1More, the U.S. based giant, has launched another set of headphones in India. The company is continuously working on expanding its portfolio in India. The all-new Dual Driver headphones from the company are now available in India. These headphones produce Superior Sound using drivers. The drivers include a balanced armature with a separate grapheme dynamic driver to deliver a powerful yet intimate listening experience.
The 1More Dual Driver headphones High-sensitivity, low-distortion and high-stability balanced armature. These together help to extend the high-frequency range up to 40,000 Hz. This further helps in receiving the Hi-Res Audio certification from the Japan Audio Association. The company recommends that users should listen to the music with Hi-Res Audio-certified front-end devices which will provide a better music performance.
As far as the specifications are concerned, the 1More Dual Driver headphones are in-ear style headphones. The headphones have a Speaker Impedance of 32 ohms and a Headphone Sensitivity of 98 dB. These headphones have a frequency range of 20-40,000Hz. The headphones have a rated power of 5mW. The 1More Dual Driver headphones weigh in at around 15 grams. The headphones come with 1.25 meter enamelled copper wire with Wire Control function and a 3.5mm Jack at the end.
Price and Availability
The 1More Dual Driver headphones are launched with a price tag of Rs. 4,499. The headphones will be available via 1More's official India website. Apart from the official website, the headphones are also available on Amazon, Flipkart and Headphonezone.in. Customers can also purchase the headphones via All Leading Stores in India.
iVoomi started the year by launching their latest flagship, the iVoomi i1. The smartphone falls under the ultra-budget segment. The highlights of the smartphone include the 18:9 display and the dual camera setup at the back. We have put the iVoomi i1 through various tests and here's our intensive review.
Specifications
The iVoomi i1 features a 5.45-inch display with a resolution of 640x1280 pixels. The display on the smartphone comes with an 18:9 aspect ratio. The smartphone is powered by the MediaTek MT6737 SoC which is a quad-core processor clocked at 1.3GHz. The device is available in 2GB RAM + 16GB storage variant or 3GB RAM + 32GB storage variant. The storage on the device is expandable up to 128GB using a microSD card. The iVoomi i1 runs on Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box. Under the hood, there is a 3,000mAh battery powering up the internals.
Design
As soon as we unboxed the iVoomi i1, we were impressed with the 18:9 display. The 18:9 display has been implemented by the company in such a way that the phone gives a premium look up front. As soon as we flip the device, there sits a plastic back panel which when opened reveals the micro-SIM slots and the microSD card slot. However, the device feels good in the hand thanks to the narrow and tall design. Also, it is worth mentioning that iVoomi provides a screen protector inside the box to protect the beautiful display from scratches.
Software
The iVoomi i1 runs on Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box. The smartphone started lagging as soon as we had set it up for the first time. There were noticeable stutters and app crashes. Thanks to the company, the i1 soon got a new software update which actually brought improvements to the software experience. The software on the smartphone is near to stock with a different icon pack and few extra features here and there. Some of the features include fingerprint gestures and DuraSpeed.
Lock Screen
Home Screen
Software Update
Performance
As mentioned in the software segment, the smartphone initially had issues with performance. The iVoomi i1 started to stutter even with a limited number of applications installed. However, the company was concerned about its customer's experience and soon after the launch rolled out a software update. After the update, the software showed improvements and became much more usable. As the smartphone is an entry-level device, heavy games did take a lot of time to load and did lag and stutter during our testing. Games like Subway Surfers performed well most of the times.
AnTuTu
Geekbench
Camera
The iVoomi i1 sports a dual camera setup at the back with a 13-megapixel sensor and a 2-megapixel sensor. Up front, there is an 8-megapixel selfie shooter. Both the camera setups do a decent job. The front-camera was able to take decent shots in brighter environments. The rear camera was also able to take some good images outdoors. However, the camera application on the smartphone is not optimised well and can become better over the updates. The Bokeh mode was kind of gimmicky as the background was not getting blurred properly or the object was getting affected.
Rear Camera
Bokeh Mode
Front Camera
Battery
The iVoomi i1 is backed by a 3,000mAh battery. The smartphone, when used heavily, will need a top up at around 5 PM. While light or moderate usage can last up to 7 or 8 PM. During our intensive review, the smartphone was usually on 4G and our usage included basic apps and few minutes spend on gaming.
