Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei has had a rollercoaster of a year. While the company was on the brink of becoming the biggest smartphone maker of the world; the US government issued a trade ban on it. This restricted any American company to do business with Huawei. The decision led to the future of its smartphone business laying in jeopardy. However, a while ago, the ban against the company was lifted which meant it could resume business with American organisations. However, it was revealed in the meanwhile that Huawei had been working on its own Operating System(OS) for a while, called HongMengOS. Now, the latest reports reveal that the software may be launched by the company at the Huawei Developer Conference (HDC) in China on the 9th of August.
HongMengOS
The HongMengOS by Huawei is an alternative to the Android operating system it has been using for its smartphones until now. It has been in development since at least 2012 when the company feared their reliance on US-made technology. While most features and details about HongMengOS are still under wraps, it was revealed that the software will be reportedly 60 percent faster than Android or iOS. Huawei has also been in talks with many developers, out of which around 5,000 are expected to attend its developer conference. Along with them, 1,500 key partners of the company will also be marking their presence at the event, which insinuates that HongMengOS may finally see the light of the day there.
Every operating system in order to be successful needs an ecosystem with a plethora of applications. It seems like Huawei, at its developer conference is all set to launch the HongMengOS with just that. It is also speculated that the company will opt for a different name for the OS in the global market and the current name will only be marketed as such in China. Unfortunately, more details about it are shrouded in mystery but are expected to be revealed as we move closer to the launch date.
With the rise in the popularity of cryptocurrencies since the last few years; many major smartphone OEMs have also tried to take advantage of the trend. Taiwanese electronics giant HTC launched its Exodus handset which is based on the blockchain technology for trading and buying cryptocurrencies. Samsung also launched a wallet supporting the currencies with its Galaxy S10 lineup of devices. Now, reports of another major smartphone manufacturer getting into the cryptocurrency market have surfaced online. Latest patent filings by LG reveals it is working on a cryptocurrency wallet for use in its devices. It will be called the ThinQ Wallet and may be introduced soon.
LG ThinQ Wallet
As mentioned above, LG has filed for a patent for a cryptocurrency wallet called the ThinQ Wallet. The patent was filed at the USPTO (The United States Patent and Trademark Office). The description of the listing mentions it is a software for smartphones that specialises in payments. It will use blockchain technology, which is what all the cryptocurrencies are based on. Using it, the company is working on a digital wallet for the currencies, so they will work as a traditional wallet application which specialises in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum.
The name ThinQ is used by LG in products that boast of some form of Artificial Intelligence technology; so it may be the case that the wallet when launched will feature AI as one of its features. It is speculated that the company may introduce the ThinQ Wallet alongside a flagship smartphone in the following weeks. Unfortunately, more details about the upcoming device or the cryptocurrency wallet are unknown at the moment. However, the patent listing suggests that we may not have to wait too long to hear about them.
Samsung is expected to launch a new smartphone in its online-only Galaxy M lineup. This device, purported to be the Galaxy M30s, will be an upgraded variant of the Galaxy M30 launched in the month of February. While a few key details of the handset, including some of its specifications, were previously leaked online; its design remained shrouded in mystery. Now, the images of the exterior casing of the Samsung Galaxy M30s has been leaked online, revealing how the smartphone will look like.
Samsung Galaxy M30s
The Samsung Galaxy M30s will be a mid-range offering from the company. Latest images of the exterior casing of the smartphone reveal it will have a plastic build similar to the Galaxy M30. The upcoming device will have a wider camera cutout than its predecessor and will have a similar fingerprint scanner placement. The right side of the handset will house the volume rockers; while the left is expected to have the power button. The bottom of the smartphone will have a single loudspeaker grille, USB Type C port and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
Past leaks of the Samsung Galaxy M30s reveal it will run on an octa-core processor with a clock speed of 1.74GHz. It is acknowledged to be the 10nm Exynos 9610 SoC; which is also present in the Samsung Galaxy A50. The chipset consists of an Octa-core CPU and the Mali G72 MP3 GPU. Also present in the handset is 4GB of RAM which is the same as the regular variant. The device runs on the current Android 9 Pie which is likely to be skinned with the company’s OneUI. Unfortunately, more details like the pricing of the handset are unknown at the moment but the sources claim that it may be closer to launch than ever.
