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The Xiaomi Mi A2 is one of the most anticipated budget smartphones in India. Its predecessor, the Mi A1 was one of the best budget devices of 2017 hence, a lot is expected from the Mi A2. Xiaomi appears to be moving at its own sweet pace in making the smartphone official even though we have had a number of leaks confirming almost everything there is to know. A new leaked image reveals the ‘About’ screen of the Mi A2, revealing the Android version it’ll run and a few other details.
The image confirms that the Mi A1 successor will indeed be the Mi A2 and not Mi A1 (2018) which many suspected. This makes sense for Xiaomi especially if the company wants to make this a prominent series of smartphones in India. Just changing the year in the moniker of the device will be cumbersome. The image also confirms that the Mi A2 will run the latest version of Android, Android 8.1 Oreo.
We already know that the Xiaomi Mi A2 will essentially be the Mi 6X but, with stock Android. This means that the smartphone will run on the Snapdragon 660 chipset. The image is also in line with this assumption. The Mi A2 will have bezels like the Redmi Note 5 Pro and the one in the leaked image has white bezels around the display.
The Xiaomi Mi A1 was launched in India in September 2017. However, the Mi A2 is expected to go on sale in India in the month of August. This means that the smartphone should be announced sooner rather than later. With the budget smartphone market seeing new entrants like the Realme 1 and Asus Zenfone Max Pro, Xiaomi will have to nail the pricing of its Android One smartphone.
Asus has launched its latest flagship smartphone, the Zenfone 5Z in India. While the device is impressive, hands down its most attractive quality is its price. It will go on sale in India on 9th July at a starting price of Rs 29999. Another Asus device that has grabbed the headlines recently is the Asus ROG gaming smartphone, which was recently announced at Computex in Taipei. It has now been confirmed that the new gaming smartphone will launch in India in Q3 of 2018.
Speaking at the launch event of the Zenfone 5Z in New Delhi, Asus CEO Jerry Shen conceded that Asus has plans on launching the ROG phone in India in the third quarter of 2018. This essentially means that the device will launch in India before September ends.
For sure, we will launch the ROG phone here in India. I cannot tell you the exact date, but it will arrive in Q3. It is already Q3, so we have three months to do so.
From the images of the smartphone, at least, the Asus ROG phone looks like a quintessential gaming device. The ROG logo at the back has RGB lights which can be customised and be used as a notification light as well. The all-glass build is in line with modern flagship smartphones. The fingerprint sensor has a unique shape and gives off a very gamer vibe. Even the speakers have a unique placement, to make sure the sound is muffled while playing games in landscape mode.
The Asus ROG (Republic Of Gamers) smartphone has a 6 inch AMOLED display with a 2160 x 1080 px resolution and a 90Hz refresh rate. Unlike the Zenfone 5Z, the ROG smartphone does not have a notch. Asus has certainly worked a lot on the display of its gaming device. The screen has a 1ms response rate, 1000:1 contrast ratio and a 108.6% DCI-P3 colour gamut. Moreover, thanks to a distinct image processing chipset, the display has HDR playback capabilities.
Under the hood, the Asus ROG smartphone is powered by the Snapdragon 845 chipset specifically overclocked to 2.96GHz (compared to 2.8GHz). The overclocked chipset is coupled with 8GB of LPDDR4 RAM, and 512GB of UFS onboard storage. To deal with the overheating caused due to intensive usage (something the phone is built to do), it has a vapour cooling system called GameCool. It uses a copper heat spreader and a 3D vapour chamber to transfer heat away from the processor and disperse it evenly around the body of the device.
Powering the smartphone is a 4000 mAh battery which charges via a USB C port. Out of the box, the ROG smartphone will run Android 8.1 Oreo. Apart from the USB C port and a headphone jack at the bottom, the device also has an accessory port on the left in the centre. This port can be used for charging the device while gaming so that the cable doesn’t hinder your gaming experience. This is a very smart move by Asus. The port can be used to connect AeroActive Cooler accessory.
