Moto E5 images leaked, reveal 5-inch display, rear placed fingerprint scanner and more

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January 16, 2018

Lenovo owned Motorola could soon be unveiling a new smartphone in their low-budget smartphone series also known as the 'E' series. The Moto E5 is set to replace the last year’s Moto E4. According to a report by MySmartPrice, the smartphone could launch on April 3, 2018. They also have obtained an image which they are calling the leaked image of the Moto E5.

Motorola could price the Moto E5 between $120-$150 (Rs 7,500 - Rs 9,500 approx). This is in line with the previous generation Moto E series devices. Also following that, Motorola can also announce a Play and a Plus variant of the device.

There is not much information regarding the smartphone apart from a leaked image which allegedly could be the Moto E5. As per the image, we can notice the overall design language has not been changed. There is the missing fingerprint sensor on the front and a Motorola branding takes it place. On the rear, it can also be observed that the Motorola logo is etched on top. This can hint to the fingerprint sensor being added into the Motorola logo at the back of the device. Apart from this change of a front mounted fingerprint sensor to a rear mounted one, there is not much change from the Moto E4 in terms of design.

The Moto E5 still sports a 16:9 resolution display ratio with what appears to be a 5-inch screen. This is quite odd as after moving the fingerprint sensor to the back, they could have gone with a more bigger display with an 18:9 resolution display and lesser bezels. You can also notice the front-facing camera has it's own dedicated LED flash and there are on-screen navigation button1s in true Motorola fashion. The Power button and Volume Rocker is on the right-hand side and there is still the micro-USB port for charge and sync. The camera at the rear is also a single camera setup in the centre.

Also Read: Xiaomi Mi Max 3 with 7-inch display to be launched soon, Price and Specifications leaked

The Moto E5 is expected to sport a MediaTek chipset, same as its predecessor, the Moto E4. I will allegedly be launched as a dual-SIM smartphone. It is speculated it will retain the 3.5mm headphone jack.

Photo Credits: MySmartPrice

Flipkart Republic Day Sale announced, set to Rival Amazon Great India Sale

By

Lalit Wadhwa

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January 16, 2018

Flipkart, one of the biggest E-commerce websites in India, has announced its Republic Day Sale. Flipkart's republic day sale starts just a day after Amazon revealed the dates of their Great Indian Sale. Amazon is known to be Flipkart's arch rival and one presently neck to neck in terms of popularity and retail figures for India. No surprise there that the dates of the sales by both websites are clashing. Flipkart's sale starts on January 21st and ends on January 23rd. On the other hand, Amazon's sale starts at the same time but ends a day later on January 24th. All the popular products ranging from smartphones, TVs, laptops and other electronics to fashion and home décor products will be available on discount in the Flipkart sale.

Flipkart Sale Offers on smartphones

Flipkart is offering great discounts on smartphones as part of its Republic Day sale. These offers include flagships as well as budget smartphones. The Pixel 2 XL will be available at Rs 48,999 which is after a discount of Rs 10,000 off on HDFC Bank credit card transactions, Samsung Galaxy S7 at Rs 26,990. There are also additional exchange discounts such as that of Rs 3,000 on Xiaomi Mi MIX 2 effectively, the sale price of Rs 29,999. Many devices such as the Honor 9 Lite, which have been teased for a couple of weeks now will be launched as part of the Republic Day sale. Flipkart says “stay tuned for more” deals on premium phones. This leads to the expectation of more discounts and offers on the high-end smartphone segment to be revealed in the upcoming days.

Also Read: Amazon Great Indian Sale to begin on January 21: Here’s everything you need to know

In the budget segment, the Samsung Galaxy On Nxt 64GB variant will be available for Rs 10,999 and the 16GB variant will be available at 9,999. This means they will be getting a discount of Rs 7,000 from their original launch price. There are other offers such as Xiaomi Redmi Note 4(4GB RAM variant) at Rs 10,999, Lenovo K8 Plus at Rs 8,999, Moto G5 Plus (4GB RAM variant) at Rs 10,999 and Smartron t.phone P at RS 7,999. The Flipkart sale will also offer the Infinix Note 4 at Rs. 7,999 and the Panasonic Eluga A3 at Rs 6,499. iVoomi i1 and iVoomi i1s will also be available at Rs 5,999 and Rs 7,499 respectively.

Other Offers on Flipkart Sale

Offers on other electronics such as laptops, TVs and other electronics have not been revealed yet. Flipkart will be unveiling more offers as the days go by. Citibank credit and debit cardholders will get 10 percent cash back on the sale. The complete terms and conditions haven't been yet revealed by CitiBank.