It is expected that the American technology giant Google will launch the next generation of its flagship smartphones later this year. It has been leaked that these devices, the alleged Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL will be announced at an event in the month of October. While there is still a few months till the official unveiling, Google, in a surprising move revealed the handset’s design from the back a few weeks ago; in a bid to create hype around the devices. Now, in another leak, it has been revealed that the Pixel 4 series will sport a telephoto camera at the back.
Google Pixel 4
The Pixel 4 series by Google will be the successor of the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL launched by the company last year. Previously leaked images of the upcoming smartphones reveal it will have a dual camera setup on the back, inside a square camera module; this is in contrast to the setup on the previous generations of the devices which only had one camera at the back. The additional lens in the Pixel 4 series, has been revealed to be a telephoto lens with a resolution of 16MP. This was leaked via the underlying code in the latest Google Camera apk file. This new optical arrangement will be like the dual camera setup found in the iPhone XS/XS Max and the Galaxy Note 9.
The move by Google to include a telephoto lens in its forthcoming smartphones is surprising, as it launched a feature called Super Res Zoom with the Pixel 3 series last year. The feature used software and the device’s gyroscope to offer high quality zoomed in shots. It was thus speculated that the company will instead install a wide angle lens on the Pixel 4, as a wider field of view is impossible to recreate via software in its current state. However, it may be the case that the company manages to surprise the audience with the unexpected at the last second; or the entire rumour of it using a telephoto lens is proved false. Whatever may be the case, we will have to wait for the official launch to find out, along with the rest of the specifications and the price of the devices.
In this day and age of bezel-less smartphones, the most popular types of displays used in the devices are OLEDs or Organic Light Emitting Diodes. The type of displays use individual pixels that produce light and as a result, give out unmatched brightness and deep blacks. They are usually seen in flagship smartphones like the iPhone XS/XS Max, Samsung Galaxy S10 series and the OnePlus 7/7 Pro. Now, the latest reports reveal that scientists have developed an OLED display that produces brighter images and is more energy efficient.
About the development
Samsung Galaxy S10+
The scientists at the Departments of Physics and Chemistry; at the Imperial College London have developed a new type of OLED display that offers a brighter output and increases battery efficiency. The results have been achieved by controlling the basic chemistry used by OLED materials. It is revealed that OLEDs that can produce a special type of polarised light can be manufactured. This new type of display can bypass the anti-glare filter that is in most smartphones today. It leads to an OLED display that has better battery life and a lower carbon footprint.
As mentioned above, many of the modern smartphones use OLED displays. To ensure that the images produced by it are visible in sunlight, the displays are often covered with an anti-glare filter. Unfortunately, due to the dense nature of the filter, around half of the light generated by each OLED pixel is trapped within the display. This results in half of the original energy efficiency of the technology. Until now, most smartphone OEMs sacrificed the energy efficiency factor of OLED displays to increase readability outdoors. The aforementioned development could mean that devices in the future will solve the problem and offer an OLED display that is brighter and more energy efficient.
A few weeks ago, Chinese smartphone OEMs Xiaomi and Oppo showcased their first devices with a camera under the display. The latter then went ahead and revealed the technology at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) Shanghai last month. Now, another manufacturer Huawei has filed a patent which reveals it is also working on a handset with the front-facing camera placed under the display.
About the patent
Huawei has filed the patent for a smartphone with the camera under the display in the German Patent and Trademark Office. While the implementation of such technology has been showcased before; from the likes of Xiaomi and Oppo, the images in the patent reveal Huawei is trying to take a different approach. While the former two had a centred front-facing camera under the display, the latter places it on the top left. Furthermore, the display over the camera will keep providing necessary functionality within the User Interface (UI); and display information like notification and camera modes. The rest of the software of the smartphone seems like the EMUI skin Huawei uses in its devices.
