Reviews Phone

This week we have big-screen smartphones from Samsung, audio gear from Audio Technica, personal audio players and more at a discount.

1. Samsung Galaxy Note Edge

The Samsung Galaxy Note Edge is now available at a discounted price of Rs. 34,999 (MRP Rs. 68,500) on Amazon. The smartphone normally retails online at a price point above Rs. 44,000. If you are looking for a big-screen device in the sub-Rs. 35,000 price band, and don't care much about previous generation specifications, the Galaxy Note Edge is still a very decent device at this price point. The Galaxy Note Edge features a 5.6-inch super AMOLED display and a 16MP primary camera along with a 3.7MP front-facing camera. The smartphone is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 805 SoC which comprises of a quad-core processor, supported by 3GB of RAM. The smartphone includes a 3000mAh battery. The Edge display enables an easier access to notifications at all times without disturbing your general view within the main display.

Amazon

2. D-Link DSM260 media streamer

There's no shortage of media streaming devices in the market especially after Google released the first Chromecast. Each of them cater to a wide range of audience. If you are in the market for a media streamer that can stream content from your mobile device to your big screen or just turn your existing audio setup into wireless, the D-Link DSM260 will be a good option. The wireless media streamer is now down to Rs. 1,990 (MRP Rs. 4620). This is one of its lowest price points we've seen. The D-Link DSM260 supports DLNA, Miracast and MirrorOp standards. You can use your existing devices including any Android phone, tablet, MacBook or a Windows laptop. The streamer can be hooked to a TV display using an HDMI port. You can even mirror your computer or mobile device display to your TV using this.

Amazon

3. Samsung Galaxy Note 4 32GB

Flipkart is hosting a Samsung Week promotional sale where the online retailer is offering discounts and deals on select smartphones. As a part of the promotion, Galaxy Note 4 is down to Rs. 29,900 (MRP Rs. 36,900) for this week. At this price, the Note 4 is not a bad option at all. Galaxy Note 4 features a 5.7-inch quad HD super AMOLED display. It comes with a 16MP primary camera at the back and a 3.7MP front-facing camera. The primary camera also includes OIS (optical image stabilisation) which can really help if your hands shake while taking a photo. The massive smartphone's battery is also quite large at 3220 mAh, which can charge from 0-50% in around 30 minutes flat.

flipkart

4. Audio Technica ATH-M40X headphones

If you are serious about your music but still don't want to pay the retail price for a great pair of headphones, the Audio Technica ATH-M40X are now down to Rs. 5,980 (MRP Rs. 8,999) on Amazon. This is one of the lowest price points these headphones have ever touched. The stocks are limited so don't waste all your time thinking. These headphones are powered by 40mm drivers and offer 90 degrees swivelling earcups for on-ear monitoring. Built for professional studio environments, these headphones can also be great for home or office usage. They help isolate the noise to a lot of extent, making sure you're tuned into your favourite music at all times. At this price range, it's going to be very hard to find a pair of headphones that can match the sound quality.

Amazon

5. Fiio X7 digital audio player

It's not just the headphones that decide the sound quality you're doing to get, your audio player also makes a lot of difference. Fiio X7 personal audio player is now down to Rs. 38,074 (using code WC6) on Infibeam. The high-resolution audio player normally retails at a price point of around Rs. 42,000. The audio player features a 4-inch touchscreen display and runs Android 4.4 KitKat. It is powered by a quad-core Cortex A9 processor, supported by 1GB of RAM. The Fiio X7 comes with the basic AM1 in-ear headphones. The audio player supports a large number of audio formats.

infibeam

HTC, the Taiwanese phone maker, announced its latest flagship the HTC 10 on Tuesday evening, roughly two months after Samsung, LG and Sony put their best foot forward at MWC in Barcelona.

On paper, the phone matches its competitors on most specifications: a quad-HD screen, the latest Qualcomm chip, 4GB of memory, and expandable storage. One major difference is the use of UltraPixel technology, as the rear camera sports a 12 UltraPixel sensor. Though history has not been kind to UltraPixel - remember the issues with the HTC One M8 - it seems that the company has managed to hit it out of the park this time around.

While the media in India is yet to get its hands on the phone, the HTC 10 boasts of the best camera in a smartphone, according to DxOMark - a trusted standard for imaging quality. It's supposed to be at par with the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge and beats the Sony Xperia Z5 for picture quality. And for what it's worth, HTC is promising a two-day battery life on its new phone, though such claims have rarely translated into real world usage. At this stage then, it has everything you could ask for in a flagship. But it doesn't matter. The HTC 10 looks destined to be another also-ran, and its problems are of the company's own making.

At the time of writing, the company was still undecided about what variant of the phone to bring to India. HTC flip-flopped hopelessly on simple decisions, making people wonder what version of the phone it would launch in India, and even a statement that was supposedly meant to clear things up, only muddled things further.

Instead of giving everyone the Snapdragon 820 model that it's touting the world over, the Taiwanese maker first said it would bring the HTC 10 Lifestyle to India, that comes fitted with a Snapdragon 652 chip instead. This might be a good performer in itself but is no match for the Snapdragon 820, found in competitors such as the Samsung Galaxy S7 and the LG G5. When someone is forking over more than Rs 50,000 - which is quite likely to be the asking price based on HTC's past - this kind of second-string treatment reflects poorly.

