HTC has updated its Zoe offering and added the new EYE camera features to its new lineup of devices and a software update will enable this on previous gen “Compatible” devices. With the new Eye software, HTC plans to improve front camera experience, it enables face tracing even on video calls to get crisp focus on your face.
HTC has launched a new HTC M8 Eye, which is essentially the same hardware as the HTC One M8 with the new Eye update. Which will be shipped out to existing M8 devices within 15 days according to HTC.
Combining simultaneous photos and videos taken on the front and back cameras into one split-screen image or video, something similar to the FrontBack App/ Crop-Me-In lets you be the creep in your own pictures by cropping yourself into your images or basically making “photoshop” like quick edits on the go.
Voice Selfie removes the need for awkward hand contortions by enabling you to trigger the shutter release with a simple command. Simply “say cheese” as soon as you’ve struck the perfect pose or trigger the video recording with “action” or “rolling” commands. HTC says they will allow customizations on this soon.
New HTC EYE adds earlier experiences such as face fusion, and Live Makeup, where you can set the desired level of skin smoothing and preview the effect in real-time before the image is captured.
The new Zoe comes with a live video editing App, which will allow you to fuse in your pictures and video along with music to create fun films on the go. HTC called these highlight reels.
Zoe 1.0 brings flexibility to the community, enabling short, medium and long Zoes that can be made up of just a couple of still images. HTC has enabled the streams from RE to be featured in Zoe video highlights are automatically generated and ready to share. Stay tuned for updates.
HTC is launching a new flagship and not a lot of details are out for it. The event is called “Double Exposure” and the lifestream for it has been activated. The event is expected to go live in a few hours from now so we will get more info then. But speculations have been a plenty thanks to the name, we know it has something to do with cameras. Let see what this Taiwanese giant has in mind.
The Moto X was the reason Motorola was able to bounce back from extinction. With the help and financial backing from Google, Motorola revamped their lineup of smartphones and today is one of the most coveted Android smartphone manufacturers. Although Motorola was unloaded by Google to Lenovo, the company’s principles have remained similar. With the Moto X 2014 Motorola is back with a vengeance, giving you the best mix of hardware and performance.
Overview
The new Moto X aka Gen 2014, is a major overhaul of what was already an impressive kit of a smartphone. The great mix of design build quality and top notch hardware makes the phone an aggressive competitor in the major smartphone market. In most countries the phone is available on the cheap with a contract, in countries like India however it has to be bought outright. Its price at launch is Rs. 31,999, which is much higher than the last generation’s price.
Hardware
Unlike the previous edition, the new Moto X is not impaired by old tech, it’s packed with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chipset with Adreno 330 graphics, has a larger 5.2 inch display with a Full HD resolution. New optics include a 13 MP camera with a faux dual led ring flash, and a front facing 2 MP one. The rear camera does 4K video and slow motion at 1080p which is really impressive. Storage is limited to 16 GB and RAM is kept at 2GB.
5.2-inch 1080P Display – 401 pixels per inch
2.5 GHz Snapdragon 801 Quad-core processor
2GB of RAM
16GB and 32GB storage options
2,300mAh battery
13MP rear facing camera w/ 4k video, 2MP front camera
Dual LED Ring Flash
Android 4.4.4 KitKat
Over 25 customizable back options – India Gets Black Leather or White + Bamboo!
140.8 x 72.4 x 9.9mm – 144 grams
Build and Design
Thanks to the Stainless Steel frame, the Moto X is one of the most robust smartphones in the market, the reinforced design with the lack of easily ding-able parts makes the phone more sturdy than expected. The Moto X will not bend, not with your hands, and many videos are trending online to prove it. The phone is solid and engineered well, but the leather finish will not last. We used the phone for a mere 2 weeks and the leather at the back has a lot of nicks and cuts and basically wears easy, the bamboo variant of the new Moto X 2nd Gen costs an additional Rs.2000 but may be worth the moolah. Design is great, however, we are not too sure of the lager Moto logo in a steel insert, it looks great in the leather variant but not on the wooden one. Reactions have been mixed about that one bit, everything else is an excellent change up from the 1st gen. Stainless steel bezel adds premium class and functionality and looks good, the shape is well fitted and curves just right in the hand. It is a handsome smartphone and its built well.
Performance and Android OS
The overall performance from the handset is impressive, it runs top notch hardware on an almost vanilla build of Android 4.4 with an experience only south of Google’s own Nexus line. Benchmarks score upwards of 40,000 in Antutu and they translate to real life usage, RAM is managed well and the Moto X remains pretty smooth through the day of use. Motorola has managed to use its own features like, smart notifications which are now called “Moto Display” and the new voice assistant which can be called up by a custom phrase and not the traditional “Ok Moto” or “Ok Google Now”. Motorola has also managed to leverage Moto communicate, allowing for phone calls and SMS messages to be received and responded to from your laptop/computer, while the setup may seem tedious it works well, although is a major drain on the battery life. The new Moto Assist is also well rounded, it knows when you are sleeping, driving or whether you are at home or work and can customize the alerts according to that, it needs a basic setup, but works mostly flawlessly after that.