To the back of the device is a 12MP primary sensor coupled with an 8MP secondary sensor. The dual camera setup is capable of recording 4K videos at 30fps. The front of the device houses an 8MP camera. There are no details about the pricing of the Asus ROG smartphone as of now. However, it is expected to be priced at around Rs 60000, considering the high-end specifications and the over the top features it possesses.
Asus has launched a new flagship smartphone in India, the Asus Zenfone 5Z. At a starting price of Rs 29999, it is the most affordable smartphone in India running on the latest Snapdragon 845 chipset. The Taiwanese smartphone maker has nailed the pricing for the Indian market as the Zenfone 5Z competes with the OnePlus 6 and Honor 10. All three smartphones are marquee devices for their respective companies in the Indian market and feature flagship-grade specifications.
As has been the industry trend for a while now, all three smartphones have an all-glass build and design. Despite the similar build quality, all three smartphones feature a different finish on the glass. Essentially, the devices have a unique way of reflecting light and no two devices have a similar implementation here. It is hard to differentiate here and would boil down to personal preferences. The OnePlus 6 does have more colour options to choose from, recently launching the OnePlus 6 Red Edition.
The Asus Zenfone 5Z has a 6.2 inch Super IPS+ display with a 2246 x 1080 px resolution. The OnePlus 6 has a 6.28 inch Optic AMOLED display with a 2280 x 1080 px resolution while the Honor 10 has a 5.84 inch IPS LCD display and the same resolution. The OnePlus 6 has an AMOLED display which is known for producing more accurate colours.
Where the Zenfone 5Z and OnePlus 6 feel similar, the Honor 10 stands out. The Honor 10 runs on the HiSilicon Kirin 970 chipset with 6GB of RAM. The other two run on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset. The flagship chipset is coupled with either 6GB or 8GB of RAM. Both the OnePlus 6 and Zenfone 5Z are available in three storage variants, 64GB, 128GB and 256GB.
Ever since the launch of the iPhone X, Face Unlock has been a fairly talked-about feature in smartphones. None of the devices miss out on jumping on that bandwagon but, it is software-based and not the most secure authentification way. The fingerprint sensor on the Zenfone 5Z and OnePlus 6 is placed on the back, albeit, different shapes. The Honor 10, on the other hand, has an invisible ultrasonic fingerprint sensor that can also detect a wet finger. It is also front-facing since it is housed inside the chin of the smartphone.
While most of the flagship specifications are similar to each other, these smartphones hugely differ when it comes to the optics. The Honor 10 has a 16MP RBG primary sensor and a 24MP secondary monochrome sensor. The OnePlus 6 takes a different route with two RGB sensors. It has a 16MP Sony IMX 519 sensor and a 20MP Sony IMX 376K sensor. The newly launched Zenfone 5Z has a 12MP primary sensor with an f/1.8 aperture and an 8MP wide-angle secondary sensor with a 120º field of view.
As a result of drastically different implementations, the cameras on these smartphones have their own advantages. However, it is worth noting that both the OnePlus 6 and Zenfone 5Z feature OIS and EIS while the Honor 10 misses out on both the features. The Honor 10 also doesn’t record 4K videos at 60fps.
At a price of Rs 29999, the Asus Zenfone 5Z is the most affordable flagship smartphone in India. It also holds its own in front of the OnePlus 6 and Honor 10, on paper, at least. We will soon be comparing the three devices in depth for a much clearer winner.
Asus has launched its new flagship smartphone, the Asus Zenfone 5Z in India. Astonishingly enough, the smartphone will retail for a starting price of Rs 29999, which is considerably cheaper than the OnePlus 6. The Zenfone 5Z has all the features for a 2018 flagship smartphone and will go on sale in India via Flipkart on 9th July. It is worth noting that there is a flat Rs 3000 discount upon using an ICICI Credit/Debit card, bringing the price down to Rs 26999 for the base model.
