Christmas might be coming early for Honor 7X aspirants as the new budget smartphone from Honor will go on open sale from the 23rd of December. The sale will last until the 29th of December and will be sold exclusively via Amazon at a starting price of Rs. 12999. So far, the device was sold via flash sales and this gives everyone looking for a budget smartphone the opportunity to buy it without rushing for the flash sale.
The Honor 7X has a 5.9 inch LTPS IPS LCD display with a 2160 x 1080 px display which translates into an 18:9 aspect ratio.
Under the hood, the Honor 7X has the HiSilicon Kirin 659 chipset, Mali-T830 MP2 GPU, 4GB of RAM and 32GB or 64GB onboard storage. The onboard storage is expandable up to 256GB via microSD card. The device is powered by a 3340 mAh battery which charges via a micro USB slot. Since the device has thin bezels, the fingerprint sensor is placed at the back of the below the dual-camera setup.
The Honor 7X runs Android 7.0 Nougat with EMUI 6.0 on top which gives a user more options for customising their phones.
The smartphone has a dual camera setup at the back. One of the cameras is equipped with a 16MP sensor while the other one is a 2MP depth sensor. The camera setup at the back has PDAF and records 1080P videos at 30fps. On the front is an 8MP camera which also records 1080P videos.
Will you be buying the Honor 7X? Let us know in the comments!
As we approach the end of 2017 and holidays begin, Flipkart is back with a new sale where you can save quite a lot money on the best of smartphones from 2017. Let’s take a look:
Google Pixel 2
Arguably one of the best Android phones of 2017, the Google Pixel 2 might be a better choice than its bigger sibling, the Pixel 2 XL for a lot of people. It shares the same hardware with the Pixel 2 XL albeit, a smaller display and an old design.
It has all the flagship phone specifications like the Snapdragon 835 chipset, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard storage. It has a superior primary camera and a front-facing camera.
Flipkart is offering a flat Rs. 11000 discount and an extra Rs. 10000 cashback which will essentially bring the price down to a whopping Rs. 39999.
Another budget-friendly offering from Samsung, this one is powered by the Exynos 7870 processor coupled with 3GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. Samsung Galaxy On Nxt 64 comes with a beautiful 5.5-inch 1080p display and a 3,300 mAh to give you a day’s battery life with ease. Grab it on Flipkart at a flat Rs. 6000 discount for Rs. 11,900.
Xiaomi Mi A1
One of the best budget smartphones of 2017, any deal on the Xiaomi Mi A1 will be a great deal. A few days ago, Xiaomi announced that the Mi A1 had received a permanent price cut of Rs. 1000 which got its price down to Rs. 13999. The new deal on Flipkart brings the price down to Rs. 12999.
The Xiaomi Mi A1 is the first smartphone from Xiaomi to run stock Android OS. It also has a dual-camera setup at the back which is one of the best in the category.
2016 and 2017 were great years for Samsung, barring the Galaxy Note 7 debacle. 2016 saw the launch of the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge which still hold up for well for mid-range smartphones in late-2017.
The Galaxy S7 is available at a price of Rs. 29990 during the Flipkart sale. The Galaxy S7 still has a great 5.1-inch Quad HD AMOLED display and a great camera.
Under the hood, it runs a slightly dated Exynos 8890 chipset but, it is still a flagship chipset and will handle all sorts of gaming and day-to-day tasks with ease.
Honor 8 Pro
Flagship specifications under Rs. 30000 was the USP of the Honor 8 Pro at the time of its launch, similar to the OnePlus 3T. The Honor 8 Pro has a Quad HD display and the Kirin 960 chipset, and a 4000 mAH battery.
The Honor 8 Pro is available at a price of Rs. 25999 after a Rs. 4000 discount.
Everything that is limited edition is special, and when it signifies one of the most famous movie franchise ever, it becomes even more special. To celebrate its third anniversary in India, OnePlus has launched the Star Wars limited edition OnePlus 5T in India at a price of Rs. 38999. It will be sold via Amazon and various OnePlus experience stores in Bengaluru and Noida from the 15th of December.