The images from the patent filed by Huawei also insinuate that it may place other necessary sensors; like the light and proximity sensors on top of the display. While the idea of the camera cutout behaving like a mini second display seems innovative, it is unclear what purpose it will serve other than being a visual accessory. Unfortunately, more details like the specs and features of the Huawei smartphone are also unknown at the moment. However, as other manufacturers have promised a device with the camera under the display within a year, we may not have to wait for too long to see the technology in action.
It was revealed a while ago that Taiwanese technology giant Asus is working on the next generation of its gaming smartphone; the alleged ROG Phone 2 in partnership with China’s Tencent corporation. Subsequent leaks revealed that the device will be launched on the 23rd of July. The handset will be the successor to the ROG Phone launched last year and is expected to feature top tier specification aimed towards mobile gaming. Now, the ROG Phone 2 has passed China’s mandatory 3C certification which reveals it will support 30W fast charging.
Asus ROG Phone 2
As mentioned above, the alleged ROG Phone 2 by Asus will feature 30W Fast Charging. This will be achieved by a voltage ranging anywhere from 5V to 10V and 3A of current. So, in theory, the upcoming gaming device may be topped off at the 30W maximum capacity; but the speed may be reduced in accordance to the temperature of the CPU. Notably, the previous generation of the smartphone also supports the charging speeds mentioned above. Unfortunately, the listing does not mention more details about the handset.
Past leaks of the Asus ROG Phone have already confirmed the presence of a 120Hz refresh rate display on the smartphone. This will be an upgrade from the 90Hz display on its predecessor. It will also be the third mobile device in the world to support the said refresh rate, after the Razer Phone and Razer Phone 2. Unfortunately, the rest of the specifications of the ROG Phone 2 are not known yet. But if it manages to pack in top tier specifications at the aforementioned price tag, it may be a compelling buy over its rivals like the Nubia Red Magic 3 and Xiaomi Black Shark 2. The upcoming gaming handset may be launched at a price of CNY 4,399 (Rs. 44,400); which is lower than the Chinese price of the ROG Phone which was CNY 5,999 (Rs. 60,600) at the time of launch.
Chinese smartphone OEM, vivo has launched its latest smartphone in the Indian market, the Z1Pro. It is the first offering in the company’s new Z series of devices. The latest handset boasts of being the first from the company to feature an in-display selfie camera. Besides, it packs competitive specifications at a lucrative price tag.
vivo Z1Pro
The vivo Z1Pro has a polycarbonate build with an attractive gradient back panel. It features a 6.53 inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 2340 x 1080px, which is surrounded by minimal bezels on all sides except the bottom chin which is considerably thicker. To maximise the screen real estate, the handset utilises a punch hole cutout to house the front-facing selfie camera. For biometric security and quickly accessing the Z1Pro, a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner is present; and the smartphone also supports face unlock.
Under the hood, the vivo Z1Pro runs on the 10nm Snapdragon 712 SoC. The chipset is comprised of an Octa-core CPU and the Adreno 616 GPU. In terms of optics, the smartphone features triple rear camera setup which is comprised of an f/1.8 aperture equipped 48MP primary sensor; combined with an f/2.2 aperture equipped 8MP ultra wide angle sensor and a 2MP depth sensor. For selfies, an f/2.0 aperture equipped 32MP sensor is housed inside the punch hole cutout on the top left side of the display. The device is offered in three storage variants for which the prices are as follows:
4GB RAM and 64GB ROM: Rs 14,990
6GB RAM and 64GB ROM: Rs 16,990
6GB RAM and 128GB ROM: Rs 17,990
In addition to the inbuilt storage, it also supports memory expansion upto 256 GB via the dedicated microSD card slot.
Another notable feature of the vivo Z1Pro is a massive 5000mAh battery which supports 18W fast wired charging. The device is offered in three colour which includes Sonic Blue, Sonic Black and Mirror Black. Connectivity options on the smartphone include 802.11 ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, dual 4G VoLTE, and bottom mounted micro USB port plus 3.5 mm audio jack.
The vivo Z1Pro is an online exclusive smartphone and will go on sale on Flipkart.com from the 11th of July (12 PM).
To sum it up, the vivo Z1pro is a worthy smartphone that is packed with to up to date features and is priced aggressively.
