Motorola’s first foray, after a really long while, into the premium handset domain was well thought out. The Moto Turbo launched in India for a price of Rs. 41,999 and comes after the moderate success of the newest gen of Nexus phone which was also manufactured by Motorola for Google.
The Moto Turbo is no lightweight contender in the battle of heavy weight champions, in fact it even looks the part. The body of the Moto Turbo is rugged and well built, a solid texture at the back adds copious amounts of good looks and grip. This texture also makes it less prone to scratches and damage.
Motorola has slyly hidden the sim tray behind the volume rocker, a tough guess location, especially if you don’t know where to look for it. The unibody design is appreciated, the large battery would be sufficient to warrant a non removable type design too.
The Moto Turbo is all about the grip; the buttons are robust and tactile with a sliced grip that you can feel on your skin. The glossy metallic bezel adds the upmarket feel and the overall package is a good mix of beauty and brawn.
A previous gen Gorilla Glass 3 protects the front display of the Moto Turbo, which incidentally is a brilliant 5.2 inch Quad-HD Super-AMOLED type with a 2560 X 1440 Pixel resolution giving it 565 ppi.
Running this monster is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 chipset with a Quad Core CPU clocked at 2.7 GHz (Krait 450). The GPU is the new ADRENO 420 and all of this is managed with 3 GB of RAM and a fixed 64 GB of storage (for the Indian variant, internationally 32 GB options are available too)
The Moto Turbo supports LTE Cat 4 networks, which should suffice in most regions without network compatibility issues. You will also get mostly stock Android 5.0.2 to boot and some Moto apps like ‘Moto Alert’ and the ‘Moto’ app.
You also get quick actions, twist the device to launch camera, Moto Display activates on approach and you can wave to silence an incoming call.
Moto Voice can be enabled from anywhere, including the lock screen to ask arbitrary questions like “when is my next meeting” or “how far away is the moon”. Some of which may have been seen in the Moto X handsets.
The Moto Turbo is very fast and responsive. Its UI is a pure experience, the kinds that you would expect from a Motorola device.
The Main Camera is a whopping 21 MP shooter with adaptive autofocus, and dual LED flash. It will record 4k videos at 24fps and the front has a nimble 2MP snapper. The camera app is mostly basic and we do wish that they had worked on a better app. The depth of field is excellent and the camera has a burst mode which is decent.
Motorola’s revision to last year’s budget hero, the Moto E, is out and while it’s still called the E, it does have some second gen features to boast.
The newer Moto E comes with a beefier set of specifications and not a whole lot of change in pricing. A new front camera, a larger 2390 mAh battery and an all new rear shell that truly is unique to the new Moto E. The Moto E is priced at Rs. 6999 and comes with Android 5.0 out of the box, yes just like its predecessors it’s stock android, with a bunch of Motorola apps on there.
Build Quality and Hardware
The new Moto E is the same 12.3 mm in thickness, however, feels a lot more robust and a lot more hefty in the hand. The side band comes off to give access to all the card slots, which for the version we are testing, include a micro SD slot and dual SIM slots.
The side band has a ribbed finish adding additional grip and what may be described as a rugged looks to the already smart looking Smartphone.
The front has a 4.5 inch display with a 540×960 px resolution and a 245ppi pixel density which also is protected by Gorilla Glass 3 and has a oleophobic coating, which is highly resistant to oil and smudges. This also makes sliding the finger on the phone to result in an action much smoother than anticipated.
The front camera is a basic VGA camera, but compared to last year’s “no camera” model anything works. The rear camera is a 5 MP camera capable of 720p video and HDR photography.
There are two variants of the new Moto E, the 3G variant comes with Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 and Adreno 302 GPU, while the 4G/LTE variant comes with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 and Adreno 306 GPU.
While the LTE variant is not yet available, it is expected to launch at Rs 8,999 in India. The 3G version is available today to buy from shopping website Flipkart for a price of Rs. 6999 with additional deals that you can see on their website.
The new Moto E comes with 8 GB of storage and 1 GB of RAM and you can pop-in a microSD card upto 32 GB.
Specifications
Moto E (gen 2)
Moto E (gen 2) LTE
Display
4.5-inch
4.5-inch
Resolution
qHD(540×960)
qHD(540×960)
Chipset
Snapdragon 200
Snapdragon 410
Processor
1.2 GHz quad-core
1.2 GHz quad-core
GPU
Adreno 302 with 400 MHz GPU
Adreno 306 with 400 MHz GPU
RAM
1 GB
1 GB
Storage
8 GB
8 GB
Expandable Upto
32 GB
32 GB
Main Camera
5 MP
5 MP
Front Camera
0.3 MP
0.3 MP
Video
720p HD Video, 30 fps
720p HD Video, 30 fps
Battery
2390 mAh
2390 mAh
Operating System
Android 5.0 Lollipop
Android 5.0 Lollipop
Price
Rs.6999
Approx Rs.8999
Performance and Gaming
[pullquote_right]DO-Not expect a Powerhouse![/pullquote_right]
When you buy a phone under Rs. 7,000 in cost, your prime focus need not be the performance of the handset, but more so the reliability or the fact that the phone will get you through your needs in a trouble free fashion. The Moto E – Gen 2 does that, and it does that for every user who owns the handset.