Flipkart will be offering some offers it is calling Grab or Gone deals. These are limited-time offers.Also, there will be offers bringing the price of the product down to Rs 690 and offer a minimum of 69-percent off on select products. This is to commemorate India’s 69th Republic Day.

Xiaomi Mi Max 3 with 7-inch display to be launched soon, Price and Specifications leaked

By

Devesh Arora

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January 16, 2018

Xiaomi, the Chinese tech giant, is now gearing up to introduce a successor to the Mi Max 2. The company is working on its next smartphone and thanks to the leaks and rumours that we now have an idea of what the Xiaomi Mi Max 3 will carry under the hood. The smartphone's specifications have been leaked on Weibo, a Chinese microblogging website.

In terms of the specifications, as per a recent post on Weibo, the Xiaomi Mi Max 3 will feature a massive 7-inch display. Interestingly, the smartphone will feature an 18:9 display which will help to fit in a larger display in a comparatively smaller footprint. The smartphone will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 635 SoC coupled with Adreno 506 GPU. The device will be launched in two variants, one with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage and the other with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage.

The Xiaomi Mi Max 3 will be running on MIUI 9 based on Google's Android 8.0 Oreo. The massive 7-inch display on the smartphone along with other internals is being powered by a giant 5,500mAh battery.

Also Read: Nokia 6 (2018) vs Xiaomi Mi A1: Battle of the mid-rangers

On the optics front, the Mi Max 3 will sport a 12-megapixel camera at the back along with a LED flash. Up front, there will be a 5-megapixel selfie shooter.

The leaks suggest that Xiaomi will be launching the Mi Max 3 in the month of June. The smartphone will have a starting price of CNY 1699 (roughly Rs. 16,900).

To recall, Xiaomi launched the Mi Max 2 back in July and is currently available in India for a starting price of Rs. 13,999. The Xiaomi Mi Max 2 features a 6.44-inch IPS LCD display and it is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 chipset.

OnePlus 3 and 3T finally get the much awaited Face Unlock feature, OnePlus 5 and 5T get new Open Beta builds

By

Devesh Arora

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January 16, 2018

OnePlus, a few weeks ago, teased that the OnePlus 3 and 3T will be getting the much popular face unlock feature introduced with the OnePlus 5T. The new Face Unlock feature is officially here for the OnePlus 3 and 3T with the latest OxygenOS Open Beta builds. The feature works as smooth and as quick as it works on the latest flagship OnePlus 5T.

The Face Unlock feature on the OnePlus 3 and 3T come with the OxygenOS Open Beta 30 and 21 respectively.

Here is the changelog for the new beta build:

Added face unlock function
Added OnePlus Switch application for backup & restore
Supported Airtel VoLTE in India
General bug fixes and stability improvements

Upgraded OnePlus Launcher to V2.3

New application drawer design
Auto-naming folder
Dynamic icon function for desktop clock icon

These features will soon make their way to the stable OxygenOS build which means users will get these features in the next OTA update. However, those who cannot wait for the company to bring these features to the stable build can always go ahead and install the OxygenOS Open Beta build.

Also Read: How to install OxygenOS Official Open Beta on your OnePlus 3/3T

Meanwhile, the company has also released new Open Beta builds for the latest flagship OnePlus 5T and the OnePlus 5. The OnePlus 5T is now OxygenOS Open Beta 2 while the OnePlus 5 has now got the OxygenOS Open Beta 3. The OnePlus 5 has also received the much awaited Face Unlock feature with the Open Beta 3 build. Apart from the face unlock feature, the OnePlus 5 also gets some optimizations for vibration, fixes for connection issue of 5Ghz Wi-Fi, Updated Android security patch to December and a few general bug fixes and improvements.

The OnePlus 5T, on the other hand, gets the following as a changelog with the Open Beta 2 build

Changelog:

File manager

Improved experience when file deleting
Added big file management function

Clipboard

Added whole new Clipboard application

OnePlus Switch

Added whole new OnePlus Switch application for backup & restore

Phone

Added caller phone number and location information in calling notification

OnePlus Launcher

New application drawer design
Auto-naming folder
Dynamic icon function for desktop clock icon

System

Improved power consumption measurement
Optimized management logic for high power consumption application
Added intelligent background application management solution

Bringing the Face Unlock feature to the older devices really shows that the company still cares for the users with older devices. The company had faced quite a bit hatred from fans due to not keeping up with promises and the company is now surely building up their trust back.

