Apple has taken its wraps off the new iPad Pro, which is a smaller 9.7-inch version of the 12.9 inch iPad Pro. Priced starting US $ 599 for the 32 GB, the new iPad comes with the same features of the larger iPad Pro.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_pMx7IjYKE
With a 9.7 inch retina display the newer and smaller iPad Pro is still capable of working with the ever in demand Apple Pencil. You will also get the Apple A9x Processor and 4k video capable 12 MP main camera and a 5MP front camera.
The 9.7-inch iPad Pro features TrueTone technology, which measures the color temperature of ambient light and adjusts the screen accordingly. Phil Schiller, senior vice president of worldwide marketing at Apple, says it offers the lowest reflectivity of any tablet.
Apple has finally taken the wraps of their new iPhone called the iPhone SE. While the looks are the same as the iPhone 5s. The iPhone SE is essentially the iPhone 6 in a smaller sized package, packing an Apple A9 processor and an M9 Motion Co-Processer.
Apple has also included 4k video recording capable 12 MP camera and Always On “Hey Siri”.
The iPhone SE will be available for US $ 399 for the 16 GB and US $ 499 for the 64 GB when it launches in April in major countries. Taking care of requirement for those who want a smaller iPhone and those who do not want to spend a lot of money.
In India iPhone SE will be available in space grey, silver, gold and rose gold metallic finishes in 16GB and 64GB models starting at MRP INR 30,000 from Apple Authorised Resellers and select carriers. — Customers in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Singapore, the UK, US Virgin Islands and the US will be able to order iPhone SE beginning Thursday, March 24, with availability beginning Thursday, March 31.
Apple at their 21st March event showed off their promise to the environment. Aiming for a 100% renewable power capability Apple reached 93% of its goal. Where 93% of all Apple facilities are run on renewable energy. Whereas, 100 % of their data centres are run on renewable sources of energy.
Apple has also worked on a new Robot which lets the company take apart each and every component of any Apple device like an iPhone into components and send individual items back to the manufacturing line.
Apple also said that almost 99% of all packaging used in their products comes from recycled paper or sustainable sources of paper.
According to the Cupertino-based company their devices are built in a way so that they don’t reach the junkyard easily and are reused often. Apple will also offer free recycling for your old phones.
Cochin Airport in India became the world’s first airport to become completely self-reliant as far as electricity is concerned.
The project, worth $10 Million, began in 2013 and was completed in 2015, it comprises of 46,150 solar panels laid on 45 acres of land near the airport’s cargo complex. Cochin airport’s solar power plant produces 50,000 to 60,000 units of electricity per day to for consumption by all facilities at the International airport.
When we had realized that the power bill is on the higher side, we contemplated possibilities. Then the idea of tapping the green power came in. We consume around 48,000 unit (KWh) a day. So if we can produce the same, that too by strictly adhering to the green and sustainable development model of infrastructure development that we always follow, that would transcend a message to the world. Now this has become the world’s first airport fully operates on solar power ” -Said Mr.V.J.Kurian IAS, Managing Director, Cochin International Airport Ltd.
This plant will produce 18 million units of clean power an annual power equivalent for 10,000 homes for one year. Over the next 25 years, this green energy project will avoid carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants by more than 3 lakh metric tons, which is equivalent to planting 3 million trees or not driving 750 miles.
Initially Kolkata-based M/s Vikram Solar Pvt. Ltd. was responsible for the 400 polycrystalline modules of an output of 250Wp and five Refu-sol 20kW capacity string inverters were used in this plant as a trial. After completion, the airport has so far saved more than 550 Metric Tonnes of CO2 emission.
This solar project in itself is an incredible feat, and the fact that the whole airport is self-sustainable for at least the next 25 years makes it even more impressive
Easy go taxi app “Uber” has reportedly purchased 100,000 Mercedes Benz S Class vehicles. Till now Uber owned no cars of its own. Germany’s Manager Magazin, claims that both Uber and Mercedes are both investing heavily in making autonomous cars a reality.
This deal which sets the delivery in the future is for Mercedez Benz and Uber technology which will allow the cars to be Autonomous. It is estimated that the deliveries for the said vehicles will begin early 2020, according to Stuttgart. The premium S-Class has been able to park, maintain safe distances from other cars in tight, stop-and-go traffic without the aid of a driver, these features are said to be enhaced over the next few years to allow more capabilites.
