Most of the telecom companies are now offering affordable packs that give the user an ability to make unlimited voice calls to any operator across India. These changes have brought in due to the entry of Jio in the industry that has made the competition tougher. Vodafone has now unveiled a new pack where the user gets unlimited calls bundled with 1GB of data at just Rs. 199.
The all-new Rs. 199 pack by Vodafone offers unlimited voice calls and 1GB data for a validity of days. However, the local and STD calls are limited to just 250 minutes a day and 1,000 minutes a week. If the user exceeds the per day or per week limit the calls will be charged at a rate of 30 paise per minute. The pack is currently available only to users living in the Delhi-NCR circle.
Vodafone has also kept few terms and conditions which include, the user cannot make calls to more than 300 unique numbers in a week. If the customer exceeds the 300-mark, the further calls will be charged at 30-paise per minute for the remaining validity. This is the company's way to not allow scammers or telemarketers to use this scheme.
Airtel recently released a bunch of packs that cross the Rs. 1,000-mark and offers 300GB of data for up to 365days. Also, Vodafone recently updated its Rs. 348 pack where users can now get 1.5GB of data per day for a validity of 28 days.
With the increasing number of smartphones in the immensely overcrowded budget smartphone market, Infocus came out with its own take on the segment, The Infocus Turbo 5 Plus. With a dual camera setup at the back and a whopping 4,850mAh, it's a phone which is supposed to last days with taking great photos at the same time. All eyes are pointing to one thing, its a camera enthusiast phone for big battery cravers.
Infocus Turbo 5 Plus
The budget smartphone segment is overcrowded with smartphones to the point every phone is almost the same. Infocus Turbo 5 Plus aims to change that. By providing a dual camera setup at the back and a whopping 4,850mAh Infocus wants to stand out from the rest. It's the first phone in the budget smartphone segment to sport a dual camera setup in the back and also Infocus's first attempt at it. Its secondary camera is a wide angle like the LG G6 which is a different approach to the concept. After all the phone is designed to stand out. The battery is something we have seen these budget smartphones packing but the thing that counts is the software optimization. In today's era, a hardware is as good as its software. So the question remains is the Infocus Turbo 5 Plus really worth the hype?
Design
With the 2.5D Glass and a coated back, the phone not only feels good in the hand but also looks great. The Turbo 5 Plus has a big 5.5' inch display with a 16:9 resolution. The phone surprisingly doesn't feel that big in hand. The back of the phone is metal but the coated material makes it a great while holding and while looking. The only problem being the coated back is a fingerprint magnet.
Front
Rear
In the front of the screen, there is the front speaker grill in the centre which is rather small but does the job well enough. The secondary camera on it’s left and sensors on it’s right. Below the screen, there is only a fingerprint sensor which is also a clickable button.
On the back, we have a dual camera setup in the top left with a dual tone led flash. There is a small camera bump which gets annoying but the lens is protected with a glass and the bump has the same material on the sides. The bottom back of the phone is plastic to accommodate the antenna lines. The rest of the back is completely empty with InFocus logo sitting flush in the centre. With a coating that's done on the back makes the phone look like a true beauty and makes it stand out in the crowd. However, everything has its negatives. The beautiful looking back is a fingerprint magnet and minute drops will tend to scratch out the paint.
Right
Left
Top
Bottom
On the right, there is a textured power button and textured volume rockers with the same texture to them. The texture feels good but the same texture means you won't be able to differentiate the buttons in case if the phones in the pocket. The left side has a sim card tray slot which is a hybrid dual sim. It allows for a single nano sim with a micro-sd card or two nano sim cards. The top has the 3.5mm headphone jack which is welcomed and the bottom has a micro-USB charging slot with speakers on one side and microphone on the other side.
All the sides are made of the same materials as the back so that's that. The overall design of the phone is great with nothing to regret that big in that division.
Software
The device runs on the Android 7.0 (Nougat) with the InFocus’s Smile-UX skin on the top. The software is pretty good with almost a stock android like experience with a custom tasteful icon pack and a launcher and few other modifications. There is nothing much to say about the software with almost a stock android the optimisation is very good. A pure stock android version would have been greatly sight for the purists but the Smile-UX has nothing to disappoint you.
Remember the design only had a fingerprint sensor on the front doubling up as a button? The navigation is done by On-Screen Buttons which can be hidden with a small button on the leftmost side of the nav bar. You can decide to show that button or not or disable the nav bar at all in the setting. The main method of navigation is that button only. A short touch acts as a back button, a press acts as a home button and a double click acts as a multitasking button. Pretty clean.
