Tag: review

YU Yuphoria Review : Segment Changer

There are no surprises that the first lot of the Yuphoria sold out within seconds. The inception of YU as a brand is relatively recent. However, Micromax, its parent company, has been around for a while. Yu was started as an online exclusive spinoff resulting in deeper competition for the likes of Xiaomi and others who mastered this domain. The success of the Yureka has proved that Indian brands are ready to change their old decaying methods

The Yuphoria is YU’s new handset. However, the company is not pegging it as a sequel, more like a different segment hero. The Yuphoria is their budget end of the spectrum, but YU as a company have ensured that people don’t think of this handset as a budget handset.

Overview

The Yuphoria is priced at a low Rs 6999/- however it packs in a big bang for its buck. Good construction is what YU and Rahul Sharma played off well while launching this device. Packed with more than you can expect from a budget handset. However, the market is now saturated, with the likes of Honor, Xiaomi, and Lenovo. So what makes the Yuphoria different and why is it getting attention? For Starters, in its entirety the Yuphoria handset will be assembled in India. It was made clear at the launch that the initial lot would come from China, however, post the first few thousands, the Yuphoria will be assembled in their local plant in India.

Hardware

The Yuphoria promises a lot and packs a decent set too. No, it is not game changing in performance, but its got a good lineup.

For a price of Rs. 6999/- one begins as thinking of this handset from YU as a no-brainer.

Specification	YU Yuphoria
Display	5-inch IPS HD
Resolution	1280×720 pixel (294ppi)
Additional	Protected by Gorilla Glass 3
Processor	1.2GHz Quad Core, ARM Cortex- A53
Chipset	Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 \| 64bit
GPU	Adreno A306 3D Graphics Core \| 400 MHz
RAM	2GB
Internal Memory	16GB
Expandable Up to	64 GB
Sim Cards	2 x LTE Enabled Sim Card Slots
Primary Camera	8MP
Secondary Camera	5MP
Connectivity Options	4G LTE
Battery	2,230mAh
Operating System	Cyanogen 12.0 (Android 5.0 based)
Price	Rs. 6,999

Build and Design

[pullquote_left] The included screen protector is a great freebie [/pullquote_left]

The YU Yuphoria may be a budget handset, but it feels like a lot more. The phone has fantastic construction for its price, an all metal frame, made from stamped parts, which have been laser welded into place. The edges give the phone a lot of rigidity and strength, which in turn gives a reassuring feeling to the holder. The back has a soft touch rubberized back panel, which is not prone to fingerprints. The fat lens cap, however, is like an oil slick ; slippery and constantly smudgy.

The design is very Lumia-like and resembles good-old Nokia Lumia handsets with the metal frame shape and fat lens in the back centre. There is a very slight, almost negligible, lip on the front glass of the handset that may attribute to some protection for the front glass. However the included screen protector is a great freebie, especially for a device that may not see case manufacturers running after it.

Performance and OS (Cyanogen)

The Yuphoria is not a benchmark king, but then again it costs Rs 6999. We ran several benchmark tests, and the results were average. We weren’t surprised by the performance because the Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 is fairly limited in capability. However the way cyanogen is built, and the use of Android 5.0.2 on the inside will make day to day operations a breeze. Expect no lag in the usage of the device, while switching from and to backgrounded apps, making calls, browsing the internet.

The 64-bit architecture comes into play here, and while you won’t get the best “extreme” performance scenarios, the handset can handle high-end games at lower graphics.

No special points for guessing that Cyanogen 12 works well on the Yuphoria. The Lollipop version of Android with Cyanogen’s custom tweaks have made sense for this budget device, eliminating daily bothersome lags. Post many days of use, the operating system on the device remains smooth.

Many things are easier thanks to Cyanogen. You get tap to wake and sleep, but you don’t get screen-off gestures that let you turn on the flashlight or jump into the camera.

Benchmark results were off the usual expectations, and low. If you are expecting a performance workhorse, this truly is not your price segment, nor is the Yuphoria your device. This device runs smoothly through the day and will keep up with almost all sorts of usage as long as you are not going to work it too hard. It tends to heat up, however, the plastic back panel doesn’t let you bear the brunt of it. The metal frame appears to have been insulated to prevent it from getting hot.

Multimedia and Camera

YU’s promotions prior to the launch of the Yuphoria included a music demo which showed off the loudness of the speakers. No, do not expect that at all. However, the AAC Technologies manufactured speakers are loud and clear and placing the Yuphoria flat on the table causes them to muffle out.

The camera is an interesting mix while the Yuphoria has a smaller MP size it has a wider aperture lens. You also get a big 1.4-micron pixel size that drastically improves low light performance. However, when the images are viewed on a larger screen, noise is apparent.

The front facing camera is equipped with a 5 MP sensor that allows for higher resolution imagery however images are still noisy. Contrast is pretty good, and colour saturation is more accurate than many in this segment, but still off.

Cyanogen’s camera app is the same as what you saw in the previous version and adds just a few changes. Functionality remains simple, and you can swipe down to add effects/filters and jump to the settings to enable face detection etc. The camera is fast and snappy especially for a shooter in this class. YU paid special focus to the camera at the time of launch, however, it may not be a magical clicking machine that they promised, but it does overtake many in the region.

Phone and Networks

What good is a smartphone that makes no calls? The Yuphoria does not have that problem. The phone has been designed to accept 4G Sim Cards, which might be an excellent option. However, considering the rollout speeds of India’s 4G capabilities, you might be many models down by the time you get to use it.

The LTE band support makes the phone great for travel, again something that may only be useful depending on how much you travel. The connectivity is good, and dropped calls appear to be a non-issue with the Yuphoria.

Battery

Unlike the Yureka, the Yuphoria has great battery life and there are no signs of the heating issues mentioned before.

Talk time standards were good when tested with 3G network, giving an average of 6 hours of talk time in a day of use.

The battery also charges quickly, giving you a full charge in about 1.5 hours. However, it’s not the fastest we have seen. The supplied “fast charge” charger would be the best way to charge this handset.

Battery Test	2G	3G	WiFi	NO Connection
Phone Calls	8 Hr	6 Hr	N/A	NA
Gaming	N/A	N/A	7 hours	8.5 hours
Music Playback	10 Hr	10 Hr	9 Hr	13 Hr
Internet Only	10 Hr	6 Hr	4.5 Hr	N/A

Conclusion

In a market that is a mess, with all kinds of phones from all kinds of companies, there seems to be some hope. The YU Yuphoria illustrates that you don’t need to pack loads of money to get a good smartphone experience. That’s what the Yuphoria is; A Good Smartphone Experience. But, it also just stops there, leaving a large void for improvements. As technology becomes more and more affordable, you might see what you call today “high end” trickle down to this price bracket sooner than you expect.

[pullquote_left] The Yuphoria will not impress the true geeks, the power hungry or even the benchmark crazy [/pullquote_left]

The Yuphoria makes for a good first smartphone, a good built premium feel smartphone, a good gift, a great new Android phone if you are replacing something in this price bracket, or even a second phone to already have a special device. The Yuphoria will not impress the true geeks, the power hungry or even the benchmark crazy. The Camera is good, the battery is good and phone call capabilities are excellent. Cyanogen makes for the best experience of “Raw Android,” and the Yuphoria gives it at a mighty impressive price tag.

Just like any other domain, you do have alternatives from Lenovo and Xiaomi. But none of them run Cyanogen, and none of them are made of metal.

May 29, 2015

Review: SanDisk iXpand Flash Drive
With every update, Apple makes it simpler to click pictures using an iPhone. With the ability to launch the camera without having to unlock the phone, it is now easier to click a picture than make a call. Inevitably iPhone users use the excellent camera and effortless launcher to click a ton of pictures, which poses a problem on the storage of the phone. Especially for users with 8/16GB smartphones, with no expandable storage options, the available memory vanishes sooner than expected.

SanDisk claims to offer an easy solution to this problem. Meet the iXpand Flash Drive; it’s portable and promises to help you easily shift files between devices, subsequently expanding the storage of your iPhone. The flash drive we checked out, costs Rs. 4,490 and provides 16GB of extra storage. Here we explore if it’s worth the money spent.

Overview

The SanDisk iXpand flash drive is a solid dual flash drive that comes with both, a USB 2.0 jack and a lighting connector. It is available in 16/32/64/128 GB variants, priced at Rs. 4,490/5,990/7,999/11,490 respectively. The drive is recognized easily on iPhones, iPads and desktops. To use the flash drive, you are also required to download a free app on your Apple device.

Design and Build Quality

Most parts of the device are covered in a solid encased brushed aluminium shell, which is complemented by a rubberised centre. The USB side of the flash drive is provided with a plastic cover. As a compact device, it is quite sturdy. You can easily dump it in your bag, without worrying about possible scratches.

While it looks solid, usability-wise, the design fails to work. The lightning port being stuck in the centre makes it an awkward device to use. If you latch your iPhone onto the flash drive and the USB onto your laptop at the same time, your smartphone is going to end up covering most part of your keyboard. Basically, the two devices cannot be accommodated at the same time, they need to be used separately. This also means that you can’t use it to charge your device, which is a shame.

After using the flash drive for a while, we also noticed that the lightning port, which is connected to the rubberised centre, got displaced and started sticking out of the device, making it prone to damage.

Performance

The iXpand App : To manage data, you need to install an app onto your App device. Downloading the App is fairly simple. When you connect the flash drive to your smartphone, it automatically opens up a message asking if you’d wish to download the app. In case the pop-up is missing, simply go to the App Store and download the ‘SanDisk iXpand Sync’. It’s sized 45.9MB, requires iOS 7.1 or later versions. While we have our problems with the design of the flash drive, the design of the iXpand app is quirky, clean and easy-to-use. With the app, you have an option of setting a mode which helps automatically sync the camera’s picture roll onto the SanDisk iXpand.

One of the super helpful features of the app is that with the use of a pie chart, it shows you exactly the amount of free or used space on your iPhone/iPad, as well as on the drive. And using colour codes, it illustrates the different things (Music, Photos, Videos etc.) taking up space on your flash drive.

Syncing pictures: By turning on the Camera Sync option, you can automatically sync files when the iXpand is plugged onto your iPhone. There is another option, which helps you delete photos and videos after sync, you can use it to conveniently free up space on your iPhone. This way you don’t have to go back and manually pick and delete files you’ve synced. In case you’re nervous you might delete the wrong pictures from your iPhone, remember they remain in the “Recently Deleted” album in your photos app for 30 days.

Speed Test: The SanDisk flash drive uses USB 3.0, and one of its major advantages is supposed to be its high transfer speed. It can give upto 640MBps but our speed test only gave us a maximum speed of 15.0 MB/s. We ran the same test on the USB 2.0 and the maximum speed we got was 4.5 MB/s. There is a considerable improvement in the speed, however it doesn’t utilise its true potential.

Watching Movies Using iXpand: Most Apple users have trouble admitting it, but iOS comes with several limitations. One of the major restrictions has been the tedious task to transfer videos/movies onto an ‘iDevice’. While Android users can transfer movies onto their phones with ease and watch them on-the-go, what do iPhone/iPad users need to do? First, Apple products support only certain kinds of formats, such as P4, M4V and MOV files. So videos are required to be converted to those format. Secondly, you need to install iTunes onto your laptop. Sure, there are third-party apps which cut short the procedure, but we need to admit, it is quite a hassle.

With the iXpand Flash Drive, all you need to do is dump the movie onto the drive and insert it into your smartphone and enjoy. Point to note: while you’re watching the movie, the iXpand drive might make the phone slightly uncomfortable to hold, but the drive is extremely sturdy and it really latches onto your phone. In case you’re shifting around, nudging the pen drive will not cause any damage to your movie. The app also has excellent playback speed; as soon as you tap on your video of choice, it plays it almost instantly.

Charging the Flash Drive: The iXpand flash drive requires charging. An LED light on the right side of the device reminds you if the drive needs to be plugged in for charging. This is so it doesn’t take any juice from your iPhone/iPad, when being used and it automatically charges itself when plugged onto a computer.

Conclusion

Overall, the Sandisk iXpand Flash Drive is a convenient device to have around. If you’re looking to free up some space on your iPhone, it might be the simplest solution available. However, instead you could also invest in extra iCloud storage, that way your files remain online, and can be accessed any place and at any time. On the other hand, with the iXpand, you wouldn’t need an internet connection to retrieve your files. We would, without doubt, recommend the device for its ability to play videos/movies on the go.

You can pick up the device here:

<br /> <br /> <br /> <br />

[tw-column width=”one-half”]

GOOD THINGS
- Sturdy build
- Excellent media playback speed
- User-friendly apps
- Supports all video formats
[/tw-column]

[tw-column width=”one-half” position=”last”]

BAD THINGS
- Awkaward design
- Slow speed
- High price
[/tw-column]
May 8, 2015

Moto E 2nd Gen Review : Still Does Not Break the Bank

Motorola’s revision to last year’s budget hero, the Moto E, is out and while it’s still called the E, it does have some second gen features to boast.