Verdict
iVoomi launched the i1 at a starting price of Rs. 5,999. At this price point, the smartphone comes with entry-level specifications. The device was able to handle day to day tasks with ease. Though we faced few issues initially, they were fixed soon after the official launch. The smartphone also comes with a fingerprint scanner which is not the fastest when the screen is off. The fingerprint sensor is quite reliable and is quick enough if the screen is turned on first.
With it's 18:9 display and a dual camera setup at the back, iVoomi i1 has surely toughened the budget smartphone game. The competition among the ultra-budget smartphones like 10.or D, Xiaomi Redmi 5A and now the iVoomi i1 are getting close.
Xiaomi recently started rolling out the MIUI 9 software update. A few of the smartphones including Redmi Note 4 are now running on MIUI 9. The company has made some improvements to the ROM and has now released MIUI 9.2. The new ROM now has features like a new app lock, a distance sensor dynamic calibration function and much more.
The new MIUI 9.2 update brings Mi Mover along with a more simplified UI to the table. This update also brings major bug fixes, optimisations to the icons and improves device's overall performance. Interestingly, the MIUI 9.2 also brings the App vault which has been a much-awaited feature among the Xiaomi devices. App Vault on the MIUI 9.2 can be accessed by swiping right from the home screen. App Vault feature allows users to access frequently used Shortcuts, Notes, Calendar Events and Cricket widgets.
As mentioned above, the ROM's integrated App Lock also gets improvements. The App Lock can now hide messages from select applications. The Gallery app on MIUI 9.2 now gets a fix for image compression. Also, Mi Account will send lesser push notifications when the user signs off. Mi Drop application also gets a fix where large GIFs were not loading.
The MIUI 9.2 update is hitting Redmi 5A, Redmi Y1 Lite, Redmi Y1, Mi Mix 2, Redmi 5, Redmi 5 Plus, Redmi 4 Prime, Mi 3, Mi 4, Mi Note soon. Xiaomi Redmi 5A users claim that they have already started receiving the update. If your Xiaomi device has not received the update, it will reach via OTA pretty soon.
Chinese electronics giant Xiaomi is one of the biggest mobile resellers in India. And the company is growing by the second. Now the company's biggest aim is to dominate the offline sales market. Until now, the company's sales were restricted mainly to the online market.
Managing Director of Xiaomi India, Manu Kumar Jain told Reuters "If you look at 2017 and 2018 combined, the biggest change in our strategy is our focus on offline”. The company's first home product in the country was the Mi Home in May last year. It is already running ahead of schedule of launching 100 Mi Home store by mid-2019. There are only 17 Mi-Home stores in the country, and there is more to come. Besides, that the company has the plans to launch more preferred stores due to tie-ups with other multi-brand stores.
Since Xiaomi came to India three years ago, the company has only focused its efforts in the online market. With tie-ups with e-retail giants like Flipkart and Amazon helped them with initial sales. The company has gained a lot of popularity as well as its share of bad news due to its flash sale system. This systems mainly for some pocket-friendly smartphones caused the bad news. While Xiaomi already has offline presence in the major cities, its missing the major offline sales of the country. Non-Metropolitan cities with their local market offer about 70% of mobile revenue in India. That's a big number to tap into.
Xiaomi launched eight smartphones in 2017 in the Indian market, ranging from Rs. 4,999 to Rs. 32,999. Manu Kumar Jain told Reuters will be launching around six to eight smartphones in the country, with the important price segments in the country. He said. "We want to improve on whatever we launched in 2017 and also launch and plug whatever we think are the big use cases where we are not present”.
Flipkart is celebrating the Republic Day by offering massive discounts on products. Taking advantage of the Flipkart Republic Day sale, Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 gets a few offers giving an amazing effective price. You can now pick the 64GB variant of the Redmi Note 4 for as low as Rs. 999.
Flipkart is offering Rs. 2,000 off on the Redmi Note 4 bringing its price down from Rs. 12,999 to Rs. 10,999. Apart from the discount, the e-commerce website is also offering exchange offers of up to Rs. 10,000. This will bring down the phone's effective price to Rs. 999. You can avail the maximum Rs. 10,000 off by exchanging the Redmi Note 4 with an Apple iPhone 6S Plus. However, you can also exchange it for other smartphones to get a huge discount.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 Specifications
As far as the specifications are concerned, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 features a 5.5-inch FullHD display. The smartphone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 chipset. The Snapdragon 625 is an octa-core chipset clocked at 2GHz and is coupled with the Adreno 506 GPU. The device packs in 4GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard storage. The Redmi Note 4 currently runs on MIUI 9 based on Android 7.0 Nougat. Under the hood, there is a 4,100mAh battery.
