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  • Samsung Galaxy S5 Takes the Ice Bucket: Challenges iPhone 5S, HTC One and Lumia 930

    Samsung Galaxy S5 Takes the Ice Bucket: Challenges iPhone 5S, HTC One and Lumia 930

    After a slew of celebrities, looks like its now time for the smartphone brigade to join in. There is no denying the fact that ALS Ice Bucket Challenge has taken over our social media feeds. If there is anyone still wondering why everyone is dousing themselves in iced bucket water, it’s to spread awareness about the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) disease.

    The challenge is simple. If you’re nominated, you need to drench yourself in ice cold water and nominate three others to do the same within 24 hours. If you decide against taking it up, you have the option of donating $100 to the ALS Association. Since it started on 29th July, the organisation has already raised a whopping $53 million. A viral social media trend with a cause; we definitely need more of those.

    The Samsung Galaxy S5 took the challenge. In the video, after completing the task, Samsung’s voice assistant nominated iPhone 5S, HTC One(M8) and Nokia Lumia 930 and gave them 24 hours to finish the challenge. A clear jab at their inability to withstand water.

    By taking on the Ice Bucket Challenge, Samsung managed to do two things – spread awareness and raise funds for the Motor Neurone Disease Association and more obviously, it showed off its water-proof abilities.

  • Unboxed: The Sony Xperia T3

    Unboxed: The Sony Xperia T3

    Sony has been a background player in the smartphone game. They have lost some market in the past and haven’t brought anything out of the ordinary in a while.  The Japanese company has now come with the next in their T series of smartphones. The Xperia T3 looks impressive on the outside but the innards leave a lot to be desired.

    Sony Xperia T3_0
    The box offers the usual. The headset could have been better.

    The box comes with the usual inhabitants; the handset, pair of generic looking headsets, charger, micro-USB to USB cable and the documentation. The headsets provided in the box that is available is very average and doesn’t at all say Sony. Design-wise the phone is good to look at. The back panel is made of a gradient or distressed material that makes the phone appealing to hold with its enhanced grip. The exteriors of T3 appear premium, and the 7.7mm ‘thinness’ does make the phone look sexy.

    Sony Xperia T3_5
    The back panel makes the phone look premium and is good to hold

    Specs wise, the Xperia T3 runs Android 4.4.2 out of the box. It is powered by a quad-core 1.4 GHz, Snapdragon 400 processor with an Adreno 305 GPU. The RAM stands at 1GB and 8GB of internal storage. The phone gives expandable storage options up to 32GB. The device is NFC capable. Compared to its competition and its price, the specs don’t feel satisfactory. The battery on the device is 2500 mAh that can take good care of the phone for about a day.

    Display wise, the T3 sports a 5.3 inch IPS LCD screen. The resolution of the screen is 1280×720 with a pixel density of 277 ppi. The annoying part of this device is that even with its massive display it only accepts four finger touch.

     

    The main camera on the device is 8 MP shooter whereas on the front is rather disappointing 1.1MP camera, which is capable of shooting 720p videos. The dedicated camera button is a welcome feature. The User Interface (UI) is similar to previous generation Sony Timescape UI. There are some decent customization features but overall it is pretty much the usual Xperia experience.

    Multimedia experience in the T3 is appreciable. The playback and viewing angles on the display are great. The sound from the speakers is decent and gets the job done, but Sony should have brought in better speakers.

    Overall, the device looks like a lazy attempt by Sony and has too little for too much. The phone is priced at Rs. 25,990. The competitors have lot better specs at this price point, and Sony really needs to buck up its game if it wants to be perceived as a worthy smartphone company.

  • Spice Tries its Hand at Wearables With the Spice Smart Pulse

    Spice Tries its Hand at Wearables With the Spice Smart Pulse

    Wearables are in and here to stay. The biggest names in the tech world anticipate that the wearable technology will be the next step in mobile evolution. Now Indian phone company, Spice has decided to enter the field by bringing out the first Smartwatch in the affordable range.

    The Smart Pulse comes with an assortment of accessories
    The Smart Pulse comes with an assortment of accessories

    You won’t believe the amount of stuff that comes with this smartwatch at its price. It seems like they filled the box with accessories till they could fit no more. You get a handsfree, a Bluetooth headset, two extra watch straps, charging cables for the watch and a Bluetooth headset.

