ravikherva

[ravikherva]

[ravikherva]

Samsung unveiled three new Galaxy S10 series models at an event in San Francisco on Wednesday - the Galaxy S10, Galaxy S10+, and Galaxy S10e. Samsung's latest flagship offerings are packed to the gills with features in the hope of giving sales at the top-end of the market a boost after the underwhelming showing by the Galaxy S9 and the Galaxy Note 9. The headline feature on the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10+ is perhaps the in-display “ultrasonic” fingerprint scanner, while all three new phones feature “hole-punch” selfie cameras at the top-right.

Samsung Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10+

The Galaxy S10₹ 66,900 and Galaxy S10+ feature design language that we've come to associate with Samsung's premium devices. Despite some new elements, the phones will look familiar to anyone who has used Samsung's recent devices, and there's nothing wrong with that. We are big fans of Samsung's flagship offerings, and the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10+ follow in their footsteps.

Despite packing bigger batteries, the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10+ are actually lighter than their predecessors. At 7.8mm, they are marginally thinner as well. You get more colour options than before, and the more expensive Galaxy S10+ gets a couple of ceramic finishes as well.

S10+ pack 6.1-inch and 6.4-inch Quad HD+ Dynamic AMOLED displays with HDR10+ support, with the same curved edge finish that we saw in their predecessors. In fact the “Infinity-O Display” is more edge-to-edge than before as the bezels at the top have been minimised by moving the selfie camera to a “hole” at the top-right of the display.

The Galaxy S10+ packs dual front cameras, so this cutout is definitely more noticeable than on the other two smartphones. On the home screen and in most apps, the cutout is part of the status bar at the top so it's unlikely to get in your way.

We also watched videos in full screen mode on the Galaxy S10+ and the cutout didn't really bother us, though your mileage may vary. We didn't really have the chance to play any games on the phone so we don't know if the cutout would impact gameplay by hiding some UI elements, or if there's an option to mask the cutout completely with a black bar.

At 1200 nits, the display should be good to use outdoors even on the brightest of days, but it's not something we got to test during our time with the smartphones.

Like we mentioned earlier, the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10+ pack in-display fingerprint scanners, a first for Samsung, but something we've seen in other phones like the OnePlus 6T₹ 37,999, and even budget offerings like the Oppo K1, among others. Though Samsung says the “ultrasonic” technology it is using makes the authentication process more secure, from a day-to-day perspective, the experience of using them will be pretty similar to what we've seen with other in-display fingerprint scanners.

Across all devices that we've reviewed, we've found in-display fingerprint scanners to be slower and often not as reliable as ones embedded in physical buttons. Our limited time with the Galaxy S10+ presented a similar experience, though we will reserve our judgement until we've had a chance to use the phone on an everyday basis as part of our review process.

The phones with version 1.1 of Samsung One UI, which is based on Android 9. The overall look is pretty similar to what we've seen with One UI update that shipped for previous Samsung flagships.

All three phones are powered by the Samsung Exynos 9820 SoC (Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 in select markets). The Galaxy S10 packs 8GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage, while the Galaxy S10+ will have an additional variant with 12GB of RAM and 1TB of in-built storage. The Galaxy S10e₹ 55,900 will be available in 6GB and 8GB RAM options, with storage topping out at 256GB. The headphone jack lives on, and, like before, there's a microSD card slot as well.

Samsung Galaxy S10e

Apart from being the most affordable phone in the Galaxy S10 lineup, the Galaxy S10e is arguably the most interesting one as well. In the time that we spent with the device we were reminded of the iPhone XR₹ 67,999, and not just because of the bright yellow-coloured option that's exclusive to this phone.

Just like the iPhone XR, the Galaxy S10e lacks some of the features found in more expensive duo, though in areas like the display, it seems like less of a compromise when compared to Apple's offering. While the iPhone XR sits in between its two more expensive brethren when it comes to display size, Samsung is positioning the Galaxy 10e as a device that offers a “premium experience in a compact size”.

If you are not a fan of how flagship — and indeed all — phones have gradually crept up in size, you will appreciate the Galaxy S10e. We certainly found it to be the easiest device to deal with during the time we spent with the trio and we believe that will be the case with most people as well.

The Galaxy S10e lacks the telephoto camera found on the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10+, so you still get a dual-camera setup including the ultra-wide camera that Samsung is heavily promoting as one of the highlight features of the Galaxy S10 lineup. It also foregoes the in-display fingerprint scanner for one that's embedded on the power button on the side of the phone.

Another feature that Samsung spent some time talking about at the event is reverse wireless charging or as Samsung is calling it, the Wireless PowerShare experience. Also seen in the likes of the Huawei Mate 20 Pro₹ 69,990, this essentially turns your phone into a wireless charger, letting you charge other Qi-compatible devices like the new Galaxy Watch Active, the Galaxy Buds, and even other smartphones by keeping them on the back of the device.

We tested this feature out and found that it worked as advertised, though obviously you will need to line up the “sweet spots” of the two devices right next to each other, which is a limitation of current wireless charging technology and not something specific to the Galaxy S10 devices. This feature is available in all three phones.

We didn't get a chance to test out the cameras of the new phones at the hands-on area, but as we've mentioned earlier, they pack plenty of improvements in the camera department, and the camera alone could be a potential reason to upgrade from older devices, if Samsung is able to deliver on all of its promises.

Samsung Galaxy S10, Galaxy S10+, Galaxy S10e price in India

Galaxy S10, Galaxy S10+, and Galaxy S10e price in India have been revealed. The Samsung Galaxy S10₹ 66,900 price in India starts at Rs. 66,900 for the 128GB variant, going up to Rs. 84,900 for the 512GB variant. The Samsung Galaxy S10+ price in India starts at Rs. 73,900 for the 128GB variant, going up to Rs. 91,900 for the 512GB variant, and Rs. 1,17,900 for the 1TB variant. Finally, the Samsung Galaxy S10e₹ 55,900 price in India is set at Rs. 55,900 for the sole 128GB variant being launched in India. Pre-bookings will open today via Samsung's site, Flipkart, Amazon, Paytm, Tata CliQ, and select retailers. Stay tuned to Gadgets 360 for a detailed review of the new Samsung smartphones.

[ravikherva]

HIGHLIGHTS

iPad Pro comes in two sizes: 12.9-inch and 11-inch

Performance and battery life are great, software could be better

iOS isn't evolving at the same pace as the hardware

A little over a year after giving the world its first glimpse at the iPhone X₹ 73,699, Apple has gone all-in with the new all-screen design philosophy. The company recently launched as many as three new iPhone models along the same lines and, as expected, revamped iPad Pro models were unveiled at a media event in Brooklyn late last month. The iPad Pro has gone down the same route by maximising screen space and getting rid of the home button.

Apple has been pushing the iPad — and the iPad Pro specifically — as a computer that can replace a laptop for many users, or be the first computer for those who've never used a laptop before. At the New York launch event, CEO Tim Cook said on stage that the “iPad is the most popular computer in the world”, as Apple claimed to have sold more iPad units last year than HP, the biggest laptop vendor, sold portable computers.

John Ternus, Vice President, Hardware Engineering at Apple later stressed that thanks to Apple's new A12X Bionic chip, the new iPad Pro models are “faster than 92 percent of all the portable PCs sold in the last 12 months, including the most popular core i7 models from the top manufacturers”.

That's a tall claim from Apple, but the company has been at the top of its game when it comes to CPUs, so we wouldn't be surprised if the new iPad Pro models actually deliver in terms of performance. But how does the overall package hold up? More importantly, will their increased price tags hurt them, especially in India? We put the new 12.9-inch iPad Pro model through its paces to find out.

iPad Pro design

As we mentioned before, the big story with the new iPad Pro models is the removal of the home button. This means the bezels are a lot thinner, though the new iPad Pro models don't quite live up to Apple's “edge-to-edge” claim. The bezels are slimmer than before but still noticeable, which is not such a bad thing because they still leave enough room for you to hold the iPad without having to worry about accidental touch input. What's more, the bezels mean that Apple was able to integrate the front camera and Face ID sensors without having to resort to an iPhone X-like notch.

Unlike the iPhone, Face ID on the iPad works no matter which way you're holding the tablet, which is a necessity given people can — and do — use tablets in different orientations. This means it will work no matter which way you pick up the iPad, and even when you are using it while connected to an external keyboard. What's even more impressive is that it's been implemented using a single set of (improved) sensors, just like on the iPhone, without the need for sensors at different places on the tablet.

There are a couple of things to keep in mind though. Just like the new iPhone models, you can tap the iPad Pro to wake the screen, though raise-to-wake is not supported, which was a bit of a surprise. We hope a future software update brings an option to change this behaviour.

Given all the different ways that people pick up an iPad, if it so happens that your hand ends up covering the Face ID sensor, the iPad shows a “Camera covered” message on the screen with an arrow indicating the position of the camera, since it might not be clear to everyone which “camera” is being talked about. This is especially true when you are using the iPad Pro without the keyboard, since the symmetrical and button-less front makes it impossible to tell one edge of the iPad from another.

When you are using an iPad Pro connected to the new Smart Keyboard Folio, you can simply press the spacebar to activate Face ID and unlock the iPad. Pressing it one more time will push the lock screen away (the equivalent of swiping up on the screen). If you are out of the camera's range when you do that, you will see a message that says “Face too far away”, indicating you should move closer.

You will also need to be mindful of your position relative to the iPad. If you are crouched too far below the iPad — like it happened with us when we were lazing on a couch with the tablet on an armrest — then you may need to prop yourself up a bit for Face ID to work.

Similarly, if you are a fan of the standing desk lifestyle, you might at times find yourself a bit too high for the Face ID sensors to work. Interestingly, in both cases we found ourselves adjusting our own posture relative to the iPad Pro, instead of moving the device itself. This is probably not a surprise given that the iPad was propped-up thanks to Smart Keyboard Folio and the experience will obviously be different if you have it in your hand.

To summarise, while Face ID worked as expected in most cases, even a few days into using this iPad, it hasn't disappeared into the background like it does with the iPhone. At this point into our time with the iPhone X last year, we had just forgotten about Face ID and come to appreciate its seamless performance. That's certainly not the case with the iPad Pro and — so far at least — we're certainly mindful of its presence.

With the home button gone, the gesture-based UI is the only way to find your way around the iPad Pro. You have to swipe up from the bottom to go to the home screen; swipe up and hold to bring up the multitasking screen; swipe down from the upper-right corner to bring down the Control Centre; and swipe down from the upper-left corner to bring down the Notification Centre. You can quickly swipe left and right to switch between apps, similar to how you do on the iPhone X-series. iOS 12, of course, has brought these gestures to other iPad models as well and they are not limited to the new iPad Pro alone.

Just like on the iPhone, the gestures feel natural and we got used to them pretty quickly. Flipping between apps is especially fun and easy to do the iPad's bigger screen.

When the iPad Pro first came out, one of the headline features was its support for Apple Pencil. However, it's safe to say that usage of the Pencil never really took off in the way Apple would've hoped. At least part of this has been down to some of the decisions the Cupertino-based company made while designing its stylus.

There was no way to store the original Apple Pencil with the iPad, even if you bought the Smart Keyboard, which often meant that you wouldn't have it with you when the need arose. Apple tried to address that by releasing some accessories with the second generation iPad Pro models designed to keep the Pencil with the rest of your stuff, but they had their own share of problems that are not worth repeating at this point.

The second-generation Apple Pencil seems to have been designed keeping in mind that it is first and foremost a companion to your iPad. It sticks magnetically to the iPad, which means you are more likely to have it with you all the time. The Pencil also no longer needs to be plugged into the iPad for pairing/ charging. You simply place it on the iPad and it's automatically paired. What's more, you will see a small message popping up on the screen showing the Pencil's battery level and to indicate that it's now being charged.

The Apple Pencil features a flat edge, which allows it to rest on the iPad. You can now double-tap on the lower third of the Pencil to trigger actions, a feature we'll address in a bit more detail later in this review. You still need to have Bluetooth turned on for the iPad to communicate with the Pencil. The new Pencil cannot be used with older iPad models and the old Pencil won't work with the new tablets either.

The iPad, of course, has also been redesigned and it too has flat sides. Note that the Pencil will stick to only one of the sides of the iPad Pro — the top one when you have the iPad Pro in landscape mode with the Smart Keyboard Folio attached. This side has a little area in the middle that's used to wirelessly charge the Pencil.

