Samsung Galaxy On8 launched in India: Price, Specifications and Alternatives

By

-

August 1, 2018

samsung, on8, galaxy on8, alternatives — Samsung Galaxy On8 with dual-cameras and AMOLED display to be available starting August 6

Samsung has just launched another mid-range smartphone in India, the Samsung Galaxy On8. The smartphone is priced at Rs. 16,990 and will be available via Flipkart as well as Samsung's own online store. Interested people can visit these platforms on August 6 to buy the Galaxy On8.

Specifications

As far as the specifications are concerned, the Samsung Galaxy On8 features a 6-inch SuperAMOLED display with a resolution of 720x1480 pixels and an 18.5:9 aspect ratio. The smartphone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 chipset. The dual-SIM handset packs in 4GB of RAM coupled with 64GB of onboard storage which is further expandable using a microSD card. It runs on Android 8.0 Oreo layered with Samsung's UI. All of this is backed by a 3,500mAh battery.

On the optics front, the Samsung Galaxy On8 bears a 16MP+5MP dual-camera setup at the back. The front of the phone is equipped with a 16-megapixel selfie shooter with f/1.9 aperture.

Alternatives

Unless you are a Samsung fan or you just want an AMOLED display, look at these alternatives that offer way better specifications at a similar price point.

Asus ZenFone Max Pro M1

Zenfone Max Pro M1n nokia 6, nokia x6, nokia 6.1 plus, specifications, price, alternatives — Asus ZenFone Max Pro M1 runs on stock Android 8.1 Oreo out of the box

Samsung Galaxy On8 is priced at Rs. 16,990 while the Asus ZenFone Max Pro M1 is available at a starting price of just Rs. 10,999 and also offers much better spec sheet. The ZenFone Max Pro M1 is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 SoC paired with up to 6GB of RAM. The device runs on stock Android 8.1 Oreo and features a FullHD+ display. The top-end variant of the Asus ZenFone Max Pro M1 is available for Rs. 14,999.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro

xiaomi, asus, zenfone max pro m1, 6gb ram — Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro runs on MIUI

Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro is currently one of the best selling smartphones in the mid-range segment range. The phone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 SoC along with 4GB or 6GB of RAM. Although the device runs on MIUI 9, the smartphone performs reasonably well. The 5.99-inch smartphone also packs a great camera setup both at the front and back. The smartphone starts at a price of Rs. 14,999.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 5

Even with a starting price of Rs. 9,999, the Redmi Note 5 offers much better specifications when compared to the Samsung Galaxy On8. The handset sports a 5.99-inch FullHD+ 18:9 display and it is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 chipset. The device packs in 3GB or 4GB of RAM coupled with 32GB or 64GB of onboard storage.

Xiaomi Mi A2 to be Amazon Exclusive in India, launching on August 8

By

Devesh Arora

-

July 31, 2018

The Chinese smartphone manufacturer, Xiaomi recently took the wraps off the much-awaited smartphone, the Xiaomi Mi A2. The Mi A2 is the successor to the popular mid-range smartphone, Mi A1. The phone is a part of Google's Android One program which brings stock Android as well as faster updates on board. The company is now gearing up to launch the smartphone in India.

India launch of the Xiaomi Mi A2 is scheduled for August 8. The smartphone will be exclusively available via Amazon India. The e-commerce website has already put up banners and even a dedicated page for the upcoming smartphone.

xiaomi, mi a2, india launch, amazon — The Mi A2 will be exclusively available via Amazon in India

Specifications

As far as the specifications are concerned, the Xiaomi Mi A2 features a 5.99-inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 1080x2160 pixels and an 18:9 aspect ratio. The smartphone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 SoC paired with the Adreno 512 GPU. The dual-SIM handset packs in 4GB or 6GB of RAM coupled with 32GB/64GB/128GB of onboard storage. The Android One smartphone runs on stock Android 8.1 Oreo out of the box. Under the hood, there is a 3,000mAh battery powering up the internals.

On the optics front, the Xiaomi Mi A2 sports a dual-camera setup at the back consisting of a 12-megapixel primary and a 20-megapixel secondary sensor. Up front, there is a 20-megapixel selfie shooter.

