Dhruv Bhutani | Fone Arena

Fitbit Ionic Review

It’s surprising how long it has taken for Fitbit to launch a smartwatch. Focussing on budget or mid range fitness trackers, we finally got the Blaze in 2016 which had a smartwatch like interface but none of the capabilities. Announced back in August, the Ionic has all the ingredients that you expect in a smart peripheral. Apps, payment capabilities, watch faces and more, it ticks all the boxes. With the abundant options available though, the Ionic will need to be greater than the sum of its parts. Does it deliver? We spent a week with the Fitbit Ionic to find that out. Continue reading “Fitbit Ionic Review”

Sony WF-1000X Wireless Noise Canceling Earphones Review

Wireless audio has really come into a category of its own over the last two years or so. The ongoing trend of ditching the headphone jack on phones has, of course, spurred all manner of audio product manufacturers to get a move on. One of the newest form factors to hit the market is of truly wireless earphones. Bragi might have been amongst the first to release truly wireless hardware but it was Apple’s Earpods that, predictably, made the world listen. Long story short, here we have with us the Sony WF-1000X, the Japanese company’s first truly wireless headset. Follow along for our review. Continue reading “Sony WF-1000X Wireless Noise Canceling Earphones Review”

Sony WH-1000XM2 Noise Cancelling Headphones Review

Walk down the business class aisle on any flight and I can guarantee it that you will spot a Bose headset. For good reason too. Bose pioneered, honed and expertly marketed their Quiet Comfort series of headphones as the de-facto standard for weary travelers looking for some quiet and the comfort of their favorite music. In 2016 though, Sony struck out from the blue and announced the MDR-1000X that handily beat Bose’s products and took the mantle of the best noise canceling headphone in the market. It sounded ruddy fantastic too. So when Sony announced a product that is supposed to be even better, It is obvious that we were excited to check out the Sony WH-1000XM2. Follow along for our review. Continue reading “Sony WH-1000XM2 Noise Cancelling Headphones Review”

1MORE iBFree Bluetooth In-Ear Headphones Review

Every time we review a 1More product, we end up being suitably surprised by the price to performance ratio. As more and more phones start ditching the headphone jack, a good pair of wireless headphones has become a necessary part of every music enthusiast’s arsenal. The 1More iBFree is one such entry-level Bluetooth headset that claims to punch above its weight in terms of audio quality. Continue reading “1MORE iBFree Bluetooth In-Ear Headphones Review”

Digitek DBS-005 Bluetooth Speaker Review

Bluetooth speakers are a dime and a dozen. Hitting every price point, there’s a speaker that caters to almost every requirement. When Digitek announced the DBS-005 bluetooth speaker, we were quite curious about how it differentiates itself from the competition. Now that we’ve spent some time with it. Here’s what we think. Continue reading “Digitek DBS-005 Bluetooth Speaker Review”

Kent ALPS Air Purifier Review

As poor air quality reaches national disaster levels and people finally become aware of the hazards of smog and air-borne particulates, we’ve seen a steady spate of air purifiers being launched. One such is the Kent ALPS Air Purifier. Packing a HEPA filter as well as an ionizer, the ALPS is a much more powerful model compared to what we’ve seen so far from Kent. We spent some time with it and here’s our review. Continue reading “Kent ALPS Air Purifier Review”

Gionee M7 Power Review

Gionee M7 Power -1

The formula for a good smartphone might be straightforward but perfecting it takes time and whole lot of effort. Over the years we’ve seen steady improvements from Gionee. The Gionee M7 Power is the latest from the company to take on the highly lucrative mid-range segment. Read on for our review. Continue reading “Gionee M7 Power Review”

Honor View10 Hands On & First Impressions

Honor View10 -1

At an event in London, Honor announced an all new device as part of the View series of smartphones. Dubbed View10, it is the first device to pack the new Kirin 970 chipset that comes equipped with a dedicated NPU or Neural Processing Unit. If you’d remember, we brought you the lowdown on that from IFA and now we’ve got our first product based on the new processor. There’s more to the Honor View10 though, let’s find out in our hands on. Continue reading “Honor View10 Hands On & First Impressions”

In Pictures: Xiaomi India’s Power Bank Plant in Noida

Xiaomi Make In India Powerbank Tour -11

It would be fair to say that Xiaomi has become a favorite amongst the Indian audience over the last three years. Today, the company is amongst the largest smartphone players in the country and enjoys a 23.5 percent market share. Over the last year. Since 2015, the company has made massive strides towards manufacturing their smartphones in India. Owing to the existing tax structures, it has allowed the company to reduce pricing drastically which has been instrumental in their onslaught against the likes of Micromax and Intex. The company is known to have razor-thin margins on their smartphones which makes their accessory line up all the more important to drive bottom lines. With the launch of the new production facility in Noida in collaboration with Hipad, the company is no longer dependent on the import model which will have massive ramifications on price competitiveness and capacity. Continue reading “In Pictures: Xiaomi India’s Power Bank Plant in Noida”

Riversong Wave Fit Fitness Band Review

Riversong Wave Fit-1

Fitness bands are a dime and a dozen. With their growing popularity, the entire category has become commoditized to a degree. The Riversong Wave Fit is yet another fitness band that claims to have all the features you’d expect, accurate tracking and some smartwatch functionality at a price that shouldn’t pinch the pocket. Does it deliver on any or all of its promises? We find out in our review. Continue reading “Riversong Wave Fit Fitness Band Review”

In Questions: Google Pixel Camera Q&A with Brian Rakowski & Tim Knight

Here at FoneArena, we are big fans of the Pixel camera and all that Google has been able to accomplish using a mixture of computational photography and machine learning. That’s not to say that the camera is perfect of course. We recently got a chance to sit down for a group session with Brian Rakowski and Tim Knight from Google. Continue reading “In Questions: Google Pixel Camera Q&A with Brian Rakowski & Tim Knight”

RHA MA650 Wireless Earphones Review

RHA MA650 Wireless Earphones Review -1

RHA, the Scottish audio products manufacturer, recently introduced the MA 650. A neckband style wireless pair of earphones, the device is targeted at the increasingly necessary Bluetooth audio products market as the 3.5mm jack goes the way of the dodo. We’ve been testing out the MA 650 over the last few days and here’s what we think about it. Continue reading “RHA MA650 Wireless Earphones Review”

1More Piston Fit Review

1More Piston Fit-1

Entry level earphones are a dime and a dozen. There has been a very distinct democratization of fairly high quality audio products. No longer do you have to suffer with terrible quality bundled in earphones even if you don’t have much of a budget. Enter the 1More Piston Fit. The earphones compete against popular options from the likes of JBL, Skullcandy and even Brainwavz, Xiaomi. What this means is that 1More simply can’t afford to release a mediocre product if they want to leave a mark. Follow along for our review of the 1More Piston Fit. Continue reading “1More Piston Fit Review”

Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 Review

Mi Mix 2 -2

The Mi Mix 2 sits a class apart in Xiaomi’s line up. Sure, there have been flagship grade phones like the Mi5 and Mi6 but the Mix is where we saw a degree of design innovation that was unprecedented. After years of being called out for aping Apple’s design ethos, Xiaomi finally had a device that wasn’t just all of its own but was breaking ground. While the original was relegated to China, the second generation hardware is spearheading the company’s entry into markets world over. Enter the Mi Mix 2. More refined, more powerful and yes, finally available in India. Continue reading “Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 Review”

Author: Dhruv Bhutani