Google launched the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL in October 2017. The Pixel 2 XLwas the modern-looking sibling of the two while the smaller Pixel 2 retained a 16:9 aspect ratio. With the Pixel 3 lineup, there have been rumours that Google will embrace the notch. These rumours gained weightage recently when Google introduced support for notch with Android P developer’s preview. According to a leaked image of the Pixel 3 XL screen protector, Google is indeed planning to go the notch route.
A sketchy-looking leaked image of the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL screen protectors has surfaced online. The image reveals that both the smartphones will have front-facing stereo speakers, something we saw on the Pixel 2 devices as well. However, the more interesting bit is that the Pixel 3 XL will sport a notch similar to the OnePlus 6 and Huawei P20 Pro.
The chin appears to be prominent as well which might not go down well with consumers. The iPhone X showed us that having a notch means you can reduce the size of the the other three bezels considerably. Having a notch and a chin aesthetically as well, does not look that great. However, at least the chin will solve a purpose here as it will house a speaker. Google Pixel 2 lineup had great sounding speakers and we expect Google to build up on that.
The Pixel 3 will also get an upgrade to an 18:9 aspect ratio. The smartphone won’t sport a notch but, it will have a relatively thick forehead which will house a front-facing speaker. The chin appears to be of the same size as the Pixel 3 XL. Apart from the size, the main differences between the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL will be in the display type and battery size.
Pixel 2 XL
The Google Pixel 2 lineup, despite their great camera performance, was marred by a plethora of hardware issues. With the Pixel 3 lineup, Google would want to rectify that and launch two impressive flagship smartphones.
The Moto Z lineup will see the third generation of smartphones launching in 2018. The first one to launch is the Moto Z3 Play, the more affordable series of smartphones in the Moto Z lineup. It is confirmed that the Moto Z3 Play will launch on June 6th at an event in Brazil. So far, we have seen a lot of leaks of the soon to be launched device and now, high resolution renders of the Z3 Play have been leaked, giving us all the details about the design of the device.
The leaked renders reveal that the Moto Z3 Play will have a glass back which is an interesting move by Motorola. The G6 lineup also has an all-glass design so it does make sense for the company to incorporate that in the Z lineup as well. The front has a display curved from the edges which gives it a nice look. The device will carry an 18:9 aspect ratio and we guess that it’ll have a 6 inch IPS LCD display with a 2160 x 1080 px resolution.
The fingerprint sensor, that used to reside on the chin of the previous gen Moto Z smartphones has now been moved to the right-hand side of the device. Motorola could not place it at the back of the smartphone since it will be compatible with Moto Mods. It’ll be interesting to see how this fingerprint sensor performs. From the renders, it looks like the sensor has a larger surface area than a power button. The power button in this case appears to be moved to the left-hand side.
There are chances that the fingerprint sensor will be housed inside the power button. Which means that the button on the left could have a different functionality. Maybe Motorola will go the LG route and it could be a Google Assistant button. More details about this button and the smartphone will be revealed as we move closer to the event.
The buzz around the 2018 iPhone lineup has not even reached its peak yet and we have already numerous leaks about it. However, before Apple hosts one of the biggest launch events of the year, it will play host to one of the biggest developer’s conferences in June. The World Wide Developer’s Conference will commence on June 4th and many software-based announcements are expected. We will learn more about iOS 12 as well and it appears that the new iOS version will have more NFC functionalities than before.
A new report claims that Apple will introduce interesting features pertaining to NFC functionalities with iOS 12. Apple first introduced NFC in the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus back in 2014. So far, NFC has mainly been used for Apple Pay which is not available in India right now. With iOS 12, however, there will be a lot more, that an iPhone user will be able to do with NFC.
The report by The Information claims that:
The change to the near-field communication, or NFC, chip, which is expected to be announced next month, could pave the way for people to use iPhones for other security-sensitive interactions, from paying transit fares and opening car doors to verifying their identity in other ways.
