate Cannon, besides new locations and the challenge of playing on a map where you can be hurt by Lava. to know about the changes in detail, read on:
In This Article
Map changes
There are two new additions that may interest you — Sunny Steps and Lazy Lagoon. You can discover new loots at both these locations.
Battle Pass
A new Battle Pass has been added for Fortnite Season 8. You can collect it for free, but for that, you will need to collect thirteen free Overtime Challenges during the Fortnite Share the Love event. However, if you fail, you can buy it for 950 V-bucks. Once you buy the Battle Pass, you will have access to Blackheart and Hybrid outfits.
New Items
As we mentioned earlier, Fortnite Season 8 has got the new Pirate Cannon, which can be found throughout the environment.
You can either use the cannon to aim and fire at other or you can climb into the barrel and launch yourself. It can fire cannonballs as well as players at a great distance.
However, some items have also been discontinued in Fortnite Season 8. These include:
Sneaky Snowman
Chiller Grenade
X-4 Stormwing
Shopping Cart
All Terrain Kart
And now, finally, here’s a look at Fortnite season 8 gameplay patch notes:
Plankerton Visual Update (including the Lakeside Biome).
Hiding “Squad” tab from the in-game inventory screen. However, we should add that improvements are still being made to this and will re-feature it in the future.
Hover Turret: Reduced damage per hit from 15 to 12
Proximity Mine:
Reduced recharge time from 200 seconds to 60 seconds
Increased starting charges from 2 to 4
Increased bonus charges from Skill Tree Upgrades from 1 to 3 each (now maxes out at 10 charges)
Reduced damage from 230 to 183
No longer causes knockback
Increased stability when placing tracks and B.A.S.E. in the builder pro configuration
Driftboards can now be destroyed by lava.
Driftboards are no longer slowed when going up ramps
Geysers can now affect Driftboards.
Driftboards can no longer be pushed with high impact weapons.
The bug fixes of the update include:
Fixed invisible Driftboard collision when riding over a weather balloon landing site.
Fixed issue with the Hoverboard being in the ground for other players.
If you wanted to buy a flagship smartphone at an affordable price, now is a good time for you to do so. Chinese smartphone brand Oppo has slashed the price of its R17 Pro smartphone in India. The company has reduced the price of its Oppo R17 Pro smartphone by Rs 6,000, so now, it can be bought at Rs 39,990. We should mention that Oppo R17 Pro was launched by the smartphone maker in India in December last year and back then, it cost Rs 45,990.
There are a number of high-end features and specifications in the smartphone. For instance, Oppo R17 Pro comes with a triple rear camera setup, Super VOOC fast charging, and AMOLED screen that has an in-display fingerprint scanner embedded in it and a waterdrop-shaped notch on top.
We should mention that Oppo F17 Pro is available in Radiant Mist and Emerald Green colour options in India and it can be picked up from Amazon India’s website or offline stores across the country.
Oppo R17 Pro specifications
To recall, Oppo R17 Pro mobile sports a 6.4-inch full HD+ AMOLED display that has a waterdrop-shaped notch on top and comes with a screen-to-body ratio of 91.5%. It is also protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 6. Powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon octa-core 710 processor, the Oppo R17 Pro smartphone comes with Adreno 616 GPU and 8GB of RAM. The device packs 128GB of storage, however, it does not have support for a microSD card.
For imaging duties, Oppo R17 Pro sports a triple rear camera setup with a 12MP primary sensor with f/1.5-2.4 variable aperture, a 20MP secondary sensor and a 3D ToF lens coupled with LED flash. On the front panel, Oppo R17 Pro comes with a 25MP selfie camera with AI Beautify mode.
Opppo R17 Pro smartphone runs Android 8.1 Oreo skinned with ColorOS 5.2 and houses a 3,700mAh battery. We should add that the device’s battery has support for the company’s Super VOOC fast charging that is claimed to charge the smartphone by up to 40% in 10 minutes. The connectivity options of the Oppo R17 Pro smartphone include dual-SIM, 4G VoLTE, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS.
The leaked smartphone specifications on Geekbench was spotted by Droidshout. According to the leaks, the model number of the Oppo F11 Pro is CPH1969. The single-core score of the Oppo F11 Pro is listed at 1,573 while the multi-core score is listed at 5,844. According to the listing, the smartphone sports a 6.5-inch Full HD LTPS LCD display with a 1080 x 2340 resolution and screen-to-body ratio of 90.9%. The smartphone is expected to come in two storage variants – 64GB and 128GB storage.
Besides this, a few other details about the smartphone have been reported by MySmartPrice. The Oppo F11 Pro smartphone will pack a dual rear camera setup with a 48MP primary sensor with an f/1.79 aperture and the other camera will be a 5MP sensor with f/2.0 aperture. It will reportedly pack a 4,000mAh battery and will have Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS and BeiDou for connectivity. It is expected to weigh around 190 grams and measures at 161.3 x 76.1 x 8.8 mm. The reports further mention that there will be Aurora Green and Thunder Black colour options along with a triple colour gradient variant of the smartphone.
Some confirmed features of the Oppo F11 Pro include the 48MP primary camera, VOOC 3.0 fast charging support along with Super Night mode for better low light photography. The presence of a pop-up selfie camera like the Vivo V15 Pro which was launched a week ago. The smartphone’s back panel will sport a rear fingerprint sensor unlike the Vivo V15 Pro which houses an in-display fingerprint scanner.
Oppo released a product overview video of the F11 Pro which showcases some of the features and specifications it will have. It might be priced at the sub Rs 12,000 – 15,000 range with closest competitor being the Redmi Note 7 Pro.