With a limited edition box in our studio, let’s unbox the Star Wars OnePlus 5T and see what we get inside:
Star Wars OnePlus 5T
Kylo Ren Case
Documentation
Dach charger
USB Type C Cable
Sim ejector tool
Initial impressions
Right off the bat, the thing that shines is the colour combination and attention to detail on this special limited edition OnePlus 5T. It has a white coloured back panel with a sandstone finish as a homage to the Planet Crait and a red Star Wars logo. The interesting thing here is that the alert slider is also red in colour. Just like the OnePlus 5T, the device has a nice build quality and fits well in the hand. The buttons are well-placed for an easy reach.
Kylo Ren Case
Specifications
The limited edition Star Wars OnePlus 5T will be available only in the 8GB RAM variant with 128GB of onboard storage. Apart from the colour scheme and the Star Wars logo, there is nothing different in terms of hardware.
The OnePlus 5T has a 6-inch Full Optic AMOLED display with a 2160 x 1080 px resolution and an 80.5% screen to body ratio.
OnePlus 5T and Star Wars OnePlus 5T
Under the hood, the OnePlus 5T has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset, a 2.4GHz octa-core processor, 6GB or 8GB of RAM, 64GB or 128GB of onboard storage which cannot be expanded. Powering the device is a 3300 mAh battery which supports OnePlus’ DashCharge technology.
The OnePlus 5T runs stock Android 7.1.1 Nougat with customisability options thanks to the Oxygen OS on top.
One big change in the OnePlus 5T is in the camera department. Unlike the OnePlus 5, the OnePlus 5T no longer has a secondary telephoto lens at the back. Instead, OnePlus has decided to focus on the device’s low-light photography capabilities. The cameras do not have OIS and OnePlus has decided to go for EIS on the dual camera setup at the back. The device has a 16MP camera with an f/1.7 aperture coupled with a 20MP sensor with the same f/1.7 aperture and field of view, ie no optical zoom. On the front is a 20MP camera with an f/2.0 aperture.
LG finally launched the LG V30+ in India after globally unveiling it back in August. To many’s surprise, LG competitively priced the LG V30+ at Rs. 44990 and it will go on sale in India via Amazon on the 18th of December. But, as we move closer to the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S9 which will, in all probability feature the new Snapdragon 845, has LG missed a trick and launched the V30+ a little too late?
let’s peg the LG V30+ against its competition and see which phone comes out on point:
In terms of specifications, there is very little separating the three phones, with the OnePlus 5T the clear winner if you’re looking for more RAM. The LG V30+ and Galaxy S8 provide the option of expandable storage while the OnePlus 5T runs close to pure Android OS. If you are an audiophile, then the LG V30+ should be your choice considering the presence of the HiFi Quad DAC. The OnePlus 5T loses out in the display department and thanks to a higher ppi count, the Galaxy S8 should have the most vivid display out of the three with the LG V30+ not far behind. If you are a creator and believe that the S Pen can genuinely contribute to the productivity of your day, then the extra cash for the Samsung Galaxy Note8 is justified.
At the end of the day, it boils down to what features you prefer over the other. If price is your main criteria, then the OnePlus 5T wins by a long shot but, if you can’t compromise on your wide-angle shots, then the Galaxy Note8 and LG V30+ should be the two phones you should consider.
The LG V30+ has been launched in India at a price of Rs. 44990. The LG V30+ marks the end of 2017 flagship smartphones launch in India and faces steep competition from the likes of the Galaxy S8+, Galaxy Note8 and the Apple iPhone X. Does the last true flagship of 2017 live up to the hype and expectations? Let’s unbox the device and find out.
LG V30+
Documentation
Sim ejector tool
Wall charger
USB Type C cable
LG earphones
Initial Impressions
The global variant of the LG V30+ retails with a pair of Bang & Olufsen earphones but, the Indian variant has the LG branded earphones which might be disappointing for some people. The LG v30+ feels like a flagship device with an ergonomic fit and the built quality. It has a glass sandwich design with a metal frame around it. The display goes almost edge-to-edge and the corners of the display are curved which is extremely pleasing to the eye.
It has a tall display and despite the slimmed down bezels, it might not be ideal for one-handed usage. The fingerprint sensor is quick and accurate although a rear-mounted lock/unlock button doesn’t seem like the ideal position.
Specifications
The LG V30+ has a 6 inch 2880 x 1440 px OLED FullVision display, LG’s first, with an 18:9 aspect ratio and Corning Gorilla Glass 5 for protection. LG’s nearly edge-to-edge OLED display has HDR 10 format for a high level of colour contrast and as announced, the smartphone is Daydream compatible.
