T3 India

smartphones

Google announces Pixel 3, Pixel 3 XL

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At a global event in the US, Google announced the new Pixel devices – Pixel 3 and the Pixel 3 XL. The phones take over from last year’s Pixel phones with a larger display, improved camera performance and wireless charging support.

Google maintains the phones’ two tone design that includes a soft-touch Gorilla Glass 5 at the back and textured coating and option of three colours – Just Black, Clearly White and Not Pink. Interestingly, the design now makes the phone IP68 compliant to make it water and dust resistant and now supports wireless charging, making it par with the other high-end devices. Oh, and there’s a notch on the Pixel 3 XL. 

The phones are powered by Snapdragon 845 with 4GB RAM and also comes with a custom-designed security chip called Titan M that enhances mobile security by protecting unlock credentials, disk encryption, app data, and the integrity of the operating system code itself.

Running on Android Pie, the phones heavily rely on AI that helps the 12.2MP dual-pixel camera at the back take excellent photos with features like Top Shot, Super Res Zoom, Night Sight, Photobooth and even Playground, which is the next version of AR Stickers. 

The phones go on pre-order from October 11 and will be available on Flipkart and other retail stores from November 1 at the following prices:

Pixel 3 (64GB): ₹71,000
Pixel 3 (128GB): ₹80,000
Pixel 3 XL (64GB): ₹83,000
Pixel 3 XL (128GB): ₹92,000

POCO F1 boasts flagship hardware at an aggressive price

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At an event in New Delhi today, Xiaomi revealed POCO, the company’s new sub-brand. Stands for ‘a little’, POCO will work independently on the product design, marketing and sales but at the same time taking advantage of Xiaomi’s existing supply chain and after-sales network.

POCO F1 is the first smartphone launching under POCO’s brand and given the hardware and price, it clearly undercuts the current affordable flagship leader, OnePlus 6.

The phone is powered by Qualcomm’s top-of-the-line Snapdragon 845 processor along with 6GB or 8GB of RAM and internal storage starting from 64GB and going up to 256GB. There’s LiquidCool technology as well that helps to keep the internal temperature in check and deliver sustained peak performance for extended periods. 

It comes with a 20MP camera on the front, a 12MP Sony IMX363 as the primary sensor at the back with a 5MP acting as secondary. The phone has 4000mAh battery, an infrared camera on the front for face unlock, fingerprint sensor, MIUI for POCO based on Android 8.1. However, Android Pie will be released before the end of this year.

The phone will be available in three colours – black, blue, red, and a special armoured edition with a back panel made of DuPont Kevlar.

As for the price, the POCO F1 will retail at Rs. 20,999, Rs. 23,999, and Rs. 28,999 for the 6GB+64GB, 6GB+128GB, and 8GB+256GB respectively. The Armoured Edition (8GB+256GB) will retail at INR 29,999. The phone will go on sale on mi.com and Flipkart on 29th August 2018, starting at 12 noon as a first sale offer, HDFC Bank credit and debit cardholders can get Rs. 1000 instant cashback.

Asus unveils Zenfone Max Pro M1

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If you consider the ol’ Zenfone days, Asus was leading the pack when it came to affordable devices. Things changed, however, when Xiaomi entered the market along with Asus trying to pitch Zenfone series as premium devices. Asus has now gone back to basics with the new Zenfone Max Pro M1.

The new Zenfone goes for the affordable price tag but at the same time gives hardware and software that, on paper, looks better than the competition. The biggest change in the Zenfone Max Pro M1 is the exclusion of ZenUI that has been a standard feature for all these years. The phone now adopts a stock Android UI running the latest Oreo update and hopefully will help in the future to roll out updates faster.

As far as hardware goes, the phone is powered by Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 636 processor along with 2GB, 3GB and 4GB RAM and storage options of 32GB, 64GB, depending on the variant. The phone has a 5.99-inch Full HD+ display along with a 5000mAh battery, dedicated microSD card slot, NXP smart amp and a 5-magnet speaker. Asus is also bundling a cardboard box dubbed Max Box that allows placing the device for improved loudspeaker audio. However, you cannot use the Max Box as a kickstand as it only allows the phone to be docked vertically.