You don't need to worry about trying to align the Pencil with the area, as magnets will ensure it automatically snaps into the right place. The hold of the magnets is strong enough that the Pencil doesn't fall out of place during day-to-day use, including when you carry the iPad around in a bag.

In many ways, the new iPad Pro design is a throwback to the original iPad design, but with a flat back (other than the camera bump) as well as rounded corners, the look really reminded us of the iPhone 5s. The Smart Connector has been moved from the side on previous iPad Pro models to the back, near the bottom. You won't really notice this if you are using the iPad with the Smart Keyboard Folio attached.

The Smart Keyboard Folio now covers both the front and back of the iPad, a change from the previous Smart Keyboard, which only covered the screen when closed. This eliminates the need to buy a separate back cover for the iPad, which we believe is a welcome move, but not everyone may welcome the additional bulk. The iPad Pro has 102 magnets on the inside, most of which are used to ensure that the Keyboard Case sticks to the iPad when needed. It's still relatively easy to snap the iPad out of the case when you want; in fact, we did that accidentally on more than one occasion when opening the case to work on the iPad, by pulling on the back cover instead of the front, but it's just as easy to snap it back on.

You now get two viewing angles — with one of them optimised for working on a desk, and the other one for when you have the iPad Pro on your lap, according to Apple. The keyboard itself and the experience using it haven't changed much since we last reviewed an iPad Pro. We wish the keyboard had a bit more travel to it and the keys were backlit, but we realise that may not be possible without adding significant depth and/ or weight, and increasing battery consumption. Like before, the Smart Keyboard Folio draws all the power it needs from the Smart Connector and doesn't need to be charged.

Without the keyboard cover, the 12.9-inch iPad Pro Wi-Fi + Cellular model is nearly 60g lighter than its predecessor, and at 5.9mm, it's 15 percent thinner as well. It's also nearly a full inch shorter than the previous-generation model, which makes it a little bit more manageable. This is a welcome move, as the previous 12.9-inch iPad Pro was rather ungainly for use as a tablet i.e. when not propped up with the keyboard.

With the smaller 11-inch iPad Pro, Apple has gone the other way by increasing the size of the screen while largely retaining the outer dimensions of the previous 10.5-inch model. While we don't have that one in for review today, we believe a lot of people will really appreciate the extra portability of that form factor, now with a slightly bigger screen.

Arguably the most interesting change in the new iPad Pro models is the decision to ditch the Lightning port in favour of a USB Type-C port. This enables some additional uses cases like connecting cameras directly to the iPad instead of requiring a Lightning to USB Camera Adapter. Still, most people won't have Type-C cables for their camera and will need a Type-C to Type-A dongle, so the gains here are questionable. The iPad Pro does support USB 3.1 Gen. 2 capable of hitting speeds up to 10 Gbps, so you should benefit from faster data transfers. The Type-C port also enables you to drive higher-resolution external displays while also using the port for other purposes via the magic of dongles, which we will get to later.

Controversially, the iPad Pro does not have a headphone jack. In our opinion, this feels like a bigger miss on the iPad than on the iPhone, since the device is geared for Pro use. Latency can be an issue with wireless audio if you don't have the right set of headphones, not to mention your work could come to a halt if their battery runs out. Apple says that with smaller bezels there was no space in the iPad Pro to accommodate a headphone jack, but one wonders if it would've been worth having slightly larger bezels on one side to accommodate the legacy port.

What's more, Apple does not bundle a Type-C to 3.5mm adapter or even a Type-C to Type-A dongle in the iPad box. All you get is the iPad, an 18W charger, a Type-C to Type-C cable, and the usual literature.

iPad Pro display, performance, and battery life

As before, the 12.9-inch iPad Pro has a 264ppi 2732x2048 resolution display, though it gets the new "Liquid Retina" name we first saw on the recently launched iPhone XR. This fully laminated display with its anti-reflective coating is up there with the best LCD panels we've ever seen, and like earlier iPad Pro models, it supports True Tone colour adjustment, ProMotion with a refresh rate of up to 120Hz, and a wide colour gamut (DCI-P3).

Apple says the iPad Pro also has a "fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating", but like the 10.5-inch iPad Pro we reviewed last year, we found the new tablet to be a fingerprint magnet. To be fair, fingerprints are visible only when the screen is off, and aren't really a hindrance when you are working.

Though the display on the new 12.9-inch iPad Pro has the same resolution as its predecessor, thanks to the new rounded corners and the Home Indicator, some app developers might need to update their apps to ensure every single pixel is utilised. We noticed small black bands around the edges when using apps that haven't been updated yet.

The new iPad Pro is powered by Apple's brand new A12X Bionic chip, an enhanced version of the 7nm, 64-bit A12 SoC inside the latest iPhone models. Just like the A12, the A12X has an octa-core CPU consisting of four high-performance and four high-efficiency cores. This is backed by the M12 coprocessor and a seven-core GPU that claims to offer twice the performance of the A10X Fusion in the previous iPad Pro.

The A12X marks the iPad debut of an on-device Neural Engine, which is capable of up to 5 trillion operations per second. Apple says this enables enhanced performance in areas like AR, when stitching together photos or videos, and even while doing simple fun stuff like creating Memoji, which also make an appearance on an iPad for the first time.

All this power combines to offer an experience that's up there with — and often exceeds — what you'd get while using a laptop. General Web browsing, checking email, writing documents, and even gaming are all smooth, but all that's hardly a surprise with a brand new Apple device. Gamers and those who enjoy reading graphic novels or comic books will especially appreciate the extra screen real estate the larger iPad Pro offers.

Sure, iOS has its limitations — there's no support for external storage, for example — and a frustrating number of third-party apps have still not been updated to let you use them side-by-side (or to use picture-on-picture video playback) on the iPad to maximise your productivity, but it's entirely possible for many people to do most — if not all — of their work on an iPad Pro. With that said, there are plenty of edge cases — there's no way to "download" one or more files, for example, unless the link is from a cloud service such as Dropbox or Google Drive. Many tasks that would be simple on a Windows or macOS machine will need third-party apps or complex Shortcuts to accomplish on iOS.

What this means is that most users who've grown up using a Mac or PC will almost always find it simpler to work on a "real" computer. On the flip side, users who don't necessarily have the same history with computers, will likely find that the iPad Pro works just fine for most things they would want from a machine.

We've seen this validated by real-life use cases all around us, and we've been able to survive using an iPad as our only machine when hopping between meetings around town for the last couple of years, thanks largely to its built-in LTE connectivity and truly all-day battery life. Some poorly optimised in-house tools and Safari's inability to remember HTTP authentication passwords aside, we've had no issues getting our work done, though, admittedly, when both the iPad and the Mac are with us, we find ourselves reaching for the latter to get the job done faster.

Talking about speed, the new iPad Pro is a complete beast in terms of benchmarks. In the single-core Geekbench performance test, the A12X is nearly as fast as the Intel Xeon W CPU in the iMac Pro we reviewed earlier this year. Granted, single-thread performance is not the iMac Pro's strongest suit, but that's still pretty impressive, especially when you consider that that's faster than all Macs — and of course iPads — we compared it against (see charts below) other than the latest Intel Core i9 MacBook Pro and a top-of-the-line 27-inch "regular" iMac.

13-inch MacBook Pro (2016): 2GHz dual-core Intel Core i5/ 8GB RAM/ Intel Iris Graphics 540 15-inch MacBook Pro (2016): 2.6GHz quad-core Intel Core i7/ 16GB RAM/ Intel HD Graphics 530 27-inch iMac (2017): 4.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i7/ 64GB RAM/ Radeon Pro 580 iMac Pro (2017): 3.2 GHz octa-core Intel Xeon W/ 32GB RAM/ Radeon Pro Vega 56 MacBook Pro (2018): 2.9GHz hexa-core Intel Core i9/ 32GB RAM/ Intel UHD Graphics 530

Though Apple doesn't officially disclose the amount of RAM inside iOS devices, benchmarks showed that the 1TB 12.9-inch iPad Pro has 6GB of RAM. That's the most RAM shipped on any iOS device, and this means you are more likely to find your document or webpage ready for you when you switch back to an app, without waiting for it to reload. Granted, iOS manages the experience rather well, to the point that this isn't a problem unless you are using old hardware, but once you figure out what the extra RAM is enabling on your iPad Pro, you will come to appreciate it.

The iPad Pro has eight audio drivers — four woofers and four tweeters — configured in woofer-tweeters pairs near the four corners of the screen. Apple says the bass goes to all four speakers while the mid and high frequencies come from the top-most speakers, no matter which way you are holding the iPad. The resulting sound is rich and clear, capable of reaching really high volumes without getting distorted. Though the speakers lack a Dolby certification or similar, it's safe to say this is the best sound we've experienced on a mobile or tablet.

The iPad Pro now also supports Bluetooth 5 and, as we mentioned earlier, there's a USB Type-C port instead of a Lightning port. That doesn't mean you can connect any USB device to your iPad — you are still very much bound by the limitations of iOS. Connecting an external drive will give you an error — “Cannot read the connected storage media.” When Apple introduced the Files app on iOS, we'd hoped the next logical step would be letting you read any kind of external drive within the app, but we're obviously not there (yet).

You can, of course, connect a camera directly to the iPad or use a dongle/ dock with a card reader to import photos directly on to the iPad. We tried various third-party dongles/ docks with our iPad Pro and had mixed results. Headphone jacks on dongles worked as expected, though we noticed that in such cases there's no way to force the iPad to output sound to the internal speakers, even if you don't have any headphones plugged into the dongle.

While iOS did not detect Ethernet ports on the multi-port dongles we tried, a standalone Monoprice USB to Ethernet adapter worked seamlessly, and an Ethernet section just popped up in Settings. As expected, our Thunderbolt 3 Apple USB Ethernet adapter didn't work — in fact if you plug in any Thunderbolt 3 accessory, you will see a “Thunderbolt accessories are not supported on this iPad” message on screen.

Passthrough charging — the ability to charge the iPad with a charger plugged into a USB Type-C accessory — worked fine with dongles that support it. Various card slots built into our dongles, as well as external card readers plugged into USB ports, also worked just fine, with the Photos app firing up and offering to import the pictures on those cards.

However, while trying various dongle and card reader combinations with the iPad Pro, we have lost images on not one but two memory cards — one is no longer being recognised at all (on any device) while the other's images folder is now strangely empty — and this is when we didn't do anything more than just view the images, not even import them. We don't know whether to blame the cards, the various dongles that we tested, or the iPad Pro, but it sure won't be fun telling the family that some of our precious memories might have been lost forever.

Apple says that the iPad Pro can now now drive external displays of up to 5K resolution, and while we didn't have a 5K display around to test this claim, we did connect our iPad Pro to a full-HD display using the aforementioned dongles and an HDMI cable and everything worked as expected. When you are on the home screen, the iPad's display is mirrored on to the external screen. Since the aspect ratio of the iPad's screen may not exactly match the external display, you may see rather thick bars on either side of the on-screen contents.

Apps will mimic this behaviour by default, but developers can choose to instead extend the display and use the external screen as a separate space on which to show additional controls or other UI elements. Apple apps like Keynote and GarageBand do this, and though some third-party apps like djay Pro do as well, most third-party apps that we used simply mirrored on screen. That might change if the use of external displays with the iPad Pro gains popularity. Another bug we noticed is that connecting an external display to the iPad would (occasionally) make the Wi-Fi icon disappear from the status bar on both the iPad and the mirrored display.

The iPad Pro now supports reverse charging, which means you can use the tablet to charge other devices. We didn't have an official Apple Type-C to Lightning cable, so we used a third-party cable to charge an iPhone XS Max from the iPad to measure its effectiveness. In our test, the iPhone's battery went from 17 percent to 39 percent in 30 minutes, which is in line with what we see from chargers that do not support any kind of fast charging. In case you are wondering about the impact on the iPad Pro's battery, it dropped from 96 percent to 90 percent.

While the Apple Pencil 2 is functionally identical to its predecessor, the design changes make it significantly better as a companion to your iPad Pro. For starters, the fact that it magnetically sticks to your iPad and charges wirelessly means it's more likely to be with you and be ready to go at all times. There's no Lightning connector on the Pencil so you don't have to worry about losing the tiny cap that covered it up, and more importantly, it means never having to come across the ungainly sight of a Pencil sticking out of an iPad's Lightning port because it ran out of juice.

There are a few new tricks as well. As we mentioned before, you can now double-tap the lower third of the Pencil to trigger certain actions. In the Notes app, for example, you can switch between the Pencil and Eraser by double-tapping, and this behaviour can be customised via the Settings. Third-party apps can also integrate this functionality, with the ability to customise the actions triggered when you double-tap.

