Kingston and HyperX are some of the well-trusted brands in India, when it comes to PC accessories and components. We had a chance to interact with Mr Vishal Parekh, Marketing Director, Kingston Technology India to understand how the company was doing here. We got some great insights on how the firm is faring and its roadmap, products to come and a special note on the Indian gaming industry. Here is what our conversation was all about.
How is Kingston and HyperX business doing in India? Any numbers you want to share?
India is a key Asian market for both, Kingston and HyperX, in terms of sales, channel partners and community engagements. The market size itself creates immense opportunities for us to showcase products and solutions that help strengthen business operations and productivity. We have focused our energies to strengthen our communication with our stakeholders and to strategically ensure that our value propositions reach the right audience. More essentially from business perspective, we offer the best-in-class after sales service support and with certain internal improvements, we have been able to increase our National TAT (Turn Around Time) for Service to 80% from 60% last year.
From what we see, HyperX has an interesting segment to cater to, which is gaming. There’re growing business opportunities in this segment as the demand for our products has been ever growing. We work with our channel and ecosystem partners to cater to our customers better.
What can we expect from the brand Kingston/HyperX in 2018 in terms of products and devices?
2018 seems to be ‘The Year of Many Firsts’ for us in terms of products. From the HyperX stable, we launched the HyperX Cloud Alpha, the World’s First Gaming headset with Dual Chamber technology and HyperX Stinger Core, our first headset especially for PlayStation 4. From Kingston’s value proposition, we recently launched our Kingston UV500 family of SSDs, our first storage offering with 3D NAND and Hardware Encryption, and the Kingston A1000 SSD, which is our first entry-level NVMe PCIe SSD with 3D NAND.
The list doesn’t end there as there are quite a few exciting products that the Indian market has its eyes glued to. Very soon, your readers will see and probably experience our first HyperX RGB products in India. Not just that, you can expect more revisions and upgrades to our existing portfolio of products and solutions.
A gadget you wished Kingston or HyperX had designed?
This is an interesting question. The speed at which we are adding successful product lines, I wouldn’t be surprised if the product I mention gets added to our portfolio. But, from my opinion and quality that HyperX promises, I would have been excited if we had designed the Tesla X car.
Besides the usual memory and audio products, is Kingston planning to foray into any other gadget segment, maybe a smartphone?
I had a feeling that there would be a similar question. There are no plans at this point to foray into smartphones. However, the answer to the question is still Yes. There are gadget segments that Kingston is adding like the upcoming Nucleum, which sports 7 high quality ports from one USB-C connection or the DataTraveler Bolt Duo, a Dual USB drive for iPhone or iPad.
Vishal Parekh, Marketing Director, Kingston Technology India
What is your take of the Indian gaming scenario? There was a lull period, but it’s gradually picking up, will it finally explode and reach new heights?
To put it bluntly, Indian gaming was more than fragmented till late 2015. This was the time when brands, with interests like ours, worked together to identify and consolidate the gaming communities and help them grow. We worked and invested in creating a steady infrastructure for gamers to participate and improve their skillset. HyperX followed a 3-Tier approach where we
Empower gamers with quality, durable products
Help cafés get better at servicing gamers
Build national professional platforms for gamers to aim for
The gaming industry here is growing at a healthy pace due to the rise in its acceptance from families. What we also see is the increasing drive from gamers to improve their talent with better hardware and better competition. For youngsters, gaming has now become a major source of entertainment due to which there has been a rise in the popularity of the PC gaming, Console gaming and online gaming. It is expected that in coming years, India will emerge as one of the top gaming nations. With our engagements, we aim to develop the casual gamers to professional gaming
Vivo did woo the crowd when they first showcased the in-display fingerprint sensor in the Vivo X21 few months ago. Finally, the smartphone has arrived in India and boy-o-boy does it look good. With a price tag of Rs 35,990 this smartphone will take the fight to OnePlus 6 and Nokia 8, which also lie in the same price bracket.
Specifications
The Vivo X21 has a lot of good things going for it, but first let’s harp a little about its main USP. With the in-display fingerprint reader embed, there is no round or oval physical space/key anywhere on the phone that the user would need to tap to unlock the it. Instead one has to press lightly the bottom middle part of the touchscreen. A sensor lies here and it reads the fingerprint as soon as you tap on it. Pretty neat, if you ask us.
As for the other specifications, the Vivo X21 features an edge to edge 6.28-inch FHD+ super AMOLED touchscreen (2,280×1,080 pixel resolution). This has an aspect ratio of 19:9. 6GB of RAM and 128GB memory is placed on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 chipset, which for us is slightly off-putting as the other smartphones in the bracket have Qualcomm 835 and even 845 chipsets powering them. Moving on, the smartphone does support additional storage and one can install a microSD card up to 256 GB in this device.
Vivo X21 does come with a dual-camera setup at the back powered by a 12MP+5MP sensor combo. The front snapper is also powerful enough to take good selfies, as this one get a 12MP sensor too with f/2.0 aperture. Powering Vivo X21 is a 3,200 mAh battery with fast charge support. Other features include dual-SIM support, Bluetooth 5.0, Android 8.1 Oreo with Vivo’s own Funtouch OS 4.0 over it. This smartphone will be Flipkart exclusive and comes in gold colour option for the Indian market.
This season we have seen leaks, leaks and more leaks of smartphones that are about to be launched. The latest to join the leaked bandwagon is the leading smartphone brand of India, Xiaomi. Slashleaks have revealed the box of the Xiaomi Mi8 in this latest internet leak that shows most of its specifications that the users would want to know. This has come days before the smartphone will be revealed to the world at an event in China.
The photos surfaced by them show that the Xiaomi Mi8 will have a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset (the second phone to have it, after OnePlus 6), 6 GB RAM, 64 GB storage and a dual camera setup, with 20MP sensor. What’s more, is that this smartphone will also support dual-GPS mode that is first in its class. What will happen with the dual-GPS? Well, some say it will strengthen the signal for more accurate reading that apps can use.
Other than that, different reports suggest the Xiaomi Mi8 to have a 6.2-inch FHD+ display with 19:9 ratio. This phone will also have a notch like the OnePlus 6 and seems to be an edge to edge screen driven mobile. A 16 MP sensor will power the front facing camera module, while a 3,300 mAh battery will be giving this smartphone its life juice. This is most likely to be backed by a Quick charge feature that will give the user several hours of talk time in a matter of few minutes of charging.
This smartphone with other gadgets from Brand Xiaomi is set to release on 31st of May. Xiaomi Mi Band 3 and MIUI 10 is also slated to launch at the same event. If the above specs are true, then Xiaomi does seem to have a winner on its hands, as it will keep the price very competitive when compared to OnePlus and Oppo smartphones.
Vivo seems to be on a roll and is on a launching spree of new devices. Well, we have seen this strategy work in the past and makers like Samsung and Xiaomi have made it big using the same road. The company is all set to launch its new Vivo X21 UD smartphone in India on May 29, but before that they have gone ahead and announced the first in its Z series of smartphone called Vivo Z1.
Price
This smartphone was showcased in China and carries a price tag of CNY 1,798 that is Rs 19,150 approximately in India. In terms of the specifications the Vivo Z1 will sport a 6.3-inch (19:9 aspect ratio) edge to edge touch screen with a notch on top, just like the one found on many other devices days, inspired by Apple iPhone X.