Looking at the pricing in Europe, the Xiaomi Mi A2 will be priced at around Rs. 20,000 in India. However, Xiaomi might decide to manufacture or assemble the smartphone in India itself which might bring the price down to somewhere around Rs. 17,000.

OnePlus 3/3T in line to get the Android P update

By

Tech Desk

-

July 31, 2018

OnePlus 3 Rear — OnePlus 3/3T to soon get Android P update

OnePlus has just announced that they will soon start working on the Android P update for the OnePlus 3 and 3T. The Android P update would be the last major update for these 2016 devices. The Chinese smartphone manufacturer has skipped the Android 8.1 Oreo update for these devices as they are now spending their development resources on the next major update.

OnePlus 3 and 3T were launched back in 2016 and ran Android 6.0.1 Marshmellow out of the box. They were updated to Android Nougat in 2017 and got their second major update in 2017, the Android 8.0 Oreo. This makes the Android P its third and last major update. Usually, Android smartphone manufacturers stop pushing out updates after the second major update and this is quite of a surprise to see three major updates on an Android device.

oneplus, oneplus 3, oneplus 3t, android p — Android P will be the last major update for OnePlus 3 and 3T

OnePlus made an announcement back in June stating that they will be providing their smartphones with at least two years of software updates and three years of security patch updates. OnePlus made this announcement in order to make their relations better with the consumers which were spoiled a bit due to OnePlus 2. The company rolled out only one major update for the latter smartphone leaving many fans disappointed.

OnePlus will roll out the Android P update for the OnePlus 6 first followed by the OnePlus 5/5T. OnePlus 3/3T will receive the update soon after it hits 5/5T.

Also Read: OnePlus to now support their devices for more than 2 years

Recently, OnePlus 3 and 3T received the OxygenOS 5.0.4 update which brought the July 2018 Android Security patch to the devices. The update also fixed minor bugs and brought improvement to the OS.

In other news, OnePlus, with the success of the OnePlus 6, has captured 40 per cent of the premium smartphone segment in India. Samsung was able to capture 34 per cent which brings OnePlus above Samsung for the first time.

WhatsApp finally rolls out group video, voice calling feature for Android, iOS

By

Devesh Arora

-

July 31, 2018

whatsapp, group calls, android, ios, new features — WhatsApp allows up to four participants on a group video call

WhatsApp has been touting for a while now that they will soon allow group video and voice calls on the platform. The messaging application has finally received an official update for Android and iOS which enables the much-awaited feature. The company made the announcement via a blog post where they also claimed that the group calling feature is optimised in such a way that users can experience a reliable connection from any part of the globe.

The WhatsApp blog post reads, "Over the last couple years, people have enjoyed making voice and video calls on WhatsApp. In fact, our users spend over 2 billion minutes on calls per day. We're excited to announce that group calls for voice and video are coming to WhatsApp starting today."

"Group calls are always end-to-end encrypted, and we've designed calling to work reliably around the world in different network conditions. The feature is currently rolling out on the iPhone and Android versions of our app," reads the blog post.

Setting up a group voice or video call is pretty easy. Firstly, you have to make sure that all the members of the group have updated WhatsApp via Google Play Store or Apple App Store on their Android or iOS devices respectively. Now one user has to initiate a voice or video call with another user. Once both the users are connected, the users will be able to see an option to Add Participants. Any of the users can add more participants and a total of four participants can be on a group call at a time.

Also Read: Top 5 tricks every WhatsApp user should know

The Facebook-owned company first rolled out the feature via the beta version on the Google Play Store. The feature was initially spotted by users on the Android beta version 2.18.189 and v2.18.192.

Here's how to enable YouTube dark theme on Android

By

Tech Desk

-

July 30, 2018

youtube, android, ios, dark mode — YouTube Dark Theme is finally making its way to Android

YouTube is one of the most popular video streaming services and it is also the most popular Google service. The service is consumed by users via the website and Android/iOS app. The web interface and the iOS app of YouTube have had the dark mode feature for a while now. However, the company is finally rolling out an update to provide Android users with an option to enable the dark mode.

A few users have already started reporting that they are seeing the option to toggle the dark mode on the Android app. To check if you have received the update, head over to the YouTube app on your Android smartphone and tap on the profile icon on the top right corner. Here, tap on Settings and then tap on General. If you see an option here saying "Dark Theme" toggle it to on.

