Till now, we have only heard about companies working on smartphones that will come with 5G capabilities. We saw a few of them at the Mobile World Congress 2019 like Huawei’s 5G foldable smartphone, devices Sony, LG, and a prototype smartphone from OnePlus. Prior to that, Samsung launched its 5G enabled Galaxy S10 variant on at its Galaxy Unpacked event on February 20. However, it won’t just be smartphones that will come with this connectivity.
Just days after MWC 2019 is over, a report has surfaced online on AnandTech that says there were computers present at the tech show that showcased how 5G connectivity work on them. According to the report, both Intel and Qualcomm showed off 5G modems that could be connected to laptops and desktops via M.2 sockets.
However, we should also add that the companies don’t intend to launch them as aftermarket upgrades. So, don’t count on these to upgrade your laptop or PC to a 5G enabled model. Both the modules that made an appearance at the tech show rely on being connected to external 5G antennas, which cannot be upgraded by users.
The intended customers for the 5G modems are the likes of Dell, HP, and Lenovo, who have also bought the similar LTE versions of such modules in the past.
Image courtesy: AnandTech
Coming to the specifications, the 5G modules showed by Intel have been made by Fibocom and they come with the company’s own XMM8160 modem. It has been confirmed that they would be equipped with Sub-6GHz and mmWave 5G. In addition to this, Qualcomm’s modules are based on the American chipmaker’s recently launched X55 modems. This basically means that these modules would come with support for both forms of 5G.
We should mention that both these modules are 30 millimeters wide, which is basically the widest possible variant of the M.2 standard. For those unaware, standard M.2 storage drives are just 22mm wide.
Image courtesy: AnandTech
The exact manufacturer, devices in which these will be used or information on the release date has not been confirmed yet. However, a representative from Fibocom said that modules with Intel modems are not likely to make their way into devices till 2020.
Taiwanese electronics maker Asus may be planning to add two more smartphones in its Zenfone series, namely the Zenfone Max Plus M2 and the Zenfone Max Shot. Both the smartphones were spotted in a Brazilian Telecom Regulator Anatel’s database. And there is a good chance that the company might launch the Asus Zenfone Max Plus M2 and Zenfone Max Shot smartphones in Brazil in the coming months.
The images of both Asus Zenfone Max Plus M2 and Zenfone Max Shot smartphones were leaked on Slashleaks, and they show the build, the design and what they would most probably look like. The Asus Zenfone Max Shot sports a triple-camera setup at the back but details about their sensors are currently not known. The camera placement on the handset is similar to the camera modules on current smartphones in the Asus Zenfone lineup. The device has the LED flash placed under the camera sensors. On the other hand, Asus Zenfone Max Plus M2 sports a dual rear camera setup with similar camera and LED flash placement.
Both the smartphones have their SIM trays on the left which can support dual Nano-SIM cards along with a microSD card. The SIM card placement isn’t hybrid so users can place two SIMs with a microSD for extra storage. While on the right, there is a power button accompanied with the volume rocker keys. Asus Zenfone Max Plus M2 and Zenfone Max Shot smartphones have a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner. Similar to other smartphones from the Zenfone series, these smartphones too come with a notch at the top of their displays which houses the front camera with flash. At the bottom of the device there is a Micro-USB port.
Asus Zenfone Max Plus M2 will come with 32GB of internal storage while the Zenfone Max Shot will have 64GB of storage. Other details about the smartphones like the RAM, processor and other specifications are currently unknown. But, considering the fact that most of the smartphones from Asus Zenfone line-up comes with Snapdragon processors, it might be speculated that the upcoming phones too will have CPUs from Qualcomm powering them.
Image Credit: SlashLeaks
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Chinese smartphone brand Oppo is all set to launch its F11 Pro smartphone in India today. Oppo F11 Pro will be unveiled by the company at a launch event that is set to begin in Mumbai at 7 pm and the handset’s key highlight is its 48MP primary camera. Furthermore, Oppo F11 Pro mobile will also come with a pop-up selfie camera, just like the one we saw on Vivo NEX (review) and Vivo V15 Pro (review).