Specifications
The Vivo Z1 will have Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 SoC at its core and will come with 4 GB RAM. A Dual camera setup (13MP + 2 MP) is found on this smartphone and the front camera is powered by a 12MP selfie sensor. Fingerprint reader and facial recognition have been added to this smartphones security detail. Vivo Z1 is available in Black, Red and Blue colour variants.
Over that, the Vivo Z1 will also support dual-SIM with 4G and runs Android 8.1 Oreo out of the box. The CPU has clock speed of up to 2.2 GHz and is combined with a 512 Adreno GPU. As far as the storage is concerned, the Vivo Z1 has 64 GB inbuilt memory that can be expanded with the help of a microSD card up to 256 GB using the hybrid SIM tray.
Other features include VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11, GPS, Bluetooth and a 3,260 mAh battery. When is the arrival of this phone in India? Well, that is still unclear, but an industry insiders tell us it will be available in India in the next 30-60 days.
We got our hands on the OnePlus 6 and here is the unboxing and first impressions of the nifty little smartphone.
Technical Specifications of the OnePlus 6*20MP+16MP primary dual camera with OIS, Super Slow motion, Portrait mode and 16MP front facing camera*15.95 centimeters (6.28-inch) FHD+ Full Optic AMOLED 19:9 display with 2280 x 1080 pixels resolution. 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass 5*OxygenOS based on Android Oreo 8.1 with Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 octa core processor*6/8 GB RAM, 64/128 GB internal memory and dual nano SIM dual-standby (4G+4G)*3300mAH lithium Polymer battery with Dash Charge technology*Face Unlock, Fingerprint scanner, Water Resistant, Glass back and NFC enabled
Well about time, Apple is giving a refund of USD 50 or Rs 3,900 to people who have had their batteries replaced from iPhone 6 or later models. If you are one of those who had done so between January 1, 2017 through January 28, 2018 from an authorized iPhone service center in India, then you might also be eligible for the refund.
Apple has said it will alert all its costumer who have done so during that period for its iPhone 6 or later variants. The alert is most likely to come in the form of an e-mail to your registered e-mail address which Apple has. If you have not got an E-mail as yet, then you might want to wait as they will be sending out alerts all through July 2018, too. In case you do not get an E-mail from the company for your refund you can directly contact the company as well. But, you would be required to show the legit papers from an authorized Apple service center, which replaced your iPhones battery.
Alos, the refund is only for those Apple iPhones that had gone out of warranty. The play by Apple comes after the issue of throttling speed came to light in the older gen of Apple iPhones, last year. The company had admitted to this in a statement that they were using software to do so. As a result, the smartphone did become slower than usual spelling doom for the owner. They had no choice but to upgrade to a faster and latest model, or move to a different smartphone all together. As an atonement, now Apple has offered some respite to the consumers who had to go and replace their iPhone 6 or latter’s battery because of this façade. A good move (if you as us) by Apple as it will keep brand loyalty alive.
Taiwanese electronics maker Acer launched a slew of devices at its next@acer global conference yesterday. Among these were its gaming desktops, Nitro 50, Orion 3000 and Orion 5000 series.
Acer introduced its Nitro 50 series of gaming desktops along with Nitro VG0 and RG0 gaming monitors at the event that was held in New York yesterday. Speaking of Acer’s Nitro 50 series, the desktops are powered by up to 8th-generation Intel Core i7 processors coupled with Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 1070 graphics cards. They come with up to 3TB HDD and 512GB SSD.
What’s exciting about them is the fact that they can simultaneously support 4 displays at once and offers 4K resolution visuals. They also support Qi-enabled charging and come with a dedicated handy wireless charging deck for it. They come with armour inspired housing and sport front facing LED lighting that emit red glow. Acer’s Nitro 50 Series also supports Realtek Dragon LAN which optimizes network speed.
The Acer Nitro 50 Series gaming desktops bear a starting price tag of $799 and will be available in US and China starting July. However, it will be available in EMEA in May itself.
Speaking of Acer Nitro VG0 Series, it comes with 27 inch, 23.8 inch and 21.5-inch display panels with three options in terms of resolution — 4K ultra-HD, WQHD, or Full-HD. On the other hand, Acer Nitro RG0 Series comes in 27-inch and 23.8-inch models and the company is touting it for its 0.27-inch thin profile.
Acer Nitro monitor’s frames come with AMD Radeon FreeSync which lets them sync with the graphics card’s frames. They also have the Integrated Visual Response Boost and Integrated 6-axis colour adjustment features. While the former decreases blur in fast moving images, the latter lets users make adjustments to colour, hue, and saturation levels.
Acer’s Nitro RG0 series’ displays come with 1920×1080 at 75Hz resolution and IPS panels that can provide view of up to 178 degrees horizontally and vertically. The monitors meet 72 percent of NTDC standard and can tilt from -5 to 20 degrees. They can deliver 250 cd/m2 brightness and come with a VESA mount which enables them to be hung in the wall.
Acer’s Nitro VG0 gaming monitors bear a price tag of $129.99 and will be available in US starting June. However, it will be available in EMEA and China starting May. Acer Nitro RG0 gaming monitors are priced at $169.99 and will be available in US starting July and EMEA starting May.
Speaking of Acer’s Predator Orion 5000 series, the gaming desktops feature up to 8th Gen Intel Core i7+ 8700K processors. The processors are further coupled with the latest Intel Z370 SoC, up to 2-way Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 Ti GPUs and up to 32GB of memory. They come with IceTunnel 2.0 airflow management design and a front mesh panel with dust filters. They also have additional features for gaming like cradles for audio headsets, and a carry-handle for to make them portable.
Acer’s Predator Orion 5000 gaming desktops are priced at $1,499 and will be available in US starting July. They will however, be available in EMEA and China in June.
Devices from Acer Predator Orion 3000 Series are powered by up to 8th-generation Intel Core i7+ processors coupled with GeForce GTX 1080 graphics cards from Nvidia. While a lot of specifications are similar to Orion 5000, Orion 3000 series support VR and 4K gameplay.
The Predator Orion 3000 gaming desktops cost $999 and will be available in US starting October. In EMEA and Chine, it will be available starting July.
Last, but not the least, the company has also launched gaming accessories including Predator Cestus 510 gaming mouse, Predator Gaming Chair, Predator Hard Case, Predator Aethos 500 mechanical keyboard, and a Predator Mousepad.
Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi has sent invites to the media for an event that is scheduled for June 7. The company is set to announce a smartphone at the upcoming event, after teasing it on Twitter a few days back.
The official invite has a picture of a camera lens made on it and it says that Xiaomi is hosting an event in New Delhi on June 7 to announce a new product.
Considering its post on Twitter just a few days back, Xiaomi may be set to launch its Redmi S2 smartphone in India, but after rebranding it as Redmi Y2 – successor to last year’s Redmi Y1 smartphone.
— Redmi India – #Redmi9 is here! (@RedmiIndia) May 18, 2018
Besides, the invitation may not carry any details about the phone, but it does have some hints that helped us join the dots. Right in the middle of the invite is a sketch with half a human face on one side and half a camera sensor on the other. On putting two and two together, it is easy to make out that this means a camera with AI powered features is on its way.
Xiaomi Redmi S2 was launched in China earlier this month and is being touted by the company as “best Redmi selfie phone”. In China, the smartphone was launched in two storage variants – 3GB RAM/32GB on-board storage and 4GB RAM/64GB storage. Furthermore, the phone was also available in different colour variants including Champagne Gold, Platinum Silver, and Rose Gold.
