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HTC U12 Plus

The HTC U12 Plus is a 2018 flagship smartphone thanks to its top-notch specifications. HTC adopted a new design language with the U11+ and has continued with that for the U12 Plus as well. The smartphone has an 18:9 aspect ratio with thin bezels all around the display. It is worth noting that the company has not completely given in to the smartphone trends. The device does not support a notch, unlike modern flagship devices like the OnePlus 6, LG G7 ThinQ and more.

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Latest News

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May 23, 2018
HTC U12 Plus With Four Cameras, Snapdragon 845, Pressure Sensitive Buttons Launched

The month of May has been an exciting one for smartphone enthusiasts around the globe. OnePlus launched the OnePlus 6, which has been well-received by consumers so far and Xiaomi is all set to launch the Mi 8 on May 31st. HTC, which last launched a flagship smartphone in November 2017, has unveiled the new HTC U12 Plus at an event in New York.

On the 30th of January, the Google-HTC deal worth US$ 1.1 billion was finalised. The acquisition saw the transfer of over 2,000 engineers from HTC. Along with the transfer, Google also received a non-exclusive license for HTC’s intellectual property. HTC announced at the time that the company will continue making smartphones and the HTC U12 Plus is the third smartphone launched since the deal was closed.

The U12 Plus is a 2018 flagship smartphone thanks to its top-notch specifications. HTC adopted a new design language with the U11+ and has continued with that for the U12 Plus as well. The smartphone has an 18:9 aspect ratio with thin bezels all around the display. It is worth noting that the company has not completely given in to the smartphone trends. The device does not support a notch, unlike modern flagship devices like the OnePlus 6, LG G7 ThinQ and more.

The HTC U12 Plus has an all-glass design with an aluminium frame. The liquid glass design retains its place along with impressive colour variants. The Solar Red on the HTC U11 continues to be one of the best colour variants on a smartphone. With the U11+, HTC introduced a translucent colour variant, wherein the internals of the device are visible from the back. This time around, the translucent colour has a blue hue to it and in the images at least, looks impressive. The smartphone is also IP68 rated for water and dust resistance.

The U12 Plus has a 6 inch Super LCD6 display with a 2880 x 1440 px resolution and 537 ppi. It would have been great to see an OLED display here but, HTC has stuck to an LCD panel just like the U11 and U11+.

Under the hood, the HTCU12 Plus runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset coupled with 6GB of RAM and either 64GB or 128GB storage. The onboard storage is expandable up to 400GB via a microSD card slot. The fingerprint sensor sits on the back of the smartphone. The physical buttons like the volume rockers are now replaced with pressure-sensitive buttons. This means that pressing these buttons won’t give you a physical feedback instead, there will be a haptic feedback.

Powering the device is a 3500 mAh battery which charges via a USB C port. The headphone jack is missing, just like the U11+. Out of the box, the U12 Plus will run Android 8 Oreo with HTC Sense UI on top.

Edge Sense is another feature that HTC has made its own in the past couple of years. This time around, there is Edge Sense 2.0 which takes things up a notch. The Edge Sense panel will now have the ability to sense where your hands are. This means that if you’re using the phone with one hand, you can tap twice with your thumb to shrink the display. Other Edge Sense features are also present, wherein users can squeeze the frame of the device to launch a particular app or action.

The HTC U12 Plus is also the first device in the U series to feature dual-camera setup. HTC has gone a step further and introduced a dual-camera setup on the front and back both. The back consists of a 12MP primary sensor with an f/1.75 aperture and a 16MP telephoto lens with an f/2.6 aperture. The U12 Plus also has the ability to record 4K videos at 60fps. The front of the device houses a dual 8MP setup wherein both the sensors have an f/2.0 aperture that records 1080P videos.

The HTC U12 Plus is priced at US$ 799 for the base model and US$ 849 for the 128GB storage variant in the US. There are no details about launch and availability of the U12 Plus in India as of now.