Motorola launched its latest smartphone, the One Vision at an event in India on the 20th of June. The device is the successor to the Motorola One Power by the company launched last year. While the handset offers competitive specifications at a lucrative price; here are the top reasons why the Motorola One Vision might just be the perfect smartphone for you.
Android One Certification
One of the best things about the Motorola One Vision is the Android One Certification. Which means that the device will receive major Android software updates for two years, and security updates for at least three years guaranteed. The bloatware free software experience, along with regular software updates should keep the smartphone fresh for a longer period of time.
The Motorola One Vision is the first smartphone in India to feature a tall, 21:9 CinemaVision display. Unlike most devices in the segment, it also has an In display camera which maximises the screen real estate of the handset. The display on the handset is great to watch movies and shows on Netflix; as a lot of the content on Netflix is shot in the 21:9 aspect ratio. The immersive screen of the smartphone makes it one of the best multimedia handsets in the price segment.
No More Shaky Videos or Photos!
The Motorola One Vision is one of the only smartphones below Rs. 20,000 to have Optical Image Stabilisation in the main camera. This means that while recording video, the device uses its various sensors like the gyroscope to reduce the shake and blur in the video. What’s more exciting is that the technology also works in still images, which makes the Motorola One Vision a perfect choice for stable videos and images.
Quad Pixel Technology
The Motorola One Vision features a 48MP primary rear camera, which utilises the Quad Pixel technology. This combines four adjacent pixels into one large size pixel, making the output images detailed and sharp. It also reduces the size of the images so the goodness of the high-resolution sensor remains intact in a small size. The Quad Pixel tech also works on the 25MP selfie camera, which as mentioned above should make the resulting images better detailed and plenty sharp using pixel binning.
See In The Dark!
The Motorola One Vision has a lot of revolutionary camera features for the price range it is placed in. The smartphone features a wide f/1.7 aperture in the 48MP main camera; which makes it the first device in the segment to offer such a wide aperture. Which improves low light performance in images and video. The camera also has the Night Vision mode, which as the name suggests is dedicated night mode inside the camera application. The feature works better than even some of the devices that are priced two or three times more than the Motorola One Vision. The mode can also be used in a low light environment to pull out more details. See Sample Above.
Launch Offers
The Motorola One Vision also is available with the No Cost EMI offer till the 4th of July. The lucrative offer makes the smartphone easier to own. It is available on an open sale exclusively on Flipkart at a starting price of Rs. 19,999.
Nintendo launched its latest gaming console, the Switch in the year 2017. The device has since seen record-breaking sales, with the company often failing the keep it sufficiently in stocks. It was expected that Nintendo will launch two new variants of the console in the form of a Switch Pro and Switch Mini but no details about them surfaced since. Now, a popular gadget tipster has leaked the renders and cases of the mini version of the Switch. It has been revealed that the device will be called the Nintendo Mini Switch and may be introduced in the market soon.
Nintendo Mini Switch
As mentioned above, the alleged Nintendo Mini Switch is the smaller variant of the gaming console. The leaker has revealed the cases of the console which exhibit a similar design to the regular Switch. However, the removable joy cons which are used as a remote control seem to be affixed on the Mini Switch. Also, the packaging of the case lists the product as of the Mini Switch 2. This is odd, considering not even the first generation of the device has been announced yet. The leaker claims the case maker is a legitimate source, but the name raises a few questions.
The leaked renders of the Nintendo Mini Switch reveal a similar story to the cases. The layout of the console is similar to the regular Switch, albeit in a smaller form factor. It is being speculated that when the device launches, it will support the same gaming titles as the Switch. Unfortunately, more details about the launch date, specs and features of the Nintendo Mini Switch are not known yet. However, the latest leaks suggest that the company may make an announcement regarding the console soon.
Taiwanese electronics giant Asus launched its latest flagship smartphone, the Asus 6Z in India on the 19th of June. The device was first launched in Valencia Spain on the 16th of May. It succeeds the ZenFone 5Z which was announced last year and boasts of notable improvements in design, camera and the performance department over its predecessor. The device offers top tier specifications and goes up against some of the best devices in the segment like the OnePlus 7. But is the Asus 6Z the new flagship killer in town or is just an underwhelming offering by the company?