Honor 9 Lite with four cameras to be launched in India on January 17

By

Devesh Arora

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January 15, 2018

Honor is all set to bring their next smartphone to India, the Honor 9 Lite. The company, earlier this month, confirmed that they will be bringing the Honor 9 Lite to India. This is the second smartphone from the company to feature a total of four cameras. Apart from the four cameras, the highlights of the smartphone also include the 18:9 aspect ratio display. The smartphone will be officially launched in India on January 17 and will go on sale exclusively via the e-commerce website Flipkart.

As far as the specifications are concerned, the Honor 9 Lite features a 5.65-inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 1080x2160 pixels. The smartphone is powered by the Huawei's HiSilicon Kirin 659 chipset coupled with Mali-T830 MP2 GPU. The device is currently available with 3GB or 4GB of RAM with either 32GB or 64GB of storage. It is not yet confirmed that which variants will make their way to the Indian shelves. The storage on the device is expandable up to 256GB using a microSD card.

The Honor 9 Lite runs on EMUI 8.0 which is based on Google's Android 8.0 Oreo. The smartphone is backed by a 3,000mAh battery.

Also Read: Huawei’s next flagships may bring a DSLR-like camera experience

In the camera department, the Honor 9 Lite sports a dual-camera setup at the front as well as at the back. The dual-camera setups consist of a 13-megapixel sensor and a 2-megapixel sensor.

Honor launched the 9 Lite in China last month at a starting price of CNY 1,199 which roughly converts to Rs. 11,800 which goes all the way up to CNY 1,799 (roughly Rs. 17,750) for the 4GB+64GB variant. The prices in India are expected to be quite a bit similar.

Vivo announces Launch Carnival on E-store with 100GB free Vodafone data, cashback and more offers

By

Lalit Wadhwa

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January 15, 2018

Chinese Smartphone manufacturer Vivo has launched its E-store in India 'shop.vivo.com/in'. To celebrate this event, it is running a ‘Launch Carnival’ from January 16-18 2018. Under the benefits of the Launch Carnival, the company has given a Rs 2,000 price cut to the V7. This brings down the price to just Rs 14,990. While the company’s Y69 is worth Rs 13,990 from an earlier price of 14,990, a price reduction of Rs 1,000.

Under the Launch Carnival, that starts from midnight on January 16, Vivo is offering discount coupons up to Rs 2,000 on selected smartphones. Also, they are offering a zero-cost EMI for a 12 month period, as well as one-time screen replacement on the Vivo V7 and V7+. Shoppers also stand a chance to win couple vouchers from Book My Show up to Rs 500 and to be enrolled in a lucky draw, that will allow 10 lucky customers to have a chance at winning Bluetooth speakers worth Rs 2,999. All these services will come alongside free without any extra charge. Also, there will be free delivery on orders, a 15-day free replacement window, and customer care from over 500 service centres nationwide.

Vivo fans would also get the ability to use the e-store to purchase brand merchandise soon. Smartphone users can await the Vivo e-store app, which is set to include Augmented Reality, along with Live Chat for online customer service. Covering a massive area of over 10,000 pin codes in the country, free delivery under the offer. The e-store will cover most areas of India.

Also Read: Amazon Great Indian Sale to begin on January 21: Here’s everything you need to know

One of the top Telecom operators, Vodafone is also providing data benefits for the Vivo smartphone owners under this launch offer. Prepaid and postpaid customers will enjoy 10GB of free data per month over 5 months. this gives them 50GB of free mobile data. Customers using Vodafone RED postpaid services will get 20GB free data monthly over a 5 month period, providing over 100GB of free data. Users who purchase the V7 and V7+, across prepaid and postpaid services, will avail 10GB of free data every month over 10 months. This effectively provides 100GB free data during the period. For the customers to obtain Vodafone benefits, purchases should be made before January 31.

“Vivo’s strategy of launching an E-store is an affirmation of the Indian market maturing in terms of internet penetration, payment & fulfilment infrastructure, thus representing a huge growth potential,” said Kenny Zeng, Chief Marketing Officer, Vivo India.

Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ showed up on US FCC Website, Specifications and more

By

Lalit Wadhwa

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January 15, 2018

South Korean giant Samsung is gearing up to launch the successor of one of the best smartphones of 2017, The Samsung Galaxy S8. The South Korean giant has officially confirmed that they will launch the Samsung Galaxy S9 and hopefully the S9+ at MWC 2018 in Barcelona next month. The variants of the smartphones coming to the United States of both the upcoming phones have appeared on US communications regulatory body FCC's website revealing their model numbers. The listings show that the upcoming handsets will be supporting most of the cellular bands in the US.