Asus recently launched the Zenfone Max Pro, a budget smartphone which runs on the Snapdragon 636 chipset. The smartphone has done well in India and the company would expect the same from its flagship device. So, let’s unbox the Asus Zenfone 5Z and see what we get inside the box!
[section label=”Unboxing”]
Inside the box of the Asus Zenfone 5Z
Asus Zenfone 5Z
Wall Charger
USB-C Cable
ZenEar Pro Earphones
Documentation
Sim Ejector Tool
Clear Case
[section label=”First Impressions”]
The trend of an all-glass design has really caught up in 2018. Even budget smartphones like the Honor 9 Lite, Moto G6, Nokia X6 sport an all-glass design and the Asus Zenfone 5Z is no different. The device will be available in Midnight Blye and The glass on the back has a unique finish which reflects the light in a very different manner. This is common with Asus smartphones and the Zenfone 5Z looks like a premium smartphone. The aluminium frame means that the device has a solid build.
The dual-camera is placed vertically on the top-left corner. This design choice, again, has become very common ever since the iPhone X was launched in September 2017. There is a small camera bump which can be negated using the clear case found inside the box. Talking about accessories found inside the box, Asus talked a lot about the ZenEar Pro earphones that will retail with every Zenfone 5Z unit in India. We will be testing the earphones out and talk about it in detail in our full review.
The Asus Zenfone 5Z has a 6.2 inch Super IPS+ display with a 2246 x 1080 px resolution. This translates into a 19:9 aspect ratio, just like the OnePlus 6 which also has a 19:9 aspect ratio.
Under the hood, the smartphone runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset. The flagship chipset is coupled with either 6GB or 8GB of RAM. In India, the Zenfone 5Z will retail in three models, one with 64GB of storage, the second one with 128GB storage coupled with 6GB of RAM. The third variant has 256GB of onboard storage and 8GB of RAM. The onboard storage will be expandable up to 2TB via a microSD card which will use up the second SIM slot. The fingerprint sensor is placed on the back of the device in a central location.
As is with a flagship device these days, the Asus Zenfone 5Z has a dual-camera setup on the back. It consists of a 12MP primary sensor with an f/1.8 aperture and 4-axis OIS. The secondary 8MP sensor has a wide-angle lens with a 120º field of view. This implementation is different from a lot of other flagship devices which usually have a telephoto or a monochrome lens. The OnePlus 6, for example, has two RGB sensors. The notch houses an 8MP camera with an f/2.0 aperture and an 84º field of view.
[section label=”Conclusion”]
At the first glance, the Zenfone 5Z appears to be a worthy affordable flagship smartphone. The price of the device sweetens the deal for sure but, does it hold its own against the OnePlus 6? We will find out in our full review which will soon be up on our YouTube channel.
Asus has launched the Zenfone 5Zin India at a starting price of Rs 29999. The new affordable flagship smartphone will be sold via Flipkart exclusively and go on sale on 9th July. It is worth noting that there is a flat Rs 3000 discount upon using an ICICI Credit/Debit card, bringing the price down to Rs 26999 for the base model. The Asus Zenfone 5Z enters India’s affordable flagship segment and will be up against the likes of OnePlus 6and Honor 10.
The Zenfone 5Z has all the makings of a flagship smartphone of 2018. The infamous notch also makes an appearance on the device. The notch, unlike the Xiaomi Mi 8, does not have any special sensors housed inside. The notch, however, allows the company to use a bigger display without drastically increasing the overall footprint of the smartphone.
The Asus Zenfone 5Z has a 6.2 inch Super IPS+ display with a 2246 x 1080 px resolution. This translates into a 19:9 aspect ratio, just like the OnePlus 6 which also has a 19:9 aspect ratio. With so many different aspect ratios prevalent in the market, it will become harder for content creators to cater to everyone’s needs.
