Author: Vipul Vij

Razer Smartphone Image Leaked Before Imminent Announcement

The anticipation a smartphone made by Razer has been on a rise in the past few days. After Razer announced the date of launch for its upcoming smartphone, there have been a few leaks revealing key details about the device. But, a new leak has revealed what the phone might look like and also confirmed a key feature.

Slovakian blog TechByte has posted the photo of the Razer smartphone’s back-side. As can be seen in the image above, the smartphone has the Razer logo and it will be interesting to see if the logo is back lit with Razer’s signature green light. Another key feature is the dual-camera setup at the back. There isn’t much known about the camera except that it will record 3840 x 2160 px videos. There are certain design similarities with the Nextbit Robin phone, a company which was acquired by Razer in January of 2017. The circular volume rockers on the left of the device (right side of the image) and a rectangular design are reminiscent of the Robin phone.

Nextbit Robin Mint

A recent listing on GFXBench revealed a few key specifications of the upcoming Razer phone as well. As per the listing, the phone will have a 5.7 inch display with a Quad HD 2560 x 1440 px resolution. Under the hood, the smartphone will have the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset and 64GB onboard storage. The standout spec here is the RAM. While most of the flagship smartphones cap out with 4GB of RAM, with the exception of OnePlus 5 which has a 8GB RAM variant, the Razer smartphone will also have 8GB of RAM. Extra RAM makes sense as Razer will market this as a gaming device as the company itself pioneers in gaming accessories.

The announcement of the phone is scheduled for the 1st of November.

October 16, 2017
Apple Wants To Launch Apple Pay In India

Apple is planning to bring its payment service, Apple Pay in India. During his recent visit to India, Eddie Cue, SVP for internet services and software admitted that seeing more and more international payment mechanisms entering India has encouraged Apple as well. Earlier in September, iGyaan had reported that Apple has begun testing Apple Pay in India and launch the payment service by the end of 2017.

It is great that all of these payment mechanisms is coming out in India because it empowers people to be able to pay. What Apple pay does is make that process easy, integrated and safe. We absolutely want to bring Apple pay to market here

Apple Pay securely stores credit cards, debit cards, or other sensitive payment information from the Wallet app and lets the user pay for goods directly from their mobile device. For Apple Pay to work, the merchant needs to have a contactless machine which is compatible with Apple Pay. During the transaction, TouchID or FaceID is required to authenticate the payment. Once the authentication is successful, a subtle vibration confirms that the transaction was successful.

India has seen a floury of different payment services entering the country. Tech giants like Google, WhatsApp and Samsung has launched their payment services in India in the last couple of years. Other online payment apps like PayTM also allow its users to make cardless payments directly through the PayTM app, although, you need to top up your PayTM balance before making any transactions. In the case of Samsung and Apple Pay, transactions are made directly from the credit or debit card synced with your account.

Google launched Tez in early September in India. The app has a widespread support of banks and has already hit over 5 million downloads on the Play Store.

Apple may be late to join the online or cardless payment services party but, Apple is India’s second largest premium smartphone maker along with Apple Pay’s integration with iOS 11 and the Apple ecosystem will be a huge factor.

October 16, 2017
Leaked Poster Of Xiaomi Redmi 5A Reveals 8-Day Battery Life

After a recent leak revealing what the upcoming Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 might look like, the Redmi 5A now seems to have been leaked. A promotional poster of what might be the new Xiaomi Redmi 5A has been leaked on China’s social networking site, Weibo.

From the poster, there are a few things we can infer. The Redmi 5A won’t look all that different from its predecessor. It looks like the Redmi 5A will have a metal unibody rather than the plastic build found on the Redmi 4A. Since only the back of the phone is visible, it is hard to deduce anything about the front of the device. There seems to be antenna lines at the top of the phone and the back camera along with the LED flash are placed between the two antenna lines. The text translates to “Lightweight and Long Battery Life.” The poster reveals that the phone will weigh at about 137 grams and have an incredible 8-day battery life. The poster goes on confirming that this smartphone will use a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and run on MIUI 9 out of the box.