As we mentioned earlier, the US FCC website has listed two new smartphones. They appear to be the Samsung Galaxy S9 and the S9+. The Galaxy S9 (model number: SM-G960U) and the S9+ (model number: SM-965U) are talked about on the website along with their authorisation letters, LTE tests, and other mandatory reports from FCC. These model numbers line up perfectly with the last year's Galaxy S8 (model number: SM-G950U) and Galaxy S8+ (model number: SM-G955U).

This listing doesn't reveal any hardware specifications but they do reveal the demo unit with the FCC labelling. This gives out the rough idea of the smartphone's design.

Recently, a photo of a retail box leaked which presumably is the retail box of the upcoming Galaxy revealing specifications such as a 5.6-inch QHD+ Super AMOLED display, a Dual Pixel 12-megapixel rear sensor with OIS, an 8-megapixel selfie camera, 4GB RAM and IP68 water and dust resistant rating. Recent rumours and the history has led to the speculation of the device launching with the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor in the US, and an Exynos processor in other markets like India. The Galaxy S9+ is also reported to come with up to a whopping 512GB inbuilt storage variant.

Also Read: HTC U11 EYEs with 18:9 display launched: Price, Specifications and Availability

The Galaxy S9 and the S9+ will be unveiled by Samsung at the MWC at Barcelona next month. This new development was confirmed by Samsung's Mobile Communications Business President DJ Koh at a CES press conference last week.

Micromax Bharat Go based on Android Oreo (Go Edition) to launch this month

By

Devesh Arora

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January 15, 2018

Micromax, the Indian smartphone manufacturer, is gearing up to introduce another ultra budget-oriented smartphone in the country. The upcoming Micromax Bharat Go will be the first smartphone in India to come with Google's Android Oreo (Go Edition). The Micromax Bharat Go will be an entry-level smartphone with minimal specifications and will be launched by the end of January 2018.

Android Oreo (Go Edition) is a much lighter version of the Android Oreo operating system. The Go Edition was created keeping in mind the entry-level smartphones. The Go Edition is optimised in such a way that it can run smoothly even on devices with as low as 512MB of RAM or 8GB of storage. The Android Oreo (Go Edition) was launched at the opening keynote of the I/O developers conference in 2017.

The Android Oreo (Go Edition) comes with applications like Google Go, Google Maps Go, Gmail Go, YouTube Go, Google Assistant Go and Files Go. These Go applications are much trimmed down versions of their original applications. The Googe Play Store on the Android Oreo (Go Edition) smartphones will also highlight apps specifically designed for entry-level smartphones.

Also Read: Nokia 1 with Android Oreo Go Edition spotted online ahead of launch: Design, Specifications and more

Micromax has not revealed any of the specifications of the upcoming Micromax Bharat Go smartphone. However, it is clear that the smartphone will carry entry-level specifications as it will run on Android Oreo (Go edition). The smartphone is also expected to be fairly cheap as the Bharat range of smartphone is created by the company to be under the ultra-budget segment.

Meanwhile, HMD Global is also working on bringing an Android Oreo (Go Edition) smartphone which is currently being called the Nokia 1. The smartphone is rumoured to be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 212 coupled with 1GB of RAM.

HTC U11 EYEs with 18:9 display launched: Price, Specifications and Availability

By

Devesh Arora

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January 15, 2018

HTC on Monday launched the much-awaited HTC U11 EYEs in Taiwan and China. The U11 EYEs is another variant of the popular flagship smartphone HTC U11. The smartphone is a mid-range offering from the company which has been in the leaks and rumours lately. The highlights of the smartphone include the 6-inch display with 18:9 aspect ratio display and the 3,930mAh battery which is the largest on any HTC smartphone.

Specifications

In terms of specifications, the HTC U11 EYEs features a 6-inch Super LCD3 display with a resolution of 1080x2160 pixels and an aspect ratio of 18:9. The smartphone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 SoC which is a 64-bit octa-core processor. The device packs in 4GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard storage which is further expandable up to 2TB using a microSD card. The smartphone runs on Android 7.1.1 Nougat with HTC's skin layered on top of it. Under the hood, there is a 3,930mAh battery which supports Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0.

As for the optics, the HTC U11 EYEs sports a 12-UltraPixel camera sensor at the back with f1.7 aperture and a dual tone LED flash. Up front, there is a 5-megapixel selfie snapper with f/2.2 aperture, Bokeh Mode and HDR enhancement feature.

