Showing posts with label Review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Review. Show all posts
Thursday, November 12, 2015
Hands On: ZTE Nubia My Prague - Interesting Compact Device
For those of you who don’t know Nubia, it is a sub-brand of ZTE that comes up with interesting devices. The Nubia devices have one common trademark which is their home button that has red backlighting in all colour variants that they are available in. That is the easiest way to spot a Nubia device in the wild. We went hands on with the Nubia My Prague at IFA 2015 which is as interesting as its name sounds.
My Prague is quite a compact device as it packs a 5.2″ 1080p AMOLED panel with 2.5D glass. The 2.5D glass feels really good to use and the AMOLED display has really good colours and contrast. The sharpness is quite good too and we didn’t observe any pixelation of sorts. The device has little bezels on either side of the display and all in all looks like a very attractive design.
The device is powered by the Snapdragon 615 processor which felt quite snappy coupled with 3GB of RAM as well. The 3GB RAM variant comes with 32GB of on board memory while the 2GB RAM variant has 16GB of on board memory. Both the devices support microSD cards upto 128GB through the hybrid second SIM slot.
The 5.5mm thickness of the device makes it a breeze to handle and feels really good in the hands thanks to the rounded edges. The use of metal in the design also gives it a premium feel and the build quality is solid.
At the back, the dual tone design reminds us of the iPhone 5S. The 13 Megapixel camera with LED flash is located at the top here along with a speaker at the bottom. Another interesting feature of the device is edge gestures which basically let you make use of the minimal bezels on either side of the screen. You can set specific actions and apps to launch when you swipe from top or bottom on left or right or even choose a different action when you swipe using both the sides. To put it simply, the device and UI allows a lot of customization to make things easily accessible and faster for the user.
It will be available in two Colours: White, Gold.
Specifications
- 5.20 inches, 1080x1920 pixels
- Android v5.0 (Lollipop)
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 615
- 1.5GHz Quad core + 1GHz Quad core
- Adreno 405 (550 MHz)
- 2 GB / 3GB
- 16GB
- 13-megapixel
- 8-megapixel
- Compass/ Magnetometer, Proximity sensor, Accelerometer, Ambient light sensor, Gyroscope
iBall Andi Collar B9 review: Really good but not the best
iBall recently launched the all new iBall Andi’s Collar B9 Bluetooth headphones for Rs.1399. This headphones can be charged through Bluetooth and you can also connect the headphones to 2 smartphones at one time. However it is hard to find why you would need to do so. So should you consider this pair of headphones. Read our review to know more.
The headphones have a long-distance connectivity as well. I left my phone at my work desk and walked to one end of the office, and the music played just fine.
The battery of these headphones will easily last you for more than a week. I had the headphones playing music constantly for eight hours one day and the battery levels, which are reflected on your connect mobile, was still around 60-70 per cent which is decent given the price of Collar B9.
It’s easy to connect the headphones to your smartphone. Once the headphones are switched on, you need to keep the volume button pressed up, still the blue and red light blink together, you’ll hear a voice in the headphones saying “Connected”.
In terms of design, the ‘Extra ear cushions’ and ‘Rubber ear pads’ is not the best fit or really comfortable and I kept worrying that these would pop out of my ear. Also I was not too keen on having that plastic wire, connecting the earbuds, stick to the back of my neck.
Where audio quality goes, don’t expect anything great. In fact, if you keep pushing the volume up, the music starts cracking, and when a set of headphones makes Lorde sound different, I know these are not for me. For someone like me, headphones are still about the music.
Verdict
If mobile calls are your primary need for getting a pair of wireless Bluetooth headphones, then there are many other options available in the market from Jabra, Samsung, JBL, Sony, Skullcandy etc, depending on your budget. If you’re looking for audio quality, Collar B9 is really good but not the best option given the below-average sound quality, despite the budget price.
Hands On: ZTE Axon Elite - Pretty Cool
We were able to get our hands on the much praised ZTE Axon Elite. We took a closer look at the handset that is mainly focused at improved imaging and audio quality.
The ZTE Axon Elite is the world's first smartphone to sport three forms of biometrics; voice, fingerprint and eye.
Aimed at the top of the mobile market it certainly comes with plenty of bells and whistles to help it standout from the crowd. The Axon (minus some of the fancy biometrics) has already launched in the US, but from September 24 it'll be rolling out to countries in Europe.