A recent listing on the certification website TENNA revealed a few details about the Xiaomi Redmi 5A. The smartphone will have a 5 inch display with a 1280 x 720 px resolution. The listing mentions a 1.4 GHz quad-core processor although there is no mention of the name of the chipset. The phone will be launched in 2GB RAM/16GB storage and 3GB RAM/32GB storage variants. The poster confirms the presence of the MIUI 9 over Android 7.1 Nougat. The images revealed along with the listing have been corroborated with the leak of the promotional poster revealing a metal unibody design.

The Xiaomi Redmi 5A is expected to be priced at 599 Yuan (Rs 5900 approx.) for the 2GBRAM/16GB storage variant and 699 Yuan (Rs 6900 approx.) for the 3GBRAM/32GB storage variant.

October 16, 2017
Unboxing The Meizu M6 Note
The M6 Note from Meizu was recently launched and is expected to hit the Indian market in the coming months. The Meizu M6 Note was launched in three variants, the 3GB RAM and 16GB onboard storage is priced at CNY 1099 (Rs. 10600 approx.), 3GB RAM/32GB storage at CNY 1299 (Rs 12500 approx.) and the 4GB RAM/64GB storage is priced at CNY 1699 (Rs 16350 approx.). Let’s unbox the device and see what we get inside the box:
- Meizu M6 Note
- Documentation
- Sim ejector tool
- Micro USB cable
- Wall charger
The Meizu M6 Note has a 5.5 inch IPS LCD display with a 1920 x 1080 px resolution. The smartphone is powered by a massive 4000 mAh battery and runs Android 7.1 Nougat out of the box. Under the hood, the device has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 chipset, and three RAM and storage options. The fingerprint sensor is housed inside the physical home button which sits below the display.

The Meizu M6 Note has a dual 12MP + 5MP camera setup at the back. The 12MP camera has an f/1.9 aperture and the 5Mp camera has an f/2.0 aperture. The dual cameras at the back record 2840 x 2160 px videos at 30fps. On the front is a 16MP camera with an f/2.0 aperture and record 1080P videos.
October 14, 2017
Unboxing The Samsung Galaxy Tab A
Samsung recently launched a new Android-powered tablet for a price of Rs 17990 in India. Samsung, apart from Apple is the only significant smartphone maker to continue making tablets. Let’s unbox the new Galaxy Tab A and see what’s inside the box:
- Samsung Galaxy Tab A
- USB Type C cable for charging and data syncing
- Wall charger
- Documentation
- Sim ejector tool
The tablet has a good form factor with significant bezels around the display.

The Galaxy Tab A (2017) has an 8 inch 1280 x 800 TFT display with a brightness of 480 nits. The tablet is powered by a 5000 mAh battery and runs Android 7.1 Nougat out of the box with Samsung’s custom TouchWiz UI on top. Under the hood, the device has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 chipset, 2GB of RAM, 16GB onboard storage which can be expanded up to 256GB via microSD card.

In terms of optics, the tablet has an 8MP rear-facing camera with an f/1.9 aperture with an LED flash. To the front of the tablet is a 5MP camera.

One of the highlights of the Galaxy Tab A (2017) is the new Bixby Home support that brings Samsung’s AI assistant to the mid-range tablet. Bixby understands and responds to the user’s behaviour and routine to suggest content and apps based on usage and location, among other things.
October 14, 2017
Blue Colour Variant Of Moto G5s Launched

Lenovo owned Motorola has launched a blue colour variant of the Moto G5s. Already available in Lunar Grey and Gold, the third colour variant is priced at Rs 14999 will be available across all retail stores and Moto Hubs starting 14th October 2017. Except for the new colour, rest of the hardware remains the same on the Moto G5s.

