OnePlus has launched the OnePlus 5 in India, the phone which stands as a revision to the OnePlus 3T and the company’s 2017 flagship will go on sale immediately on Amazon as an exclusive in India. Here: http://amzn.to/2twiWun.
Prices:
6GB + 64 GB : Rs. 32999
8GB + 128 GB : Rs. 37999
The OnePlus 5 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset while running a combination of either a 6GB of RAM and 64 GB of Storage or an 8GB RAM along with 128GB of storage. OnePlus is focusing on the phone’s ability to utilize the new dual camera setup with some software capabilities that OnePlus claims to have spent a lot of time developing.
The OnePlus 5 Runs Android 7.1.1 with a new layer of Oxygen OS, that is leveraged to utilise the full potential of the hardware on the OnePlus 5.
The OnePlus 5 has a 16 MP wide camera f/1.7, along with a 20 MP tele camera with an f/2.6, both of these have been organized to utilize a 2x optical lossless zoom, much like the iPhone 7 Plus.
The display on the OnePlus 5 remains the same 5.5 inch 1920 x 1080px AMOLED screen, along with 2.5D Gorilla Glass 5. The OnePlus 5 will run on a 3300 mAh battery and offer up the same 5V + 4 Amp Dash charging as seen before.
The OnePlus 5 still does have the 3.5 mm headphone jack despite it’s slim profile.
While most of it’s design elements mimic that of the iPhone 7 plus and the recently released Oppo R11, OnePlus 5 manages to have a distinct look and a distinct feel.
The design features an anodized aluminum finish which will be available in two colors at launch; Slate Grey, Midnight Black with a matte finish and will be later launched in a soft gold as well.
OnePlus has launched the phone globally and it will go on sale in India starting today at 4:30 pm here : http://amzn.to/2smFsr5
Motorola has confirmed via invite that the company will launch their budget Moto C Plus in India on the 19th of June. The Phone which is expected to launch under the Rs. 10000 price was launched back in May in other markets and will make it’s way to India in June.
Motorola Moto C Plus runs a 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6737 processor and has 2GB of RAM along with 16GB of internal storage. The Motorola Moto C Plus has an 8-megapixel camera plus a 2-megapixel front camera.
The Motorola Moto C Plus announced in May is a single SIM (GSM) smartphone, however, the Indian variant may be launched with dual-SIM capability along with MicroSD card expandability.
The Motorola Moto C Plus runs Android 7 Nougat and is powered by a 4000mAh removable and user replaceable battery. Motorola has a whole host of phones to launch this year, with the Moto E4 and E4 Plus, Moto X4 and Moto Z2/ Z2 force to yet be launched, the Moto Z2 Play was recently launched in India.
Lenovo’s Motorola has announced the launch of its baseline phones the Moto E4 and Moto E4 plus in the US, expected to hit the Indian market soon. The Moto E4 and Moto E4 Plus’ announcement comes after Motorola launched the Moto Z2 play last week.
The Moto E4 has a 5” 1280x720px display along with Qualcomm Snapdragon 425, or, Qualcomm Snapdragon 427 depending on region. The Moto E4 has 2 GB RAM and 16 GB of onboard storage along with expandability via a microSD card slot and single or dual SIM slots again depending on the region of the launch.
The phone runs on a 2800 mAh battery and features Moto Turbo power with 10W charger included in the box. The main camera on the Moto E4 is a 8 MP shooter with an ƒ / 2.2 aperture 1.12 um micron pixel size. The main camera captures 1080p video. The front camera is a 5 Mp shooter with the same ƒ / 2.2 aperture and 1.4 um micron pixel size. The Moto E4 will be available in two color options including the Licorice Black which resembles a matte black finish and the Fine Gold color.
The Moto E4 plus on the other hand features a larger 5.5 inch display with a 1280x720px resolution. The Moto E4 plus will only be available with the Quad-core 1.4 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 427 with 2 GB RAM and 16/ 32 GB storage options. The phone has a massive 5000 mAh battery and supports the 10W charging provided by the Moto TurboPower charger in the box.