We should mention that Realme 3’s Flipkart listing takes a jab at the recently launched Redmi Note 7 in India. The listing cleverly says, “Faster 12nm Helio P70 AI processor Vs. 14nm processor. Now, we all know that Redmi Note 7 smartphone has been launched with 14nm Snapdragon 660 SoC yesterday, so it doesn’t take a genius to guess what Realme is trying to say. While the device will be powered by a 12nm MediaTek Helio P70 processor, the listing also says that Realme 3 will sport a Dew-Drop notch design and come with ‘more than 4,000mAh battery. To be more precise, it has shared the fact that Realme 3 will house a 4,230mAh battery.
There is a possibility that the company might release Realme 3 Pro alongside the Realme 3 just like Xiaomi did with the release of Redmi Note 7 where they also released Redmi Note 7 Pro. We should also mention that it was already mentioned by the company on their Twitter handle that the smartphone will have a MediaTek processor.
Speaking of the ‘dew-drop’ notch, it basically means that the smartphone will have a waterdrop-shaped notch on the top of its screen. The listing of Realme 3 on Flipkart means that the device would be exclusively available on the online shopping platform. The pricing of the phone is not revealed yet but there is a mention of ‘unbelievable price’ on Flipkart, and it is being speculated that the smartphone will be in the Rs 10,000-Rs 12,000 range.
According to earlier reports, Realme 3 will come with a dual rear camera setup with a fingerprint scanner at the back and will have a diamond cut case. It will also have an aspect ratio of 16:9 along with Bluetooth v4.2.
If the price of Realme is closer or similar to that of Redmi Note 7 then we can see a fierce competition between both the devices. But in the end, it will be up to the users what they choose – Snapdragon or MediaTek, Realme or Redmi.
After unveiling its Galaxy A30 and Galaxy A50 smartphones at MWC 2019, Samsung launched the two smartphones along with Galaxy A10 in India yesterday. Samsung Galaxy A50 and Galaxy A30 will be going on sale via Amazon India, Flipkart and Samsung’s online shop starting 12 am IST today.
The newly launched handsets will also be available via Samsung‘s partnered retail stores starting tomorrow. And if you want to be the Samsung Galaxy A10, you would have to wait for March 20 for it to be launched. Here’s a look at the pricing and specifications of the Samsung Galaxy A30 and Galaxy A50 smartphones.
In This Article
Samsung Galaxy A50, Galaxy A30 price in India
While the 4GB RAM/ 64GB storage variant of Samsung Galaxy A50 is priced at Rs 19,990, while the high-end model that comes with 6GB of RAM costs Rs 22,990. The device is available in Black, Blue and White colour options in the country. Samsung Galaxy A30, on the other hand, bears a price tag of Rs 16,990 and can be bought in Black, Blue and Red colours.
As we mentioned earlier, both the smartphones will be available on Amazon India, Flipkart, Samsung’s online shop and retail outlets. While the sale will begin on online outlets at 12 am IST tonight, you can buy them via retail stores tomorrow.
Samsung Galaxy A50 specifications
Samsung Galaxy A50 runs Android Pie skinned with One UI on top and it sports a 6.4-inch full-HD+ Super AMOLED Infinity-U Display that comes with a screen-to-body ratio of 91.6%. Powered by an octa-core Exynos 9610 processor clubbed with up to 6GB of RAM, the device has 64GB of internal storage and can hold a microSD card of up to 512GB. The smartphone has an in-display fingerprint scanner and houses a 4,000mAh battery that supports 15W fast charging.
On the camera front, Samsung Galaxy A50 has a triple rear camera setup that comprises of a 25MP sensor with an f/1.7 lens, a 5MP sensor with an f/2.2 lens, and an 8MP sensor with an f/2.2 lens. For selfies and video calls, there is a 25MP selfie camera that has an f/2.0 lens.
Samsung Galaxy A30 specifications
Samsung Galaxy A30 has the same software and display as the Galaxy A50 smartphone, however, it is powered by the octa-core Exynos 7904 SoC clubbed with 4GB of RAM.
For imaging duties, Samsung Galaxy A30 sports a dual rear camera setup with a 16MP sensor with an f/1.7 lens and a 5MP sensor with an f/2.2 lens. The front panel of the smartphone has the same selfie camera as Galaxy A50. Another difference between the two smartphones is that Galaxy A30 comes with a physical fingerprint sensor mounted on its rear panel.
We should mention that earlier this week, Asus had announced that beta testing of Android Pie update for the device is now open. The company has also started accepting applications on its website from the users who wish to test ZenFone Max Pro M1 beta.
The final stable version of Android 9.0 Pie for Zenfone Max Pro M1 will be rolled out when the company is sure there are no bugs or other issues in the software. This will only happen after Asus completes testing the update with the users who sign up.
The users who want to try out the new beta update can download it from the Asus’s official website. However, before they do that, they would first have to fill an application on the company’s website. Users would also need to share their smartphone’s IMEI information, serial number and current firmware details to be eligible for the participation in the Beta Power User Program.
But Asus says, “Please keep in mind that this is beta software programme, the beta software updates are sometimes not as stable as our official Software Updates. By installing this update, you accept the potential risks.”
The beta update gives an advantage to both the users and the company. While users get to use the newer version of Android, developers find about the bugs in the update that need to be fixed before a stable roll-out.
In a statement on their official website Asus said, “This program gives you access to early updates for feedback and testing so that the official Android Pie update is served as delicious and stable as you’d like it.”
Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 was launched in April 2018 with Android 8.1 Oreo. The company was supposed to release the Pie update by end of February 2019 but it seems like Asus is a little late on their promise. It is still not sure when the beta version will be upgraded with the stable version of Android Pie, however, it shouldn’t take long.