Under the hood, the smartphone runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset. The flagship chipset is coupled with either 6GB or 8GB of RAM. In India, the Zenfone 5Z will retail in three models, one with 64GB of storage, the second one with 128GB storage coupled with 6GB of RAM. The third variant has 256GB of onboard storage and 8GB of RAM. The onboard storage will be expandable up to 2TB via a microSD card which will use up the second SIM slot.
The fingerprint sensor is placed on the back of the device in a central location. The company also spoke about the ZenEar Pro earphones which will be included in the retail box. This is something most affordable flagship devices don’t include in their packaging and Asus has in fact, claimed that its earphones are of premium quality.
As is with a flagship device these days, the Asus Zenfone 5Z has a dual-camera setup on the back. It consists of a 12MP primary sensor with an f/1.8 aperture and 4-axis OIS. The secondary 8MP sensor has a wide-angle lens with a 120º field of view. This implementation is different from a lot of other flagship devices which usually have a telephoto or a monochrome lens. The OnePlus 6, for example, has two RGB sensors. The notch houses an 8MP camera with an f/2.0 aperture and an 84º field of view.
The Zenfone 5Z has all the features of a flagship smartphone. Moreover, it severely undercuts the OnePlus 6 and Honor 10 in terms of pricing. The OnePlus 6 retails for Rs 34999 while the Honor 10 is priced at Rs 32999. At a starting price of Rs 29999, the Zenfone 5Z gives consumers a lot to think about before buying their next flagship smartphone.
OnePlus has been in the news of late for more than just the OnePlus 6. The company recently promised three years of service for every OnePlus smartphone. This includes software updates for 2 years and an extended year of security patches. The company has now taken a step further by including support for Project Treble in the latest OxygenOS Beta update for the OnePlus 5 and OnePlus 5T.
OnePlus 5
OnePlus has been publically sceptical about Project Treble. No OnePlus smartphone, up until now, supported Project Treble. In one of its AMAs (As Me Anything), OnePlus explained that the possibility of customers’ devices becoming bricked was too much of a risk. It even confirmed that the OnePlus 5 and 5T would not receive this feature.
Partitions were not required for Android N and previous versions of Android, all of our current devices do not feature a partition. According to our tests, if we were to modify the partition layout via OTA there is a risk that devices will brick during the partitioning.
Project Treble is Google’s effort at reducing the time it takes for OEMs to receive the new OS and optimise it for its devices and then push out the update. A few months ago, Android received a new Vendor Interface, which is largely what Project Treble is about. The VI’s aim is to separate the “Vendor Implementation” (that is, “the device-specific, lower-level software written in large part by the silicon manufacturers”), from the Android OS framework.
OnePlus 5T
The new VI is supposed to sit between the Android OS framework and Vendor Implementation. And the new VI will be validated by a Vendor Test Suite (VTS), which is analogous to the Compatibility Test Suite (CTS) that Google has been using for API testing of apps. The VTS ensures forward-compatibility of the VI.
Software updates for major Android smartphone makers like Samsung have been painstakingly few and far between. With Project Treble, Google wants to shorten that process. OnePlus now, appears to be onboard with Google’s initiative and is definitely a good news for OnePlus users. This also means that future smartphone owners have another reason to consider buying a OnePlus device since not many smartphone makers are known for providing timely software updates.
The smartphone industry is moving towards that ultimate bezel-less smartphone. It looks more and more likely that a smartphone maker will soon unveil a working prototype of a futuristic smartphone and a few companies are at the forefront of that. Vivo recently launched the NEX S, based on its Vivo NEX concept with a pop-up front camera to further reduce the size of the bezels. It appears that this could be a trend that will catch on and Xiaomi might be the next in line. The Xiaomi Mi MIX 3 is rumoured to launch with a pop-up front camera to attain a very high screen-to-body ratio.