May 23, 2018
MIUI 10 To Launch On May 31st Along With Mi 8

Xiaomi has confirmed that a May 31st event to celebrate 8 years of the company will be held in China. The Xiaomi Mi 8 will launch at the event along with a few other products. The Mi Band 3 has also been rumoured to launch at the event. The company has taken to Twitter to confirm that the next iteration of MIUI will also launch at the May 31st event. MIUI 10 will follow MIUI 9 which was announced in late-July 2017.

The teaser released by Xiaomi has some text written under the number ’10’. It roughly translates to “I will be faster than lighting.” This is in line with the Mi 8 teaser which read “I am Mi 8 and I will be faster than ever.” This suggests that the Mi 8 will be the first smartphone to run MIUI 10 out of the box. While there are no details about MIUI 10 so far, it is expected to be based on Android 8 Oreo.

Must Read: OPPO Realme 1 Launched In India Starting Rs 8990

With Android P just a couple of months away from official launch, Xiaomi smartphones after the Mi 8 will launch with Android 8 Oreo out of the box. It’ll be interesting to see how quickly Xiaomi releases updates to the latest version of Android since that has been one of the main concerns for people using MIUI. With Project Treble, the timeline of updates should be shorter but, how short that will be, only time will tell.

Mi 8

The focus will surely remain on the Mi 8. The smartphone is expected to have 3D facial recognition technology, similar to the iPhone X. If this turns out to be true, the Xiaomi Mi 8 will be the first ever Android smartphone to feature such technology. Just like what the Mi MIX did in 2016, the Mi 8 might set a precedent for upcoming Android devices in terms of biometrics.

Must Read: iGyaan Tech Tips: How To Install Third-Party Apps On Xiaomi Mi TV 4

The launch event is just a few days away and it’ll be interesting to see if Xiaomi plans to celebrate the 8th anniversary just in China or will other countries like India will be a part of its plans.

May 23, 2018
Tesla iPhone X Has A Solar Battery And Costs US$ 4590

The Apple iPhone X was launched in September 2017 with a price tag of US$ 999 (excluding taxes). While the iPhone X is the priciest iPhone ever made by Apple, it is barely the priciest smartphone in the world. Special edition Porsche smartphones from Huawei are extremely pricey and so are custom made devices. One such custom-made iPhone X is the Tesla iPhone X which costs a mind-boggling US$ 4590 (Rs 3,13,000 approx.). For context, the iPhone X 256GB is priced at Rs 1,02,000 in India.

The Tesla iPhone X is no ordinary iPhone by any means. Russian phone accessory maker Caviar is known for making over the top, highly expensive phone cases. The Tesla iPhone X, however, is not a phone case. It’s a phone case pre-attached to an iPhone X. The Tesla moniker is dedicated to Elon Musk for its contribution to the industry of sustainable energy.

The development in the sphere of creating solar batteries, smart homes, equipped with such batteries and vehicles working on the electricity, is actively carried out by Elon Musk today – the main mastermind of the Tesla Company; in honour of his great innovative developments, the new Caviar phone was named.

Must Read: Samsung Galaxy S8 Burgundy Red Is The Best Colour On A Smartphone

Other than Elon Musk, there is a reason why Caviar decided to name it Tesla and not some other brand. The Tesla iPhone X has a solar battery that transforms the light energy and replenishes the phone battery power with its help. According to the Caviar website, “This phone gets power literally from the air! This is the purest energy, for getting which no expenses are needed.”

The Tesla iPhone X will be available in a black colour variant with a shock resistant case. The overall black colour has gold accents on the smartphone which give it a different look than many other smartphones. According to Business Insider, the first Tesla iPhone X will be be sent to Elon Musk.

May 23, 2018
Meizu 6T With Dual Cameras, 18:9 Aspect Ratio To Launch On May 29th

Founded in 2003, Meizu is one of the many smartphone brands to branch out of China in recent years. The company has a few interesting smartphones in its portfolio including the Meizu Note 8 which looks uncannily similar to a certain Galaxy Note8. Apart from lookalikes, the company has its own distinguished smartphones as well, one of them will be the Meizu 6T, scheduled to launch on May 29th in China.