The plus variant gets a 13 MP camera with an ƒ / 2.0 aperture and 1.12 um micron pixel size along with 1080p video capture. While on the front you get the same 5 Mp shooter with ƒ / 2.2 aperture and 1.4 um micron pixel size.
Both the Moto E4 and Moto E4 plus have forward firing LED flash / or a selfie light. The E4 plus will miss the matte black color for Iron Gray and Fine Gold color options. While both phones have a water repellent nano coating, and still contain usual connectivity options like the 3.5mm headphone jack and a microUSB connector.
The Moto E4 plus has been launched in the US for a starting price of $174 ( Rs. 11300) while the E4 starts at $129 (Rs. 8300). However, expect the company to launch the phone in India for a price of around Rs. 6500-7000 for the Moto E4.
Oneplus has confirmed that the OnePlus 2 will not officially get the Android Nougat 7.0 update. This will leave a lot of bitter taste in the mouths of OnePlus 2 owners. The device which was supposed to get software updates for at least 24 months only received one incremental update before it was abandoned by the company.
OnePlus has reportedly confirmed that Android Nougat isn’t new, and the company is happy with what they are doing with software, so it won’t be pushing official Nougat update to the OnePlus 2.
“When we built the OnePlus 2 we didn’t have the software infrastructure team in place we do now.” said OnePlus in an interview.
This is becoming a usual standard for most manufacturers who are constantly promising updates but are unable to deliver. OnePlus has, however, claimed that the company will ensure that both the OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T do not fall under the same umbrella, ensuring updates to Android O builds when they release later this year.
For those who were impenitent lots of third part methods of getting the latest builds of Android are easily available, including installation of custom ROMs. And while it may not be the best and the most popular way, looks like owners of the OnePlus 2 will only be left with few options; ignore the lack of updates, install bootleg software, or shift phones.
Motorola has launched the new Moto Z2 Play in India for Rs. 27999. The new Moto Z2 Play has been launched with the new thinner design the Moto Z2 Play also loses its chunky battery and now sports a 3,000mAh battery. The newer battery is supposedly good for 30 hours of use vs 50 hours seen on the previous generation’s Moto Z Play. The new design brings thickness down to 5.99mm thick, and the weight is 145 gms. The phone still misses the water resistance and comes with a water repellant nano coating.
As far as hardware is concerned, the Moto Z2 Play runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 626 processor with either a 3 or 4GB of RAM, 32 or 64GB of storage with microSD card support.
The front of the Moto Z2 Play has a 5.5-inch, 1080p AMOLED display along with a 5-megapixel selfie camera with f/2.2 lens and dual LED flash, the camera shoots 1080p video. The main camera 12-megapixel dual pixel autofocus camera with a f/1.7 lens, very similar in design to that of the G5 Plus and Samsung Galaxy S7. The Moto Z2 play also has laser autofocus and PDAF.
The Moto Z2 play runs Android 7.1.1 out of the box, with several customizations from Moto, including Moto Voice and Moto actions, and a new blue light filter. The new software on the Moto Z2 Play, activates commands with “show me” instead of phrases like “Hey Siri” or “Okay Google” so you can say words like “Show me the time in LA” making it a more natural command.
The new Mods include a new wireless style shell which comes in multiple colors allowing you to drop your phone on any wireless mat to get the phone charging. The TurboPower Pack brings an additional 3,490mAh battery and can charge the phone at 15W speeds. The MOD will not charge through the phone, instead you can charge the phone through the Mod’s inbuilt USB C port.
OnePlus India has confirmed the date and time for the launch of the OnePlus 5 in India. While lots of leaks have surrounded the device including packaging leaks the phone seems to have kept itself relatively away from the people. The company plans to reveal all on 22nd of June 2017. The next generation of the flagship killer is expected to launch with Snapdragon 835 along with 6-8GB of RAM and pro 256 GB of Storage. However, the highlight of the leaks seems to be the dual camera. More details will be revealed on the 22nd and you can expect all the info on iGyaan.