Xiaomi Redmi S2 runs Android-based MIUI 9 and is powered by a Snapdragon 625 processor. It features a 5.99-inch HD+ display and sports a dual rear camera setup with 12MP and 5MP sensors. There is also a 16MP selfie camera that supports AI Portrait Mode, AI Smart Beauty, Front HDR, and Face Unlock. The phone can also hold microSD cards of up to 256GB.
On its next@acer global press conference on Wednesday, Acer unveiled a range of gaming devices including gaming laptops, desktops and accessories. Among these, Acer also launched its Predator Helios 500 and Predator Helios 300 Special Edition gaming notebooks. According to Acer, both of these support VR-ready performance, have faster connectivity and come with advanced thermal technology.Speaking of the Acer Predator Helios 500, it is powered by 8th-generation Intel Core i9+ processors and offers up to 64GB of RAM. The notebook comes with GeForce GTX 1070 graphics and Intel Optane memory. It also has NVMePCIe SSDs and Killer DoubleShot Pro. According to Acer, these specifications along with features like graphic-intensive AAA titles and live streaming make it a gaming powerhouse.The Acer Predator Helios 500 sports a 17.3-inch screen and has the choice of either full HD IPS or 4K Ultra-HD display. Nvidia G-Sync technology powers both the inbuilt display and external monitors come with. The notebooks come with a dual Thunderbolt 3 and HDMI 2.0 ports that can support three external monitors. The notebook also has a backlit RGB keyboard that supports four lighting zones. The laptop comes with Acer’s Dual AeroBlade 3D fans, which is claimed to enhance cooling and can be controlled via PredatorSense app.Acer Predator Helios 500 gaming laptops bear a starting price tag of $1,999 and will be available in US and China starting June. They will be made available a little sooner in EMEA, starting May itself. Coming to the special edition of Acer’s Predator Helios 300, it comes with a White and Gold colour scheme and features a 15.6-inch full-HD IPS display with an updated refresh rate of 144Hz. Powered by up to 8th-generation Intel Core i7+ processor and Nvidia GTX 1060 GPU, the notebook comes with up to 16GB of RAM, that can be upgraded to 32GB. It can further support up to 512GB SSD and up to 2TB hard disk drive. The special edition of Acer’s Predator Helios 300 also comes with Dual AeroBlade 3D cooling system, Intel Optane memory, Gigabit Ethernet and Gigabit Wi-Fi.Besides these, Acer also teased the Predator X line-up of products that we will get to see in the future. All that we know about them is that the products will be powered by Intel’s Xeon processors for gaming.
Taiwanese electronics company Acer has today launched its new range of gaming laptops, notebooks, Chromebooks at an event in New York. Among the products that were launched were Acer’s Chromebook Spin 15, Chromebook Spin 13 and Swift 5 laptops. The Acer Chromebook Spin 15 is claimed to be the first convertible Chromebook that features a 15.6-inch Full HD (1,920 x 1,080) IPS touch display. The display of Acer’s Chromebook is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass and has support for 10-finger touch. The Chromebook Spin 15 comes in three processor options. These include quad-core Intel Pentium N4200 processor, Intel Celeron N3450 processor and dual-core Intel Celeron N3350 processor. It comes in two storage options – 4GB RAM/32GB onboard eMMC storage and 8GB RAM/64GB inbuilt eMMC storage. It is claimed to have a battery life that can last up to 13 hours. The laptop runs Google’s Chrome OS platform and has support for Android Google Play Store. The Chromebook Spin 15 comes with two USB 3.1 Type-C generation 1 ports, two USB 3.0 ports and a microSD card reader as connectivity options. The price of Acer Chromebook Spin 15 starts at $449 and it will be available in the US starting July.Besides launching the Acer Chromebook Spin 15, the company also refreshed its Chromebook 15 model. The new version of the Chromebook 15 comes with the same 15.6-inch display and claims to offer up to 14 hours of battery life. It comes in three processor options including quad-core Intel Pentium N4200 processor, dual-core Intel Celeron N3350 processor and quad-core Intel Celeron N3450 processor. The Chromebook supports high-definition audio and will be available with up to 8MB dual-channel LPDDR4 memory. It also offers 64GB of inbuilt eMMC storage. The price of the new version of Chromebook starts at $349 and will be made available in US starting July. Both Chromebook Spin 15 and Chromebook 15 will be available in EMEA starting June.Acer also launched its Chromebook Spin 13 and Chromebook 13, which is aimed at those who use laptops for business. Both Acer Chromebook Spin 13 and Chromebook 13 feature a 13.5-inch Full-HD+ display with an aspect ratio of 3:2. Both the Chromebooks come with an all-aluminium body and have USB 3.1 Type-C ports, USB 3.0 port, microSD card reader, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.2 as connectivity options.The Chromebook Spin 13 is a convertible and comes with 360-degree hinges and a Wacom stylus. It is powered by an 8th gen Intel Core i5-8250U processor or Core i3-8130U processor. Coming to RAM and storage, the Chromebook Spin 13 offers 16GB LPDDR3 RAM and up to 128GB of onboard eMMC storage. It is claimed to have a battery life of up to 10 hours.Speaking of Acer Chromebook 13, it comes in three processor options — 8th gen Intel Core i3-8130U, Intel Pentium 4415U and Intel Celeron 3865U processor. It comes with 16GB LPDDR3 memory and 32GB/64GB of inbuilt eMMC storage. Acer has not as yet revealed the price and availability details of the two Chromebooks.Another major product announced by Acer is its Swift 5 notebook. The notebook features a 15-inch display and is powered by latest Intel Core processors. Weighing even less than 1Kg, the laptop runs Windows 10. The notebook follows the current trend of thin bezels and comes with 87.6% screen-to-body ratio. The Swift 5 also comes with Acer Color Intelligence technology and Acer BluelightShield technology. While the former adjusts gamma and saturation in real-time, the latter adjusts the screen’s blue-light emission. Acer Swift 5 comes with Intel Wireless-AC 9560, USB 3.1 Type-C Gen 2 port, two USB 3.1 Type-A ports, an HDMI port, and an SD card reader. It offers 16GB of DDR4 memory and up to 1TB of SSD storage.More details on specifications, pricing and availability will be shared by the company later.
After Japanese, Chinese, Korean and Taiwanese companies selling its smartphones in India, it is the turn of another Asian company to sell its smartphone here. Mobiistar, a Vietnamese manufacturer has today launched two smartphones in India. These are known as Mobiistar CQ and Mobiistar XQ Daul, both aimed at selfie lovers. The Mobiistar CQ is priced at Rs 4,999, while the Mobiistar XQ dual is priced at Rs 7,999.
Mobiistar CQ Specifications
This smartphone comes with a 5-inch HD (720P) display. The screen comes with 2.5D curved display that is seen less at this price point. Mobiistar CQ supports dual-SIM and has a 425 Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU running at its core. Over that, this mobile phone has 2 GB RAM and 32 GB on board storage, expandable up to 128 GB using a microSD card.
As far as the cameras are concerned Mobiistar CQ has an 8MP rear camera with flash and a better 13MP selfie taker. Other features include 4G, Bluetooth, GPS and 3.5mm headphone port. The phone is kept alive using a 3,000mAh battery.