The company set the date for the unveiling of its new budget smartphone without giving much away about the device. However, the Meizu M811Q that recently got certified by TENNA is, in all certainty, the Meizu 6T. The smartphone will be China-exclusive and probably won’t make its way to other countries like India.

The Meizu 6T will have a 5.7 inch display with a 1440 x 720 px resolution and a 2.5D curved glass on top. The 18:9 aspect ratio and HD+ resolution has become very common among budget smartphones these days.

Under the hood, the 6T will run on a 1.5GHzocta-core processor. This processor will be paired with 2GB/3GB/4GB RAM and 16GB/32GB/64GB storage, respectively. The storage will be expandable up to 128GB via a microSD card. Whether the 6T will have a separate microSD card slot is yet to be seen. The fingerprint sensor lies on the back of the device just below the camera module.

Must Read: Nokia X6 Will Launch In India Soon

Powering the Meizu 6T is a 3230mAh battery which will charge via a micro USB slot. Out of the box, the smartphone will run Android 7 Nougat with FlymeOS on top. It is still baffling to see smartphones launching in mid-2018 running Android 7 Nougat.

The 6T has a dual-camera setup on the back, consisting of a 13MP primary camera and a 2MP depth sensor. The depth sensor will allow for portrait shots, a popular feature among smartphones. To the front is an 8MP camera.

OnePlus recently hinted at the launch of the OnePlus 6T, which is expected to debut in Q4 2018. But, it looks like Meizu will beat its Chinese counterpart on the launch of a 6T!

May 23, 2018
OnePlus 6T To Follow OnePlus 6 In Q4 2018

OnePlus launched its 2018 flagship smartphone, the OnePlus 6 on May 16th in London. It was subsequently launched in India on May 17th and went on sale May 21st. One of the main talking points of the OnePlus 6 has been the absence of wireless charging despite the company moving on to a glass back. This has resulted in people quipping about the OnePlus 6T featuring wireless charging instead. While it has been conjecture so far about the 6T, the company has seemingly confirmed the OnePlus 6 will launch later this year.

OnePlus hosted an AMA about the OnePlus 6 and a lot of people were apparently interested in the OnePlus 6T. While the company did not outright confirm the OnePlus 6T, it did talk about the launch pattern the company wants to follow. To questions about the OnePlus 6T, developer’s replied:

We don’t have any plans to change our strategy at this moment.

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Since 2016, OnePlus has followed the two smartphones a year pattern. The OnePlus 5, for example, was launched in June 2017 and the 5T was launched in the following November. Since the OnePlus 6 was launched a month earlier, we can expect the OnePlus 6T to launch in October or November. The OnePlus 6T, when launched, will address some of the issues of the OnePlus 6 and also adopt new features.

OnePlus has been praised for the speed of its Face Unlock feature. It isn’t, however, the more secure feature. The soon to be launched Mi 8 is expected to be the first Android smartphone to feature 3D facial recognition technology. It will be interesting to see if OnePlus tries to emulate Xiaomi and adopt the technology for the 6T. Wireless charging, as well, could be introduced with the OnePlus 6T if enough people are upset about its absence.

It is worth noting that the company has not explicitly confirmed the launch of the OnePlus 6T. It is likely but, you can’t be certain until the company officially announces it.

May 22, 2018
Honor 7A, Honor 7C Launched In India Starting Rs 8999

Huawei’s sub-brand Honor has launched some great budget smartphones over the past few months. The Honor 9 Lite, especially, for its price has been a great device in the congested sub-10K category. To add to its budget smartphone portfolio, the company has launched the Honor 7A and Honor 7C in India.

The Honor 7A is priced at Rs 8999 and will be available in only one variant. The smartphone will go on sale via Flipkart from 12 pm on May 29th. The Honor 7C is priced at Rs 9999 for the 3GB RAM/32GB storage variant, while its 4GB RAM/64GB storage variant will retail for Rs 11999. The Honor 7C will be sold via Amazon at 12 pm from May 31st.