There's no word on price just yet, but considering the tech ZTE has stuffed inside, it's probably safe to assume it's not going to be cheap
Design
The first thing you notice when you clamp eyes on the Axon Elite is its overly elaborate dual front facing speaker grills. The almost tribal pattern is a signature design for the handset and it is striking, but I don't think it will be to everyone's taste.
While ZTE maintains the Axon Elite sports a premium design, in the hand it doesn't quite feel that way. The metallic finish doesn't ooze high-end, while the leatherette patches on the rear feel cheap and look ugly.
At 9.3mm thick it's also pretty chunky by modern smartphone standards, and paired with its 5.5-inch display and dual speaker grills the Axon Elite is a bit of a beast in the hand.
The height is increased further with the addition of navigation controls below the screen, rather than on it, which can make it a little tricky to wield effectively one handed.
ZTE has split the power/lock and volume keys here, with the former on the right and the latter on the left. What this means is both can be positioned towards the centre of the handset, making them easier to hit than if they were higher up.
Display and interface
The 5.5-inch display sports a full HD resolution, which appears to be the popular spec for Chinese handsets at the moment. It's bright and colourful, as well as responsive, making the Axon Elite easy to use.
It's running a slightly older version of Lollipop, Android 5.0.2 (we're currently on 5.1.1), but you won't be able to tell as it's been drenched in ZTE's MiFavor user interface.
As with Huawei's custom interface, I find MiFavor lacks professionalism and premium appeal. This creates a jarring experience as the hardware is trying to be high-end, but look at the on-screen display and it ends up looking a bit like a toy.
The icons and colour schemes have been totally re-done, and ZTE has removed the app tray that has served the Android faithful well for many years now. That said, Apple's iOS stores all your applications on home screens, so it's not like ZTE has done something crazy by ditching it.
The interface is fast and fluid, with an octa-core Snapdragon 810 processor and 3GB of RAM running the show. You also get 32GB of internal storage, plus a microSD slot which allows you to expand further.
Specifications
- 5.5-inch 1080p
- Android 5.0.2 with MiFavor 3.2
- 64 bit 8-core Qualcomm 810 2.0GHz
- 3GB RAM + 32GB internal storage + MicroSD slot
- 3000mAh with Quick Charge 2.0
- 13MP + 2 MP ( Rear Camera )
- 8MP (Front Camera )
- Fingerprint sensor, Eye sensor, Voice unlock
Panasonic Eluga Icon Review: Another Low-Cost 4G Option
4G-compatible phones in rather quick succession. The latest launch is the Panasonic Eluga
con which supports 4G and features a sizeable battery, which is always welcome.
At Rs. 12,399 on Amazon, this phone aims to compete with the Lenovo K3 Note,Redmi
Note 4G and even the Motorola Moto G (Gen 3). Panasonic boasts of heavy software
optimisations and a long battery life in the Eluga Icon. How this actually translates in the real
world is what we're about to find out.
Look and Feel
The Panasonic Eluga Icon measures 7.95mm in depth and weighs around 147g, which are
both respectable. The slate-coloured phone (also available in gold) looks good without being
flashy thanks to the matte finish. This also helps it be a bit resistant to scratches or minor
dings from everyday use. The phone does get a bit slippery, however, and there isn't much in
terms of grip on the sides either.
The fit and finish of the chassis is quite excellent. Edges are smooth and beveled at places
making the phone comfortable to hold. The power button and volume rocker are placed mid-
way on the right so it's easier to reach when you hold it. The Eluga Icon is a dual-SIM phone
which accepts Micro-SIMs through slots placed on either sides of the unit. Rather than
needing a pin to eject them, there are flaps which can be popped open by simply pressing
down on a nub. Around the back, we have the 13-megapixel camera module along with the
single-LED flash. The camera module bulges a bit which can cause unwanted scratches over
time. There's a mono speaker grille down at the bottom. The headphone socket and Micro
-USB port take their usual spots at the top and bottom respectively.
The Eluga Icon features capacitive buttons on the front which unfortunately, aren't backlit.
They are responsive enough but you'll have to guess your way in the dark. The display is a
5.5-inch OGS HD IPS panel. Even though the pixel density tops out at 267ppi, it's never really
an issue. The display is vibrant with good brightness levels and good colour reproduction.
The auto brightness function isn't the most intelligent though as the display is always a bit
dimmer than it should be with it on. We also found legibility under direct sunlight to be quite
poor as the display gets washed out quite badly.