The company is touting the Super Night Mode of the smartphone that will help the device with low light photography. In addition to this, the smartphone will also come with the company’s VOOC 3.0 Flash Charge fast charging technology. It is also worth mentioning that this will be the global launch of Oppo F11 Pro. Here’s a look at its expected pricing details and specifications:
Oppo F11 Pro launch: How to watch the live stream?
If you want to watch the Oppo F11 Pro smartphone getting launched, you head to the company’s official YouTube channel at 7 pm IST today. We have also embedded the live stream video on this page, so you can also choose to watch it here.
Oppo F11 Pro price (expected)
Oppo has been very careful to guard the pricing of its upcoming F11 Pro smartphone. So far, there haven’t been any leaks that talk about the price tag that we can expect to see. However, considering the kind of specifications Oppo F11 Pro has, it can be priced anywhere between Rs 15,000 and Rs 30,000.
The cost of Oppo F11 Pro would basically depend on the kind of sensor that has been used in its 48MP camera. If it’s Sony IMX586 sensor, we can expect a high price tag, and if it’s more of an entry-level one like Samsung ISOCELL GM1 sensor, we can expect the handset to be easier on customers’ pockets.
Oppo F11 Pro specifications (expected)
What we do know about the Oppo F11 Pro smartphone is that it will come with a dual rear camera setup with a 48MP primary sensor with an f/1.79 aperture and a 5MP secondary sensor. There will also be a pop-up selfie camera onboard, however, there is no word on the resolution of the same yet. However, it is being speculated that both the cameras will come with AI enhancements.
The handset will have support for VOOC 3.0 fast charging, and come with a display that does not have a notch. Oppo F11 Pro will come with a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner and sport a 3D gradient casing. It will be available in Aurora Green and Thunder Black colour options. The Chinese smartphone brand has confirmed that the Oppo F11 Pro handset will have 6GB of RAM and 64GB of storage onboard. The device’s listing on Amazon India also says that it will come with a 4,000mAh battery.
According to reports, Oppo F11 Pro will be powered by a MediaTek Helio P70 SoC and run Android Pie. It will reportedly sport a 6.5-inch full-HD+ LTPS LCD display that will come with a 90.9% screen-to-body ratio.
For imaging duties, Oppo F11 Pro will have a dual rear camera setup with a 48MP sensor with an f/1.79 aperture and a 5MP sensor with an f/2.4 aperture. The pop-up selfie camera of the device is said to come with a 16MP sensor. The smartphone will be available in 64GB and 128GB storage options.
South Korean technology giant Samsung has been on a launching spree since the beginning of the year. First, we got to see its Galaxy M series, and more recently, we have seen devices from its revamped Galaxy A series. For those unaware, last week, Samsung launched its Galaxy A10, Galaxy A30 and Galaxy A50 smartphones in India.
However, the company is not done yet. It will be seen launching more smartphones from the range. Its next smartphone that is going to be launched – Samsung Galaxy A40 – already has a live support page in Europe. and now, ahead of the device’s launch, Samsung Galaxy A40’s price has also surfaced online.
The Samsung Galaxy A40 smartphone will be launched with Android Pie skinned with One UI, and will reportedly first launch in Europe. Considering that India is a very important market for Samsung, the smartphone is expected to launch here too.
According to a report that was first published by MySmartPrice, Samsung Galaxy A40 smartphone will be priced at EUR 249, which is approximately Rs 20,000. The device is soon expected to be first launched in Europe, however, its exact date of launch has not been confirmed as yet. Given that the South Korean technology giant has said that a Galaxy A smartphone will be unveiled every month till June, we are counting on Galaxy A40 to launch in India too.
The support page for Samsung Galaxy A40 is already live for the company’s Germany website. The handset is said to be powered by the Exynos 7885 processor clubbed with 4GB of RAM and will run Android 9.0 Pie.
Although the launch date of the Samsung Galaxy A40 smartphone is not known yet, what we do know is that Samsung Galaxy A50 will be launched in a number of markets including UK, Poland, France, and Germany.