What's more, there seems to be no restriction on the types of apps that can integrate this functionality, so, YouTube, for example, could implement a video play/ pause shortcut via the Pencil, giving you a limited remote control, similar to what Samsung introduced with the Galaxy Note 9. At the launch event, Apple demoed a third-party image editor that will make use of this functionality in an upcoming release, but we haven't come across any non-Apple apps that have implemented similar functionality just yet.

In a move straight out of the Galaxy Note series playbook, you can now tap the Pencil on the lock screen to have the Notes app launch and ready to go. This behaviour is not enabled by default but you can go to Settings to change that. You can also tell the app whether to always create a new note or resume the one you were working on last.

You cannot trigger the gesture-based UI actions with the Pencil, which leads to some awkward moments. At times, for example, we found ourselves doodling with the Pencil and wanting to quickly toggle something via the Notification Centre. Sliding down from the upper-right corner with the Pencil did nothing, so we had to use one of the fingers to trigger that action while continuing to hold the Pencil in our hand. This might be nothing more than a minor inconvenience for most people, but it might turn into an annoyance if you find yourself using the Pencil a lot.

Like we mentioned before, iOS 12 brings the new gesture-based UI to the iPad as well as some minor additions to Safari, in addition to a couple of new apps like Stocks and Voice Memos. However, there are no major new iPad-focused features, and certainly nothing as radical as what we saw with iOS 11. We are extremely disappointed to still be restricted to a 4x5 icon layout even on a 12.9-inch screen, which just leaves too much empty space between the icons on the home screen. It's safe to say that iOS 12 has not pushed iPad software forward in any meaningful way, which is frustrating given how much better the hardware seems to get with every iteration.

Talking about hardware improvements, the new iPad Pro boasts of better cameras on the front and rear thanks to Smart HDR, and some of the other improvements that we've seen on the iPhone recently. We also get Portrait Mode for the first time on the iPad, and it works reasonably well. Interestingly it's available only on the front. This isn't a problem, since we aren't fans of using a tablet as a camera to begin with. If you do need to use your iPad as a camera, you will get largely favourable results outdoors and when there's plenty of light, though the low-light performance is under par.

All iPad models till date have delivered on their promise of all-day battery life, and this one is no different. With light use, you'll easily be able to go an entire week before you need to recharge your iPad. If you are investing in an iPad Pro, you probably want to use it for more than occasional reading, in which case it should last you a couple of days, with a few hours of use each day. Even if you use your iPad Pro as your only machine — starting a work day at 9am and ending it at 6pm — you should have a bit of juice left in the tank to, say, watch a few videos when you are headed back home.

In our HD battery loop test, the iPad Pro lasted an impressive 14 hours and 7 minutes. Using the bundled 18W adapter and Type-C cable, we were able to charge the iPad Pro's battery from zero to 100 percent in 3 hours and 20 minutes. Using the MacBook Pro's 87W charger, we could top up the iPad Pro in roughly 2 hours and 40 minutes, which was a little underwhelming.

Verdict For the last couple of years, Apple has slowly but steadily been increasing the price of many of its products, almost as if it's looking to see how much (more) people are willing to pay for the latest and greatest hardware. We've seen that with many products, big and small. Last year's iPhone X was arguably the biggest such experiment, and as we now know, it was a huge success.

So this year we've seen the introduction of the even more expensive iPhone XS Max, and other recently introduced hardware like the MacBook Air and Mac mini have continued this trend with entry-level configurations being priced higher than the machines they replaced. The iPad Pro models are no different, with the 11-inch and 12.9-inch models respectively $150 and $200 more expensive than their spiritual predecessors.

In India, pricing for all Apple products is in the stratosphere thanks to the US dollar's rise against the rupee and India's import tariffs, combined with Apple's lack of a significant ‘Make in India' story. Throw in Apple's apparent unwillingness to compromise on its margins even in markets like India, and we are now back to the “bad-old days” from a few years ago when Apple products were prohibitively expensive here and people relied on grey-market imports or friends making a trip to the US to buy Apple products.

Amongst all of Apple's major product lines, the iPad probably has the “best” India pricing — and we use that term rather loosely — if you look purely at the USD to INR conversion. The iPad Pro comes to India at a starting price of Rs. 71,900 for the 64GB 11-inch Wi-Fi only model. Prices go all the way up to Rs. 1,71,900 for the 1TB 12.9-inch Wi-Fi + cellular variant we got for review. While that might seem like a crazy amount of money, we tried to find Windows laptops that have 1TB of solid state storage, and the least expensive one we could find is priced at Rs. 1,85,000, so that iPad price tag isn't as ridiculous as it may sound at first.

In terms of raw performance, the entry-level iPad Pro will almost certainly outshine any equivalent laptop you can get at around the same price. If you can live with the limitations we've detailed here — and we believe the answer is ‘yes' for more people than not — what you'll get is a powerful, extremely portable machine with a display that's better than most laptops or 2-in-1s you'd get at the price. One look at India pricing of the Surface Book 2, for example, and the iPad Pro seems to look like a bargain, though Windows is probably a platform most legacy users would be more comfortable with.

With iOS in general — and certainly on the iPad Pro — software progress seems to lag behind hardware, and we hope iOS 13 brings more productivity-focused features to the iPad. We would also like to see Apple force the hand of third-party developers to support iPad-specific features that the OS already supports. Of course, we would never recommend buying hardware on the promise — or in this case prospect — of future software upgrades, so any decision you make on the iPad Pro should be based on the experience we've described as of today.

On the accessories front, if you are buying an iPad Pro, we would definitely recommend you get the Smart Keyboard Folio — or a third-party equivalent when they start to show up — as well. Be sure to factor in an additional Rs. 17,900 for the 12.9-inch model's Smart Keyboard Folio, which we agree is a ridiculous price. The Apple Pencil 2 is priced at a more “affordable” Rs. 10,900 but despite it's enhanced utility, we believe it's still an optional extra that only artists would really put to use, unless you are someone who prefers taking notes the old-fashioned way. The new design certainly means it's more likely to be used more often.

Though one can easily hotspot from a phone, we would also recommend spending a little — okay, a lot — extra and treating yourself to a cellular variant of the iPad Pro if you are looking for a truly portable mobile warrior of a machine that'll let you work from anywhere.

With the launch of the new MacBook Air, questions have been asked about the future of the 12-inch MacBook as well as the entry-level, non-Touch Bar 13-inch MacBook Pro. The duo wasn't updated when Apple refreshed its laptops earlier this year and given their overlaps with new MacBook Air, you can make a case for the newest Apple laptop to be a replacement for both of these computers. Indeed, with the T2 chip, Touch ID, faster SSDs, and more, the Air feels like an improvement over the basic MacBook Pro in at least some departments, and with all of that plus an extra port, it certainly has a leg-up on the MacBook.

With that in mind, it can be argued that the iPad Pro is the new one-port MacBook — a general purpose computer with all-day battery life that'll do the job for most people — at least until those rumoured ARM-powered Macs show up and/ or that mythical iOS-laptop becomes a reality.

Price 12-inch MacBook 256GB — Rs. 1,19,900 12.9-inch iPad Pro 256GB Wi-Fi + Smart Keyboard Folio — Rs. 1,21,800 (Rs. 1,03,900 + Rs. 17,900)

Price in India of all iPad Pro (2018) variants and select accessories:

11-inch iPad Pro

64GB Wi-Fi — Rs. 71,900

256GB Wi-Fi — Rs. 85,900

512GB Wi-Fi — Rs. 1,03,900

1TB Wi-Fi — Rs. 1,39,900

64GB Wi-Fi + cellular — Rs. 85,900

256GB Wi-Fi + cellular — Rs. 99,900

512GB Wi-Fi + cellular — Rs. 1,17,900

1TB Wi-Fi + cellular — Rs. 1,53,900

Smart Keyboard Folio: Rs. 15,900 Smart Folio: Rs. 7,500

12.9-inch iPad Pro

64GB Wi-Fi — Rs. 89,900

256GB Wi-Fi — Rs. 1,03,900

512GB Wi-Fi — Rs. 1,21,900

1TB Wi-Fi — Rs. 1,57,900

64GB Wi-Fi + cellular — Rs. 1,03,900

256GB Wi-Fi + cellular — Rs. 1,17,900

512GB Wi-Fi + cellular — Rs. 1,35,900

1TB Wi-Fi + cellular — Rs. 1,71,900

Smart Keyboard Folio: Rs. 17,900 Smart Folio: Rs. 9,900

Apple Pencil 2: Rs. 10,900

[ravikherva]

HIGHLIGHTS

The phone was first unveiled in London last month

Nokia 7.1 price in India is Rs. 19,999 for 4GB RAM/ 64GB storage variant

Nokia 7.1 will go on sale from December 7 in India

Nokia 7.1, the newest smartphone from the house of HMD Global, has launched in India. First unveiled at an event in London last month, the smartphone features a PureDisplay panel with HDR10 password as its primary highlight. Other Nokia 7.1 highlights include its dual rear camera setup with Zeiss optics, and a 3,060mAh battery with 18W fast charging. HMD Global on Friday revealed the Nokia 7.1 price in India, its release date, as well as launch offers via a press release.

Nokia 7.1 price in India

Nokia 7.1 price in India is set at Rs. 19,999 (recommended best buy price) for its 4GB RAM/ 64GB inbuilt storage variant, and it will go on sale in the country from December 7. The smartphone will be available to buy via top mobile retailers in India, HMD Global said in a statement, apart from Nokia's own online store. The 3GB RAM/ 32GB storage variant — which was launched in London — has not been brought to India yet, and there's no word on whether it will be available in the country at a future date.

As for Nokia 7.1 launch offers, the company has partnered with Airtel to offer prepaid subscribers 1TB of 4G data on eligible plans starting from Rs. 199. Postpaid Airtel subscribers on the other hand will get additional 120GB of data along with a three-month Netflix subscription and a 1-year Amazon Prime subscription, on postpaid plans worth Rs. 499 or higher. Those who decide to purchase the Nokia 7.1 using HDFC credit and debit cards, apart from EMI transactions, will get 10 percent cashback via eligible offline stores.

Commenting on the Nokia 7.1 India launch, Ajey Mehta, Vice President and Country Head, India, HMD Global, said, "We know a lot of our fans in India enjoy creating videos and watching content on their smartphones. That's why it was important for us to bring both Zeiss optics and PureDisplay technology together in a versatile device that offers a superior content experience, regardless of whether you're taking photos for your social media or watching the latest series on your favourite streaming service."

Nokia 7.1 specifications

The dual-SIM (Nano) Nokia 7.1 runs Android Oreo, based on the Android One programme, with an update to Android 9.0 Pie arriving over-the-air for buyers in India. It sports a 5.84-inch full-HD+ (1080x2280 pixels) PureDisplay panel with a 19:9 aspect ratio, HDR10 support, and Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. The handset is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 SoC, paired with 4GB of RAM.

In terms of optics, the Nokia 7.1 bears a vertically aligned pair of dual rear camera setup that consists of a 12-megapixel primary sensor, with autofocus and f/1.8 aperture, and a 5-megapixel secondary sensor with fixed focus and f/2.4 aperture. The company is also touting two-phase detection and Zeiss optics for the rear camera setup, apart from EIS. On the front, the handset sports an 8-megapixel fixed focus sensor with f/2.0 aperture and 84-degree field-of-view. There is 64GB of inbuilt storage, expandable via microSD card (up to 400GB).

Connectivity options on the Nokia 7.1 include 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth v5.0, GPS/ A-GPS, GLONASS, NFC, USB Type-C, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Sensors onboard the smartphone include accelerometer, ambient light sensor, electronic compass, gyroscope, proximity sensor, and a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor. Dimensions are 149.7x71.19x7.99mm and weight is 159 grams. There is a 3,060mAh non-removable battery under the hood with 18W fast charging, delivering 50 percent charge in 30 minutes.

The company is touting the Nokia 7.1's real-time SDR to HDR conversion using a 16-bit engine, letting users experience "HDR quality entertainment, even when the content is not." The smartphone is built out of 6000 series aluminium CNC machined frame and a die cast metal centre.