[Update] The device's software got an update last week adding an app called power manager as a system app. The app lets users know the data they consumed during the time the device was locked if the device is locked for 5 minutes or more. It shows that you consumed 5 or 7 KB of data depending on how much data was consumed. This can be turned off and is annoying. Also, that app enables to tell you that an app is consuming power in the background as soon as the screen is locked. That app is always the weather service pre-installed on the phone. Basically, the phone is telling you that the weather service is consuming battery and you cant do anything else. Most annoying thing an OEM can put on the phone. Don't update the software if you get the chance.
Performance
The performance is a major area of concern in any device. The device was made for long lasting battery therefore high performance wasn’t expected. To our surprise, the device performed equally well as it lasts. The device comes with a MediaTek 6750 coupled with 3GB of RAM. The device was able to run all day to day tasks pretty smooth as well as didn’t lag much while gaming.
AnTuTu
GeekBench
We ran our usual AnTuTu Benchmark and GeekBench. The device gave a score of 40,848 on AnTuTu and yielded a 610 single core and 2544 multi-core score on Geekbench.
We also ran a graphics intensive game like Need for Speed: No Limits and the game ran absolutely while even on long gaming sessions.
Display
The device has a good 5.5-inch(1080×1920) full HD display with great sunlight readability with full brightness. The colours were not that vibrant and vivid. The display was average. Nothing great and nothing bad about it. It is a perfect balance of everything.
Camera
The Infocus Turbo 5 Plus has a dual camera setup in the back with a wide angle lens for wide-angle shots to cover more in one image. The setup is a 13MP plus 5MP f/2.0 aperture in the back and a 5MP f/2.0 aperture in the front.One of the most anticipated things was how is the dual camera setup in a budget smartphone. To be honest, it's pretty bad.
Outside
Lowlight
Inside
Outside Wideangle
Lowlight wideangle
Inside Wideangle
The shots in the natural light were okayish with the wide angle shot being blurry. The camera in the low light performs below average and the 5MP wide-angle lens totally destroys the photo. The indoor shots were a bit better but nowhere near to what the competition is.
If your main focus is the camera then leave this one out.
Battery
Packing a 4,850mAh battery the phone lasts almost 2 days with constant usage and mild gaming. The charging times with the included chargers is pretty good for the performance. It takes 3 hours to charge up to 100 from 0. It lasts around 2 days with semi-heavy usage.
PCMark
We ran the PC Mark's Work 2.0 Battery Life test which subjects the phone to heavy usage and finds out the battery life in that condition. The Phone gave a score of 18 hours 15 minutes. That's more than twice the OnePlus 3T gives and it costs three times as much.
If you wanted a phone with good battery, this is your go-to definitely.
Conclusion
Infocus Turbo 5 Plus with a price of ₹8,999 is a great budget segment phone if you don't mind the bad cameras. The device trades in camera performance for great looks and build along with an unexpectedly high battery life and a clean UX. If you are willing to make do with sub-par camera performance with a phone with stands out in every other criterion in its segment, Infocus Turbo 5 Plus is your go-to phone definitely.
OnePlus has been working for a long time now on the OxygenOS build based on Android 8.0 Oreo for the OnePlus 3 and 3T. The company has now finally started rolling out the official build of the same. Android Oreo build was being tested on OnePlus 3 and 3T under the open beta program. The new Oxygen OS 5.0 will bring Android 8.0 Oreo along with a few features to the table.
A few days ago, during the launch of OnePlus's latest flagship OnePlus 5T, the company announced that the Android Oreo Open Beta update for the OnePlus 5 will be released sometime in November while the 5T will receive the same sometime in December. Surprisingly, the company suddenly announced the Oxygen OS 5.0 update on its forums and the update should start hitting the devices soon.
OxygenOS 5.0 update changelog shows the following:
System
Updated to Android O (8.0)
Added Parallel apps feature
Added Picture-in-picture mode
Added Auto-fill
Added Smart Text Selection
New Quick Settings design
Updated security patch to September
Launcher
Added notification Dots
New app folder design
Now able to upload photos directly to Shot on OnePlus
OnePlus has started rolling out the software update via OTA (over-the-air) and the update size is around 1.5GB and should hit your devices anytime soon.
Meanwhile, OnePlus 5 owners will have to wait for a little bit more until the company officially rolls out the Android Oreo update. However, the company is releasing the Android Oreo Open Beta update for the OnePlus 5 later this month.