However score charts do not lie, and Motorola’s success with the first Moto E and this year’s Moto E are wholly thanks to the stock Android that it runs, which is lighter and less resource hungry compared to the custom skins of the mighty elite.
On AnTuTu the score on the new Moto E is at 17629 (varied) which is poor by all means. But this does not reflect in the day-to-day performance of it.
It does support games like Batman Arkham Origins and Modern Combat 5, and even though graphics are lowered to the lowest possible, the gameplay remains smooth which is surprisingly good for a budget device such as the Moto E.
Moto Experience
[pullquote_right]Hello Moto, Funky Moto Tricks Built In![/pullquote_right]
Motorola has added a bunch of cool tricks in this cool budget phone. The new Moto app, allows for you to set a gesture, twist your wrist to launch the camera, and click a picture.
The Assist feature will go into Sleep Mode as well as Meeting Mode as per your settings, which is a neat productivity trick.
Moto Display shows off the notifications when the phone’s display is off, you can also customize which apps will show and which will not and set vibration modes for the notifications and interactions.
Moto Alert is designed specifically keeping India and its lack of safety in mind. You can set a number of contacts that will get updates on where you are and where you are going in case of an emergency.
The device will get quick and regular updates to the best possible supported build of Android, which is an appreciable aspect of Motorola’s promise to service.
Camera and Multimedia Experience
The 5 MP camera boasts focus capabilities and improved low light performance, but, not enough to impress us. The use of the camera will be limited to mostly well-lit environments or outdoors.
[pullquote_left]Why No LED Motorola?[/pullquote_left]
What baffles us is the lack of LED flash, which would double up as a flashlight/torch making life a lot more easier for users of the Moto E2. This LED flash would also drastically improve the poor image quality indoors. Honestly, how much does an LED diode cost anyway Moto? (We found them for as low as US $ 0.04 /piece ).
The front camera is a gimmick at VGA resolutions, poor quality, crushed images with large amounts of noise. Lots of companies are now installing upto 5 MP cameras in their budget selfie phones, however Motorola does not want to seem party to that.
Image Sample Moto E 2
The main camera and front camera are designed to provide lenses for use. However don’t expect them to do magic, because they won’t. If you are looking for a good camera in this price bracket, we suggest you buy a camera and not a phone. That being said, investing slightly more may get you better options.
The Speaker is surprisingly loud and will satisfy the needs of many. It is well balanced, even if it’s not the best speaker. On the other hand if you like listening to music, we suggest a good pair of earphones/ bluetooth speakers.
Phone and Battery
Networks are strong and phone calls are crisp on both sim cards. The audio on both sides of the call is nice and loud and you won’t find yourself complaining. Moto has bundled in a good SIM management right in the settings panel to allow for better organization and usability of both SIM cards, mostly based on what plans you have on either.
Battery is a big improvement, you will find yourself running into two days without charge if you are a moderate user. The non-removable nature of the battery is slightly disappointing, but Motorola has a good record with battery longevity.
Battery Life
Talk Time
6.5 Hours
Internet Browsing
6 Hours
Music
18 Hours
Gameplay and Video
8 Hours
Conclusion
Motorola has been a favorite since rebirth and all their devices including the Moto X, the Moto G and the Moto E have done exceedingly well, especially in markets like India. However, Xiaomi has really hurt their sales at the lower end of the spectrum and OnePlus is taking a stab on the upper end.
[pullquote_right]Reliability and quick software updates are still on Motorola’s fame list[/pullquote_right]
With the Redmi 2 launched at the exact price, with better chipsets, better cameras and a sleeker profile, Motorola may be given a run for their money. On the flip side, reliability and quick software updates are still on Motorola’s fame list and it only gets better with an improved build and customizable options thanks to the new grip bands.
Apple has lifted curtains on the new Apple Watch and different elements variations including the aluminum version Apple Watch Sport which starts at US$ 349 for the 38mm and US$ 399 for the 42MM versions. The Apple Watch made from a custom version of stainless steel forged using special alloying techniques starting for a price of US$ 549 for 38mm and US$ 599 for the 42mm version, the strap you select will affect the pricing of course.