A deal which is in the upper region of 10 Billion Euros, is set to compete against the various other companies aiming to make autonomous cars including the likes of Tesla.
We are just a few days away from Apple’s mega event and renders are popping up all over the place. The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 pro may not be launched this time around and may be kept for the September launch. However, it has not stopped designer Martin Hajek, who is known for pretty accurate renders for showing off what the next iPhones may look like.
iPhone SE
The iPhone SE is supposedly an answer from Apple to its fans asking for a smaller iPhone after they abandoned the compact screen size. Designed on the iPhone 5s the size of the iPhone SE is expected to be very similar to the 5s, however, much more rounded like the iPhone 6.
iPhone 7
The iPhone 7 will be the notorious handset marking the end of an era of the headphone jack, or so says the world. The new iPhone 7 will have a major overhaul for the optics and some magical battery improvement.
The iPhone 7 Pro
It is much rumored that Apple will drop the “plus” nomenclature in favor of the more iPad Pro packaging for the larger iPhone 7, calling it the iPhone 7 Pro. Supposedly, just like the iPhone 7, the iPhone 7 Pro will also drop the headphone jack in favor of DAC enabled lightning headphones. However, rumors and the below renders point to dual cameras, possibly for better resolution or stereoscopic video.
While the above is just a guesstimate, it seems more accurate than ever. Also, the dropping of flat antenna bands is also in line with the design change scheduled with the iPhone 7 series.
With a large number of pizzas delivered each day, one would think dominos would scale up technology to make the production of Pizzas more efficient, not deliveries. It looks like the future is filled with drones and Robots. The new robot known as DRU (Domino’s Robotic Unit) can travel at about 12 mph and can easily handle varied terrain though it’s not designed for major road use.
Think of deliveries happening in remote areas. The Pizza remains safe and hot and is only unlocked by a special mobile code sent to the recipient of the order. Wath the demo video below.
DRU uses a LIDAR sensory system that allows the unit to detect obstacles in its path and change its route accordingly. It measures objects and distance by illuminating them with a laser light. Each unit also comes equipped with traditional sensors that detect obstructions at close range, just like a robot vacuum cleaner.
It weighs approximately 190kg and has a maximum height of 1185mm (922mm with the compartment closed.) The body is constructed of ABS and urethane plastics, the lenses are made using PMMA (acrylic) plastics and the internal chassis is finished using aluminium and mild steel. It is water tight and weather proof.
India’s festival of color and water is just around the corner. While we would seriously advocate that you do not waste water and play a dry Holi. For those still willing to go all out, the smartphone is one of the biggest victims of an accident on and around the festival of Holi.
Imagine your phone gets struck by a water and color filled balloon, and moments later it is time to go hunting for a new one.
While every smartphone should now feature some kind of waterproofing, many companies do not agree with us. So if you plan on playing Rambo on Holi try the following smartphones guaranteed to last through the water filled festival. Zip lock bags and plastic wrapped phones are soon to be a thing of the past.
Samsung Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge
The latest and greatest flagship from Samsung is actually now iP68 rated, means that it will mostly survive if immersed for up to 30 minutes or 1.5 meters under (water). The glass and metal should also prevent it from easily getting colored by Holi colors, however, industrial dyes and the infamous gold men may be instrumental in helping you change the color of your handset from say black to Gold.
iPhone 6s and 6s Plus
Apple’s latest releases, to everyone’s surprise, do indeed feature a water resistant body. Though not rated or officially announced by Apple. This secretive water resistance was Apple’s way of reducing servicing costs and general user appreciation. Tested out by many people including us, the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, turns out to be more resilient than Samsung’s latest and greatest S7 and S7 Edge. Offering up the same all metal design, the iPhone should fare well in colored water as long as you don’t have some serious stainers.
MotoG (gen 3) and Moto X Play
Motorola has been adding water resistant coatings on their devices for a while, while not fully rugged they would help the phone survive spills of coffee or accidental drops in puddles. The Moto G gen 3 was a whole new breed from Motorola, with an IPX7 rating the phone is water resistant for up to 1 Meter and for a total of 30 minutes. The body is made from plastic, which may not do too well with colors, though. On the plus side, the back panel is cheap and easily replaceable. The X Play offers up a water resistant coating too though it may not survive dunking like the Moto G, however, may be less prone to color accidents or damage.