With new functionalities, iPhone users will be able to unlock NFC-enabled doors and even use it to transmit data to transit systems, personal authentication devices and more. How much of it will be usable in a country like India is yet to be seen.
Apple employees are already using their iPhones to unlock doors at Apple Park, likely via custom badge readers detailed in Federal Communications Commission filings last year.
Apple has iterated that iOS 12 will concentrate more on performance aspect than UI. This means that visually, iOS 12 might not look a lot different from iOS 11 but, there will be performance enhancements which iPhone users will be able to notice once they upgrade to the latest version of iOS. Apple was scrutinised recently for slowing down iPhones without making it clear to iPhone users as to why the company was doing so. With iOS 11.3, users can choose whether to let the battery degrade with time or prolong battery life by capping the CPU power.
With iOS 12, there will be more changes in the back-end processes and less visual changes. Users with older iPhones would definitely appreciate that if it means that their iPhones will be smoother than before. It is rumoured that the iPhone 5s will also receive an update to iOS 12 which means an iPhone launched in 2013 will run on the latest version of iOS. More details to follow when WWDC 2018 kicks off on June 4th.
OnePlus launched the OnePlus 6 in India on May 17th. Along with the regular variant, the Chinese smartphone maker also launched the OnePlus 6 Avengers Infinity War Edition at a price of Rs 44999. The limited edition smartphone goes on sale in India on May 29th and will be available on Amazon.in and OnePlus.in from 12 noon. Customers will be able to avail a Rs 2000 cashback using CitiBank Debit and Credit Card and No Cost EMI for up to 3 months on all popular banks.
The OnePlus 6 Avengers Infinity War Edition has the same all-glass design like the OnePlus 6. However, there is a carbon fibre finish underneath the glass, giving it a very different look than the regular OnePlus 6. The alert slider also has a golden accent as opposed to the black colour on the regular OnePlus 6.
With the OnePlus 6 Avengers Infinity War Edition, you also get custom Avengers Infinity War wallpapers. There is also an Avengers Theme preinstalled which has a dark look to it with golden accents. It is possible that this theme will somehow make its way to other OnePlus devices as well in the future. For now, however, it is exclusive to limited edition OnePlus 6. The specifications remain the same as the OnePlus 6.
It has a 6.28 inch Optic AMOLED display with a 2280 x 1080 px resolution. The aspect ratio is 19:9 which means it is slightly taller than the OnePlus 5T.
It runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset which has an octa-core processor clocked at 2.8GHz. Coupled with the flagship chipset is 8GB of RAM and 256GB onboard storage. The storage is still not user-expandable just like every other OnePlus device. The fingerprint sensor is still placed on the rear but, it has a more oval shape this time around.
Powering the device is a 3300 mAh battery with Dash Charge support. The smartphone will have gesture support which we tested on the OnePlus 5T during its Beta test.
The dual-camera setup on the back includes a 16MP Sony IMX 519 sensor and a 20MP Sony IMX 376K sensor. Both are RGB sensors and have an f/1.7 aperture with OIS, another first for a OnePlus device. The cameras also record 4K videos at 60fps which is a great feature for content creators. To the front of the smartphone is a 16MP Sony IMX 371 sensor with an f/2.0 aperture and EIS which records 1080P videos.
The OnePlus 6 Avengers Infinity War Edition looks extremely nice and could be a great buy for Marvel fanatics looking for a special edition product for their collection! However, it is to be seen how many people will be willing to shell out Rs 44999 for the smartphone.
Every year, Samsung launches three flagship smartphones. The Galaxy S9 and S9+ were launched in February, just before MWC 2018 kicked off. The next flagship device will be the Samsung Galaxy Note9, which is expected to launch in late-August, similar to the Galaxy Note8. A new leak suggests that Samsung will finally break its 6GB RAM barrier and launch an 8GB RAM variant of the upcoming flagship device.