[ravikherva]

HIGHLIGHTS

Realme 2 Pro is the cheapest phone in India with a Snapdragon 660 SoC

Redmi Note 6 Pro succeeds the Redmi Note 5 Pro with minimal upgrades

The Nokia 5.1 Plus finds a place in list of best phones under Rs. 15,000

Which mobile phone can be regarded as the best option under Rs. 15,000? It's a hard decision considering the past few months saw quite a few exciting and value-for-money handsets launching in that price range. The trend of bringing premium internals and design elements to a mid-range segment began earlier this year and has seen several brands competing in the same space to offer the best value proposition to Indian customers. Many of these brands are primarily focusing on the best smartphone under Rs. 15,000 considering the sheer demand for phones in that price bracket.

With new launches from the likes of Nokia and Realme, the amount of choices in the market are aplenty. The smartphones listed below have been tested by Gadgets 360 and put through our usual routine of tests — we don't recommend phones that we haven't tested ourselves. So without further delay, here are the best mobiles you can buy under Rs. 15,000 right now.

Best phones under Rs. 15,000

Phone under Rs. 15,000 Gadgets 360 rating Asus ZenFone Max Pro M1 9/ 10 Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro 8/ 10 Realme 2 Pro 8/ 10 Honor 8X 8/ 10 Nokia 5.1 Plus 8/ 10 Realme 1 8/ 10

  Asus ZenFone Max Pro M1

Having been in the Indian market for several months now, the Asus ZenFone Max Pro M1 (Review) still remains one of the top picks in the sub-Rs. 15,000 price segment, and Asus' best budget smartphone till date. In our review, we noted that the smartphone has a great display, a dedicated microSD card slot for external storage, sleek design, and clean stock software. However, the real-life battery experience was slightly underwhelming despite the large 5,000mAh unit.

The base variant of the ZenFone Max Pro M1 is priced at Rs. 10,999 and comes with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. The mid-tier variant with 4GB RAM/ 64GB storage is priced at Rs. 12,999 and the 6GB RAM/ 64GB storage variant sports a price tag of Rs. 14,999. The model with 4GB RAM is the most value-for-money pick, however the 6GB RAM variant can also be considered given the refreshed selfie camera and two extra gigabytes of RAM in a Rs. 2,000 uptick.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro

Xiaomi's latest Redmi Note 6 Pro₹ 13,999 is the newest player to make it to this list. It succeeds the Redmi Note 5 Pro₹ 12,716 but offers only a few upgrades in terms of overall specifications and design elements. The 6.26-inch 19:9 notched display is bigger and brighter than the one on its predecessor. The cameras have also been upgraded, with dual camera setups on both the front and the back.

We think that a refresh was necessary given competition has been building up, in the form of the Nokia 6.1 Plus and Asus ZenFone Max Pro M1. However, MIUI 10 is filled with ads and is based on the now-dated Android 8.1 Oreo. While the phone comes with Quick Charge 3.0 support, only a 10W charger is bundled in the box.

The base variant of the Redmi Note 6 Pro with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage, is a good deal. However, you are better off going for other smartphones if you have the more expensive 6GB RAM/ 64GB storage variant in mind.

Realme 2 Pro

Launched to take on the might of the current stalwarts in the category, the Realme 2 Pro₹ 13,990(Review) offers extreme value-for-money in terms of specifications — in fact, it is the cheapest smartphone in India with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 SoC. Other than that, it has a sharp and vivid display with a waterdrop-style notch, fast face unlock capabilities, good build quality, and solid apps and gaming performance. The overall UI's presentation and video performance could have been better, as noted in our review.

The Realme 2 Pro starts at just Rs. 13,990 for the 4GB RAM/ 64GB storage model. The 6GB/ 64GB inbuilt storage variant is priced at Rs. 15,990, and the top-end 8GB RAM/ 128GB storage variant retails for Rs. 17,990. While Realme says it currently does not have any plans to hike the phone's pricing, you might want to pick one up as soon as possible considering they just increased pricing for two of its other budget smartphones.

Honor 8X

Honor 8X (Review) is an attempt from Huawei sub-brand Honor to break into this premium mid-range smartphone segment with its latest in-house HiSilicon Kirin 710 SoC. It boasts of a unique dual tone design, good build quality with a glass back, and great CPU performance. However, it lacks a bit in terms of the rear camera and gaming performance, and sports a dated Micro-USB port.

Only the base variant of the Honor 8X comes under the Rs. 15,000 price point — priced at Rs. 14,999 with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of inbuilt storage. There is a 6GB RAM+64GB storage model too, priced slightly higher at Rs. 16,999, and one with 6GB RAM/ 128GB storage priced at Rs. 18,999.

Nokia 5.1 Plus

The Nokia 5.1 Plus (Review) is one of two highly value-for-money smartphones from HMD Global's bandwagon this year. The phone has a great glass design, runs a clean Android One-based stock Android with regular updates, has excellent battery life, and its display does not disappoint despite sporting an HD+ resolution. While low-light camera performance is average and a hybrid SIM slot might bother some, there's little to complain at that price point.

Nokia 5.1 Plus is priced at Rs. 10,999 for the sole variant that comes with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of onboard storage.

Realme 1

Oppo spinoff, now an independent mobile brand, Realme started its run in India with the launch of the Realme 1₹ 10,490 (Review). The smartphone offers an exciting proposition in the budget market with a Helio P60 SoC, a unique glossy diamond-cut design, good battery life, superb performance, and a decent display. It does, however, lack a few essentials such as a fingerprint sensor and has to make do with software-based face unlock.

The 6GB RAM/ 128GB storage variant is priced at Rs. 13,990, and is great for its price. There is another variant as well, with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage, priced at Rs. 10,990. Notably, the original base 3GB RAM/ 32GB storage variant was discontinued in India after the launch of the Realme 2.

Other good options The Nokia 6.1 Plus (Review) and Motorola One Power (Review) deserve special mentions in this list, despite their price starting about Rs. 1,000 above the upper limit.

The Nokia 6.1 Plus sports a premium glass design, an iPhone X-like notch, and is powered by the capable Snapdragon 636 SoC. it offers clean software, great performance, and a punchy and vibrant display. These advantages more than make up for its average cameras and battery life. The lone 4GB RAM/ 64GB storage variant of the Nokia 6.1 Plus is priced at Rs. 15,999.

The Motorola One Power is yet another Snapdragon 636 SoC-powered smartphone that offers solid battery performance with its 5,000mAh unit. Other than that, the things that are going for it include its software with promised updates, fairly powerful processor, and premium design. The lack of dual 4G VoLTE might be a dealbreaker. Much like the Nokia 6.1 Plus, the Motorola One Power also comes with 4GB RAM and 64GB inbuilt storage at a price tag of Rs. 15,999.

[ravikherva]

HIGHLIGHTS

Redmi Note 6 Pro succeeds the Redmi Note 5 Pro

Vivo Y95 is the first Y series phone with a waterdrop notch

Honor 8X is powered by the in-house Kirin 710 SoC

Oppo A7 is the Chinese phone maker's latest smartphone that launched in India earlier this week. With a waterdrop-style notch, a 19:9 display panel, and a dual rear camera setup, the Oppo A7 comes at a time when the mid-range smartphone market in India is filled with multiple affordable and value for money offerings. Case in point, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro which was launched earlier this month as a successor to the ultra popular Redmi Note 5 Pro. Next, the Vivo Y95 was also launched in India this month and is the first Vivo Y series phone to sport a waterdrop notch. Lastly, Honor 8X is the Huawei's sub-brand's attempt at offering a value-for-money option in the sub-Rs. 15,000 starting price segment. Let's compare the price in India and specifications of these four smartphones. 

Oppo A7 vs Redmi Note 6 Pro vs Vivo Y95 vs Honor 8X price in India

Oppo A7 price in India is set at Rs. 16,990 for the only variant which packs in 4GB RAM and 64GB inbuilt storage. Available in Glaring Gold and Glaze Blue colour options, the Oppo A7 can be bought via Flipkart and Amazon.in. Flipkart and Amazon India are offering exchange discounts and no cost EMI plans on purchase of the smartphone.

Redmi Note 6 Pro price in India is set at Rs. 13,999 for the base 4GB RAM/ 64GB storage model and Rs. 15,999 for the one with 6GB RAM and 64GB internal storage. The phone is sold via Flipkart, Mi.com, and Mi Home offline stores; the next flash sale date is November 28. Colour options include Black, Blue, Red, and Rose Gold. 

Vivo Y95 price in India is set at Rs. 16,990 for the only 4GB RAM/ 64GB storage model in India. The phone is sold via Amazon.in, Paytm Mall, Flipkart, Vivo's online e-store, and all leading offline partner stores. Colour options include Nebula Purple and Starry Black. 

Lastly, Honor 8X price in India is set at Rs. 14,999 for the base 4GB RAM/ 64GB storage model, Rs. 16,999 for the mid 6GB RAM + 64GB storage variant, and Rs. 18,999 for the top-end variant with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage. The phone is available in India in Black, Red, and Blue colour options, exclusively via Amazon.in and HiHonor store.

Oppo A7 vs Redmi Note 6 Pro vs Vivo Y95 vs Honor 8X specifications

Oppo A7 vs Redmi Note 6 Pro vs Vivo Y95 vs Honor 8X display

The Oppo A7 runs the custom ColorOS 5.2, Redmi Note 6 Pro runs MIUI 10, Vivo Y95 runs Funtouch OS 4.5, and the Honor 8X runs EMUI 8.2, all based on top of Android 8.1 Oreo. The Oppo A7 sports a 6.2-inch HD+ (720x1520 pixels) display, the Redmi Note 6 Pro sports a 6.26-inch full-HD+ (1080x2280 pixels) IPS LCD panel, and the Vivo Y95 has a 6.22-inch HD+ (720x1520 pixels) Halo FullView display, all three with an aspect ratio of 19:9. The Honor 8X gets a large 6.5-inch full-HD+ (1080x2340 pixels) panel with a 19.5:9 aspect ratio. 

Oppo A7 vs Redmi Note 6 Pro vs Vivo Y95 vs Honor 8X processor, storage

In terms of internals, the Oppo A7 is powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 SoC, the Redmi Note 6 Pro borrows the Qualcomm Snapdagon 636 SoC from its predecessor, the Vivo Y95 is powered by the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 439 SoC, while the Honor 8X gets the in-house HiSilcon Kirin 710 SoC. Oppo A7 has 4GB RAM and 32GB internal storage, Redmi Note 6 Pro has 4GB/ 6GB RAM and 64GB onboard storage, Vivo Y95 has 4GB RAM and 64GB inbuilt storage, and Honor 8X has 4GB/ 6GB of RAM and 64GB/ 128GB of inbuilt storage.

Oppo A7 vs Redmi Note 6 Pro vs Vivo Y95 vs Honor 8X cameras

In the camera department, the Oppo A7 sports a dual rear camera setup with a 13-megapixel primary sensor and a 2-megapixel secondary depth sensor. On the front, the phone bears a 16-megapixel selfie camera. Xiaomi's Redmi Note 6 Pro bears a vertically stacked pair of dual rear cameras with a 12-megapixel primary sensor and a 5-megapixel depth sensing secondary lens. For selfies, the Redmi Note 6 Pro sports another dual camera setup with a 20-megapixel primary lens and a 2-megapixel secondary lens for portrait shots. 

The Vivo Y95 sports a dual rear camera setup with a 13-megapixel sensor and a 2-megapixel secondary depth sensor, coupled with f/2.2 and f/2.4 apertures respectively. On the front, the smartphone sports a 20-megapixel selfie camera with f/2.0 aperture. Lastly, the Honor 8X also has a vertical dual rear camera setup with a 20-megapixel primary sensor and a 2-megapixel secondary depth sensor, coupled with f/1.8 aperture and PDAF capabilities. It also has a 16-megapixel selfie camera with fixed focus and f/2.0 aperture. 

Oppo A7 vs Redmi Note 6 Pro vs Vivo Y95 vs Honor 8X battery

In the battery department, the Oppo A7 has a 4,230mAh battery under the hood, the Redmi Note 6 Pro has a 4,000mAh battery with 10W charging support, Vivo Y95 comes with a 4,030mAh battery under the hood, and the Honor 8X sports a 3,750mAh battery with 10W charging support. 