Panasonic bundles the phone with a charger, data cable, headset and screen protector.
We didn't get the headset with our review unit but the charger and cable were decently built.
Specifications and Software
The Eluga Icon features capacitive buttons on the front which unfortunately, aren't backlit.
They are responsive enough but you'll have to guess your way in the dark. The display is a
5.5-inch OGS HD IPS panel. Even though the pixel density tops out at 267ppi, it's never really
an issue. The display is vibrant with good brightness levels and good colour reproduction.
The auto brightness function isn't the most intelligent though as the display is always a bit
dimmer than it should be with it on. We also found legibility under direct sunlight to be quite
poor as the display gets washed out quite badly.
Panasonic bundles the phone with a charger, data cable, headset and screen protector.
We didn't get the headset with our review unit but the charger and cable were decently built.
Specifications and Software
The Eluga Icon is powered by a 64-bit MediaTek MT6752 SoC with eight ARM Cortex-A53
cores. We have the Mali-T760 on the GPU front, as well as 2GB of system RAM. Other
specifications include 16GB of storage that's expandable by 32GB, Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0,
FM Radio, and USB OTG. The MediaTek SoC also has an embedded 4G LTE modem which
supports band 40 for India. The 3500mAh battery is one of the highlights of the phone, for a
rated 19hrs of talk time.
The software is where things get a bit disappointing. For starters, you get Android KitKat 4.4.4
out-of-the-box and there's no mention on Panasonic's website about a future upgrade to
Lollipop. Panasonic has also heavily skinned KitKat with their ICON UI. This is a bit
unnecessary, to be honest, and not the most user-friendly. Thankfully, apps do come pre-
organised in folders so it's not too difficult finding them. Apart from the usual suspects,
Panasonic also bundles some apps that you might actually use, including a file manager,
Truecaller, Saavn, Clean Master, Paytm, WPS Office and amazon,
The lockscreen has shortcuts to the dialler, messaging app and camera. You also put a host
of customisable toggle switches in the notification shade. The settings app reveals more
cusomisations to the OS. First up is HotKnot, which is MediaTek's answer to NFC transfer. Of
course this only works if the other phone supports HotKnot as well. Gesture Play lets you
open apps by tracing letters on the screen, even when it's off. Smart iSense is a gesture-
based implementation which does things such as automatically answering a call when you
lift the phone to your ear, or sifting through your images when you swipe your hand over the
screen - essentially everything you've seen in Samsung's offerings in the past.
Performance
The interface is quick with no discernible lag creeping in. The screen is responsive but there
are times when it intermittently fails to register touches, which we noticed happened while
trying to capture a shot.
Coming to some performance numbers, we got 39,879 points in AnTuTu and 17,792 in
Quadrant, which are both good. Graphics performance was pretty good as well for a mid-
range phone, as 3DMark Ice Storm Extreme gave us 5,842 points while GFXBench gave us
22fps. Overall, the Icon packs in enough horsepower for most 3D games and apps.
The video and audio player plays most popular formats well enough. Since the display is very
reflective, watching videos in the daytime can be a challenge. Even with Full HD videos and
games, the phone only got a bit warm but never uncomfortably hot. High-bitrate videos and
taxing games such as Angry Birds 2 and Rayman Jungle Run played without a hitch. The
volume from the speaker is also quite good for a mono speaker.
We have an 8-megapixel snapper up front and a 13-megapixel module around the back. The
latter manages to capture pictures that look decent when viewed on the phone, but zooming
in reveals another story. Landscape shots lack detail and sharpness, while colours seem
noticeably oversaturated in macros. Night shots aren't too great either as there's a lot of
noise which creeps into the scene. The camera is simply unable to focus on a subject very
well in the dark, even with the flash.
You get a few scene modes like Face Beauty, PIP (which uses the front camera as well),HDR
, Filters and Fix Me. The latter lets you adjust the contrast, brightness and ISO settings
manually, however, the implementation could have been a lot simpler and the sliders don't
change orientation to landscape mode, which is inconvenient.
Specifications
cores. We have the Mali-T760 on the GPU front, as well as 2GB of system RAM. Other
specifications include 16GB of storage that's expandable by 32GB, Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0,
FM Radio, and USB OTG. The MediaTek SoC also has an embedded 4G LTE modem which
supports band 40 for India. The 3500mAh battery is one of the highlights of the phone, for a
rated 19hrs of talk time.