If you are lucky, you will see 8GB RAM and 512GB ROM Galaxy Note9
A tweet by Ice Universe, a prominent Samsung leaker suggests that the Samsung Galaxy Note9 will launch in an 8GB RAM/512GB storage variant. The leaker did not reveal any other variants of the smartphone and also suggested that only if you’re lucky, you’ll see the 8GB RAM model. This means that this variant could either be a limited edition or launch in select countries. We are still a few months away from its official launch so, there are chances that we will get more clarity about the device in the coming months.
A recent report claimed that it had acquired the unofficially accurate specifications of the Samsung Galaxy Note9. The leaked specifications revealed that it might not be a very interesting upgrade over the Galaxy Note8. The display would remain the same as the previous gen. It would have a 6.3 inch Super AMOLED display with 2960 x 1440 px resolution.
Under the hood, the smartphone will run on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset for the US and South Korea markets. For the rest of the markets, the smartphone will run on the Exynos 9810 chipset which is a Samsung SoC. The respective chipset will be coupled with 6GB of RAM along with either 64GB/128GB/256GB storage which will be expandable via microSD card.
Powering the smartphone will be a 3300 mAh battery with QuickCharge 4.0 support. Out of the box, the device will run Android 8.1 Oreo with Samsung’s Experience 9.0 on top.
The Galaxy Note8 was the first Samsung smartphone to be sport a dual-camera setup. This time around as well, the Galaxy Note9 will have a 12MP wide-angle camera along with a 12MP telephoto lens which will record 4K videos at 60fps. The Galaxy Note9 will also record 720P videos at 960 fps, just like the Galaxy S9 devices.
An 8GB RAM/512GB storage will be unprecedented for Samsung smartphones and might set the trend for future Samsung devices as well. The launch of the Galaxy Note9 is expected to take place sometime in either August or September. More details will follow as we move closer to the imminent launch.
Lenovo-owned Motorola has had a lot of success in countries like India with its budget smartphone C, E and G series. Last month, the company launched the sixth generation of its highly successful Moto G series of smartphones. The Moto G6 Play, G6 and G6 Plus were launched in Sao Paulo, Brazil and are expected to launch in India early June. A new upgraded variant of the most premium of the three devices, the Moto G6 Plus, has now been leaked ahead of its India launch on 4th June.
An image, allegedly of the Moto G6 Plus shows the smartphones running on the Snapdragon 660 chipset with 6GB of RAM. This could be a new variant that the company will launch in India in order to compete with the likes of Redmi Note 5 Pro and Huawei P20 Lite. Both the Note 5 Pro and P20 Lite have had a successful last start to their stints in the Indian market and Motorola would want to go toe-to-toe in the budget segment. The Moto G6 Plus could be its answer to the two smartphones.
P20 Lite
However, it is worth noting that the image clicked of the Moto G6 Plus is running the AIDA 64 program. This program recognises Snapdragon 630 as ‘sdm660’ which means that this could very well be the regular Moto G6 Plus running on Snapdragon 630 chipset with 6GB of RAM. Popular budget smartphones in India have a 6GB RAM variant and it makes sense that Motorola also launches a 6GB RAM variant of the G6 Plus in India. Since this is a leaked image, we cannot confirm the authenticity of the image by any means.
The Moto G6 Plus has a 5.99 inch IPS LCD display with a 2160 x 1080 px resolution.To the back of the smartphone is a primary 12MP sensor with an f/1.7 aperture along with a 5MP secondary sensor with an f/2.2 aperture. The dual-camera setup can record 4K videos at 30fps which even the Redmi Note 5 Pro cannot do. The front of the smartphone houses an 8MP camera with an f/2.2 aperture and an LED flash.
The Moto G6 series is set to launch in India on the 4th of June. The G6 Plus will be the priciest of the three and it’ll be interesting to see if Motorola indeed launches a Moto G6 Plus running on the Snapdragon 660 chipset.