Sony Xperia Z5, Z5 Premium, Z5 Compact
Sony Xperia Z5 Premium
With dual IP68 and IP65 ratings, the Xperia phones from Sony are no stranger to water. The revolution by far has ben led by the Japenese manufacturer who has led the water resistance category smartphones for a while.
With glass on both sides and a glossy metal bezel, the Xperia Z5 series is very resistant to color and water. As a matter of fact, the number 5 in the IP65 stands for resistance from water projected by a nozzle (6.3mm) against enclosure from any direction. Reminds you of a certain subject of this story doesn’t it.
HTC Desire Eye
With a whole lot of optical capability, the HTC Desire Eye makes our list. Although this complete plastic phone may not do so well with colors the HTC Desire Eye has serious cameras on the front and the back. With an IPX7 certification just like the Moto G, the phone will survive for 30 minutes under 1 m of water guaranteed.
Of course there are many other phones and gadgets that would easily survive the onset of Holi. Have any favorites add them to the list below.
Few earlier reports have pointed towards the fact that the iPhone 7 will now come with three storage options as always, however, the sizes may be 64GB, 128GB and 256GB and not the current 16GB 64GB and 128GB.
The below image shows a 256GB SanDisk NAND flash memory chip which is physically smaller than the company’s 64GB chip. This has been designed to fit in the future iPhone, iPad and well other smart devices including those from Apple, like the Apple TV and even Macbooks.
Sandisk has been one of the key suppliers to Apple for storage chips in the iPhone 5, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus. And with the above image, it seems the rumors are drawing more to a possibility.
Apple has also used NAND flash chips from Samsung, SK Hynix and Toshiba. While Samsung has been parading its 256GB Nand flash chips and now that Sandisk has joined the party, Apple may not only have the right suppliers but also enough suppliers to amass the requirement for their next-gen iPhone 7.
Google in an unnatural move has made the next upgrade of Android , aka Android N beta for developers. Google writes that the team decided it wanted to release the preview earlier in order to get more feedback from developers earlier in the process and get the final N release into the hands of device manufacturers this summer.
As we look to the next release of Android, N, you’ll notice a few big changes aimed at you as developers: it’s earlier than ever, it’s easier to try and we’re expanding the ways for you to give us feedback. We hope these changes will ensure that you are heard and reflected — that’s what makes Android stronger
Like all beta releases Google claims that this beta edition is a work in progress and you should expect a lot of bugs.
Many new changes are talked about but namely the ability to directly reply to notifications and split screen view for both tablets and phones seems to be the major highlight of this update. You will also get PIP (picture in picture ) for video play like you have seen on Samsung Galaxy devices for a while.
Google will also put major focus on improving performance and battery life by improving features like Doze. Google also claims its aim is to help apps become less memory and resource hungry.
The update can be had today if you are running any of the following devices: Google’s Nexus 6, Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, Nexus Player, Nexus 9 and Pixel C devices. Once you’ve updated your device, Google will also continue to push new updates OTA to it as they are released.
While the percentage of people on Marshmallow is still low, Google has already moved forward with Android N, what the final name will be, is still unknown. (leave your possible ideas below)
Hit the source link in case you want to try out the new Beta, however if it is your main device, we strongly suggest against it.
The HTC One M10 now belongs to the list of worst kept tech secrets. The phone has been leaked and rendered all over the internet. A press render of the next HTC One flagship has been leaked by Venture Beat’s Evan Blass aka @eveleaks
This all happened right after @onleaks started a leaking spree of the actual handset and Antutu benchmark scores that pin the device at 109,936 points on the famous benchmark app. This all leaked along with the following information : 5.15″ QHD / SD820 / Adreno 530 / 4GB RAM / 12MP / USB Type-C. Which means that HTC might finally be on the right track as far as specs are concerned, and we also see a home button fingerprint scanner like last year. Now let us hope that HTC gets the pricing right and makes 2016 a year for recovery and not its demise.