Motorola’s next Z phone is out and the company has started with the Moto Z2 Play and the phone has been launched in several countries. The Moto Z2 Play has been upgraded with certain design aspects but retains the modularity along with new mods which have launched in several markets. The Moto Z2 Play has been launched for $499 and is expected to hit markets like India in June itself.
The launch also brings a few new mods by Motorola (previously Moto), the JBL SoundBoost 2, the Moto TurboPower Pack, Moto Style Shells with Wireless Charging, and the Moto GamePad. The SoundBoost 2, TurboPower Pack, and GamePad are priced at US $79.99, while the wireless charging Style Shells are priced at US $39.99.
With the new thinner design the Moto Z2 Play also loses its chunky battery and now sports a 3,000mAh battery. The newer battery is supposedly good for 30 hours of use vs 50 hours seen ion the previous generations Moto Z Play. The new design brings thickness down to 5.99mm thick, and the weight is 145 gms. The phone still misses the water resistance and comes with a water repellant nano coating.
As far as hardware is concerned, the Moto Z2 Play runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 626 processor with either a 3 or 4GB of RAM, 32 or 64GB of storage with microSD card support.
The front of the Moto Z2 Play has a 5.5-inch, 1080p AMOLED display along with a 5-megapixel selfie camera with f/2.2 lens and dual LED flash, the camera shoots 1080p video. The main camera 12-megapixel dual pixel autofocus camera with a f/1.7 lens, very similar in design to that of the G5 Plus and Samsung Galaxy S7. The Moto Z2 play also has laser autofocus, PDAF and dual pixel focus.
The Moto Z2 play runs Android 7.1.1 out of the box, with several customizations from Moto, including Moto Voice and Moto actions, and a new blue light filter. The new software on the Moto Z2 Play, activates commands with “show me” instead of phrases like “Hey Siri” or “Okay Google” so you can say words like “Show me the time in LA” making it a more natural command.
The new Mods include a new wireless style shell which comes in multiple colors allowing you to drop your phone on any wireless mat to get the phone charging. The TurboPower Pack brings an additional 3,490mAh battery and can charge the phone at 15W speeds. The MOD will not charge through the phone, instead you can charge the phone through the Mod’s inbuilt USB C port.
The GamePad allows you to drop any Moto Mod enabled Moto Z phone including the first generation Zs and the new Moto Z2 Play and game on any compatible Android Game. The GamePad Mod includes dual control sticks, a D-pad, and four buttons. Motorola says it was developed in partnership with the gaming division at Lenovo and it has a 1,035mAh battery.
Sony has launched the new Xperia XZ Premium in India, making it the first phone to officially launch with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset. The Xperia XZ Premium is also the world’s first phone with a 4K HDR display. Sony has launched the XZ Premium in India at a price of Rs 59,990 and if you prebook the phone from 2nd – 11th June you also receive a SRS-XB20 wireless bluetooth speaker free. The Sony Xperia XZ Premium goes on Sale in India starting 12th June.
The Xperia XZ premium comes after a few phones that failed to live up to expectations from Sony in 2016, with certain Sony signature things missing like IP certifications and the top of the line hardware. The Sony Xperia XZ Premium however solves all the problems with a full package from the Japanese company.
The Sony Xperia XZ Premium has a 5.5 inch 4K HDR Display with TRILUMINOS Display for mobile and X-Reality for mobile picture engine. The 4K display comes into play whenever high res content is available like a 4k video or movie. Natively the display runs Android at QHD resolutions and sometimes at 1920 x 1080p like most other QHD phones. This is the first true 4K display on a mobile phone and it looks gorgeous.
The built and design of the phone mostly remain at par with previous generations of Sony flagships, however, the new phone adds Gorilla Glass 5 on the front and back along with IP68 weather resistance. The new design of the phone is highly reflective and in India the phone has been launched in two colors Luminous Chrome and Deepsea Black.