The newer Moto E comes with a beefier set of specifications and not a whole lot of change in pricing. A new front camera, a larger 2390 mAh battery and an all new rear shell that truly is unique to the new Moto E. The Moto E is priced at Rs. 6999 and comes with Android 5.0 out of the box, yes just like its predecessors it’s stock android, with a bunch of Motorola apps on there.

Build Quality and Hardware

The new Moto E is the same 12.3 mm in thickness, however, feels a lot more robust and a lot more hefty in the hand. The side band comes off to give access to all the card slots, which for the version we are testing, include a micro SD slot and dual SIM slots.

The side band has a ribbed finish adding additional grip and what may be described as a rugged looks to the already smart looking Smartphone.

The front has a 4.5 inch display with a 540×960 px resolution and a 245ppi pixel density which also is protected by Gorilla Glass 3 and has a oleophobic coating, which is highly resistant to oil and smudges. This also makes sliding the finger on the phone to result in an action much smoother than anticipated.

The front camera is a basic VGA camera, but compared to last year’s “no camera” model anything works. The rear camera is a 5 MP camera capable of 720p video and HDR photography.

There are two variants of the new Moto E, the 3G variant comes with Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 and Adreno 302 GPU, while the 4G/LTE variant comes with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 and Adreno 306 GPU.

While the LTE variant is not yet available, it is expected to launch at Rs 8,999 in India. The 3G version is available today to buy from shopping website Flipkart for a price of Rs. 6999 with additional deals that you can see on their website.

The new Moto E comes with 8 GB of storage and 1 GB of RAM and you can pop-in a microSD card upto 32 GB.

Specifications	Moto E (gen 2)	Moto E (gen 2) LTE
Display	4.5-inch	4.5-inch
Resolution	qHD(540×960)	qHD(540×960)
Chipset	Snapdragon 200	Snapdragon 410
Processor	1.2 GHz quad-core	1.2 GHz quad-core
GPU	Adreno 302 with 400 MHz GPU	Adreno 306 with 400 MHz GPU
RAM	1 GB	1 GB
Storage	8 GB	8 GB
Expandable Upto	32 GB	32 GB
Main Camera	5 MP	5 MP
Front Camera	0.3 MP	0.3 MP
Video	720p HD Video, 30 fps	720p HD Video, 30 fps
Battery	2390 mAh	2390 mAh
Operating System	Android 5.0 Lollipop	Android 5.0 Lollipop
Price	Rs.6999	Approx Rs.8999

Performance and Gaming

[pullquote_right]DO-Not expect a Powerhouse![/pullquote_right]

When you buy a phone under Rs. 7,000 in cost, your prime focus need not be the performance of the handset, but more so the reliability or the fact that the phone will get you through your needs in a trouble free fashion. The Moto E – Gen 2 does that, and it does that for every user who owns the handset.

However score charts do not lie, and Motorola’s success with the first Moto E and this year’s Moto E are wholly thanks to the stock Android that it runs, which is lighter and less resource hungry compared to the custom skins of the mighty elite.

On AnTuTu the score on the new Moto E is at 17629 (varied) which is poor by all means. But this does not reflect in the day-to-day performance of it.

It does support games like Batman Arkham Origins and Modern Combat 5, and even though graphics are lowered to the lowest possible, the gameplay remains smooth which is surprisingly good for a budget device such as the Moto E.

Moto Experience

[pullquote_right]Hello Moto, Funky Moto Tricks Built In![/pullquote_right]

Motorola has added a bunch of cool tricks in this cool budget phone. The new Moto app, allows for you to set a gesture, twist your wrist to launch the camera, and click a picture.

The Assist feature will go into Sleep Mode as well as Meeting Mode as per your settings, which is a neat productivity trick.

Moto Display shows off the notifications when the phone’s display is off, you can also customize which apps will show and which will not and set vibration modes for the notifications and interactions.

Moto Alert is designed specifically keeping India and its lack of safety in mind. You can set a number of contacts that will get updates on where you are and where you are going in case of an emergency.

The device will get quick and regular updates to the best possible supported build of Android, which is an appreciable aspect of Motorola’s promise to service.

Camera and Multimedia Experience

The 5 MP camera boasts focus capabilities and improved low light performance, but, not enough to impress us. The use of the camera will be limited to mostly well-lit environments or outdoors.

[pullquote_left]Why No LED Motorola?[/pullquote_left]

What baffles us is the lack of LED flash, which would double up as a flashlight/torch making life a lot more easier for users of the Moto E2. This LED flash would also drastically improve the poor image quality indoors. Honestly, how much does an LED diode cost anyway Moto? (We found them for as low as US $ 0.04 /piece ).

The front camera is a gimmick at VGA resolutions, poor quality, crushed images with large amounts of noise. Lots of companies are now installing upto 5 MP cameras in their budget selfie phones, however Motorola does not want to seem party to that.

motorola moto e 2015 - 26 — Image Sample Moto E 2

The main camera and front camera are designed to provide lenses for use. However don’t expect them to do magic, because they won’t. If you are looking for a good camera in this price bracket, we suggest you buy a camera and not a phone. That being said, investing slightly more may get you better options.

The Speaker is surprisingly loud and will satisfy the needs of many. It is well balanced, even if it’s not the best speaker. On the other hand if you like listening to music, we suggest a good pair of earphones/ bluetooth speakers.

Phone and Battery

Networks are strong and phone calls are crisp on both sim cards. The audio on both sides of the call is nice and loud and you won’t find yourself complaining. Moto has bundled in a good SIM management right in the settings panel to allow for better organization and usability of both SIM cards, mostly based on what plans you have on either.

Battery is a big improvement, you will find yourself running into two days without charge if you are a moderate user. The non-removable nature of the battery is slightly disappointing, but Motorola has a good record with battery longevity.

Battery Life

Talk Time	6.5 Hours
Internet Browsing	6 Hours
Music	18 Hours
Gameplay and Video	8 Hours

Conclusion

Motorola has been a favorite since rebirth and all their devices including the Moto X, the Moto G and the Moto E have done exceedingly well, especially in markets like India. However, Xiaomi has really hurt their sales at the lower end of the spectrum and OnePlus is taking a stab on the upper end.

[pullquote_right]Reliability and quick software updates are still on Motorola’s fame list[/pullquote_right]

With the Redmi 2 launched at the exact price, with better chipsets, better cameras and a sleeker profile, Motorola may be given a run for their money. On the flip side, reliability and quick software updates are still on Motorola’s fame list and it only gets better with an improved build and customizable options thanks to the new grip bands.

This is the new budget hero, the Moto E 2!

[tw-column width=”one-half”]

GOOD THINGS

Excellent Build
Fast and Flowy UI
Quick Updates/Lollipop OTB
Moto Reliability

[/tw-column]

[tw-column width=”one-half” position=”last”]

BAD THINGS

LTE Version Not Out Yet
Specs are Lower than Competition
No LED Flash! Seriously?
Poor Cameras

[/tw-column]

March 23, 2015

Yu Yureka Review | You May Play God

Yu by definition is supposed to mean “you”, which when Micromax decided to launch a new company was intended to make devices more personal for the users. Hence the company chose to go with Cyanogen, even though they decided to procure and rebrand devices like they used to in the past.

But what is Yu intended for? Is it really a way for Micromax to change their company’s brand value and appeal to a younger and much more aware online generation, or is it just a way of seeking vendetta against Micromax’s newest enemies: New Chinese entrants like Xiaomi, OnePlus and even Gionee.

We’re aware of the fact that Micromax is selling the Yu Yureka at a massive loss of Rs. 2000-2500 per handset sold in India. Micromax is buying the hardware for around Rs. 8300 and they are paying Cyanogen royalties, apart from the massive one time exclusivity deal they did with the company before launch, which led to the temporary ban of the OnePlus One in India. Not to mention import duties, shipping, Amazon’s fee etc.

Micromax also got the YU into the limelight by playing politics and getting “free media controversy” over the ban of the OnePlus One sale in India.

After all that, the Yu Yureka will sell for Rs. 8999 on 13th of January 2015, and our review will tell you whether or not you should be getting in line to get this device.

Hardware

In terms of hardware the Yureka is pretty great, in fact the closest devices in terms of hardware cost double and don’t feature the same performance standards as the Yureka. Cameras are a high 13 MP and 5 MP combination, which does work well.

Over at the front, garnering a great amount of resolution, is the 1280 x 720p display in all its 5.5-inch glory. The display is bright and easily visible outdoors. On the inside is the intriguing Snapdragon 615 CPU + Adreno 405 GPU combination which fails to satisfy us, although, for the price you couldn’t ask for much more.

The Phone supports USB OTG, with the use of a micro USB to USB adapter (which is not included). Interesting to note, is that the USB storage shows up, but you need third party filing software to access it. Apps cannot be moved to the SD card, not in the handset’s current software layout. So you are stuck with about 11-12 GB of space for Apps, which is a serious let down.

Specs	Yu Yureka
Display	5.5 inch IPS LCD 720×1280 px Gorilla Glass 3
RAM	2 GB
Storage	16 GB – (12 GB free)
Battery	2500 mAh
Processor	Qualcomm Snapdragon 615
CPU	1.5GHz Octa-core
GPU	Adreno 405
Front Camera	5 MP
Rear Camera	13 MP
Price (Click for Updated Pricing)	Rs. 8,999
Special Features	Cyanogen OS 11

Build Quality and Design

The thing about buying devices from vendors is that you have no control over build quality. While Micromax has seen some great built phones like the Canvas HD and most of the relative series, we have also seen especially poor phones like the Canvas 4 Plus which was a blatant copy of the iPhone and well, it bent too.

However the Yu Yureka, is not a Micromax product, or atleast that is what they want us to believe, as they elaborately set up new dominions and a new company in an exercise to get rid of their past. Well fret not Micromax, because the Yureka is different in many ways however it’s also the same in many.

The device already exists in other markets with a different name, and Yu plays no real role in the design of the hardware, except probably plastering some logos, and naming the standard black variant the never-heard “MoonStone” finish. (Wow ! Really? ). All new nomenclature aside, the built is pretty good, the finish on the back is no where near the “Sandstone” that you will find on the OnePlus One, however it is clean and well defined and feels great in the hand.

The bezel does not stick up a lot from the edge and this may be a problem for a lot of folks, who drop their phones on the frequent. The front does feature Gorilla Glass 3 so you will get some persistent protection.

Design-wise the phone will not win any awards, but it’s not a poor looker, in fact it can become quite the eye candy. The edges are nice and rounded well and the feel and finish of the product in hand is premium to say the least. Remember this is a Rs. 9,000 product we are talking about, and using words like “premium” is far from our usual banter.

Performance and Gaming

The Yureka is a workhorse in your pocket, and each time something like that appears from a company like Micromax (Sorry “YU”), we recall the toasty Micromax Canvas Knight, which was easily the best product to buy if you were short of a egg frying pan.

The Yureka is not that product. Heck the Yureka is easy to hold in the hands and disperses heat well. The extensive use of plastic also probably aids in the isolation of heat from the hands of the user.

As far as performance is concerned we were elated to see benchmark scores from the Yu Yureka easily match expensive devices for one quarter of the price. However no where near that of Xiaomi Mi3, OnePlus One and the Note 4 as it stands at present.

Games run happy, however the Adreno 405 doesn’t do much justice to high end gaming. The CPU is designed to leverage the 64 bit architecture which will enable better performance in the future and once the whole eco-system runs on it. For now gaming is still good, and blows away most of its present competition.

Network and Battery Life

The Network connectivity is fabulous, signals are strong and voice quality is impressive from the handset. The tower to tower jump is a bit sketchy so you will face call drops on the go.

The brilliant thing is the fact that the handset does LTE based on networks that will eventually launch in India. So for a price of under 10k this is a strong contender if you are looking for a future safe investment. However as many have pointed out, LTE may not be a prerequisite of those aiming for a new device in this price bracket. We say that it’s a fantastic add-on to have, and will aid in better connectivity in the future so why not get the extra benefits. And hey, once you do want LTE, you won’t need to switch phones.

Battery life is average or slightly better than. We saw the handset run a full day, however if you have had a busy day and have been receiving calls on both sim cards you might need to charge, atleast once in the late-evening. That being said we got 5-6 hours of screen on time from the Yu Yureka, which is excellent.

Talk Time : 7-8 Hours.

Music : 10 Hours

Internet Usage : 5.5- 6 Hours

Multimedia and Gaming : 4 Hours.

Camera

The Camera like many-a Micromax devices in the past is mostly talk and no real action. The rear camera will impress in outdoor and well lit conditions, images captured and saved are not compressed well, which may be a doing of the build of Cyanogen on the Yureka, thus resulting in unwanted noise on the dark spectrum of the range.