Just as the day unfolds, Samsung India has confirmed the launch of its two new flagships the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge in the country on 8th of March. Rumors that pointed us to a launch prior to 10th of March were clearly on track.
The Korean giant rests its year-long launches on the powerful flagships it launches each year beginning. The Samsung Galaxy S6, the Galaxy S6 Edge, and Galaxy S6 Edge Plus paved the way for Samsung in 2015, and the company wants to start quickly with the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge.
Price wise it seems that the corporation may have to deal with many a grunt when the phones, which now offer expandable storage, may be launched close to the Rs. 60k price bracket. (let the kidney jokes begin).
It is also expected that Samsung India may launch both the Exynos and Snapdragon variants in India, in an attempt to woo customers that have in the past complained that the Korean Electronics manufacturer launches crippled handsets in the country.
In the meanwhile, you can watch our hands-on video.
As a chunk of the world awaited Samsung’s release of their yearly flagship revision, LG got on stage and announced the G5. The Korean company which has remained an underdog in comparison to Samsung massive fan appeal may finally bring back its glory of the Nexus 5.
With a first look the all aluminum design is a stark reminder of the Nexus inspired design and while the LG G5 resembles the Nexus 6p it is much smaller and more rounded. Which the location of the fingerprint scanner and the bump of the camera module almost falling exactly in place.
The LG G5 has a 5.3 inch 2560 x 1440 pixel display which also features a new always-on technology which consumes a fraction of a single percent of battery power per hour.
Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 820 chipset, 4GB of RAM inside the G5. LG now actually offers two camera module on the back: a regular 16-megapixel image and a 135-degree wide angle 8-megapixel camera. with both offering different features and capability.
But with all of the above, the G5 is a mere upgrade with beefy specs and power to boot. Where it radically changes the perception of a flagship smartphone, is by offering a modular 3 tier design.
The LG G5’s bottom compartment slides out, and along with it the 2800 mAh battery. Once removed the module can be interchanged, presently LG offers two, and with third party manufacturers getting access the possibilities are vast. The ones on offer include a camera grip that adds advanced hardware controls for use with the main camera on the device and a beefier stack for a better grip in the hand. The module also doubles up as a battery pack, offering 1200 mAh of additional juice in today’s battery hungry age.
Of course, the personal preference and the more interesting module is the LG Hi-Fi Plus, an external 32-bit DAC and amplifier combo unit, manufactured in collaboration with Bang & Olufsen. It supports native DSD playback and will come with a pair of H3 B&O Play earphones.
Audiophiles have been long carrying portable amps and DACs and LG aims to remove that additional problem and this may work out really well for a lot of people.
LG has basically taken one step forward towards making a truly modular phone a reality. Now if we could just replace out the chipset and the camera we are golden.
LG has dropped a panic bombshell on the audience and the tech industry, and the world should take notice. This is the evolution of smartphone design, and with the future only closer to what modular requirements each customer would have.
Samsung has done little with the Galaxy S7 and the Galaxy S7 Edge, a safer play, giving the consumer what they wanted. Hybrid sim-slot and waterproofing, are majority changes in the Galaxy S7 in comparison.
The Chinese brand famous for its TV products and content has rebranded itself to reflect its entry into a wider range of businesses like smart cycles, internet-linked electric cars, and smartphones. LeEco has done exceptionally well in China and wants to bring the same magic to the Indian market with its budget handset the Le1s
With its significant branding and marketing, LeEco created quite the hype around the launches of the Le1s and the LeMax early this month. However after two flash sales and a lot of hype, does the Le1s make sense for you? And should you get in line to own one today? Let’s Find out!
Overview
The Le1s is an excellent purchase handset but does have a few let downs. It is possibly right there in the top region for the best handset around the 10k price bracket, and there is a good reason. The company, however, is so new that they launched themselves at the launch of the phone. A new name, a new product and with that a whole lot of new promises of delivering service without suffering to the consumer.
Build Quality and Design
From a build perspective, the Le1s is probably something that truly looks its part. All metal shell is brilliant; it was only a few months ago when an all-metal design was highly coveted. Today it seems to be easily available in the set price bracket. More than that the front glass also gets Gorilla Glass 3 for strength. The sides are polished and chamfered to give it that additional premium look that the phone deserves and gets. The buttons are tactile and also made of metal which gives this phone a re-assuring feel and finish.