Honor 7A

The Honor 7A has a 5.7 inch IPS LCD display with a 1440 x 720 px and a 2.5 D curved glass for protection. It has an 18:9 aspect ratio which has become the norm for budget smartphones in India.

Under the hood, the device runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 Octa-core chipset with 3GB RAM and 32GB onboard storage. Additionally, the smartphone supports memory expansion up to 256GB.

The Honor 7A has a 3000 mAh sealed battery with a micro USB port for charging and data syncing. The phone runs on the latest Android 8 Oreo OS with custom EMUI 8.0 skin on the top.

The Honor 7A has a dual setup with a 13MP RGB sensor and a 2MP depth sensor. The main sensor will help the smartphone to capture the picture and the secondary sensor will add the depth effect. The device has an 8MP front-facing camera with support for Face Unlock and 1080p video recording capability.

Honor 7C

The Honor 7C has a 5.99 inch IPS LCD display with a 1440 x 720 px and a 2.5D curved glass on top.

Under the hood, the smartphone has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 Octa-core chipset with 3GB/4GB RAM and 32/64GB storage. Similarly, the storage is expandable using a micro SD card up to 256GB.

The Honor 7C has a 3000 mAh sealed battery with a micro USB port for charging and data syncing. The phone runs on the latest Android 8 Oreo OS with custom EMUI 8.0 skin on the top.

The phone has a dual primary camera setup with a 13MP primary sensor and a 2MP depth sensor. There is an 8MP front-facing camera which. In fact, both the cameras support portrait mode with 1080p video recording capability.

The Honor 7A and Honor 7C have decent specifications for the price, however, devices like the Redmi Note 5 have a 1080P display and run on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 SoC. The smartphones go on sale this month and there will definitely be suitors for the smartphones.

May 22, 2018
Xiaomi Mi 8 To Cost Around Rs 30000

The CEO of Xiaomi Lei Jun took to Weibo and announced an event for May 31st in Shenzhen, China. At the event, the company is expected to announce the Xiaomi Mi 8, its new flagship smartphone that will succeed the Mi 6 from 2017. A new leaked image has shed some light on the specifications and possible pricing of the smartphone.

The image reveals that the Mi 8 will run on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset, something that was confirmed way back in December 2017. The smartphone will have a 6.01 inch display with a taller display. Since the smartphone will have a notch, the aspect ratio could be 19.5:9, same as the iPhone X. Popular Android smartphones like the OnePlus 6, Huawei P20 Pro with a notch have a 19:9 aspect ratio. The resolution is expected to be FullHD+ and not more than that.

Must Read: Xiaomi Mi 8 With A Notch Spotted In The Wild

The image also mentions 3D facial recognition technology. This will be the most talked-about feature of the Mi 8, as the smartphone will be the first Android device to feature 3D facial recognition system. This system will be similar to Apple’s Face ID which replaced Touch ID in the iPhone X. It will be interesting to see if Xiaomi does the same, or will it leave it to the users to choose between a fingerprint sensor or Face Unlock.

The interesting bit here is the pricing mentioned in the image. According to the leaked image, the Mi 8 will be cheaper than the Mi MIX 2s, which starts at 3299 Yuan (Rs 32,999). The Xiaomi Mi 8 will retail in two variants, one with 6GB RAM/64GB storage will be priced at 2,799 Yuan (Rs 29,800 approx.) and the other variant with 8GB RAM/128GB storage at 3,199 Yuan (Rs 34000 approx.). If the Mi 8 makes its way out to countries like India, it will compete with the likes of Honor 10 and OnePlus 6.

At the end of the day, it is still a leaked image which means take all the information with a pinch of salt. With such expensive technology being used for 3D facial recognition, it is hard to believe that the Mi 8 won’t be a bit on the pricier side of the smartphone spectrum. All details about the smartphone will be revealed at the May 31st launch in China.