The Moto G5S has a 5.2 inch 1920 x 1080 px IPS LCD display with a fingerprint sensor sitting below it which can also double up as a single navigation button. It has a Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. A 3,000mAh battery power the Moto G5S and features Moto turbo charge. Motorola claims that with turbo charge, you get “5 hours of battery life in just 15 minutes of charging.” The Moto G5S runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 chipset with a 1.4 GHz octa-core CPU along with 4 GB of RAM and 32 GB of onboard storage. The phone supports storage expansion up to 128GB via a microSD card.

The Moto G5S features a 16MP primary camera with an f/2.0 aperture with rapid focus technology, a single LED flash and a 5MP wide-angle front camera with an LED flash. The main camera captures 1920 x 1080 px video and there are additional Moto features like Night Display and Quick Reply.

This unveiling comes a few days before the much awaited Moto X4 will be launched, however, there is no official word from the company.

October 14, 2017
Qualcomm Confirms Lawsuit Against Apple In China

Qualcomm Inc, the San Diego based chipset maker has filed a lawsuit against Apple Inc in China. Qualcomm seeks to ban the sale and manufacture of iPhones in the country, the company’s biggest shot at Apple in a bitter and prolonged legal fight. Qualcomm filed the suits in a Beijing intellectual property court claiming patent infringement and seeking injunctive relief, according to Christine Trimble, a company spokeswoman.

Qualcomm made the filings at the Beijing court on Sept. 29. The court has not yet made them public. Qualcomm wants to halt the manufacturing and sale of iPhones in world’s largest smartphone market. Apple’s iPhone business contributes to two-thirds of Apple’s revenue. In its statement, Qualcomm said:

Apple employs technologies invented by Qualcomm without paying for them.

Qualcomm’s suits are based on three non-standard essential patents. They include power management and a touch-screen technology called Force Touch that Apple uses in current iPhones.

In its response to the lawsuit, Apple said:

In our many years of ongoing negotiations with Qualcomm, these patents have never been discussed. Like their other courtroom manoeuvres, we believe this latest legal effort will fail.

The two companies are months into a legal dispute that revolves around Qualcomm’s technology licensing business. While Qualcomm makes the majority of its money from making phone chipsets, it rakes in most of its profit from charging fees for patents. The legal battle started in early-2017 when Apple filed an antitrust suit against Qualcomm arguing that the company’s licensing practices are unfair and that it abuses its position as the biggest supplier of chipsets in the market. Qualcomm has countered with a patent suit and argued that Apple encouraged regulators from South Korea to the U.S. to take action against it based on false testimony.

This isn’t an ideal time for Qualcomm either, just last week it was fined a record US$773 million by the Fair Trade Commission of Taiwan

October 14, 2017
Top Smartphone Deals On Amazon Sale That Won’t Break The Bank

Another Amazon Great Indian Festival Sale is here and as always, iGyaan brings you the top tech deals on smartphones right now.

Honor 8 Pro

Competitively priced, great performance, big battery, and a dual-camera setup, the Honor 8 Pro was launched as a competitor of the OnePlus 5. The Honor 8 Pro has 5.7 inch 2560 x 1440 px display which is ideal for media consumption via VR. The Honor 8 Pro has 128 GB of storage along with 6GB of RAM. The Honor 8 Pro runs on the Kirin 960 chipset which is an octa-core chip – four high-performance Cortex A73 cores clocked at 2.4GHz and four low-power Cortex A53 cores clocked at 1.8Ghz. The phone also has a large 4000 mAh battery and fast charge capabilities, with long battery modes built into Honor’s user interface. The camera setup consists of two cameras, 12+12 MP shooters, where one is a monochrome camera while the other is RGB. The front camera is an 8 MP shooter with an f/2.0 aperture.

Buy Here

OnePlus 3T

The OnePlus 3T, last year’s flagship is still one of the best budget smartphones in the market right now. With an excellent Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 chipset and buttery smooth Android OS experience, the OnePlus 3T ticks almost all the boxes of a great smartphone. It has a 5.5-inch 1920 x 1080 px display and runs Android 7.1.1 Nougat with a promised update to Android 8.0 Oreo. During the sale, the OnePlus 3T will be available at a discount of Rs 5000!