The Apple Watch Edition, aka the pure solid gold edition, available in a block of 18 carat yellow, or rose gold will go on sale starting at a whopping price of US $ 10,000 for the 38mm version, and the price will only increase as per the edition you decide to buy.
The Apple Watch edition is set to target the high-end watch market, mainly from the name brand watches, the likes of Omega and Tag Heuer will see a shift in buying from the users.
The biggest reason, watch enthusiasts would stay away from smart watches would be the general availability of smart watches vs the exclusivity and high end precision with which the traditional watches were made.
With Apple creating a similar market for the Watch Edition, making it available in select quantities and in select stores across the world. Apple is basically pinging the high end watch lovers.
The question however remains; Would a high end watch enthusiast drop his/her precision hand made watch that potentially would never need a charge for a watch that would require to be charged daily?
Will the Apple Watch Edition end up being a high price novelty? Especially considering that we might see a new version in about 365 days of launch.
HTC’s new foray into a connected self begins with their first wearable the HTC Grip (it’s a part of the Re branding). The Grip is a beginning for what HTC claims will be a big handle on the pro fitness experience by HTC
The device we got to lay our hands on is a prototype device, and the final product will feature some design and aesthetic changes. In the first glance, this device looks like any other fitness accessory. It’s made of a soft touch, hardened rubber compound. It has a grippy web type surface on the inner side which will be available in a lime green color.
The display is a 1.8 inch Passive Matrix OLED(PMOLED) display that would provide excellent outdoor visibility. You can connect the device to your smartphone to receive notifications on the device. There is a vibration motor in the device that alerts you when a new notification arrives. The bits that set the Grip apart is that it has inbuilt GPS and advanced tracking. Grip is completely waterproof so you can sweat on it as much as you want and even take a shower while wearing it.
The HTC Grip will record data such as steps taken, distance travelled, calories burnt, and how much you have slept. You can choose between workout’s like outdoor walking, indoor walking, running, indoor running, cycling, weights training, gym and a customizable workout plan. When connected with a smartphone, the Grip lets you control music on your phone, get weather information, and sync your calendar. It also allows you to put your phone on silent mode or airplane mode or turn it off.
HTC grip will be brought to North American market by this spring and will reach other markets by the end of the year. It will be available in small, medium and large sizes. The company will also two links in the box that will let you increase the size of the device .
Specs
HTC Grip
Operating System
Android 4.4.2
Screen Size
1.8 inch
32 x 160
PMOLED mono flexible display with capacitive touch
HTC’s latest flagship has arrived and it might just live up to expectations. HTC has made a more mature incremental upgrade to an already promising product. The new HTC One M9 highlights everything that was good about the M8 and M7 and fixes what was horribly bad about them.
Big major fixes include a bumped up camera, a 20 MP shooter with a sapphire lens cover. The camera now not only looks good, but also shoots 4k video. However we are majorly missing the OIS found in the Korean rival’s handset.
Last year’s main camera the Ultrapixel snapped, is now the front facing camera, improving low light selfies and it looks really good. The camera adds a lot of details and pictures are actually very visible in low light. HTC claims that the camera sees more light than the human eye, our tests confirm that.
The M9 is powered by an all new Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 chipset, a 64 bit SOC, with an Octa core 2.0 GHz CPU and Adreno 430 GPU. 3GB of RAM and 32 GB storage makes the memory part complete, but, you do get a 128 GB card support and 115 GB of Google Drive.
The two tone color of the Silver One M9 looks fantastic and will be an instant hit, with anyone who appreciates quality handsets. However the new Samsung Galaxy S6 looks too fancy to ignore. HTC has found inspiration from luxury watches, and the minute we look at the M9 we see Hublot.
Everything runs on a highly optimized 2800 mAh battery, bundled with Android Lollipop 5.0.2 out of the box and HTC’s new Sense 7 promises a major improvement in the battery life, and out of experience there is a big difference. The quick charge also improves the charge times and you will be on the go in just a few.
HTC has included a new flurry of covers, none of which come with the device. The new rugged cover will make the device IP 67 and it honestly feels great on the phone and does not add much bulk. The DOT case has been improved quite a lot, adding more functionality. Including Dot-breaker (a cool game) and custom wallpapers that you can sketch, see below.
While the world puts its eyes onto MWC 2015, HTC has basically stepped on board with an excellent start. HTC has launched and announced a bunch of new products, also showcasing their connected concepts which include Connected Home, Connected Life, Connected Entertainment and Connected Self.
The new HTC One M9 falls right into their connected formula and is not a whole lot different from the HTC One M8; it follows in HTC’s design lineage and adds a whole lot of new elements. HTC claims that the new design is inspired by luxury and mostly luxury watches.