Oppo A7 vs Redmi Note 6 Pro vs Vivo Y95 vs Honor 8X connectivity

Connectivity options on the Oppo A7 include 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth v4.2, GPS/ A-GPS, GLONASS, Micro-USB with OTG support, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The Redmi Note 6 Pro gets 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth v5.0, GPS, a Micro-USB port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Vivo Y95connectivity options include 4G VoLTE, single-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth v4.2, GPS, FM radio, a Micro-USB port with OTG support, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Finally, the Honor 8X's connectivity options include 4G VoLTE, dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth v4.2 LE with aptX, GPS/ A-GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, a Micro-USB port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

Oppo A7 vs Redmi Note 6 Pro vs Vivo Y95 vs Honor 8X sensors

Sensors on board the Oppo A7 include accelerometer, ambient light sensor, digital compass, gyroscope, and proximity sensor. The Redmi Note 6 Pro gets an accelerometer, ambient light sensor, electronic compass, gyroscope, IR blaster, proximity sensor, and a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor in terms of sensors. The Vivo Y95 comes with an accelerometer, ambient light sensor, electronic compass, fingerprint sensor, proximity sensor, and a virtual gyroscope. And, the Honor 8X has an ambient light sensor, compass, fingerprint sensor, gravity sensor, gyroscope, and a proximity sensor. 

Oppo A7 vs Redmi Note 6 Pro vs Vivo Y95 vs Honor 8X dimensions

Dimensions of the Oppo A7 are 155.9x75.4x8.1mm, those of the Redmi Note 6 Pro are 157.91x76.38x8.26mm, those of the Vivo Y95 are 155.11x75.09x8.28mm, and then those of the Honor 8X are 160.4x76.6x7.8mm.

[ravikherva]

HIGHLIGHTS

The Honor 8C is the first phone powered by the Snapdragon 632 SoC

While battery life is solid, the cameras are underwhelming

Honor 8C is priced starting at Rs. 11,999

Huawei's sub-brand Honor has been very aggressive in India of late, with numerous smartphone launches across multiple price segments. The Honor 8C arrives just six months after the Honor 7C, and features a sizeable 4,000mAh battery, an expansive 6.26-inch display with an aspect ratio of 19:9, AI-enhanced cameras, and Android 8.1 Oreo out of the box. The first phone with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 SoC under its hood, the Honor 8C is offered in two variants: one with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage priced at Rs. 11,999, and the one we have on hand, with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, which retails for Rs 12,999.

The Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 15,000 segment is incredibly cut-throat and is populated by capable smartphone such as the Asus ZenFone Max Pro M1₹ 8,199 (Review), Nokia 5.1 Plus₹ 10,999 (Review), Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro₹ 10,999 (Review), and Realme 1 (Review). Let's see if the Honor 8C  can compete with such heavy hitters.

Honor 8C design

The body of the Honor 8C is all plastic and the build quality is satisfactory, but this smartphone does not feel as premium as its glass- and metal-backed rivals. In fact, even the older Honor 7C (Review) has a metal backplate with plastic inserts on the top and bottom.

This phone is also a bit too tall to be used comfortably with one hand. The notched display is not exactly borderless, and the chin is pretty significant. There is an option in the settings menu to mask the notch, which basically darkens the screen area on either side of it. Users can choose between on-screen buttons and EMUI's gestures, which we found to be slightly difficult to use.

The glossy plastic back attracts a ton of fingerprints and makes the phone very slippery. A soft TPU case is included in the box. It's not of the highest quality, but does help protect the phone from scratches and improve grip. The retail box also includes a 10W charger and a Micro-USB cable. A headset is not included, which might disappoint a few users.

The rear panel houses the vertically stacked cameras and a centrally located fingerprint sensor. Honor has tried to replicate the color gradient used on its pricier glass-backed offerings such as the Honor 10₹ 24,999 (Review), but hasn't succeeded fully. The black and blue gradient on the back of our review unit looked a little garish to us.

The left of the smartphone houses the SIM tray, which has two Nano-SIM slots and a dedicated microSD card slot. The right side is home to the power button and volume rocker, both of which are small but tactile. On the bottom of the phone is a Micro-USB port, flanked by the primary microphone and a speaker that is loud but tinny. The secondary microphone and 3.5mm headphone jack are placed on the top. The use of a Micro-USB port is a disappointing at a time when the industry has started transitioning to the USB Type-C standard.

Honor 8C specifications and display

The Honor 8C is powered by Qualcomm's new 14nm Snapdragon 632 SoC, which has four high-performance cores and four cores tuned for power efficiency. The review unit we tested was the top-end variant with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, priced at Rs.12,999. A cheaper variant with 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage is also offered, which has been priced at Rs. 11,999. Both support storage expansion via a microSD card (up to 256GB).

The smartphone has a sizeable 4,000mAh battery and runs EMUI 8.2 atop Android 8.1 Oreo. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.2, GPS, GLONASS, a Micro-USB port, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. It supports dual SIMs (Nano) and both can simultaneously latch onto 4G networks.

There's a 6.26-inch HD+ (720x1520 pixels) TFT IPS LCD panel up front with an aspect ratio of 19:9. The display is nothing to write home about. While the viewing angles are decent and colours are punchy, the maximum brightness level is not enough, and text and images appear fuzzy due to the HD+ resolution, which is a bit low for a screen of this size.

First-party applications are built to accommodate the notch, and EMUI allows you to stretch third-party applications that do not natively support the 19:9 aspect ratio.

Honor 8C performance, software, and battery life

Performance is a bit of a mixed bag. The smartphone handles day-to-day use quite well but struggles a bit when pushed. We also experienced slight lag and stutter while navigating around the UI and scrolling through heavy websites in Chrome. As the Honor 8C is the first smartphone with the Snapdragon 632 SoC, it's hard to say whether the performance issues are a result of this processor or a lack of optimisation on Honor's part.

Games like Asphalt 9 and PUBG exhibited a few dropped frames here and there, but were playable on the whole. You will need to reduce the graphics settings though. The Honor 8C managed 103,258 points in AnTuTu, 1265 and 2465 respectively in Geekbench's single-core and multi-core tests, 5,673 in PC Mark's Work 2.0 benchmark, 14fps in GFXBench Manhattan 3.1, and 36fps in GFXBench T-Rex.

Face recognition is almost instantaneous when there's an adequate amount of light, but you do need to point the smartphone directly at your face. In low light, the phone increases the screen brightness so as to illuminate your face before attempting to scan it, and this helps to a degree. We also found the fingerprint sensor to be quick and accurate.

The Honor 8C runs Honor's EMUI 8.2 custom skin atop Android 8.1 Oreo. EMUI is feature-packed but feels cluttered and has plenty of bloatware. There's an odd mix of Google's own apps and Honor's as default. For example, there's  the Chrome browser and Android's default messaging app, but the Dialer, File Manager and Gallery are Honor's custom versions. Facebook, Messenger, Netflix, and Camera 360 come preinstalled, along with a bunch of first-party apps from Huawei such as HiCare, Huawei Health, Themes, Honor Store, and Honor Club, which require a ton of permissions to run.

On a positive note, EMUI also has  a one-handed mode, a powerful theming engine, and the ability to run two instances of the same application. There is no information as of now regarding any potential Android P update for this phone.

The Honor 8C lasted 14 hours and 30 minutes in our HD video battery loop test, which is quite impressive. Real-world performance was solid as well, with the smartphone powering through a day of moderate use. EMUI has a host of power-saving features, one of which reduces the screen resolution when you're running low on power. The smartphone does not support quick charging, and takes more than two and a half hours to charge fully when using the included 10W charger.

Honor 8C cameras

On the imaging front, the Honor 8C features a 13-megapixel primary rear camera with an aperture of f/1.8, and a 2-megapixel depth sensor with an aperture of f/2.4. At the front, the Honor 8C has an 8-megapixel fixed-focus camera with an aperture of f/2.0. Both the front and rear cameras feature single-LED flashes.

On a positive note, EMUI also has  a one-handed mode, a powerful theming engine, and the ability to run two instances of the same application. There is no information as of now regarding any potential Android P update for this phone.

The Honor 8C lasted 14 hours and 30 minutes in our HD video battery loop test, which is quite impressive. Real-world performance was solid as well, with the smartphone powering through a day of moderate use. EMUI has a host of power-saving features, one of which reduces the screen resolution when you're running low on power. The smartphone does not support quick charging, and takes more than two and a half hours to charge fully when using the included 10W charger.

Honor 8C cameras

On the imaging front, the Honor 8C features a 13-megapixel primary rear camera with an aperture of f/1.8, and a 2-megapixel depth sensor with an aperture of f/2.4. At the front, the Honor 8C has an 8-megapixel fixed-focus camera with an aperture of f/2.0. Both the front and rear cameras feature single-LED flashes.

The iOS-inspired camera app is well laid out and has a fully featured Pro mode, which allows you to alter the ISO, exposure, shutter speed, and white balance. The smartphone can recognise certain objects or scenes being shot, and optimise image settings accordingly. At the moment, the smartphone can detect 22 different types of objects and over 500 types of scenes. We were not too pleased with the AI enhancements on offer. Most photos shot in AI mode were oversharpened and had oversaturated colours. With AI turned off, photos taken in adequate light had more natural colours and a reasonable amount of detail. The wide aperture mode allows you take shots with depth-of-field effects, which are above average with decent edge detection. However, the image quality is a bit behind the competition.

In unfavourable lighting situations, the photos we took with this phone came out looking dark and murky, and the autofocus also struggled at times. The AI enhancements can help the app set itself to pull in more light, but the level of detail suffers and plenty of noise creeps in.

The front camera is also just about adequate. In our experience, most images were soft and overexposed. Low-light performance was also quite poor. The front LED flash helps to an extent, but images lack detail, are over-sharpened, and have inaccurate colours. A beauty mode is available for both the front and rear cameras, but the results appear very artificial. AR stickers are also supported, and these are well implemented. Video recording maxes out at 720p for the front camera while the rear one is capable of 1080p recording. Our test videos lacked detail and were shaky due to the lack of any sort of stabilisation.

Verdict The Honor 8C does little to stand out in a segment populated by highly competent smartphones such as the Asus ZenFone Max Pro M1 (Review) and Nokia 5.1 Plus (Review). Honor has tried to deliver a solid all-rounder, but in doing so, has produced a phone that does not excel in any particular area.

This phone does not look or feel as premium as its rivals. Its low-light camera quality is disappointing, general performance is a mixed bag, and the user interface is cluttered. There are a few spots of sunshine - the battery life is solid, there's a dedicated microSD card slot, and the fingerprint sensor is fast and accurate. Manufacturers including Xiaomi, Nokia, Asus, and Realme have raised the budget smartphone game, and Honor needs to do more if it wants to come out on top.

[ravikherva]

Honor 8C smartphone was launched in October 2018. The phone comes with a 6.26-inch touchscreen display with a resolution of 720 pixels by 1520 pixels at a PPI of 269 pixels per inch.

The Honor 8C is powered by 1.8GHz octa-core processor and it comes with 4GB of RAM. The phone packs 32GB of internal storage that can be expanded up to 256GB via a microSD card. As far as the cameras are concerned, the Honor 8C packs a 13-megapixel (f/1.8) primary camera and a 2-megapixel (f/2.4) secondary camera on the rear and a 8-megapixel front shooter for selfies.

The Honor 8C is powered by a 4000mAh non removable battery. It measures 158.72 x 75.94 x 7.98 (height x width x thickness) and weighs 167.20 grams.

The Honor 8C is a Dual-SIM (GSM and GSM) smartphone that accepts Nano-SIM and Nano-SIM. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, Micro-USB, 3G and 4G (with support for Band 40 used by some LTE networks in India). Sensors on the phone include Face unlock, Fingerprint sensor, Compass/ Magnetometer, Proximity sensor, Accelerometer and Ambient light sensor.

About Huawei

The Chinese telecommunications company has been manufacturing mobile phones since 1997. It is also the largest telecom infrastructure maker in the world. The company also makes Android smartphones and tablets. Recently it has stepped into the smartwatch market with an Android Wear based device. It is another one of the big smartphone manufacturers from China.