Camera
The camera is a big upgrade, a 13 Mp sensor, 4k video and 1080 slow mo, all sounds great on paper. Images however do not justify all that, they are still grainy and low light performance is terrible. Continuous burst mode is a great feature, but is randomly sluggish and will cause images to get blurry and out of focus. The concept of the ring flash is simulated and does do nothing really to enhance the image quality, although the color correction in post flash images is good. The flash module is just like any other on any other smartphone. The camera app is really basic and could use some better features, like filters and on the fly changes. Focus during video will jump in and out, and will cause heartache. 4k video sounds great, but the limited 16GB storage will fill up with just mere minutes of 4k footage.
Without Flash
With Flash
Slow motion works well, focus is tight and quality is impressive. It will do Slow motion at 1080p vs 720p in the last year’s model. The front camera remains basic with a 2MP snapper, it captures 1080p video, which is usually overexposed and grainy, not the best optics in the lot.
Display and Multimedia
The new display on the Moto X larger and brighter, looks good outdoors, and has a crisp 401 ppi density. The glass on the front is Gorilla Glass 3 and it rounds off and meets the bezel at the edges adding to a natural feel when using the touchscreen. The display has excellent viewing angles and looks great indoors and out doors. touch response is excellent and according to Motorola the whole ecosystem is run at 60 fps throughout which adds to the experience, although may not be perfectly accurate. The bezels on the front are really minimal so the display is what takes up most of the front adding to a better look and better content consumption. Thanks to a larger display you will enjoy watching movies and videos on the phone, performance is excellent so no lag or buffer is experienced in the usage of the phone. The speaker is now forward facing, but unlike HTC’s boomsound it’s still a single speaker , yet sounds good and is very loud.
Phone, Networks and Battery
The Moto X 2nd Gen uses the metal fame to boost networks and boy does it work well, we found excellent indoor reception even on 3G networks and no call drops. This goes to show that maybe not all networks are to blame for bad reception. In this case Motorola has really got its antenna design right and yes it is very functional. Call quality, thanks to the impressive reception, is better than most handsets, although noise cancellation is not very great. Microphone is sensitive and the earpiece is loud and crisp. Battery is a smallish 2300 mAh unit that will mostly last a day, but if you use your phone a lot a portable charger or a USB cable will soon become your best friends. Averaging a mere 4-5 hours of talk time, we wish the phone had more juice to go on about its day. If you need the new Moto X to last longer you may want to invest in the Turbo Charger. Although, not yet in India, this optional accessory can charge the Moto X incredibly fast, pumping in eight hours of power in just 15 minutes.
Conclusion
Motorola has a winner with the Moto X 2nd Gen, and while a lot of people are looking at the bump in price, we are looking at the bump in specs. The previous Gen Motorola Moto X was underpowered, under spec’d and smallish. The new Moto X, is powerful, has excellent specs, top notch performance, has the right size and it looks good doing daily deeds. The leather back is tastefully damage-able and will add a custom look to each Moto X, however extreme wear may happen sooner than later. Thanks to quick Android updates and a simple basic Android UI, the handset is customizable and fast from the get go. The display bump is a boon and is well received, the new design is flawless and the built appreciable. The phone is also water resistant and will last you a very long time. But, should you get it? If you want an android phone now, and the price bracket fits, Yes ! get it now. Alternatively wait for the OnePlus One launch or the Next Nexus, which may as well be a Moto X in a cheaper format, who knows?
Apple’s latest generation of phone is here, the iPhone 6 is the next big change after Apple’s iPhone 5 was launched two years ago. However a lot has happened in the smartphone market space since then.
Android has taken major lead thanks to diversification and availability, and smartphones have become much cheaper. A few companies like Xiaomi and OnePlus have emerged to show that cheap phones don’t have to be bad quality or bad spec’d, and that they too can create major hype.
So amidst all of this smartphone tension, where does today’s iPhone 6 stand and is is worth your major moolah. Let’s find out!
Overview
Just like every iPhone release, this one was riddled with issues as well. Apple managed to sell 10 million iPhone 6 and 6 Plus devices overnight since it went on sale and a lot of people had major issues in getting to the online Apple store. Then there is this crazy #bendgate phenomenon, and just like Apple’s #AntennaGate this one has the whole world talking about bending iPhones. People are confused and some assume that a bending iPhone is a feature of the new iPhone, just like the G Flex.
[pullquote_left]iPhone 6 is Unaffected by the Bendgate Issue[/pullquote_left]
Apple has received just a few complaints over bending iPhone 6 plus’ and the whole story seems like a media frenzy, also it does not affect the iPhone 6 at all. All bendgate theories aside, Apple has managed to improve on what was already an excellent handset. People wanted a bigger iPhone and Apple delivered two sizes. People asked for better battery and the Cupertino giant may have a winner on that as well, but hardware is not the only factor. Apple has tied in iOS 8 brilliantly and the end user experience may just be what you have been looking for.