Inside is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset along with 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of Storage with microSD support for 256 GB. Running all the hardware is a 3230 mAh battery with Qnovo Adaptive charging and Quick Charge 3.0.
Sony too has left out on the dual camera setups, and stuck with a 19MP Motion Eye camera which has a 1/ 2.3” Exmor RS for mobile memory stacked sensor with a pixel size of 1.22?m and Predictive Hybrid Autofocus.
The XZ Premium also offers 960 fps Super slow motion video and the camera is equipped with a 25 mm wide G Lens with a F2.0 Aperture.
The Sony Xperia XZ Premium has SteadyShot 5-axis image stabilization and does 4K recording at 30fps. The front camera is a 13MP 1/ 3.06” Exmor RS for mobile image sensor with a 22mm Wide-angle lens with an F2.0 aperture. The front too has SteadyShot with 5-axis stabilization.
The front of the phone does have stereo forward firing speakers with a great sound and the phone supports Hi-Res audio and LDAC via the USB -C port. Interestingly the Xperia XZ Premium maintains the 3.5mm headphone jack.
Android 7.1.1 runs out of the box with Sony’s layer of skin which is essentially pretty close to stock with minimum customizations. Sony does offer up some apps, including their video, gallery and Sony Liv. Inside the box you will get:
Andy Rubin may have been teasing a smartphone for a while, but now the device known as the Essential Phone PH-1 is official. The Essential phone costs $699 and has flagship specifications like a Qualcomm 835 processor, 4GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage.
The phone will be launched in the US to start and will be unlocked to all carriers. Essential is making the design of the phone simple, but with two prong connection, and working on a host of accessories that click into place, starting with the worlds smallest 360 degree camera.
The essential phone has a full front 5.71 inch display with radiused corners with a 19:10 aspect ratio and a 2560 x 1312 QHD resolution and a brightness of 500 nits. The back has 13 MP dual cameras with one RGB sensor and one Monochrome sensor and f/1.85 aperture lens. The front has an 8 MP camera and both cameras are capable of shooting 4k video at 30fps.
The Essential phone also has a 3040mAh battery and supports fast charging using USB, but it does have a cordless dock that allows you to lay flat the phone.
The design and specifics of the brand mention the basics and essentials as the focus of the company, the design is built around a solid titanium frame, which is completely scratch and ding resistant, with a ceramic back and gorilla glass front.The company drop tested the titanium frame phone, and found it to do better than the “Aluminum competitor” the Essential Phone Ph-1 is only 7.8 mm thick.
The phone has been launched in black and white and will launch in two additional colors at a later date. Those in the US can book the Essential phone on the company’s website.
Xiaomi has announced the Mi Max 2 at an event in Beijing starting RMB 1699 or about $247 or roughly Rs. 16000. The phone is equipped with a massive 5300 mAh battery along with many improvements over the previous generation Mi Max.
The Mi Max 2 has a unibody metal design along with the same 6.44-inch display, and yes it still has big bezels. The phone will be available with 4 GB of RAM and 64 or 128 GB of storage. The phone with the larger capacity will cost RMB 1999. the phone will go on sale in China starting the 1st of June. Specs include :
2.0GHz Snapdragon 625 processor
Android 7.0 Nougat with MIUI 8
4GB RAM
64GB or 128GB storage
12MP rear camera
5MP front-facing camera
Rear fingerprint sensor
USB-C port
The new Mi Max is expected to launch in India by the end of June for a price of Rs. 16999 for the 64 GB variant. Xiaomi may also push updates of MIUI in India to some of it’s old phones early this summer.
DJI has launched a brand new compact drone called the Spark, the drone had leaked in images earlier this year. The new drone has some interesting features and may be great drone for first time drone owners.
The Spark has a 2 axis gimbal and shoots video at 1080p resolutions, in comparison with the DJI Mavic the drone has lesser resolution. However, the drone can be controlled with hand gestures and also features the ability to be flown directly from the DJI app on your smartphone, without the need of a controller.