Samsung Galaxy J7 Prime

A budget offering from Samsung, the Galaxy J7 Prime has a 5.5 inch 1920 x 1080 px display. Under the hood, the device has the Exynos 7870 chipset, 3GB RAM and 16GB onboard storage which can be expanded up to 128GB via microSD card. The rear-facing 13Mp camera has an f/1.9 aperture and on the front is an 8MP camera with an f/1.9 aperture. The phone is available in two colours – Black and Gold.

Honor 6X

The Honor 6X is a budget offering by Huwaei’s sub0-brand, Honor. The phone has a 5.5 inch 1920 x 1080 px display. The Honor 6X has a HiSilicon Kirin 655 chipset, octa core processor, 3GB RAM and 32GB onboard storage which can be expanded 256GB via microSD card. On the camera front, the smartphone sports a dual 12MP+2MP camera setup and an 8MP front-facing camera. The device is powered by a 3340 mAh battery.

Buy Here

Lenovo K8 Note

The Lenovo K8 Note features a 5.5-inch 1920 x 1080 px display with a pixel density of 441ppi and a Corning Gorilla Glass with oleophobic coating for scratch and smudge resistance. The K8 Note is also splash resistant due to its P2i coating, although the resistance might decrease with time due to wear and tear of the nano coating. The fingerprint sensor sits at the back of the device under the cameras. The Lenovo K8 Note comes in two colours – Venom Black and Fine Gold. The smartphone the MediaTek MT 6797D Helio X23 a Tri-cluster, 64-bit chipset with a 2.3 GHz high-performing deca-core processor and the Mali T-880 MP4 GPU, 4GB RAM and 64GB expandable onboard storage.

October 14, 2017
Unboxing The Xiaomi Mi Mix 2
Xiaomi launched the highly awaited Mi Mix 2 with a tri-bezel less display in India on 10th October. It is priced at Rs 35999 and will be available via Flipkart and Mi.com in a preview sale on October 17. The original Xiaomi Mi Mix received a lot of traction in 2016 because of its tri-bezel less design and a front camera placed in the bottom chin. The Mi Mix 2 has been launched with 2017 flagship specifications, thinner bezels and will be available in Black and White colour variants. Let’s unbox the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 to see what we get inside the box:
- Xiaomi Mi Mix 2
- Soft Case
- Documentation
- Sim ejector tool
- Warranty Card
The Mi Mix 2 is much more compact than its predecessors. Unlike the Mi Mix, the Mi Mix 2 has rounded edges which make its more comfortable to hold in the hand. The Mi Mix 2 also has ceramic back, which means its a fingerprint magnet but, due to a darker shade the fingerprints aren’t too prominent.

The new Mi Mix 2 has a 5.99 inch 2160 x 1080 px LCD display with an 18:9 aspect ratio. The Mi Mix 2 has a 12% reduced bottom bezel and a screen-to-body ratio of 80.8%. The device features a cantilever piezoelectric ceramic acoustic speaker and ultrasonic proximity sensor. The device is powered by a 3,400 mAh battery which is considerably smaller than the previous generation Mix’s 4,400 mAh battery. The Mi Mix 2 runs Android 7.1.1 with Xiaomi’s custom MIUI 9 on top. Under the hood, the flagship smartphone has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset, Adreno 540 GPU, 6GB RAM and storage options of 64GB, 128GB or 256GB. A special edition Mi Mix 2 with a full ceramic body, 6GB RAM and 128GB onboard storage has also been announced. The onboard storage will not be expandable due to the absence of a microSD card slot. The fingerprint sensor is placed at the back of the device just below the camera.