Build Quality and Design
Apple has chosen to go with a treated Aluminum just like every year, however this year it’s thinner and strengthened at the hip using stainless steel and titanium inserts. The iPhone however, is presumed to be easily dented or nicked at the round edges just like the case of the first generation. The front glass is rounded to the edges giving the phone a massively premium outlook and a great in-hand feel. Expect almost all manufacturers to follow this in the upcoming handsets.
Looks wise the iPhone 6 is much more good looking in person than in images and video. It feels excellent in the hand and thanks to the new rounded edges, the phone will stay in your hand much longer. Everyone who has seen it, has appreciated its looks. The Golden color especially has been improved over the past generation gold.
Camera Module is Protruded
The camera module sits above the whole body of the phone, which makes it prone to scratches, however the super hard sapphire lens, makes it really difficult to do so. The Apple official case tucks the camera module in just a tad bit to add a layer of protection and not bulk. The leather case is really appreciable and well made, much more so than last generation cases.
Hardware
Procession on the new iPhone 6 happens on the new Apple A8 Chipset and it is the first chipset to include 2 Billion transistors. Which is really impressive if you factor in the size of the A8 die i.e 89mm2. The increase in the performance is based on a 1.4 Ghz CPU and a hexa core GPU. The front has a larger 4.7 inch display which is an Apple iPhone first along with a larger resolution of 1334 x 750 px, retaining Apple’s retina requirements.
The Battery is bigger on the iPhone 6 with a 1810 mAh unit in tow, non-replaceable as usual, you also get the same 8 Mp and 1.2 Mp camera combo. However improved lenses and sensor promise better imagery and we agree. There is also an NFC module on the inside, but it is only for payments and not for information bumps. Apple Pay is not available in India, in fact it won’t be for a while so it really may not be relevant. However if you are in the US, this may simplify payments for you significantly, especially if all you carried was a credit/debit card.
Performance
Performance is easily noticeable out of the box; the iPhone 6 is snappier, opens apps faster and renders objects quicker. The graphics information is about as accurate as mentioned and games that will take full advantage of the GPU will truly shine in the coming days with extra detail and nag-less gameplay.
Multitasking has taken a major bump up, thanks to iOS 8 which is much lighter and handles multitasking better, but the hardware also plays an important role and improves it, resulting in a flawless experience overall.
Gaming, Display and Multimedia
The iPhone 6 is by far the best gaming experience on a smartphone, the visual elements truly shine out in gameplay, and since all games are designed around Apple’s hardware on the iPhones, they run at best possible settings resulting in the best possible output, and therefore the best possible gaming experience.
[pullquote_right]The Display shines on the new iPhone 6[/pullquote_right]
Display is Vivid
The new bigger 4.7 inch display truly leverages the OS experience, you still get to use the phone with one hand, and once you have used “reachability”, the first question you will ask is “why hasn’t anyone else done it before?”. It makes sense and it works really well. Apple should have stuffed in a larger resolution display on the iPhone 6, but the current resolution is very good. There is zero pixelation on screen, text looks excellent, viewing angles are really wide and outdoor visibility is top notch, basically the same as you would expect from an iPhone, but better.
The speakerphone is definitely louder and more defined, however it’s no “boomsound” speaker setup and it’s no where near as great as a stereo setup. Why Apple choses to use a single speaker after 7 years of inception is beyond us, when they could have easily done a stereo setup with this iPhone. Audio output from the 3.5mm headphone jack is still the best from any phone ever and bundled with a good set of headphones makes for the best on the go sound experience.
Camera
240fps at 720p is going to be the best fun you have had with a Camera, be sure to get at least the 64 GB variant if you intend to use this. The best usage is outdoors so that you don’t get random tube light flicker. The one major let down this year was the lack of 4K video, and now that the storage was bumped up to 128GB it would have simply made sense, as the sensor and chipset is very capable and with the iPhone 6 Plus OIS would have meant excellent video.
There is a major improvement in the new autofocus capabilities of the new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. The iPhone 6 misses the OIS from the 6 Plus which is a major pity, because there is no real reason Apple should have left it out.
The new autofocus is laser fast, and the new lens setup is better for macro. The iPhone usually has great background defocus and close up capture capability as it is, the new iPhone 6 camera improves that by a handful. You also see sharper pictures, highly improved HDR and color correction, and perfectly saturated colors. Thanks to the excellent image processing you get ideally one of the best pocket cameras today. It is also the most used camera in the world and that is just going to become bigger.