The 6Z has a glass sandwich design with a metal chassis for reinforcement. The front of the smartphone is dominated by a large display with 92 percent screen to body ratio. As the front is nothing but the display, there is nothing to see here, apart from the earpiece at the top. To our surprise, Asus has accommodated a tiny LED notification light on top of the display which is becoming a rarity these days.
The right side of the device makes room for the volume rocker, the power and a dedicated Google assistant button while the left side of the device is occupied the dual SIM + microSD card slot. The bottom of the Asus 6Z accommodates the USB Type C port, 3.5 mm audio jack and the loudspeaker grille while the top of the device houses the flip camera that can be used as both front camera and rear camera.
We reviewed the Midnight Black coloured variant of the Asus 6Z which looks and feels premium. The back of the smartphone houses the vertical dual camera setup with the flash. The fingerprint scanner and the company logo is also present on the rear of the device. Overall, the device is solidly built and the design while nothing new, feels fresh. However, we recommend using a case as it can easily slip out of your palm owing to the glass back. Also, the case will prevent the fingerprints which the device easily attracts.
The Asus 6Z is a solidly built device, with a heavy yet reassuring feel in the hand. We tried to manually dislodge the camera mechanism but it did not budge. This implies what lengths the company has gone to in making sure the camera lasts a long time. One thing to note though, the Flip Camera mechanism is only rated for 1,00,000 uses. But it is a result of standardised testing done in a lab, so in real life, the longevity of the mechanism may vary depending on the user.
[section label=”Display”]
Display
The Asus 6Z has a 6.3 inch LCD display which has a resolution of 2340 x 1080px. Unlike most modern smartphones, the device has no obstructions like a notch or a punch hole cutout. This makes for an impressive 92 percent screen to body ratio on the handset, which feels immersive to watch multimedia content on. One issue we have with the display is the maximum brightness. The panel does not offer great brightness levels outdoors. This impacts the legibility and users will have to squint to make out any content on the device.
In terms of quality, the display on the Asus 6Z offers good sharpness, excellent colour reproduction and good contrasts. Unfortunately, as it uses an LCD panel, there are no deep blacks or impeccable viewing angles like in OLED displays. No fret though, as the LCD panel itself is of good quality and should be great for day to day usage.
[section label=”Performance”]
Hardware & Performance
The Asus 6Z is kitted with the latest and greatest from Qualcomm, the 7nm Snapdragon 855 SoC. The chipset is comprised of an Octa-core CPU and the Adreno 640 GPU. It is coupled with up to 8GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage options. In terms of hardware alone, the smartphone is right up there with the heavyweight champions of this year. The device, along with impressive specs, has a few software tricks up its sleeve. It offers a feature called GameGenie, which will free up RAM and lets users stream content on YouTube and Twitch, turn on do not disturb mode etc. without leaving the game.
With high-end specifications, the Asus 6Z performs admirably in day to day tasks. It is also an excellent performance while gaming. Playing games like PUBG Mobile, Asphalt 9 and Shadow Fight, the smartphone selected the highest settings. We did not notice any major frame drops while playing the games and the performance was smooth and consistent. However, the device does get a little warm on the back in a 30-minute session of PUBG Mobile.
Using benchmarking applications like Antutu and Geekbench on the Asus 6Z does not tell a different story either. While testing the Antutu benchmark, we got an impressive score of 3,74,021 which is on par with the competition. In Geekbench, the device registered a single core score of 3,448 points and a multi-core score of 10,509 points. As is evident from the numbers, the handset will go through everything thrown at it without breaking a sweat.
[section label=”Software & UI”]
Software, UI & Multimedia
The Asus 6Z runs the company’s custom UI version 6 by the company on top of Android 9 Pie. The previous generations of the software were disregarded for the excessive bloat and diverting from Stock Android. It seems like the company has taken a note of that. The smartphone’s UI is almost stock, with minimal bloatware and fast animations, which make it a joy to use.
The Asus 6Z supports the basic Android navigation gestures which are bundled with Android 9 Pie. These let users go back with the dedicated back button on the left, a single tap on the centre pill takes you home and a swipe up on it brings out the multitasking menu. Dragging the pill to the right lets users scroll across various applications open in the background.