The new HTC One M9 has a newer notched design and a two tone finish, the gold bezels on silver is their hero product and will be available globally, a new graphite and an all gold will be available in select markets. The HTC One M9 still has a IR blaster and the native TV app has been replaced by the Peel remote app. The phone supports TDD and FDD LTE across the globe so is essentially a 4G world phone, and should work worldwide if you buy it unlocked.
The Golden Edge Looks Better
Spec wise you don’t see a major bump up either. However a more powerful 64 Bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 runs this handset along with 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage. It sports a 5-inch screen with a 1920×1080 display. You do get micro-SD support upto 64 GB as well. Optics is where you see a major increase the new 20 MP shooter at the rear along with a 4 ultrapixel front camera make for a fashionable lot. The HTC One M9 also shoots 4k video natively and can parse it onto a class 10 card.
The battery on the inside is a 2840 mAh, bundled with Android 5.0.2 out of the box and the all new HTC Sense 7. HTC is touting excellent battery life on this iteration of the One.
HTC has also improved upon the camera app, allowing for better edits, filters and fun effects on the phone, along with a prismatic mode that indulges a trippy audience.
New Dot Case
Along with the HTC One M9, the company also introduced a flurry of cases, including a number of dot view cases. The new design has a transparent back and allows for more customization of what is visible from the dot matrix. You also have a fun game called dot-breaker included as a freebie.
New HTC M9 Cases
HTC has also made a rugged case with iP67 certification and 2 Meter drop resistance, giving you the rugged you have missed on the HTC One series in the past.
Samsung’s latest flagship and its edgier brother have made it into our hands and that too before the main global launch event.
Samsung Galaxy S5 and S6 Back
The Samsung Galaxy S6, just like the rumors, holds a new design language. Which unmistakably is inspired and looks almost identical to the Apple iPhone lineage, all glass front and back, infused onto a stainless steel bezel. Samsung may have finally grown up.
S6 Edge
The new Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge is also a step in the right direction, while the device has dual edges the display’s continuity is not broken, as in the case of the Galaxy Note Edge, and the edge is mostly for aesthetic appeal.
Samsung has included quick charging and wireless charging capabilities in the new S6 and the S6 Edge, details of which should be available shortly.
Galaxy S6 Edge and Wireless Chargers
Spec wise Samsung has these bad boys fully loaded up with this years hardware, an all new Exynos Octa Core 2.1 GHz chipset along with 3 GB LPDDR4 RAM, the phone just like iPhone will be available in fixed storage sizes, however starting from 32 GB, a 64 GB variant and a 128 GB all based on UFS 2.0 (Universal Flash Storage). And yes, just like iPhones the Samsung Galaxy S6 and the S6 Edge will not have micro SD expandability.
New Bumper Case
Connectivity is pretty top notch LTE Cat 6, Bluetooth 4.1 and WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac and globally unlocked variants will work on TDD and FDD LTE bands so networks should not be a problem for Samsung this time around.
5.1 inch QuadHD Display
The Display is a all new 5.1 inch Super Amoled screen with a QuadHD resolution giving it a total 577 ppi of eye burning sharpness. The Galaxy S6 Edge on the other hand has a much more snappier Exynos Octa Core with 2.5 GHz and a slightly better 2600 mAh battery vs the 2550 mAh on the Galaxy S6 (non-edge.)
The pricing remains a question (which will be answered shortly), however it is rumored that the Galaxy S6 Edge will cost more than the Note Edge did at launch.
Microsoft is banking big on its new piece of technology which will bring holographic imagery to the end consumer.
Holo Lens is a mere headset which when connected with any PC running Windows 10 will merge and blur the lines between the digital and the physical. The kit will come complete with a set of APIs that enable developers to create holographic experiences in the real world.
With Windows 10, holograms are Windows universal apps and Windows universal apps can work as holograms, making it possible to place three-dimensional holograms in the world around you to communicate, create and explore in a manner that is far more personal and human.
The Holo Lens is wireless and will project the holograms in high definition and allow for a surround sound audio experience. Built directly into the hardware is a dedicated Holographic Processing Unit “HPU” ensuring a smooth transition between the software to the virtual world.
Microsoft has basically followed in Apple’s path, and made Windows 10 a free update for their existing consumers. There are limitations and this will only be applicable for the first year, which does not seem to be much of an excuse for complaining.
To explain it further Microsoft states :
This is more than a one-time upgrade: once a Windows device is upgraded to Windows 10, we will continue to keep it current for the supported lifetime of the device – at no additional charge. With Windows 10, the experience will evolve and get even better over time. We’ll deliver new features when they’re ready, not waiting for the next major release. We think of Windows as a Service – in fact, one could reasonably think of Windows in the next couple of years as one of the largest Internet services on the planet.