Samples:
HDR
Focus Test
HDR Outdoor 2
Close Up Focus
Low Light
Phone and Battery life
Network performance is a definite improvement on the iPhone 6, the signal strength has improved tremendously and audio quality in phone calls is definitely up there in the Top 3. The lack of a 3G toggle in the settings panel in iOS 8 troubles users indoors, because you are now unable to switch to a stronger 2G signal. The iPhone 6 however does that by itself now more than ever, which works great for us.
Battery life has seen a major jump since the iPhone 5s, which had appalling battery life. Newer chipsets, a slightly larger battery and iOS 8 tweaks are all to thank for a bump in battery which will go an easy 18 hours, meaning a full day without the need of a recharge. Apple’s extreme battery life chart is a bit off from actual usage delivering upto 7 hours on 3G talk in normal usage.
iOS 8
Apple ties in the operating system beautifully, and especially thanks to iOS 8 and hand-off, get ready to get a multi device experience like no other. While your phone rings, you can set it up so that every device on the same iCloud account rings too, whether an iPod touch or an iPad and even another iPhone will ring and you can answer the call on either. Best case example, you put your phone on charge and are working on the iPad, you can now receive a phone call on that. The same will apply to MacBooks and iMacs on Yosemite, which will receive calls and texts allowing you to not switch screens when you don’t need to.
Reachability Demo
iOS 8 also takes good advantage of the bigger displays, widening side panels in landscape and allowing you to use a zoomed in view for larger icons and text. iOS 8 also uses Apple Pay which may become the future of payments (when it’s available globally anyway). Simple things like reachability and the new improved keyboard only add to the experience of the bigger screens. Typing is definitely faster, and as mentioned before, the OS is quicker and lighter on its feet, therefore improves the usage experience tremendously.
Conclusion
[pullquote_left]The Best Your Money Can Buy![/pullquote_left]There is no major innovation from Apple this year, and most have constantly asked me for one. Once Apple Pay comes to India and the rest of the world, there is a high chance that iPhone 7 will be out by then / or iPhone 6s or whatever they call it. The iPhone 5s in terms of performance, usability and camera/optics was essentially one of the best phones of last year. The two issues, poor battery life and a small display irked many users and Apple has addressed those two beautifully in this release. What else has improved? The design and the overall appeal of the phone, the rounded edges on the display feel wonderfully natural and invite you to slide your finger on the new phone. Big improvements on the performance front and the Touch ID sensitivity also really improve the experience.
iPhone 6 with the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5
Should you buy this if you own an iPhone 5s?
If you want a bigger screen, a bigger storage capacity or even better battery management and can afford buying a new phone, don’t think twice.
What is different between the Nexus 4 and the new iPhone 6?
The question is flawed somehow, because of the sheer distinction in the kind of products. A 2011 Honda Accord and a 2014 BMW 5 Series Sedan are identical, they both have a 2 Liter engine, 4 wheels, 5 passenger capacity, Air-conditioning and even similar interior equipment. If you go into more detail they even have identical length and width, and if you add Rs. 5 lac (US$ 7000) worth performance parts to your purchase of the Accord you can make it run faster than many sports cars. So why is the BMW more expensive and more appreciated than the Accord? If you answer that question the same is applicable to the above question.
If you can afford it, the iPhone 6 is fortunately or unfortunately the best smartphone experience today, and once you get to use it and understand how it simplifies your life, you truly appreciate its experience. The experience which is again fortunately or unfortunately enjoyed best with more Apple products in your daily use scenario. Even as a standalone phone, only a minor user-share have disliked the iPhone experience, and those who left iPhones a few years back, would be delighted to now bounce back onto the bandwagon.
The iPhone 6 is finally in our studio and we get our dirty hands with the next generation of Apple phone. The iPhone 6 is going on sale in India on the 17th of October for an expected price of Rs. 48,500 for the 16GB variant, whereas the big brother, the 6 Plus, will be available for Rs. 54,500 for the 16 GB as per information available to us.
The box of the iPhone is no different than the previous generations, and you can expect to find the same things in the box, including a cable, a wall charger, Apple EarPods, along with some basic paperwork.
The phone is light out of the box, which may be the biggest reason behind #bendgate. It feels light and nimble although the front display is big and beautiful which immediately captures your eye.
The rounded edges sit very comfortably in your hands, many times better than the previous gen, which without a case was slightly sharp in the hand.
You see a boost in the performance out of the box. The iPhone is much smoother and the rounded display gives it a natural feel when sliding between pages. Websites look much better on the large display, which is bright and super crisp.
Apple has put in a lot of new hardware into the new iPhone since it was a number change edition Apple A8 chipset with 64 bit Architecture along with a hexa core GPU. Ram wise you still get 1 GB but that seems more than sufficient for the phone. Storage is dependent on what model you buy and cameras have not been bumped up in specs but in tech, adding phase detection, autofocus along with improved pixel capture. Slow motion video at 240 fps on a 720p resolution is really impressive.
This time around the iPhone 6 has a 1810 mAh bumping up from the 1560 of the iPhone 5s. Stay tuned for our Full Review out shortly.