In terms of sound quality, the Asus 6Z has a single bottom firing speaker which has decent sound output. One downside of the setup is how easy it is to block the speaker grille while holding the device in landscape mode. Audio output via the Bluetooth is great which provides for a good listening experience.
[section label=”Camera”]
Camera
The major attraction on the Asus 6Z is its unique Flip Camera mechanism. It uses a special motor made of liquid metal to rotate the camera setup 180 degrees. As a result of which, there is no selfie camera on the device as it uses the main camera for taking front facing images and videos. This serves as an advantage for the smartphone as the high-resolution sensors on the back have a lot to offer.
In terms of optics, the Asus 6Z has a dual camera setup, comprised of a 48MP primary sensor and a 13MP secondary wide angle sensor. The primary sensor is the ubiquitous Sony IMX 586 sensor also found in handsets like the OnePlus 7 Pro. The camera app bundled with the smartphone is easy to use and has most of the controls laid out on the bottom for easy access with one hand.
Asus 6Z Primary Camera
Asus 6Z Primary Camera
Asus 6Z Ultra Wide
Asus 6Z Low Light
Asus 6Z Outdoors
Asus 6Z Night Mode
In terms of quality, the 48MP primary camera takes great photos. The quality and details are top notch with excellent contrasts. The post-processing adds a little too much saturation but it may fit the taste of some people. An added advantage with the camera is the wide-angle camera, which allows it to fit a lot more in the frame. Like most modern smartphones, there is also a dedicated night mode. This takes a while to take the image but increases the exposure. Images clicked in this mode have better detail but it is no match for Pixel’s Night Sight.
Asus 6Z Primary Camera Selfie Sample
Asus 6Z Primary Camera Selfie Sample
As the flip mechanism allows for the camera to take front facing shots too, selfies on the Asus 6Z are excellent. The images are as good (because it is the same camera, duh!) which makes for a really fun experience. Portrait mode provides great subject separation and video output is one of the best out there. While the smartphone does not have Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS), it uses Electronic Image Stabilisation which churns out stable footage. In terms of Video recording, the device can record in 4K resolution at up to 60fps.
Additional features
There are also some neat tricks that you can do with the Flip Camera on the smartphone. The camera can be placed at a custom angle from 0 to 180 degrees. To do this, there are two options, one via dragging the selfie camera icon up or down or by toggling the volume rockers. It also allows for an auto panorama mode, which as the name suggests taking automatic panoramas with you in it. There is also a neat motion tracking feature, but it is a little slow and doesn’t work every time.
Side Note: While the camera on the Asus 6Z is commendable and offers many features, the housing becomes too hot to touch after a few minutes of usage. The use of moving parts on the smartphone may affect its life in the longer run.
[section label=”Battery”]
Battery and Connectivity
The Asus 6Z is powered by a mammoth 5000mAh battery which can be charged using the bottom mounted USB Type-C port. The battery life of the device is great, with us getting a screen on time of about seven hours on medium usage. The massive battery, combined with stock Android provides the smartphone with acceptable battery life.
In terms of connectivity, the Asus 6Z has WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 5.0 and also supports 4G VoLTE. The smartphone faced no problems in latching on to Wi-Fi networks and performed as expected. Call quality on the device was excellent, with the earpiece producing loud, crisp audio. The handset was able to perform equivalent to its rivals when it is about network and connectivity.
[section label=”Other Features”]
Other Features
The Asus 6Z has a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner and supports the ever popular face unlock technology. In our usage, we found the fingerprint scanner to be quick in unlocking the smartphone. As the biometric sensor is placed on the rear, it is inaccessible when placed on a flat surface. For those occasions, face unlock usually serves as a handy feature. Although as the smartphone uses a flip mechanism, this is also useless while laying flat on a table. Face unlock also takes a good second to work, as the machine needs to work fully and retract after detecting your face.