The design is very modern and taken from the likes of Samsung flagships and the Apple iPhone. You will see hints of similar design in the handset throughout. it’s a little harder in the hand, and it does not feel nimble or soft. Despite sporting a larger display than the iPhone, the Le1s is slightly shorter and has more display to mass ratio, which seemed to have been a big selling point for the company at launch. The phone is available now in a silver color along with the gold variant you see in the pictures.
Hardware
The Le1s is spec’d out, with a list of hardware on paper that stumps any and many in this price bracket. The phone runs on a MediaTek Helio X10 Turbo clocked at 2.2 GHz on eight cores along with a VR6200 GPU, 3GB RAM with 32GB storage.
Specification
LeEco 1s
Display
5.5-Inch Full HD Bezel-less floating glass display
Resolution
1080 x 1920 pixels (~403 ppi pixel density)
Chipset
2.2 GHz MediaTek X10 Turbo
CPU
Octa-Core Helio X10
GPU
VR 6200
RAM
3GB DDR3
Front Camera
5 MP
Rear Camera
13 MP with F 2.0 aperture
Storage
32 GB ROM
Expandability
NA
Battery
3000 mAh (Embedded)
Connectivity
Wi-Fi 802.11 a, b, g, n, ac / Bluetooth 4.2 / NFC / Type-C USB
Operating System
Android OS 5.1 Lolipop with EUI Skin
Price
Rs 10,999
Display and Multimedia
The display on the Le1s is a 5.5 inch LCD with a full HD resolution, which is not such a great deal and now is more of a standard practice. But, what is different is the floating glass nature of the display along with an almost bezel-less design. which not only looks fantastic but also helps reduce wastage on the front of the device.
The display is bright, and the colours are sharp, levels of black are deep. The bezel-less screen makes the display look big although there is a black frame around the screen which sits on the edges – hence making it a bezel, but you won’t be complaining about that when the screen is turned off.
As far as the audio is concerned, the speakers are good enough, and the output from the earphone jack is great. The balance of the sound when listening to music is a little off and can be easily tweaked using an amp application. However, a balanced sound would have been nicer. Especially if you have decent headphones to use the Le1s with.
Camera and Photography
The front camera on the Le1s is a 5 MP snapper; it has a wide angle lens but its nowhere near what you get on Galaxy S6 and sister handsets. The rear camera is a 13 MP shooter, for the tech junkies it includes a ‘Blue Glass Infrared Filter’ along with a wide F2.0 aperture for good low light pictures.
The camera is good in dim light. However, the best part about a phone camera has to be the response of the shutter which is okayish in the Le1s. The color on the images is accurate, and the exposure mostly comes out spot on. You do get some manual controls but nowhere near a pro mode seen on some smartphones. The UI is mostly like the iOS camera UI and you do get some filters. Images tend to be blurry if you are not perfectly stable throughout the image capture process.
auto
close
pre filter
original
front camera
The Le1s shoots 4k UHD video which is brilliant for the price it costs. The video is quite smooth and lag free. With video too colours are accurate and frames sharp.
Overall the Le1s has a fantastic set of cameras for the price that the phone is available at. See some samples below.
Performance and UI
The UI on the Le1s is fast and responsive, The use of proprietary user interfaces usually slows down the handsets, but for the LeEco Le1s, this is not the case. The UI remains quite snappy through usage and handles multitasking well. Designed again to look a lot like iOS or MiUi whichever you prefer. No app drawer and simple, minimal elements. The UI Looks clean and is functional, takes a little time getting used to it, though.
The control center at the bottom and notification panel at the top is also very reminiscent of an iOS strategy. However, Android regulars will not appreciate the complex mix it takes to find the settings icon.
The device does not have microSD card expandability, which is a disappointment. Running out of the 32GB internal storage is pretty easy with 4K video and high-resolution images.
Running games on the Le1s is great, the display is a great size, and the performance of the handset is good. The phone automatically switches modes and depending on applications entered a “High-performance mode” when needed. Graphics and animations are excellent and for the price you really cannot ask for more
The mirror-faced fingerprint scanner on the back is fast at unlocking the device. The company promises 99.3% accuracy and .15 seconds flash recognization. So far the response time has been snappy with almost no error in recognition.