Enterprise customers are not left behind and continue to get the same service and support as previous paid “enterprise” versions.
Microsoft has taken the curtain off the next version of the largest used OS aka Windows and just like rumors suggested they skipped the 9. The next version of Windows aka Windows 10.
Microsoft has followed in the lines of Apple and mostly Mobile methods by making an upgrade to Windows 10 free for all Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1 users. Calling Windows mostly a service and not a product.
The biggest news that fits into the picture is the seamless integration with Apps across hardware segments, Microsoft has been gunning for this and with Windows 10 it may have become more of a reality.
Now coders will have to make one app which will work across platforms including mobile, tablet and PC.
The new version of Windows will also come with voice assistant “Cortana”. The center of the Cortana experience is housed in the “Notebook”, which should be familiar with those on Windows Phone. Opening this Notebook will show you just what she knows about you.
You can do voice search as well as voice to text typing, which will be a much appreciated add-on.
With previous version of Windows leaving everyone complaining, Microsoft execs are pretty much sure that they have rebuilt their OS from the ground up, and unlike Windows 8 it is not a hasty decision or rollout.
We recently decided to build us up a hackintosh, and while the project is slightly time consuming and laborious, the outcome truly makes it worth your while.
We were highly conflicted between a mac-pro and a hackintosh, and the latter made sense for the kind of ‘on the fly’ upgradability we need.
Here are the parts that we used, and we are listing both INR and Dollar Prices for the convenience of easy purchase.
While there are many upped GPUs available, this one works out of the box with a mackintosh and is SLI ready so it works well with a similar card over the bridge. We got two of these so it made sense. Although EVGA cards are slightly difficult to find, you do get similar cards, also 2GB cards are available easily. Linked below.
5. Kingston HyperX Fury 8 GB DDR3 RAM ( 4 Slots)
No particular reason we chose this RAM. The Corsair Vengeance is alternative incase you don’t like the Kingston units.
6. Samsung 850-pro SSD
We got a 256 GB drive that we will use for a boot up and main app drive, we used a Thunderbolt RAID which was bought separately.
7. LG Ultrawide 25 inch monitor
We almost dropped our money for the Samsung 4k Monitor, but with the rumor mill abuzz about a Apple 5k Thunderbolt display, we wanted to wait just a bit longer. This monitor has a great 21:9 aspect ratio for editing and also does screen split, which is useful for better multitasking.
8. Thunderbolt Raid
This raid allows for 4 Full-Size Hard-Drives or SSDs and connects via Thunderbolt 2, also has a Thunderbolt out, for convenience of Daisy chaining.
9. Drives for RAID
We bought the HGST 7200rpm Deskstar 4TB drives for the Above Raid, and they work really well. They are designed for a commercial desktop NAS systems, so you can expect them to last long.
10. Bluetooth Dongle
The Motherboard does not come with Bluetooth, and most of the locally available adapters/dongles don’t work. Here are few that do.
11. TP-LINK TL-WDN4800 Wi-Fi Card
This is the most compatible card and it works out of the box.
12. Corsair RM 750 PSU
This 750watt PSU is powerful, efficient and easily available.
13. Corsair H100i CPU Cooler
This fits perfectly in the cabinet we chose, and is pre sealed with the cooling liquid, radiator and pipes come pre installed. So it’s a complete package ready to install, and it works well.
14. Apple Magic Mouse
What the heading says, it’s Apple’s mouse, so it just works, provided you get your bluetooth up and running.
15. Apple Magic Trackpad
You learn the importance of this trackpad once you start using it. Improves efficiency during multitasking. This is optional for those who want it. Works like a Charm.
16. Apple Bluetooth Keyboard
This final piece of the puzzle is highly recommended. You can also find any alternative Apple compatible keyboard. i.e. one which has a “cmd” key.
That is basically the list of parts for our Hackintosh build. Our Install guide will be up shortly.
You will also need a 16 GB USB 3 pen drive to make the install boot disk. It’s great if you have one lying around. Else we recommend :
What we ended up Spending? A Whopping Rs. 3,13,000!
Not all Mac-Hackintosh builds are or need to be this expensive. However this one worked the best for us. and we are happy.
Yu by definition is supposed to mean “you”, which when Micromax decided to launch a new company was intended to make devices more personal for the users. Hence the company chose to go with Cyanogen, even though they decided to procure and rebrand devices like they used to in the past.
But what is Yu intended for? Is it really a way for Micromax to change their company’s brand value and appeal to a younger and much more aware online generation, or is it just a way of seeking vendetta against Micromax’s newest enemies: New Chinese entrants like Xiaomi, OnePlus and even Gionee.