HTC's flip-flopping extends to its design aesthetic and philosophy as well. Its One M series was not only beautiful to behold and wonderful to grip, but its dual-speaker grille made it stand out as one of the only flagship phones with stereo speakers. The new dual-speaker setup on the 10 might deliver an even better experience, but I have to doubt what the company is thinking with the phone's design. There's nothing pointedly exciting about its appearance, and it's hard to see HTC convincing anyone to not look at the S7 Edge instead.

Which brings us to marketing: HTC dropped both "One" and"M" monikers this year for the better sounding HTC 10. But this is far from the first change. In the past four years, the company has gone from calling its flagship the HTC One X to just HTC One, on to HTC One M8 and M9 before switching this time around to the HTC 10. During the same time, Samsung launched the S3, followed by the S4, S5, S6, and the S7 - one every year. It's a much simpler approach that won't confuse even those who don't know anything about smartphones.


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Display 5.15-inch | Processor 1.8GHz | Front Camera 4-Ultrapixel | Resolution 1080x1920 pixels | RAM 3GB | OS Android 6.0 | Storage 32GB | Rear Camera 16-megapixel | Battery capacity 3000mAh

Xiaomi Mi 5 smartphone was launched in February 2016. The phone comes with a 5.15-inch touchscreen display with a resolution of 1080 pixels by 1920 pixels at a PPI of 428 pixels per inch.

The Xiaomi Mi 5 is powered by 1.8GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor and it comes with 3GB of RAM. The phone packs 32GB of internal storage cannot be expanded. As far as the cameras are concerned, the Xiaomi Mi 5 packs a 16-megapixel primary camera on the rear and a 4-Ultrapixel front shooter for selfies.

The Xiaomi Mi 5 runs Android 6.0 and is powered by a 3000mAh non removable battery. It measures 144.50 x 69.20 x 7.25 (height x width x thickness) and weighs 129.00 grams.

The Xiaomi Mi 5 is a dual SIM (GSM and GSM) smartphone that accepts two Nano-SIM. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, NFC, FM, 3G, 4G (with support for Band 40 used by some LTE networks in India). Sensors on the phone include Proximity sensor, Ambient light sensor, Accelerometer, and Gyroscope.

About Xiaomi

Xiaomi is a privately owned company that designs, develops, and sells smartphones, an Android-based OS, and other consumer electronics. Xiaomi also makes fitness trackers, TVs, air purifiers, and tablets. It has a skin for its Android phones and tablets – MIUI. The company largely sells its phones via flash sales in India.


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Xiaomi has launched the Mi 5 flagship smartphone in India, priced at Rs. 24,999. The company has so far only brought a single variant of the smartphone in India, what was unveiled as the 'standard edition' in China, featuring 3GB of LPDDR4 RAM and 32GB inbuilt storage. The smartphone will be available in its first flash sale on Mi.com from April 6. It will be available via Xiaomi's e-commerce partners a few weeks later.

To recall, two other Xiaomi Mi 5 variants had been launched in China - the 'prime edition' with 3GB of LPDDR4 RAM and 64GB inbuilt storage, and the 'pro edition' featuring 4GB LPDDR4 RAM and 128GB inbuilt storage.

The dual-SIM (Nano + Nano) Xiaomi Mi 5 features a 5.15-inch full-HD (1080x1920 pixels) with curved 3D Ceramic glass, and a pixel density of 428ppi. It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor coupled with Adreno 530 GPU. It sports a 16-megapixel Sony IMX298 camera sensor with PDAF (phase detection autofocus) and LED flash. The rear camera also sports 4-axis OIS (optical image stabilisation) and sapphire glass protection lens. The smartphone supports 4K video recording. It also sports a 4-UltraPixel front camera, with 2-micron pixels. Both cameras feature an f/2.0 aperture.

It measures 144.5x69.2x7.25mm and weighs 129 grams. The Mi 5 packs a 3000mAh battery and supports Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0. The company says that the Quick Charge 3.0 is 20 percent faster than its predecessor, the Quick Charge 2.0. Also onboard is a USB Type-C port. Connectivity options include VoLTE support, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/ac, 4G, Bluetooth 4.2, Glonass, and NFC.


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Soon after making available the stable release of its Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow-based MIUI ROM (v7.2.8) in China for the Mi 3, Mi 4, and Mi Note, Xiaomi has announced the global beta release of the ROM (v6.3.17) for the same handsets.

To note, unlike the MIUI China ROM, the MIUI Global Beta ROM 6.3.17 comes with Google Mobile Services built-in, and along with it, access to the Google Play app store. To recall, Xiaomi released MIUI 7.1 global stable build for a range of devices in January 2016. The update, depending on the device, offered either Android Lollipop features, or Android KitKat features.

In a forum post, Xiaomi has detailed the highlights that the update will bring, as well as listed download and installation instructions. Some of the biggest new features include account lock after flashing phone in Mi Cloud - Find device; improved Permission Manager; shortcuts to downloads and hidden folders in Explorer; device-to-device wireless transfers in Explorer, and a new card design for Explorer.

There are also several optimisations that Xiaomi has made with the update, including voice over for SIM 1, SIM 2, Keypad; name card style when sending contacts; text box style of starred messages; and improved support for syncing part of SIM card messages. Fixes include several for text messages, lock screen, status bar, notification bar, home screen, backup, and cleaner.


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