As we are about to enter 2018 in a couple of weeks, Samsung is all set to introduce its 2018 edition of devices. Recently 2018 versions of Samsung's A-series and J-series were leaked. Now we have also started to see leaks and rumours on the upcoming flagship Samsung Galaxy S9. This time around, Samsung is said to launch three models of its flagship line, the Galaxy S9, S9+ and a Galaxy S9 Mini.
According to the leaks, the Samsung Galaxy S9 will sport a smaller 5-inch display while the S9 may feature a 5.8-inch display. The leaks also suggest that the Galaxy S9 will come with a dual-camera setup at the back with BABR coating which is usually found on DSLR lenses to limit ghosting and reflection. The company might also change the positioning of the fingerprint scanner which was unliked by many on the S8 and S8+.
The Samsung Galaxy S9 spotted on Geekbench had the model number SM-G960F. The spotted variant scores 2680 points in single-core which is higher than that of the Pixel 2 but lower than the iPhone X. The Geekbench reveals that the Galaxy S9 will be powered by the Exynos 9810 chipset coupled with 4GB of RAM. The company had recently announced the Exynos 9810 chipset that is built on 2nd generation 10nm process. The new chipset comes with 3rd-generation custom CPU cores and an upgraded GPU.
Looking at the past of the Samsung S-series, the Galaxy S9 will launch with Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 for the US while other markets will be greeted by the Exynos variant. To recall, Qualcomm will sell the entire first batch of Snapdragon 845 to Samsung which will make Samsung the first company to introduce smartphones with the Snapdragon 845.
Samsung is said to unveil the Galaxy S9 and S9+ at the upcoming MWC event which is being held in Barcelona and set to start on February 26 and will go on until March 1.
In the fast-moving world, we often leave our phone numbers at various websites or other places. Slowly and gradually, somehow our number reaches to various telemarketers who often calls us to annoy us. With call rates becoming cheaper, people have been receiving more and more spam calls or unwanted calls. Thankfully, you can always block these unwanted callers on your Android smartphone. Here are different ways to block the spammers and unwanted calls.
Samsung
Samsung devices run on a customized version of Android where they flaunt their own UI with a dozen of features added to it. In case, you are using any of the Samsung's smartphones, follow these simple steps to block anyone.
Head over to the Dialer or Phone application
Select the number you are willing to block
Tap on "More"
Select “Add to Auto-Reject List”
If you want to make any changes to the blocked users, go to Settings > Call Settings > All Calls > Auto Reject
Stock Android
If you are using a smartphone with stock Android or even nearly stock Android, like, Google Pixel, OnePlus and much more, you will be able to block calls by following these simple steps.
Open the Phone app
Tap on the 3-dots at the top-right corner
Hit "Settings" and head over to "Call Blocking"
Tap on "Add Numbers" to add the number you want to block
Stock Android smartphones also have a simpler way, where you can just long-press on any number and tap on "Block Number."
Third-Party Applications
Truecaller
Truecaller is a free application on Google Play Store that allows you to block unwanted callers. The application also helps you identify the unknown callers. Once you download, install and set up the Truecaller app, follow these steps to block a caller.
Open the Truecaller app
Long press on the number you want to block
Tap on the block icon in the top-right corner. (The block icon is next to the delete icon)
To view or manage your block list, follow these steps
Open Truecaller app
Tap on the menu option on the top-left corner
Hit "Settings"
Now go to "Block" and tap on "View my block list"
Here you can add more numbers or make any changes to the existing ones. Interestingly, you can hit on "Block Top Spammers" option in the "Block" settings which will automatically block callers from telemarketing firms or any number which has been highly reported as spam.
OnePlus finally unveiled the OnePlus 5T, in their global launch event in New York. As we know, OnePlus is all about the fans it made available to stream the event live over the internet and in PVR cinemas all over the country. The OnePlus 5T is basically a 2017 version of the OnePlus 5 with a stretched display. This lets OnePlus give the OnePlus 5T have a 6-inch display without a bigger footprint. It has 80.5% screen to body ratio with an 18:9 display and minimal bezels.
Design
After the controversial design of the OnePlus 5 looking almost like the iPhone 7 Plus the minute design changes in the OnePlus 5T really give it a really interesting look. The display now takes up 80.5% of the front glass. This means a stretched out 18:9 resolution display and minimal bezels. This is not new in 2017 but most definitely a welcomed change. The display is 6-inch Full Optic AMOLED display.
Almost no bezels mean the removal of the front capacitive buttons and the fingerprint sensor. OnePlus moved the fingerprint sensor in the back at the position where it ideally is the easiest to use, just above the centre.