Results are unwieldy in poor or low light situations where sometimes the images are decent while sometimes they are unusable. The shutter is no where as fast as that on the OnePlus One, but the camera app includes almost all the features sans the 4K video capture.

Samples

You do get 1080p on the rear camera while the front camera is limited to 720p. The rear camera will also capture double the frame rate i.e. 60fps but only at 720p. Video is decent but tends to be shaky since there are no stabilization features in the handset, electronic or otherwise.

Advantage: Cyanogen’s camera app has the extensive availability of customizations, including filters, face detection features, continuous focus, time lapse all built in.

Multimedia

The display is excellent indoors and outdoors, the resolution of 720p is considered good for the price bracket and the IPS panel significantly improves on the viewing angles. Touch response is commendable and the color reproduction is good as well.

The speakers are tiny and quiet, sort of muffled, as if there might be a piece of tape on the inside, left by mistake (we checked and there isn’t any.) The speaker is just not loud enough and that is something most buyers will have to look past. The included earphones are usable but will not enhance the audio in any way. The audio output from the headphone jack is loud and rightly mixed, when tied with good quality headphones. The headphones we tried the Yureka with cost several times more than the handset itself. However, feel free to use your own favorite pair, and they should work just as well.

Cyanogen

We saw it simply laid out when we were extensively testing the OnePlus One, the reason why that device rocked all the mobile lovers’ world was the right mix of hardware and software at that price. Yu Yureka is attempting to do that at half the price and in our opinion it is winning. The handset and UI is buttery smooth; you glide and slide through windows and apps, withough much ado. The mix of a very well developed build of Android “Cyanogen” the hardware, including all 2 GB of Random Access Memory, is working in sync with the software.

Cyanogen is one of, if not the only, largest developer supported builds of Android, and it’s only growing by the day. The Cyanogen team has shown promise with their builds in the past and they showed excellence with the OnePlus One.

The Yu Yureka does not fall short of the experience, and offers all the same customizations, albeit lacking a few of the features that for the time remain restricted to the OnePlus handsets, like gesture actions and quick launching shortcuts which can be easily enabled.

The image compression is not that great, however the front camera images are saved in a less noisy format when compared to similar images from the OnePlus One, which may be a definite win. (Selfie Time!)

YU forums will also help the company deal with everyday problems by letting people discuss their issues amongst each other, help in bug detection and elimination. And build a cult around the device which will enable future loyalty towards the brand.

Conclusion

Despite numerous efforts from our Northerly neighbors and companies like Xiaomi and OnePlus, with their “flash sale” systems and invite-only buying options, the Indian powerhouse Micromax has shown us that they are still the king in their own domain. However, and a big doubt here, the phone is being sold for a loss, and that too a major one, only to piss off the competition. Only to win back the market share that they have been losing. All this without hurting their current partners and networks.

If Micromax was to sell ‘online only’ devices which would be available exclusively through select Online E-commerce websites, the company would seriously jeopardize its retail network, ensuring a boycott of the brand and a loss of a strong foothold in non-online markets, which is still a large chunk (over 80 % believe it or not). Micromax tried it with the Nitro and faced huge backlash.

So how does Micromax deal with the threat of new “cheaper”- “Online Exclusive” brands without hurting its strong retail market presence. Simple : Lets form a new company! Hence, YU is born. It solves the problem for Micromax on many levels; it makes the parent company more viable for investors. It can build better trust for its customers from the get go (unlike Micromax and its service fiasco) and it can keep the competition at bay, all this without hurting the Micromax Retail network : Win Win! Right?

Wrong!

Let’s talk about the handset, like many other handsets in the past, the Yu Yureka is excellent for the time it has been launched in, and for the price it has been launched at. The Yureka looks impressive, is built well, performs efficiently while delivering good network capabilities and better than acceptable battery life. All this while being future proof for India – with the LTE capabilities and all that it promises under the hood and inside of the glamorous package.

But there are a lot of future promises that will help us determine the real fate of this handset. A lot of Questions still need answering – Will it really get software updates? Will the company remove its loss margin and add a profit margin after selling a lakh or two handsets? Will Indian people buy into the forum culture the same way the Chinese, American and European have?

Yu Yureka comes with door delivery service and support. Will it be possible for Micromax/Yu to cater to the large numbers, if there are problems with the handset?

We do not know the answer to so many questions, what we do know is that the Yu may be one of the best devices to get under the Rs. 10,000 price bracket. And that too, without causing much worry to the buyer. If you are not looking into developer options and don’t care much for the extra frills, then at this price the Yu Yureka becomes the undefeated champion without entering the ring officially.

The handset has the potential to set a record, a benchmark of sorts for India, something that will show on a Global scale that our country and its manufacturers can match up to global standards. We said it before, if anyone could do it it was Micromax! But can they?

The ball is in your court : YU! the world awaits. While India waits in line to buy your handset.

Yu Yureka : The Full Review Video

[tw-column width=”one-half”]

The Good

Great Build
Excellent Battery
Looks Good

[/tw-column]
[tw-column width=”one-half” position=”last”]

The Bad

Bad Battery
Customer Support

[/tw-column]

January 7, 2015

XOLO Win Q900s Review
It has been four years since the Windows Phone platform was launched and Microsoft hasn’t really had the kind of success they were hoping for. Despite the neat looking UI and some nifty tricks, Windows is far from being a direct threat to Android or iOS. Windows Phone and Nokia’s Lumia range is what we are used to. Meanwhile, Samsung and HTC did try a few models nearly two years ago, though they never managed to make it work.

Since Microsoft’s decision of not charging a license fee for the new WP 8.1, manufacturers can now give Windows Phone a shot without taking the risk of spending a huge amount on resources. It’s encouraging to see regional OEMs jumping on the Windows Phone bandwagon. It’s exactly what the platform needs. As a matter of fact, we are seeing the same devices running both Android as well as Windows 8.1, as is the case with this device.

Local manufacturer XOLO has jumped onto the bandwagon. With the launch of the XOLO Win Q900s, the company is looking to place itself as an innovative and a value for money brand, across all spheres.

Overview

The XOLO Win Q900s is a variant of the Android-based XOLO Q900s. The most striking aspect of this phone is its ultra-light weight, at a mere 100 grams. It comes with a 4.7-inch HD display powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 processor. The smartphone is priced just under Rs. 10,000 and runs on Windows 8.1. It has the likes of Lumia 520, Lumia 630 as direct rivals in the overcrowded budget category of the smartphone world.

Hardware

The XOLO Win Q900s is powered by a relatively sluggish Qualcomm Snapdragon 200 SoC with four cores clocked at 1.2 GHz and Adreno 302 graphics. It has 1 GB of RAM and comes with 8 GB internal storage capacity which is expandable up to 32 GB via microSD slot.

It sports a 4.7-inch screen with a resolution of 1280×720. Optics includes an 8 MP camera on the rear and a 2 MP selfie cam. The phone has a 1800 mAh battery which is just not enough for a heavy user.

Design and Build

As already mentioned, the first thing you’ll notice about the phone is its ultra slim form factor and how deceptively light weight it is. Which means you can slip it in your pocket easily and it also fits perfectly in the hand. Not one of the toughest phones around but with a its weight, it’s certainly lighter than the lightest phones around.

Surprisingly, there is no Windows’ logo anywhere on the phone which is usually found on the Home button beneath the screen, this might be confusing to users. Also, there is no Microsoft or Windows branding seen on the device, apart from the box.

The phone has an amazingly slick design. It has a glossy black front, while the rear has a nice matte finish to it providing a better grip. The sides have a dark metallic rim that run from top to bottom. The capacitive buttons are placed very close to the bottom, with the Back button placed on the front right while the left button brings up Bing search – the exact opposite of the layout we are used to.

The main power button is placed on the right edge while the volume rockers are on the left. The back houses the primary 8 MP camera and flash, and has a removable back cover that has the two micro-SIM, microSD slots along with the removable battery.

The phone is definitely one of the better looking phones out there and feels good in the hand. This breaks the myth about domestic manufacturers coming out with ugly looking phones compared to their well established branded counterparts. It has a top notch design and will make a few heads turn.

Performance and OS

The performance of the XOLO Win Q900s is quite satisfactory. Powered by the Snapdragon 200 clocked at 1.2 GHz bundled with 1 GB of RAM, the phone does your routine tasks without any hassle. There aren’t any noticeable lags while using apps like WhatsApp, Twitter or Facebook, it can easily handle day-to-day activities with ease and fluidity.

The low weight makes surfing on the phone all the more fun. The phone managed a score of 10,870 in our Antutu Benchmark which is slightly lower than that of the Nokia Lumia 630.

The phone can run most games at ease, though one might experience stutters while playing them on the highest settings. The FPS is kind of low, but otherwise it gives a pretty good display and runs most games quite well without over-heating, considering the fact that it’s a very thin device. Though, it’s not meant for high-end gaming.

Coming to the OS, the XOLO Win Q900s comes with the latest Windows Phone 8.1. The OS has a refreshed neat look with a notification center along with the signature Live Tiles. Its Action Centre is very well laid out, making the OS fully functional. Swiping around the screen is smooth and responsive, and the new Swipe keyboard gives a good feel to it. The updated Windows 8.1 also brings a lot of customization options, almost a complete overhaul from the original Windows 8. The new Data sense and Wi-Fi sense take care of your data usage.

Not to forget Cortana, Microsoft’s answer to Google Now and Siri, is like a real-life personal assistant. The only difference is that being anthropomorphic, you can have a conversation with her and because of this, she is far better than the robotic Google Now responses. Cortana is capable of doing what Google Now does but with a quirky attitude that you would love. She gathers information about you and gives suggestions based on that. From scheduling appointments to dictating messages to opening apps, she does everything for you. Though it’s still early days for Cortana, but she is definitely fun to work with.

In the end, it would be fair to say that the overall experience of Windows 8.1 on XOLO Win Q900s is quite good. Previously frustrating loading delays have been significantly improved. With Windows 8.1, there aren’t any noticeable lags; a great keyboard, an interactive personal assistant makeup for a delightful experience.

Camera

The XOLO Win Q900s has an 8 MP rear snapper along with a 2 MP front camera. Overall, the picture quality in broad daylight is very good, renders the right colours and is quite crisp and sharp as well. Even the selfie camera on the front takes pretty decent pictures. The camera app has several display modes as well, allowing users to adjust colour hues and customise the display as per requirement.

Low light performance is just at par, as one would obviously not be expecting much from a phone at this price level. One other thing that we noticed was that the rear camera is placed on the extreme top left edge, so more often you need to make sure that you keep your fingers off the lens while taking pictures.

Meanwhile, the video quality is just at par and appears a bit grainy even in well-lit lighting conditions. One might experience jitters and lags, making the end result rather unsatisfactory.

Close up Shot (Zoom In)

Long Shot ( With HDR)

Shot in broad daylight

Close-up Shot

Daylight shot

Long Shot ( without HDR)

Display and Multimedia

The phone’s display is quite good with a 4.7-inch 720p HD IPS 332ppi display. Text appears sharp which makes for a good reading experience. The screen is bright even in outdoor conditions, and the viewing angles are pretty good. All in all, the display works just fine indoor as well as outdoor.

With a dual-core processor, the multimedia performance on the phone definitely needs some boost. It can handle daily activities at ease; while playing, videos deliver smooth frame rates and transitions, however audio sounded a bit muffled. The XOLO Win Q900s is not for games that demand a lot out of this phone, as it does not have the ingredients to cope up with those kind of games that run on high graphic settings.

Phones, Networks and Battery

The phone gives good signal strength indoors as well as outdoors, audio quality on the call is quite crisp. In terms of network connectivity, Wi-Fi signal strength is extremely poor and one needs to be very close to the router.

Coming to the battery, the phone is powered by a 1800 mAh Lithium Polymer (Li-Pol) battery, which in my opinion does not provide enough juice for a heavy user, may last only 4 hrs of heavy usage and 8 hrs of average usage. It might even stretch up to 9 hours without the Wi-Fi. It needs to be plugged in quite a bit if you’re a heavy user. In our battery test, we played a 90 minute HD video with Wi-Fi and other notifications on, and by the end of the video, the battery dropped to 67 percent.

Conclusion

Well, the device isn’t perfect by a long way and has its own minor flaws, but in no way is it a complete bummer. It needs some fine tuning and there’s definitely a of scope for improvement. With a Snapdragon quad-core clocked at 1.2 GHz bundled with 1 GB of RAM and an 8MP camera with auto-focus along with expandable storage, the phone has all the attributes of a decent budget pick. Moreover, you get a screen guard and a flip case as a part of the total package.

The Nokia Lumia 630 is its closest rival, with a better processor and a slightly more powerful battery at 1830 mAh, but lacks in terms of memory at just 512 MB of RAM and a lower resolution at 480×854 pixels. Meanwhile, coming its Android counterparts, you have tons of options available in the given price range.