    Design

    On the design front, the Smart Pulse reminds you of the Galaxy Gear Live. The fake metal body does succeed in hiding its real make. You might be impressed by the brushed metal finish until you realize that its just plastic.

    User Interface (UI)

    At first impression, the UI is visually appealing. The Smart Pulse has a dialer and messaging feature for sending SMS’s. The UI is a generic Chinese UI and so, unfortunately, cannot reap the benefits of the wearable specific apps that are being brought out on an everyday basis. It can though be connected to an Android phone through Bluetooth and can be used as a secondary device. Using this connect, you can make calls, send texts, enable remote camera capture, stream music and get notification alert for social applications.

    The UI isn’t too tacky, and you might easily get used to it after some tries. It is capable of dispensing all that a wearable can do, except, of course, the health features. The device doesn’t have any heart rate sensors or monitors so it can’t be used for fitness purposes. The main complaint with the UI is the tiny typefaces. It can be grueling to use if you have bad eyesight.

    Internals

    The battery is too tiny to handle the features available with the watch
    The 420 mAh battery is too tiny to handle the features available with the watch

    The Smart Pulse should be known as the Smartphonewatch, or Smartphwatch (or maybe something better.) It is powered by a 420 mAh battery. How this tiny battery will handle the dual SIM capability is a mystery. It also has other juice gulping features like Bluetooth and GPRS. The watch also has a camera with flash that might be used only when you desperately need to take a photo. The flash can be used as a torch, which is handy at times. The makers have also added a vibration motor which could be useful for notifications.

    Dual Sim

    Smart Pulse is Dual SIM and expandable storage capable
    Smart Pulse is Dual SIM and expandable storage capable

    The most surprising part of the watch is its dual SIM slots. Not just that, it also capable of holding expandable storage upto 8GB. It is basically an independent phone masquerading as a watch.

    Price

    With all that phone features packed into a tiny watch, which also comes with tons of accessories, the Smart Pulse is modestly priced. The watch is available for just Rs. 4,000, which is a great price for someone who wants to get introduced to wearable technology. As it’s a standalone phone in itself it can be a flaunt-worthy gizmo for some, a little taste of the future if you may. There are in fact some Android based smartwatches being manufactured by Chinese manufacturers and you may want to look into that. But as those are not yet available in India, you can try this out till the time Moto 360 arrives in India.

    If you’d like us to do a full review, leave a request in the comments below.

  • How Do They Do It : Chinese Phone Pricing Explained

    How Do They Do It : Chinese Phone Pricing Explained

    Many of you have inquired as to how the Chinese smartphone manufacturers are capable of bringing high speced devices that are priced so low. Here we attempt to explain how the likes of Xiaomi and others go about their business of creating havoc in the mobile markets everywhere.

    Both Motorola and Xiaomi have kept prices low by using the e-tailing route
    Both Motorola and Xiaomi have kept prices low by using the e-tailing route

    It is estimated that companies like Xiaomi are selling their phones at a loss of Rs. 1000 so that they can create a market buzz around their products. Xiaomi is bringing in just about a 1,00,000 units of their phones to India and have been selling them out in periodic flash sales. By bringing in a limited number of device the company start a stampede and this causes other competitors to reduce their prices, something we saw Motorola do when they slashed Moto G’s price by Rs. 2000. By using this strategy, Xiaomi, with its limited marketing budget has made its name shine out in the market.

    However there is a downside to this marketing technique. The flash sales are now confusing and sometimes irritating the potential consumers who want the phone but cannot buy them. It has started to create a negative perception amongst such consumers. They are now seeking alternatives to the phone.

    chinese calNow here is where the internet marketing convenience adds in. Basically, by just using an online sales channel, a strategy devised by companies like Motorola, the companies get to save massive amounts in distribution, marketing, dealership and other costs. And hence these high speced products reach the consumers in what can be called shockingly low prices, well its shocking for big brands at least.

    It is also speculated that another Chinese smartphone manufacturer, One Plus, intends to try its luck in the Indian market. Their phone, the One Plus One is a high speced powerhouse which comes at mid segment prices. They too have limited stocks and might take the Xiaomi approach. But if these companies plan to stay in the Indian market for the long run, they need to come with stocks in accordance with the demand in the market. Or else they will just act as an inspiration to companies with already big reach to bring similar products and in turn, take away these companies potential customers.