Other than this, Samsung Galaxy A90 smartphone is also said to be in works and is said to come with a sliding and rotating camera. This will enable the user to use the camera as a front or a rear camera depending upon the position in which it is kept.
Boat Lifestyle is known for offering audio products and accessories for smartphones at an affordable price. Boat Lifestyle’s range of products includes wireless speakers, headphones, earphones, cables, and even chargers. However, their talking point has always been affordability and that is what has helped the brand gain its popularity.
The brand has today announced the launch of its Stone 650 wireless speaker. Much like other products from Boat’s range, the product has been priced affordably at Rs 1,899. Interested buyers can buy the speaker from Amazon India’s website. Although there is no official word on it, we are assuming that the Boat Stone 650 wireless speaker is the successor of the company’s Stone 600 speaker.
One among the key features of the Boat Stone 650 wireless speaker is its IPX5 rating, that makes it water and dust resistant. The company has also added that the speaker has a ‘diamond studded mesh’ design on its body. Besides this, the Boat Stone 650 wireless speaker comes with a dual-driver setup that is comprised of two 5W speaker drivers. The newly launched speaker also comes with a passive bass radiator and is claimed to deliver a battery life of 7 hours on a single charge. The battery capacity of the speaker is 1,800mAh.
Coming to the connectivity options of the Boat Stone 650 wireless speaker, it comes with Bluetooth 4.2 and users can also connect to it using an auxiliary cable or TF storage. In order to charge the device, you can use its Micro-USB port. It also comes with support for A2DP, AVRCP, and HFP. The Boat Stone 650 wireless speaker has a microphone, so it can be used to make hands-free voice calls. There are other buttons on the speaker that help users to control playback. So, you would not have to reach out to your paired smartphone each time you want to play/pause the device or adjust its volume.
Speaking about the company’s latest device, Ankush Guglani, Business Head of Boat India said, “We are excited to introduce Stone 650 at the onset of the festive season. Music is an integral part of our daily lifestyle and Stone 650 is designed to step- up the overall user experience with superior sound quality, easy portability and high battery power.”
A number of users of Facebook lost some trust in the social networking platform after the data breaches the company was involved in last year. And now, Facebook is busy working on a number of things to make its platform more interesting for users. It is not only the main social media platform that is getting changes, but Facebook is also rolling out changes to its Messenger app too.
First, Facebook rolled out an option to recall messages on its Messenger app, which is similar to the one we have seen and used on WhatsApp. And now, the app is getting the ‘Dark Mode’ feature on both Android and iOS. However, you would have to manually enable the feature.
The feature was first announced by Facebook in October last year and it has finally started rolling out to users four months after the announcement. According to a report on GSMArena, “It’s currently unclear if this method works in all countries and platforms, but Redditors from the Philippines, Portugal, Czech Republic, Saudi Arabia, and Indonesia report that it worked for them.”
The same report also added that the feature “worked on our Android smartphones in India and over at headquarters, both on Android and iOS, so it’s safe to say it’s widespread and will be coming officially sooner rather than later.”
We should mention that the Dark Mode on Facebook Messenger can be enabled simply by sending a moon emoji on a chat in the Messenger app. The moment you will send this emoji, a message will pop up saying, “You Found Dark Mode!”.
Once Dark Mode comes to your Facebook Messenger app, a message will prompt saying that the company is still working on this feature. And because of this, you wouldn’t get to see the mode everywhere on the app and it may also appear broken at a few places on Messenger.
We should add that a number of apps already have the Dark Mode including Pocket, YouTube and Twitter. Google has also confirmed that having the Dark Mode on Android actually increases the battery life of the device. So, we are sure that this is a very welcome feature for most users.
Chinese smartphone brand Honor’s upcoming smartphone has been spotted in a post on social media platform Weibo. The detailed specifications, price and photos of the upcoming Honor 20 smartphone have been spotted on the platform. According to the listing, the device is likely to sport a triple rear camera setup and will be powered by Huawei’s latest Kirin 980 SoC, an in-display fingerprint sensor and a 3,650mAh battery.