The DJI Spark has a 1/2.3” CMOS sensor that captures 12 megapixel photos, and most of the fight systems are controlled by the forward-facing 3D Sensing System, dual-band GPS and GLONASS, a high-precision inertial measurement unit, and 24 powerful computing cores built into the tiny Spark .
The spark offers 16 minutes of flight time with Lithium polymer battery, and can be flown with the Remote controller accessory. While the Spark starts at US $500 in the United States and other markets, in India, the retail price of a DJI Spark, including an aircraft, a battery, a USB charger and three pairs of propellers, is INR 43,000.
The Spark Fly More Combo includes an aircraft, two batteries, four pairs of propellers, a remote controller, propeller guards, a charging hub, a shoulder bag and all necessary cables, with a retail price of INR 60,000.
Looks like Samsung may launch a tougher and more rugged version of the Galaxy S8 after all. The Samsung Galaxy S8 Active just went up on the wireless power consortiums website.
Major appearance changes include a tough rugged back panel and a flat display with slight bezels on both sides mimicking the LG G6 in it’s design. There are still no frontal buttons on the phone and the finger print scanner appears to remain at the back if at all on the phone.
With not a lot given to go by, the phone is expected to be the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 variant launched exclusively for At&t with a release date of second week of June.
HTC has launched the new U11 at an event in Taipei. The HTC U11 will be the company’s successor the the HTC 10 and their new flagship for the year 2017.
The company sticks strongly to their brand philosophy and wants to continue their U series of phones forward, and to make that happen the design for HTC plays an important role. The HTC U11 continues the Liquid surface design seen on the HTC U ultra, but, the similarities mostly end there.
The HTC U11 is sleeker and more refined, built with Gorilla Glass 5 protection, which is a good thing considering the front and back are glass. The metal frame holds everything together and the phone looks great with a good play of colors using the glass layering technique on the back of the phone.
The phone also manages clean lines with a flush back and a tiny camera bump along with IP67 water resistance, making this the first HTC flagship with any kind of weather resistance. The phone has been launched in 5 colors all of which will be coming to most markets including India, the Brilliant Black, Amazing Silver, Ice white, Sapphire Blue and Solar Red.
On the specs front HTC has pretty much upped the game, for markets like India this will be the first Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset equipped handset from any manufacturer. HTC will also only launch the 6 GB RAM and 128 GB storage variant in India and plans to price it competitively against the Samsung Galaxy S8. Other markets including US , Europe and Australia will get the 4GB + 64GB variant in the first wave. The front has a 5.5 inch 2560 x 1440 px display with a Super LCD panel, the fingerprint sensor and capacitive back and menu buttons sit on the bottom chin of the phone.
The HTC U11 has a new 12 MP utra-pixel camera module with a 1.4 micron pixel size , f/1.7 aperture and dual pixel autofocus. The 5 axis optical image stabilization on the back camera merges with EIS like on the Google Pixel to give a mix of both worlds and really steady shots even in low light. The video is captured at 4k @30fps and will work with gyro based electronic image stabilization which too is a pretty good example of leveraging the power of the new chipset and software for a good outcome.
The front camera is 16 MP sensor which does have an f/2.0 aperture but no auto focus. The front camera also has a wide angle lens and manages to do a good job in low light.
The main camera on the HTC U11 is the highest rated with a DXO mark score of 90. The camera also has interesting modes built in including a full PRO mode with RAW capture and HDR boost which works to get the best result in poorly lit conditions.
The HTC U11 launches with Android 7.1.1 out of the box and will feature the ability to use Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa which launches in July as a play store app. Interestingly users will be able to use both assistants at the same time, ideally because one may not be able to the function of the other. The HTC Companion assistant will also reside on the phone as a contextual assistant, again leveraging the power of the 835 chipset.
The new layer of HTC Sense is super clean and intuitive, HTC continues to remove redundancy from their apps, so you mostly get a stock android experience with continued customizations offered via the HTC themes.