On the optics front, the Redmi Note 4 features a 13MP camera at the back with f/2.0 aperture. Up front, there is a 5-megapixel selfie shooter with f/2.0 aperture.
Apple India is celebrating the new year by offering massive discounts on few of its products. The company, in partnership with Citibank, has brought a few cashback offers. The cashback offers are applicable on purchase of Apple Airpods or Apple TV. The offer is available until January 28, 11:59 PM. The offer is only applicable at offline Apple reseller stores in India.
Offers
The Apple Airpods which are priced at Rs. 12,900 will be available for Rs. 7,900. The 32GB variant of the Apple TV which is currently priced at Rs. 14,100 is now available at an effective price of Rs. 9,100. The Apple TV 4K with 32GB storage will be priced at Rs. 12,430 instead of the Rs. 17,430 price point. While the 64GB variant of the Apple TV 4K will be available at Rs. 14,480 instead of Rs. 19,480.
The offer is applicable at all offline Apple resellers in India. The transaction could be through EMI or non-EMI. The payment has to be done using Citibank credits cards. The cashback will be credited within 90 business day. Also, the offer is valid only for one transaction per card during the given period.
Apple reseller stores are available in India in cities including Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Gurgaon, Howrah, Jaipur, Kolkata, Mumbai, Noida and Pune. In case your city is not included in the list, you can still approach your nearest Apple reseller to inquire about the offer.
Apple Airpods is the company's answer towards the wireless headphones. The company launched the Airpods in order to encounter the issue of missing headphone jacks. According to KGI's Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple will bring the next generation of Apple Airpods by the second half of 2018.
Facebook-owned, WhatsApp just launched another beta version for it's Android App.The newest beta version running on Android 8.0 Oreo now has support for the new Notifications channel feature. However, this feature is only available in the beta version of Android. So you will need to sign up as a beta tester on Google Play to try this new feature. Company's latest beta update will bring more control over notifications from the app in the latest version of Android 8.0 Oreo. If you are a wonder, you can use a third-party site to download the WhatsApp version 2.18.19 to try this out. However, we won't recommend using this method. As third party sites may contain malware.
The new Notifications channel on Android 8.0 Oreo packs a lot of control. It lets users manage all the various kinds of alerts. Users can minimize the not important alerts and more.This gives control back to the user where it should be. However, the app developer needs to add support for these features before the user can take benefit of them.
What are the benefits of new WhatsApp update and How to make use of them?
WhatsApp has finally implemented these features in their app. Now, for instance, one could set all group notifications to low priority. To use this kind of features you will be a smartphone running Android 8.0 Oreo and WhatsApp version 2.18.19.
Once you go to the requirements, you can just go to settings, Apps & Notifications and search for WhatsApp on the list. Press on WhatsApp, followed by App Notifications. After that, scroll down and one will see various options on how to manage notifications on WhatsApp. The messaging giant's app has 10 kinds of notifications listed and these are as following: Group notifications, Message notifications, Chat history backup, Critical app alerts, Failure notifications, Media Playback, Uncategorised, Other notifications, Sending media, and Silent notifications. the user can then tap on the setting he wants to modify and set it according to his wishes.
Los Angles-based audio brand, LSTN has officially entered the Indian Market. The company's products can now be officially purchased in the country using the distributor, Ferrari Video on Headphone Zone. Headphone Zone is the only place you can buy then presently in India.LSTN Fillmore and Troubadour, the Bolt, Bowery and Avalon earbuds as well as the Satellite wireless speakers are the only products which can be bought in the country as of now.
LSTN Troubadour
Companys flagship headphones, the Troubadour wireless headphones are wireless. Also, they are said to be housed in real wood. For connectivity, they are backed by a Bluetooth 4.1. They also feature an onboard microphone for calls. It has features like volume and playback control, along with the ability to use them as wired. They are available in Zebra Wood and Matt Balck Maple wood options. It is available for Rs 11,999.
LSTN Fillmore
LSTN’s Fillmore just like the troubadour comes with real-wood housing and foldable headbands. They are also wireless and have an onboard microphone. They also have features like volume and playback control. LSTN Fillmore offers a 40mm driver with a 3.5mm gold-plated plug. It also supports frequencies between 20Hz and 20kHz. They are only available right now in Zebra Wood variant. They cost Rs 7,999 right now.