HTC at an event today in New Delhi has launched three new devices in its Desire series –Desire 820, Desire 820Q and Desire 816G. While the Desire 816G is already available in the market, the first two will ship during the first week of November in India.
HTC was mum on the exact date and pricing of the coveted Desire 820 units and are apologetic about the lack of availability pre-diwali. The Desire 820 handsets will be available in a bunch of colors and the company is closely studying the market and the color needs. HTC will be making few colors available in the matte finish including the Grey that you see in our pictures.
Honestly the Desire 816 was a very pretty phone, this one has turned out to be much better, in the overall look and feel, it also seems lighter and more robust than the Desire 816, which like we stated in our review was amazingly sold as well.
Specs wise this is the first handset with a 64 bit architecture based Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 chipset which has a clock speed of 1.5 GHz on eight cores. 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of Storage, along with the 128 GB Micro SD support and the 100 GB of Google Drive gives you more than needed storage capability.
The front display is bright and vivid and has excellent color reproduction and great visibility outdoors, which makes us very happy. HTC has ensured that the handset will get the Android L update, and we are not too sure if the units we saw are actually running L, specially because the software information had been locked down.
The cameras are excellent with a 13 MP snapper and a 8 MP snapper, both with 1080p quality, initial images and focus speeds are impressive and we are eager to fully review the cameras on this handset. Our review will be out shortly, so stay tuned.
As far as availability is concerned we are expecting the Desire 820 to be available on the November 7th and for around Rs. 25,999/-, but don’t quote us on it.
The new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are expected to do well in India, especially considering the launch date which falls just shy of major festivals of our country. Oct 17th (the official launch of both big iPhones in India) is also just 4 days prior to the mega festival of “Dhanteras” which celebrates gold and anything that represents gold. A few days post that is the biggest festival of India, Diwali/Deepavali, which again brings about the act of gifting, shopping and spending money like there is no tomorrow. And finally “Bhai Duj” which again ensures that people are buying gifts for their respective brothers and sisters.
In 2013, Apple launched the gold color iPhone 5s, which was sold out within hours and remained out of stock for many a days. It is assumed that there was a high demand of the gold color due to the excitement around the time of the above stated festivals. However, the way the iPhone was launched in India was the complete opposite of how Apple does things globally.
Apple in India, unfortunately does not have any of its own stores, no online store, no flagship stores and well nothing close to a “5th Ave” store. The company has its distribution tied up with Indian distributers “Ingram” and “Reddington”, who make a spectacle of the launch, by making available “limited” number of phone in limited cities. This redundant process has left people who actually want to buy an iPhone with a horrible taste.
Poorly Orchestrated iPhone 5s Launch
The launch is nothing close to what happens, for example, at a US store (or any other Apple store). There is this strange coupon system that lets you stand in line to buy an iPhone. Then there is a “special” coupon that lets you skip the line and jump ahead to a “special” area for VIP guests of big distributers i.e. Ingram, Reddington and networks like Airtel.
The standard line is essentially made up of store owners and employees of store owners, who want to essentially get stock that they can then sell from their respective stores to their respective “best clients”. There is a huge inflation of price of the iPhone as well. The same day as the launch of the gold iPhone 5s for (Rs. 54,500 for the 16GB variant), the phone was available at most dealers and brick mortar stores for as high as Rs. 70,000. An inflated price you had to pay for not standing in line.
There are a few who actually brave it and stand in line, but their numbers are limited and their wait times are catastrophically high. The event itself is loud and disorganized, usually outdoors and in the open (except a few), leading to long wait times and a chaotic atmosphere. The company also tries to build in live music and unnecessary shows with loud emcees making it look like a typical Indian fair (mela).
Despite claiming that the gold color had reached “out of stock” status, Apple India warehouses were full of them, and Apple chose not to sell anymore gold colored iPhone 5s, because it was affecting the sales of the other colors.
Why does it have to be so difficult, and complicated for a user to buy a phone that they want to pay money for. Apple needs to bring their user experience to India, considering India is an important market for them. Apple is planning to officially be in India by next year, that means that the company will finally set up shop which may end all these theatrics. However if there are limited number of handsets to sell, a simple pre-order system should suffice, or a registration system which lets actual buyers who want to own these phones buy them. Apple asks for identification and credit cards at the time of purchase in the US and also limits the sale to a maximum of two handsets.
However in India, most purchases are made by cash and why should the company care about identification as long as phones are getting sold? To make matters worse, the people who are supposedly selling you the phones have not been trained as you would expect at a “genius bar”, they have been debriefed a few hours prior to the launch and know basic things like “turning on the iPhone” and “inserting a sim card”. They usually freeze up if you ask them questions around “iCloud” or some new elements like “handoff”.
The one good thing out of all of this is the fact that Apple has made the phones available in India early, unlike the iPhone 4s which was launched a good 9-10 months later, the iPhone 6 will launch a month after the US launch. However, this year expect the problems to be big, or well “bigger than bigger”. #BigFailSale anyone?