The main feature of the HTC U11 is the “Edge Sense”, a feature that allows you to squeeze the edges of the phone to be able to initiate a task, initially things like launching an app, or turning on the flashlight. Later the company wants to enable automations based on the Squeeze feature, allowing you to set up tasks that you would normally need to tap on the screen to achieve. For eg. one squeeze could in theory, click a picture, launch Instagram, and share that image including preset text and filters.
For now the Edge Sense will be restricted to app and feature launches. The Edge sense needs to be setup the first time you start the phone, deciding how strong a squeeze you need for the phone to activate.
The HTC U11 will include noise cancelling U sonic in earphones inside the box, the earphones will map your ear canal and do a tone setup to give you the best sound and this works really well. The new noise cancellation feature works with the USB-C port which allows two way data flow. HTC will also include a dongle for Usb C to 3.5 mm headphone jack, this tiny dongle includes a DAC which in itself is a feat.
The HTC U11 will be manufactured in Taiwan at the HTC plant in Taipei, which has one of the strongest standards and best assembly lines in the world. The U11 goes through various layers of testing before making it to the final box. The factory which has a futuristic assembly line, run by 50% robots, tests each component of each phone before the phone is packed into a box. Then each packed phone goes through a quality check where each aspect including aesthetic and internals of the HTC U11 are checked by quality control engineers.
HTC’s U11 manufacturing process is too difficult to shift out of the company’s own manufacturing unit and they want to bring back their gold standard when it comes to build quality and general quality assurance.
HTC wants to sell the HTC U11 in markets like India, Malaysia, Thailand etc within one week of global sale which starts first week of June. The company is strongly focused on the right pricing and wants to fix their mistakes of the past. While the European price of the phone is Euro 749, the Indian market will see the phone for around Rs. 55000-57000 making it a strong competition for the Exynos equipped Samsung Galaxy S8
OnePlus has confirmed that the next OnePlus phone will be called the OnePlus 5 and will launch in the summer. The company has denied any superstitious reasons behind not using the number 4 and instead warranted the use of the number 5 for the OnePlus 5 as an inspiration from Ex-NBA star Robert Horry.
The OnePlus 5 will be the successor to the OnePlus 3 and 3T. The name OnePlus 5 has been inspired by former NBA player Robert Horry, who has a huge fan-following among OnePlus staff members. OnePlus’s Shenzhen office sports two Robert Horry’s paintings andhis number five jersey inspired the smartphone’s name.
While the reasons may be many rumours for the next OnePlus device have not slowed down. A new screenshot of the upcoming phone’s settings panel reassures that the news of 8 GB RAM in the OnePlus 5 may be authentic.
The OnePlus 5 is expected to run on the Snapdragon 835 chipset with a new 5.5 inch 2560 x 1440px AMOLED display and a dual rear camera setup sporting a 23 MP capture. The front camera on the OnePlus 5 is expected to be 16 MP along with 4000 mAh battery with what the company will call Dash Charge 2.
A new leak of the Moto Z2 Play by Evan Blass shows that while the company is strongly following their modular policy the Moto Z2 Play will slim down considerably but not without losing about 15-20 hours from it’s impressive usage time.
This may not go down well with the fans of the Z Play who were planning an upgrade this year. The design according to the leaks is still reminiscent of the the first-gen Z Play, while the hardware on the inside will see minor improvements. The Moto Z2 Play is expected to run on the Snapdragon 626 at 2.2GHz clock speed with the same Adreno 506 GPU.
On the memory front the upgrade to both RAM and storage is expected with a 4GB RAM and 64GB onboard combination. The Display on the Moto Z2 Play is expected to be the exact same 5.5 inch 1920 x 1080p display.
On the optics front the Z2 Play will feature the same 5 MP camera but the rear camera will feature the newer 12 MP f1.7 sensor seen on the Moto G Plus with some improvements on image processing and clicking capabilities. The Moto Z2 Play is expected to launch in two colors i.e. Lunar Gray and Fine Gold and will ship with refreshed Moto Z and Moto Z Force along with new E Series, X Series and Moto C phones in the coming months.