The software is where things get a bit disappointing. For starters, you get Android KitKat 4.4.4
out-of-the-box and there's no mention on Panasonic's website about a future upgrade to
Lollipop. Panasonic has also heavily skinned KitKat with their ICON UI. This is a bit
unnecessary, to be honest, and not the most user-friendly. Thankfully, apps do come pre-
organised in folders so it's not too difficult finding them. Apart from the usual suspects,
Panasonic also bundles some apps that you might actually use, including a file manager,
Truecaller, Saavn, Clean Master, Paytm, WPS Office and amazon,
The lockscreen has shortcuts to the dialler, messaging app and camera. You also put a host
of customisable toggle switches in the notification shade. The settings app reveals more
cusomisations to the OS. First up is HotKnot, which is MediaTek's answer to NFC transfer. Of
course this only works if the other phone supports HotKnot as well. Gesture Play lets you
open apps by tracing letters on the screen, even when it's off. Smart iSense is a gesture-
based implementation which does things such as automatically answering a call when you
lift the phone to your ear, or sifting through your images when you swipe your hand over the
screen - essentially everything you've seen in Samsung's offerings in the past.
Performance
The interface is quick with no discernible lag creeping in. The screen is responsive but there
are times when it intermittently fails to register touches, which we noticed happened while
trying to capture a shot.
Coming to some performance numbers, we got 39,879 points in AnTuTu and 17,792 in
Quadrant, which are both good. Graphics performance was pretty good as well for a mid-
range phone, as 3DMark Ice Storm Extreme gave us 5,842 points while GFXBench gave us
22fps. Overall, the Icon packs in enough horsepower for most 3D games and apps.
The video and audio player plays most popular formats well enough. Since the display is very
reflective, watching videos in the daytime can be a challenge. Even with Full HD videos and
games, the phone only got a bit warm but never uncomfortably hot. High-bitrate videos and
taxing games such as Angry Birds 2 and Rayman Jungle Run played without a hitch. The
volume from the speaker is also quite good for a mono speaker.
We have an 8-megapixel snapper up front and a 13-megapixel module around the back. The
latter manages to capture pictures that look decent when viewed on the phone, but zooming
in reveals another story. Landscape shots lack detail and sharpness, while colours seem
noticeably oversaturated in macros. Night shots aren't too great either as there's a lot of
noise which creeps into the scene. The camera is simply unable to focus on a subject very
well in the dark, even with the flash.
You get a few scene modes like Face Beauty, PIP (which uses the front camera as well),HDR
, Filters and Fix Me. The latter lets you adjust the contrast, brightness and ISO settings
manually, however, the implementation could have been a lot simpler and the sliders don't
change orientation to landscape mode, which is inconvenient.
Specifications
- 5.5-inch HD (1280x720) OGS display
- 7.95mm thickness
- 147 grams
- 13MP rear camera, 8MP front camera
- 16GB storage (expandable)
- 2GB RAM
- 1.5 GHz octa core Mediatek MT6752 processor
- Android 4.4 KitKat
- 3,500 mAh battery
- 4G LTE with dual SIM connectivity
YU Yunique review: Remarkable performance and great value for money.
YU Televentures might be less than a year old however this Indian brand has made a big impression and expanding their business in india with the Indian optimistic buyer. Yu presented a range of affordable smartphones. Now, YU recently launched its new smartphone Yu Yunique available for Rs. 4,999. It is exclusively available on Snapdeal. It’s a 4G LTE capable dual SIM smartphone with both SIM cards supporting 4G connectivity.
Look and Feel
Device comes with a 4.7 inch (1280 x 720 pixels) HD display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection and a pixel density of 312PPI which gives a compact and a comfortable grip on the handset.The handset measures 8.3mm in thickness and weighs 128 grams. Device has 3.5mm audio jack on the top and a microUSB port at the bottom. It has good viewing angles, but sunlight legibility is just about average. It turns worse when the screen has smudges on it. It turns worse when the screen has smudges on it. It has good viewing angles, but sunlight legibility is just about average.
Just below the earpiece, you have the YU logo flanked by the proximity sensor on one side and front-facing camera on the other side. On the top right edge of the panel, have a power button placed between the volume buttons. The back cover is removable and has a soft matte, rubberish finish to it, which feels nice and offers a good grip to hold the smartphone. However, removing the back cover is a bit of pain, especially for those with very short nails.The headphones that come in the box are loud and a little high on the bass.