Google yesterday finally unveiled its Android One line of phones. The phones are brought in cooperation with three Indian companies, Micromax, Karbonn and Spice.
We check out Micromax’s Android One variant called the Canvas A1. The phone comes with the latest Android Kitkat V4.4.4 which is a plus. The phones also get Airtel’s 6 month data pack through which users get automatic updates and free app download. The specs are good for the price and it is a great buy for people shifting from feature phones to smartphones.
From the Creators of Halo and the company that brought you Call of Duty. In Destiny you are a Guardian of the last city on Earth, able to wield incredible power. Explore the ancient ruins of our solar system, from the red dunes of Mars to the lush jungles of Venus. Defeat Earth’s enemies. The Experience of startup gameplay is amazing and the graphics lead you to understand what an adventure lies ahead.
We check out the uber affordable Xiaomi earphones. They’re priced at Rs. 999 and are available exclusively on Flipkart. You can buy a pair using the link below.
The Market has been recently flooded by Chinese smartphones, and everyone is confused. The question, however, has always been : are these phones really worth of all the hype they create?. The Xiaomi Mi3 showed us that a great phone package can come for a decent price, and the Redmi 1s is taking it hard to the competition.
One phone is still missing from the equation and with its arrival in India soon, does the OnePlus One threaten the existence of many brands here in the country? Lets find out.
Overview
The OnePlus One is a complete device when it comes to hardware and build quality. Thanks to the inclusion of CyanogenMod the software is mostly community dependent and is expected to get great support for a long period of time.
Hardware
The OnePlus One comes with top notch hardware for its time, apart from the 5.5 inch LTPS display with a 1920 x 1080p resolution, Gorilla Glass 3 :
The OnePlus One is superb, the fact is that anyone who has seen the phone in my hand, especially the sandstone variant, has been amazed with the way this phone looks and feels. The brilliance is in fact in the overall look of the phone, it’s just the right size, has just the right amount of chrome and metallic accents, subtle logos, simple buttons and the nicely printed Cyanogen at the back helps too.
The built of the phone is also pretty superior, although we wouldn’t say the phone can be dropped several times (especially because if you break it, you will go through hell to get another one). The display is protected with Gorilla Glass 3, but it’s not the ultimate form of protection, and thanks to the large damageable screen real estate, one should be extra careful. The back is a solid plastic, coated with the sandstone finish in the 64 GB variant and a polycarbonate white on the 16 GB variant, both of which feel great and look great too.
Display and Camera
The LCD is impressive, it’s quick and bright, has great viewing angles and the touch is very sensitive. We also found colours to be very accurate. You do have several display modes that will help you adjust between temperatures and also customise the display of the phone as per your colour tone preference. Video playback is great, and deep blacks and greys are separately identifiable resulting in a viewing experience that will leave you satisfied.
The camera on the OnePlus One is equipped with a 13 MP Sony BSI sensor, which by far is the best implementation of the equipment. Shutter Lag is close to none, the response times are amazing, shot composition accurate, focus fast and colours are deep and rightly defined. The camera is equipped with a dual led flash with one amber and one white light, giving the device the ability to correctly compose the shots, especially so, in low light conditions.
Aqua Filter
Without HDR
HDR
Indoor
The Camera also does 4K video, which in this day of flagships is only restricted to a few. You also get time-lapse and slow motion video at 120 fps on 720p which works really well. Video is really smooth and jitter free, and the end resultant is rather satisfying, included preview filters and pre shooting tweaks make it easy to compose and deliver the right kind of footage.
The sensor is bright with a f/2.0 aperture , giving it a great deal of low light visibility, although noise is still prevalent on low light images.
Multimedia and Performance
Thanks to the mix of the high end specs as well an a fantastic display, Multimedia capabilities are right up there with all other flagship devices. In certain cases even better so than the other. The low end on the spectrum for OS functions in the background, less busy Cyanogen OS and 3 GB of onboard RAM really improve things on the OnePlus One.
Performance wise, the OnePlus One aced all benchmarks and kicked it in gaming, with little of no lag on high end graphics and all games running on full juice. Impressive day to day usage and the fluidity of the performing tasks is really appreciable.
Considering the kind of awesome experience you get with the OnePlus One, we feel that the company should’ve just called it “Two”. because it offers double the experience of any regular manufacturer smartphone, with performance, gaming and built.
Benchmarks and Gaming Video
Cyanogen and Android
Today Android is really in a good place, and with Android L on the verge of launch, a lot is expected from the OS. Generally one should choose hardware that not only supports the update, but a manufacturer that is willing to do so. In most case scenarios you would have to wait months before the next big Android OS would be pushed out by manufacturers. The last version of Android aka Kitkat is now available throughout the segment, however it was announced a year back, and yet today some phones ship with Jelly Bean.
OnePlus One Runs on Cyanogen and it’s a great user experience.