Up until a few weeks ago, nobody anticipated that a Lenovo flagship device will be one of the most anticipated smartphones of 2018. The company has given us a few hints here and there about the Lenovo Z5 and so far, it looks very impressive. The launch date of the smartphone has now been confirmed by the company and we expect a few more details to be ousted before the unveiling. On its official Weibo account, Lenovo posted the event details which will be held in Beijing, China. The launch event will take place on 5th June 2018 at 2 pm CST (11:30 am IST).
Lenovo’s Vice President Cheng Chang has taken to Weibo to tease a lot of features of the soon to be launched Lenovo Z5. According to his latest post, the Lenovo Z5 will offer 30 minutes of talk time at 0% battery. This might seem like a claim too tall to be true, it is an official teaser and the company wouldn’t backtrack from the claims of its Vice President. We usually hit the panic button at 10% of battery and here, the Z5 will work even at 0% battery. There must be some sort of software optimisations done by Lenovo which will result in such a battery performance.
This, however, is not the only battery feature that is eye-catching. Cheng Chang recently revealed that the Lenovo Z5’s battery will last up to 45 days on standby.
The company has already teased that the Lenovo Z5 could be the first smartphone to offer a 95% screen-to-body ratio. For context, the iPhone X as an 81.1% screen-to-body ratio. In another post, Chang claims that the Lenovo Z5 will have a massive 4TB onboard storage.
The launch date is set and the anticipation around the Lenovo Z5 will only increase as we approach the date. The only caveat about the device could be its availability in countries other than China. However, if the company will deliver on all the promises so far, there is no doubt that Lenovo would want to showcase the Z5 in other major smartphones markets as well.
The budget smartphone market in India always serves up some great devices. The sub-10K category in India has a lot of options with some impressive smartphones launched in 2018 so far. Xiaomi launched the Redmi Note 5, the highly anticipated successor to the Redmi Note 4 in February. OPPO’s sub-brand, Realme launched the Realme 1 at a starting price of Rs 8990 with an impressive set of specifications.
The Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 was launched in India amid great fanfare, thanks to the popularity of the Redmi Note 4. The device has a better design and improved cameras but, other than that, it isn’t the most significant upgrade over its predecessor.
It has a 5.99-inch display with a 2160 x 1080px resolution which translates to an 18:9 aspect ratio.
Under the hood, the Redmi Note 5 has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 chipset, 2.0GHz octa-core processor, Adreno 506 GPU, 3GB or 4GB of RAM, and 32GB or 64GB of onboard storage which will be expandable via microSD card.
The device has a 12MP primary camera with an f/2.2 aperture and a 5MP secondary camera with Beautify 3.0 software.
The Realme 1 has a 6 inch display with a 2160 x 1080 px resolution. This translates into an 18:9 aspect ratio which has become increasingly common these days.
The smartphone runs on the MediaTek MT6771 Helio P60 chipset coupled with 3GB/4GB/6GB RAM and 32GB/64GB/128GB storage. The onboard storage is expandable via a microSD card in case you run out of the onboard storage provided.
The Realme 1 runs Android 8.1 Oreo out of the box with ColorOS 5.0 on top.
The smartphone also misses out on a dual-camera setup, again, a feature that has become the norm. It has a 13MP camera on the back along with an 8MP front-facing camera.
Honor 7A
The Honor 7A has a 5.7 inch IPS LCD display with a 1440 x 720 px and a 2.5 D curved glass for protection. It has an 18:9 aspect ratio which has become the norm for budget smartphones in India.
Under the hood, the device runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 Octa-core chipset with 3GB RAM and 32GB onboard storage. Additionally, the smartphone supports memory expansion up to 256GB.
The Honor 7A has a dual setup with a 13MP RGB sensor and a 2MP depth sensor. The main sensor will help the smartphone to capture the picture and the secondary sensor will add the depth effect. The device has an 8MP front-facing camera with support for Face Unlock and 1080p video recording capability.