Speaker is located on the rear side of the handset, we had to turn over the device to play music. However, the plug-in earphones that come with the handset are quite loud. The microphone, however, is placed a bit lower so talking hands free can be a challenge. The headphones produced too much base, condensing the vocals but changing the settings can solve that problem.Device is a compact and lightweight smartphone made from a plastic body. Despite its aggressive price tag, the build quality is pretty decent.
Specifications and software
Smartphone comes with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 410 quad-core processor that is clocked at 1.2GHz and coupled with 1GB of RAM.The handset runs on Android 5.1 Lollipop and gives you the same feel as using a Nexus smartphone.Overall the device punches slightly above its weight. There’s 8GB of Internal Memory and a Micro SD slot under the back cover that supports cards up to 32GB. There are also two Micro SIM slots on the rear; the battery is not removable though. The 2000mAh battery should get you through a whole day at work.
Connectivity options include dual-SIM support with 4G LTE connectivity on both SIMs. Although we didn’t get to test 4G, 3G connectivity was pretty smooth. The call quality was pretty decent, and we did not face any call drops or experience any cracking sound. Other connectivity options include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, A-GPS support and USB host.
Camera
The handset uses an 8-megapixel sensor with f/2.0 aperture lens and Full HD recording as the primary camera. There's an LED flash to take photos in low light conditions but the flash appears to be too bright and hinders the original colours of the subject. The 2-megapixel front facing camera, which packs f/2.4 aperture lens, delivers decent image quality. On the other hand, the front camera photos have lots of noise. Video recording is done in 1080p full HD resolution and the quality is good enough to be viewed on a large TV. Camera quality is good for the most part.
There's an LED flash to take photos in low light conditions but the flash appears to be too bright and hinders the original colours of the subject.The camera has built-in modes such as HDR, night mode, landscape, portrait, sports, flowers, backlight, candlelight, sunset, beach and snow. It's worth noting that the true colours of the subject were lost in some photos but it delivers the best it can.
HDR mode suppresses light in an attempt to bring clarity and natural colours. Also, we found it difficult to focus on the subject even with sufficient light but the face detection was quite impressive. In terms of quality, the camera produced average quality photos. Outdoor shots looked washed out and a little overexposed too.
Performance
Over the entire course of using the handset, we did not witness any lags. In fact, we put out for a real test by running multiple apps at once to see how it plays out.To our surprise, running 9 apps in the background and playing Candy Crush Saga did not cause a hitch. The apps running in the background were Facebook, Google Maps, YouTube, Camera and others, which by our knowledge puts intense pressure on the CPU.
We did notice some heating during the long gaming sessions but it wasn't so bad. The graphics of the game were decent enough and the Full HD videos played out quite impressively.In addition to testing the performance of the handset, we ran some benchmark tests. Yunique scored an impressive 20444 on AnTuTu Benchmark. While testing the handset on GeekBench, the single core score was 424 while the multi-core score reached 1325. These scores are impressive for the handset that retails for Rs. 4,999.
Verdict
YU Yunique can be a first choice for first-time smartphone buyers. It is affordable, packs decent specs, good camera and battery life and remarkable performance. The phone offers a better multimedia experience. YU Yunique that is available via weekly flash sales, which makes it hard to grab if you are not prepared for the sale.
If you are running low on budget for smartphone shopping, Yunique is worth considering as it gives great value for money. Of course, there are some shortcomings with the Yunique but the pros outweigh the cons.Obviously, there are a few weaknesses with the Yunique yet the aces exceed the cons. Another highlight of the phone is Yu's new after sales service support. They offer an onsite doorstep service — customers can get their devices services and repaired with the replaced handsets being delivered to their doorstep after repair. Yunique compares with some of the best sellers such as Lenovo A2010, Xiaomi Redmi 2, Micromax Canvas Spark.
At the same price point, the Phicomm Energy 653 offers a better overall performance, making it a good option for those who are looking for a decent entry-level smartphone.
Specifications
- 4.7-inch HD Screen, 720 x 1280 pixels, 312 PPI
- 1.2 GHz Quad core Processor
- Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 chipset
- 1 GB RAM
- 8GB ib-built memory, expandable up to 32 GB
- 8MP rear camera
- 2MP facing camera
- 2000mAh Battery
- Android 5.1 (Lollipop)/Cyanogen OS 12.1 (FOTA)
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