  • LG G3 Review

    LG G3 Review

    LG has remained an underdog in the Android smartphone race for quite a while. In 2012 when Google formed a liaison with the Korean manufacturer for the Nexus 4, LG was suddenly back on the map. LG simultaneously launched global versions of the Nexus devices known as the “G” phones. The first one aka Optimus G was very well received and appreciated for its performance and looks, and the G2 which was the Nexus 5 version of LG’s flagship lineup won several accolades.

    The LG G3 was not something most were looking forward to, in fact no one was really waiting for the G3. With Samsung launching one of the most disappointing flagship Galaxy S phones in many years, the HTC One M8 more or less stole the thunder in the top tier of the Android Market.

    Does LG’s late arrival of the G3 slow down its acceptance in the market, lets find out!

    LG G3 review 19

    Overview

    The LG G3 took the market by storm at launch, the G3 is the first commercially available phone from a big manufacturer to feature a brilliant 2K resolution display. But LG also improved a lot of other things with the phone, a removable back panel, laser autofocus and more, making it possibly the right kind of eye candy and by pricing it well a superior and rounded phone.

    Hardware and Innards

    The LG G3 is more or less up there with specs and internal hardware, a Snapdragon 801 chipset and Adreno 330 GPU. You also have two easy memory options, one with 16 GB storage and 2GB RAM and the other with 32 GB storage and 3 GB RAM. The removable battery and memory card slot are a major boon to everyone who is planning to buy this phone.

    LG G3 review 13

    The Pièce de résistance of the LG G3 is the marvellous 5.5 inch 2K resolution display, aka 1440 x 2560 pixels, which makes it a crazy 534 ppi on the display. LG has also bumped up the optics with a 13 MP camera and laser autofocus which will also capture 2160p video at 30 fps and 1080p video at the same 30 fps.

    All of this for a good under Rs. 50k price bracket for the higher GB variant.

    LG G3 review 5

    Build Quality and Design

    Even though the phone is completely made from plastic and has a removable back panel, it has a far superior build quality when compared to the Galaxy S5. It’s almost like a impressive plastic version of the HTC One M8, also very identical to the HTC One E8 in terms of the build.

    Design wise the LG G3 is beautiful to our eyes, the front of the handset is absolutely stunning with thin bezels and that gorgeous display. The brushed finish of the back panel replicates a metallic look quite a lot, and we are really happy that LG improved on the G Flex’s design to get this finish.

    Rear Buttons
    Rear Buttons

    Just like the G2 the buttons on the G3 are at the back and have been improved to become easier to use, they look much better too. The edges of the G3 are also more rounded and the phone feels fantastic in the hands. The front is laden with Gorilla Glass 3 for added strength and usability.

    Design wise LG has improved quite a lot and really built a better G2 which in itself was pretty good-looking.

  • Pd.id : Portable Silent Guardian That Drug Tests Your Drink

    Pd.id : Portable Silent Guardian That Drug Tests Your Drink

    If you are a lady or have lady friends you understand the constant vigilance that needs to be maintained while going out.  Does that taxi driver look trustworthy or is this drink I’m holding safe for consumption? Some of the constant questions going through a girl’s mind while out at night. Date Rapes are also one of the leading sexual assault cases against women. It seems like Toronto based, former IT consultant David Wilson might have found a perfect solution for this epidemic of date rapes, a tiny USB sized gizmo called Pd.id.

    Pd.id uses three different tests to identify if the drink has been drugged. The device uses light, conductivity and temperature to determine if the drink has been sabotaged. The two Red and Green indicators tell you if the drink you are holding is tainted or not. The best part is that the device can be used multiple times so it will be one of the essentials to pack before a night-out.  Pd.id also has a companion mobile app which lets you access the drink database from the company and visually confirm the purity of the drink.

    pd.id1
    The indicators help you figure out if the drink is safe for consumption

    The company claims that the drug recognition technology has been with the drug enforcement agencies for quite some time. They learned from them and created this miniaturized, consumer friendly version of the technology that can go in women’s purse.