LSTN Bolt
LSTN Bolt wireless is designed for workouts usage. Aimed at athletes or anyone who gets a lot of sweat. The company says they are created with a sweat-resistant metal housing and silicon buds. There is an inline microphone with volume and playback control, along with Bluetooth 4.1 connectivity. There are different sizes of the silicon ring and ear tips included in every order. They offer up to 8 hours of battery life and have a 6mm driver for great sound. They can be bought in Rose Gold and Black colour options. It can be bought at a price tag of Rs 6,999.
LSTN Bowerys
LSTN Bowerys are wired earbuds with a 4.5ft nylon cable and an in-line microphone. They are offered in real wood housing. They feature a 8mm driver. LSTN promises that they offer sounds in 18Hz-20kHz frequency. The LSTN Bowerys is offered in three wood options namely Cherry Wood, Ebony and Zebra Wood. They can be bought for Rs 2,999.
LSTN Satellite
LSTN Satellite is company's wireless speakers. They measure around 3 x 2.5 x 2.5 inches. They offer full wireless capability using Bluetooth 4.1. It also has an additional microphone for phone calls. It is rated at 5W. They can offer up to 8 hours of battery life. Also, they are housed in real wood. You can buy them in Zebra Wood, Cherry Wood, and Walnut Wood options. They are available at Rs 6,999.
LSTN Avalon
LSTN Avalon is also a wired earbud. It comes with an in-house microphone. They are also designed to be sweat-resistant. Its controls include volume and playback control. They have a gold-accented hardware along with a rubber cable. It is said to have 8mm drivers. The company says they come with a frequency range of 20Hz to 20kHz. It is available in Bamboo and Ebony wood options. They cost Rs 2,999
Samsung has been working on bringing their new series of smartphones. In the year 2018, the company will introduce refreshed versions of their popular A-series and J-series. The affordable J family from the company is about to get a new addition. Samsung SM-J720F was spotted on Geekbench and GFXBench. Reports suggest that this could be the Galaxy J8 (2018) which might be announced soon.
Source: Geekbench
Specifications
As per the Benchmark listing, the Samsung Galaxy J8 (2018) or SM-J720F will be powered by the Exynos 7885 chipset. The Exynos 7885 is an octa-core processor clocked at 1.6GHz coupled with Mali G-71 GPU. The device is suggested to come with 4GB of RAM. The listing also claims that the SM-J720F will come with 32GB of onboard storage. The storage is expected to be expandable up to 256GB.
Further, the listing also shows that the smartphone will feature a 5.5-inch display. The display is said to have a resolution of 1280x720 pixels and is expected to be Super AMOLED.
On the optics front, the SM-J720F will sport a 12-megapixel camera at the back. Up front, there will be an 8-megapixel selfie shooter. The smartphone will run on Android 8.0 Oreo out of the box, according to the listing.
The SM-J720F which is also being called as Samsung Galaxy J8 (2018) is expected to launch anytime soon. If the smartphone launches before MWC 2018, it would be the first Samsung device yo tun on Android Oreo out of the box.
South Korean electronics giant, LG launched the LG V30 a few months ago. It was basically the best phone LG had ever launched. Now the company is set to launch a new variant of the V30. The new variant is not just a new color or more ram, but it is said to feature added artificial capabilities. According to a report by Koren Herald, It will also feature deeper integration with Google Assistant. Also, it will launch at the end of February at Mobile World Congress 2018 in Barcelona. It is expected to be called the V30+a.
The rumors of the V30 variant comes after the LG Vice Chairman and CEO Jo Seong-jin announced in an interview, that they won't be launching new flagship to complete the cycle, but instead launch them when they are needed. Also, the company said to release fewer smartphones overall considering they mobile business is not making them a profit. “We will unveil new smartphones when it is needed. But we will not launch it just because other rivals do”, the company’s CEO said during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. They also added that the company will make more variants of the existing smartphones to add more life.
Rumour is that after the recent developments in the market, the company is rebuilding the G7. It is done in order to make the G7 the true successor of the G6. Rumours also suggest that the final launch date can be the during the Lunar New Year Holiday next month. The G7 was originally speculated to be unveiled at MWC next month along with the Galaxy S9. Although, the launch date is not confirmed we know something about the specifications. The G7 will pack the Snapdragon 845 and 6GB of RAM. The G7 will also offer an 18:9 aspect ratio display leading to a bezel-less design along with dual cameras and premium feel.
