Monthly Archives: November 2017

Vivo V7 vs Oppo F5 vs Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro: Price, Specifications Compared

Vivo V7 has become the latest entrant in the crowded market for selfie phones, bringing with it a 24-megapixel front camera. Of course, that’s not all Vivo V7 brings to the table as the handset also has a bezel-less design and 18:9 aspect ratio, along with a capacious battery and a price tag under Rs. 20,000. While it may offer many competitive features, the smartphone faces stiff competition from the recently-launched Oppo F5, another selfie phone with a similar design and features. Then there’s the Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro that is quite popular in the sub-Rs. 20,000 segment as well.

If you are confused with these choices, we compare the Vivo V7 price in India, specifications and feature with those of the Oppo F5 and Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro to make your buying decision easier.

Vivo V7 vs Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro vs Oppo F5 price in India
Vivo V7 price in India is Rs. 18,990, and it will go on sale on November 24; pre-bookings for the handset have already started on Flipkart. It will come pre-booking offers such as no-cost EMIs, one-time free screen replacement, exchange discount of up to Rs. 18,000, BookMyShow couple movie vouchers worth Rs. 500, and 5 percent discount on Axis Bank Buzz credit card.

Oppo F5 price in India is Rs. 19,990 for the variant with 32GB storage and 4GB RAM. Buyers get exchange discount of up to Rs. 18,500, 5 percent discount on Axis Bank Buzz credit cards, and buyback guarantee of up to Rs. 10,000 at Rs. 149. The variant with 6GB RAM and 64GB storage, priced at Rs. 24,990, will not be available in India till December. The Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro is available at Rs. 19,900, and is available with exchange discount of up to Rs. 19,900 and no-cost EMI via Amazon.

Vivo V7 vs Samsung Galaxy J7 Pro vs Oppo F5 specifications and features
Vivo V7 has a 5.7-inch HD+ (720x1440px) display with bezel-less design and 18:9 aspect ratio. The handset runs Funtouch OS 3.2 based on Android 7.1 Nougat operating system, and is powered by the octa-core Snapdragon 450 SoC with 4GB of RAM. Internal storage capacity of the handset is 32GB, with provision to use microSD cards of up to 256GB capacity.

The highlight of Vivo V7, of course, is the 24-megapixel front camera with soft ‘Moonlight Glow’ flash and f/2.0 aperture, while the rear camera has 16-megapixel sensor with f/2.0 aperture. Other key features of the selfie phone include 4G VoLTE, fingerprint sensor, and 3000mAh battery.

Source: https://gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/news/vivo-v7-price-in-india-oppo-f5-vs-samsung-galaxy-j7-pro-specifications-features-compared-1777848

Samsung Galaxy S9 to Take on iPhone X’s Face ID with Enhanced Iris Scanner: Report

While hackers are exploring ways to fool the technology behind Apple’s Face ID, Samsung is now rumoured to be working on an enhanced iris scanner to take on the iPhone X’s killer feature. The new development is reportedly in works for the Galaxy S9 that would supersede the existing Galaxy S8.

ET News reports that Samsung is developing new software to make face recognition on the Galaxy S9 speedier than its predecessor. The South Korean company is reportedly not favouring any hardware upgrade, and the basic specifications as well as the structure of the Galaxy S8 will be followed on the next Galaxy flagship. However, software tweaks are said to be in the pipeline to reduce the delay in recognising the face and scanning the iris of users.

Just like the Galaxy S8, the Galaxy S9 is rumoured to have an 8-megapixel front camera sensor with an autofocus lens. This suggests that the new Samsung handset would have something similar to the TrueDepth system that exists on the iPhone X to enable the next level of facial recognition. Apple’s technology projects more than 30,000 infrared dots onto user’s face to produce a 3D facial map and ultimately unlock the device upon authenticating access.

Google had brought its native software-based facial recognition to Android back in 2011 that enabled Face Unlock across various Ice Cream Sandwich-based handsets. However, Samsung lately developed its proprietary experience and added face unlocking support to the Galaxy Note 7 back in August last year.

Some previous rumours claimed that the Galaxy S9 with a substrate-like PCB (SLP) motherboard that will give space to a more significant battery pack. The SLP will be connected with major components such as DRAM, application processor, and NAND flash memory.