With the Oneplus One and Cyanogen Mod OS, you will never have to worry about that, this group of developers managed to run Android on the HP Touchpad, and now it is updated to Android 4.4.4. So with the Oneplus One you can not only expect quick updates, you can also expect some nifty features and usage improvements.
The UI is very customizable and theme-able using their theme changer and by downloading themes from Play Store, and other resources. Cyanogen allows you to mix and match different elements of different themes to make the one perfect theme for you.
Conclusion
The OnePlus One is not here yet, the company is busy working out a strategy and will have the phone in India, as early as Sept-Oct 2014. However, for a price sensitive market like India, the cost of the phone will be a major factor. Another big deal is the fact that the company is doing away with its invite system, and hopefully by the time they arrive in India, they can ensure supplies to the huge and impatient market.
Where companies like Xiaomi have really gained respect and market share simply by cutting down admin, distribution and marketing costs, OnePlus may bring the One at a premium in India.
The Oneplus One is expected to be priced around Rs. 21500 for the 16GB variant and Rs,. 25000 for the 64 GB variant. Although the prices are more than the $ price, they are much less than the Indian price of major flagships. So for the price of one LG G3, HTC One M8 etc you could typically get , “One Plus One” = 2 phones.
If you can get your hands on an invite today, do not think twice and get the phone, in fact you should have owned it yesterday. As far as warranty issues are concerned, the company has great service support, but you will have to deal with shipping to their support centers overseas, or wait for the Indian one/s.
Apple has finally killed the iPod classic, the original iPod responsible for bringing Apple back from the edge of extinction. The Apple iPod classic is the oldest media player from the Cupertino based giant and has finally been retired.
One can still get the iPod Touch, Shuffle and Nano with the maximum storage available on the iPod touch 64 GB. We could say good riddance to old technology, but those who can reminisce over the beginning of the music and multimedia era will begin to feel nostalgic. Also, this might cause a massive up rift in iPod classic pricing on Ebay, so you might want to get one now incase you want to hold on to this as a momento.
Over half a billion Apple iTunes customers can download a free exclusive copy of U2’s new album “Songs of Innocence”, starting right now. Making it the biggest launch in music history.
All 119 Countries with active iTunes account get this album exclusively with iTunes till october 2014, after which it will be available on other mediums.
Apple at their iPhone launch event today has announced the new iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus, packed with a 4.7 inch display and a 5.5 inch display respectively.
The phones despite being bigger are lighter and thinner with the new iPhone 6 being only 6.9 mm where and the new iPhone 6 Plus is only 7.1 mm thick. The front glass on the new iPhones is curved, with the iPhone 6 has a resolution of 1334 by 750 with 326 pixels per inch on the 4.7 inch display, and iPhone 6 Plus has a resolution of 1920 by 1080 with 401 pixels per inch on the 5.5 inch variant.
According to Apple, iPhone 6 is up to 50% more energy efficient, The new A8 chip has up to 25% faster processing power and up to 50% faster graphics. Which means that the graphics are an incredible 84 times faster than the original iPhone.
iPhone 6 has faster LTE than iPhone 5s. It also has more LTE bands than any other smartphone for better roaming. The new iPhone 6 can now tell if you’re going up molehills, mountains, and everything in between.
The iPhone 6 still is is equipped with an 8 MP iSight camera, with 1.5 micron pixel size, added with a phase detection AF system. the aperture is f2.2. The new iPhone 6 takes use of the new A8 image processor. The iPhone 6 Plus uses OIS “optical image stabilisation” to get better images even in low light conditions.
The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus 1080p at 30 and 60 fps, new Slo-mo video upto 240 fps. Burst mode detects smiles and blinks, then recommends the best picture.
The new TouchID can be accessed by apps in the new iOS 8 and iPhone 6 and 6 plus, the big thing; Apple launches a new Apple Pay payment system that uses NFC and Touch ID. The credit cards can be stored in Passbook, without the actual number being stored, Apple creates a temp payment ID.
Micromax has been reworking strategies for quite some time, and after their launch of the Canvas Gold, the company has kept it low key. Meanwhile, Motorola with their Moto G and Moto E along with Xiaomi with their Mi3 and Redmi 1s have really made a dent in the market.
The Micromax Canvas Nitro A310 is the company’s answer to all that, but does it really fulfil that goal? Lets find out!
Overview
The Canvas Nitro A310 is well built phone with good specs, in the right price bracket. However with the competition looming it may not match up in terms of hardware capabilities. The strategy to launch it with online partner Snapdeal is also similar to what we have seen in the past, Motos and the MIs and their launch with Flipkart.
Hardware
The Micromax Canvas Nitro A310 comes with a Mediatek Mt6592 Octa Core Chipset clocked at 1.7 GHz on all eight cores. The phone also has 2 GB of RAM and a Mali 450 MP2 GPU. The Nitro runs on a 2500mAh battery and has 8 GB of inbuilt storage, out of which roughly 5.2 GB is available to the user.