The Xiaomi Redmi 5 has a 5.7-inch 1440 x 720 px display with an 18:9 aspect ratio. However, the bezels are still very visible, especially in the Gold colour variant.
Under the hood, the Redmi 5 has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 chipset, a 1.8GHz octa-core processor, Adreno 506 GPU, 2GB, 3GB or 4GB of RAM, 16GB, 32GB or 64GB of onboard storage which will be expandable via microSD card. Powering the device is a 3300 mAh battery which, Xioami claims has a standby time of up to 12 days.
The Redmi 5 has a 12MP camera at the back with 1.25-micron pixel size. The camera surprisingly only records 1080P videos at 30fps. To the front of the device is a 5MP camera with Beautify 3.0, which is Xiaomi’s software for enhanced selfies.
2018 so far, has been a great year for smartphone enthusiasts. Vivo became the first company to unveil a smartphone with an in-display fingerprint sensor. Concept phones like the Vivo APEX captured everyone’s imagination while flagship devices like the OnePlus 6, Huawei P20 Pro have been well-received by consumers and critics alike. The budget smartphone market in India has also seen a lot of really interesting launches in 2018 so far, from the Redmi Note 5 Pro to Huawei P20 Lite. So, here is a list of top budget smartphones to buy in 2018 if your budget is Rs 20,000 or less!
Launched along with the flagship P20 Pro, the P20 Lite is priced at Rs 19999. The Huawei P20 Lite has an all-glass design with a dual-camera setup. For a price of Rs 19999, the P20 Lite has a great build quality along with an impressive set of cameras.
The Huawei P20 Lite has a 5.84 inch LTPS IPS LCD display with a 2280 x 1080 px resolution. The Huawei P20 Lite runs on the HiSilicon Kirin 659 Octa-core chipset coupled with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage.
The Huawei P20 Lite has a 16MP RGB sensor and a 2MP depth sensor. In fact, this dual camera setup is similar to the one found on the Honor 7X. The Huawei P20 Lite has a 24MP front-facing camera with 3D Portrait Lighting effect. This is very similar to the Portrait Lighting effect found on the iPhone X.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro
The Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro was launched in February 2018 along with the Redmi Note 5. With the Redmi Note 5 an underwhelming upgrade over the Redmi Note 4, many believe that the Redmi Note 5 Pro should have succeeded the Redmi Note 4. It recently received a price hike and is now priced at Rs 14999 for the base variant.
The Redmi Note 5 Pro has a 5.99-inch display with a 2160 x 1080px resolution which translates to an 18:9 aspect ratio.
Under the hood, the device runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 chipset along with an Adreno 509 GPU to handle the graphics. The Redmi Note 5 Pro is available in two variants, 4GB RAM/64GB storage and 6GB RAM/64GB storage. The 6GB RAM variant is a great prospect for users who multitask a lot.
The Redmi Note 5 Pro has a 20MP Sony IMX376 camera on the front with an LED light. To the back of the smartphone is a vertically place dual-camera setup. It is a 12MP colour sensor f/2.2 and 5MP f/2.0 colour sensor setup. The smartphone will click portrait mode photos from the front and rear cameras.
The Asus Zenfone Max Pro was launched in India on April 23rd. Without a doubt, one of the highlights of the Zenfone Max Pro is its battery capacity. It is powered by a 5000 mAh battery while the size and weight of the smartphone are almost equivalent to that of the Redmi Note 5 Pro. For context, the Redmi Note 5 Pro is powered by a 4000 mAh battery.
That 5000 mAh battery will be powering a 5.99 inch IPS LCD display with a 2160 x 1080 px resolution. Under the hood, the Zenfone Max Pro runs on the Snapdragon 636 chipset coupled with 3GB/4GB of RAM along with either 32GB or 64 GB storage. There will be a 6GB RAM variant which will launch later in the year with improved camera capabilities.