The majority of users who have not yet received the update will have to wait until Google decides to roll out the update globally. The update should be available to all users by the end of August 2018. However, if you just cannot wait for the update to arrive you can toggle the feature on the current version of the app if you have root access by following a guide on XDA Developers.

Android users who do not have root access can download third-party YouTube apps that support dark mode. YouTube Black is an alternative but it is not available on Google Play Store, so you have to search for the apk online.

Here's a list of devices which will be compatible with Fortnite Mobile

By

Tech Desk

-

July 30, 2018

fortnite, fortnite for android — Fortnite is one of the most popular Battle Royal games

PUBG Mobile saw a huge success among Android smartphone users. The competitor Fortnite took another road and launched the mobile game exclusively for iOS devices. Fortnite fans have been waiting for the day when the game will be available for Android devices as well. It seems now that day isn't too far as Epic Games has rolled out a list of 30 compatible Android devices for the game.

If you are thinking that the list of devices will only consist of flagships, that's not the case here. Even budget phones like the Motorola Moto E4 Plus and the Samsung Galaxy On7 2016 made it to the list.

First, let's start with the flagships. Flagship smartphones from Google and Samsung including the Pixel 2, Pixel 2 XL, Galaxy S9, S9+, Galaxy S8, S8+ and the Galaxy Note 8 are on the Fortnite Mobile compatible list. Even flagships from 2016 like the Samsung Galaxy S7 and the S7 Edge made it to the list. LG G6 and the V30/V30 Plus are the only two flagships from LG that were on the list.

On the list, there are plenty of Huawei phones including Mate 10/Mate 10 Pro, Mate 10 Lite,
Mate 9/Mate 9 Pro, P10/P10 Plus, P10 Lite, P9, P9 Lite and even the P8 Lite 2017. Smartphones from Motorola include the Moto E4 Plus, Moto G5/G5 Plus, Moto G5S and the Moto Z2 Play.

Also Read: PUBG Mobile brings FPP, Arcade Mode and much more with this major update

The list even includes phones from Sony. The Xperia XA1, XA1 Ultra, XA1 Plus, XZ, XZs and the XZ1 made it to the list. Mid-range smartphones from Samsung like the Galaxy A5 2017, Galaxy A7 2017, Galaxy J7 Prime 2017 and the J7 Pro 2017 are also on the list.

Recent reports claim that the Fortnite Mobile for Android will officially launch alongside the Samsung Galaxy Note 9. The game will be exclusive for the smartphone for the first 30 days after launch. After the 30 day period, the compatible devices can download and play the game.

Honor Note 10 available for pre-orders ahead of launch: Here are some alternatives

By

Tech Desk

-

July 30, 2018

The Chinese smartphone manufacturer, Honor is now gearing up to launch another smartphone in China. The Honor Note 10 which is scheduled to launch on July 31 is already available for pre-order via the company own Vmall online store. The website claims that interested buyers will need to pay a downpayment of CNY 99 (roughly Rs. 1,000) and they will get a pair of free wireless headsets.

Specifications

As for as the specifications are concerned, the Honor Note 10 features a massive 6.9-inch FullHD+ IPS LCD display with an 18:9 aspect ratio. The smartphone is powered by the HiSilicon Kirin 970 chipset. The device packs in 6GB of RAM coupled with either 64GB or 128GB of onboard storage. The handset runs on Android 8.1 Oreo-based EMUI 8.2 out of the box. All of this is backed by a 5,000mAh battery.

Also Read: Honor 9N First Impressions: Just another Budget Phone?

On the optics front, the Honor Note 10 bears a 16MP+24MP dual-camera setup at the back. Up front, the Note 10 gets a 13-megapixel selfie shooter.

Alternatives

Honor Note 10 has not yet officially launched in China and we don't know whether the smartphone will make it to India or not. So here are some alternatives you can buy right now.

Honor 10

In case you are looking for a similar experience at a lower price and in smaller form factor, the Honor 10 is the one you should look for. The smartphone features a 5.84-inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 1080x2280 pixels. The device runs on Android 8.1 Oreo-based EMUI 8.1 out of the box. The phone comes with a 16MP+24MP dual-camera setup at the back and a 24-megapixel selfie shooter. The 6GB+128GB variant of the Honor 10 retails for Rs. 29,999.