5 MP Front Camera
We’re aware of the fact that Micromax is selling the Yu Yureka at a massive loss of Rs. 2000-2500 per handset sold in India. Micromax is buying the hardware for around Rs. 8300 and they are paying Cyanogen royalties, apart from the massive one time exclusivity deal they did with the company before launch, which led to the temporary ban of the OnePlus One in India. Not to mention import duties, shipping, Amazon’s fee etc.
Micromax also got the YU into the limelight by playing politics and getting “free media controversy” over the ban of the OnePlus One sale in India.
After all that, the Yu Yureka will sell for Rs. 8999 on 13th of January 2015, and our review will tell you whether or not you should be getting in line to get this device.
Hardware
In terms of hardware the Yureka is pretty great, in fact the closest devices in terms of hardware cost double and don’t feature the same performance standards as the Yureka. Cameras are a high 13 MP and 5 MP combination, which does work well.
Over at the front, garnering a great amount of resolution, is the 1280 x 720p display in all its 5.5-inch glory. The display is bright and easily visible outdoors. On the inside is the intriguing Snapdragon 615 CPU + Adreno 405 GPU combination which fails to satisfy us, although, for the price you couldn’t ask for much more.
The Phone supports USB OTG, with the use of a micro USB to USB adapter (which is not included). Interesting to note, is that the USB storage shows up, but you need third party filing software to access it. Apps cannot be moved to the SD card, not in the handset’s current software layout. So you are stuck with about 11-12 GB of space for Apps, which is a serious let down.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 615
Specs
Yu Yureka
Display
5.5 inch IPS LCD
720×1280 px
Gorilla Glass 3
RAM
2 GB
Storage
16 GB – (12 GB free)
Battery
2500 mAh
Processor
Qualcomm Snapdragon 615
CPU
1.5GHz Octa-core
GPU
Adreno 405
Front Camera
5 MP
Rear Camera
13 MP
Price (Click for Updated Pricing)
Rs. 8,999
Special Features
Cyanogen OS 11
Build Quality and Design
The thing about buying devices from vendors is that you have no control over build quality. While Micromax has seen some great built phones like the Canvas HD and most of the relative series, we have also seen especially poor phones like the Canvas 4 Plus which was a blatant copy of the iPhone and well, it bent too.
However the Yu Yureka, is not a Micromax product, or atleast that is what they want us to believe, as they elaborately set up new dominions and a new company in an exercise to get rid of their past. Well fret not Micromax, because the Yureka is different in many ways however it’s also the same in many.
2500 mAhBattery
The device already exists in other markets with a different name, and Yu plays no real role in the design of the hardware, except probably plastering some logos, and naming the standard black variant the never-heard “MoonStone” finish. (Wow ! Really? ). All new nomenclature aside, the built is pretty good, the finish on the back is no where near the “Sandstone” that you will find on the OnePlus One, however it is clean and well defined and feels great in the hand.
The bezel does not stick up a lot from the edge and this may be a problem for a lot of folks, who drop their phones on the frequent. The front does feature Gorilla Glass 3 so you will get some persistent protection.
Design-wise the phone will not win any awards, but it’s not a poor looker, in fact it can become quite the eye candy. The edges are nice and rounded well and the feel and finish of the product in hand is premium to say the least. Remember this is a Rs. 9,000 product we are talking about, and using words like “premium” is far from our usual banter.
Performance and Gaming
The Yureka is a workhorse in your pocket, and each time something like that appears from a company like Micromax (Sorry “YU”), we recall the toasty Micromax Canvas Knight, which was easily the best product to buy if you were short of a egg frying pan.
The Yureka is not that product. Heck the Yureka is easy to hold in the hands and disperses heat well. The extensive use of plastic also probably aids in the isolation of heat from the hands of the user.
As far as performance is concerned we were elated to see benchmark scores from the Yu Yureka easily match expensive devices for one quarter of the price. However no where near that of Xiaomi Mi3, OnePlus One and the Note 4 as it stands at present.
Games run happy, however the Adreno 405 doesn’t do much justice to high end gaming. The CPU is designed to leverage the 64 bit architecture which will enable better performance in the future and once the whole eco-system runs on it. For now gaming is still good, and blows away most of its present competition.
Network and Battery Life
The Network connectivity is fabulous, signals are strong and voice quality is impressive from the handset. The tower to tower jump is a bit sketchy so you will face call drops on the go.
The brilliant thing is the fact that the handset does LTE based on networks that will eventually launch in India. So for a price of under 10k this is a strong contender if you are looking for a future safe investment. However as many have pointed out, LTE may not be a prerequisite of those aiming for a new device in this price bracket. We say that it’s a fantastic add-on to have, and will aid in better connectivity in the future so why not get the extra benefits. And hey, once you do want LTE, you won’t need to switch phones.