The upcoming Honor 20 smartphone is tipped to come with a 48MP primary camera and its selfie camera will come with a 32MP sensor. The tipster, who is named ichangezone on Weibo shared an image on the platform that shows the back panel of the device. He also posted some detailed specifications and the expected pricing of the smartphone.
The tipster has said that the Honor 20 smartphone will be available in three variants – 6GB RAM/128GB internal storage, 8GB RAM/256GB onboard storage and 8GB RAM/256GB storage. While the base variant costs CNY 2,999 (approximately Rs 31,700), the one with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage bears a price tag of CNY 3,399 (approximately Rs 35,900) and the most high-end one costs CNY 3,799 (approximately Rs 40,200), according to the leakster.
The image of the back panel of the smartphone suggests that Honor 20 smartphone will come with a White finish and come with a vertically-stacked triple rear camera setup. The handset does not come with a fingerprint scanner on its back panel, which means that it has one on its display. According to reports, the smartphone comes with a 6.1-inch display and a waterdrop-shaped notch. It is expected to be powered by Huawei’s Kirin 980 SoC.
The rear camera setup of the smartphone is said to comprise of a 48MP, a 20MP, and an 8MP sensor that comes with support for 3X optical zoom. It has also been reported that the Honor 20 smartphone comes with a DxO score of 108. For selfies and video calls, there is a 32MP sensor and it packs a 3,650mAh battery. The device comes with a USB Type-C post and it has the GPU Link Turbo technology for the amplified gaming experience. The launch of the timeline is not known yet.
Chinese smartphone maker Realme has today launched its Realme 3 smartphone in India. The smartphone is priced in the budget segment and competes directly with the likes of Redmi Note 7 and Asus Zenfone Max M2 smartphones. Here, we have listed down all the details that you should know about the newly launched device before you buy it:
Comes with a ‘Dewdrop’ display
The newly launched Realme 3 smartphone has 6.2-inch Dewdrop HD+ display that comes with an aspect ratio of 19:9 and is protected by a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 3. The ‘Dewdrop’ display basically means that the device has a waterdrop shaped notch on the top.
Powered by the powerful Mediatek Helio P70 processor
The newest offering by Realme is powered by 12nm Mediatek AI Master Helio P70 processor. This was something that the company had already confirmed on the handset’s dedicated Flipkart page when it said “Faster 12nm Helio P70 AI processor Vs. 14nm processor.” This was a direct jab at the recently launched Redmi Note 7 smartphone.
Available in two storage options
Realme 3 smartphone is available in 3GB RAM and 4GB RAM variants. While the former is clubbed with 32GB storage, the latter comes with 64GB of onboard storage. Besides this, the device is available in Dynamic Black, Radiant Blue, and Classic Black colours.
Has dual rear cameras
In spite of being a budget smartphone, Realme 3 handset has a dual rear camera setup on its back panel that comprises of a 13MP sensor and a 2MP sensor. The Realme 3 smartphone’s cameras come with Nightscape and ChromeBoost modes.
The selfie camera supports facial unlock
The smartphone has a 13MP sensor on its front panel that comes with AI enhancements that gives improved results while clicking selfies. Other than this, it also has support for facial unlock feature.
Has a massive battery
Realme 3 houses a massive 4,230mAh battery, that was also touted by the company has “more than 4,000mAh battery”. For those unaware, Redmi Note 7 smartphone houses a 4,000mAh battery.
The smartphone comes with AI enhancements
The cameras and the battery of the device come with AI enhancements. While in the case of cameras, it improves the quality of images and helps in scene recognition, in case of battery it adds screen battery optimization.
Runs the latest Android version
Realme 3 smartphone comes with Android 9.0 Pie operating system out of the box. However, it does not run stock Android, as it has the company’s own ColorOS 6.0 baked on top.
Its price makes it a direct competitor of Redmi Note 7
While the 3GB RAM/32GB storage model of Realme 3 smartphone costs Rs 8,999, its 4GB RAM/64GB variant is priced at Rs 10,999. At this, price it competes directly with Redmi Note 7 smartphone that is also available in the same variants, but is priced at Rs 9,999 and Rs 11,999 respectively.