A recent note by KGI Securities’ Ming-Chi Kuo tipped the presence of a rear-facing dual camera setup on the Galaxy S9. Samsung entered the race of dual-camera smartphones with the Galaxy Note 8 earlier this year. But the presence of two camera sensors on the next Galaxy smartphone would make a close competitor against the iPhone X that debuted in September with a vertically-aligned twin camera setup. The latest iPhone enables augmented reality (AR) features and an enhanced bokeh effect-included portrait mode. It’s also being speculated that Apple will bring Face ID to all iPhone models next year. Samsung would provide similar features on its Android offering.

Source: https://gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/news/samsung-galaxy-s9-enhanced-iris-scanner-to-take-on-iphone-x-face-id-report-1777839

Xiaomi Mi Note 3 new variant with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage launched

Xioami launched Mi Note 3 in China in September this year in two variants – 6GB RAM with 64GB internal storage and 6GB with 128GB internal storage. Now the company has launched a cheaper variant with 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage priced at 1,999 Yuan which is approximately Rs 19,595, as per PlayfulDroid. The new variant comes in blue colour and will be available for sale starting November 23.
The existing Mi Note 3 comes in two colour variants – Black and Blue. The 64GB variant is priced at 2499 Yuan which is approximately Rs 24,498 while the 128GB Black variant is priced at 2899 Yuan which is approximately Rs 28,420 and the Blue variant is priced at priced at 2999 Yuan which is approximately Rs 29,400.

Apart from the change in memory configuration, all the specs remain same as of the previous variants. The Mi Note 3 features a four side curved glass body and comes with a 5.5 inch full HD display with 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution. On the inside, it is powered by a 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 octa-core processor and Adreno 540 GPU. The Mi Note 3 comes with a curved back and an under-glass front-facing fingerprint scanner.
The Xiaomi Mi Note 3 boasts a dual rear camera setup comprising of a 12-megapixel primary wide-angle lens with 1.25μm pixel size, f/1.8 aperture, dual-tone LED flash, 4-axis OIS, 4K video recording and a 12-megapixel secondary camera with telephone lens, with 1.0 μm pixel size, 52mm portrait lens, f/2.6 aperture. For selfies, it comes with a 16-megapixel shooter of 2um pixel size and features adaptable AI Beautify options. The device comes with AI-based facial recognition. It also features an IR blaster.

The smartphone runs on Android 7.1 Nougat with MIUI 9 over the top. To power up the device, there is 3050 mAh non-removable battery which supports Quick Charge 3.0. For connectivity, Xiaomi is offering dual sim, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, WiFi Direct, Bluetooth 5.0, USB-C and NFC. The device measures 152.6×73.95×7.6 mm and weighs 163 grams.

Source: https://www.themobileindian.com/news/xiaomi-mi-note-3-new-variant-with-4gb-ram-and-64gb-storage-launched-19908

Xiaomi MIUI 9 to Be Last Update for 6 Smartphones as Software Support Ends

After supporting its dated hardware with fresh software builds for a while, Xiaomi says it is now suspending MIUI updates for six of its popular devices. The list of the devices in question includes the Mi 2/2S, Mi 4i, Redmi Note 4G, Redmi 2, Redmi 2 Prime, and the Mi Note that will receive MIUI 9 as their last stable ROM updates. Xiaomi, through a forum post, confirmed the latest move and mentioned that the old devices would not receive any closed beta and public beta versions following November 17. Therefore, the MIUI Global Beta ROM 7.11 has emerged as the last beta version for all those devices.

The Beijing-based company is, however, set to roll out the MIUI 9 Global Stable ROM gradually for these phones. The update will be available as an over-the-air (OTA) release starting this December, up to January.

In case, if you’ve already flashed your dated device with MIUI 9 Global Beta ROM, Xiaomi will soon provide some methods to help you flash to MIUI 9 Global Stable ROM.

“MIUI performance is constantly improved to deliver a better and better system experience to all users. However, to ensure the best performance of MIUI, we have to make a tough decision of suspending the update of six devices after a long-time discussion and evaluation about the release time of devices, active users, hardware performance, etc,” Xiaomi’s MIUI team noted in the forum post.

Notably, the list of old Xiaomi handsets includes models like the Mi 2/2S that was launched back in 2012 – five years from now. The handset, particularly, was debuted with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean-based MIUI 5.0.

Xiaomi started rolling out MIUI 9 Global Stable ROM for handsets such as the Redmi Note 4, Mi Max 2, and Mi Mix 2 earlier this month. The new MIUI version has enhanced notification alerts, split screen, animated icons, and smart photo editing. The company has also integrated a smart app launcher that suggests apps right from the home screen.