    This is a phenomenal invention and should really be encouraged. This is how a real moral invention looks like; one of the several instances when technology can come to change the world and make it a better place.  If you can’t donate to the device, you can atleast spread the word. But no amount of gizmos can take the spot of a sex educated and gender sensitive mind.

    Of course the best part of this invention is that all the single ladies will have a good time going out without any worries. Pd.id sure is an awesome innovation. Also you don’t to worry about sanitizing the gizmo, the alcohol you are dipping it in will do the needful.

  • Xiaomi Mi Power Banks Review

    Xiaomi Mi Power Banks Review

    They were promised and here they are, the latest offering from the ferocious Chinese brand Xiaomi. The company has brought out their two Mi power banks in India which will make other power bank manufacturers really restless. With massive capacity and modest pricing, the devices, might indeed sell like hot cakes in the world of juice thirsty smartphone batteries.

    The device comes with a rubber case and charging cable.
    The device comes with a rubber case and charging cable.

    Now these devices look sure look impressive. This is what you get when you take inspiration from Apple products. The soap bar sized Mi power banks are quite the convenience to have. We tested out the 10400mAh version for you, and it is available in a 5200 mAh variant. The Mi power bank has a textured anodized aluminum casing that covers the entire battery and has a smooth metallic finish and fits in your hand. It is claimed to be water and corrosion resistant. The surface is a bit slippery but that can be easily addressed by using the rubber case provided with it.

    Though it’s a slight bit heavy, about 250 grams, but with its massive capacity, the owners won’t mind lugging around some extra weight. The LED indicators for battery level especially stand out against the unadorned surface.

    The LED indicators stand out on the device.
    The LED battery level indicators stand out on the device.

    The company claims that the Mi power bank is capable of charging the MI3 for about 2.5 times, an iPhone for 4.5 times and an iPad 1.5 times to full capacity which is quite impressive. With these power banks, you can worry free throughout your weekend trip.

    The Mi power banks have been designed by the famous Texas instruments. Xiaomi claims that their technology was developed with safety and efficiency in mind. The power banks use chipsets to stabilizes the discharge voltage and make the device safer, durable and efficient. The devices are said to be 93% charging conversion rate for each device, which lets it charge different devices at their output levels.

    Its massive capacity can handle all your charging needs for the weekend
    Its massive capacity can handle all your charging needs for the weekend

    Xiaomi has done extensive testing before bringing the portable chargers to the consumers. The USB port on the Mi power banks have been tested for 1500 removal cycles, and the MicroUSB port have faced 5000 removal cycles. Apart from these tests, the Mi power banks were tested for extreme temperature conditions; 70 degrees, 96 hours for high temperatures, -40 degrees, 96 hours for lower temperatures. These might make them for comfortable use all around India. Though we will not advocate you testing these parameters without proper scientific guidance, this is to prevent you from blowing your face off.

    Coming to the issue of the moolah. How much does a chipset based Mi power banks cost? Here’s for your eyebrows to do some work- the 10400 mAh comes at a price of Rs. 999/- and the 5200 mAh comes at 799/-. Yes, that’s how it is, and No we did not miss an extra figure or a zero in the middle. At this price, the whole Xiaomi Mi3 disappearing act will be reenacted with these power banks.

    Get it, it sure has got some style points.
    Get it, it sure has got some style points.

    Overall we charged a couple of our devices to full charge, and we had two LED’s still asking for more devices to juice up. The only concern with these is the absence of a second USB port which would have let us use its massive capacity to charge two devices at once. We will keep a vigilant eye on the device for now and keep you updated if the power bank fails to perform as it is advised. For now, go ahead and get in line for the Xiaomi Mi power banks.

    Tech Specs:

    Model NDY-02-AD
    Battery Type Lithium-ion rechargeable cell
    Power Source DC 5V
    Input Voltage DC 5.1V
    Input Current 2.0A (TYP)
    Output Current 2.1A(TYP)
    Rated capacity 3.6V/10400mAh(TYP)
    Charging time 5.5 hrs with 5V/2A plug and standard cable12 hrs with 5V/1A plug and standard cable
    Size 90.5*77*21.6mm
    Load detection Auto-detect the plug-in and plug-out of devices
    Safety Input OVP, OCP, Output OCP OVP, short protectioncell protection including OVP OCP, thermal protection during charge and discharge stage
    Out of power protection Awake once plugged to the charger
    Charging temperature 0°C-45°C (TYP)
    Discharging temperature Initial – 10°C~+50°C(TYP)Continous -20°C~+60°C(TYP)
    Weight 250g
  • Gunnar Optiks Review : Do You Want Or Need It?