On the optics front, the Mi Mix 2 has a very unlike-2017 flagship single camera setup at the back. The smartphone sports a 12MP Sony IMX386 sensor with 1.25-micron pixels, an f/2.0 aperture 4-axis optical image stabilisation, 5-piece lens, and facial recognition. On the front is a 5MP which features facial recognition as well.
October 13, 2017
OnePlus 5T Press Renders Leaked

OnePlus seems to be gearing up to launch the OnePlus 5T by the end of 2017. Unlike the incremental upgrade from the OnePlus 3 to 3T in 2016, this year’s OnePlus 5T might see a huge departure from the design language that OnePlus devices have followed. New renders leaked by SlashLeaks show minimal bezels and a tall display on the OnePlus 5T. Releasing the OnePlus 5T will solidify OnePlus’ launch pattern it is trying to set in the market, as it released the 3T a few months after the OnePlus 3 was launched in mid-2016.

The edges are curved and the bezels remind us of the Samsung Galaxy S8 which is not a bad thing, because the Galaxy S8 is one of the best looking devices of 2017. This might open doors for a comparison between the two phones, just like the OnePlus 5 was compared with the iPhone 7 Plus when it was launched. It seems like OnePlus will have to do something drastically different to avoid a yet another comparison for its flagship device.

The new phone is expected to have a 6 inch 2160 x 1080 px display with an 18:9 aspect ratio. When the OnePlus 5 was launched, one of the major criticism it faced was the thick bezels around the display, especially after it was dubbed as the “flagship killer.” OnePlus is trying to rectify that criticism by reducing the size of the bezels on the OnePlus 5T. The hardware will remain the same, just like it was when the OnePlus 3T was launched.

There have been reports that the Slate Grey variant of the OnePlus 5 has gone out of stock in several regions including the UK, which it claims indicates that OnePlus is indeed looking at launching the new model.

October 13, 2017
Samsung Might Announce Bixby 2.0 In Late October

Samsung may launch a new version of its AI assistant, Bixby at the company’s developer conference in San Francisco. A report from The Korea Herald claims that Samsung has appointed a new executive to lead the Bixby development team. Samsung Research America’s Vice Chief Chung Eui-suk is now the head of developing Bixby as well as other artificial intelligence services. Rhee In-jong, Samsung Mobile’s CTO, who headed Bixby in both Korean and English versions, will reportedly be in charge of smartphone development excluding Bixby.

The report claims that Bixby could also be introduced to third party products beyond smartphones. Expect the AI to receive major upgrades in an attempt to compete with other AI assistants like Google Assistant, Siri, and Amazon’s Alexa, which are already available in a lot of countries.

Bixby was launched alongside Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8+ in early 2017. Such was the push from Samsung that all the three flagship smartphones in 2017 have a dedicated physical button to access Bixby. When Samsung introduced Bixby, there was a general consensus of it being exactly like Google Assistant. The new Galaxy Tab A also has Bixby, though without the physical button.

Similar to other AI voice assistants like Google Assistant, Siri, and Amazon Alexa, Boxby allows you to verbally communicate with your phone and perform tasks such as googling something, open apps or even make calls or send text messages. You can even point your phone to a certain object and Bixby will be pull up links to buy that product.

In India, Bixby was announced along with the Galaxy Note8 and the roll out of Bixby Voice began in late September. Samsung has said that it has optimised Bixby for India in away that it will understand different Indian accents. This means that your Galaxy flagship phone will respond to you regardless of which region of the country you are from.

How much of an improvement Byxby 2.0 will be over Bixby ‘1.0’ is yet to be seen. Whether Samsung will continue pushing Bixby through its successful flagship smartphones lineup in 2018 is also a question that will be answered in months to come.

October 13, 2017
You Can Scan QR Codes From The Camera App In iOS 11

The new version of Apple’s OS, iOS 11 started rolling out to compatible devices on 19th of September. The new iOS 11 brings an overhaul of the control centre, notification panel and other new features. However, there is one hidden feature which hasn’t been talked about is the ability to scan QR codes directly from the camera app. All you need to do is point your phone to the QR code and your phone will instantly display relevant information.