The dedicated Google Assistant button is one of the key highlights of the Asus 6Z. Like mentioned above, the button can be pressed to summon the digital voice assistant. With the smartphone, three individual functions have been mapped to the button. Pressing it once will bring up the Google Assistant which can be used to input commands. Clicking the button twice brings up the Assistant dashboard to glance through updates, while a long press on the button turns on the microphone until the key is pressed. This function works like a walkie talkie and is a good addition for quick or longer commands.
[section label=”Verdict”]
Verdict
The Asus 6Z is a worthy flagship that offers everything you can ask for in a smartphone. It has a big, beautiful display, great software, capable cameras and a solid design. However, there are a few caveats to it, like not enough brightness outdoors and the use of mechanical parts, which may affect the longevity of the device. While the parts feel well built and will not wear off anytime soon, there is still a percentage of uncertainty with moving parts. But, if we ignore all of that and focus on the present, then the smartphone does give the OnePlus 7, even the 7 Pro a run for its money.
If you are in a market for a smartphone under Rs. 40,000, the Asus 6Z will not disappoint you. It is truly the newest Flagship Killer in town. However, there are also excellent options such as the aforementioned OnePlus 7, Nubia Red Magic 3 and the Black Shark 2. The latter two of which are gamer oriented and will also offer a lot more if you are into mobile gaming.
The in display fingerprint scanners for smartphones was first shown off at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) last year by Vivo. Few months after, the technology was made commercially available in the form of the Vivo X21 UD smartphone. Since then, many other major OEMs have started providing an in display fingerprint sensor on their devices.
OnePlus 6T
Notably, the feature has been limited to smartphones that feature an OLED display. Mainly due to the reason that only an OLED display allows light to pass through; to authenticate a fingerprint via the underneath mounted sensor. While there are benefits to an OLED display, they are significantly expensive than LCD displays to be used in smartphones.
Now, another Chinese display giant BOE; who is one of the world’s largest display suppliers has announced it has successfully developed the technology. The company plans on mass producing LCD displays with support for in display fingerprint scanners by the end of this year. This suggests handsets with the technology will be ready for primetime by early next year.
What Makes It Groundbreaking?
As mentioned above, traditional in display fingerprint scanners use light to authenticate and unlock the smartphone, like in the OnePlus 6T. These are called Optical fingerprint scanners. Samsung in its Galaxy S10, Galaxy S10+and Galaxy S10 5G uses an ultrasonic in display fingerprint sensor. As opposed to optical ones, these use a sonic pulse wave to authenticate the user’s fingerprint and is claimed to be more secure than the former. In the past, both instances have used an OLED display to work because neither light nor a sonic pulse wave can pass through conventional LCD displays.
As LCD displays are more affordable to manufacture and are found in abundance in budget and mid-range smartphones; an LCD in display fingerprint scanner is big news. This insinuates future budget devices may be featuring a fingerprint sensor inside the handset’s screen. Surprisingly, a senior executive at Xiaomi has already confirmed that smartphones with this feature will be released as early as the next year.
Back in the month of April, a Chinese company Fortsense also announced; that it has successfully tested working in display fingerprint scanning technology for LCD displays. This news was considered a groundbreaking breakthrough, as Statistics have shown that LCD-screen models accounted for up to 85% of a total of 1.456 billion smartphones shipped worldwide in 2018. It also meant that if more major display makers follow suit, the technology would be available in major budget devices.
Korean technology giant Samsung rebranded its wearable lineup by dropping the “Gear” label to adopting the iconic “Galaxy” moniker; starting from last year’s Galaxy Watch smartwatch. The company then launched a slew of devices under the new brand name, including the Galaxy Watch Active launched in the month of February this year. It is a fitness-focused wearable and a separate device from the original Galaxy Watch. Now, images of its successor, purportedly called the Galaxy Watch Active 2 have been leaked online.
Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2
As mentioned above, the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 will be a successor to the smartwatch released a few months ago. The design of the wearable revealed in the image is reminiscent of its predecessor, albeit with a few changes. Unlike the previous generation, the home/power button is round in shape; while the back button on the top right is rectangular. A red circle is also visible in one of the images; which is claimed to be just a design quirk. Over at the back, the device has a new design, with it sporting a circular ring around the heart rate sensor.