Camera
The camera of the OnePlus 5 was great already. The OnePlus 5T bumps it even up. The rear boasts a 16-megapixel sensor with an aperture of f/1.7 combined with a 20-megapixel sensor with a f/2.6 aperture in the back. The front camera is a 16-megapixel sensor with f/2.0 aperture.
Rear Camera Sample
Rear Camera Sample
Front Camera Sample
Portrait Mode
The dual camera provides great photos with good light exposure and the optical zoom up to 2X is really a handy feature. It has the dual camera with a telephoto lens enables the famous bokeh effect or the portrait mode. The portrait mode works as expected. The front camera is also up to par.
Features and Software
While the phone is not much of an improvement over the OnePlus 5 except the display on paper, the OnePlus 5T has few tricks up its sleeve. The device runs on Android 7.1.1 with Oxygen OS.
The phone has Face unlock feature along with the fingerprint sensor. OnePlus claims it only takes 0.4 seconds to unlock the device with fingerprint sensor taking 0.2 seconds.
The OnePlus 5T is definitely an upgrade over the few months old OnePlus 5. The pricing is same as the OnePlus 5 launch pricing with the 6GB model starting at $499(~Rs. 32,999) with the 8GB model going towards the Rs. 37,999 price tag. Although keeping the pricing same as the OnePlus 5 and launching it just a few months after the OnePlus 5 the company might us have pissed off the OnePlus 5 owners around the globe.
OnePlus, on Thursday, launched the much anticipated OnePlus 5T. The OnePlus 5T is very similar to the OnePlus 5 which was launched sometime in June but brings a few changes to the table. The 5T features a near bezel-less 6-inch display with 18:9 aspect ratio making the game tougher for its competitors. OnePlus 5T brings few important changes, surprisingly, at the same price we paid for the OnePlus 5. Here are the changes brought by the company on its latest flagship offering.
Display
OnePlus launched the 5T focusing mainly on the display as most manufacturers have adopted the bezel-less design. Though the OnePlus 5T is not truly bezel-less, it does cut down bezels a lot when compared to its younger sibling. The lesser bezels make more room for the usable display which is now larger at 6-inch as compared to the 5.5-inch featured on the OnePlus 5. Interestingly, the 6-inch display is fitted into the same footprint as found on the OnePlus 5.
Apart from the Display, the company also decided to upgrade the cameras with the OnePlus 5T. The 5T can take better low light images due to the new sensor. As the smartphone comes with a dual-camera setup, the primary lens is similar to the OnePlus 5 while the secondary lens has got a few upgrades. The OnePlus 5 had a 20-megapixel secondary sensor with f/2.4 aperture and a focal length of 35mm. Now, with the 5T, the secondary 20-megapixel sensor has an aperture of f/1.7 and a focal length of 27mm.
Placement of Fingerprint Scanner
OnePlus has a reputation for providing one of the fastest fingerprint scanners on their smartphones. The OnePlus 5T is no exception as it also has the fast fingerprint scanner that unlocks the smartphone in just 0.2 seconds. However, the change over the OnePlus 5 is the placement, as the OnePlus 5 had the fingerprint scanner on the front. Few people consider rear fingerprint scanner makes more sense as it is where our finger rests while using the smartphone. The OnePlus 5T comes with a rear-facing fingerprint scanner which will be loved by many.
Bharti Airtel has launched two new smartphones with its partnership with Karbonn. The Karbonn A1 Indian and A41 Power have been launched under the ‘Mera Pehla Smartphone’ initiative. These smartphones will compete against the most hyped Jio Phone. The customers who purchase any of these smartphones can avail cash benefits of up to Rs. 1,500 with Airtel's offers.
Raj Pudipeddi, Director – Consumer Business & CMO, Bharti Airtel said: “We are delighted to deepen our partnership with Karbonn to fulfill the smartphone aspirations of India. We saw very strong demand for our first offer under the ‘Mera Pehla Smartphone’ initiative, which validates the broad appeal of this innovative proposition. We are also delighted to have Amazon on board as a partner in this exciting journey and look forward to working closely with them. We believe these partnerships will help us make a significant contribution towards transforming India into a smartphone nation.”
Mr. Pardeep Jain, MD, Karbonn Mobiles said, “We are delighted to partner with Airtel. The immense response that we got for us our offer with Airtel helped us add 70% new feature phone users to our existing portfolio. We feel that this partnership will be even more fruitful as it brings more competitively priced 4G smartphones to the market, especially with Amazon India on board.”