Huawei Nova 3

Huawei recently launched the Huawei Nova 3 flagship in India. The smartphone comes with similar specifications when compared to the Honor Note 10. However, it has a smaller 6.3-inch IPS LCD display. The smartphone is powered by the same HiSilicon Kirin 970 chipset coupled with 6GB of RAM. Huawei Nova 3 is available in India at a price of Rs. 34,999.

OnePlus 6

If stock Android and a Snapdragon processor are what you need, you can consider the OnePlus 6 instead. The OnePlus 6 sports a 6.28-inch FullHD+ AMOLED display with a 19:9 aspect ratio. The dual-SIM handset is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC paired with up to 8GB of RAM. OnePlus 6 is available at a starting price of Rs. 34,999.

Top 5 improvements Android 8.1 Oreo brings to the 10.or G, 10.or E and 10.or D

By

Brahmjot Singh

-

July 29, 2018

10.or E software update — 10.or G and E will soon receive the Android 8.1 Oreo update

10.or is now working on bringing the Android 8.1 Oreo update to the 10.or G and the 10.or E. The smartphone manufacturer has already rolled out the update for the entry level 10.or D. The company recently pushed out messages to the 10.or G and E owners that they are working hard on bringing the update and will be rolling it out soon. We can expect the update for the devices by the end of August. Here are the improvements that the Android 8.1 Oreo update brings to the 10.or G, 10.or E and 10.or D.

UI Changes

Autofill

One of the most noticeable changes of the latest iteration of Android is the autofill. Autofill allows users to save their passwords and autofill them when needed. It works with applications like Instagram, Twitter and Facebook where your login credentials are required. It also allows apps like LastPass to fill in passwords for various applications.

Background Limits

Apart from the changes that are visible to users, Google made some changes deep into the operating system. The Android 8.1 Oreo now limits background activities that are unnecessarily consuming power. This helps in delivering better performance as well as better battery life.

Picture-in-Picture

Another most interesting feature on the Android Oreo is the Picture-in-picture mode. This allows users to watch videos even while using other applications. However, it requires YouTube Red to work with YouTube. You can still take advantage of this feature by using Google Maps or other services.

New Emojis

Android 8.1 Oreo for the 10.or G, 10.or E and 10.or D also brings in a bunch of new emojis. These emojis can be used in text messages, Instagram as well as other messaging platforms. The new set of emojis look way better than the Nougat ones.

Better Battery Life

With the latest iteration of Android, Google did some under the hood changes in order to bring better battery life as well as better overall performance. The operating system limits background activities which ultimately helps the smartphone to save on power.

Top 5 tricks every WhatsApp user should know

By

Devesh Arora

-

July 29, 2018

WhatsApp, tricks, hacks — WhatsApp is one of the most used messaging apps around the globe

Whatsapp has received immense popularity but there are some tricks that not every user is aware of. The company constantly updates its application in order to bring new features and improvements so that the users can get a better overall experience. After a few recent updates, these are the tricks that can come in handy and make your chatting experience simpler and better.

WhatsApp Group Restriction

One of the main reasons why people like to use WhatsApp is the fact that you can create a group. However, there are times when we are tired of being in so many groups and even the groups which were created for information purposes are filled with "Good Morning" messages. To restrict that, WhatsApp recently introduced a new feature where the group admin can decide who can send messages to the group.

You can choose between All Participants and Only Admins here

So basically, you have an option between All Participants and Group Admins for sending messages. If you select Group Admins, only the admins will be able to send messages to the group while the other participants can only read them. You can change these settings by going into the WhatsApp group and tap on the group name. There, you have to enter Group Settings and you can edit your settings.

WhatsApp Web Emojis

WhatsApp web is a convenient way of sending and receiving messages for the people who are always on their laptop or desktop. However, things get a bit difficult when you need to send emojis. You have to get your hands towards the mouse and click on that emoji icon and find that one emoji that you want to send.

The whole process isn't that complicated but what if I told you it can be easier? The web interface of the app allows you to search for an emoji just by putting ":" in the text box. For example, you want to send the Kiss emoji to someone, you can just type :kiss and you will get some suggestions. You can also use emoticons like :-D to bring the emoji.