The XOLO Win Q900s, above all, is a smart choice, with average specs, decent performance, a good display, decent camera though battery backup might not be that great. If you are looking for a Windows Phone, it does all the basics fairly well along with a host of new features of Windows 8.1. A worthy competitor to the Lumia 630 and the Canvas Win W121.

[tw-column width=”one-half”]

GOOD THINGS
- Light Design
- Decent Rear Camera
- Cortana
- Smooth UI
- Clarity of Display
[/tw-column]

[tw-column width=”one-half” position=”last”]

BAD THINGS
- Poor Battery Backup
- Lack of Robust Design
- No Support for Full HD video recording
[/tw-column]
October 28, 2014

iPhone 6 Plus : Bigger Than Bigger May Be Better or Bendier

This is the first time Apple has gone this big with a phone, usually pinging their traditional theories that the phone needs to be designed for one handed use. The iPhone 6 Plus has been the preferred of the two (6 and 6 Plus) by buyers worldwide, simply because those who were using large Android phones could switch to a similarly large iPhone 6 Plus.

The iPhone 6 Plus on paper is the better bet, a full HD screen, bigger battery, larger display, optical image stabilization and landscape mode etc. However that all changes when you first hold the phone and the immediate reaction is “wow its huge”. Does it make a big difference, to the way we use smartphones and is the iPhone 6 plus actually a better phone? Let’s find out!

Overview

The iPhone 6 Plus is the largest phone Apple has ever built, but there is good reason that they did it now, when people wanted it more than ever. The bendgate phenomenon has actually added to the existing hype of the iPhone 6 Plus, making people more aware of the existence of the phone. The idea behind the bendgate died as soon as it emerged simply because it didn’t affect users as much. The phone is essentially a bigger brother of the iPhone 6, but Apple may have done the right things to leverage the bigger size.

Build Quality and Hardware

The iPhone 6 Plus is built on a single rounded piece of aluminum, this not only makes the phone look good but adds a good resistance to damage. The phone however is not as strengthened on the smaller phones, hence bendgate exists. No but it’s not as easy as it looks, the phone does not bend as easily as it appears to on screen, and only under certain circumstances. It is an issue and if you are worried about that happening, you should skip the rest.

Hardware wise you get a bumped up Dual Core 1.4 GHz Apple A8 chipset with the Quad Core Graphics, same 1 GB of RAM as the little brother and a M8 motion co-processor that also ties into the health app on iOS 8. The battery is a large non-removable 2915 mAh, and you get the three storage options, 16GB , 64Gb and 128 GB.

The front has a massive 5.5 inch with a 1920 x 1080p resolution which feels a little more fulfilling than the resolution on the iPhone 6 although you get the retina display at 401 ppi. Even though its massive in size it is only 7.1 mm thick, making it exceptionally sleek and pocketable.

Here is how it stacks up with other big boys !

Specs	Samsung Note 4	Sony Xperia Z3	iPhone 6 Plus	LG G3	Galaxy S5
Display	5.7 inch QHD	5.2 inch Full HD	5.5 inch Full HD	5.5 inch QHD	5.1 inch Full HD
Processor	2.7GHz Quad-core Snapdragon 805	2.5 GHz Quad-core Snapdragon 801	1.4 GHz Dual-core A8 chipset	2.26 GHz Quad-core Snapdragon 801	2.5 GHz Quad-core Snapdragon 801
RAM	3 GB	3 GB RAM	1 GB	3 GB	2 GB
Storage	32 GB	16/32 GB	16/64/128 GB	16/32GB	16/32GB
Expandable Upto	64 GB	128 GB	–	128 GB	64 GB
Main Camera	16 MP	20.7 MP	8 MP	13 MP sensor	16MP sensor
Front Camera	3.7 MP	2.2	1.2 MP	2.2MP sensor	2 MP
Battery	Removable 3220 mAh	Non-removable 3100 mAh	Non-removable 2915mAh	3,000mAh	2,800mAh
Operating System	Android 4.4.4	Android 4.4.4	iOS 8	Android 4.4.2	Android 4.4.4
Price	Rs. 61,500	Rs. 51,990	Rs. 62,500 for 16 GB variant	Rs. 44,100	Rs. 37,000

Performance

The iPhone 6 Plus is no underdog when it comes to performance, and just because it is running relatively low spec’d hardware doesn’t mean that this guy doesn’t pack a punch. Apple has managed to make it work, they own the architecture and the hardware and have optimized the OS to run zippy smooth on hardware which in Android terms would be lame and notoriously dated, props to Apple for this.

Everything from playing games, to multitasking to going about your day, works well on the iPhone. Some of the Apps have been designed to leverage the large screen size of the iPhone 6 Plus improving the overall experience by a lot.

Camera

This is a big mention, and no not because Apple added a might big sensor but because two amazing things happen with the iPhone 6 Plus. First the video is absolutely stunning with the optical image stabilization, you can walk about and get almost steadicam like shots on your iPhone. The phone also shoots brilliant 720p 240fps slow mo that looks absolutely stunning in low light or otherwise.

Images are sharper and there is definitely less hunting thanks to the on-sensor phase detection that has good and accurate focus capabilities. This overall improvement in focus results in sharper images and better results. The camera on the iPhone has been best in class, the new improved sensor and image processing will only carry that into the next year.

The large screen on the iPhone 6 Plus makes for a good viewfinder for the camera, and especially in video mode it comes in handy to pick and select your focus points. The fact that you can adjust the brightness on the fly will be appreciated by a lot of people, you can also lock in your points before you click a picture or shoot a video.

Phone Networks and Battery Life

The one thing that you immediately notice is the battery life of the iPhone 6 Plus, it will practically last you a day and a half. Even more if you are a light user. The networks are sustained and solid through areas with weak reception. Mostly in areas that we would notice weak reception with the iPhone 5 and 5s we saw great network reception with the iPhone 6 Plus, better than the iPhone 6 even.

Battery will last you 6+ hours with talk time on LTE networks and 7+ hours on 3G networks, with a switch to 2G we saw upwards of 8 hours which is impressive. The biggest drain on the battery is the display, so if you have less screen on time, then you get more talk time, and vice versa.

iOS 8

[pullquote_left]Apple’s biggest strength is the lack of weakness in iOS[/pullquote_left]

Apple’s biggest strength is the lack of weakness in iOS. Despite a few initial bugs on iOS 8, the next versions have been tweaked and work as flawlessly as any other iOS release ever. There is no denying that iOS is the best if not one of the best mobile operating systems, and also one of the reasons that iPhones have seen success through the years.

Apple has taken iOS 8 and moulded it well for the iPhone 6 Plus, and it works great. The iPhone 6 Plus essentially behaves like a mini-iPad, so you get landscape mode on the desktop as well as some essential apps like messaging and mail. Apple’s reachability with the use of the touch-id sensor makes a lot of sense on this gigantic phone. Third parties can leverage the large size of the display to their advantage and we have yet to see unique use case scenarios. However, Apple has updated the dev kit to make this work well.

Conclusion

Apple has made a big iPhone and there is no denying it, infact people said the same thing about the iPad when it was first released, and it went on to become the most selling tablet ever. Apple has given the market what they needed, a large size iPhone option. While the 4.7 inch iPhone may be the right size for most people, the iPhone 6 Plus, is just that big boy of a phone which comes with its perks. The large battery life will be a boon to any iPhone user of the past as, chargers will become a thing of the past. Those with a camera fetish will love the slow-mo capability that looks as juicy as the apple being sliced in slow motion. The optical image stabilization, large viewfinder for the display, and excellent use of the large screen to show landscape options truly adds to the already awesome iPhone experience.

For those looking for a little extra, the Note 4 rival launches the same day as the iPhone 6 Plus in India, so take a healthy pick.

[tw-column width=”one-half”]

GOOD THINGS

Excellent Battery
Solid Networks
Wow Camera
Slo-Mo video at 240 fps

[/tw-column]

[tw-column width=”one-half” position=”last”]

BAD THINGS

It Bends!
Seriously, it bends!

[/tw-column]

October 15, 2014

Huawei Honor 6 Review

We have witnessed a surge in competitively priced phones this year, with the likes of Lenovo, Xiaomi and Oppo aggressively battling for the crown. However, there’s one smartphone manufacturer who is yet to make a mark on the Indian smartphone market – Huawei. With the launch of its latest smartphone, Honor 6, Huawei may well be on its way to create a stir. The smartphone boasts amazing specs which have the potential to give other manufacturers a run for their money. The Honor 6 only sounds great on paper, now let’s see if its worth it!

Overview

For starters, it’s the first smartphone with the new HiSilicon Kirin 920 SoC, an octa core processor coupled with 3GB RAM and a mammoth 3100 mAh battery. Ascend series have been the flagship models from Hauwei, but it seems the honor series is the hot property these days. The smartphone features an octa-core processor made of four Cortex A 15 cores and similar number of Cortex A7 cores. Available for Rs.19,999 via online retailers only, the phone seems to justify its price with what lies under the hood.

Hardware

Probably the most talked about aspect of the phone, the brand new HiSilicon Kirin 920 SoC. It is the next iteration of the Kirin 910T, which we have seen earlier on the Ascend P7. It features 4x Cortex A7 and 4x Cortex A15 clocked at 1.3GHz and 1.7GHz respectively, coupled with 3GB LPDDR 3 RAM. Yes, a deadly combo about which we will elaborate later. The phone comes with an impressive 16GB in built memory along with a microSD slot with an expandable capacity of up to 64GB.

Specs

Specifications	Honor 6
Display	5-inch (1920 x 1080 pixels)
Processor	1.3Ghz Octa core Kirin 920 processor
Storage	16GB + microSD
RAM	3GB RAM
Camera	13MP primary camera, 5MP front camera
Battery	3,100mAh
Operating System	Android 4.4

In terms of connectivity, the phone offers Bluetooth 4.0, Dual-Band Wi-Fi, 3G, GPS, FM Radio along with a 3.5 mm jack. The smartphone is powered by a non removable 3100mAh battery.

Build and Design

The design of the Honor 6 is minimalistic, and it has a sleek form factor; with thickness of 7.5mm and weight of a mere 130g. Although, it appears Huawei didn’t really spend much time making the phone as pretty as much as it made it useful. The design is pretty close to what we saw on the iPhone 4, with a glass front and rear. The back of the glass has dotted textures, which don’t stand out predominantly. The sides are made out of metallic finish plastic. As a result of the combination of plastic and glass, the phone does feel a bit slippery in the hand.

However, Huawei has done a good job when it comes to button and port placement. The power button, volume rockers, microSIM slot and the microSD slot are all placed on the right side, leaving the left side clean. The USB port is located dead center on the bottom, while the on the top lies the 3.5 mm jack. The rear houses the 13MP camera with a dual LED flash.

Performance

With a Krin 920 octa-core along with Mali T628MP4 GPU, bundled with a 3GB DDR3 RAM, we were expecting some impressive benchmark figures from the Honor 6 and it did not disappoint. The phone scored an impressive 40,000 on AnTuTu which translates into real world performance. The massive memory pool available runs multiple apps at ease without any lags.

Devices	Antutu Benchmark	NenaMark 2	Quadrant
Honor 6	41900	59.1 fps	10939
Xiaomi Mi 3	30537	60.0 fps	20376
OnePlus One	37500	61.3 fps	23178

The 3100mAh battery can easily last a day of heavy usage, could extend to a day and a half under normal usage conditions. Users are also given an option to further enhance battery life by switching to the screen and power saving mode.

Coming to the OS, the smartphone runs on the latest Android 4.4.2 KitKat with Huawei’s in-house Emotion UI 2.3 on top. The overall design of the UI comes of a bit off beat with the vibrant colourful icons. Apps and widgets are laid out on the Home Screen, which appears slightly cluttered and can be overwhelming for a new user.

The notification panel comes with colour choices. They have given two tabs on the notifications panel, the notifications and short cuts, which come in quite handy enabling users to switch easily. Other nifty feature which the EMUI offers is the ‘Smart Asssistance’ option which includes Suspend button and provides on-screen controls, motion enabled controls like flip to mute, along with a gloves mode.

Camera

The Huawei Honor 6 offers a 13 MP rear shooter with a Sony BSI sensor along with a F2.0 28mm wide angle lens and a dual LED flash. The UI provided on the camera is standard. However, the image quality does not justify the camera specs, as they have a tendency to appear grainy. The camera can take decent shots during the day. Meanwhile, the front shooter also lacks sharpness and the finer details. The camera enables video recording at 1080p, though the lack of OIS becomes quite apparent. Overall, it is fair to say that the camera of the Honor 6 is one of its weak points.

Samples:

Display and Multimedia

The Huawei Honor 6 has a 5-inch Full HD 1080 x 1920 pixels LCD display with a pixel density of 445 pixels per inch. Well, that sounds and looks good. The smartphone can render excellent brightness even in very bright conditions. However, the panel is a non IPS which makes viewing angles a bit scruffy. However sunlight visibility and colour reproduction is top notch.