May 22, 2018
OnePlus Explains Why OnePlus 6 Doesn’t Have Wireless Technology

Way before its official launch, the OnePlus 6 was confirmed to have an all-glass design. This announcement by OnePlus gave rise to speculations about the OnePlus 6 having wireless charging. At the launch event, the company did not mention wireless charging and said that wireless charging right now, is not as good as dash charging. Dash CHarging is OnePlus’ proprietary form of wires charging which has been impressive over the years.

As much as dash charging is good, there are many users who still like wireless charging. OnePlus has cleared the air around the decision taken about omitting wireless charging from the OnePlus 6. When asked about it, a OnePlus representative said:

We don’t really feel the need to add wireless charging. We’re not going to add a feature just for the sake of it.

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Back in November 2017, before the launch of the OnePlus 5T, the company confirmed that it won’t have wireless charging. Pete Lau, co-founder of OnePlus shared two reasons why the company decided to not include a popular feature in the OnePlus 5T:

Reason 1: Wired quick charging solutions like ours clearly outshine wireless on quantitative measures. Just plug your device in, and Dash Charge produces 20 watts of power, reliably giving a day’s power in half an hour.

Reason 2: Dash Charge gives you enough power for the day with just one charging session. All you need is the Dash Charge cable and adaptor to consistently power your device at superior rate. It doesn’t matter whether you’re gaming or streaming video. Dash Charge stays cool and power efficient.

It appears that the company still believes the two reasons are enough to not include wireless charging, even after moving on to a glass back. There is no doubt that Dash Charging is faster than wireless charging. The company believes that the cons of adding wireless charging outweigh the pros. Adding extra hardware for wireless charging would drive up the price of the smartphone as well.

There will be a percentage of users who would want wireless charging and still buy the OnePlus 6 because of the price and features it has. However, if more people complain about the absence of wireless charging, it won’t be surprising to see the feature debut in the OnePlus 6T, later this year.

May 22, 2018
Xiaomi Mi Max 3 To Launch In July 2018

Xiaomi still believes that there is a market for phablets in today’s world. The companies ‘Mi Max’ series has been hugely popular thanks to the display size and price point of the devices. The Mi Max 2 was launched on July 27th, 2017 and there have been a lot of rumours about the Mi Max 3. Xiaomi’s CEO Lei Jun has confirmed that the Mi Max 3 will follow the same pattern and launch in July this year.

Xiaomi Mi Max 3 Early Leaks

We are almost halfway into 2018 and with every smartphone launch, it is becoming harder to differentiate between a smartphone and a phablet. Till a couple of years ago, the average screen size of smartphones used to hover between 5 to 5.5 inch. That, however, has changed ever since companies started adopting the 18:9 aspect ratio and shrunk the bezels. Most of the budget smartphones launched these days have a 6 inch display, bridging the gap between a phablet and a smartphone.

Lei Jun took to Weibo to announce that the company’s Shenzhen event will take place in May-end. He was then asked by many users about the Mi Max 3’s launch date. He responded to the queries by writing that the Mi Max 3 is, “estimated to be released in July and is not ready yet.” This timeline makes sense as well since the Mi Max and Mi Max 2 were released in the month of July as well. The company would want to maintain a launch pattern for some of its devices, especially with the Mi 8 launching later than expected.

Mi Max 3 Renders

The Xiaomi Mi Max 3 is expected to run on either Snapdragon 660 or Snapdragon 636. The smartphone will have a 7 inch IPS LCD display with a 2160 x 1080 px resolution and an 18:9 aspect ratio. The phablet will certainly have a big screen but, it will no longer be a massive screen real estate upgrade over other budget smartphones. The Redmi Note 5 Pro, for example, has a 6 inch display with a 2160 x 1080 px resolution.