Mobiistar XD Dual Specifications
Priced few thousands Rupees more than the CQ the Mobiistar XD Dual sports a 5.5-inch FHD touch screen with IPS display with 400 pixel per inch density. This too has a 2.5D curved glass on top of the display. Under the hood Mobiistar XD Dual has the slightly better 430 Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset with clock speed of 1.4 GHz.
Mobiistar XD Dual has 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB memory, which too is expandable by up to 128GB like its younger brother. A 13MP sensor with phase-detection powers the rear camera of this smartphone, while the front sports dual 13+8MP cameras, making it a selfie takers delight. Couple of good camera filters have also been thrown in the mix like beauty and HDR. Mobiistar XD Dual is also powered by a 3,000mAh battery.
Both the models will go on sale on 30th May with exclusive online partner Flipkart.
Right after it launched its flagship Honor 10, Huawei’s sub-brand Honor has now launched two new budget smartphones in India. According to the company, the new smartphones by the company, Honor 7A and Honor 7C, focus on style quotient and imaging duties.
Specifications
Coming to the specifications, the Honor 7A smartphone features a 5.7-inch HD+ IPS LCD display which comes with an aspect ratio of 18:9. Powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor paired with 3GB RAM, the smartphone offers 32GB of internal storage and can hold microSD cards of up to 256GB. The smartphone has a dual SIM card slot and the microSD card slot is placed separately.
Honor 7A smartphone runs Android 8.0 Oreo with the company’s own EMUI 8.1 baked on top. On the camera front, the smartphone comes with 13MP+2MP dual rear cameras with LED flash and an 8MP front snapper with soft LED light. While the dual rear cameras come with AI features, the selfie camera supports face-unlock. The smartphone houses a 3,000mAh battery and offers 4G, VoLTE, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS as connectivity options.
Speaking of Honor 7C, it features a 5.99-inch HD+ IPS LCD display and is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 processor. The smartphone is available in two storage variants – 3GB RAM/32GB onboard storage and 4GB RAM/64GB internal storage. For more storage, users can add a microSD card.
The smartphone runs Android 8.0 Oreo skinned with a layer of EMUI 8.0. For imaging duties, there is a 13MP+2MP dual rear camera setup and an 8MP selfie camera on the smartphone’s front panel. Like Honor 7A, the smartphone also houses a 3,000mAh battery.
Price and availability
While Honor 7A is priced at Rs 8,999, the 3GB and 4GB RAM variants of Honor 7C are priced at Rs 9,999 and Rs 11,999 respectively. Honor 7A can be bought from Flipkart starting May 29 and Honor 7C will be available on Amazon India starting May 31. The smartphones will also be available on HiHonor online store. A Reliance Jio offer with the smartphones includes Rs 2,200 cashback with 50GB additional data on Honor 7A and 100GB free data on Honor 7C.
COMIO has been doing the rounds in most parts of North India since quite some time. Going ahead they have expanded their operations in other sectors of India as well. As we had reported last week that COMIO will launch its new flagship this week and they have done so. With the launch of COMIO X1 Note, the company’s flagship smartphone, they are taking the fight to Xiaomi and other dominating players in the space.
COMIO X1 Note is placed at a hot-selling price point of the budget segment, at Rs 9,999. Sanjay Kalirona, CEO & Director, COMIO Smartphone said, “We are excited to announce the launch of COMIO X1 Note as it marks our expansion into a Pan-India brand. The response we have received from our consumers, retailers and distributors has been tremendous, encouraging us to deliver a product such as COMIO X1 Note, which is one of the best offerings from the brand in the sub-10,000 price segment.”
In terms of the specifications the COMIO X1 Note has a dual rear camera setup of 13MP + 5MP AF. The cameras are accompanied by a flash and also an 8 MP front facing camera. Picture effects like Bokeh, panorama, beauty are present on the device. COMIO X1 Note houses a 6-inch FHD+ touch screen with 2.5D curved glass on top. Users with two SIM cards need not worry as this smartphone does support dual-SIM operations and 4G-Volte is also there.
COMIO X1 Note is powered by a 1.45 GHz CPU and a 2,900 mAh battery. Over that, the smartphone has 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB internal memory, expandable up to 128 GB. Android O operating system runs out of the box and the phone supports 22 Indian languages. Other features include, Face unlock, fingerprint sensor and dual account app.
The COMIO X1 Note will be available in key retail stores all over India and across E-commerce stores such as Amazon, Flipkart and Snapdeal. A Reliance JIO offer is also part of the package, where JIO customers will get Rs 2,200 cashback (44×50 Rs vouchers) at the time of 1st successful recharge of Rs 198 or 299 monthly plan. Colour options include Royal Blue and Sunrise Gold.
WhatsApp has killed the SMS industry, since everyone is using this simple free tool (mostly) on their Android and iOS devices to communicate. It is a revolutionary app that has left the mobile operators in a tizzy as the number of people using their SMS service is going down by the day. Well, one reason is: Why would one pay for a limited text message when you can send a huge message, files, images and more over an app that just uses data (which these days is limitless thanks to Reliance JIO) for almost nothing.
Now it seems like that WhatsApp is all set to kill the video calling industry too. Yes, it has the video calling ability since some time, but new features are being added to make the video calling experience more robust. The new feature that has just been rolled out is the group video calling feature. It is a scattered roll out for users, not all are getting it at the same time. If you are using an Android smartphone then look for the latest version update that should say 2.18.145, on Apple iOS it should mention 2.18.52. But, then also not all users will have this activated, like we said it is scattered update.
To check if you have this feature active on your smartphone, follow these steps:
Open your WhatsApp on your Android or iOS device.
Select a person you would want to video call
Go to that person’s window and press the video call button.
Once the call window opens there should be a new button called “Add Participant”
If you find this button there, then group video calling feature is active on your device and you can add more people to the conversation.
Samsung Electronics today launched four smartphones in India under its Galaxy A and J series. All four smartphones – Samsung Galaxy J6, J8, A6 and A6+ — come with Samsung’s popular ‘Infinity display’, which we have already seen on its flagship Galaxy S9. Among the four, Samsung Galaxy A6+ is the most expensive and is priced at Rs 24,990. Samsung Galaxy A6 is available in two storage variants – 4GB RAM/32GB internal storage and 4GB RAM/64GB onboard storage.
While the 32GB variant is priced at Rs 21,990, you can buy the 64GB version by just paying Rs 1,000 extra, as it is priced at Rs 22,990. Speaking of Galaxy J6, it also comes in two storage variants – 3GB RAM/32GB inbuilt storage and 4GB RAM/64GB onboard storage. The base variant is priced at Rs 13,990, while the 4GB RAM version is priced Rs 16,490. All the three smartphones will be available starting May 22.
Those who wish to buy Samsung Galaxy A6+ or A6 can do so via Paytm Mall, Samsung India E-Store, Amazon India’ website and all retail stores. Samsung Galaxy J6 can be bought from Flipkart, Samsung’s E-shop website and retail outlets. As for Samsung Galaxy J8, it is priced at Rs 18,990 and will hit the stores in July 2018.
Samsung Galaxy A6 and A61+ specifications
Samsung Galaxy A6 and A6+ have their share of similarities and differences. While Samsung Galaxy A6+ is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 450 processor, the A6 runs on Exynos 7870 processor. Samsung Galaxy A6+ is the bigger screen variant with 6-inch HD+ Super AMOLED Infinity display with an aspect ratio of 18:5:9. Speaking of the Galaxy A6, it features a 5.6-inch display. Samsung Galaxy A6+ comes with 16MP+5MP dual rear camera setup and a 24MP selfie camera. Galaxy A6, on the other hand, has a 16MP camera on its front as well as rear panel. While Samsung Galaxy A6 houses 3,000mAh battery, Galaxy A6+ is powered by a 3,500mAh battery. Both the smartphones can hold microSD cards of up to 256GB.