Honor 8C full specifications

GENERAL

Release date October 2018 Launched in India Yes Form factor Touchscreen Dimensions (mm) 158.72 x 75.94 x 7.98 Weight (g) 167.20 Battery capacity (mAh) 4000 Removable battery No Colours Magic Night Black, Aurora Blue, Platinum Gold, Nebula Purple

DISPLAY

Screen size (inches) 6.26 Touchscreen Yes Resolution 720x1520 pixels Aspect ratio 19:9 Pixels per inch (PPI) 269

HARDWARE

Processor 1.8GHz octa-core Processor make Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 RAM 4GB Internal storage 32GB Expandable storage Yes Expandable storage type microSD Expandable storage up to (GB) 256 Dedicated microSD slot Yes

CAMERA

Rear camera 13-megapixel (f/1.8) + 2-megapixel (f/2.4) Rear autofocus Yes Rear flash Yes Front camera 8-megapixel (f/2.0) Front autofocus No

SOFTWARE

Operating system Android 8.1 Oreo Skin EMUI 8.2

CONNECTIVITY

Wi-Fi Yes Wi-Fi standards supported 802.11 b/g/n GPS Yes Bluetooth Yes, v 4.20 Micro-USB Yes Headphones 3.5mm Number of SIMs 2 SIM 1 SIM Type Nano-SIM GSM/CDMA GSM 3G Yes 4G/ LTE Yes Supports 4G in India (Band 40) Yes SIM 2 SIM Type Nano-SIM GSM/CDMA GSM 3G Yes 4G/ LTE Yes

SENSORS

Face unlock Yes Fingerprint sensor Yes Compass/ Magnetometer Yes Proximity sensor Yes Accelerometer Yes Ambient light sensor Yes

[ravikherva]

Windows 10 is Microsoft’s latest operating system largely for desktops and laptops. Taking a screenshot is one of the most essential features on any platform and Windows is no different. You can easily take screenshots on Windows 10 via some simple shortcuts. These allow you to take a screenshot and save it to a folder. You can take a screenshot of the entire screen or just one window on screen. You may even save the screenshot to the clipboard and paste it in any app such as Microsoft Paint. Once you follow this guide, you’ll learn a few new key combinations to take screenshots in Windows 10.

Taking screenshots is quite simple on practically every platform. On macOS, for example, you can press cmd + shift + 3 to take a screenshot of the entire screen and cmd + shift + 4 lets you select a portion of the screen for screenshots. This guide will help you accomplish the same on Windows.

How to take a screenshot of the entire screen in Windows 10

Here are two ways to take a full screen screenshot in Windows 10:

Press Windows key + Print Screen.

Now go to the Pictures library on your computer by launching Explorer (Windows key + e) and in the left pane click Pictures.

Open the Screenshots folder here to find your screenshot saved here with the name Screenshot (NUMBER).

You can also just press Print Screen and open MS Paint. Now press ctrl + v to paste the screenshot in Paint. You can now save it anywhere you like.

How to take a screenshot of the current window only

If you just want to take a screenshot of an app or window you’ve opened, follow these steps:

Click on the app you want to take a screenshot. Make sure it’s in the foreground and not behind other open apps.

Press alt + Print Screen.

Open MS Paint.

Press ctrl + v.

This will paste the screenshot of the open window in Paint. You can save the screenshot anywhere you like.

How to take a screenshot of a part of the screen in Windows 10

This is where you use the Windows Snipping Tool. Follow these steps to take a screenshot of part of the screen in Windows 10:

Open Snipping Tool. It’s under Start menu > All programs > Accessories. You can also open Start menu and simply use the search box to find it.

Now click the down arrow next to New.

Select Rectangular Snip or Free-form Snip. The former lets you capture a rectangular screenshot and the latter lets you draw any shape on screen and takes a screenshot of that part.

Once you’ve done that, you can use the Snipping tool to annotate the screenshot if needed and save it to your PC.

How to take a screenshot via the Game Bar in Windows 10

If you want another way to take screenshots, follow these steps.

On your Windows 10 PC, press Windows key + G.

Click the Camera button to take a screenshot. Once you open the game bar, you can also do this via Windows + Alt + Print Screen. You’ll see a notification that describes where the screenshot is saved.

[ravikherva]

HIGHLIGHTS

Xiaomi's MIUI smartphones have a lot of ads

You can disable some of these by revoking one authorisation

For most ads, you have to individually disable them in MIUI apps

If you’ve bought a Xiaomi smartphone that runs MIUI, the chances are that you’ve seen a bunch of ads in every corner of the software. From the Security app to the widgets on the home screen, MIUI crams ads in every possible place. It is possible to remove these ads, even if it involves a lot of work. We were so annoyed by these ads that we decided that we need to disable all of them. This tutorial will help you remove all ads from MIUI on your Xiaomi smartphone. We tested this on MIUI 9.6 on a Redmi 6 Pro₹ 10,999 but the steps should work on all smartphones running MIUI 9.

How to remove system ads from Xiaomi’s MIUI

If you have logged in via your Mi Account there is one way to reduce systemwide advertisements a lot. These ads show up when you open certain pre-loaded apps, and among the widgets that show up when you swipe to the left on the default home screen. Follow these steps:

Go to Settings > Additional settings > Authorization & revocation.

Now scroll down and disable msa.

Tap Revoke in the pop-up.

You will see an error that reads “Couldn’t revoke authorization” when you do this for the first time. Try step 2 and 3 once more, and you’ll see a message saying that it’s been revoked.

Another thing you must do is disable personalised ad recommendations. This will stop systemwide data tracking for ads, even if it doesn’t disable any ads. Check out these steps:

Open Settings > Additional settings.

Scroll down and tap Ad services.

Disable Personalized ad recommendation.

This should get rid of system-level ads and tracking. However, multiple Xiaomi apps such as Mi Browser still show ads. Here’s how you can go to each app manually and disable ads.

How to remove ads from Xiaomi’s Mi Browser

The Mi Browser shows a lot of ads on the start page. You can partially get rid of these via the following steps:

Open Mi Browser.

Tap the three vertical lines aka hamburger icon on the bottom-right.

Tap Settings.

Tap Notifications. Turn it off.

Go back to the previous page. Tap Privacy & security.

Now disable Recommended for you.

Go back to the previous page and tap Advanced.

Now tap Top sites order and disable Receive recommendations.

Go back to the previous page and tap Set start page.

Choose Custom.

Enter the URL of any website such as https://ift.tt/2SjFbze. Tap OK.

This complicated dance around the Mi Browser’s settings menu was to ensure that it can’t send you spam notifications and to get rid of the default Mi Browser start page, where there are several ads that are almost impossible to remove. The next time you open Mi Browser, your new default start page will load up.

How to remove ads from MIUI Security

To get rid of ads from MIUI Security app, follow these steps:

Open the MIUI Security app.

Tap Settings icon on the top-right.

Scroll down and disable Receive recommendations.

How to remove ads from Cleaner

The Cleaner app comes pre-loaded on MIUI, here’s how to stop ads from that:

Open the MIUI Security app.

Tap Settings icon on the top-right.

Tap Cleaner.

Scroll down and disable Receive recommendations.

How to disable ads from MIUI Downloads app

Even the Downloads app shows ads in MIUI. Here’s how to remove these ads:

Open MIUI’s Downloads app.

Tap the three vertical dots icon on the top-right.

Tap Settings.

Disable Show recommended content.

You will see a pop-up saying you won’t be able to view recommended sources if you do this. Tap OKbecause no one wants to see these ads.

How to remove ads from Mi Music app

Not even the Mi Music app has been spared the ad treatment. Here’s how to get rid of invasive ads from there:

Open Mi Music.

Tap the three vertical lines aka hamburger icon on the top-left.

Tap Settings.

Tap Advanced settings.

Disable Receive recommendations.

How to disable ads from the Mi Video app

Here’s how to clear the ad clutter from the Mi Video app:

Open the Mi Video app.

Tap the three vertical lines aka hamburger icon on the top-left.

Tap Settings.

Turn off Online recommendation.

Turn off Push message. This will disable recommended videos showing up in the app along with notifications.

How to remove promoted apps from MIUI folders

Lots of app folders have promoted apps that are waiting to be downloaded. These annoying ads can be removed by following these steps:

Open any app folder on your Xiaomi smartphone.

Tap the name of the folder.

Disable Promoted apps.

[ravikherva]

HIGHLIGHTS

Realme U1 is the first phone to sport the MediaTek Helio P70 SoC

Gaming performance is very good but the cameras struggle in low light

Realme U1 price in India starts at Rs. 11,999

The mainstream smartphone market might seem saturated with Xiaomi and Honor usually dominating this space, but up-and-coming-brands such as Realme have proven that there is still room to grow. A recent report has pegged the company as one of the top emerging bands in India, thanks to aggressive pricing and a rapidly expanding portfolio.

Realme is adding another series to its portfolio, and the first model to debut is the Realme U1₹ 11,999 — the company's first ‘Selfie Pro' smartphone. Given how popular Oppo's F series has been, it's no surprise that the once sub-brand of Oppo is adopting a similar strategy. Other than having a high-resolution front camera, the Realme U1 is also the first phone to debut MediaTek's Helio P70 SoC, which is said to be more powerful and efficient than its predecessor, the Helio P60.

The Realme U1 will compete with Xiaomi's Redmi Y series, which is another line of selfie-focused smartphones, and of course other notables such as the Asus ZenFone Max Pro M1₹ 8,199 (Review) and Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro₹ 13,999 (Review) in the sub-Rs. 15,000 price band. Let's see if it's worth recommending over such strong competitors.

Realme U1 design

The Realme U1 looks very similar to the recently launched Realme 2 Pro₹ 13,990 (Review), and that's not a bad thing. The rounded edges offer good grip, and the matte finish of the rear means it's not slippery. The display is raised a bit from the rest of the body, so its edges don't seamlessly blend with the sides of the body. The same goes for the laminated rear panel. Thankfully, the back of this phone didn't pick up any scuff marks during the course of our review, which is a good sign. At 8mm thick, the Realme U1 is comfortable to hold and isn't too heavy at 168g either.

Button placement is good, and with typical use, we were able to reach the power and volume buttons without trouble. The SIM tray on the left can accommodate two Nano-SIMs and a microSD card, so you need not sacrifice one for the other. At the bottom of the Realme U1 we have a speaker grille, a Micro-USB port, and a 3.5mm headphone socket. Once again, the lack of USB Type-C is a bit disappointing. Our main issue is with the placement of the speaker grille, because it can easily be blocked the moment you hold the phone horizontally. This means that audio sounds muffled when playing games and watching videos, if you're not careful.

The 6.3-inch display on the Realme U1 has a 450nit maximum brightness, which makes it very legible under direct sunlight. It's an IPS panel with a 1080x2340-pixel resolution, which means you get sharp images and vivid colours. You also get a basic colour temperature adjustment slider in the Settings app. Realme has used Corning Gorilla Glass 3 for the front of this phone, which is a somewhat old generation, but it's better than nothing. The phone is also comes with a screen guard pre-applied, and ours picked up dings and scratches quite easily. The screen guard is a massive fingerprint magnet and so is the laminated back, so keeping the Realme U1 looking spotless can be a real chore.

The waterdrop or dewdrop notch looks pretty, and is a minimal hindrance in full-screen apps. Still, if you find it getting in the way, you can flip a switch in the Settings to mask it for individual apps. There's a single camera in the notch, as the earpiece and a group of sensors are above it. Due to the limited space, there's no notification LED.

The laminated back has a nice visual effect when light bounces off it. We have an ‘Ambitious Black' unit for review, but you can also get the Realme U1 in ‘Brave Blue' and ‘Fiery Gold'. The dual camera module on the rear doesn't bulge out too much, and the chrome trim held up well during our review period. The fingerprint sensor works well and is quick at authentication. It also has a slightly different texture than the rest of the back, making it easy to find. Face unlock is still very quick and inflow-light, the display lights up to compensate for the lack of good light.

The Realme U1 ships with a 10W power adapter, USB charging cable, silicone case, SIM eject tool, and the usual warranty and quick-start guides. The quality of the accessories is good, and Realme's packaging seems to have improved too, compared to its earlier offerings.

Realme U1 specifications and software

One of the main highlights of the Realme U1 is the new MediaTek Helio P70 SoC, which is a speedier version of the Helio P60. According to Realme, this new chip should provide up to 13 percent better performance compared to its predecessor. It also has an improved version of MediaTek's on-chip AI processing engine, which is said to be more efficient.

In benchmarks, the Realme U1 posted pretty good scores. It managed 1,44,161 points in AnTuTu, and in Geekbench, we got 1,573 and 5,828 in the single- and multi-threaded tests respectively. These numbers are better than what we've seen from most Helio P60-based phones we've tested such as the Oppo F7₹ 17,199 (Review) and Oppo F9₹ 16,141 (Review), and even edge out some Snapdragon 660-based phones too, such as the Realme 2 Pro. The integrated GPU gave us an average framerate of 35fps in the T-Rex graphics test of GFXbench. This is a bit lower than the Realme 2 Pro's score of 39fps in the same test.

Our review unit had 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, but you can also opt for a variant with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. Other features include dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.2, USB-OTG, FM radio, GPS, and GLONASS. Dual 4G with dual VoLTE is supported. This phone's sensors include a proximity sensor, gyroscope, compass, ambient light sensor, and accelerometer.