On the camera front, the Zenfone has a dual-camera setup at the back with 13MP as the main sensor and 5MP acting as the secondary sensor to click bokeh-style portraits. The phone also supports 4K video recording and there’s an 8MP front-facing camera with LED flash.

The 3/32GB and 4/64GB variants will go on sale from May 3 on Flipkart for Rs. 10,999 and Rs. 12,999 respectively while the 6/64GB variant with 16MP+5MP rear and 16MP front camera will be available at a later date for Rs. 14,999.

Apple’s Red iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus join the fight against AIDS… and look stunning

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Apple has just announced its Special Edition Red iPhones, sales of which will help fund research into the treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS. They just so happen to look pretty amazing as well.

Last year Apple released the Red iPhone 7, but people were disappointed that the phone featured a white front bezel, rather than black.

Well, it seems Apple listened because this year the (PRODUCT)RED iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus feature the more striking red and black colourway.

Not only does it look stunning, but proceeds from sales of the new iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus (PRODUCT)RED Special Edition phones will go to Global Fund HIV/AIDS.

Which provides testing, counselling, treatment and prevention programmes with a focus on eliminating transmission of the HIV/AIDS virus from mothers to their babies.

The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus (PRODUCT)RED Special Edition will be available in 64GB and 256GB models starting Rs. 67,940 and joins iPhone 8 finishes in space grey, silver and gold.

Both special edition models will be available to order beginning April 10 and will be on sale in stores in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, the UK and US on April 13. Other countries and regions will follow later in April and May. India will get it in May.

Those hoping for a Red version of the iPhone X will be disappointed, although, iPhone X owners can also join the fight agaisnt AIDS/HIV with a (Project)Red Leather Case.

The new (PRODUCT)RED iPhone X Leather Folio will be available for Rs. 7,900.

MWC 2018: Asus announces ZenFone 5 series

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Asus pulled out their big guns at the Mobile World Congress to combat the onslaught of mid-range and premium smartphones with two new offerings – ZenFone 5 and ZenFone 5Z. There’s ZenFone 5 Lite as well but Asus currently has no plans to launch in India. The similar nomenclature is confusing but it’s easier to remember the variants this time compared to previous ZenFone generations. The ZenFone 5 will target the mid-range segment whereas the ZenFone 5Z will go for the top-end of the smartphone market with top-of-the-line hardware.

Let’s address the elephant in the room first. Yes, it does look like an iPhone X with the notch and camera placement but using the phone briefly, the phone does look and feel premium. The phones have that Asus’ concentric circle design at the back and is compact with an excellent 90% screen-to-body ratio. Asus claims they’ve managed to cram up a 6.2-inch display in a 5.5-inch form factor. The display is Full HD+ IPS display but supports DCI-P3 colour space for accurate colours and blue-light filter to reduce eye fatigue.

In terms of hardware, the ZenFone 5 and ZenFone 5Z differs in terms of processor choice, RAM and ROM, which in case of ZenFone 5 is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 636, 4GB or 6GB RAM and 64GB ROM. The ZenFone 5Z will be powered by Snapdragon 845 and while Asus is yet to confirm which variant will come to India but the 5Z supports up to 8GB RAM and up to 256GB of internal storage.

Cameras, however, are the same. Both have a dual camera setup at the back with 12MP IMX363 main sensor with f/1.8 aperture and f/2.2 120-degree secondary camera whereas the front has an 8MP one. The rear camera even supports 4K UHD video recording.

Asus has also worked on the software and while it runs Android Oreo customised with ZenUI 5.0, Asus says the amount of pre-installed apps have reduced dramatically. AI also plays a major part with the devices and comes with many “intelligent” features like AI Photo Learning, automatically adjusts ringtone according to ambient sound, and even optimise charging its 3000mAh battery.

The new ZenFones also support something called as ZeniMojis, which if you haven’t noticed yet, is Asus’ answer to Apple’s Animojis. There’s also DTS Headphone:X support, FM Radio, hybrid SIM slot and lots more.

Asus will launch both the ZenFone 5 variants in India in the next few weeks with ZenFone 5 slated to come early followed by ZenFone 5Z.

Asus ZenFone 5