May 22, 2018
Xiaomi Mi 8 With A Notch Spotted In The Wild

The Xiaomi Mi 8, or formerly known as the Mi 7 has been a part of multiple leaks of late. It is rumoured that Xiaomi is planning to launch the Mi 8 to celebrate the company’s eighth anniversary, hence will skip the Mi 7 moniker. This strategy is very similar to Apple’s, which launched the iPhone X to celebrate 10 years of iPhones, instead of launching an iPhone 9. It appears that this won’t be the only thing in common between the Mi 8 and iPhone X.

A new image posted on the Chinese social media website, Weibo reveals an alleged prototype of the Xiaomi Mi 8. The image shows a smartphone in line with many rumours and renders, with an iPhone X style notch thin bezels around the other three sides. However, there is still a chin larger than the iPhone X’s and similar to the OnePlus 6. The notch is very prominent and different from the ones found on recent Android smartphones.

The notch resembles the iPhone X’s notch a lot. That is mainly because it is rumoured to have a 3D facial recognition technology, similar to the iPhone X’s Face ID. The module is designed by Xiaomi itself and will include an Infrared (IR) sensor, a dot projector, front-facing camera, earpiece, ambient light sensor, and a proximity sensor. For context, the iPhone X notch houses an Infrared camera, flood illuminator, a dot projector, and a front-facing camera along with necessary sensors.

Must Read: Xiaomi Mi 7 In-Display Fingerprint Sensor Revealed In Leaked Video

Mi 8 Animojis

Another interesting aspect of the leaked image is a possibility of Xiaomi’s own version of Animojis. In the image, the user is texting someone and an animoji-like panda emoji is in the predictive text bar. Animojis as a feature has been well received and Xiaomi would want to take full advantage of its 3D facial recognition technology. Samsung’s 3D emojis failed to impress due to the lack of a depth-sensing camera but, that won’t be the case with the Mi 8.

iPhone X Animojis

The chin on the Mi 8, although prominent, is nowhere near the size of the one found on Huawei P20 Pro. The Mi 8 will have an OLED display which means Xiaomi would have been able to bend the display from the bottom toi reduce the size of the chin. The OLED display also means that there is a possibility of an in-display fingerprint sensor, although, it doesn’t make sense for Xiaomi to incorporate two expensive technologies in one smartphone.

Must Read: OPPO Realme 1 Launched In India Starting Rs 8990

There are no concrete details about the launch yet, however, these leaked images mean the unveiling isn’t too far away. Stay tuned for more updates!

May 21, 2018
Samsung Galaxy J6, Galaxy J8 Launched In India Starting Rs 13990

Samsung launched four new budget smartphones in India on May 21st. The pricier of the four are the Galaxy A6 and A6+ while the Galaxy J6 and J8 are the company’s sub-20K smartphones. Samsung has had a successful start to 2018 with its flagship smartphones, the Galaxy S9 and S9+. Samsung has launched two great smartphones in 2018 so far, the Galaxy S9 and S9+. The company’s budget offerings, on the other hand, have been underwhelming, to say the least. Brands like Xiaomi, Asus and now Realme, have far more superior budget devices than what Samsung has launched in India so far.

The Samsung Galaxy J6 will retail in India at a starting price of Rs 13990 for the 32GB storage variant, while the 64GB variant will cost Rs 16490. The priciest of the two will be the Galaxy J8, which is priced at Rs 18990 for the Indian market. The Galaxy J6 and J8 will go on sale in India on May 22nd and June 20th, respectively, via Flipkart, Paytm Mall, Samsung India E-Store, and Samsung retail stores offline.

Samsung Galaxy J6

The Galaxy J6, priced at Rs 13990, has a 5.6 inch Super AMOLED display with a 1480 x 720 px resolution. The company’s “Infinity Display” has trickled down to the Galaxy A series as well as the device has an 18.5:9 aspect ratio.

Under the hood, it runs on the Exynos 7870 chipset coupled with 3GB RAM/32GB storage or 4GB RAM/64GB storage. The storage will be expandable up to 256GB storage via microSD card. The fingerprint sensor is placed on the back of the device right below the camera module. Powering the smartphone is a 3000 mAh battery.