Phone Networks and Battery
The network and call quality remained healthy throughout our tests, with little or no call drops. LTE network is not bad and works well on the Le1S with excellent data download speeds.
Call quality complaints arise from poor microphones which do not let the audio pass through properly to the receiver on the other side of the call which means that the Le1s at the moment is not good at its core job, which is making phone calls.
Battery life is good, with the bundled quick charger and USB type C you truly get a fast charge in 15 minutes, leading up to usage for many hours. However, we are not sure if the battery will manage to do this six months from now.
Type C
Overall the battery will easily last you a day, but if you are planning to buy this phone, make sure you have spare USB type-c cables. Because if you forget your charger, you won’t easily find folks with a USB type-c charger to spare, not as easily with micro USB at least.
Talk Time: 6 Hours
Internet: 8-10 Hours
Music: 18 hours
Video: 6 Hours.
Conclusion
In a time of day when a lot of handset manufacturers make half promises and fewer delivieries, LeEco seems to want to stand out. Setting up 500+ service centers before launch was an excellent show of force. But how well will this service fall into play, would only be known once the consumers start facing problems. With any new company LeEco deserves a fair chance, and with a product like the Le1s it seems they are off to a great start.
The Le1s deserves an expandable store especially since everything on the handset works well including the cameras. The phone also needs a better microphone, and hopefully, LeEco can fix the issue with a quick software patch, the problem, however, seems to be a design flaw. The OTG storage should solve the problem for storage mongers. However, inbuilt access is always better.
With those two cons aside, the Le1s truly has a fantastic set of specs on paper and translated well into the physical product. For the moment, it is possibly the best handset in the price bracket of 10K.
The Yu Yutopia as a handset from the company YU was much awaited, and there is an excellent reason for that. The company tried to create a lot of hype for the product, and everyone had high expectations from the Yutopia.
Does the Yu Yutopia live up to expectations, or does it end up being an expensive handset with too much hype. Let’s find out.
Build Quality and Design
The YU Yutopia is not the prettiest handset out there. In fact out of all the possible purchases that you can make in this price bracket, the YU Yutopia is the least inviting as far as design is concerned.
The design is based on the basic design of their Yuphoria/Yunique handset which is a big let down from an aesthetics point of view. It does have a lot of rounded edges that from an in-hands perspective are really comfortable.
Build Quality otherwise is great, aircraft grade aluminium, which means we get strength while keeping the overall weight of the Yutopia low at 155 grams. The 7.2 mm thickness is also appealing from a build point of view. The phone is pretty slim yet robust and lightweight. The front glass is now a CORNING CONCORE GLASS that is pre-fused with the display made by Sharp, and the capability of Concore is considered the same as Gorilla Glass 3.
The YU Yutopia will handle drops and dings with ease since the phone is metal, it will get dents and may get scratched too, but will not break or shatter easily.
With no removable back, Yu managed to stuff the cards in a ridiculously sized card tray. This tray is inconvenient and impractical, over time you swap memory cards your network SIM card comes out as well.
Hardware
The specs of the Yutopia are the strongest point for the device. The Yutopia beats all in the segment with hardware on paper; you have an SD810 chipset packed in with a 2K QHD display, alongside an amazing 21 MP camera. 32 GIGS of onboard storage and massive 4 GB of RAM.
Specification
YU Yutopia
Display
5.2 -inch Sharp WQHD IPS display, 2K
Resolution
2560×1440 pixels, 567 Ppi
Chipset
64 bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 810
CPU
2.0 GHz Octa-core
GPU
Adreno 430
RAM
4 GB
Front Camera
8 MP FF
Rear Camera
21MP AF camera, 4K video recording
Storage
32 GB
Expandability
Using Micro SD card 128 GB
Battery
3,000 mAh battery with 2.0 Quick Charge
Operating System
Android Lollipop 5.1 with Cyanogen OS 12.1
Price
Rs. 24,999
Performance and Gaming
Whatever the specs on paper, Yu may have underclocked the chipset and the hardware quite a lot. Performance is mediocre, to say the least, and benchmarks tend to underwhelming results. Running Cyanogen helps the YUtopia get past day to day activities with ease and the 4GB of RAM is more than ample for the daily process.