Samsung Galaxy J6 and J8 specifications
Samsung Galaxy J8 and J6 also come with their own set of similarities and differences. Samsung Galaxy J8 features a 6-inch HD+ Super AMOLED Infinity display with 18:5:9 aspect ratio and is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 450 processor. Galaxy J6 on the other hand, has a 5.6-inch display with the same resolution and is powered by the Exynos 7870 processor. For imaging duties, J8 comes with 16MP+5MP dual rear cameras and a 16MP selfie camera while the J6 comes with 13MP rear camera along with 8MP front facing snapper. While the J8 has a 3,500mAh battery, J6 houses a 3,000mAh battery. Samsung Galaxy J8 offers 4GB RAM and 64GB onboard storage. Both smartphones can hold microSD cards of up to 256GB.
After launching the smartphones in Brazil last month the company has decided to launch the duo in India, of course after teasing it last week. The date has been fixed and June 4, 2018 is when the event is going to take place in India. Moto has decided to partner with both the big e-commerce players in India. The Moto G6 will be an Amazon exclusive, while the Moto G6 play will be part of the Flipkart exclusive deal.
With these the Moto G6 Plus was also showcased in Brazil, which is the bigger brother of the Moto G6 and G6 Play. In terms of pricing the approx. pricing of the phones, when converted to Indian Rupees, will be Rs 12,999 for the G6 Play, Rs 16,499 for the G6 and Rs 23,999 for the G6 Plus.
As far as the specifications are concerned, all three models should run Android Oreo 8 out of the box. They will also have Qualcomm chipsets running in them, but different versions. While the Moto G6 play will have Snapdragon 430 and Moto G6 will have Snapdragon 450 powering them, the Moto G6 Plus will have the better Snapdragon 630 as its beating heart. A combination of 3 and 4 GB RAM along with 32, 64 and 128 GB (only G6 Plus) variants is also slated to come to India.
In terms of screen size, the Moto G6 Play and G6 will sport a 5.7-inch display, however the Moto G6 Plus will have a 5.9-inch 1,080×2,160 pixels screen. Camera-wise the G6 Play will sport a 13 MP single rear camera and the other will have 12 MP dual rear cameras. Overall, these seem to be good upgrades to the last years Moto G5 models on paper. Initial reports from the west do favour the trio, but will they hold their fort in India? We shall know in a few weeks’ time.
Probably everyone who has used a Nokia device in the past wants to get their hands on HMD Global’s line-up of smartphones for this year. We, of course, weren’t an exception. With Nokia 8 Sirocco, Nokia 7 Plus, a new version of Nokia 6 and the 4G avatar of the Matrix phone – Nokia 8110 4G – HMD Global has kept the excitement in Nokia fans up. HMD Global’s leading high-end smartphone for the year is Nokia 8 Sirocco – which is a special edition of last year’s Nokia 8. It is part of Google’s Android One programme, which promises users swift, regular updates. Being the flagship, it has top end specifications and is priced at Rs 49,999. HMD Global once again played the nostalgia card by naming it Nokia 8 Sirocco, making it sound like Nokia 8800 Sirocco.
We spent a few days with the smartphone to find out if it’s just good on paper or whether it’s really worth all that money. Read the rest of our review to know what we think:
Design and Blueprint
We’ll start by talking about the design of the device. Simply put, Nokia 8 Sirocco is a stunner. With its rear panel made of glass and trimmed down bezels, Nokia’s flagship smartphone looks premium. The smartphone has a body made of stainless steel and is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5 on both rear and front panels. The black, glossy body of Nokia 8 Sirocco is as thin as 7.5mm – something that makes it look very sleek. On the side panels, you can also see the thin lines of the stainless steel used in the smartphone – but it’s not a downside as it looks really good with the black body. Even though the side panels of the smartphone are very thin, they don’t hamper the comfort in daily usage. If you like smartphones that have a minimalistic design, then Nokia 8 Sirocco is definitely a choice you can consider.
The front panel of the smartphone features a 5.5-inch Quad HD pOLED 2K display, which – like we mentioned before – is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5. The display of Nokia 8 Sirocco tapers towards the side edges, which further enhances the looks of the smartphone. However, this does remind us of the displays that we have seen in recent flagship devices from Samsung. Above the display, the front camera and the earpiece are housed. On flipping over, you will see the back panel of the Nokia 8 Sirocco. The back panel of the smartphone is no exception and much like the rest of the body of the smartphone, it too comes with a glossy finish. This means that the back of the smartphone is prone to getting too many fingerprint marks. But on the upside, compared to other smartphones with glossy finish, we found Nokia 8 Sirocco less slippery.
A vertical dual rear camera setup, the smartphone’s fingerprint sensor and Nokia branding — all fall in the center of Nokia 8 Sirocco’s back panel. The volume rocker and power buttons are placed on the right edge of the smartphone, while the SIM card slot is on the left one. The buttons are designed in a way that they completely merge with the rest of the body of the smartphone, and it’s tough to tell the volume and power buttons apart if you are not directly looking at them. The bottom edge of the smartphone has the USB Type C port and a speaker grille.
To sum it up in a single sentence, Nokia 8 Sirocco looks simply exquisite and has a very unconventional and minimalistic design.
Speaking of the display of the smartphone, it is simply a treat to the eyes. We really appreciate flagship smartphones that come without the iPhone X-like notch on their display, and have something different to offer. And Nokia 8 Sirocco is just that. Without going bezel-less, the smartphone’s display looks fairly spacious because of being curved at the edges. We couldn’t stop watching YouTube videos on a binge because they are simply a visual treat on Nokia 8 Sirocco’s display. The colours projected on the display are vibrant and the images appeared very sharp and clear. The display of the smartphone did impressively well under the sunlight too. The content continued to look sharp and clear even when we viewed it directly under the sunlight.
There was only one thing that is not so perfect about the display experience of the smartphone. Since Nokia 8 Sirocco comes with a curved display, the light somewhat refracts and forms two blue coloured bands on both the edges. These are particularly visible on white or light coloured backgrounds. Although we got used to it, it is the only thing that stops us from calling the display of Nokia 8 Sirocco perfect.
Performance, Camera and Features
Before we start talking about the performance of Nokia 8 Sirocco, we’ll take a minute to speak about the device’s specifications. Powered by 1.9GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor paired with 6GB of RAM, the smartphone offers 128GB of internal storage, and does not have a slot for microSD card. For imaging duties, the Nokia 8 Sirocco sports a dual rear camera with 12MP and 13MP sensors and a 5MP selfie camera. The smartphone runs Android 8.1 and houses a 3,260mAh non removable battery. The phone is also IP67 rated which makes it dust and water resistant.
Although it was a little disappointing to see that even though Nokia 8 Sirocco is HMD Global’s flagship, it was not powered by Qualcomm’s latest processor – Snapdragon 845. That being said, we have seen smartphones with Snapdragon 835 with very good performance, so it’s not something we can’t live with.