The Galaxy A6 has a 13MP rear camera with an f/1.9 aperture, while the front of the device houses an 8MP sensor with an f/1.9 aperture.

Samsung Galaxy J8

Galaxy A6+

The Galaxy J8 has a 6 inch Super AMOLED display with a 2220 x 1080 px resolution. This also translates into an 18.5:9 aspect ratio.

Under the hood, the smartphone runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 chipset coupled with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard storage. The storage can be expanded up to 256GB storage via microSD card. The fingerprint sensor is placed on the back of the device right below the camera module. Powering the smartphone is a 3500 mAh battery.

The camera setup gets an upgrade here, too. The Galaxy J8 has a 16MP primary sensor with an f/1.7 aperture along with a 5MP secondary sensor with an f/1.9 aperture. To the front is a 16MP sensor with an f/1.9 aperture.

The Galaxy J6 and Galaxy J8 are much more affordable than the Galaxy A6 and A6+ without missing out on too many features. However, it’ll be interesting to see how the two smartphones do in the price category with the likes of Redmi Note 5 Pro, Zenfone Max Pro and others.

May 21, 2018
Samsung Galaxy A6, Galaxy A6+ Launched In India Starting Rs 21990

Samsung has launched two great smartphones in 2018 so far, the Galaxy S9 and S9+. The company’s budget offerings, on the other hand, have been underwhelming, to say the least. Brands like Xiaomi, Asus and now Realme, have far more superior budget devices than what Samsung has launched in India so far. In a bid to take control of the budget smartphone market again, Samsung has launched the Galaxy A6, A6+ in India on May 21st.

The Samsung Galaxy A6 will retail in India at a starting price of Rs 21,990 for the 32GB storage variant, while the 64GB variant will cost Rs 22990. The priciest of the two will be the Galaxy A6+, which is priced at Rs 25990 for the Indian market. The Galaxy A6 and A6+ will go on sale in India on May 22nd via Amazon, Paytm Mall, Samsung India E-Store, and Samsung retail stores offline.

Samsung Galaxy A6

The Galaxy A6, priced at Rs 21990, has a 5.6 inch Super AMOLED display with a 1480 x 720 px resolution. The company’s “Infinity Display” has trickled down to the Galaxy A series as well as the device has an 18.5:9 aspect ratio.

Under the hood, it runs on the Exynos 7 series chipset coupled with 3GB RAM/32GB storage or 4GB RAM/64GB storage. The storage will be expandable up to 256GB storage via microSD card. The fingerprint sensor is placed on the back of the device right below the camera module. Powering the smartphone is a 3000 mAh battery.

The Galaxy A6 has a 16MP rear camera with an f/1.7 aperture, while the front of the device houses a 16MP sensor with an f/1.9 aperture.

Samsung Galaxy A6+

Justifying its ‘Plus’ moniker, the Galaxy A6+ has a 6 inch Super AMOLED display with a 2220 x 1080 px resolution. This also translates into an 18.5:9 aspect ratio.

Under the hood, the smartphone runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 chipset coupled with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard storage. The storage can be expanded up to 256GB storage via microSD card. The fingerprint sensor is placed on the back of the device right below the camera module. Powering the smartphone is a 3500 mAh battery.

The camera setup gets an upgrade here, too. The Galaxy A6+ has a 16MP primary sensor with an f/1.7 aperture along with a 5MP secondary sensor with an f/1.9 aperture. To the front is a 24MP sensor with an f/1.9 aperture.

At a price of Rs 21990, the Galaxy A6 only has an HD+ display, while devices like the Moto X4 have a 1080P display along with a premium all-glass build. Even the Galaxy A6+ only has the Snapdragon 450 chipset at a price of Rs 25990 while the Nokia 7 Plus runs on the Snapdragon 660 SoC. The smartphones go on sale on May 22nd, although, it’s hard to judge who the targeted audience is for these smartphones.

