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smartphones

Asus ROG Phone 3 launches next month, we go hands-on

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Asus was one of the first companies to launch a smartphone dedicated to gaming and here we are two years in, with the third iteration of the ROG Phone. Aptly named the ROG Phone 3, the phone is a powerhouse that not only boasts the latest and greatest of state-of-the-art hardware but interesting accessories and features that elevate the whole gaming experience.

Design-wise, there’s not a drastic change over the last two generations but the overall design is more refined. The phone is still on the heavier side, which weighs the same as the ROG Phone II at 240g  with the same flashing ROG logo at the back, USB-C ports on the sides, huge screen on the front and improved AirTriggers on the side. The overall finish of the phone feels premium.

The 6.59-inch full HD+ AMOLED display takes over the front and is a considerable jump over the previous ROG Phone. The screen has a maximum brightness of 650 nits with wide colour gamut and is HDR10 and HDR10+ certified. However, the cherry on top is the 144Hz refresh rate. Now given the brief period, we haven’t got a chance to try out many games, but we’ll certainly have our say when we do a full-fledged review in the coming weeks. However, it’s a welcome addition and the best part is the phone dynamically changes the refresh rate to suit the app and process for better power efficiency.

Another major change is the processor and is now powered by Snapdragon 865 Plus processor supported by 8GB or 12GB of RAM in India and up to 256GB of internal storage. The phone also features GameCool 3 that uses an advanced 3D vapour chamber and a larger heat sink to keep the thermal temperature down and helping achieve better performance are the software optimisations like the X Mode and Asus’ Armoury Crate software, which is a regular on its laptops and desktops as well. 

On the camera front, the ROG Phone 3 has gone with a triple camera setup with the 64MP IMX686 sensor at the helm followed by a 13MP ultra-wide and a 5MP macro. The main camera supports 8K video recording with support for 4K, even in slow-mo. The front has a 24MP sensor.

The AirTriggers 3 have also got an upgrade and the ultrasonic sensors are now accelerometer-powered and support dual partition to emulate L1/L2 and R1/R2 keys like in an actual gaming controller.

The final piece of the ROG Phone 3 puzzle is the huge battery. The 6000mAh battery ensures longer gaming sessions and comes with a set of battery customisations to improve the life of the battery with intelligent charges and discharges. The phone also comes with a 30W HyperCharge adapter for faster charging.

ROG Phone 3 is incomplete without its array of accessories and it seems Asus will make them widely available this time around. While the Aero Case is bundled in the box, there are other interesting accessories like the AeroActive Cooler 3 that throws air from the built-in fan to cool the phone. The Mobile Desktop Dock is the same from last year there’s a new Kunai 3 gamepad and TwinView Dock 3 that brings 144Hz of goodness on two displays. ROG Clip is useful to dock and play with a PS4, Xbox One or Stadia controller whereas the in-ear audio need is taken care by Cetra and Cetra Core.

The ROG Phone 3 launches on Flipkart on August 6 carrying a price tag of Rs. 49,999 for the 8/128GB version and Rs. 57,999 for 12/256GB.

Following are the prices of the accessories

ROG Phone 3 Glass Screen Protector: Rs. 699
ROG Clip: Rs. 1999
ROG Phone 3 Neon Aero Case: Rs. 1999
ROG Phone 3 Lighting Armor case: Rs. 2999
AeroActive Cooler 3: Rs. 2999
ROG Cetra Core: Rs. 3999
ROG Cetra Headset: Rs. 7699
ROG Kunai 3 Gamepad: Rs. 9999
Mobile Desktop Dock: Rs. 12999
TwinView Dock 3: Rs. 19999

Motorola Edge+ is now official for India

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Motorola confirmed last month that the new Edge series is coming to India and right on the money, the powerful and superior sibling, Edge+ is here. There will be only one variant up for sale at Rs. 74,999 and while the phone is on the expensive side, the Edge+ packs in some serious hardware.

The Motorola Edge+ is similar to the international variant that is powered with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 865 processor, which means the phone also supports 5G. The phone boasts 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM, 256GB of UFS 3.0 storage and boasts a beautiful Endless Edge AMOLED display that has a screen size of 6.7-inches with 90Hz of refresh rate and HDR10+ support.

Motorola Edge+ has also got an upgrade on the camera side with a 108MP sensor on-board with an 8MP telephoto lens or a 16MP ultra-wide angle lens that doubles up as a macro vision. The phone can record videos in 6K that even lets you take 20MP photos while shooting video.

That’s not all. The Motorola Edge+ comes with a 5000mAh battery with TurboPower and wireless charging support, Android 10 OS and audio tuning tech from Waves.

The phone will be available in Smokey Sangria and Thunder Grey from May 26 with pre-orders currently live on Flipkart. ICICI credit card users can avail a flat discount of Rs. 7,500 while purchasing online or as a cashback when purchasing it from an offline channel.

Xiaomi Mi 10 comes with 5G, 108MP camera

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The star of today’s announcement is not the Mi Box 4K or Mi True Wireless Earphones 2. In fact, it is Xiaomi’s most expensive smartphone for the Indian market yet. The Mi 10 goes head-to-head with OnePlus’ 8 Pro series with comparable flagship performance but with an improved design and a whopping 108MP camera sensor.