Language change

WhatsApp even allows to change the app language

India is a country filled with various cultures, religions and even languages. This is why WhatsApp allows users to chat in languages other than English. The people who are interested in sending messages in their language can go ahead and download apps like "Google Indic Keyboard" to bring a variety of languages to their keyboard. You can also change the app language by heading over to WhatsApp>Settings>Chats>App Language.

Hear voice notes via the earpiece

One feature that we love about WhatsApp is the ability to send voice messages or as the app itself likes to call Voice Notes. Instead of typing a long paragraph on that small keyboard on your phone, you can always use that one single button to say whatever you want. However, hearing these voice notes can be a challenge when you are sitting with someone or you are in a public place.

To your rescue, WhatsApp has a neat little trick up its sleeve which not many people are aware of. Here you don't even need to dig into the settings or change anything. Whenever you receive a voice note, just tap on the play button and quickly bring the phone close to your ear just like you hold it when you are on a call. This will help WhatsApp detect that the phone is closer to your ear and instead of playing the voice note from the speaker, it will play via the earpiece. For this to work, your phone should have a proximity sensor which most of the phones have in 2018.

See your data collected by WhatsApp

Recently Facebook scared everyone by sharing its users' data with different organisations. This whole thing made people realise that they should protect their privacy on the internet. Few apps even started allowing users to download the information that they have about the user. You can even download your data that was collected by WhatsApp. Just head over to WhatsApp>Settings>Account>Request account info and tap on Request report.

Top 5 reasons to wait for the Samsung Galaxy Note 9

By

Devesh Arora

-

July 28, 2018

samsung, galaxy note 9, 2018 — Samsung Galaxy Note 9 will offer new colour variants as well

Samsung is gearing up to launch the Galaxy Note 9 next month. The launch of the smartphone is scheduled for August 9 and it should be available for sale in India by the end of August. We have received enough leaks and rumours about the device and here's why you should wait for the Galaxy Note 9 before picking up any smartphone.

Display

Samsung always had a reputation of providing one of the best displays on their flagship smartphone. No matter who fast is the iPhone X or how good are the cameras on the Pixel 2, the Galaxy Note 8 received the crown for having the best display on any smartphone in 2017. The Galaxy Note 9 will be the successor to the Note 8 which means that the display is expected to be even better.

S-Pen

S-Pen is one major feature that differentiates the Samsung Galaxy Note line-up from the S line-up and any other smartphone. Samsung Galaxy Note 8 received major changes with the S-Pen where Samsung added plenty of new useful features. With the Galaxy Note 9, Samsung will focus to improve the S-Pen, a stylus which is already one of the best.

Best overall smartphone

Samsung Galaxy Note 8 was rated as one of the best overall smartphones. We here at BeetelBite personally appreciated the Galaxy Note 8 a lot which had one of the best displays, cameras and battery life. As the Galaxy Note 9 will be a successor to the Note 8, the company will have an opportunity to make an overall great smartphone even better.

Cameras

One of the main things that smartphone manufacturers are focusing on are the cameras. The competition of smartphone cameras has been seamlessly increasing and people are waiting for the day where they can finally decide to leave their DSLRs behind and just rely on their smartphone. The Galaxy Note 8 was the first Samsung phone to come with a dual-camera setup and the implementation was quite impressive. Now we have to see how Samsung will make the cameras even better for the Note 9.

Design

The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is not gonna bring a complete overhaul in terms of design. The smartphone is expected to carry a similar glass sandwich design like the Galaxy Note 8. However, Samsung will improve things by placing the fingerprint scanner in a better location and they will also trim down the bezels on the front.

Beetel BiteTech News, Reviews, PC Mobile Phones, Tablets and more

Specifications

Alternatives

Asus ZenFone Max Pro M1

Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro

Xiaomi Redmi Note 5

Specifications

Specifications

Alternatives

Honor 10

Huawei Nova 3

OnePlus 6

Autofill

Background Limits

Picture-in-Picture

New Emojis

Better Battery Life

WhatsApp Group Restriction

WhatsApp Web Emojis

Language change

Hear voice notes via the earpiece

See your data collected by WhatsApp

Display

S-Pen

Best overall smartphone

Cameras

Design