May 21, 2018
Moto G6 To Launch In India On June 4th

Motorola recently launched the new iteration of its highly successful G series, the Moto G6 and Moto G6 Play. Even before the launch, it was imminent that the Moto G6 series of smartphones will launch in India before a lot of other markets thanks to the success of previous gen Moto G devices like the Moto G, G4 Plus, G5 Plus and more. It now appears that the date has been set for the launch of the Moto G6 in India.

An Amazon listing reveals that the Moto G6 launch has been scheduled for June 4th in India. The pricing and launch offers will only be revealed on the day of the launch. However, considering the popularity of Moto G series of smartphones in India, we expect the pricing to be leaked ahead of its launch.

The G6 has a 5.7 inch LCD display with a 2160×1080 resolution. This translates into an 18:9 aspect ratio, a first for the Moto G series.

Under the hood, the Moto G6 runs on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 which has eight 1.8GHz Cortex A53 Cores (14nm) and is basically the Snapdragon 625 rebranded. The Adreno 506 GPU adds the graphic prowess with either 3GB or 4GB RAM option bundled with a 32GB or 64GB storage option.

The Moto G6 does get the USB C charging capabilities along with a 15w charger, but that is bundled with a smaller 3000mAh battery.

At the back is the dual camera setup, which has a pair camera one a 12MP camera while a 5MP secondary camera for depth effects. Much like previous phones from the company, you can apply a depth-of-field effect to a photo after it is shot, thanks to saved depth information. You will also get effects like a selective black-and-white mode, a time-lapse feature, face filters, motion photos and visual search for objects and landmarks. The camera will also do OCR (optical character recognition) for text.

The launch is just a couple of weeks away and the Moto G6 can be a promising device if priced correctly. Going by the Lenovo-owned brand’s track record, we can expect the Moto G6 to be priced competitively for the Indian market!

May 21, 2018
Xiaomi Mi 8 Renders With iPhone X Like Notch Leaked

Xiaomi has launched a really good flagship smartphone in 2018, the Mi MIX 2s. Before the Mi MIX 2s announcement, it was highly anticipated that the Chinese smartphone maker will launch the Mi 7 at MWC 2018 instead. However, the company pushed the launch of the Mi 7 for a later date and it now appears that the Mi 7 might not launch at all. Xiaomi will instead launch the Mi 8, to commemorate its eighth anniversary. The Xiaomi Mi 8 might be one of the most ambitious smartphones from Xiaomi, and new renders of the device reveal the possible design.

The leaked renders of the Mi 8 imagine the smartphone with an iPhone X like notch and extremely thin bezels around the other three sides. The notch is bigger than the one found on the Huawei P20 Pro or OnePlus 6, and resemble the iPhone X instead. This is mainly due to the huge amount of sensors stuffed inside the Mi 8 notch. The smartphone is expected to be the first Android device to feature iPhone X like 3D facial recognition technology.

A recently leaked image of the notch of the Mi 8 revealed the all the sensors that will make the facial recognition system possible. The module is designed by Xiaomi itself and will include an Infrared (IR) sensor, a dot projector, front-facing camera, earpiece, ambient light sensor, and a proximity sensor. For context, the iPhone X notch houses an Infrared camera, flood illuminator, a dot projector, and a front-facing camera along with necessary sensors.

Coincidently, the image looks very similar to Apple’s promotional images of the notch. For context, the iPhone X notch houses an Infrared camera, flood illuminator, a dot projector, and a front-facing camera along with necessary sensors. If Xiaomi pulls it off and these reports have any weight of truth, the Mi 7 could be a very interesting Android smartphone. The Mi 7 could be what the Mi MIX was for Android devices in 2016 with its nearly bezel-less design. Companies like Samsung, Huawei, Google will also look to implement a similar technology sooner rather than later if the Mi 7 is launched with 3D facial recognition technology.

The images also reveal that the Mi 8 won’t have a chin like other Android smartphones with a notch. This means that Xiaomi could also an OLED display, in order to bend it from the bottom and shrink the chin. There are no details about the launch of the smartphone yet.

May 21, 2018