A new image posted on Weibo appears to be a promotional poster of an upcoming Xiaomi smartphone. In the image, the pop-up camera is clearly visible, although, the name of the smartphone is nowhere to be found. However, Xiaomi’s Mi MIX lineup has been the company’s outlet for futuristic designs and pushing that screen-to-body ratio to its limits. The Mi MIX 3 could well beat OPPO Find X’s record for the highest screen-to-body ratio if the rumours turn out to be true.
While the design looks aesthetically pleasing and does help smartphone makers reduce the top bezel (or the bottom bezel in Xiaomi’s case), it has its sceptics. It is not a secret that having moving parts in a smartphone can be a recipe for a disaster waiting to happen. There are plenty of scenarios where moving parts can be cumbersome, and not to forget, expensive. The Vivo NEX S and OPPO Find X look great but, how they fair in the long run is yet to be seen.
Over the years, Xiaomi has become famous for its reliable hardware and software. If the company does go ahead with a pop-up camera, it’s fair to assume that it would be a well thought out decision. What this will do to the affordability of the Mi MIX lineup is anybody’s guess as of now.
OnePlus has launched the OnePlus 6 Red Edition in India. The new limited edition colour variant will only be available in the 8GB RAM/128GB storage model and retail for Rs 39999. This essentially means that consumers won’t have to pay extra money for the swanky new red colour. The device will go on sale on 16th July via Amazon and OnePlus.in.
This is not the first time that OnePlus has launched a new “limited edition” colour variant of a flagship smartphone. The company launched a Soft Gold OnePlus 5 in August 2017. A few days after launching the OnePlus 5T, the company unveiled the OnePlus 5T Lava Red which went was sold worldwide as well. The new OnePlus 6 Red is another marketing tactic in order to bolster sales which are bound to slow down after the initial burst.
[section label=”Unboxing”]
Inside the box of the OnePlus 6 Red Edition
OnePlus 6 Red Edition
Wall Charger
USB-C Cable
Documentation
Sim Ejector Tool
Clear Case
[section label=”First Impressions”]
The OnePlus 6 Red looks really good. That is how you sum up this smartphone. The device has a distinct red colour, unlike the Lava Red OnePlus 5T or even the iPhone 8 Product RED. The dark red colour blends in with the black front and maintains the premium look and feel of the OnePlus 6. The silver chrome around the camera module and fingerprint sensor is a nice touch as well.
As is with a special edition colour variant, everything inside the OnePlus Red Edition remains the same as the other variants. The new Red Edition joins Midnight Black, Silk White, Mirror Black, and Avengers Edition in the list of OnePlus 6 variants sold in India. We have checked out all the colour variants of the OnePlus 6 so far except Midnight Black. Fair to say that the Red Edition of OnePlus 6 does not disappoint.
The OnePlus 6 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.
The 6 runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset which has an octa-core processor clocked at 2.8GHz. Coupled with the flagship chipset is either 6GB or 8GB of RAM with three storage options of 64GB, 128GB and 256GB. 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. Dash Charge continues to be one of the fastest charging technologies and could be the reason why OnePlus did not think that wireless charging was necessary here. Out of the box, the OnePlus 6 runs Android 8.1 Oreo with OxygenOS on top. The smartphone has gesture support. The company has announced that users will be able to download Android P Developer’s Preview from the OnePlus website soon.
The dual-camera on the OnePlus 6 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.
[section label=”Conclusion”]
The OnePlus 6 Red Edition is just another option for OnePlus 6 suitors. With devices like the ASUS Zenfone 5Z and Xiaomi Mi 8 expected to launch in India soon, OnePlus would hope for this new colour variant to reinstate the OnePlus 6’s position as a top flagship smartphone in India. However, it’ll be interesting to see how the smartphone will fair once its potential competitors are launched in India.
The first half of 2018 saw the launch of some exciting smartphones. The second half of the year will witness the launch of the Samsung Galaxy Note9, the new Google Pixel lineup and the new Apple iPhone lineup. Just like every year, the chatter around the new iPhones has been on for a while now and more leaks are expected when we get closer to September. A new video of the dummy versions of the Apple iPhone X Plus and iPhone 9 has now surfaced online, revealing the possible size of the smartphones.