This nifty little feature can come in handy in a lot of cases and might go unnoticed. In a case of shopping, simply pull out your iPhone, open the camera app and scan the QR code. A second later, a small notification will drop down from the top of the screen with a preview of the link to the relevant webpage.

iOS 11 has received mixed reviews so far. New features in the Notes app, ability to customise the control centre and subtle animations have been appreciated but, the overall instability and battery drain issues has left a bad taste in consumers’ mouth.

You might also like : iOS 11 – Top New Features

October 13, 2017
Honor Launches The Honor 6C Pro

Huawei’s sub-brand Honor has launched a bigger sibling to the Honor 6C, the Honor 6C Pro. The Honor 6C pro will first be available in the European markets and then make its way into other markets.

Honor 6C Pro has a 5.2 inch display with a 1280 x 720 px resolution. Powering the device is a 3000 mAh battery and it runs Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box with Honor’s custom EMUI 5 on top. Under the hood, the device has the MediaTek MT6750, 1.5GHz quadcore processor, 3GB of RAM, and 32GB onboard storage which is expandable up to 128GB via microSD card. There is a standard Micro-USB port, a headphone jack on top, and a fingerprint scanner on the back as well.

The Honor 6C Pro has a 13MP rear camera with an f/2.2 aperture, 1.12-micron pixel size and autofocus capability. On the front of the device is an 8MP sensor with an f/2.2 aperture.

The Honor 6C Pro will be available in Black, Gold and Blue colours and is priced at 179 Euros (Rs 13740 approx.) and will go on sale in European markets soon France with France being the first country.

October 13, 2017
Samsung Galaxy S8/S8+

Samsung launched the Galaxy S8 and its bigger sibling, the Galaxy S8+ in India in April 2017. Both the phones feature a bezel-less display and high-end specifications. With a glass back, both the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ have wireless charging and have a fingerprint sensor placed at the back just next to the camera. The display is edge-to-edge with minimal upper and bottom bezels.

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October 13, 2017
A Cheaper Variant of The Xiaomi Mi 6 Could Be Launched On November 11th

Xiaomi may have plans of rebooting its 2017 flagship, the Mi 6. Spotted on the certification website, TENNA, a Mi 6 with 4GB RAM and 65GB onboard storage might be launched on the 11th of November. In April 2017, the Mi 6 with 6GB RAM/64GB storage and 6GB RAM/128GB storage were launched. A cheaper variant of the flagship could now make its way to the Chinese market in November.

The price is expected to be at 2299 Yuan (Rs 22700 approx.) which is about 200 Yuan cheaper than the standard variant. The Mi 6 with with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage is available at a price of 2899 Yuan (Rs 27100 approx.). As far as other specifications are concerned, there won’t be any changes. The Mi 6 has a 5.15 inch 1920 x 1080 px LCD display. Powering the device is a 3350 mAh battery and the phone runs Android 7.1 Nougat with MUI skin on top. Under the hood, the device has Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 and Adreno 540 GPU for graphics. The fingerprint sensor is housed in the home button just below the display. Xiaomi Mi 6 is also splash-resistant, with the SIM tray also sealed against splashes.

Xiaomi Mi 6 is splash resistant

The Xiaomi Mi 6 does have stereo speakers and is missing a 3.5mm headphone jack, much like the iPhone 7 and it seems to have become a norm these days.

The Mi 6 has a dual camera set up of two 12MP cameras at the back. One of the cameras has a wide-angle lens with 4-axis Optical Image stabilisation with an f/1.8 aperture while the other one is equipped with a telephoto lens with an f/2.6 aperture for 2X lossless zoom and bokeh effect photos. On its front, it has an 8MP camera which records 1080P videos.

Whether the cheaper variant of the Mi 6 will make its way to India is yet to be seen and its global availability will be announced when the phone is unveiled.

October 13, 2017