However tests and benchmarks speak a different language, and in their language, the Yutopia performs just about average.
Gaming is pretty good, but when compared to devices with a full HD display seems to be a little laggy. The 2k display seems to be causing the slowdown of the processing power, letting the phone get its primary workload performance only at average quality.
YU has kept its temperatures down despite using an SD 810 chipset that only goes to show that an OS feature governs the chipset, hence causing a slowdown in performance.
The great thing about the YU Yutopia running Cyanogen, however, is the fact that once can quickly install a speed governor and overclock the handset. Rooting is fairly easy and is done by a single third party app.
Camera and Multimedia
The 21 MP camera with a Sony sensor is the big highlight of the YUtopia, with images coming out crisp and full of juicy megapixels, no one will complain. The camera is quick to boot and click and focuses easily too.
The app is a simply the Cyanogen camera app with the usual features, including filters and slow mo video. The more you play with it, the more pictures you will click. Close up shots are not that crisp, and the camera does not focus up close.
4k / UHD content will playback easily on the handset. However, it will be downscaled to fit the screen resolution. The speaker is loud and will make you happy with the outcome. Overall the Yutopia serves well as a multimedia and entertainment device, letting down on gameplay graphics and overall performance. Video playback and audio is great.
Phone, Networks and Battery
The network runs smooth and supports all the main Indian bands including those for LTE. 4G was tested on Airtel in New Delhi, and speeds of up to 50Mbps were achieved. With the situation of networks in the country fairly weak, it ‘s hard to point to either the network provider or the manufacturer for network issues. The Yutopia managed to get the same amount of Signal -DB when compared to popular products from the likes of Motorola, Samsung and even on the iPhone.
The lack of separate trays makes the swapping of SIM cards, or memory cards a tedious process, and hopefully, Yu will not repeat the mistake again.
Battery life is better than expected, with the processor governed and the heat under control, the battery life is much better in this case, but since the reports are erratic, it is unclear as to how many people will have a consistent experience.
Talk Time: 6 hours
Internet Browsing: 6-8 hours
Gaming: 4 Hours
Video: 5- 6 Hours
Cyanogen and Other Features
The YU Yutopia features excellent hardware on paper and great software too. A lot of people like Cyanogen, and it works well for YU. The remanufactured build of Android works great and for the tweak hurry nerd is a playground in paradise. There are some issues, and they would warrant the use of stock Android to Cyanogen.
Cyanogen was one of the quickest to jump to the latest version of Android. That is no longer the case, with more than half a year gone by, Cyanogen still rocks 5.1.1 hence YUtopia does the same. While a marshmallow build is, supposedly, “around the corner” the high wait time is no longer fun. Cyanogen has a significant and large support community of which YU users enjoy the spoils.
The UI is fast and responsive, highly customizable and intuitive to the needs of the user. Allowing users to skin various elements of the OS. You can also add and remove tweaks to enhance the OS.
The fingerprint scanner has received many complaints, and it requires the same finger to be scanned from various angles many times to get the issue resolved. It does work but misses the unlock target at times, frustrating the user.
Conclusion
While YU is looking at a lot of firsts with the YUtopia, the phone may not be “all that”. It has fantastic specs, and an excellent build quality, a great OS experience, and a good camera. However, it is priced higher than one would want to spend for a category two phone. Hardware wise the price matches, things like the camera and the display itself warrant the price.
Performance is on the low side, and honestly, the phone is excellent on paper but is not a good looking phone in the hand. While looks may be perceived differently by each user, the general look of the phone is bland, and the design refuses to find a balance between a rough exterior look and a polished premium look.
There are many smartphone options, in the price bracket, that offer an excellent package, but none that give everything that is available in this phone. For the pure hardware enthusiast, this is a gem of a phone. For those looking to flaunt may have to look elsewhere, as the YUtopia is an underdog when it comes to looks.
As far as the price is concerned, the company is expected to launch a slightly cheaper variant of the YUtopia around the 16-17 thousand rupee mark to compete with the likes of the One Plus X, later this year.
The included Marley earphones are a great addon, but are very generic earphones, which sound just “ok”. Price could have been lowered by simply including cheap earphones, or no earphones at all.