A big omission from the V30+ is the secondary display, which was a signature in the previous V series devices. Instead, LG has introduced a Floating Bar which displays shortcuts and can be disabled when not required.
The LG V30+ has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset, a 2.4GHz octa-core processor, 4 GB RAM and 128GB of onboard storage which can be expanded up to 2TB via a microSD card. The LG V30+ has an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance and MIL-STD 810G rating for durability.
The LG V30+ is powered by a 3300mAh battery with wireless fast charging which supports 3.0 quick charge. The smartphone runs Android 7.1.2 with LG’s UX 6.0+ on top which offers a few customisation options.
The LG V30+ incorporates a 32-bit Hi-Fi Quad DAC powered by Bang & Olufsen with few sound presets like enhanced, detailed, bass and live. The smartphone also has support for Master Quality Authenticated (MQA) technology for high-resolution audio streaming.
Aside from the rear-mounted fingerprint scanner which also doubles as a home button, LG has introduced few new security features in the LG V30+ such as facial and voice recognition. The voice recognition will even work along with the music playback.
The LG V30+ features a dual-camera setup at the back. As LG had announced, this smartphone has the first ever inbuilt camera unit to feature a 16MP crystal clear lens made of glass with an f/1.6 aperture and another 13MP wide angle lens with an f/1.9 aperture. The camera features laser detection AF, optical image stabilisation and electronic image stabilisation. On the front side, the LG V30+ sports a 5MP wide-angle camera with an f/2.2 aperture.
LG V30+ was first unveiled at IFA 2017 in Berlin on the 31st of August. After slowly entering the US and European markets, it has finally been launched in India at a price of Rs. 44990. Pre-bookings for the LG V30+ will start from the 18th of December and will be sold via Amazon exclusively.
The LG V30+ has a 6 inch 2880 x 1440 px OLED FullVision display, LG’s first, with an 18:9 aspect ratio and Corning Gorilla Glass 5 for protection. LG’s nearly edge-to-edge OLED display has HDR 10 format for a high level of colour contrast and as announced, the smartphone is Daydream compatible.
A big omission from the V30+ is the secondary display, which was a signature in the previous V series devices. Instead, LG has introduced a Floating Bar which displays shortcuts and can be disabled when not required.
The LG V30+ has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset, a 2.4GHz octa-core processor, 4 GB RAM and 128GB of onboard storage which can be expanded up to 2TB via a microSD card. The LG V30+ has an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance and MIL-STD 810G rating for durability.
The LG V30+ is powered by a 3300mAh battery with wireless fast charging which supports 3.0 quick charge. The smartphone runs Android 7.1.2 with LG’s UX 6.0+ on top which offers a few customisation options.
The LG V30+ incorporates a 32-bit Hi-Fi Quad DAC powered by Bang & Olufsen with few sound presets like enhanced, detailed, bass and live. The smartphone also has support for Master Quality Authenticated (MQA) technology for high-resolution audio streaming.
Aside from the rear-mounted fingerprint scanner which also doubles as a home button, LG has introduced few new security features in the LG V30+ such as facial and voice recognition. The voice recognition will even work along with the music playback.
The LG V30+ features a dual-camera setup at the back. As LG had announced, this smartphone has the first ever inbuilt camera unit to feature a 16MP crystal clear lens made of glass with an f/1.6 aperture and another 13MP wide angle lens with an f/1.9 aperture. The camera features laser detection AF, optical image stabilisation and electronic image stabilisation. On the front side, the LG V30+ sports a 5MP wide-angle camera with an f/2.2 aperture.
Xiaomi launched the Mi A1 back in August at a price of Rs. 14999. Now, one of the best budget camera phones, the Mi A1 has received a permanent price cut of Rs. 1000 and will now retail for Rs. 13999.
The Xiaomi Mi A1 offers something different than the rest of the Xiaomi phones available in India or the global market. It has stock Android OS thanks to the Android One program which means that the Mi A1 will receive Android 8.0 Oreo and Android P updates faster than other OEM phones in the same price bracket. This gives the Mi A1 a slight advantage over its closest competitor, the Moto G5s Plus which also has similar specifications and price. The price cut may also be attributed to the competition from other smartphones such as the Honor 7X which also offers a dual-camera setup and is priced at Rs 12999.