Also Read: Amazon Great Indian Sale to begin on January 21: Here’s everything you need to know

On the connectivity front, the U11 EYEs supports 4G, GPS, GLONASS, NFC, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2 and a USB Type-C port. The smartphone also comes with HTC USonic audio technology with active noise reduction. The device is also IP67 rated which makes it dust and water resistant.

Price and Availability

The HTC U11 EYEs is currently priced at CNY 3,299 (roughly Rs. 32,500) in China. The smartphone will be available in Black, Silver and Red colour variants. The first sale begins at 10 AM on January 25 with registrations starting from Monday, January 15.

Honor 7X Review: Best smartphone under Rs. 15,000 with 18:9 display?

By

Devesh Arora

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Honor, a few weeks ago, launched the successor to its popular Honor 6X calling it the Honor 7X. The smartphone has added to the company's budget line of smartphones. The highlights of the smartphone include the 18:9 aspect ratio display and the dual-camera setup at the back. Here's our review on how is the Honor 7X and whether its worth your time and money.

Specifications

In terms of specifications, the Honor 7X features a 5.93-inch IPS LCD display with a resolution of 1080x2160 pixels. The smartphone is powered by the company's homegrown HiSilicon Kirin 659 chipset which is an octa-core chipset coupled with the Mali-T830 MP2 GPU. The device packs in 4GB of RAM and comes in two storage variant, 32GB and 64GB. The storage on the 7X is expandable up to 256GB using a microSD card. The smartphone runs on EMUI 5.1 based on Android 7.1 Nougat. Under the hood, there is a 3,340mAh battery powering up the device.

Design

The Honor 7X has a really great build and the front surely attracts a lot of people and could be a conversation starter. The 18:9 display has become a trend these days and Honor has managed to give that to its users starting at just Rs. 12,999. The smartphone is easy to hold in one hand and gives a great in-hand feel. The camera bump at the back might trouble while laying the phone flat on a table, however, a cover will fix the issue.

Software

The Honor 7X runs on EMUI 5.1 which is a custom skin built by Honor on top of Google's Android 7.0 Nougat. Though the custom skin might not be made for everyone, it surely brings a lot of features with it. The EMUI on the 7X offers features like App Twin which allows users to have two WhatsApp or Facebook accounts on one phone. The software also has a lot of customization options so the user will never get bored.

Lock Screen

Home Screen

About Phone

Performance

HiSilicon Kirin 659 SoC sits at the heart of the Honor 7X coupled with the Mali-T830 MP2 GPU. The smartphone performs really well on a day to day usage. The 4GB RAM on the smartphone is also optimised well which can keep up to 12-14 applications running in the background without any problem for snappy multitasking. Coming to the gaming front, games like Subway Surfers and Temple Run 2 run smoothly while games like Asphalt 8 and Injustice 2 struggle a bit at times.

AnTuTu

Geekbench

Camera

Just like the 18:9 displays, the dual-camera setup has also become a trend among the smartphones. The Honor 7X features a dual-camera setup at the back consisting of a 16-megapixel camera sensor coupled with a 2-megapixel sensor with phase detection autofocus and a LED flash. The cameras at the back do a decent job taking pictures at good lighting conditions. However, under low lighting conditions, the auto mode might not do as much as the pro mode can do. Considering most people use the auto mode, the cameras on the Honor 7X might struggle under low lighting conditions.

Up front, there is an 8-megapixel selfie snapper which also supports recording of 1080p videos. The front camera performs really well and sets a tough competition at the price range. The level of detail and brightness added to the photo are really appreciated.

Front-Facing Camera

Portrait Mode

Battery

The Honor 7X was easily able to last one full working day with light to moderate usage while with heavy usage you might need to top up the 7X's 3,340mAh battery at around 7 or 8 PM.

Verdict

The Honor 7X makes a great value for money and has got a really attractive design. The smartphone offers a really good build quality and a number of features packed inside. It is worth noting that the Honor 7X really sets a tough competition at its price range. An 18:9 display and a dual-camera setup is rare to see under the Rs. 15,000 price bracket. The smartphones like Xiaomi Mi A1, 10.or G and Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 really need to get an overhaul with their next generations to keep up with the competition.

Though the Honor 7X lacks a Gyroscope sensor which will interfere with VR experiences, the smartphone is really a good value for money. The fingerprint sensor on the Honor 7X is also really reliable and fast. At Rs. 12,999 for the 32GB variant and Rs. 15,999 for the 64GB variant, Honor 7X should be considered if you are looking for a smartphone at around these prices.

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