With a 5-inch display, playing games and watching movies is a fun ride with the Honor 6. The phone can easily withstand those frame rates, animations and transitions without any lag or stutters. Playing Asphalt 8 was also delight on the Full HD screen. It runs most games flawlessly, even at maximum graphic settings, while 3GB of RAM allows multitasking with ease and provides enough resources to run multiple apps in the background. All in all, gaming experience on the Honor 6 is quite immersive and seamless as it can run most games without any lags and stutters. Though, I was not really satisfied with the placement of phone’s loudspeaker as its housed at the back and blocks sound output while you’re holding the phone.

Conclusion

Considering its priced for Rs.19,999, Huawei Honor 6 is strategically coupled with the state of the art hardware. The EMUI 2.3 gives a lot of additional features without hampering the overall performance of the phone. The brand new HiSilicon’s Kirin 920 bundled with 3GB of RAM is a match made in heaven. The Honor 6 is a multimedia delight along with the 3100mAh battery performance. The phone has minimalistic look and build to it, though made out of good quality. The camera may be one of the weaker links in the Honor 6, but other aspects of the phone are top notch and can beat any phone under the given price bracket.

[tw-column width=”one-half”]

GOOD THINGS

Great Hardware
Good Display
Adequate Internal Memory
Easy-to-use UI

[/tw-column]

[tw-column width=”one-half” position=”last”]

BAD THINGS

Design
Weak Camera
Prone to Scratches

[/tw-column]

October 13, 2014

iPhone 6 Review
Apple’s latest generation of phone is here, the iPhone 6 is the next big change after Apple’s iPhone 5 was launched two years ago. However a lot has happened in the smartphone market space since then.

Android has taken major lead thanks to diversification and availability, and smartphones have become much cheaper. A few companies like Xiaomi and OnePlus have emerged to show that cheap phones don’t have to be bad quality or bad spec’d, and that they too can create major hype.

So amidst all of this smartphone tension, where does today’s iPhone 6 stand and is is worth your major moolah. Let’s find out!

Overview

Just like every iPhone release, this one was riddled with issues as well. Apple managed to sell 10 million iPhone 6 and 6 Plus devices overnight since it went on sale and a lot of people had major issues in getting to the online Apple store. Then there is this crazy #bendgate phenomenon, and just like Apple’s #AntennaGate this one has the whole world talking about bending iPhones. People are confused and some assume that a bending iPhone is a feature of the new iPhone, just like the G Flex.

[pullquote_left]iPhone 6 is Unaffected by the Bendgate Issue[/pullquote_left]

Apple has received just a few complaints over bending iPhone 6 plus’ and the whole story seems like a media frenzy, also it does not affect the iPhone 6 at all. All bendgate theories aside, Apple has managed to improve on what was already an excellent handset. People wanted a bigger iPhone and Apple delivered two sizes. People asked for better battery and the Cupertino giant may have a winner on that as well, but hardware is not the only factor. Apple has tied in iOS 8 brilliantly and the end user experience may just be what you have been looking for.

Build Quality and Design

Apple has chosen to go with a treated Aluminum just like every year, however this year it’s thinner and strengthened at the hip using stainless steel and titanium inserts. The iPhone however, is presumed to be easily dented or nicked at the round edges just like the case of the first generation. The front glass is rounded to the edges giving the phone a massively premium outlook and a great in-hand feel. Expect almost all manufacturers to follow this in the upcoming handsets.

Looks wise the iPhone 6 is much more good looking in person than in images and video. It feels excellent in the hand and thanks to the new rounded edges, the phone will stay in your hand much longer. Everyone who has seen it, has appreciated its looks. The Golden color especially has been improved over the past generation gold.

Camera Module is Protruded

The camera module sits above the whole body of the phone, which makes it prone to scratches, however the super hard sapphire lens, makes it really difficult to do so. The Apple official case tucks the camera module in just a tad bit to add a layer of protection and not bulk. The leather case is really appreciable and well made, much more so than last generation cases.

Hardware

Procession on the new iPhone 6 happens on the new Apple A8 Chipset and it is the first chipset to include 2 Billion transistors. Which is really impressive if you factor in the size of the A8 die i.e 89mm². The increase in the performance is based on a 1.4 Ghz CPU and a hexa core GPU. The front has a larger 4.7 inch display which is an Apple iPhone first along with a larger resolution of 1334 x 750 px, retaining Apple’s retina requirements.

The Battery is bigger on the iPhone 6 with a 1810 mAh unit in tow, non-replaceable as usual, you also get the same 8 Mp and 1.2 Mp camera combo. However improved lenses and sensor promise better imagery and we agree. There is also an NFC module on the inside, but it is only for payments and not for information bumps. Apple Pay is not available in India, in fact it won’t be for a while so it really may not be relevant. However if you are in the US, this may simplify payments for you significantly, especially if all you carried was a credit/debit card.

Performance

Performance is easily noticeable out of the box; the iPhone 6 is snappier, opens apps faster and renders objects quicker. The graphics information is about as accurate as mentioned and games that will take full advantage of the GPU will truly shine in the coming days with extra detail and nag-less gameplay.

Multitasking has taken a major bump up, thanks to iOS 8 which is much lighter and handles multitasking better, but the hardware also plays an important role and improves it, resulting in a flawless experience overall.

Gaming, Display and Multimedia

The iPhone 6 is by far the best gaming experience on a smartphone, the visual elements truly shine out in gameplay, and since all games are designed around Apple’s hardware on the iPhones, they run at best possible settings resulting in the best possible output, and therefore the best possible gaming experience.

[pullquote_right]The Display shines on the new iPhone 6[/pullquote_right]

Display is Vivid

The new bigger 4.7 inch display truly leverages the OS experience, you still get to use the phone with one hand, and once you have used “reachability”, the first question you will ask is “why hasn’t anyone else done it before?”. It makes sense and it works really well. Apple should have stuffed in a larger resolution display on the iPhone 6, but the current resolution is very good. There is zero pixelation on screen, text looks excellent, viewing angles are really wide and outdoor visibility is top notch, basically the same as you would expect from an iPhone, but better.

The speakerphone is definitely louder and more defined, however it’s no “boomsound” speaker setup and it’s no where near as great as a stereo setup. Why Apple choses to use a single speaker after 7 years of inception is beyond us, when they could have easily done a stereo setup with this iPhone. Audio output from the 3.5mm headphone jack is still the best from any phone ever and bundled with a good set of headphones makes for the best on the go sound experience.

Camera

240fps at 720p is going to be the best fun you have had with a Camera, be sure to get at least the 64 GB variant if you intend to use this. The best usage is outdoors so that you don’t get random tube light flicker. The one major let down this year was the lack of 4K video, and now that the storage was bumped up to 128GB it would have simply made sense, as the sensor and chipset is very capable and with the iPhone 6 Plus OIS would have meant excellent video.

There is a major improvement in the new autofocus capabilities of the new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. The iPhone 6 misses the OIS from the 6 Plus which is a major pity, because there is no real reason Apple should have left it out.

The new autofocus is laser fast, and the new lens setup is better for macro. The iPhone usually has great background defocus and close up capture capability as it is, the new iPhone 6 camera improves that by a handful. You also see sharper pictures, highly improved HDR and color correction, and perfectly saturated colors. Thanks to the excellent image processing you get ideally one of the best pocket cameras today. It is also the most used camera in the world and that is just going to become bigger.

Samples:

HDR

Focus Test

HDR Outdoor 2

Close Up Focus

Low Light

Phone and Battery life

Network performance is a definite improvement on the iPhone 6, the signal strength has improved tremendously and audio quality in phone calls is definitely up there in the Top 3. The lack of a 3G toggle in the settings panel in iOS 8 troubles users indoors, because you are now unable to switch to a stronger 2G signal. The iPhone 6 however does that by itself now more than ever, which works great for us.

Battery life has seen a major jump since the iPhone 5s, which had appalling battery life. Newer chipsets, a slightly larger battery and iOS 8 tweaks are all to thank for a bump in battery which will go an easy 18 hours, meaning a full day without the need of a recharge. Apple’s extreme battery life chart is a bit off from actual usage delivering upto 7 hours on 3G talk in normal usage.

iOS 8

Apple ties in the operating system beautifully, and especially thanks to iOS 8 and hand-off, get ready to get a multi device experience like no other. While your phone rings, you can set it up so that every device on the same iCloud account rings too, whether an iPod touch or an iPad and even another iPhone will ring and you can answer the call on either. Best case example, you put your phone on charge and are working on the iPad, you can now receive a phone call on that. The same will apply to MacBooks and iMacs on Yosemite, which will receive calls and texts allowing you to not switch screens when you don’t need to.

Reachability Demo

iOS 8 also takes good advantage of the bigger displays, widening side panels in landscape and allowing you to use a zoomed in view for larger icons and text. iOS 8 also uses Apple Pay which may become the future of payments (when it’s available globally anyway). Simple things like reachability and the new improved keyboard only add to the experience of the bigger screens. Typing is definitely faster, and as mentioned before, the OS is quicker and lighter on its feet, therefore improves the usage experience tremendously.

Conclusion

[pullquote_left]The Best Your Money Can Buy![/pullquote_left]There is no major innovation from Apple this year, and most have constantly asked me for one. Once Apple Pay comes to India and the rest of the world, there is a high chance that iPhone 7 will be out by then / or iPhone 6s or whatever they call it. The iPhone 5s in terms of performance, usability and camera/optics was essentially one of the best phones of last year. The two issues, poor battery life and a small display irked many users and Apple has addressed those two beautifully in this release. What else has improved? The design and the overall appeal of the phone, the rounded edges on the display feel wonderfully natural and invite you to slide your finger on the new phone. Big improvements on the performance front and the Touch ID sensitivity also really improve the experience.

iPhone 6 with the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5

Should you buy this if you own an iPhone 5s?

If you want a bigger screen, a bigger storage capacity or even better battery management and can afford buying a new phone, don’t think twice.

What is different between the Nexus 4 and the new iPhone 6?

The question is flawed somehow, because of the sheer distinction in the kind of products. A 2011 Honda Accord and a 2014 BMW 5 Series Sedan are identical, they both have a 2 Liter engine, 4 wheels, 5 passenger capacity, Air-conditioning and even similar interior equipment. If you go into more detail they even have identical length and width, and if you add Rs. 5 lac (US$ 7000) worth performance parts to your purchase of the Accord you can make it run faster than many sports cars. So why is the BMW more expensive and more appreciated than the Accord? If you answer that question the same is applicable to the above question.

If you can afford it, the iPhone 6 is fortunately or unfortunately the best smartphone experience today, and once you get to use it and understand how it simplifies your life, you truly appreciate its experience. The experience which is again fortunately or unfortunately enjoyed best with more Apple products in your daily use scenario. Even as a standalone phone, only a minor user-share have disliked the iPhone experience, and those who left iPhones a few years back, would be delighted to now bounce back onto the bandwagon.

Video Review

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GOOD THINGS
- Touch ID Sensor
- Excellent Camera
- Unmatched Smooth Operation
- Beautiful Design
- Large 128 GB Option
[/tw-column]

[tw-column width=”one-half” position=”last”]

BAD THINGS
- Price
- Question Around Weak Build
- Availability in India
[/tw-column]
September 30, 2014
Review : Micromax Canvas Nitro A310
Micromax has been reworking strategies for quite some time, and after their launch of the Canvas Gold, the company has kept it low key. Meanwhile, Motorola with their Moto G and Moto E along with Xiaomi with their Mi3 and Redmi 1s have really made a dent in the market.

The Micromax Canvas Nitro A310 is the company’s answer to all that, but does it really fulfil that goal? Lets find out!

Overview

The Canvas Nitro A310 is well built phone with good specs, in the right price bracket. However with the competition looming it may not match up in terms of hardware capabilities. The strategy to launch it with online partner Snapdeal is also similar to what we have seen in the past, Motos and the MIs and their launch with Flipkart.

Hardware

The Micromax Canvas Nitro A310 comes with a Mediatek Mt6592 Octa Core Chipset clocked at 1.7 GHz on all eight cores. The phone also has 2 GB of RAM and a Mali 450 MP2 GPU. The Nitro runs on a 2500mAh battery and has 8 GB of inbuilt storage, out of which roughly 5.2 GB is available to the user.

The front is laden with a vivid 5 inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 1280 x 720 px, for optics on the rear the phone gets a 13 MP camera with auto focus and 1080p video capture, the front remains a fixed focus with a 5 MP resolution. Cameras are capable of HDR and low light photography, video has electronic stabilisation, and you can initiate the camera with a gesture “V” sign to click pictures from a far.