The device has a 13MP primary sensor on the rear along with a 5MP depth sensor with an f/2.2 aperture. The dual-camera setup can record 4K videos @ 30fps which is impressive for the price point. To the front is an 8MP camera with an f/2.0 aperture with a bokeh effect.
The Nokia 6 was launched in India in early-April after launching it in China on January 2018. The smartphone does not have an 18:9 aspect ratio like the other devices in the list. However, it carries the sentiments of the Nokia brand and also has decent specifications for the price. The device is priced at Rs 16999 for the base model and the Nokia 6.1 is priced at Rs 18999 for the 4GB RAM and 64GB storage variant.
The Nokia 6 2018 has a 5.5 inch 1920 x 1080 px IPS LCD display with 16:9 aspect ratio. Under the hood, the smartphone runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 Octa-core chipset with 4GB and 32/64GB storage. Like the original Nokia 6, the storage is expandable up to 256GB using a micro SD card.
The has a 3000 mAh sealed battery with support for fast charging via USB type C port. The fingerprint sensor now sits on the back of the device. This is a peculiar decision by the company since it has retained the 16:9 aspect ratio. Smartphone makers usually revert to a rear-facing fingerprint sensor when they shrink the bezels and don’t have enough space to place the sensor on the front.
This smartphone also has a Zeiss certified single 16MP camera with an f/2.0 aperture and an 8MP front-facing camera with an f/2.0 aperture. The primary camera can record native 4K videos, whereas the front-facing camera maxes out at 1080p @ 30fps.
Reliance Jio, one of the most famous telecom providers in India is celebrating the end of IPL Season 11. The new season of the Indian Premier League concludes this Sunday on May 27th and the telecom provider is giving away 8GB 4G data for free. The add-on offers 2GB of additional data to Jio users and the offer will be valid until May 29th. Earlier in the year, Jio unveiled a new Jio IPL 2018 pack which gave users 2GB of 4G data per day for 28 days at Rs 251.
IPL Stream On Hotstar
The Cricket Jio Pack worth Rs 101, wherein users get 2GB of 4G data is available for free as an add-on for select Jio users. The add-on can be seen under the My Plans section of the MyJio app. The company has laid down a process to avail this offer as of now. With this pack, users get 2GB of free data every day from May 25th to May 29th.
It is worth noting here that the company is rolling out this pack for free to select users. Once the 2GB data is consumed in a day, the user’s other subscribed packs kick in for the rest of the day. The 2GB data, although a part of the Cricket Plan, can be used for any other purpose such as browsing, streaming other content etc. Calls and SMS benefits, however, are not a part of the plan.
While Jio has certainly revolutionised the streaming habits in India, other telecom providers are also ready to go toe-to-toe in terms of data offers. Airtel and BSNL offered data packs to consumers to stream cricket. Recently, the CSK-SRH qualifier stream saw a staggering 8.26 million concurrent viewers logging onto Hotstar, setting a new global benchmark. With India still being a developing nation and data speeds not as fast as some other western countries, this is a huge achievement on the road for a digital India.
In the past couple of day, you must have bee bombarded by every app notifying you of the change in their privacy policy. From Twitter, Facebook to Splitwise, every app has sent a notification to their users about the changes and these changes can have huge ramifications. Facebook and Google, for example, have been hit with lawsuits worth US$ 8.8 billion for coercing users into sharing personal data. The lawsuits were filed by Austrian privacy rights activist Max Schrems.
For context, GDPR or the General Data Protection Regulation is a rule passed by the European Union in 2016, resetting guidelines and rules for how companies manage and share a user’s personal data. While the rule applies to EU nations only, the internet’s global nature means that companies had to reset their policies in general. Hence, everyone received notifications about the privacy policies.
It is worth noting that Google and Facebook have rolled out the new policies since GDPR was enforced. Schrems believes, however, that those policies don’t go far enough. He has singled out the way Google and Facebook obtain consent for the privacy policies, asking users to check a box in order to access services. This is a very common practice of almost every internet service, but, the lawsuit argues that this method forces users into an all-or-nothing choice. That is a clear violation of the GDPR’s guidelines around particularised consent.