Source: https://gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/news/xiaomi-miui-9-last-update-mi-2-mi-4i-redmi-note-4g-redmi-2-prime-mi-note-november-17-1777751

OnePlus 5T Seen Passing Bend, Burn, and Scratch Tests Ahead of Its First Sale

OnePlus 5T has made an appearance in durability tests that showcase its durability. The tests, conducted by YouTuber JerryRigEverything, prove a tough build of the latest OnePlus smartphone – no matter whether it is a bend or some scratches. The narrator in the five-minute-long video takes OnePlus 5T (Review) through a series of tests to examine how durable the new smartphone is. OnePlus 5T durability test video has gone live just hours before it goes on sale for the first time in India; it will be available via Amazon, only for Prime members, at starting price of Rs. 32,999.

The video begins with a scratch test that uses the Mohs scale to examine the hardness of the Gorilla Glass-featuring display of the OnePlus 5T. The YouTuber found that the glass receives some scratches at the sixth level of the scale, while some deeper signs appear at the seventh level.

Following the traditional scratch test, the YouTuber uses a razor blade to test how robust is the paint job of the OnePlus 5T. The video reveals that the back panel of the new OnePlus smartphone is prone to scratches, but the back-facing fingerprint scanner is made of an “invincible” ceramic material that is highly resistant to scratches. Further, the dual-camera setup that includes a 16-megapixel RGB and a 20-megapixel monochrome sensor, both with f/1.7 aperture lens, resists scratches to a large extent.However, the metal frame and the buttons such as the volume rocker and the mute slider are not as sturdy as the glass panel or the fingerprint scanner of the OnePlus 5T.

The YouTuber also uses a lighter to burn the display panel of the OnePlus 5T. That odd test for about 20 seconds resulted in a white spot on the screen that remained behind.

Ultimately, the durability test range concludes with a bend test that didn’t show any signs of bends. It appears that despite the 7.3mm thickness of the OnePlus 5T, its unibody design passes the cruel bend test.

“Other than the lack of water resistance and the lack of wireless charging, this [OnePlus 5T] is an incredibly full-featured and useful phone with a price point low enough to benefit customers,” the narrator of the JerryRigEverything channel says in the video. It is worth noting here that OnePlus provided the unit used for the durability tests, and users are not recommended to perform such tests on their handsets.

With a price starts at Rs. 32,999, the OnePlus 5T will go on sale in India for the first time at 4.30pm IST today. The early access sale will be conducted only for Prime members on Amazon.in, but the smartphone will also be available via the OnePlus online store and OnePlus Experience Store in Bengaluru. Open sales begin on November 28, a week from now.

Source: https://gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/news/oneplus-5t-durability-test-video-first-sale-india-1778045

OnePlus 5T Vs OnePlus 5: Specs, features, price and everything to know

The OnePlus 5T, on first look, seems like a great phone. Not so much if you recently purchased a OnePlus 5 though. For obvious reasons. Launched in June, the OnePlus 5, was well until last night OnePlus’ best phone yet. The equation changed last night, when OnePlus launched a souped up version of it , aka the OnePlus 5T. Not a lot has changed, and yet, the OnePlus 5T now seems like a phone that the OnePlus 5 should have been in the first place. The OnePlus 5T, if I was to be brief with you, comes with an upgraded design and an upgraded dual rear camera system. Most importantly, the OnePlus 5T costs as much as the OnePlus 5 meaning OnePlus will be looking to discontinue the latter, in the days to come.

But before we talk of the differences, a few words about the similarities. There are many similarities too between the two phones, the most striking of them is the price. The OnePlus 5T has been launched at the same price at which the OnePlus 5 was launched. This means it will cost Rs 32,999 for the 6GB RAM and 64GB internal storage version, whereas the price for the 128GB storage and 8GB RAM variant is Rs 37,999. In other words, it also means that the OnePlus 5 has been discontinued and once its current stock has been exhausted, it won’t be available in the market.

Then there are similarities in the design, in the software and in the feature set between the OnePlus 5T and the OnePlus 5. Even the core hardware – the snapdragon 835, up to 8GB RAM and internal storage of up to 128GB – is same. So what are the differences? Why OnePlus has decided to announce its new phone.

Source: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/technology/story/oneplus-5t-vs-oneplus-5-big-differences-that-6-months-make-between-the-top-2-oneplus-phones/1/1091442.html