In the video, the iPhone X Plus and iPhone 9 are compared with the iPhone X. This appears to be a fair comparison considering the iPhone X successor will have the same screen size. The one thing about the video that feels a bit out of place is its title. It doesn’t appear to be likely that the cheapest iPhone that Apple will launch in 2018 will go by the moniker of ‘iPhone 9’.
As expected, both the smartphones have a design similar to the iPhone X. The iPhone X Plus is expected to feature a massive 6.5 inch OLED display while the iPhone 9 will have a 6.1 inch LCD display. It is believed that Apple will cut cost for the iPhone 9 by reverting to an LCD display and even removing features like 3D Touch. It is, however, expected to have wireless charging, thanks to the all-glass design. The iPhone 9 will also have a single camera setup on the back, compared to the dual-camera setup on the iPhone X successor and iPhone X Plus.
The iPhone X Plus has a size very similar to the iPhone 7 Plus. The iPhone 7 Plus has a 5.5 inch display, meaning the iPhone X Plus will fit in a much larger display without increasing the overall footprint of the smartphone. This also means that the iPhone X Plus won’t be considered a phablet, because of its smaller size. The dual-camera setup is placed vertically on the top-left corner, just like the iPhone X.
The dummies have a design very similar to what we expect from the 2018 iPhone lineup. However, it is still early days for the iPhone 2018 rumours.
Over the past few months, we have seen smartphone makers adopt varying marketing strategies. Lenovo took an extreme turn and hyped the Lenovo Z5 only to launch a mediocre version of what was expected. OnePlus teased a lot of new features of the OnePlus 6 before the official launch. Xiaomi has gone a step further with the Mi Max 3. Lei Jun, CEO of Xiaomi has posted an image of the retail box of the Xiaomi Mi Max 3 before its official launch.
The box clearly states the Mi Max 3 moniker, hence confirming the existing rumours. The soon to be launched phablet will succeed the Xiaomi Mi Max 2 which was launched in late-July in 2017. The launch of the Mi Max 3 falls in line with the company’s launch pattern for the Max series. Unfortunately, the image does not give away any details about the smartphone.
So far, there have been a few leaks regarding the Xiaomi Mi Max 3. According to the listing, the Xiaomi Mi Max 3 will sport a 6.9 inch display with a 2160 x 1080 px resolution. This resolution confirms that the Mi Max 3 will have thinner bezels than its predecessor and also that it won’t have a notch. While many smartphones in 2018 sport a notch, users in general, aren’t very stoked about a notched display.
Despite the larger display, the Mi Max 3 won’t be much larger than its predecessor. According to the listing, the Mi Max 3 measures 176.15 x 87.4 x 7.99 mm and weighs in at 221 grams. The Mi Max 2, on the other hand, measures 174.1 x 88.7 x 7.6mm and weighs in at 211 grams. For context, the Mi Max 2 had a 6.4 inch display and a 5300 mAh battery.
The Mi Max 3 will run on a 1.8GHz octa-core processor coupled with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. Xiaomi will launch multiple variants and the one with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage will be the priciest. The fingerprint sensor will be placed on the back of the device just like almost all the Xiaomi devices off late. Powering the smartphone is a 5400 mAh battery which isn’t a significant upgrade over the 5300 mAh battery found on the Mi Max 2.
The details about the camera department are scarce for now. The listing reveals that it will have a dual-camera setup on the back with a 12MP primary sensor. The dual-camera setup will be capable of shooting videos at up to 4K resolution. To the front is an 8MP front-facing sensor. The Mi Max 3 will run Android 8 Oreo out of the box with MIUI 10 on top.
As bezels get thinner and displays get bigger, the line between smartphones and phablets will get blurrier. That, however, has not stopped Xiaomi from exploring the phablet realm. The Mi Max 3 could launch in India as well along with China. The pricing will be key for the device to have any impact on the over-crowded budget smartphone segment.