Both Google and Facebook have argued that the measures taken comply with the GDPR guidelines. In a statement, Google said:
We build privacy and security into our products from the very earliest stages, and are committed to complying with the EU GDPR.
Facebook has said that, “We have prepared for the past 18 months to ensure we meet the requirements of the GDPR.” This is not the first lawsuit Google is facing for violating the privacy of users. The company was recently sued for GBP 3.2 billion for secretly collecting browsing data of iPhone users in 2011 and 2012.
Popularly known as the ‘The Father Of Android’, Any Rubin created quite a stir when he announced his own venture, Essential. The new smartphone brand was supposed to be the new Google Nexus with stock Android and a premium design. There was a lot of anticipation around the Essential Ph-1, leading up to its launch in August 2017. However, the smartphone did not deliver on its promises and the company has now canned its successor, the Essential Phone 2.
There are reports of Essential actively looking for a buyer. However, the talks of a sale have not moved very far along. But, if a sale does happen, Essential wants to sell everything, its patents, hardware, and upcoming projects. In fact, the company would even want to shift its employees to whatever new company picks it up.
Andy Rubin
Essential intends to make products but, for the time being, not produce any smartphones. Bloomberg reports that Essential’s second phone, destined to be called the Essential Phone 2 won’t come to fruition as engineers have shifted their focus to a smart home product.
This smart home product could be a smart speaker. Essential announced an Amazon Echo competitor about a year ago and with the plans of a smartphone out of the window, a smart speaker appears to be the next most plausible Essential product to launch. Apparently, Essential plans on staying in the phone business, just not by designing devices itself. The company would reportedly contract Foxconn to handle most of the smartphone’s development.
Essentail Ph-1
In a statement, Essential seemingly confirmed the news as well:
We always have multiple products in development at the same time and we embrace canceling some in favor of the ones we think will be bigger hits. We are putting all of our efforts towards our future, game-changing products, which include mobile and home products.
The company’s first stint with a smartphone didn’t go down well with the consumers. Despite rave reviews for its build quality, the Essential Ph-1 had a disappointing camera and a buggy interface. The smartphone only managed to sell about 150,000 units since it went on sale last-August. The company had a lot of promises to deliver on but, failed on key aspects of a smartphone. It’ll be interesting to see what turn Essential takes in its quest to be a success in this highly competitive tech industry.
The Lenovo Z5 better be an amazing device because our expectations are rising with each passing day. The soon to be launched flagship smartphone from Lenovo already looks like the most exciting smartphone of 2018 and we haven’t even reached the halfway mark yet. The Chinese smartphone maker will launch the Z5 on 14th June in its native country and hopefully, bring it to global markets as well. Continuing his strategy of teasing one feature a day, Lenovo’s Vice President Chang Cheng has now teased another feature pertaining to the Z5’s battery performance.
According to his new post on Weibo, the Lenovo Z5 will offer 30 minutes of talk time at 0% battery. This might seem like a claim too tall to be true, it is an official teaser and the company wouldn’t backtrack from the claims of its Vice President. We usually hit the panic button at 10% of battery and here, the Z5 will work even at 0% battery. There must be some sort of software optimisations done by Lenovo which will result in such a battery performance.
This, however, is not the only battery feature that is eye-catching. Cheng Chang recently revealed that the Lenovo Z5’s battery will last up to 45 days on standby. It is worth noting that 45 days worth of standby time cannot be achieved by just a bigger battery. There would be some software optimisation with the help of AI and machine learning.
The company has already teased that the Lenovo Z5 could be the first smartphone to offer a 95% screen-to-body ratio. For context, the iPhone X as an 81.1% screen-to-body ratio. In another post, Chang claims that the Lenovo Z5 will have a massive 4TB onboard storage. This is an extremely bold claim and we will wait before we jump the gun here. This could very well be a vague reference to cloud storage that Lenovo will provide with the Z5.