Even though there has been no announcement for Android 8.0 Oreo update for the Xiaomi Mi A1, it is expected to be rolled out by the end of January 2018.
The smartphone has a 5.5 inch 1920 x 1080 px LTPS display with Corning Gorilla Glass on top for protection along with an aluminium unibody build.
The Xiaomi Mi A1 has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 chipset, 8x ARM Cortex A53 2.0GHz 64-bit processor, 4GB RAM and 64GB of onboard storage which is expandable via microSD card. Handling the graphics under the hood is the Adreno 505 GPU. The pyrolytic graphite sheet will help in heat management as well, Xiaomi claims. The Xiaomi Mi A1 has an IR blaster to control appliances in your home or office. The fingerprint sensor sits at the back of the device below the camera. Xiaomi has also included a dedicated headphone amplifier for better music listening experience.
Powering the device is a 3080 mAh battery and 2A charging through the Type C port.
Even though the phone has stock Android 7.1.2 Nougat, Xiaomi has retained a few apps, such as the Mi camera app since the Google Camera app doesn’t support dual-camera functions right now.
The smartphone features dual sensors at the back, a 12MP telephoto lens with an f/2.2 aperture (26mm) and 12MP wide-angle lens with an f/2.6 aperture (50mm) setup with 1.25-micron pixel size. The telephoto lens allows the user to take bokeh effect shots with blurred background and a 2X optical lossless zoom. For landscape shots, Xiaomi has introduced a wide angle lens while on the front is a 5MP camera.
At a price of Rs. 13999, there is a lot going on for the Xiaomi Mi A1 and with the holidays coming up, this might be the ideal smartphone for you to upgrade to.
If buying an iPhone X was a part of your holiday plans then fret not. One of the most anticipated smartphones in the world, the iPhone X will go on sale in India via Amazon today (30th November) at 2pm. Here are a few offers available:
No Cost EMIs up to 6 months on HDFC Credit Card along with INR 2,000 instant discount on HDFC Bank Debit and Credit Card transactions
The iPhone X is priced at Rs 89000 for the 64GB variant while the 256GB variant is priced at Rs 1,02,000 in India.
Along with the iPhone X, other iPhone models will be available at a discounted price as well. Buy it here
The iPhone 7, which usually retails for Rs 49000 for the 32GB variant is on sale for Rs 41999 while the 128GB variant is available for Rs 51999 which usually retails for Rs 58000. Buy it here
The iPhone SE, one of the most affordable iPhones ever made, is currently available for Rs 19999 which usually retails for Rs 26000. Buy it here
Xiaomi has launched the Redmi 5Ain India as the ‘Desh Ka Smartphone’ at a price of Rs 4999 for the 2GB RAM variant and Rs 6999 for the 3GB RAM variant. At such a competitive pricing, the Redmi 5A at least on paper, seems a worthy successor to the hugely popular Redmi 4A. Xiaomi claims that the Redmi 4A sold over 4 million units within eight months of its launch.
Today, let’s unbox the Redmi 5A and see what we get inside the retail box:
Redmi 5A
Documentation
Sim Ejector Tool
Wall Charger
Micro USB Charging And Data Syncing Cable
Even though there is space for earphones inside the box, in typical Xiaomi fashion, you don’t get a pair of earphones with the phone. In the era of big 5.5 inch and 6 inch phones, the Redmi 5A has a 5-inch display which gives it a compact feel in the hand. The device has an IR Blaster on top and in a welcome move, there is a dedicated microSD card slot along with two SIM card slots.
The Redmi 5A isn’t a huge upgrade over its predecessor, the Redmi 4A. The Redmi 5A has a 5 inch LCD display with a 1280 x 720 px resolution.
Just like the Redmi 4A, the new smartphone is also powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 chipset, quad-core CPU clocked at 1.4GHz, along with 2GB/3GB of RAM, 16GB/32GB of onboard storage which can be expanded up to 128GB via microSD card. The dual-SIM Redmi 5A is powered by a 3000 mAh battery which seems to be a downgrade when compared to the Redmi 4A which packs a 3120 mAh battery.
The device will run Android 7.1 Nougat out of the box with Xiaomi’s custom MIUI 9 skin on top.
The Redmi 5A has a 13MP rear camera with an f/2.2 aperture, burst mode, panorama mode, HDR mode, and more. To the front is a 5MP camera with an f/2.0 aperture. The smartphone records 1920 x 1080 px videos.