    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. 

    gunnar3

    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.

    gunnar
    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. 

    gunnar2

    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.

    gunnar1
    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.

  • Cortana Humiliates Siri in a New Commercial

    Cortana Humiliates Siri in a New Commercial

     Microsoft today launched a new commercial flaunting the power of their new virtual assistant Cortana by pitching it against Apple’s renowned Siri. The commercial cleverly demonstrates Cortana’s functionality while taking advantage of Siri’s shortcomings.

    Titled ‘Happy Anniversary’, it shows a narrator giving certain commands to a Nokia 635 (with Windows Phone 8.1) running Cortana, and an Apple iPhone 5S running Siri. The narrator first asks the phones to remind him to wish his wife a happy anniversary the next time she calls, for which Cortana schedules an event-based reminder. He then asks both virtual assistants to remind him to buy roses the next time he comes near a flower shop, for which Cortana again schedules a reminder. Siri is unable to complete either of these tasks, as event-based reminders are still not part of Siri’s vast feature list.

    Cortana's voice interations are better than Siri and Google Now
    Cortana’s voice interations are better than Siri and Google Now

    Lastly, Cortana automatically provides the narrator with a traffic update, prompting him to leave if he wants to reach his destination on time. Again, Siri lacks this kind of functionality.

    Siri ends the video by saying “Now that’s a real smartphone”. Ouch.

     Microsoft will be introducing Cortana along with their Windows Phone 8.1 update. While it has been years since Apple and Google introduced their Siri and Google Now offerings respectively, Microsoft believes Cortana has some major advantages over the two. Microsoft also said this when they were releasing the Zune, hopefully Cortana would help Microsoft correct that error.

    Microsoft says it has designed Cortana to feel more human-like than Google Now or Siri. It is currently the only virtual assistant that allows you to set reminders based on phone calls. A real human like interaction is possible with Cortana and Microsoft believes it is their biggest advantage over the two rivals.

    Microsoft is clearly doing a good job building hype around the release of their latest Windows Phone 8.1 update. But is Cortana really better than Siri? Well, you be the judge of that.

    By Pranav Arora

  • Xiaomi Mi3 vs Moto G : Lets Fight!

    Xiaomi Mi3 vs Moto G : Lets Fight!

    Both Motorola and Xiaomi aimed big with the launch of these amazing devices. Xiaomi Mi3 is elegant with amazing specs and attractive pricing, while Motorola provided a great deal with the Moto G, which broke all sales records when it launched. We understand that Xiaomi Mi3 offers way betters specs, but since both the devices come within the same price range, we thought it was important for them to battle it out.

    Xiaomi is expected to take on most of the market with the launch of Mi3 because of the simple fact that the newly launched flagship device runs Snapdragon 800 and available at the price Rs. 13,999.

    Xiaomi Mi3, as a solid unibody product looks fantastic and the built quality is admittedly amazing. Overall feeling of the device is great. On the other hand we have the Moto G with its replaceable back panel and an array of color options for back panels.

    Xiaomi Mi3 India3

    Talking about specifications, Mi3 is equipped with a 1920X1080 px 5.0 inch display. While, the Moto G has a 720X1280 px which is at 4.5 inches. On the inside of Xiaomi Mi3 Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core chipset at 2.3 GHz. It also get Adreno 330 GPU where as with the Moto G, from the same price bracket, you get a quite a different set of specification. You get a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 at 1.2 GHz with the Adreno 305 GPU, which is comparatively a disappointment.

    In terms of RAM, the device comes with 2 GB, where as the Moto G has a 1 GB. While the internal storage of both the devices is  16 GB. What’s interesting in Mi3 is the powerful 3050 mAh battery while the Moto G sports a 2070 mAh one. We know Moto G has a phenomenal battery life, but we are yet to test out the Mi3 battery life which is expected to be pretty impressive as well.

    Xiaomi Mi3 India1

    In terms of camera, the rear of Xiaomi Mi3 fashions a 13MP camera with a 28mm lens which also a wide-agle lens camera. It has dual LED flash and 1080p recording capability. Whereas Moto G is again dwarfed with its 5MP camera and its 720p video recording capabilities with no fancy camera features.