In terms of specifications, it has been revealed that the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 will have two variants; one with LTE support and one with support for just Wi-Fi networks. The former will be powered by a 340mAh battery while the latter will be provided with a 237mAh cell. The smartwatch is said to ship with OneUI version 1.5, which is supposedly a considerable improvement over the current version 1.0. Unfortunately more details like the features and the launch date of the Galaxy Watch Active 2 are not known yet. However, the leaked images suggest the device is ready for primetime. While it is arguable that a four-month-old wearable does not need a successor, we trust Samsung to know better; and hope that the update is worth the asking price.
Xiaomi launched its latest budget smartphone, the Redmi 7A in China last month. The device is the successor of the Redmi 6A and is a part of the company’s widely popular Redmi A series. Unfortunately, the company did not provide any specific date for the Indian unveiling of the handset at the time. Now, a senior Xiaomi executive has revealed that the Redmi 7A will be introduced in the Indian market soon. The smartphone may be launched alongside the Redmi K20 series next month.
To recall, the Redmi 7A measures 146.30 × 70.41 × 9.55mm, weighs 150g and has a polycarbonate construction with a similar design to its predecessor. It has a 5.45 inch LCD display with a resolution of 1440 x 720 px and an aspect ratio of 18:9. There are significant bezels on the top and bottom of the device with the company branding at the chin. As it is a budget device, it lacks any form of biometric security like a fingerprint scanner. Users will instead have to rely on conventional unlocking methods; such as numerical pins, patterns and passwords to access the Redmi 7A.
The Xiaomi Redmi 7A runs on the 12nm Snapdragon 439 SoC which is also seen in the Nokia 4.2 (Review). The chipset is comprised of an Octa-core CPU and the Adreno 505 GPU. In terms of optics, the smartphone has a single 13MP rear camera with LED flash. For selfies, a 5MP front-facing camera is present on top of the display. For memory and storage, the handset may be available in the following variants.
2GB RAM and 16GB ROM
3GB RAM and 32GB ROM
The Xiaomi Redmi 7A is powered by a 4000 mAh battery with support for 10W wired charging. Furthermore, the handset has a triple card slot which supports two SIM cards; and a separate microSD card of up to 256GB in capacity. It has a hydrophobic P2i coating which should make it resistant to a degree of liquid splashes. The smartphone runs on MIUI 10 on top of the current Android 9 Pie.
The Redmi 7A as mentioned above is expected to launch in India next month. The smartphone may be launched alongside the Redmi K20 and Redmi K20 Pro which are confirmed to launch in July. While the pricing of the upcoming budget device is not known for the Indian market; it is expected to be priced near the Rs. 6,000 mark.
Sony revealed a few key details about its next generation of gaming console a few weeks ago. This device assumed to be called the PlayStation 5, will be the successor to the PlayStation 4 launched in the year 2014. The loading times of the upcoming console were shown off a while ago which revealed a ten times improvement over the last generation. Now, a tipster on the microblogging website Twitter has leaked the benchmarks scores of the PlayStation 5 and it is claimed to be four times as much as the PlayStation 4. The tipster notes that the four time improvement will not apply to the latest PlayStation 4 Pro.
Sony PlayStation 5
According to the tipster on Twitter, the Sony PlayStation 5 has been codenamed, Gonzalo. The upcoming console has scored an impressive score of 20,000 on the 3DMark Fire Strike benchmark. This is four times higher than the roughly 5,000 score of the PlayStation 4. It also corroborates the company’s promise that the latest device will be a big jump in performance and power. The score of the upcoming gaming console are on par with what the NVIDIA GeForce 2070 has scored in the test, if not better. This is supposedly an indication that the PlayStation 5 can finally match up to the gaming performance of gaming PCs.
Sony previously revealed information regarding some features of the upcoming console. For instance, the PlayStation 5 is expected to sport 3D audio technology, which will enable gamers to have immersive gaming experience. Another speculated feature of the PS5 is the incorporation of a Solid State Drive or an SSD. This will lead to visibly faster game load times and seamless switching between various applications within the console’s interface. The device is expected to launch towards the end of next year at an expected price of US$ 550 (~INR 39,000). This is the same time when Microsoft will also announce its latest gaming console, called Xbox Project Scarlet.