The launch is still about three weeks away and we expect more features to be unveiled before 14th June. We will keep a close eye on Mr Chang’s Weibo activity to bring you the latest news about the Lenovo Z5.
While OnePlus is riding high on the success of the OnePlus 6, it hasn’t forgotten its older devices. The OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T, launched in 2016 have already been updated to Android 8 Oreo. The company confirmed that Android 8 Oreo will be the last major update for these two devices but, they will continue to get timely OxygenOS and security updates. The two smartphones have started receiving the new OxygenOS 5.0.3 update which brings in new features including Face Unlock.
Face Unlock was first introduced on the OnePlus 5T. Soon after the launch, the feature received rave reviews for being extremely fast. Its speed was compared to the iPhone X even though the Apple using a 3D facial recognition system and is much more secure than OnePlus’ Face Unlock feature. Nevertheless, the feature has become very popular since then and OnePlus has rolled out the feature to the OnePlus 5, and now the 3 and 3T.
Since OnePlus’s Face Unlock is software based, it was possible for the company to roll out this feature to older devices as well. With the new OxygenOS 5.0.3 update, OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T users will also be able to unlock their smartphones quickly without using the fingerprint sensor. However, since the fingerprint sensor on the 3 and 3T resides on the front, it really doesn’t seem like a necessary feature.
With the new update, there are new improvements to the Launcher, for example, there is a more refined shelf UI design, a new design for App shortcuts, and more pop-up options for when users long press an app icon. There are other subtle changes as well, like improved positioning accuracy for weather, a new ‘large files’ category in the Files app and more.
If OnePlus 3 or 3T users have not received a notification for an update yet, they can head to Settings > System Updates and then check for a new update. If an update is still not available, fret not, as these are usually phased updates and should come to your device sooner rather than later.
Lenovo-owned Motorola launched its first modular smartphone, the Moto Z in June 2016. The first gen Moto Z Play, a more affordable modular smartphone was launched in August 2016. The company’s upcoming Moto Z3 Play has been subject to a lot of leaks over the past few weeks and it appears that the device is ready for a launch. Motorola has started sending out press invites for a June 6th launch event in Brazil.
While the teaser doesn’t give away any details about the device, it isn’t rocket science to predict what smartphone will launch. The company has already launched its Moto E5 and G6 series of smartphones. So far in 2018, the company has not launched an iteration of its highly popular Moto Z series. The Moto Z3 Play is the first in line to launch, with a flagship Moto Z device expected to launch in the fourth quarter of 2018.
The detailed specifications of the Moto Z3 Play were recently leaked, leaving very little to the consumer’s imagination. The Z3 Play will have a 6 inch AMOLED display with an 18:9 aspect ratio and a 2.5D curved Gorilla Glass on top.
Under the hood, the device will run on the Snapdragon 636 chipset coupled with 4GB of RAM and either 32GB or 64GB of onboard storage. The storage will be expandable via a microSD card, most probably up to 256GB. The fingerprint sensor will move to the right-hand side of the smartphone since the bezels will be too thin for a front-facing fingerprint sensor. This placement will be similar to devices like the Nextbit Robin or older Sony smartphones.
Powering the Z3 Play will be a 3000 mAh battery which might not be sufficient for a 6 inch AMOLED panel with FullHD+ resolution. However, the smartphone will come bundled with a Moto Mod that will further extend the battery life. Out of the box, the Moto Z3 Play will run a stock-ish version of Android 8.1 Oreo.
The Moto Z3 Play will have a dual-camera setup on the back consisting of a 12MP primary sensor. The details about the secondary sensor are unknown as of now. To the front will be an 8MP camera.
The event in Brazil could also see the launch of new Moto Mods. These Moto Mods will be compatible with every Moto Z device launched so far since all of these devices have the same dimensions.