The first sale is on March 12
Realme 3 smartphone is available exclusively on Flipkart and its first sale is on March 12.
Chinese smartphone maker Realme today launched its Realme 3 smartphone in India today. The device, before the launch, was teased for weeks and Realme made some not-so-subtle jabs at the recently launched Redmi Note 7 smartphone on Realme 3’s dedicated Flipkart page.
And after the launch today, we have to say that Realme 3 does give Redmi Note 7 a tough competition in terms of pricing as well as specifications. So, we decided to compare the two smartphones, so that it can be easier for you to decide which one is a better budget buy for you.
Here, we have compared all the specifications of the Realme 3 smartphone with Redmi Note 7 handset that was launched last week. Take a look at our comparison and let us know which one among the two budget offerings would you rather go for:
Display
Realme 3: 6.2-inch Dewdrop HD+ display that has an aspect ratio of 19:9.
Redmi Note 7 Pro: 6.3-inch Full HD+ LCD display.
Realme 3: Android 9.0 Pie skinned with ColorOS 6.0.
Redmi Note 7: Android 9.0 Pie skinned with MIUI 10.
Price
Realme 3: While the 3GB RAM/32GB storage model costs Rs 8,999, the 4GB RAM/64GB variant is priced at Rs 10,999.
Redmi Note 7: While the 3GB RAM/32GB storage model costs Rs 9,999, the 4GB RAM/64GB variant is priced at Rs 11,999.
Like we earlier said, the two devices pose a very tough competition to each other. Let us know in the comments below which one among the two would you pick for yourself!
Chinese smartphone brand Realme has launched its Realme 3 smartphone at an event in New Delhi today. The smartphone was being teased a lot in various reports on the internet. The newly launched Realme 3 smartphone comes with a 3D gradient unibody design and is powered by AI Master Helio P70 processor. Realme 3 smartphone comes with a dual rear camera setup and runs Android Pie skinned with ColorOS 6.0. Here’s a look at all the specifications and pricing details of the newly launched smartphone:
Realme 3 price in India
Realme 3 smartphone is available in two storage variants in India. While one of them comes with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of onboard storage, the other has 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. The former costs Rs 8,999, and the latter is priced at Rs 10,999.
The handset’s first sale will be on Flipkart on March 12, and as a part of launch offers, the company has partnered with Reliance Jio to offer data benefits of worth Rs 5,300.
Realme 3 specifications
The newly launched smartphone by Realme sports a 6.2-inch Dewdrop HD+ display that has an aspect ratio of 19:9 and is protected by Gorilla Glass 3. Realme 3 smartphone has a 3D gradient unibody design and is available in Dynamic Black, Radiant Blue, and Classic Black colours. Powered by 12nm Mediatek AI Master Helio P70 processor, the device comes with 3GB or 4GB of RAM. While the 3GB RAM variant is clubbed with 32GB of storage, the 4GB RAM model comes with 64GB of onboard storage. Realme 3 scan hold a microSD card of up to 256GB.
On the camera front, Realme 3 sports a dual rear camera setup with a 13MP sensor and a 2MP sensor. The camera sensors of the smartphone come with Nightscape and ChromeBoost modes. The device also has a 13MP selfie camera on the front panel that ha support for facial unlock feature.
Realme 3 smartphone houses a 4,230mAh battery that comes with AI enhancements and screen battery optimization. The smartphone runs Android 9.0 Pie skinned with ColorOS 6.0. The handset is splash and dust resistant.
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:
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’.
Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) has garnered a fair bit of popularity since the last couple of year. Not just Apple, but other major technological giants are incorporating the technologies in their devices. It was last week when software giant Microsoft launched its newest product – Hololens 2, which is an upgraded version of Hololens. The device is priced at $3,500 (approximately Rs 2,48,500).
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:
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.
Microsoft is adding these alerts in the Microsoft Authenticator for both iOS and Android.
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.
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
She wrote:
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:
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.
Pros
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.
The newly launched Realme 3 smartphone has 6.2-inch Dewdrop HD+ display that comes with an aspect ratio of 19:9 and is protected by a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 3. The ‘Dewdrop’ display basically means that the device has a waterdrop shaped notch on the top.