The Redmi 5A will be a Flipkart exclusive and go on sale on the 7th of December.
Sony recently launched four new bluetooth headphones in India ranging from truly wireless earbuds to over the ear headphones. We recently unboxed the Sony WH-1000XM2 and now, it’s time we unbox the Rs 14990 priced truly wireless earbuds, the Sony WF-1000X. Let’s see what we get inside the box and have a quick look at the new earbuds:
Sony WF-1000X
Extra ear tips
Charging/carrying case
Charging cable
Documentation
The truly wireless earbuds have been the new rage in the headphones industry with every company launching its rendition of the earbuds. The WF-1000X from Sony have a solid build quality and thanks to a slew of ear tips provided, every consumer should have no difficulties wearing these earbuds and going out for a stroll.
The earbuds feature active noise cancelation and connects to your phone via Headphones Connect app which will let the users fine tune the sound stage according to their preference. It has a 6mm driver unit and weigh in at about 6.8 grams.
It connects via Bluetooth 4.1 or NFC. The earbuds come with a charging case which is also used to carry the tiny earbuds around so that you don’t lose them.
A lot of experts are touting machine learning and AI as the 2018 flagship smartphone feature, similar to what thin bezels and tall displays was for 2017. Google has kickstarted the trend of AI with its tight integration of Google Assistant and machine learning in the Pixel 2 smartphones.
Implementing machine learning in day-to-day seemingly trivial situations will be important. That’s where this new software from Google comes into play. If you travel in public transport a lot, you’d be aware of that annoying feeling when you know someone is staring at your phone while you are watching a video or having a private conversation.
This new software can recognise when a stranger is staring at your phone and will quickly prompt you about it. The software was first spotted by Quartz and is called “e-screen protector”, and is currently in the research stage. It uses your front-facing camera in combination with some face- and gaze-detection algorithms to identify if anyone else is looking at your display.
As you can see in the demo video, it reacts almost instantaneously to a stranger’s glance on your screen. It then uses a Snapchat-like rainbow filter to tag the stranger and prompt him/her that they’ve been caught. The creators of the software, Google researchers Hee Jung Ryu and Florian Schroff, say the system works in all sorts of different lighting conditions, and has a reaction time of just two milliseconds.
Considering Google’s ambitions of making machine learning an integral part of its smartphone ecosystem, this feature might make its way to future Pixel phones when Google is confident about its performance.
Sony recently launched a host of noise canceling bluetooth headphones and one of them was Sony WH-1000XM2. Priced at Rs 29990, the Sony WH-1000XM2 has some great features and an excellent battery life on paper. let’s unbox the headphones and see what we get inside the box:
Sony WH-1000XM2
In-flight adaptor
Headphone cable
USB Cable
The Sony WH-1000XM2 are the premium headphones offering from Sony. The headphones have a nice fit and the touch enabled ear cups make it easy to control the volume without reaching for the phone.
Here are a few specifications of the Sony WH-1000XM2
40mm dome type Neodymium driver unit
Impedance – 46 ohm when connecting via the headphone cable with the unit turned on, 14 ohm when connecting via the headphone cable with the unit turned off
Detachable headphone cable with Gold-plated L-shaped stereo mini plug
Frequency response – 4 Hz-40,000 Hz
NFC
DSEE HX
Active and Passive noise canceling
Plug Adaptor for In-flight Use
Bluetooth 4.1
Touch sensors for volume control
Battery charge time – 4 hours
Battery life – Up to 38 hours with noise canceling off
Samsung has launched two new wearable devices in India, the Gear Fit2 Pro and the Gear Sport at a price of Rs 13590 and Rs 22990 respectively. The Gear Fit2Pro is a fitness tracking band while the Gear Sport is a smartwatch. Let’s unbox the two wearables and see what we get inside the box:
Samsung Gear Sport box:
Samsung Gear Sport smartwatch
Extra wrist straps
Charging cradle
Documentation
Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro
Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro
Charging base
Documentation
Both the wearables are compact and have different straps depending on the size of the consumer’s wrist which makes it ideal for everyone. Both the wearables can be connected to an Android phone via bluetooth and can be customised through the Samsung Gear app. The Gear Sport has a rotating bezel to interact with the watch which is much more intuitive than tapping on the tiny display.