Unboxing Video

Build Quality and Design

Unlike its predecessors, the Canvas Nitro A310 is built on a plastic chassis, giving it a much lighter and less sturdy feel compared to the likes of the Canvas Gold. However the phone is still well built and feels like it can take a fall or two (not that we’d recommend it). The front has a tiny lip that nicely protects the front LCD of the phone, but on from a flat table placement or a flat drop. There is no mention of Gorilla Glass, although some generic “strengthened” glass has been used.

The back panel has a leather look (read: exactly like the Note 3) however it has a much better defined design, overall appeal and touch. The back panel is also very sturdy and not flimsy at all, which one would expect. We are not too sure about this blue colour, as it may not appeal to every one, it’s how one would say “different”.

Camera

Micromax focused a lot with the camera on the new Micromax Canvas Nitro A310, they have added several new camera features as standard. Things mostly which can be had with an app, but its is always much better to have features integrated with the OS and UI. An inbuilt camera specific widget lets you take shots by focusing on what you want to do, selecting from 5 different modes.

Front Back ; lets you take one picture from the front facing camera and one from the rear facing camera and combine it as a single image.

Stable ; just like the name says, waits till your hands are stable before taking a picture.

Selfie ; A selfie mode lets you click better selfies, however this works best with “V shot gesture” mode.

Refocus; lets you add blur to all areas except the area you select, more like a software version of HTC’s dual camera setup.

Coming to the hardware, the camera is based on a BSI Sony sensor with an f2.2 aperture and has excellent focus capabilities. Images captured indoors, as well as outdoors are accurate in colour reproduction and contrast. HDR was particularly good, and can really reproduce required details in the images.

With HDR

Without HDR

You get a good deal of details with the camera, especially up close to your subject.

Performance and Gaming

The Micromax Canvas Nitro handles day to day usage without any problem, and for once this phone does not heat up at all, mostly pertaining to the fact that the device is made entirely out of plastic. At any pint of time the total amount of free RAM is approximately 600+ MB, leaving you to wonder where the phone is utilising in excess of 1.3 GB of RAM. The included clean up app does open up about 120-140 MB of RAM, but that is still less considering that the device is running on KitKat.

Benchmarks and Gaming Video

We did see some hiccups in Gaming while gunning for high end games, and we also noticed quite a lot of frame loss, we plan to revisit gaming separately post the launch of the handset. Audio quality is excellent, however you might end up with your hand on the speaker ever so often, muffling up the sound.

Phone, Networks and Battery

Signal quality is excellent indoors as well as outdoors, audio is good on a call whether incoming or out going. As far as networks are concerned the plastic body definitely improves any WiFi connectivity issues faced by the previous generation of Canvas phones.

Battery life if good for one day’s use with the included 2500 mAh battery, which is removable and replaceable by the user. You will get an average talk time of 5-6 hours with both SIM cards placed in the phone.

If you are a light user you can easily run into the second day, however a charge a day would be recommended to keep you in a healthy battery position.

Multimedia And Android

The display is really good on the Micromax Canvas Nitro A310, it has excellent levels of black which are deep and blend in with the accurate blacks of the bezel. Video playback was good after the initial hiccups we faced (old version of Youtube App) and viewing angles are fantastic. The phone’s display works well indoors and outdoors and you will totally appreciate media consumption on the display, despite the fact that it is a 720p screen.

The OS is mostly stock Android 4.4.2, with minor customisations and mostly preloaded applications by the company, the UI also looks clean and is responsive. The set of apps including Quick Look (aka Blinkfeed for non HTC devices) and the new lock screen are excellent and work really well in providing notifications and quick update of news. Both of these can easily be turned off or replaced using custom launchers and lock screen replacements from the Play Store.

Screenshots

Conclusion

While most will argue the hardware powers of the Xiaomi Mi3, the Micromax Canvas Nitro is aimed to be more for those who want a less hectic approach to buying a phone. With an octa-core chipset and 2 GB of RAM, bundled with a 13 MP camera and expandable storage, the Micromax Canvas Nitro does have it positives. The biggest being the fact that the phone will be available to those who want to buy it, easily and how.

The Micromax Canvas Nitro is a step in the right direction for Indian manufacturers, especially considering they are taking huge flack from companies like Xiaomi and Motorola who are basically now playing in their space.

[tw-column width=”one-half”]
GOOD THINGS
- Good Build
- Good Specs
- Great Pricing
- Excellent 720p Display
- Good Battery Life
[/tw-column]
[tw-column width=”one-half” position=”last”]
BAD THINGS
- Plastic Body
- Gaming Shabby
  [/tw-column]
September 8, 2014
Gunnar Optiks Review : Do You Want Or Need It?

Today’s scenario do not let you escape the eye strain of screens, displays, LCD, AMOLED and what not. Result is, all that gaming, cellphone and television takes a toll on your eyes. Issues like dry and itchy eyes, headaches among others are becoming a common complain from tech related workforce. Gunnar Optiks hopes that you’re willing to drop some bank on making your eyes more comfortable. The company says their glasses can save the stress on your eyes caused by constantly looking at the screen and possibly save you some eye life.

Gunnar offers you a variety of glasses, ranging from usual display glasses to 3D and gaming glasses too. The gaming and display glasses are almost identical. They come in various designs to suite your frame and taste. The downside is that you can’t really try them before you buy the glasses. But you do get to choose from a variety of styles and sizes they offer.

Intercept Computer Eyewear

The glasses range roughly from Rs. 2000 to Rs. 5000 in Indian market. The one we got for review are Regent and Intercept computer eyewear and Gliff 3d glasses. These are very comfy glasses and have a metal frame and the strain reduction glasses have yellow tint on them. The yellow tint do hinder with the your surroundings as well as the overall white balance of your view.

So, if you’ve been viewing TV or playing your PlayStation a lot lately, wearing these glasses will, give a completely different hue that sort of tends to take away from original experience initially. After you have worn them for a while, you will go oblivious to its their existence on your head. Although again, the yellow tint may not be liked by some folks, but the glasses do reduce the strain on your eyes to quite an extent. If you are on screen for more hours than you sleep, these glasses will certainly help you reduce the effect on your eyes and help gi your eyes an extended shelf life.

As far as the 3D glasses are concerned, they are very impressive. 3D glasses by Gunnar are much better than the ones you get at the movie theaters. They don’t darken up the whole view, they are light weight, and are really comfortable when compared to the usual 3D glasses. They give an actual 3D experience with better depth and clarity without compromising the picture quality.

Gunnar Intercept Gaming Eyewear

Futhermore, there is not a big market for these product right now. In a normal day scenario, if you are not spending a lot of time on screen, you may not require these products. But, as we said earlier, if you spend more time on screen than you sleep, these might be worth a try. Honestly, the only downside here is that you will end up spending a couple or more thousand bucks for these glasses. But if you do get to save your eyes, it will be an automatic payback in long run.

The end decision is obvious, need vs want. We can’t tell your accurate efficiency as there is no way we can measure it. But, it is surely a good bet if you are looking for a product that helps counter the heavy strain you subject our eyes to.

July 29, 2014
Xiaomi Mi3 Review : Get it Now!
The era of saying, “that’s a Chinese phone” in a negative manner may have finally ended, and that will be purely thanks to the fact that a lot of Chinese manufacturers are ready to put that norm to rest.

With Gionee taking the market horses by the reins last year, Xiaomi is the latest player and is ready to play in the heated battle zone with the right approach for India.

OVERVIEW

India is the most price sensitive market in the world, one of the largest markets for Mobile Phone users, even those who switch handsets frequently. The country is flooded with manufacturers and brands trying to reach a level of excitement in the mobile space. With the Xiaomi Mi3, the Chinese manufacturer hit the right note with Indian buyers, by simply launching the product. There was a huge demand for a good budget phone; However Xiaomi dissolved their overheads by launching the product at a marvellous price of Rs 13999/- for the 16 GB variant.

The stocks are very limited, and only those who preregister can buy the phone. Every few days the phone will go on sale on shopping website Flipkart, making it excruciatingly difficult to own one right now. What makes it more painful is the long list of dealers who have multiple accounts on Flipkart, waiting to snatch this phone, just so that they can sell for a markup.

Is the handset really worth all that worship? Let’s find out.

BUILD QUALITY AND HARDWARE

Let’s say this, finding a phone this well made, for this price, is practically impossible. The Xiaomi Mi3 is encased in a solid brushed aluminium shell and laden with Gorilla Glass 3 in the front. Possibly one of the only phones with a reinforced micro USB port, the Xiaomi Mi3 has held no bars in design and build quality.

The rigid frame also gives it fantastic looks and the rounded sides and edges relate to the fit in the hand, and it all feels great. Each time you pickup the Mi3 the first words out of your mind would be “No way this costs only Rs. 13999?.

Hardware wise, the Xiaomi Mi3 is pretty top notch, unlike its latest version; the Mi4, the Mi3 carries a Snapdragon 800 chipset with quad cores clocked at 2.3 GHz, a full HD 1920 x 1080p IPS LCD display made by Sharp or LG, 2 GB of RAM, 16GB of storage and a whopping 3050 mAh battery. Apart from that you get the Adreno 330 GPU and Bluetooth 4.0 LE along with Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac.

Just putting the parts together will cost you more than a phone. However someone at Xiaomi has the right contacts with suppliers.

ANDROID AND MIUI

The Xiaomi Mi3 in India comes preloaded with Android 4.4.2 out the box, which is skinned with MiUi, a very iOS like skin which does not contain an application drawer. The UI is fast and snappy and offers a lot of customisations including themes which can be downloaded from the Mi Store. The Mi3 will give full access to the Play Store and allow for launcher downloads as well as launcher replacement if so be the case.

The UI is snappy and not laggy at all, the phone has good multitasking capabilities and will blaze through the live applications, despite few software glitches, that may often cause slowdowns and crashes.

PERFORMANCE AND GAMING

The phone is a beast for the price range. It does not break any records as per say, but is truly top notch in its price bracket, in fact pretty much compares to phones in double the price bracket. The phone runs through mostly all our tests and scores good results in our benchmark tests.

Test

Score

Quadrant Benchmark 20376

Antutu Benchmark 30537

Nenamark 60.0 FPS

As far as gaming is concerned, the Mi3 can handle anything that is thrown at it, basically, any game that exists on Android will run on the Mi3, which is mostly thanks to the heart of the handset being a Snapdragon 800 – one of the most stable chipsets when it comes to apps and software.

We gamed on the Mi3 extensively and found it to be seamless and smooth, although the 16 GB runs out, and it runs out fast. You would be better waiting for the 64 GB variant if gaming is your bit because space is tight.

The Xiaomi Mi3 is excellent in day to day use and offers excellent performance, whether its running apps or multitasking, you will not be disappointed.

MULTIMEDIA AND CAMERA

The Xiaomi Mi3 has a beautiful display with excellent viewing angles and a full HD resolution. Xiaomi has gone as far as calling it a “retina” display, because the panels are made either by LG or Sharp, both of which supply to Apple for the iPhone.

The display is big and bright, and you will enjoy consuming media on this phone, the audio is excellent out of the 3.5mm jack, and you will be happy with the overall experience. The onboard speaker is not overly loud, but can be adequate, of course, which could be different for different folks, we would have liked a better speaker though.

The camera is the best in class, with a 5 element lens and f2.2 aperture, the 13 MP shots are right on the money. The colours are accurate, and images are perfectly sharp. Low-light performance is excellent, and video is good. The front camera is good for 2
MP shots which will more than suffice for the selfie nerd in you.

PHONE AND BATTERY LIFE

Phone networks are strong, and network performance is good where we tested (Delhi/NCR and Mumbai), the phone supports 3G networks mostly globally and without issues in India. There is no 4G/LTE and expecting it would be inappropriate.

Battery life is impressive thanks to a well balanced chipset, which helped us get through almost two days without a recharge on the 3050 mAh battery pack.

Talk Time 6-7 hours

Music 19 hours

Internet 10+ Hours

CONCLUSION

Just a few months ago, Motorola broke the bank in India by launching the Moto G in this price bracket using a similar sale strategy (the Flipkart way). Now Xiaomi seems to have this in their pocket for the Xiaomi Mi3 and possibly for the Mi4 in the near future. There are several complaints, already of handsets with faulty Sim card trays, heating issues and handsets that refuse to boot or get charged.

Around 35-service centres will offer, support and Flipkart has a brilliant reverse pickup for faulty and dead on arrival products. So device and support “should not be” a problem. However, there is no clarity on who is behind the sales, an Indian partner or the company itself? How dedicated are they and how serious do the consider one of the larger mobile markets?

With confirmed news of the new Mi4 coming soon, and OnePlus showing interest in India, the Mi3 may be a miss for some. However for those who need a phone now, it doesn’t get any better than this. If you were considering a last generation Nexus 5, this overthrows that with half the price. Get the drift? Now get the phone!