Over the past few months, music streaming in India has picked up its pace. Services like Gaane, Saavn have emerged as a great free alternative to Apple Music or Google Play Music. Amazon recently launched Prime Music in India as well. However, the most popular music streaming service in the world, Spotify, has so far been aloof when it comes to India. It appears that the company is finally starting to work towards launching in India with Spotify Lite.
Spotify Lite is now available on Google Play Store (not in India) which has a total app size of about 15MB. This is significantly smaller than Spotify app’s 100MB size. Essentially, Spotify Lite is being tested for emerging markets where the internet is not that fast and the majority of smartphones have less storage.
The budget smartphone category dominates the market in India. This means people who buy cheaper smartphones tend to struggle with storage space running out after downloading a few essential apps. This is where the “Lite” version of popular apps comes into play. Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, Google already have a Lite version of their apps up and running. Spotify Lite, currently listed as a ‘test app’ becomes the latest to join the long list.
Android Police first spotted the app on Google Play Store. It says that app visually looks similar to Spotify but, it does miss out on a few functionalities. There is no offline playback or an option for extreme quality playback (which streams songs at 320 kbps). There’s also no Spotify Connect, which allows for audio to be wirelessly be streamed from your phone to another device, like speakers or a TV. It also appears that despite being a Premium subscriber, the app doesn’t have an option to select a specific song, so all music has to be played via shuffle.
Spotify has long been rumoured to enter the Indian market. With the rise of other music streaming services, this is the time for Spotify to launch in India with all its might. And Spotify Lite could be the first step in that direction towards the Indian market.
The tablet industry is dominated by Apple’s iPad lineup. While Android smartphone makers have launched tablets consistently, good tablets have been few and far between. Samsung will also launch the next iteration of its flagship tablet, the Galaxy Tab S4. While the date of launch has not been confirmed yet, the first renders of the device have been leaked.
One of the first things you notice about the tablet is the home button, or rather, the lack of it. While Samsung has gotten rid of the home button on many of its smartphones, the tablets have maintained the older design. This is mainly due to the fact that tablets won’t have thin bezels or as Samsung likes to call it, ‘Infinity Display’. This raises the question about the fingerprint sensor. The home button usually houses the fingerprint sensor.
The power button appears to be placed on the right-hand side, just above the volume rockers. It will be interesting to see if Samsung goes for a side-mounted fingerprint sensor. It cannot be confirmed from these renders, however. Another outcome of the lack of a home button could be that there might be no fingerprint sensor at all. In fact, Samsung could go ahead and only provide iris scanning for the Galaxy Tab S4.
From the leaks so far, the Galaxy Tab S4 is expected to have a 10.5-inch display with a 2560 x 1600 px resolution and a 16:10 aspect ratio. Under the hood, the Galaxy Tab S4 could run on the Snapdragon 835 chipset for the US and China market, and Exynos 8895 for the rest of the markets. Accompanying the last year’s flagship chipset will be 4GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard storage. There is no information on other storage variants as of now.
The tablet is rumoured to be powered by a massive 7300 mAh battery which will charge via USB-C port. Out of the box, it’ll run Android 8.1 Oreo with Experience UI on top. On the back of the tablet will be a 12MP camera with an LED flash. The top bezel on the front will house a 7MP camera. We expect in-depth details about the cameras to be leaked ahead of the launch.
The Galaxy Tab S4 will try and compete with Apple’s well-established lineup of iPads across the globe. A lot, however, will depend on the pricing of the Android tablet.
Oneplus has launched the RED colour variant of the new Oneplus 6 in India starting at Rs. 39,999. The price of the flagship smartphone from the company remains changed for the same variant available in other colours. The OnePlus 6 RED will only be sold in the 8GB RAM and 128 GB storage variants and is expected to be a limited release despite being sold worldwide at the same time starting 16th July.