If Snapdragon 835 is slightly disappointing, what makes up for it is the fact that Nokia 8 Sirocco is a part of Google’s Android One program. Smartphones under Android One program get swift security updates and all major updates in Android version for two years. Like we just mentioned, Nokia 8 Sirocco runs Android 8.1 and its UI is mainly stock Android. So the app drawer is not integrated with the home screen and swiping right will show you your Google cards. But the best thing about the smartphone’s user interface is that it comes without any bloatware, with the exception of Support app by HMD Global. From time to time the smartphone offers ‘Smart Suggestions’. For instance, it prompted to delete the media files with low resolution and when we clicked on that notification, it took us directly to the list of these files.
There are also some gestures that one can activate on Nokia 8 Sirocco. These include turning over the smartphone to reject a phone call, double tapping on the power button to activate the camera or muting the smartphone on picking it up. Users will have to schedule the Night Mode for making their smartphone’s display slightly amber in lowly lit conditions. Users can also activate Glance Screen which will let them view time, notifications, reminders and alarms even without powering the smartphone’s screen on.
Coming to the performance of Nokia 8 Sirocco, even though the smartphone isn’t powered by the latest processor in the market, the combination of 6GB RAM coupled with Android 8.1 and Snapdragon 835 does a brilliant job. We obviously weren’t expecting to come across any lags or hang-ups on the device, and Nokia 8 Sirocco completely met our expectations. Multi-tasking on the device was a cakewalk and having numerous apps and Chrome tabs open was no problem. We could easily use the phone for navigation, gaming and listening to music – all at one.
When we ran some benchmark test on the phone, it scored 1,92,733 in Antutu Benchmark test and 1,920 and 5,019 in single core and multi core scores of Geekbench 4.
The fingerprint sensor of the device works perfectly and fine, and we didn’t encounter any problem with it. An experience that was very good on the device was gaming. We played games like Angry Birds 2, Temple Run 2 and Super Mario and even heavier ones like Asphalt 8: Airborne, and the smartphone’s performance remained consistent with all of them. The glass back did heat up a bit when we were playing Angry Birds 2, but it was very negligible. Another good thing was that the smartphone didn’t lose too much battery when we used it for gaming.
We have already spoken about how it is a visual treat to watch videos on Nokia 8 Sirocco’s display, but what’s even better than that is watching 4K content. It looks crisp and sharp and the colours were vibrant. The audio quality of the phone completely matches up to it. We feel that the curved display of the smartphone actually enhances the video experience as it was nice to see videos fill up the entire screen.
Now let’s talk about the camera experience of the smartphone. The 12MP+13MP dual rear cameras of the phone come with Zeiss optics and there is a 5MP selfie shooter on the front panel. Before you jump to conclusions, we should remind you that megapixels of a camera do not determine its performance.
The smartphone has a Pro mode, panorama, live Bokeh mode and also a Bothie feature which lets users capture images from selfie and rear camera simultaneously. There is also a 2X optical zoom with which one can capture long distance shots.
The dual rear camera setup works very well. We clicked a lot of pictures using them and tried various modes of the camera app. A mode we particularly liked was the Pro mode as it lets users adjust settings like ISO, shutter speed, exposure, white balance and focus via radials. One could also adjust the depth of field in Bokeh mode – which looks particularly good in selfies. Overall, we really liked the quality of pictures. The colours were accurate and vibrant, and images turned out to be sharp. Even shots that we captured from a slow moving car turned out to be good. However, if you compare it to other flagships like Google Pixel 2, photographs will look a little lack-lusture.
We only felt the lack of OIS in the smartphone when we were capturing images in lowly lit areas. In fact, the smartphone only performed decently as far as low light photography goes. Using a flash at times made the photos too white, and not using it was not always a feasible option. We don’t mean that low light photography was bad, it was only not as good as other flagship devices. One does expect better from a premium smartphone.
Nokia 8 Sirocco is also capable of recording Slow-motion videos and they mostly turned out to be good. We were happy with the selfies it’s from its front facing camera especially with Bokeh effect on.
Coming to the battery of the Nokia 8 Sirocco, it is something we are happy with. The 3,260mAh battery easily lasts a day with heavy usage and it lasts up to a day and half with moderate usage. The best part is that the phone only takes slightly over an hour to be charged completely.
Verdict and Final Thoughts
There are more reasons to buy the Nokia 8 Sirocco than not to. The smartphone’s design is exquisite and unconventional, the display is a treat for the eyes and the performance is very impressive. The battery lasts an entire day and Nokia 8 Sirocco comes under the Android One program which is a big plus. The downsides include the lack of latest processor and the fact that the photography is not as good as other flagships. However, like we mentioned earlier, Snapdragon 835’s performance is extremely good and it can handle all kinds of heavy apps and gaming very well. As far as the photography goes, you’ll get sharp images with accurate colours and Bothie mode, but the photographs may not be as good as the ones taken from the likes of Google Pixel 2.
To conclude, we’ll say that Nokia 8 Sirocco is totally worth the money at Rs 49,999. Users would not be disappointed. If you are too bothered about the processor or the photography, you can go for another option like the Samsung Galaxy S9.
Pros:
Beautiful design, Great display, Lasting battery
Cons:
Old CPU
The rivalry between Apple and Samsung is no secret. Both the technology giants leave no chance of taking pot-shots at each other and even involved in a long-standing legal battle. Amid all this, Samsung has released an advertisement for its flagship Galaxy S9. The advertisement shows how Samsung’s Galaxy S9 is great, and at the same time pokes fun at Apple.This isn’t the first time that this is happening, as we have seen the story of this ad in previous Samsung advertisements too. The ad shows an iPhone user gets frustrated with their Apple device, sees how Samsung users around her are happy with their superior smartphones, and then eventually upgrades to Samsung.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qhW1sDPHYI
If we talk about this particular ad, it shows a woman using an iPhone in various situations where her smartphone lets her down, and Samsung Galaxy S9 users doing the same things with their phones like it’s a cakewalk. It shows how the iPhone isn’t waterproof, and how a task as simple as getting tickets scanned at the airport can be tough with it. When the woman goes to an Apple Store to complain about the issue, the executive tells her to switch off the performance management. The advertisement ends with the woman walking past a man with the notch haircut standing in front of an iPhone X billboard and finally being happy about upgrading to Samsung Galaxy S9.Like we said, it’s a storyline we have seen in previous Samsung advertisements. However, one thing that we found irksome was that the woman in the advertisement is shown using Apple iPhone 6. Using a smartphone that was launched almost four years back and comparing it to their current flagship is not very fair. The ad would have made more sense had it showcased iPhone X or even iPhone 8 or 8 Plus instead of a model as old as iPhone 6.Also it wasn’t hard to notice Samsung calling out Apple for the battery fiasco it admitted to late last year, but we found it a little strange that the Apple employee doesn’t mention the option of getting the iPhone’s battery replaced at a subsidised rate. While iPhone users who feel that their phone is too slow can immediately switch to Samsung Galaxy if they think it’ll solve their problems, but getting the subsidised battery is any day a more affordable option.