Specifications
As far as the specifications are concerned, the Karbonn A1 Indian is powered by a 1.1GHz quad-core processor while the A41 Power has a better 1.3GHz quad-core chipset. Both the smartphones feature a 4-inch display and pack 1GB of RAM and 8GB of onboard storage. The storage of the devices is expandable up to 32GB using a microSD card. The A1 Indian is backed by a 1,500mAh battery while the A41 Power comes with a larger 2,300mAh battery. Both the devices will run on Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box and will come with Airtel's preloaded set of applications which include MyAirtel App, Airtel TV and Wynk Music.
As for the optics, the A1 Indian features a 3.2-megapixel rear camera and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera for selfies and video calls. The A41 Power, on the other hand, sports a 2-megapixel rear camera and a 0.3-megapixel front-facing camera.
Price and Offers
The people interested in buying the Karbonn A1 Indian will need to make a down payment of Rs. 3,299 while the A41 Power buyers will need to make a down payment of Rs 3,349. Apart from the down payment, the customers need to make 36 continuous monthly recharges of Rs 169 pack from Airtel. The customer will get a cash refund of Rs. 500 after 18 months and another Rs. 1000 after 36 months, taking the total cash benefit to Rs 1500.
If the customers do not want to get the Rs. 169 pack, they can choose any plan as per their requirements. However, to claim the cash refund benefit, recharges worth Rs. 3000 must be done within the first 18 months (to claim the first refund instalment of Rs 500) and another Rs. 3000 over the next 18 months (to claim the second refund instalment of Rs 1000).
OnePlus has finally taken the wraps off the much-awaited OnePlus 5T at an event held in New York. To make the launch event a bit more exciting, OnePlus allowed fans to see the event live from select PVR theatres. The OnePlus 5T does not bring a big change over the OnePlus 5. The major difference between the two flagships is the design as the new OnePlus 5T comes with a larger 6-inch display with 18:9 aspect ratio and 80.5% screen to body ratio.
Specifications
As far as the specifications are concerned, the OnePlus 5T sports a 6-inch Full Optic AMOLED display with a resolution of 1080x2160 pixels and an aspect ratio of 18:9. The smartphone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC coupled with Adreno 540 GPU. The device is launched in two variants, one with 6GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard storage and the other with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of native storage. All of this is backed by a non-removable 3,300mAh battery. The OnePlus 5T runs on OxygenOS based on Android 7.1.1 Nougat out of the box.
The company decided to move the fingerprint scanner at the back of the device that unlocks it in 0.2 seconds as said by the company. OnePlus also introduced Face Unlock which unlocks the 5T in 0.1 seconds.
As for the optics, the OnePlus 5T features a dual-camera setup at the back consisting of a 16-megapixel sensor with an aperture of f/1.7 combined with a 20-megapixel sensor with f/2.6 aperture. The rear camera comes with a dual-tone dual-LED flash for better low light images. Up front, the phone comes with a 16-megapixel sensor with f/2.0 aperture.
Apart from the OnePlus 5T, the company has also announced Android Oreo Open beta update for the OnePlus 5 that will come by the end of November. The new 5T will be receiving the Open Beta update by the month of December.
Price and Availability
The OnePlus 5T is priced at Rs. 32,999 for the 64GB variant while the 128GB variant is priced at Rs. 37,999. The sales of the smartphone will begin from November 21 in India, North America and Europe.
Gionee, the Chinese smartphone manufacturer, has launched another smartphone in India expanding their portfolio in the market. The all-new Gionee M7 Power focuses on the audience seeking a smartphone with a giant battery for a great battery life. The highlight of the M7 Power is the massive 5,000mAh battery for which the company flaunts two days of usage.
Specifications
The Gionee M7 Power is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 chipset coupled with Adreno 505 GPU. The smartphone features a 6-inch display with a resolution of 1440x720 pixels and an 18:9 aspect ratio. The display is nearly bezel-less bring the trend of 2017. The smartphone packs in 4GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard storage which is expandable using a microSD card. Powering up the internals is a massive 5,000mAh battery under the hood. The M7 Power runs on Android 7.1.1 Nougat out of the box.
The M7 Power also comes with a fingerprint scanner located at the back. Interestingly, the phone comes with an IR blaster at the top for controlling multiple devices.
In the camera segment, the Gionee M7 Power sports a 13-megapixel primary camera at the back with autofocus and LED flash. Up front, there is an 8-megapixel camera for selfies and video calling.
Price and Availability
The Gionee M7 Power will go on sale starting November 25 at a retail price of Rs. 16,999. The smartphone will be available in Gold, Black and Dark Blue colour variants. The device will be available at both online as well as offline markets.