If you are a swimmer, then the Gear Fit2 Pro can be ideal fro you to keep a track of your swimming performance as the Gear Fit2 Pro has a lot of features for swimming. It can eventrack a user’s stroke type, stroke count, and lap count.
Samsung has launched two new wearable devices in India today. One of them is a smartwatch and the other one is a fitness tracker. The pre-bookings for both the devices will start from the 4th of December and will be available to public on the 11th of December.
The Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro is priced at Rs 13590 and will be available in Black, and Black/Red colour variants. The fitness tracker has a 1.5-inch curved display, a 5 atm water resistance rating and has features specifically made for swimmers, including ways for the wearable to track a user’s stroke type, stroke count, and lap count. It also has a continuous heart rate monitor.
The Gear Fit 2 Pro has built-in GPS, as well as an automatic workout detection feature.
The Samsung Gear Sport is priced at Rs 22990 and has a 1.2-inch circular screen with a 320 x 320 resolution and Gorilla Glass 3, a water resistance rating of five atmospheres, as well as a focus on nutrition, with the ability to monitor your calorie balance throughout the day. The Gear Sport has access to fitness programs, along with a way to help the user complete their weight loss goals.
The new smartwatch can also be connected to Samsung’s smart TVs via the Samsung Connect app, and will support the company’s Samsung Pay service with its NFC hardware. The Gear Sport will be available in Black and Blue and colour variants.
OnePlus is really trying to differentiate the OnePlus 5T from the OnePlus 5. OnePlus has launched its new flagship, the OnePlus 5T in China in a new colour variant called Lava Red. Unlike its predecessors, the OnePlus 5T was only available in one colour, Midnight Black at the time of its launch.
If you are excited to get your hands on the new Lava Red OnePlus 5T, there is a catch. The smartphone is only available in China as of now and in the pricier 8GB RAM model only. There is no word from the company whether this colour variant will be sold outside of China or not.
At the time of the launch of the OnePlus 5, there were rumours that a red colour OnePlus 5will be launched. That didn’t happen and instead, OnePlus launched a soft gold colour variant of its summer flagship phone in August. It appears that OnePlus has jumped the RED Product train and similar to what Apple does with its iPhones, a Red coloured OnePlus 5T has been launched.
Other than the fiery red colour, there is no difference in the Midnight Black colour and the Lava Red colour OnePlus 5T.
What A Red OnePlus 5 Could Have Been
The OnePlus 5T has a 6-inch Full Optic AMOLED display with a 2160 x 1080 px resolution and an 80.5% screen to body ratio. This is a huge detour from the short history of OnePlus devices which have so far had a 5.5-inch display.
Under the hood, the OnePlus 5T has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset, a 2.4GHz octa-core processor, 6GB or 8GB of RAM, 64GB or 128GB of onboard storage which cannot be expanded. Powering the device is a 3300 mAh battery which supports OnePlus’ DashCharge technology.
The OnePlus 5T runs stock Android 7.1.1 Nougat with customisability options thanks to the Oxygen OS on top. OnePlus has promised an update to Android 8.0 Oreo by early 2018. The Android 8.0 Oreo beta update will be pushed out to OnePlus 5T in late December 2017.
Due to thin bezels, there is no place for a home button and the fingerprint sensor has now been shifted to the back of the phone and is placed right above OnePlus logo. The OnePlus 5T also features facial recognition for unlocking the device.
OnePlus 5T
One big change in the OnePlus 5T is in the camera department. Unlike the OnePlus 5, the OnePlus 5T no longer has a secondary telephoto lens at the back. Instead, OnePlus has decided to focus on the device’s low-light photography capabilities. The cameras do not have OIS and OnePlus has decided to go for EIS on the dual camera setup at the back. The device has a 16MP camera with an f/1.7 aperture coupled with a 20MP sensor with the same f/1.7 aperture and field of view, ie no optical zoom. On the front is a 20MP camera with an f/2.0 aperture.
Dual cameras, a trend that started in 2016 in flagship phones trickled down to budget smartphones in 2017. From the iPhone 7 Plus in 2016 to Lenovo K8 Plus in 2017, the trend of dual-camera smartphones is here to stay and has become a norm for a top-performing budget Android device. In a sea of budget smartphones with identical specifications and price, which dual-camera phone should you buy this holiday season? iGyaan brings you its pick for the best budget dual-camera phones you can buy right now:
Xiaomi Mi A1
One of the best budget phones to be launched in 2017, the Mi A1 combines Xiaomi’s hardware and Google’s stock Android OS in this perfectly priced budget phone.