Just a few days before the launch of HTC’s next flagship device, HTC U12 Plus, all the specifications of the smartphone along with its pictures have been leaked. Venture Beat’s Evan Blass has tweeted a picture of the upcoming smartphone along with its entire spec sheet.Although it has not been confirmed by the company that it is launching the HTC U12 Plus smartphone on its May 23 event, various media reports suggest so. But the timing of Evan Blass leaking HTC U12 Plus’ renders and specs could possibly mean the company is indeed taking wraps off its upcoming flagship device next week.As suggested by the images of the smartphone, HTC U12 Plus is likely to sport the translucent colour that we earlier saw in HTC U11. It has been reported that HTC U12 Plus will come in four colour variants — Black, Red Rose, Violet, and Translucent.
https://twitter.com/evleaks/status/997108920639524869
Although one can’t be sure of the colours of the device on seeing these renders, what is very evident is a dual rear camera setup as well as dual cameras on the front panel. And it’s very refreshing to see a flagship that comes without the notch on its display.According to the leaked spec sheet, HTC U12 Plus will feature a 6-inch Quad HD+ Super LCD 6 display with an 18:9 aspect ratio and Corning Gorilla Glass protection. The device will be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor paired with 6GB RAM and will be available in two storage variants – 64GB and 128GB. For more storage, users would have the option of installing microSD cards of up to 2TB. The leaked spec sheet suggests that the device runs Android 8.0 Oreo with HTC Sense 2 and will get an upgrade for Android P.For imaging duties, HTC U12 Plus will sport 12MP wide angle camera and 16MP telephoto camera at the back. For selfies and video calls, there are dual front facing cameras that support AR stickers and Face Unlock. The rear cameras of the device are said to record 4K videos at 60fps – a feature that OnePlus was touting for its OnePlus 6 smartphone.The smartphone will also come with always-on listening support for Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa and will be backed by a 3,500mAh battery. If the HTC U12 Plus is actually being launched on May 23, there’s not much left for the company to announce apart from the pricing and availability details of the phone.
An accessory maker from Russia named Caviar has started selling a ‘new’ version of iPhone X for $4,500. So, it’ll basically cost you way more than the original iPhone X. But wait, that’s just the cost of the 64GB variant. If you are planning to buy the 256GB variant of this special iPhone X, you will have to pay $4,805. Wondering what is so special about this ‘new’ version of iPhone X? According to media reports, it is a solar powered version of the iPhone X. In fact, Caviar is branding the device as iPhone X Tesla. Yes, you read that right.It is not the first time that we have read reports about this version of iPhone X, as the company had initially announced its plans in November. And like we mentioned before, Caviar is an accessory maker from Russia, so obviously it can have nothing to do with making iPhones or Tesla. In fact, the $4,500 iPhone X Tesla’s functions are there in the smartphone at all?Before you get too confused, we’ll tell you that iPhone X Tesla is a phone case that comes with solar panels on it back. The cases have the iPhone X in them already and the solar panels on them power a secondary battery. This can used to provide charge to iPhone’s battery when it runs out by just pressing the power button on the back.The solar panel of iPhone X Tesla is shock-resistant and is surrounded by a carbon fiber case. The case has anodized buttons on the edges and golden elements to embellish its rear panel. Needless to say, the iPhone X Tesla phone case is very thick and is claimed to be IP67 water and dust resistance.To make it more exclusive, Caviar is only manufacturing 999 units and is adding an individual number to them in the order in which they were produced.Furthermore, to pay a tribute to Elon Musk, the first unit of the iPhone X Tesla has “Made on Earth by Humans” engraved on it. For those who don’t know, back in February, when Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched the first flight of its Falcon Heavy rocket with a red Tesla Roadster in space, “Made on Earth by Humans” was the special message that Musk had written on it for aliens. Caviar said in a statement that the company is inspired by ‘three men of science,’ namely Nikola Tesla, Steve Jobs, and Elon Musk.
Just six months after the launch of its previous smartphone, OnePlus unveiled its next flagship OnePlus 6 yesterday at an event in London. Although the OnePlus 6 comes with a revamped design and a slew of changes, we couldn’t help but notice that there are a number of similarities in the two devices. Here, we have compared the two smartphones to let you know what’s new and what has been retained:
Design: One of the most obvious and evident changes between OnePlus 6 and OnePlus 5T can be seen in the designs of the two smartphones. OnePlus 6 comes with an all glass body protected by Gorilla Glass 5 on both front and back. OnePlus 5T on the other hand comes with a metal unibody design and only its front panel is protected by Gorilla Glass 5. On the back panel, OnePlus 6 bears a vertical dual rear camera setup while OnePlus 5T has a horizontal one. Also, while OnePlus 5T was available in Midnight Black, Lava Red and Star Wars Editions, OnePlus 6 comes in Midnight Black, Mirror Black and Silk White Limited Edition.
Display: There is a difference in the displays of the two devices too. While OnePlus 5T sports a 6.01-inch full-HD+ Full Optic AMOLED display and comes with an 18:9 aspect ratio, OnePlus 6 features a 6.28-inch full-HD+ Full Optic AMOLED display and has an aspect ratio of 19:9. OnePlus 6’ also comes with an iPhone-like Notch that houses the front camera, proximity sensor, and earpiece of the device.
Processor: While OnePlus 5T was powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 processor, the company’s latest and most powerful processor yet — Snapdragon 845 — powers the OnePlus 6. However, it is notable that when OnePlus 5T was launched, Snapdragon 845 was not launched.
Cameras: Both the smartphones come with dual rear cameras and a selfie camera. OnePlus 5T comes with a 16MP Sony IMX398 primary sensor along with 20MP Sony IMX376K sensor. The dual rear cameras come with dual LED flash. Speaking of OnePlus 6, its dual rear cameras come with the same megapixel count, but the 16MP camera has a Sony MX519 sensor and the 20MP camera has a Sony IM376K sensor. They also have OIS and can record Slow Motion videos up to 480 frames per second. Both the smartphones sport a 16MP selfie camera with a Sony IMX371 sensor — but the only difference is that the one on OnePlus 6 supports Potrait mode.
Besides this, the only difference is that OnePlus 6 is splash resistance. Other features of the devices remain the same. Both the smartphones come in 6GB and 8GB RAM options with 64GB or 128GB internal storage. And both lack support for microSD card. Both the OnePlus 6 and 5T house a 3300mAh battery and run Android 8.1 Oreo. The smartphones’ softwares are skinned with the same OxygenOS 5.1. However, note that while OnePlus 6 has been launched with it, OnePlus 5T got it with an update. Surprisingly, OnePlus 6 lacks support for wireless charging, but same was the case with OnePlus 5T. So, it makes us wonder is it really worth picking the 6? Probably not, if you own the 5T, you might want to wait for the 6T.
HMD Global has launched its Nokia X6 smartphone at an event in Beijing. With Nokia X6, the company has joined the iPhone-like Notch design bandwagon and has also included features like dual rear cameras, and Do Not Disturb mode for gaming in the smartphone.
Specifications
HMD Global’s Nokia X6 features a 5.8-inch Full HD+ display that is protected by a layer of 2.5D Gorilla Glass 3. Powered by an octa-core Snapdragon 636 processor the smartphone runs Android 8.1 Oreo. It comes in three variants – one with 4GB RAM and 32GB internal storage, the other with 4GB RAM and 64GB inbuilt storage and there’s also a bigger 6GB RAM variant that has 64GB of onboard storage. Nokia X6 can hold microSD cards of up to 256GB.
For imaging duties, the smartphone boats of a dual rear camera setup with 16MP and 5MP sensors. The 5MP secondary rear camera has a monochrome sensor. On flipping the smartphone, you’ll be greeted by a 16MP selfie camera. HMD Global has highlighted the fact that the cameras in Nokia X6 come with AI features like optimised colour contrast and face recognition. The cameras are also said to have support for HDR and come with the Bothie feature that we previously saw in Nokia 8 and Nokia 8 Sirocco. For those who don’t know, with the Bothie feature, the rear and selfie cameras of the phone work simultaneously to click one picture. So, the picture has your selfie and also the scene or object that you’re focussing on with your smartphone’s rear camera.