Buy Now

[tw-column width=”one-half”]

GOOD THINGS
- Excellent Build
- Uber Hardware
- Stunning Looks
- Android 4.4 and MiUi
- Excellent Performer
- Great Battery
[/tw-column]

[tw-column width=”one-half” position=”last”]

BAD THINGS
- No Official Company to find
- Flipkart only Sales
- Limited Units
- Faulty on Arrival Units
[/tw-column]
July 27, 2014
Micromax Canvas Gold A300 Review
Micromax has recently transitioned into a newer dimension of phones, from bulky and dated phones running older versions of Android, the trend is now to get shapely, sleek devices with Android KitKat out of the box. The current flagship, aka the Micromax Canvas Gold A300, is a testament of that, and while the Canvas Knight was burning our desires (quite literally), the Golden boy here may have turned our mood around. Let’s see how it holds up.

Overview

[pullquote_left]The oddly questionable gold colour is far from that of the iPhone 5s[/pullquote_left]

The Canvas Gold A300 is yet another flagship Canvas phone from the company that promises a roundup of interesting elements. A good set of specifications, great build quality, design and good optics, giving it a big thumbs up on the premium look and feel. Even though most have called it a replica of the iPhone 5s in a bigger version, the oddly questionable gold colour is far from that of the iPhone 5s.

Hardware and Build

Running the Canvas Gold A300 is an Octa-Core Mediatek 6592T chipset clocked at 2.0 GHz tied up with 2 GB of RAM and 32 GB of Storage. 25GB of the 32 GB is available to dump your media, games and files. The rear camera is a 16MP shooter with a 5MP front camera which does an impressive job with selfies (see camera section)

The front has an impressive and vivid 5.5 inch 1920 x 1080p display this is surprisingly visible outdoors and has good viewing angles. The phone has dual SIM capabilities and can run data on 3g on both cards. The Sim slots comprise of a full size SIM slot and a micro SIM slot on either side of the device.

The phone is manufactured out of a “single billet” of aluminium alloy with slots for antennas in plastic on the rear of the device. The phone is readily available in two variants, a Gold+White and the Gold+Black, the only difference being the plastic inserts and the colour of the bezel.

Apart from the exceptionally golden – gold colour the phone has a pretty good design, and the metal is nicely finished to give a great feel in the hand. The beveled edges of the phone quite replicate the iPhone look, seen specifically iPhone 4 and up. The flat lay-on-the table design will be appreciated by owners quite a lot, although a fatter lip for the front would have given a strong protection to the screen albeit taking away a bit of the slim profile of the smartphone.

Phone and Networks

The phone is unique in many ways, instead of selection your data network, you can have data on either SIM, which is great. The weird combination of Sim card sizes may work for some people, especially if they don’t want to cut/get micro SIM cards vs. regular sized ones.

The networks are strong and audio in and out of the phone is impressive. The network remains positively active even during tower switches, and we didn’t see a huge problem with dropped calls.

The WiFi seemed a bit low to us, and in our initial tests seemed weak.

Multimedia, Display and Camera

For most media is playable on the Canvas Gold A300, and we found nothing to complain about, the audio could be a little bit louder in our opinion. The music output from the headphones is a lot more impressive when compared to any previous handset, the “flaming knight” included.

As far as the video playback goes, the display does a fantastic job, jitter-free vibrant video playback. The phone is capable enough and will deliver a good experience to most users.

The camera system is a good hardware and software upgrade, and the 16 MP sensor is big enough to give a noise free low light performance. The day shots are noteworthy and brilliantly saturated to give a larger than life photography experience. The camera app is simplistic and new features like 99 shot continuous burst along with tap-hold to track subjects actively will come in handy for video.

Video capture frame rates are slow to display on the screen, in fact when you are capturing video there seems to be a lag in the screen aka the viewfinder. But, we were testing a pre-production software and apparently this has been fixed in the final build. Video is captured at a resolution of 1920 x 1080p at 30fps just like many other handsets in this bracket.

Performance and Gaming

The Canvas Gold A300 is a star performer scoring great results on benchmarks and showing excellent performance in daily use overall. You will be happy multitasking on this handset as it can handle app switching very well and thanks to inbuilt RAM management the phone automatically drives resources to the active application. The apps in the background use the adaptive suspend from Android KitKat.

Thanks to all this software and management goodness, the gaming experience is excellent, with heat at a minimum. The device does heat up from around the camera with extended periods of use, however the minute you are done you will be happy to put the phone in your pocket and move out. Games have a superfluid experience along with excellent touch screen feedback and responsiveness.

Battery Life and Conclusion

The battery on the Canvas Gold A300 lasts a good full day of use, and thanks to KitKat and power management you will not be searching for the charger in a hurry. The bloatware on the Canvas Gold A300 has been brought down to a minimum, and most of the preloaded apps useful, those which are not required can be gotten rid of.

With a software update thanks to FOTA, the device may get Android L (hopefully) and with the company working to fix their service issues the Micromax Canvas Gold seems like a good overall product. With little or no complaints from the hardware and excellent UI including a new keyboard (Swiftkey) pre loaded for use, most will be happy with the device out of the box.

With more options in this price bracket including Gionee Elife S5.5, the Moto X and the Desire 816 it will mostly come down to user requirements.

Review Video

[tw-column width=”one-half”]

GOOD THINGS
- Build Quality is Impressive
- Powerful Hardware
- Great Battery
- KitKat and FOTA Updates
- Cameras are sharp
[/tw-column]

[tw-column width=”one-half” position=”last”]

BAD THINGS
- Strange Gold Colour
- No Lip around Display
- No Included Case
[/tw-column]
June 30, 2014
HTC Desire 816 Review
The HTC Desire 816 is the newest entrant from HTC in their so called Mid Range product lineup of Android based Smartphone devices. The Desire 816 has Dual Sim Capabilities and supports CDMA networks alongside the GSM networks.

The HTC Desire is a good mix of looks, brain and brawn, but does it tackle a market well versed with hardware at a price point of a Nexus smartphone. Lets find out!

Overview

The HTC Desire 816 is the prettiest looking Desire we have seen yet, and it manages to do that in a an ironic rugged fashion. The phone musters up the strength to take on the likes of great phones like the Nexus 5, Moto X and Sony Xperia T2 in this price segment offering something extra.

Design, Hardware and Build

HTC has managed to hit the nail on the head when it comes to design in the past couple of years, with the One series of phones coming out stunning, one after the other. The Desire 816 is one phone that is completely inspired by the One M8 however keeping costs low, it brings a new material to the users. The design is very unique, blending a matte plastic edge with a glossy plastic back gives the phone two independent looks. The Front keeps the plastic chin and the head at a minimal, the front mostly has glass.

As far as hardware goes the Desire 816 also has a great mix of that. Running the insides is a Qualcomm MSM8928 Snapdragon 400 at 1.6 GHz on Quad Cores along with an Adreno 305 GPU. For memory we have 8 GB of Storage, 1.5 GB RAM and expandability of upto 128 GB via microSD card. Optics shave enhanced quite a lot and you will see impressive results from the 13 MP main camera and 5 MP front camera both capable of impressive 1080p, impressive because its quite accurate with respect to color and white balance.

Powering it all is a 2600 mAh battery pack, the front has a 5.5 inch Super LCD 2 display with a 1280 x 720 p resolution and 267 pip. However the display is actually better than it sounds on paper. All of this works in tandem with Android 4.4.2 kitkat OTB with HTC Sense 6.0, which has some new unique things to offer up. Finally the Desire 816 in India is a Dual Sim device with One 3G Sim card slot and one GSM aka no data slot.

Make no mistake the phone is “unapologetically plastic”, however the build quality is superb and does not feel cheap or flimsy at all. In fact, the “slab-ish” feel that you get from the moment you pick up the phone is pleasantly reassuring. The phone is presently available in three colors – Grey , White and Orange.

Display and Multimedia.

The HTC Desire 816 has a brilliant display, that looks great from the moment you first hold the device in your hand. The 5.5 inch Super LCD 2 display offers excellent brightness and great wide viewing angles. Almost every time you turn on the display you get a slight smirk on your face as to how beautifully HTC manages color and how good this screen looks. For the geek squad the 720p screen may not be a let down, it’s actually better than almost every other 720p display we have seen.

Movies and videos play perfectly on the Desire 816, with no lag whatsoever, even while high bitrate movies are difficult to view, they work exceptionally well on the 816. Multimedia playback is a good mix of visuals and audio experience, the Boomsound speakers contribute to the latter. The new speaks have large cavities and the sound almost competes with the likes of the new M8, which by itself says a lot. Their new audio engine also does an equally good job as the beats engine did, when the company still made phones with Beats audio.

Camera

The cameras on the HTC Desire 816 are not far from impressive, with excellent color reproduction, no banding in images, and excellent video capture. Both cameras capture video at Full HD 1080p resolution and the video is smooth and jitter free.

The camera works well in all kinds of lighting, although in extreme dark environments the Desire 816’s flash may not hold up to the mark. The camera is fast at focusing, and delivers mostly sharp results.

While taking a different approach from their One series of phones HTC has actually added a big sensor in this one , a 13 MP snapper will satiate the most needs.

The new Camera features in Sense 6.0 including ZOE is available on the HTC Desire 816, however you won’t see the UFocus option from the HTC One M8 because its hardware dependent. Although HTC could have gone the Sony and Samsung Route and used “Selective Focus” softwares.

Phone and Battery

While the Desire 816 uses 2 SIM cards, like most lower end phones it has only one slot for a 3G sim card. Both sim cards need to be Nano Sims to fit in this bad boy, which might have been a movement decision vs a design or need decision on such a large device.

The Phone call network strength is very good, and data connectivity is strong funnily in places where phones usually end up in “E” (edge) mode, the Desire 816 hangs on to the one last bar of “H” (3G/HSDPA), which by all means to us is very impressive. The Desire 816 also supports CDMA which is a fantastic thing, and makes the Desire 816 the best dual sim CDMA phone in this price bracket.

Battery life is phenomenal, you will easily bump one day of use and go into the next without worries. This is probably the only phone we have seen in the past that offers up this kind of battery life. However this is respective of usage, and may vary.

Talk Time : 6-7 Hours

Music and Multimedia : 9-10 hours

Internet : 7-8 Hours

Android and UI

Android KitKat along-with Sense 6.0 is a fantastic combination, just as we saw on the HTC One M8. HTC is now also promising quick updates to their handsets and we have seen updates roll out and almost all of their handsets released in the past few years are running KitKat. This means that we can rest easy when hoping for updates to the latest version of Android.

The Blinkfeed UI has become more and more acceptable and according to HTC over 79% of HTC owners are actively using Blinkfeed. The new Blinkfeed interface lets you add custom lists and sources as per your needs.

The Interface is infact, very customizable and intuitive and HTC offers a lot of sounds and wallpapers etc, to keep you busy for a very long time (incase you choose to use them.)

Performance and Gaming

The Desire 816 is a crack performer, no lag whatsoever, even when storage runs out. RAM is managed exceptionally well and fluidity of the ecosystem is constant. Muti-tasking works just the way it was designed, and while you could be easily switching b/w apps, they are actually put in a hibernate mode allowing the continued smooth performance.

All games are compatible and work well, the storage remains a limitation, and most games cannot be transferred to the SD card, which is slightly disappointing. You get approx 4+ GB free and although move to SD works in most cases, some games like GTA SA cannot be transferred and end up using 2.5 GB /4 available.

Conclusion

Honestly, HTC had us at the first look of the phone back then at MWC, but now with that gorgeous display, impressive build, fluid UI and impressive optics and multimedia, the Desire 816 is becoming more and more worthy of the “best title”, already winning the Best Dual Sim phone with CDMA in the under 30,000 category.

The HTC Desire 816 may be a tad large for some but it fits comfortably, and is an excellent phone with solid network strength. What you get for the price is a well rounded phone, with many features that will satisfy mostly all demographics.

If you are in the market for a phone that does CDMA as well, the 816 becomes the obvious choice, however despite there being many phones in this price bracket. The Desire 816 offers possibly the most satisfying experience.

Best Price

[tw-column width=”one-half”]

GOOD THINGS
- Well Built and Snappy
- Well Responsive
- Excellent Design and Looks
- Great Cameras
- Android KitKat and Updates
- Sense 6.0
- CDMA and 3G GSM Capable
[/tw-column]

[tw-column width=”one-half” position=”last”]

BAD THINGS
- Internal Memory Low
- Nano SIM Slot could have been Micro
- None, really!
[/tw-column]
June 4, 2014

The HTC One M8 Review

HTC’s latest One the M8 has caused a stir and then some in the smartphone market, but does it really have what it needs to make the cut for a flagship smartphone. Lets find out in our review!

Overview

HTC has done some great things with a revision of their flagship phone, the original one, which was also voted and won “the phone of the year” award many a times last year and at MWC 2014 this year. Holding up to that mark may have been difficult but it looks like HTC might have a real winner here.