Battery life is average or slightly better than. We saw the handset run a full day, however if you have had a busy day and have been receiving calls on both sim cards you might need to charge, atleast once in the late-evening. That being said we got 5-6 hours of screen on time from the Yu Yureka, which is excellent.
Talk Time : 7-8 Hours.
Music : 10 Hours
Internet Usage : 5.5- 6 Hours
Multimedia and Gaming : 4 Hours.
13 MP Rear Camera
Camera
The Camera like many-a Micromax devices in the past is mostly talk and no real action. The rear camera will impress in outdoor and well lit conditions, images captured and saved are not compressed well, which may be a doing of the build of Cyanogen on the Yureka, thus resulting in unwanted noise on the dark spectrum of the range.
Results are unwieldy in poor or low light situations where sometimes the images are decent while sometimes they are unusable. The shutter is no where as fast as that on the OnePlus One, but the camera app includes almost all the features sans the 4K video capture.
Samples
You do get 1080p on the rear camera while the front camera is limited to 720p. The rear camera will also capture double the frame rate i.e. 60fps but only at 720p. Video is decent but tends to be shaky since there are no stabilization features in the handset, electronic or otherwise.
Advantage: Cyanogen’s camera app has the extensive availability of customizations, including filters, face detection features, continuous focus, time lapse all built in.
Multimedia
The display is excellent indoors and outdoors, the resolution of 720p is considered good for the price bracket and the IPS panel significantly improves on the viewing angles. Touch response is commendable and the color reproduction is good as well.
Speaker is Muffled
The speakers are tiny and quiet, sort of muffled, as if there might be a piece of tape on the inside, left by mistake (we checked and there isn’t any.) The speaker is just not loud enough and that is something most buyers will have to look past. The included earphones are usable but will not enhance the audio in any way. The audio output from the headphone jack is loud and rightly mixed, when tied with good quality headphones. The headphones we tried the Yureka with cost several times more than the handset itself. However, feel free to use your own favorite pair, and they should work just as well.
Cyanogen
We saw it simply laid out when we were extensively testing the OnePlus One, the reason why that device rocked all the mobile lovers’ world was the right mix of hardware and software at that price. Yu Yureka is attempting to do that at half the price and in our opinion it is winning. The handset and UI is buttery smooth; you glide and slide through windows and apps, withough much ado. The mix of a very well developed build of Android “Cyanogen” the hardware, including all 2 GB of Random Access Memory, is working in sync with the software.
Cyanogen is one of, if not the only, largest developer supported builds of Android, and it’s only growing by the day. The Cyanogen team has shown promise with their builds in the past and they showed excellence with the OnePlus One.
The Yu Yureka does not fall short of the experience, and offers all the same customizations, albeit lacking a few of the features that for the time remain restricted to the OnePlus handsets, like gesture actions and quick launching shortcuts which can be easily enabled.
The image compression is not that great, however the front camera images are saved in a less noisy format when compared to similar images from the OnePlus One, which may be a definite win. (Selfie Time!)
YU forums will also help the company deal with everyday problems by letting people discuss their issues amongst each other, help in bug detection and elimination. And build a cult around the device which will enable future loyalty towards the brand.
YU Forum
Conclusion
Despite numerous efforts from our Northerly neighbors and companies like Xiaomi and OnePlus, with their “flash sale” systems and invite-only buying options, the Indian powerhouse Micromax has shown us that they are still the king in their own domain. However, and a big doubt here, the phone is being sold for a loss, and that too a major one, only to piss off the competition. Only to win back the market share that they have been losing. All this without hurting their current partners and networks.
If Micromax was to sell ‘online only’ devices which would be available exclusively through select Online E-commerce websites, the company would seriously jeopardize its retail network, ensuring a boycott of the brand and a loss of a strong foothold in non-online markets, which is still a large chunk (over 80 % believe it or not). Micromax tried it with the Nitro and faced huge backlash.
So how does Micromax deal with the threat of new “cheaper”- “Online Exclusive” brands without hurting its strong retail market presence. Simple : Lets form a new company! Hence, YU is born. It solves the problem for Micromax on many levels; it makes the parent company more viable for investors. It can build better trust for its customers from the get go (unlike Micromax and its service fiasco) and it can keep the competition at bay, all this without hurting the Micromax Retail network : Win Win! Right?
Wrong!
Let’s talk about the handset, like many other handsets in the past, the Yu Yureka is excellent for the time it has been launched in, and for the price it has been launched at. The Yureka looks impressive, is built well, performs efficiently while delivering good network capabilities and better than acceptable battery life. All this while being future proof for India – with the LTE capabilities and all that it promises under the hood and inside of the glamorous package.