The newest offering by Realme is powered by 12nm Mediatek AI Master Helio P70 processor. This was something that the company had already confirmed on the handset’s dedicated Flipkart page when it said “Faster 12nm Helio P70 AI processor Vs. 14nm processor.” This was a direct jab at the recently launched Redmi Note 7 smartphone.
Realme 3 smartphone is available in 3GB RAM and 4GB RAM variants. While the former is clubbed with 32GB storage, the latter comes with 64GB of onboard storage. Besides this, the device is available in Dynamic Black, Radiant Blue, and Classic Black colours.
In spite of being a budget smartphone, Realme 3 handset has a dual rear camera setup on its back panel that comprises of a 13MP sensor and a 2MP sensor. The Realme 3 smartphone’s cameras come with Nightscape and ChromeBoost modes.
The smartphone has a 13MP sensor on its front panel that comes with AI enhancements that gives improved results while clicking selfies. Other than this, it also has support for facial unlock feature.
Realme 3 houses a massive 4,230mAh battery, that was also touted by the company has “more than 4,000mAh battery”. For those unaware, Redmi Note 7 smartphone houses a 4,000mAh battery.
The cameras and the battery of the device come with AI enhancements. While in the case of cameras, it improves the quality of images and helps in scene recognition, in case of battery it adds screen battery optimization.
Realme 3 smartphone comes with Android 9.0 Pie operating system out of the box. However, it does not run stock Android, as it has the company’s own ColorOS 6.0 baked on top.
While the 3GB RAM/32GB storage model of Realme 3 smartphone costs Rs 8,999, its 4GB RAM/64GB variant is priced at Rs 10,999. At this, price it competes directly with Redmi Note 7 smartphone that is also available in the same variants, but is priced at Rs 9,999 and Rs 11,999 respectively.
Realme 3 smartphone is available exclusively on Flipkart and its first sale is on March 12.
The newly launched Realme 3 smartphone has 6.2-inch Dewdrop HD+ display that comes with an aspect ratio of 19:9 and is protected by a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 3. The ‘Dewdrop’ display basically means that the device has a waterdrop shaped notch on the top.
The newest offering by Realme is powered by 12nm Mediatek AI Master Helio P70 processor. This was something that the company had already confirmed on the handset’s dedicated Flipkart page when it said “Faster 12nm Helio P70 AI processor Vs. 14nm processor.” This was a direct jab at the recently launched Redmi Note 7 smartphone.
Realme 3 smartphone is available in 3GB RAM and 4GB RAM variants. While the former is clubbed with 32GB storage, the latter comes with 64GB of onboard storage. Besides this, the device is available in Dynamic Black, Radiant Blue, and Classic Black colours.
In spite of being a budget smartphone, Realme 3 handset has a dual rear camera setup on its back panel that comprises of a 13MP sensor and a 2MP sensor. The Realme 3 smartphone’s cameras come with Nightscape and ChromeBoost modes.
The smartphone has a 13MP sensor on its front panel that comes with AI enhancements that gives improved results while clicking selfies. Other than this, it also has support for facial unlock feature.
Realme 3 houses a massive 4,230mAh battery, that was also touted by the company has “more than 4,000mAh battery”. For those unaware, Redmi Note 7 smartphone houses a 4,000mAh battery.
The cameras and the battery of the device come with AI enhancements. While in the case of cameras, it improves the quality of images and helps in scene recognition, in case of battery it adds screen battery optimization.
Realme 3 smartphone comes with Android 9.0 Pie operating system out of the box. However, it does not run stock Android, as it has the company’s own ColorOS 6.0 baked on top.
While the 3GB RAM/32GB storage model of Realme 3 smartphone costs Rs 8,999, its 4GB RAM/64GB variant is priced at Rs 10,999. At this, price it competes directly with Redmi Note 7 smartphone that is also available in the same variants, but is priced at Rs 9,999 and Rs 11,999 respectively.
Realme 3 smartphone is available exclusively on Flipkart and its first sale is on March 12.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