The Realme U1 still uses ColorOS 5.2 which is based on Android 8.1 Oreo, just like the Realme 2 Pro. It also has the fairly recent October 2018 security patch, and according to the company, we should expect an update to Android Pie “early next year.” ColorOS on this phone does have some new tweaks and features. Realme has finally fixed the annoying two-step process needed for dismissing notifications, and you can now do it with a single right-swipe.

You get the Realme U1 with a bunch of preloaded apps, most of which can be uninstalled if not needed. There are gestures for navigation, taking screenshots, and enabling split-screen mode. Smart Scan and ORoaming are two interesting features that we've seen before on Chinese versions of Oppo phones, and are now supported in India.

Smart Scan now supports Hindi in addition to German, Italian, Spanish, French, Korean, Japanese, and Chinese. Using this app, you can scan a document with text written in Hindi and have it converted into editable Hindi text. In our experience, it worked quite well, and you don't need an active Internet connection. However, you do need Internet access to use the ‘Scan and translate' feature which translates small snippets of text between Hindi and English in real-time as you hover the camera over it. The ‘Shoot and translate' feature lets you take photos of entire pages and convert them into editable text.

ORoaming generates a virtual SIM card on your phone so you can use local data services (not voice or SMS) in countries you're travelling to without having to switch SIM cards or use international roaming. Prices range between $11 and $21 for a week, depending on the country. ORoaming covers most major countries and regions, but the choice of available data packages seems a bit limited. The largest package for most countries tops out at 1GB for a week, with some exceptions such as Australia and Hong Kong, that go up to 4GB. This service is available because of a partnership between Realme and Redtea Mobile, an eSIM solutions provider. We couldn't actually test ORoaming to see how well it works or not since it would require physically travelling to one of the supported countries.

Realme U1 performance, cameras, and battery life

The Realme U1 didn't give us any unpleasant surprises during day-to-day usage and it performed just as we expected it to. Cleaning up fingerprint smudges is an uphill battle on this phone, so if you're the finicky type then we suggest using the bundled case. The display is lively, and viewing angles are pretty good too. We didn't have any issues with call quality either, and the phone runs cool for the most part.

The Helio P70 easily chomped though most games and managed to deliver solid framerates. Asphalt 9: Legends didn't seem to faze it one bit, even on the ‘High' graphics preset. PUBG Mobile also ran smoothly, but at the ‘Medium' setting. The slim borders of the display and the tiny notch give you better immersion in your content, which is nice. The phone does get slightly warm when gaming or with heavy camera use, which is normal.

Most popular audio and video file formats play just fine. The stock music player supports sound enhancements by Dirac Research, which can be enabled if you use wired headphones. The speaker gets fairly loud too, but we would have swapped its place with the headphone socket, as it's easily blocked when the phone is held in landscape mode.

Since this is a selfie-focused phone, let's start with the front camera. It's a 25-megapixel Sony IMX 576 sensor with an f/2 aperture, which we've previously seen in the Oppo F7. In daylight, the Realme U1captures detailed selfies, with good skin tones and colours in general. The AI beauty mode isn't too aggressive, and does a good job in smoothening your skin most of the time.

You might like the Super Vivid mode if you're into highly saturated colours. You can enable the depth effect, which does a decent job of blurring the background. In the latter mode, the camera uses a four-in-one pixel binning technique to give you better detail by trading off the resolution, so you get a 8-megapixel shot. When shooting against bright light, you get a real-time preview of what the HDR version of your image would look like.

In low light, we found the camera struggling to capture clean and detailed shots. Surprisingly, it still shoots at the full 25-megapixel resolution rather than defaulting to the pixel binning technique. As a result, selfies look grainy and HDR isn't of much help, as bright lights in the background looked burnt out. Edge detection isn't too accurate under dim lighting in depth mode. Realme has stated that an update to improve the front camera bokeh' mode will be released by the time this phone goes on sale.

The primary13-megapixel sensor on the rear has a f/2.2 aperture. It does a fairly good job with detail under natural light, but struggles in low light. Autofocus is not the quickest, as this camera has to hunt for about a second before locking focus. The Super Vivid mode is handy in some situations, especially when you want a little more ‘pop' in the colours. HDR works satisfactorily too, and you get the standard shooting modes such as anorama, Timelapse, Professional, and Portrait. The latter works decently well on objects too, thanks to the dedicated 2-megapixel depth sensor.

Video recording tops out at 1080p and there's no electronic stabilisation to smoothen out hand shakes. The quality is decent, but since the autofocus isn't very quick, we noticed a bit of hunting as we moved about. The framerate is fairly solid though, and low-light footage isn't too noisy. Despite the powerful SoC, the rear camera doesn't shoot 4K video, which is a shame since many phones in this segment can do that. According to Realme, this resolution has been left out since the sensor doesn't support it.

The 3500mAh battery easily lasts a full day on a single charge. We also got a good runtime in our HD video loop test, where the U1 ran an HD video non-stop for 14 hours and 56 minutes. There's no fast charging, but the included 10W adapter helps speed up the charging process a bit.

Verdict The Realme U1 starts at a price of Rs. 11,999 for the variant with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. That's not bad, considering it has a pretty powerful SoC and delivers very good battery life — a winning combo that not many in this segment have pulled off. It's roughly the same price as the 4GB version of the Xiaomi Redmi Y2₹ 9,260 (Review), but considering that the front cameras of both phones have a tough time in low light, we think you're better off with the Realme U1, which has a more modern design and more powerful internals.

The 4GB RAM version that we tested is priced at Rs. 14,499, which puts it smack against the base variant of Realme's own Realme 2 Pro (Review). The latter has a better rear camera and supports 4K video, so if that's your priority then we'd recommend it over the U1. At the time of publishing this review, none of the Realme 2 variants were in stock. The company has told us that the phone will continue be sold though flash sales every Friday, but it hasn't specified whether that means all variants will still be available. We just wish the Realme U1 had similar or better cameras than the Realme 2 Pro. At around this price, you also have phones like the Redmi Note 6 Pro (Review) and Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1 (6GB) (Review), which offer good all-round performance.

The Realme U1 misses out a few things like video stabilisation, and the low-light performance of its front as well as rear cameras is average at best. On the other hand, it does have many upsides such as a powerful processor, good battery life, a sharp display, and nice aesthetics. It also takes good pictures in daylight, which makes it worth recommending.

[ravikherva]

Oppo A7 was recently launched in Nepal and China, and is a mid-segment smartphone with dual cameras and a gradient design. Soon after, the company began teasing the India launch of the smartphone. For now, we don't have a confirmed launch date of the smartphone. But ahead of that, an established Mumbai-based retailer has revealed the Oppo A7 price in India. To recall, the Oppo A7's biggest highlights are its 4,230mAh battery, its dual rear camera setup, and large 6.2-inch display with a 19:9 aspect ratio. It also features a contoured finish on its body, and will be available in Glaring Gold and Glaze Blue colour variants.

Oppo A7 Pro price in India (rumoured)

According to Mahesh Telecom, the Oppo A7 price in India will be set at Rs. 16,990, though for now it is unclear which variant the retailer is referring to. The Oppo India site lists two variants of the Oppo A7 - 3GB RAM/ 32GB inbuilt storage and 4GB RAM/ 32GB inbuilt storage. In Nepal, only a 3GB RAM/ 32GB inbuilt storage variant was listed at NPR 35,790 (roughly Rs. 22,200), while in China only a 4GB RAM/ 64GB inbuilt storage variant was listed, priced at CNY 1,599 (roughly Rs. 16,500).

Oppo A7 specifications

The dual-SIM (Nano) Oppo A7 runs on Android 8.1 Oreo-based ColorOS 5.2. The smartphone sports a 6.2-inch HD+ (720x1520 pixels) display with a 19:9 aspect ratio, and 88.3 percent screen-to-body ratio, and a waterdrop-style notch. It is powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 processor with Adreno 506 GPU, paired with 3GB and 4GB RAM options.

In terms of optics, the Oppo A7 comes with a dual camera setup at the back. There is a 13-megapixel primary sensor and a 2-megapixel secondary sensor. At the front, there is a 16-megapixel selfie camera. Notably, the Oppo A7 comes with 32GB of inbuilt storage, expandable via microSD card (up to 256GB), though China also lists a 64GB inbuilt storage option.

Connectivity options in the Oppo A7 include 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth v4.2, GPS/ A-GPS, GLONASS, Micro-USB with OTG support, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Sensors on board include accelerometer, ambient light sensor, digital compass, gyroscope, and proximity sensor. The phone is fuelled by a 4,230mAh battery. In terms of dimensions, the smartphone measures 155.9x75.4x8.1mm, and weighs 168 grams.

[ravikherva]

HIGHLIGHTS

Redmi Note 6 Pro has been launched in India

It will be sold at an exclusive discount only in today’s sale

Additional discount for HDFC customers

Redmi Note 6 Pro has been launched in India as the successor to the popular Redmi Note 5 Pro. The new Xiaomi phone comes with only a few upgrades to the design and the camera specifications. The Redmi Note 6 Pro now has a dual selfie camera setup, a 19:9 display with a notch, Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 support, and AI features to boost the camera performance. The phone's first sale will be held on Flipkart, Mi.com, and Mi Home at 12pm IST (Noon) today, wherein it will be available at an exclusive discount. Let's take a look at all Redmi Note 6 Pro launch offers Xiaomi announced at the launch event in New Delhi on Thursday.

Redmi Note 6 Pro sale offers, price in India

While Xiaomi has set the Redmi Note 6 Pro price in India at Rs. 13,999 for the 4GB RAM/ 64GB storage model and Rs. 15,999 for the 6GB RAM/ 64GB storage variant, it will be sold for a price of Rs. 12,999 and Rs. 14,999, respectively, only during the Black Friday sale today at 12pm on Flipkart, Mi.com, and Mi Home stores. Not just that, both variants of Redmi Note 6 Pro will also be eligible for an instant discount of Rs. 500 via HDFC credit/ debit cards and EMI transactions only during the Black Friday sale.

Xiaomi says that an additional surprise sale will be held on November 23, details for which will be revealed at 12pm IST (Noon) itself.

Apart from this one-time offer, Reliance Jio is bundling a Rs. 2,400 cashback and double data offer with the Redmi Note 6 Pro. The Rs. 2,400 cashback will be available in the form of 24 vouchers worth Rs. 100 each, applicable only on the Rs. 299 Jio recharge pack. There are also double data benefits on 4 recharges of the Rs. 198 and above Jio prepaid packs subject to device activation until June 2019. Lastly, users can avail up to 6TB of additional data for long term packs worth Rs. 9,999 upon completion of 4 recharges.

The Redmi Note 6 Pro will soon be sold via Xiaomi's offline partners as well, but might get a higher MOP than the one online.

Redmi Note 6 Pro specifications

The dual-SIM (Nano) Redmi Note 6 Pro runs MIUI 10 on top of Android 8.1 Oreo, and sports a 6.26-inch full-HD+ (1080x2280 pixels) display with a 19:9 aspect ratio. The handset is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 SoC, coupled with 4GB/ 6GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard storage.

In the camera department, the Redmi Note 6 Pro sports a dual rear camera setup with a 12-megapixel primary sensor and a 5-megapixel secondary depth sensor. On the front it gets another dual camera setup with a 20-megapixel primary sensor and a 2-megapixel secondary sensor. There is a 4,000mAh battery under the hood with support for Quick Charge 3.0.

[ravikherva]

HIGHLIGHTS

Nokia 7.1 features a 12-megapixel + 5-megapixel rear camera setup

Nokia 6.1 Plus has a 16-megapixel + 5-megapixel setup at the back

Nokia 7.1 has faster 18W charging

Nokia 7.1 is the latest launch in HMD Global's expansive range of Nokia handsets that has grown over the past couple of years. The Nokia 7.1 borrows the design philosophy of the Nokia 6.1 Plus₹ 15,999 and Nokia 5.1 Plus₹ 10,999 and sports a 19:9 display with a notch, a substantial chin, and vertically aligned dual rear cameras. In the mid-range smartphone segment, the Nokia 7.1 competes with HMD Global’s Nokia 6.1 Plus. The Nokia 6.1 Plus has similar specifications, including the same Snapdragon 636 SoC, 19:9 display, and 3,060mAh battery. However, it does have a different set of cameras and will get Android Pie this month. Let’s check out the differences in pricing and specifications of the Nokia 7.1 and Nokia 6.1 Plus.