Nokia X6 comes with face unlock feature and it also has a fingerprint sensor on its rear panel. The smartphone houses a 3060mAh battery and supports Quick Charge 3.0. It comes with connectivity options like 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth v5.0, USB Type-C port and a 3.5mm jack.
Price
In China, the 4GB RAM/32GB storage variant of Nokia X6 is priced at CNY 1,299, while 4GB RAM/64GB storage version bears a price tag of CNY 1,499. Customers would have to spend CNY 1,699 if they want the 6GB RAM variant of the device. There is currently no word on the phone’s India pricing and availability yet.
OnePlus has finally taken the wraps off its much awaited and talked about flagship smartphone OnePlus 6. Launched today at an event in London, OnePlus comes with high-end specifications and a revamped design with an all-glass body. OnePlus also has an event planned for India on May 17, where it will be giving all the information about the local pricing and availability of the device.SpecificationsOnePlus’ flagship smartphone sports a 6.28-inch FHD+ Full Optic AMOLED display that comes with an 19:9 aspect ratio. The phone’s rear panel is also made of glass and is protected by Gorilla Glass 5. It also has an iPhone X-like notch that houses the front camera, earpiece, and proximity sensor. The newly launched OnePlus 6 comes with new gestures to perform various tasks on the device.Powered by Qualcomm latest processor, Snapdragon 845, OnePlus 6 runs Android 8.1 Oreo topped with the company’s own OxygenOS 5.1. The developer preview of Android P is also said to roll out on the smartphone shortly.The smartphone is available in three storage variants — 6GB RAM/64GB inbuilt storage, 8GB RAM/128GB onboard storage and 8GB RAM/256GB of internal storage. However, the smartphone lacks support for a microSD card. It also comes in three colour variants — Midnight Black, Mirror Black and Silk White( Limited Edition).For imaging duties, OnePlus 6 sports a dual rear camera setup with a 16MP Sony IMX519 sensor coupled with a 20MP Sony IM376K sensor. The dual rear cameras come with dual LED flash. For selfies, there is a 16MP front facing snapper. The camera app of the smartphone comes with Optical Image Stabilization and a Smart Capture mode that will automatically optimize camera settings. Besides this, there is Slow Motion video recording — using which one can record 480 frames per second — and the smartphone can shoot videos with 4K resolution at 60fps. There is also an inbuilt video editor and support for HDR and Portrait modes. In fact, the selfie camera of OnePlus 6 also offers Portrait mode and supports Face Unlock. The company claims that the Face Unlock feature can unlock the device in just 0.4 second.OnePlus is also touting the Gaming mode of the device. According to the company, the Gaming Mode of OnePlus 6 has an improved Gaming DND mode, and can apparently push up performance of the game that the user is playing.The connectivity options of the smartphone include 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth v5.0, NFC, USB Type-C, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. OnePlus 6 also comes with a fingerprint sensor on its back panel, which is claimed to unlock the smartphone in 0.2 seconds. The smartphone houses a 3,300mAh battery with the company’s Dash Charge fast charging technology.Pricing and availabilityThe 6GB RAM variant of the smartphone is available for $529 in US, GBP 469 in UK and EUR 519 in the rest of Europe. The 8GB RAM/128GB variant is priced at $579 in the United States, GBP 519 in United Kingdom and EUR 569 in Europe. Lastly, the OnePlus 6 variant with 8GB RAM and 256GB of storage costs $629 in US, GBP 569 in UK and EUR 619 in Europe. The pricing of OnePlus 6 in India is yet to be declared. However, the smartphone can be bought from Amazon India’s website, which is the exclusive online partner for OnePlus 6. Besides this, the company will also be setting up pop-up stores starting May 21 and the smartphone will be available in open sales starting May 22.Note that only Midnight Black and Mirror Black variants of the smartphone will be available starting May 22, if you want to get your hands on the Silk White Limited Edition, you will have to wait till June 5.Update:
The Indian price of the OnePlus 6 starts from Rs 34,999 and the Avengers edition will be available at Rs 44,999. Both Amazon exclusive. Sales start from 22 May, 2018 for normal edition, with early access sale for Prime members on 21 May. Rs 2,000 cash back on SBI cards is available too.
Chinese smartphone maker Oppo yesterday launched its Realme 1 smartphone. The smartphone is available in three storage variants and all three of them are priced under Rs 15,000. Oppo’s Realme 1 is the third smartphone to be launched in this price segment in the last few weeks, the other two being Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 5 Pro and Asus’ Zenfone Max Pro M1. All three smartphones come packed with specifications that are good for this segment. However, the perfect one for you may depend on what you are looking for in a smartphone — whether it is a big battery or a great selfie camera. Here, we compare the specifications of all the three smartphones to make it easier for you to decide which one is the perfect buy for you:
Display
Oppo Realme 1: 6-inch full-HD+ (1080x2160p) display
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro: 5.99-inch FHD+ display with 18:9 aspect ratio
Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1: 5.99-inch full HD+ display with 18:9 aspect ratio
Processor
Oppo Realme 1: MediaTek’s 12nm octa-core Helio P60 processor
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro: Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 processor
Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1: Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 processor
Primary camera
Oppo Realme 1: 13MP rear camera. Note that the camera app of Oppo Realme 1 comes with support for AR stickers that can be applied to photos taken by both cameras.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro: Dual rear camera setup with 12MP and 5MP sensors.
Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1: 13MP+5MP dual rear cameras with LED flash (A new variant with 16MP+5MP dual rear camera setup will also be launched soon).
Selfie camera
Oppo Realme 1: 8MP front facing camera with AI Beauty 2.0 feature.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro: 20 selfie camera with LED flash and Xiaomi’s AI learning mechanism.
Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1: 8MP front-facing snapper with Snapdragon camera app interface.
RAM and storage
Oppo Realme 1: 3GB RAM/32GB internal storage, 4GB RAM/64GB onboard storage and 6GB RAM/128GB storage.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro: 4GB RAM/64GB internal storage, 6GB RAM/64GB onboard storage
Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1: The smartphone is presently available in two storage variants — 3GB RAM/32GB onboard storage, 4GB RAM/64GB internal storage. Another variant with 6GB RAM/64GB storage is set to launch in India soon.
Support for microSD card
Oppo Realme 1: Up to 256GB
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro: Up to 128GB
Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1: Up to 2TB
Battery
Oppo Realme 1: 3,410mAh
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro: 4,000mAh
Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1: 5,000mAh
Operating system
Oppo Realme 1: Android 8.1 Oreo skinned with ColorOS 5.0
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro: MIUI 9 based on Android 7.1.1 Nougat
Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1: Android 8.1 Oreo
Price
Oppo Realme 1: The cost of 3GB RAM variant is Rs 8,990, the 4GB RAM variant is priced at Rs 10,990, and the 6GB RAM variant bears a price tag of Rs 13,990.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro:The 3GB RAM variant is priced at Rs 14,999 and the 6GB RAM version costs Rs 16,999.
Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1: The 3GB RAM version costs Rs 10,999 and the 4GB RAM bears a price tag of Rs 12,999. The upcoming 6GB RAM version of the smartphone will be launched at Rs 14,999.