    The game changer is the OS both of the devices run on. The Mi3 runs on Android 4.4.2 which has been customized with MiUi5 which actually very different from what you see in Moto G. Moto G’s Android version is almost a stock Android interface with a couple of things added by Motorola. Motorola will also be fast enough to give you updates. It comes with Android KitKat out-of-the-box, nowadays. It is a possibility that it will get the Android L update as soon as Google launches it.

    Xiaomi Mi3 India2

    The Mi3 is 8.1mm in thickness, where as Moto G is a little hefty at 11.6mm. Moto G weighs 140 g where as the Mi3 comes at 145 g. The look, the feel, impressive specs and of course the attractive pricing, definitely puts Xiaomi a step above Moto G. If you were planning on  getting the Moto G, you might want to reconsider.

  • Xiaomi Mi3 Review : Get it Now!

    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.

    Xiaomi mi3 Review 12

    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?.

    Xiaomi mi3 Review 9

    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.

    Xiaomi mi3 Review 10

    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.

    Xiaomi mi3 Review 6

    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.

    Xiaomi mi3 Review 8

    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?

    Xiaomi mi3 Review 7

    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]

  • Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 inch : Benchmarks and Hardware

    Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 inch : Benchmarks and Hardware

    Samsung reincarnated Galaxy Tab Series with two powerful devices variants: Galaxy Tab S 10.5 and 8.4. Samsung has beefed up the processor, improved the screen and managed to make it even thinner. We tested Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5’s performance and hardware muscles and here’s what we found:

    Galaxy Tab S 10.5 has an impressive line-up of core components. At the heart of this ultra-thin tablet lies a Samsung Exynos 5 Octa SoC, which has eight cores (four running at 1.9GHz, four at 1.3GHz), 3GB of RAM, a base storage allocation of 16GB and Mali-T628 MP6 graphics.

    To test benchmarks, we started by running Quadrant Standard on the device. The device performed well up to its hype and got an impressive score of 25,553. The score is quite higher than Galaxy Note PRO 12.2, which stands at 17,396.

    Following up, we ran AnTuTu Benchmarks on the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5. The device scored 34,270, which is again pretty impressive. While the 8.4 inch variant of Galaxy Tab S lags slightly behind its bigger brother. Also, we ran the device through NinaMark 2 and the tab scored 59.8fps. The number is a little low as compared to other devices available in market such as Asus Nexus 7 and Sony Xperia Tablet Z. The multitouch score of the device was 10 which makes it a wonderful device for QWERTY typing.

    Check out our full benchmark  and hardware test video of  Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5 above.

  • Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 : Benchmarks and Hardware

    Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 : Benchmarks and Hardware

    Following up the Samsung Galaxy Tab S 10.5, we tested the smaller variant:  The Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4. One thing that we appreciate a lot is that the Tab S 8.4 is a true little brother of the Tab S 10.5. Both slates have identical specifications, from processor to display resolution and even the internal RAM and storage. What differs is the size of the screen and the battery capacity which are both reduced.

    Same as its bigger brother, the 8.4 Tab S variant has a phenomenal display. Running through the Quadrant Benchmark, the device scored 18,362 which little low from its big brother’s score that is  23,553. Anyhow, 8.4 Tab S scores much better that many of the devices  in the same price bracket.

    Next up is Antutu benchmark, the device scored 29,559 in this test, again lagging behind the 10.5 variant which scored 34,270. Along with that we also ran the device through NinaMark 2 Test scoring 59.1 fps which is quite similar to the 10.5 Tab S which scored a 59.8 fps. Same as the bigger variant, 8.4 variant is also 10 finger multi-touch.

    Check out our full benchmark video of Samsung Galaxy Tab S 8.4 above.

  • HTC Desire 816 Vs 616 : Which One Is More Desirable?

    HTC Desire 816 Vs 616 : Which One Is More Desirable?

    HTC has come up with two amazing phones recently; Desire 816 and 616. Though, these two devices belong in different price brackets, they are actually very similar in terms of of design and other specifications. The Desire 816 came out some time back, priced at Rs 25,000, where as the Desire 616 is awaited and is priced at Rs. 17,000.