Mi 10 sports an almost bezel-less design with 3D glass on the front and back and protected by Gorilla Glass 5. The 6.67-inch AMOLED DotDisplay on the front has a 90Hz refresh rate and 180Hz touch sampling rate with the display supporting HDR, P3 colour gamut and a peak brightness of 1120 nits.

Just like most flagship phones these days, Mi 10, too, is also powered by Snapdragon 865 that delivers top-of-the-line performance and brings in 5G along with MultiLink support that enables simultaneous connection to your 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi networks and mobile data. The Mi 10 will also have 8GB LPDDR5 RAM and 128GB or 256GB UFS 3.0 storage.

On the camera front, the quad-camera setup at the back is led by 108MP sensor with 13MP manning the ultra-wide duty and 2MP depth and macro sensor. The main camera can shoot videos to up to 8K video resolution. The front has a 20MP selfie camera.

The 4780mAh battery can be charged with the boxed 30W charger or the 30W wireless charger. The phone also supports 10W reverse wireless charging.

Mi 10 will sell in two colour variants – Twilight Grey and Coral Green in 8GB +128GB for Rs. 49,999 and 8GB + 256GB for Rs. 54,999 on Mi.com, Mi Homes, Amazon India and offline retail stores. It will go on sale from May 18 but can be pre-ordered from today to receive a Mi Wireless Power Bank 10000mAh. Additionally, customers transacting with HDFC debit or credit card will also be eligible for Rs. 3,000 discount.

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OnePlus’s Next-Gen 120Hz Fluid Display could be the “best smartphone display in 2020”

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OnePlus CEO Pete Lau announced they have developed a 120Hz Fluid Display, which surpasses their current first 90Hz Fluid Display used in the OnePlus 7 Pro. Developed by Samsung Display, OnePlus’ AMOLED display panel boasts an impressive 120Hz refresh rate, a peak brightness of more than 1000 nits and improved colour accuracy.

The 120Hz Fluid Display achieves high efficiency in functionality, with considerable performance in measures of click response, scroll response, and accuracy. A video shot at 24 or 30 fps can can now be played at 60 or 120 fps with MEMC technology – which is used in high-end TVs nowadays – thereby providing a seamless and more fluid viewing experience for users whilst lowering the power consumption in comparison to other panels.

Keeping the needs of designers, photographers and other creators in mind, the OnePlus 120Hz Fluid Display has top-notch colour accuracy, providing 1024 shades of each primary colour and 1.07 billion possible colours, which is 64 times as many colours as supported by mainstream smartphone devices.

Samsung announces the Galaxy Note10 and Note10+ in India

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Samsung India today announced their latest addition to the Galaxy Note10 series at their iconic Samsung Opera House store in Bengaluru. The Galaxy Note10 and the Galaxy Note 10+ duo will go on sale in India next week and while both phones vary in terms of size and hardware parameters, Samsung has tried to ensure that both devices offer the best of Galaxy Note features at different price points. 

Starting with the Galaxy Note 10, the phone features a 6.3-inch FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED Infinity-O display and is powered by Samsung’s 7nm Exynos processor. In India, only one variant will be on sale, which will have 8GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage. It will have 3500mAh battery and a triple camera setup at the back with a 12MP f1.5/f2.4 OIS main sensor complemented by a 16MP ultra-wide and 12MP telephoto. The front facing is a 10MP f/2.2 sensor.

When it comes to the Galaxy Note10+, the phone has the same processor but bumps the RAM to 12GB with an option of going with either 256GB or 512GB of internal storage. The display is bigger as well, which now stands at 6.8-inches and is a Quad HD+ Dynamic AMOLED Infinity-O panel.

Interestingly, the camera setup on the Galaxy Note10+ is very similar to its smaller sized sibling except the Galaxy Note10+ adds another DepthVision
VGA camera. The battery capacity is also jacked up to 4300mAh. 

Both phones can charge the phones at 25W but a special super fast charger by Samsung will allow the Galaxy Note10+ to support up to 45W that will fully charge the device in around 30 minutes. 

However, this is where the differences between the Galaxy Note10 and the Galaxy Note10+ end. The edge-to-edge designed devices are packed with features like Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0, Wireless PowerShare that allows to charge other Qi-supported devices wirelessly, Dolby Atmos, Samsung Pay and improved Samsung DeX that does not require the dedicated dock to work.

Samsung has also improved the S Pen that brings in more gestures to use and control many aspects of the phone. Furthermore, the phones have features like zoom-in mic that amplifies audio when you zoom in the video; Live-focus blurs the background while shooting a video; and comes with a screen-recorder AR Doodle, 3D Scanner and more. 

We managed to get our hands on the Galaxy Note10+ and seems like a big jump over the previous Galaxy Note9’s design. The Aura Glow colour shows a variety of different shades when light reflects on its surface. The huge display is a non-issue as Samsung has in fact, managed to shave the phone’s thickness by a few millimeters and made it lighter compared to the Galaxy Note9. 

Interestingly, Samsung is the latest company to give the 3.5mm headphone jack a miss but bundles USB-C AKG earphones.

The Galaxy Note10 is priced at Rs. 69,999 (8GB+256GB) whereas the Galaxy Note10+ is priced at Rs. 79,999 (12GB+256GB) and Rs. 89,999 (12GB+512GB).