Nokia 7.1 vs Nokia 6.1 Plus price

Nokia 7.1 price ranges from EUR 299 (roughly Rs. 25,300) to EUR 349 (about Rs. 29,600), depending on the region it is being sold in. The phone has been launched in Gloss Midnight Blue and Gloss Steel colour variants, and will be available in European markets starting later this month. There is currently no word on India pricing and availability.

On the other hand, the Nokia 6.1 Plus has been priced in India at Rs. 15,999 and is available, in Gloss Black, Gloss Midnight Blue, and Gloss White colour options, via Flipkart and Nokia online store in the country. Customers are entitled to no-cost EMI plans and free data on the Jio network. The Nokia 6.1 Plus was first launched globally in Hong Kong at a price of HKD 2,288 (roughly Rs. 21,500) in Blue and White colour options.

Nokia 7.1 vs Nokia 6.1 Plus specifications

Both the Nokia 7.1 and Nokia 6.1 Plus are dual-SIM (Nano) smartphones that run a stock version of Android 8.1 Oreo, based on the Android One programme. While the Nokia 7.1 is slated to get Android 9.0 Pie next month, the Nokia 6.1 Plus has been confirmed to receive the update in October itself.

The Nokia 7.1 sports a 5.84-inch full-HD+ (1080x2280 pixels) PureDisplay panel with an aspect ratio of 19:9. Even the Nokia 6.1 Plus sports a full-HD+ (1080x2280 pixels) display with a 19:9 aspect ratio, however it has a smaller diagonal dimension of 5.8 inches, and foregoes the HDR10 support of the PureDisplay panel. Both come with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. The Nokia 7.1, exclusively, has real-time SDR to HDR conversion using a 16-bit engine.

Both these phones are powered by Qualcomm’s octa-core Snapdragon 636 SoC. While the Nokia 6.1 Plus only offers a 4GB RAM/ 64GB inbuilt storage configuration, the newly-launched Nokia 7.1 allows the user to choose from a 3GB RAM/ 32GB storage and a 4GB RAM/ 64GB storage variant. Both smartphones support external storage via microSD cards (up to 400GB).

Much like other design elements, the Nokia 7.1 and Nokia 6.1 Plus sport a similar-looking vertical dual rear camera setup, albeit with different sensors. The Nokia 7.1 gets a 12-megapixel primary sensor, with autofocus and f/1.8 aperture, and a 5-megapixel secondary sensor, with fixed focus and f/2.4 aperture - the rear camera setup features Zeiss optics, EIS, as well as two-phase detection. On the other hand, the Nokia 6.1 Plus features a 16-megapixel primary sensor and a 5-megapixel secondary sensor, both with f/2.0 aperture and 1-micron pixel size. On the front, the Nokia 7.1 bears an 8-megapixel fixed focus sensor with f/2.0 aperture and an 84-degree field-of-view. The Nokia 6.1 Plus gets a 16-megapixel sensor with f/2.0 aperture and 1-micron pixel size.

Once again, both the Nokia 7.1 and Nokia 6.1 Plus sport non-removable 3,060mAh battery units under the hood. The Nokia 7.1 comes with support for 18W fast charging, which claims to deliver 50 percent charge in 30 minutes. The Nokia 6.1 Plus has support for 10W fast charging. Both phones sport face-mounted fingerprint sensors and software-based face unlock authentication.

As for connectivity, both of the handsets get 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS/ A-GPS, GLONASS, USB Type-C, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Additionally, the Nokia 7.1 comes with support for NFC, while the Nokia 6.1 Plus does not. In terms of dimensions and weight, the Nokia 7.1 measures 149.7x71.19x7.99mm and weighs 159 grams. On the other hand, the Nokia 6.1 Plus measures 147.2x70.98x7.99mm and is slightly less heavy at 151 grams.

NOKIA 7.1 VS NOKIA 6.1 PLUS COMPARISON

  Nokia 7.1

Nokia 6.1 Plus

-

 Rs.15,999

Ratings Overall NDTV Rating - Design Rating - Display Rating - Software Rating - Performance Rating - Battery Life Rating - Camera Rating - Value for Money Rating - GENERAL Release date October 2018 July 2018 Launched in India No Yes Dimensions (mm) 149.70 x 71.20 x 7.99 147.20 x 70.98 x 8.59 Weight (g) 160.00 151.00 Battery capacity (mAh) 3060 3060 Colours Gloss Midnight Blue, Gloss Steel Gloss White, Gloss Midnight Blue, Gloss Black DISPLAY Screen size (inches) 5.84 5.80 Resolution 1080x2280 pixels 1080x2280 pixels Aspect ratio 19:9 19:9 Protection type - Gorilla Glass HARDWARE Processor 1.8GHz octa-core octa-core Processor make Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 RAM 3GB 4GB Internal storage 32GB 64GB Expandable storage Yes Yes Expandable storage type microSD microSD Expandable storage up to (GB) 400 400 CAMERA Rear camera 12-megapixel (f/1.8, 1.28-micron) + 5-megapixel (f/2.4, 1.12-micron) 16-megapixel (f/2.0) + 5-megapixel Front camera 8-megapixel (f/2.0) 16-megapixel (f/2.0) Rear flash - Dual LED SOFTWARE Operating system Android 8.1 Android 8.1 CONNECTIVITY Wi-Fi standards supported 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac Bluetooth Yes, v 5.00 Yes, v 5.00 USB Type-C Yes Yes Number of SIMs 2 2 USB OTG - Yes SIM 1 SIM Type - Nano-SIM 4G/ LTE - Yes SENSORS Fingerprint sensor Yes - Compass/ Magnetometer Yes Yes Proximity sensor Yes Yes Accelerometer Yes Yes Ambient light sensor Yes Yes Gyroscope Yes Yes SIM 2 SIM Type - Nano-SIM 4G/ LTE - Yes

[ravikherva]

HIGHLIGHTS

It will be first smartphone in India with Snapdragon 439

The smartphone comes with dual rear camera and waterdrop-shaped notch

It also features a fingerprint sensor on the rear panel

Vivo is all set to launch its Y95 smartphone in India on November 25. It will be the first smartphone in India to be equipped with the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 439 SoC, and will cost around Rs. 20,000, IANS reports, citing industry sources. Its highlights include a dual rear camera and waterdrop-shaped notch. It also features a fingerprint sensor on the rear panel.

The Chinese smartphone manufacturer has confirmed the India launch date on its website. To recall, the Vivo Y95 was launched for the first time globally in the Phillippines last week. The Vivo Y95 price in the country was set at PHP 13,999 (roughly Rs. 19,100).

As for specifications, the dual-SIM Vivo Y95 runs on Android 8.1 Oreo based on FunTouch OS 4.5. It sports a 6.22-inch IPS HD+ (720x1520 pixels) resolution with 270ppi pixel density and 2.5D curved glass protection. It is powered by the 1.9GHz 64-bit Snapdragon 439 octa-core SoC paired with Adreno 505 and 4GB RAM. Internal storage is at 64GB, and is further expandable using a microSD card slot.

Optics on the Vivo Y95 include a dual camera setup at the back - one 13-megapixel sensor and another 2-megapixel sensor with support for LED flash and PDAF. At the front, there is an upgraded 20-megapixel sensor wit AI face beauty and selfie flash support. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi, 4G LTE, Bluetooth, OTG, GM Radio, GPS, GLONASS, and more. Sensors on board include accelerometer, light sensor, orientation, face unlock, and proximity sensor. The smartphone is listed to pack a 4,030mAh battery.

[ravikherva]

HIGHLIGHTS

Samsung Galaxy A8s is expected to be the first with an Infinity-O Display

It is seen to sport a rear fingerprint sensor, triple camera setup

Infinity-O Display screen panels have also been leaked

Samsung is expected to launch its Galaxy A8s smartphone in the next few days, which will most likely be its first one to sport the Infinity-O Display design bringing a small circular cutout for the selfie camera. The design of the upcoming Galaxy A8s has now been leaked in certain renders showing the presence of a triple rear camera setup and a rear-mounted physical fingerprint sensor. Additionally, some shots of the new Infinity-O Display panels have surfaced online that give us a real-world look at the cutout of the selfie camera on the panel.

Teased at the launch of the Samsung Galaxy A6s and Galaxy A9s, the Galaxy A8s will be launched by the South Korean giant shortly. The hole on the front is expected to house the selfie camera as well as crucial sensors like the proximity sensor and ambient light sensor. According to a report by German blog AllAboutSamsung, the upcoming Galaxy A8s will sport an almost-bezel-free panel with a slight chin at the bottom, not larger than the one on the Galaxy S9₹ 46,900 or the Galaxy Note 9.

The hole for the selfie camera on the Samsung Galaxy A8s will be placed on the upper left corner of the display. However, the report mentions that the front camera is not placed under the display and will be visible. The leaked renders show a triple camera setup at the back, much like the Galaxy A7 (2018), with no information the sensors being used. The fingerprint sensor on the back of the smartphone, as shown in the renders, appears to be small and elliptical-shaped. That said, these renders are not officially from Samsung and their genuineness needs to be taken with a pinch of salt.

Separately, a couple of shots of the alleged Samsung Infinity-O Design screen panel have surfacedonline, via SlashLeaks. While most of the elements are pixelated, the cutout for the selfie camera can be clearly seen placed on the upper left corner.

[ravikherva]

OnePlus 6T smartphone was launched in October 2018. The phone comes with a 6.41-inch touchscreen display with a resolution of 1080 pixels by 2340 pixels. OnePlus 6T price in India starts from Rs. 37,999.

The OnePlus 6T is powered by octa-core (4x2.8GHz) processor and it comes with 8GB of RAM. The phone packs 128GB of internal storage that cannot be expanded. As far as the cameras are concerned, the OnePlus 6T packs a 16-megapixel (f/1.7, 1.22-micron) primary camera and a 20-megapixel (f/1.7, 1-micron) secondary camera on the rear and a 16-megapixel front shooter for selfies.

The OnePlus 6T is powered by a 3700mAh non removable battery. It measures 157.50 x 74.80 x 8.20 (height x width x thickness) and weighs 185.00 grams.

The OnePlus 6T is a Dual-SIM (GSM and GSM) smartphone that accepts Nano-SIM and Nano-SIM. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, NFC, USB OTG, USB Type-C, Active 4G on both SIM cards, 3G and 4G (with support for Band 40 used by some LTE networks in India). Sensors on the phone include Face unlock, Fingerprint sensor, Compass/ Magnetometer, Proximity sensor, Accelerometer, Ambient light sensor and Gyroscope.

About OnePlus

OnePlus is a Shenzhen-based start-up and producer of smartphones founded in December, 2013. The company's claim to fame is its bid to offer flagship-level specs in its smartphones, at affordable prices. OnePlus initially sold its smartphones only through an invite system where customers would be sent an invite to purchase smartphones and they had to make the purchase within a fixed time frame. Of late the company has held open sales of its smartphones too.

OnePlus 6T full specifications

GENERAL

Release date October 2018 Form factor Touchscreen Body type Glass Dimensions (mm) 157.50 x 74.80 x 8.20 Weight (g) 185.00 Battery capacity (mAh) 3700 Removable battery No Fast charging Proprietary Wireless charging No Colours Midnight Black, Mirror Black

DISPLAY

Screen size (inches) 6.41 Touchscreen Yes Resolution 1080x2340 pixels Protection type Gorilla Glass Aspect ratio 19.5:9

HARDWARE

Processor octa-core (4x2.8GHz) Processor make Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 RAM 8GB Internal storage 128GB Expandable storage No

CAMERA

Rear camera 16-megapixel (f/1.7, 1.22-micron) + 20-megapixel (f/1.7, 1-micron) Rear autofocus Phase detection autofocus Rear flash Dual LED Front camera 16-megapixel (f/2.0, 1-micron) Front flash No

SOFTWARE

Operating system Android 9.0 Skin OxygenOS

CONNECTIVITY

Wi-Fi Yes Wi-Fi standards supported 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac GPS Yes Bluetooth Yes, v 5.00 NFC Yes USB OTG Yes USB Type-C Yes Headphones Type-C Number of SIMs 2 Active 4G on both SIM cards Yes SIM 1 SIM Type Nano-SIM GSM/CDMA GSM 3G Yes 4G/ LTE Yes Supports 4G in India (Band 40) Yes SIM 2 SIM Type Nano-SIM GSM/CDMA GSM 3G Yes 4G/ LTE Yes Supports 4G in India (Band 40) Yes

SENSORS

Face unlock Yes Fingerprint sensor Yes Compass/ Magnetometer Yes Proximity sensor Yes Accelerometer Yes Ambient light sensor Yes Gyroscope Yes