Build Quality

Three words ; 90 percent metal, thats all it takes to describe the new HTC One M8. Versus the outgoing One, which had 70% metal and then some polycarbonate. The One M8 has a 90 percent metal single shell thats not only strong, but uses the most extreme machining processes to make it curve to front of the handset in the most beautiful manner. The build is much more solid than the previous version and actually holds up pretty well against drops.

The HTC One M8 is also splash proof, why no one talks about it is because they don’t want you splashing water on your phone. If you do accidentally spill coffee or milk (if thats your thing) the phone should survive. The front has a Gorilla Glass 3, which means that it has better visibility, strength and scratch resistance than the M7, which held up pretty well in all of the three aspects.

Hardware

HTC has stuffed in the best of the hardware into the new HTC One M8 barring a few things, including a larger mega pixel camera and 4 k capture.

OS	Android 4.4.2 KitKat
Display	5.0 inch Super LCD3
Resolution	1920 x 1080px (441 ppi)
Height Width Thickness	146.4 mm 70.6 mm 9.4 mm
Weight	160 grams
Processor	Snapdragon 801 chipset Quad-core 2.5 GHz Krait 400
GPU	Adreno 330
RAM	2GB
Storage	16GB/32GB
microSD card slot	Yes, up to 128GB
Primary camera	Dual 4 MP, 2688×1520 pixels
Front camera	5 MP 1080p@30fps
Battery	Li-Po 2600 mAh
Battery life	Standby: 496 hours 3G talk:20 hours
Wi-Fi	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot
Bluetooth	Yes, v4.0 LE with A2DP
Network	Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE Quad-band UMTS/HSPA LTE support, LTE-Advanced
NFC	Yes
Speakers	Stereo
Distinctive features	• Dual UltraPixel cameras • Aluminum body design • Front-facing BoomSound

Display and Multimedia

Are you ready for BoomSound? This phone is loud, louder than you can expect, much more than you can imagine those tiny speakers to be. Seldom would you ask for additional speakers if you alone use this phone. The sound quality is crisp and not tinny at all, mids are clearly balanced and highs are placed well, larger sound cavities (25% larger) ensure better bass.

The display is impressive too, most would ask for a 2k or a 4k display in a 2014 flagship, but honestly one can’t complain. The HTC One M8 has a gorgeous 5 inch 1920 x 1080p LCD 3 (441ppi = 100 more than the eye can see) display with excellent brightness, accurate and vivid color and impeccable viewing angles. The display is great indoors and out with a extra sensitive touch which will work through most gloves (even though HTC doesn’t say it will).

If you plan to watch movies on this device, you will thoroughly enjoy that activity. the perfect mix of great viewing angles and excellent sound make the HTC One M8 a brilliant consumption device.

Software and UI

The HTC One comes with Sense 6.0 and Android 4.4.2 out of the box. The new version of Sense is a highly refined version of Sense 5.0, the interface is clean and more minimal. The icons are free looking and more defined and modern, while the Blinkfeed UI is bolder and more aligned with the vertical flow.

The new Blinkfeed is highly customizable, with the ability to select your own feeds and inputs the new feed allows you to sort and stream from sources and topics of interest. The fact that you can search for “cat whiskers” and add it as a feed so that whenever anyone in the world talks about them you will see an update in your feed.

It is one of the most mature UI updates we have seen in a while.

HTC has mostly kept it simple with the software customizations to ensure the smoothness of the operational usage. It is one of the most mature UI updates we have seen in a while. Not that it is completely stripped, you still get a customizable notification panel, HTC keyboard, themes and color options and a whole flurry of wallpapers and sounds. You can still change the grid size of the app drawer and sort it as per your own needs. You also get features like the car mode, and this brilliant ultra power saving mode that will run the device for up to another 20 hours on very low battery power.

Camera

What HTC has here is possibly the future of smartphone camera technology. While smartphones are getting compacter and thinner by the day the need of a high end camera in a phone is going up. With almost everyone using their smartphones as their primary camera manufacturers are struggling to find the right balance.

The camera on the HTC One M8 could be an answer to a more deeper problem in the industry. The combination of the two sensors, a primary 4 “Ultrapixel” sensor and a secondary 4 “ultrapixel” depth sensor work together to make you believe that the image you clicked is actually higher end than it is.

Hokum, thats what it is!

Hokum, thats what it is! But at that very level of picture taking capability, it gives users that extra oomph in the image before they basically crush it and post it on Instagram. Yes it works and it looks decently good.

HTC has however gone one step further and made the API of the camera available to debs who might be able to give you applications that HTC could not, what the capability lacks is truly good software to work with the hardware to enable great pictures, maybe even oversampling to get larger images ? who knows?

Phone and Battery

We would like to assume that HTC will stick to their word and launch a 4G/LTE enabled handsets in India. This would make this the first flagship to feature LTE connectivity, also almost all bands will be unlocked making this a world LTE phone, a boon for travelers. HTC will also launch a dual sim version, in fact the company designed the phone to be a dual sim phone, as it clearly shows in the sim tray.

Phone call quality is very impressive, especially considering its a 90% metal phone. Audio is crisp and clear with no problems even when there is a tower switch : Impressive!

Battery life is exceptional, and HTC has managed to ensure that the phone does not dissipate heat, in fact in weeks of usage we have not noticed the device get hot at all.

Talk Time 3G : 5 Hours
Talk Time 2G : 5.5 hours
Standby : 2 days
Recharge Required : Once daily
Ultra Power Saving Mode : adds 20 hours to 20 % battery life

Accessories

A worth mention here is the new DOT case, which shows how involved HTC has become in developing good accessories for their handsets. The HTC One has a simple flip case, which matured into a battery flip for the HTC One Max, and now this beautiful Dot Case, that is not only meant for design , but is actually very functional.

Conclusion

HTC has done what nobody expected, while everyone was hoping for a major change in handset design , HTC has improved on their last years winning design. They have also managed to not only make the phone better but also resolve the supply issues they faced with the original One. The first phone in a long time to be launched and made available at the same time is also the phone which has impressed out from out of the box to the usage place.

In the time we have used it, we honestly have nothing to complain about, except possibly the lack of a better simple camera. The dual focus mode is a lot of fun and easy to use, it becomes a daily driver. A better quality camera would have made this experience better and we might see it in the M9 ( not to be confused with a Leica M9, even though that has a marvelous picture taking capability).

HTC has made a mature decision, and made a phone that not only handles everything you throw at it, it looks good doing it. The phone balances perfectly in form, design and performance and will satiate almost every who buys this. HTC has already pushed the handset out with 4.4.2 and promises almost instant UI updates. The new Blinkfeed interface is a great improvement and the overall handset seems very well refined.

NOTE : The HTC One has been launched in India for Rs. 49,900 and will be a available for purchase 8th May. This review was revised to reflect the new price.

[product id=”83010″ sku=””]

[tw-column width=”one-half”]

GOOD THINGS

Excellent build
90% metal
Camera has potential
Great UI
Fast and responsive
Good battery

[/tw-column]

[tw-column width=”one-half” position=”last”]

BAD THINGS

U-focus not refined
No 4k video capture
Same resolution display

[/tw-column]

April 16, 2014

Flame On ! Micromax Canvas Knight A350 Review
Micromax has changed the perception of the company yet again with the new Micromax Canvas Knight, But does this new smartphone keep up to the expectations of the people. Lets find out.

Overview

The Canvas Knight is a brilliant attempt from the company at providing a premium experience. The phone uses good quality materials and has an impressive new chipset. The pricing seems right and the battery life is great* (read below), the phone is the company’s new flagship and holds that position well among its competition.

Build Quality, Design and Hardware

A metal shell with glass on both sides, we have seen this design repeat several times, but it is actually impressive coming from an Indian manufacturer at this price. The front and back are solid toughened glass and should withstand a fall or two, we would however recommend the use of a case (there is one included in the box).

The side bezels and frame are of brushed aluminum with excellent finish and quality. The buttons of the Micromax Canvas Knight are also robust and tactile in feel.

The phone looks good to look at and has a heavy reassuring built, definitely a refined canvas, but its not there yet. The company’s major reluctance in designing their own handsets is still unclear. Micromax time and again choses to buy designs from OEMs and not to make their own handsets. A plastered bad logo at the back shows distasteful branding, even though its a far cry from the usual we have seen in the past.

Another thing to mention is the quality of in box accessories is definitely higher than in the past. the company has improved with their accessories and inclusions, we do however wish for better earphones in the future.

In box Goodies

Hardware wise Micromax has pulled out all the stops, well at least on paper. The Micromax Canvas Knight has a true Octacore Mediatek 6592T chipset, the “T” stands for turbo. The CPU runs on 8 cores at 2.0 GHz and is paired with a Mali 450MP4. RAM is kept at 2 GB and internal storage is a good 32 GB out of the box.

Cameras include a mix of 16 MP shooter at the back along with an 8 MP front facing selfie cam, both capable of 1920 x 1080p video capture. The phone accepts two micro sim cards and has a 2350 mAh battery.

Multimedia

The display on the handset plays a major role, it is a good quality display with vivid colors and bright outdoor visibility. You also get acceptable levels of viewing angles without a lot of shadows at extreme corners. The levels of black are deep, however there is some aliasing noticed on the display from time to time.

Content consumption is better enjoyed with a set of good quality headphones, thanks to the lack of a good on board speaker. The sound from the speaker is tinny and not even comparable to the previous canvas flagship.

Streaming is good, and the Canvas Knight A350 can handle unto 4k video playback, with the right codecs and software, however what really matters is the smooth playback of a full HD video and the phone does that with ease.

Camera

Both the cameras on the Canvas Knight are disappointing with washed out images and lack of detail. We have seen the company deliver great cameras in the past, however this time around the sensor and lens combination is simply torrid.

Video is actually better than the pictures that this camera can click , video captured has better color and less washout. A camera stabilizer inbuilt would help the likes of me with shaky hands, however the software helps a little.

Camera UI

Camera Settings

Camera Modes

Special Modes

Video Settings

Third party apps improve the camera experience a little bit, however it seems like poor choice of camera hardware is mainly the cause of this.

Performance and Gaming

While the phone can handle all tasks, it seems that the software has not been stabilized or tweaked to take the full advantage of the hardware. You see considerable crashes and lag throughout usage and heavy apps end up quitting on you, especially graphic intensive games.

Daily performance is good if you don’t want this to be a power driver, personally we feel the software needs a lot of work. Games run on this without a problem, almost all games that are compatible with the chipset will work aside from the quitting mentioned above.

The phone heats up considerably during usage, so much so that it might be the reason that apps quit. The phone becomes unmanageably hot and uncomfortable to handle. This causes severe effects to the battery, of the 3 handsets we tested two had this problem. Micromax claims problematic handsets will be replaced, and they should be.

Phone and Battery

The Micromax Canvas Knight accepts 2 micro Sim cards on either side of the bezel. The handset is 3G network capable globally with one sim card handling 3G data. On this phone both SIM cards can accept calls and run simultaneously.

Network performance was generally good, we did see some outage from time to time but a good cause for that could be the network. Overall good network performance and phone call capability. Audio on the incoming and outgoing side remains crisp with the noise canceling doing most of the magic for the outgoing voice.

Battery life, when not being affected by the over heating battery drain mentioned above, will last a whole day with a good amount of use. approximately 5-6 hours on 3G calling mixed with a few hours on Social Networks and some music playback. So the battery gets a good thumbs up, when not being burned out.

UI and Conclusion

Apart from the fact that we get Android 4.2.2 with a pseudo-false promise for an update soon, we feel the Ui needs real work. Micromax seems to be slacking in making a handset that they can call their own and this old approach does not seem to work for us anymore. The company needs to bounce back and fix it reputation by bringing phones that not only look good on paper but work too. A more refined user experience will go a long way.

Dialer

Notification Panel

App Drawer

Quick Toggles

Messaging and Keyboard

Software Info

The fact that their flagship smartphone is a mini hell in the pocket is worrisome, the phone heats up often and to high temperatures. This causes the phone to lose battery power and how.

The end resultant is not acceptable, not as a flagship!

While the trend seems positive around the Micromax Canvas Knight A350, and we couldn’t agree more with the phone in terms of what it sets out to do. Design is a huge leap forward and so is the build and choice of materials, but the end resultant is not acceptable, not as a flagship.

A lot of patches are required for the software and something that will fix this overheating issue and quick. The Micromax Canvas Knight A350 is a good move from the company, but seems like a hasty handset, one that lacks finesse and with more stable and choicer options in the market like the Moto X, the Moto G, Gionee S5.5 and the likes of Sony and market leader Samsung in this price bracket. We recommend you give this one a pass until all of the above can be fixed by the company.

Final Review Video Soon .

[tw-column width=”one-half”]

GOOD THINGS
- Good design
- Brilliant build
- Brushed aluminium shell
- Premium looks
- True octacore
- Priced right
[/tw-column]

[tw-column width=”one-half” position=”last”]

BAD THINGS
- Heats up
- Camera is poor
- Battery drain issues
[/tw-column]
April 14, 2014