But there are a lot of future promises that will help us determine the real fate of this handset. A lot of Questions still need answering – Will it really get software updates? Will the company remove its loss margin and add a profit margin after selling a lakh or two handsets? Will Indian people buy into the forum culture the same way the Chinese, American and European have?
Yu Yureka comes with door delivery service and support. Will it be possible for Micromax/Yu to cater to the large numbers, if there are problems with the handset?
We do not know the answer to so many questions, what we do know is that the Yu may be one of the best devices to get under the Rs. 10,000 price bracket. And that too, without causing much worry to the buyer. If you are not looking into developer options and don’t care much for the extra frills, then at this price the Yu Yureka becomes the undefeated champion without entering the ring officially.
The handset has the potential to set a record, a benchmark of sorts for India, something that will show on a Global scale that our country and its manufacturers can match up to global standards. We said it before, if anyone could do it it was Micromax! But can they?
The ball is in your court : YU! the world awaits. While India waits in line to buy your handset.
The Nexus has been the star of Google’s Android stable, and each year the handsets have become more and more admirable. The new Nexus 6 is a complete overhaul , from what the nexus was intended to be, a developer phone. The Nexus 6 is a premium flagship that is meant to compete and defeat the real flagships and sort of set a precedent for performance and expectations of the users. Built to run the stock version of Android in the best possible way, the Nexus is also the first to get the latest software updates from Google, including the latest version of Android.
The Box of the Nexus 6 also shows the premium nature of the device. The packaging is high quality and the in box accessories are superior in built as well. In the box you get
A Nexus 6 Handset
Documentation
In Ear Earphones
USB Charger
USB Cable
Sim removal Tool
The first experience with the Nexus 6 is great, it has a brilliant build that is apparent the minute you hold the device in your hands. The Nexus 6 is a large device, almost too large, sporting a mammoth 5.96 inch super AMOLED display with a massive 2560 x 1440 px resolution. The sides of the Nexus 6, unlike its predecessors, is all metal and rounded-off which translates to a great in hand feel.
2500 mAh Battery
13 MP CAMERA
Some users may not get the earphones, but the Indian variant, from flipkart will come with earphones. So it might be a good idea to get from them if you are in India. Amazon US sells the phone for US $ 650 without contract, which translates to roughly the same cost as here.
Micromax’s new company was a smart move for the Indian smartphone giant. However, whether or not the company will be able to provide a better consumer experience will be seen overtime. YU Televentures takes departure from traditional business practices of Micromax and relies on a large community driven eco-system as done by the likes of Xiaomi and OnePlus.
Well, it’s practically 2015, and India has been left behind in the race for development ROMs. Almost all launched handsets are either locked, on in the case of Indian Manufacturers, have unsupported systems.
The YU Yureka comes with Cyanogen preloaded, which allows for a lot of development, almost from the moment you open the box.
To take the packaging in the similar fashion, it sits comfortably between Xiaomi and OnePlus style of packaging, while made from recycled materials, we were far from impressed by the presentation or the box contents.
13 MP Rear Camera
Speaker is Muffled
In the Box you Get :
Yu Yureka Handset
EarPhones
Charger + Cable
2500 mAh Battery
2500 mAhBattery
The Interface is really snappy and that may be thanks to a mix of the Cyanogen experience along with the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 which does 1.5 GHz on octa-cores.
The eureka comes with Android 4.4.4 out of the box and will be quickly updated to Lollipop as soon as you can find a flash-able ROM or when Cyanogen pushes an update. Check out the specs below and a quick comparison with the Redmi Note (4G variant) which comes with a Qualcomm chipset. Also at the bottom is the Unboxing and Hands-On video. Stay tuned for the full review.
Samsung had a tough year, and a couple of launches that did not help them in their overall outlook. The Galaxy S5 was a huge failure for the company, then losing it to Micromax as the Number One vendor in India was added insult to injury. Then it was time for the Note.
Samsung launched the Note 4 in autumn and teased a device which was quite identical to the Note but had one edge curved to the side. The interwebs blew up and everyone wanted to know what this device was made up of. The Note Edge has been announced in India for a whopping price of Rs. 63,500 officially, making it the most expensive consumer mobile device.
The box of the Note Edge is very similar to its more squared brother and comes with the exact same box contents :
Handset
USB Cable
Charger
Documentation
Extra tips for S-Pen
3000 mAh Battery
The first thing that hits the eye with this phone is the edge, and while most have dismissed its usability, it is quite an innovation. There are a bunch of screens for the Edge Screen that can be activated, including weather, notifications, tweets and even an arcade game.
, and our review will tell you whether or not you should be getting in line to get this device.