The smartphone has a 5.5 inch 1920 x 1080 px display with Corning Gorilla Glass on top for protection and metal unibody build.
The phone has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 chipset, 2.0GHz octa-core processor, 4GB RAM and 64GB of onboard storage which is expandable via microSD card. Handling the graphics under the hood is the Adreno 505 GPU. The pyrolytic graphite sheet will help in heat management as well, Xiaomi claims. The Xiaomi Mi A1 has an IR blaster to control appliances in your home or office. Powering the device is a 3,080 mAh battery and fast charging through the Type C port
The fingerprint sensor sits at the back of the device below the camera. Xiaomi has also included a dedicated headphone amplifier for better music listening experience.
The Mi A1 runs pure Android 7.1.2 Nougat OS and thanks to Android One program, the Mi A1 will get software to Android 8.0 Oreo and Android P as well.
It’s worth noting that despite the stock Android OS, Xiaomi has still introduced a few apps of its own like the Mi Camera app, since Google’s app doesn’t support dual-camera right now. Other apps like the Mi Remote and the Mi Store are also present in the Xiaomi Mi A1.
In terms of optics, the smartphone features a 12MP dual-camera setup with 1.25-micron pixel size. Out of the two cameras at the back, the primary one is equipped with a telephoto lens and the secondary camera has a wide-angle lens. The telephoto lens allows the user to take bokeh effect shots with blurred background and a 2X optical lossless zoom. For landscape shots, Xiaomi has introduced a wide angle lens while on the front is a 5MP camera.
Moto G5s Plus
Successor to one of the best budget camera smartphones the Moto G5 Plus, Moto G5s Plus was launched close to the Xiaomi Mi A1 and carries an identical price tag as well.
The Moto G5S Plus has a 5.5 inch 1920 x 1080 px display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 on top for protection.
The smartphone has the Qualcomm 625 chipset, an octa-core processor clocked at 2.0 GHz with 4GB RAM and 64GB of onboard storage which can be expanded up to 128GB via a microSD card. The fingerprint sensor is housed inside the home button which sits below the display. The device is powered by a 3,000 mAh battery with included turbo charge capabilities.
The Moto G5S Plus runs Android 7.1.1 Nougat with little customisation done by the manufacturer resulting in stock Android OS experience.
The Moto G5S Plus features rear-mounted 13MP dual-cameras with an f/2.0 aperture. The dual camera captures Bokeh, and selective focus shots, along with other capabilities of background replacement and exposure management. On the front is a wide angle 8MP camera with a single LED flash and a panoramic mode. The rear cameras capture videos in 4K at 30 FPS and the front camera records videos in 1080P at 30 FPS. According to Motorola, additional features such as Night Display and Quick Reply enhance the software experience. The implementation of the dual-camera setup on the Moto G5S Plus is different than that on the Mi A1.
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 is run on a 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. The device has either a 3GB or 4GB RAM and 32GB or 64GB onboard storage which is expandable via a microSD card.
The Lenovo K8 Note has a 13M Pure cell sensor mated with a 5MP Samsung BSI sensor dual camera setup and dual LED flash at the back. The phone is capable of depth mode effects along with 1920 x 1080 px Video capture. A 13MP camera with LED flash and an f/2.0 aperture sits on the front of the device above the display. The camera UI will also feature a stock Android layout with no customisation offered by Lenovo apart from the depth mode.
Honor 9i
The Honor 9i has a 5.9-inch 2160 x 1080px display with an 18:9 aspect ratio.
It also has Huawei’s in-house octa-core Kirin 659 chipset, octa-core 2.36 GHz processor, along with 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB onboard storage. Powering the device is a 3340 mAh battery which charges via a micro USB port.
The device runs Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box with Huawei’s EMUI 5.1 skin on top
This is the only smartphone on this list which has four cameras. The rear of the phone contains a 16 MP main sensor and a 2 MP secondary sensor, while the front has a 13 MP camera and another 2 MP secondary sensor. A fingerprint sensor is placed at the back of the phone since the phone has thin bezels and no physical button at the front of the phone.