The front is laden with a vivid 5 inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 1280 x 720 px, for optics on the rear the phone gets a 13 MP camera with auto focus and 1080p video capture, the front remains a fixed focus with a 5 MP resolution. Cameras are capable of HDR and low light photography, video has electronic stabilisation, and you can initiate the camera with a gesture “V” sign to click pictures from a far.
Unboxing Video
Build Quality and Design
Unlike its predecessors, the Canvas Nitro A310 is built on a plastic chassis, giving it a much lighter and less sturdy feel compared to the likes of the Canvas Gold. However the phone is still well built and feels like it can take a fall or two (not that we’d recommend it). The front has a tiny lip that nicely protects the front LCD of the phone, but on from a flat table placement or a flat drop. There is no mention of Gorilla Glass, although some generic “strengthened” glass has been used.
The back panel has a leather look (read: exactly like the Note 3) however it has a much better defined design, overall appeal and touch. The back panel is also very sturdy and not flimsy at all, which one would expect. We are not too sure about this blue colour, as it may not appeal to every one, it’s how one would say “different”.
Camera
Micromax focused a lot with the camera on the new Micromax Canvas Nitro A310, they have added several new camera features as standard. Things mostly which can be had with an app, but its is always much better to have features integrated with the OS and UI. An inbuilt camera specific widget lets you take shots by focusing on what you want to do, selecting from 5 different modes.
Front Back ; lets you take one picture from the front facing camera and one from the rear facing camera and combine it as a single image.
Stable ; just like the name says, waits till your hands are stable before taking a picture.
Selfie ; A selfie mode lets you click better selfies, however this works best with “V shot gesture” mode.
Refocus; lets you add blur to all areas except the area you select, more like a software version of HTC’s dual camera setup.
Coming to the hardware, the camera is based on a BSI Sony sensor with an f2.2 aperture and has excellent focus capabilities. Images captured indoors, as well as outdoors are accurate in colour reproduction and contrast. HDR was particularly good, and can really reproduce required details in the images.
With HDR
Without HDR
You get a good deal of details with the camera, especially up close to your subject.
Performance and Gaming
The Micromax Canvas Nitro handles day to day usage without any problem, and for once this phone does not heat up at all, mostly pertaining to the fact that the device is made entirely out of plastic. At any pint of time the total amount of free RAM is approximately 600+ MB, leaving you to wonder where the phone is utilising in excess of 1.3 GB of RAM. The included clean up app does open up about 120-140 MB of RAM, but that is still less considering that the device is running on KitKat.
Benchmarks and Gaming Video
We did see some hiccups in Gaming while gunning for high end games, and we also noticed quite a lot of frame loss, we plan to revisit gaming separately post the launch of the handset. Audio quality is excellent, however you might end up with your hand on the speaker ever so often, muffling up the sound.
Phone, Networks and Battery
Signal quality is excellent indoors as well as outdoors, audio is good on a call whether incoming or out going. As far as networks are concerned the plastic body definitely improves any WiFi connectivity issues faced by the previous generation of Canvas phones.
Battery life if good for one day’s use with the included 2500 mAh battery, which is removable and replaceable by the user. You will get an average talk time of 5-6 hours with both SIM cards placed in the phone.
If you are a light user you can easily run into the second day, however a charge a day would be recommended to keep you in a healthy battery position.
Multimedia And Android
The display is really good on the Micromax Canvas Nitro A310, it has excellent levels of black which are deep and blend in with the accurate blacks of the bezel. Video playback was good after the initial hiccups we faced (old version of Youtube App) and viewing angles are fantastic. The phone’s display works well indoors and outdoors and you will totally appreciate media consumption on the display, despite the fact that it is a 720p screen.
The OS is mostly stock Android 4.4.2, with minor customisations and mostly preloaded applications by the company, the UI also looks clean and is responsive. The set of apps including Quick Look (aka Blinkfeed for non HTC devices) and the new lock screen are excellent and work really well in providing notifications and quick update of news. Both of these can easily be turned off or replaced using custom launchers and lock screen replacements from the Play Store.
Screenshots
Conclusion
While most will argue the hardware powers of the Xiaomi Mi3, the Micromax Canvas Nitro is aimed to be more for those who want a less hectic approach to buying a phone. With an octa-core chipset and 2 GB of RAM, bundled with a 13 MP camera and expandable storage, the Micromax Canvas Nitro does have it positives. The biggest being the fact that the phone will be available to those who want to buy it, easily and how.
The Micromax Canvas Nitro is a step in the right direction for Indian manufacturers, especially considering they are taking huge flack from companies like Xiaomi and Motorola who are basically now playing in their space.
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GOOD THINGS
Good Build
Good Specs
Great Pricing
Excellent 720p Display
Good Battery Life
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[tw-column width=”one-half” position=”last”]
BAD THINGS