    The Innards

    The Desire 816 runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 quad-core chipset which runs on  at 1.6 GHz. Where as the Desire 616 runs a Mediatek MT6592 processor which is on Octa-core at 1.4 GHz. Now, whether you consider Snapdragon stronger or not, we personally feel that Octa-core chipset is slightly more powerful at 1.4 Ghz than the 1.6 GHz Snapdragon 400 in Desire 816. That means Desire 616 will give a slightly better performance than the Desire 816.

    Display

    Screen Shot 2014-07-22 at 3.59.21 pm

    The 5.5 inch Desire 816 has a 1280X720 pixel resolution which is same as the Desire 616 which fashions a 5-inch screen. This means, the 5.0 inch 616 has a better resolution and higher pixel per inch ratio, thereby giving it a better display in comparison to the Desire 816.

    Operating System

    Now, this is the category where Desire 816 easily wins. The 816 sports Android 4.4 out of the box, also the device has HTC sense as well as HTC BlinkFeed, which come fully loaded to the device. Although, you do get BlinkFeed and HTC Sense 5.5 with the 616, but it is not a full version and the device runs on Android 4.3 JellyBean.  So, the 616 doesn’t possess latest version softwares and there is no schedule for any update either.

    Camera

    As far as the imaging is concerned the Desire 816 wins with its 13 MP camera  at the rear and a 5 MP on the front. Both the rear and the front camera are capable of shooting 1080p videos. It fashions an f/2.2 aperture lens with various additional features for the HTC Sense camera.  Whereas in the 616 only the 8MP rear camera supports 1080p video capturing, the 2MP front camera shoots at 720p only and also you don’t get those fancy camera features.

    Battery

    Screen Shot 2014-07-22 at 4.00.11 pm

    Desire 816 sports a pretty impressive battery at 2,600 mAh where as  the 616 gets a 2000 mAh battery. We have experienced that 816 has a phenomenal battery life while 616 lags behind in this segment.

    Memory and RAM

    Desire 816 holds a much larger internal storage than 616 i.e. 8 gigabytes against 616’s 4 gigabytes. Both devices support microSD cards with 616 supporting expansion of only 32 GB while the 816 being capable of expanding to 128 GB of additional memory. Also Desire 816 gets 1.5 GB of RAM whereas you get only 1 GB RAM with Desire 616.

    Design

    Screen Shot 2014-07-22 at 4.02.21 pm

    In terms of design, Desire 816 looks impressive with its matte plus gloss finished body, which looks amazing. Overall the device feels sturdy . You don’t get a removable back panel which some people may not like, but the aesthetics as well as the shiny steel barrel around the camera steals the show.

    The Desire 616 is slightly thicker and has an overall plastic shell (even the buttons are plastic). It’s back panel is removable. The plastic body makes it look less impressive when compared to the 816. But still the 616 is a really good looking device, in fact one of the best looking ones in it’s price bracket.

    Summary

    Screen Shot 2014-07-22 at 3.57.16 pm

    Overall, both the devices are the hottest selling commodities in their respective categories and there is good reason for that. They are fantastic in terms of build quality, software and obviously the support you get from the HTC. 616 gives you an octa-core processor at the price in which other devices provide you with dual core where as 816 brings out a large screen and fantastic built quality t0 the Rs. 25,000 segment. You do have several good alternatives in both these categories such Nexus 5 and also LG G2in 25k price bracket while you can get various handsets from the likes of Gionee, Micromax and others in the 17k segment. But with this purchase, you get amazing customer support from HTC. The company has proved that they have well built phones and have great service and support in India, which very crucial in today’s market place.

    Phone HTC Desire 816 HTC Desire 616
    Display 5.5 inches720x1280 pixels 5.0 inches720x1280 pixels
    Memory 8GB 4GB
    Ram 1.5GB 1GB
    Camera 13MP rear5MP front 8MP rear2MP front
    OS Andriod 4.4 KitKat Android 4.3 Jelly Bean
    Processor 1.6 Ghz Quad-coreQualcomm Snapdragon 400 chipset 1.4 GHz Octa-coreMediatek MT6592 processor
    Battery 2,600 mAh Non-removable 2000 mAh removable
    Price Rs. 25,000(approx) Rs. 17,000(approx)

iGyaan Network
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