OnePlus has taken advantage of colors in the past to bolster sales for their smartphones and the OnePlus 6 has also seen it’s fair share of colours including the Midnight black that the company launched with, and the Silk white which was sold weeks later. India also got the limited Avengers Edition OnePlus 6 which had the Carbon Fibre finished back panel, a gold notification slider and a medallion in the box.
OnePlus expects to reinvigorate the sales numbers for the OnePlus 6, which seems to have now dipped after the initial launch buzz. With new devices from Asus like the Zenfone 5Z and Xiaomi’s Mi 8 now expected to launch soon, OnePlus new colors may not be enough to keep the momentum.
The OnePlus 6 was launched in India on May 17th. Even at the launch, the smartphone was unveiled in three colours, the most for any OnePlus smartphone. In India, the company went a step further and launched the OnePlus 6 Avengers Limited Edition. Keeping up with the trend of launching special edition colour variants, the OnePlus 6 Red will launch on July 2nd.
OnePlus posted a teaser on Twitter seemingly confirming the existence of a red coloured OnePlus 6. The smartphone is expected to have the same all-glass design along with a notched display. Since its launch, the build quality and design (despite the notch) have been praised by critics and consumers alike. The OnePlus 6 is already available in Midnight Black, Mirror Black, and Silk White.
OnePlus 6 Avengers
It’ll be interesting to see if the OnePlus 6 Red will be available in both the variants or just the higher-end model with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of onboard storage. The OnePlus 6 Silk White is only available in the 128GB storage model while the Midnight Black and Mirror Black are available in both the variants. Apart from the new colour, all other specifications will remain the same for the new variant.
The OnePlus 6 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.
The 6 runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset which has an octa-core processor clocked at 2.8GHz. Coupled with the flagship chipset is either 6GB or 8GB of RAM with three storage options of 64GB, 128GB and 256GB. 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. Dash Charge continues to be one of the fastest charging technologies and could be the reason why OnePlus did not think that wireless charging was necessary here. Out of the box, the OnePlus 6 runs Android 8.1 Oreo with OxygenOS on top. The smartphone has gesture support. The company has announced that users will be able to download Android P Developer’s Preview from the OnePlus website soon.
The dual-camera on the OnePlus 6 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 Red will give consumers another option to choose from. With the Xiaomi Mi 8 possibly launching in India in July and undercutting the OnePlus 6, OnePlus would want to play its cards right to maintain the dominance in the affordable flagship segment.
After aluminium unibody design dominating the industry for a while, glass builds are taking over. From affordable flagship smartphones like the OnePlus 6 to the premium iPhone X, an all-glass build is the new gold standard in smartphone design. However, with a premium look and feel, also comes the danger of shattering that glass. While there are cases that can protect smartphones from damages to a certain extent, they aren’t foolproof.
A new “active damping” case acts as an airbag for your smartphone. Created by Philip Frenzel, an engineer at Aalen University in Germany, this clever case pops opens up to protect your phone when you drop it. His idea won the award from the German Society for Mechatronics, which considered projects from students all over the country.
Frenzel’s idea behind this case was maintaining the phone’s aesthetic while providing the necessary protection. Most secure cases are very bulky and it becomes hard to recognise your phone when it is lathered in a tough plastic case with ugly patterns. With active damping case, there isn’t a layer of unattractive protection in your face all the time. Instead, it enters a safety mode just as it starts free falling to the ground.
After juggling between different ways to protect the phone, Frenzel finally arrived at a very interesting solution. As seen in the video, he went ahead with a set of eight thin metal curls that normally lie flat inside the case. When the phone is released, they pop out and curl up, protecting the edges of the phone from impact. This considerably softens the blow compared to a flat contact with the concrete.
The case looks interesting and in the video, at least, effective. It is yet to enter a production stage and there is still no Kickstarter or Indiegogo page for it. We could be a while away from this case hitting the shelves.
