The latest phones and gadgets tested and reviewed in our labs
Xolo launched the Omega 5.0, company’s latest budget smartphone with HIVE UI earlier this month at Rs. 8,999. It is also one of the few budget smartphones in the price range to be powered by an Octa-Core processor. Is this one of the best budget smartphones in the price range? Let us find out in the complete review.
Lenovo launched the Vibe X2 smartphone in India last month for Rs. 19,999. The Successor of last year’s Vibe X smartphone has the same 5-inch 1080p display and a 13-megapixel rear camera, but this has a sleek design, uses a faster Octa-Core, comes with 4G LTE support and even comes with dual SIM support. Is the smartphone worth the price? Let us find out in the complete review.
Android tablets in the 7-8 inch space are a dime and a dozen. In fact the small tablet category is practically being dominated by these Android running machines and the fact is that we are approaching a level of homogeneity in terms of specifications too. With that in mind, it is becoming increasingly hard for an OEM to differentiate its product from the deluge of competitors out there. Enter the Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2. With a very unique take on design, quality hardware and a polished build of Android on board, it has the potential to be the tablet of choice for many users but is it perfect? We take an in-depth look in our review. Continue reading “Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 Review”
Shortly before it’s launch, the new Honor 6 was involved in significant marketing activity but Huawei, having faced criticism over handling of customer data in Europe and the USA, chose to market the Honor 6 as its own brand. Confusion aside, on paper at least, the Honor 6 has a significant chance of dominating the mid-range as it features premium specs without a hefty price tag. After a week with the Honor 6, what did we make of the handset? Continue reading “A week with the Huawei Honor 6”
A few days back we spent the weekend in Edinburgh courtesy of Acer and whilst sampling the Scottish delights that include deep fried Mars Bars and Haggis, we also spent time with some of Acer’s new consumer gadgets. We’ve already taken a closer look at the Acer Liquid Leap, Iconia Tab 8 and the Switch 10 Tablet Hybrid and now we come to the fourth and final device – the Acer Liquid Jade smartphone. Continue reading “36 hours with the Acer Liquid Jade”
Samsung Galaxy Mega 2 went on sale in India back in October for Rs. 20,900 as the successor to last year’s Mega series. This time Samsung decided to release only one phone called Mega 2 with a 6-inch HD display, compared to 6.3-inch HD screen on the Mega 6.3 and 5.8-inch qHD screen on the Mega 5.8. It has a faster processor and looks better than the Mega 6.3. Is the Samsung Galaxy Mega 2 a good upgrade? Is this worth the price? Let us find out in the complete review.
LG is one of the old horses in the smartphone market, but is a new one to enter the ‘minis’ trend. With the likes of Samsung and Sony pushing the compact battle to a whole new level, it was high time LG got into the game.
LG launched its compact variant of its flagship smartphone, the G3 Beat a couple of weeks ago. The device takes after the G3 in design, but the similarities are deep with the internals being completely different. Continue reading “LG G3 Beat Review”
The smartphone industry is on what seems to be a never ending trend where handsets are getting larger and larger and continually blurring the boundaries that separate smartphones from tablets. Samsung were arguably the first to offer a consumer-focused large screen device in the Galaxy Note and the success of this phablet alerted rival manufacturers to the possibilities of a large screen device.
In the case of Chinese manufacturer Huawei, their latest phablet is their third generation handset and the Ascend Mate 7 definitely packs a punch. Not only does it have the highest screen to body ratio of any smartphone but it also has a specs list that can rival most devices, including the latest from Samsung in the form of the Galaxy Note 4.
The Ascend Mate 7 is definitely Huawei’s best ever phablet device but does it offer enough to persuade you to choose it over a rival device such as the Note 4 or Apple’s phablet, the iPhone 6 Plus? Continue reading “Huawei Ascend Mate 7 Review – enter the challenger”
As the tech industry moves to convergence with tablets arguably replacing laptops and hybrids replacing both of them, we’re seeing many new devices released that serve the purpose of acting as both your tablet and your laptop. Often all it takes is a keyboard cover like on the Surface Pro 3 but in the case of the Acer Switch 10, this is more than just a keyboard cover. Continue reading “Acer Switch 10 Tablet-Hybrid Review”
HTC, as a company, was going the wrong way for a while. For example, in May 2013, the company released a Snapdragon 200-powered Desire 600 with a 4.5 inch qHD display that cost people 27k rupees. The company had vowed to fix these things and bring its products back in line with consumer expectations, after which the Desire 816 happened. It was a mid range phablet with an affordable price tag and solid specifications. The Desire 820 (Rs. 24,999) is its spiritual successor, carrying forward all the positives of the 816, trying to add more value and keep up with the times. Does it succeed? Lets find out.
One of the biggest trends in technology at the moment is wearable devices such as smartwatches and whilst many manufacturers have begun launching their first devices this year, Sony’s already on the third generation of the Sony Smartwatch range. Whilst this year’s smartwatch shares many similarities with its predecessors (such as durability and overall design), it features a few major differences and the biggest of these is its powered by Google’s new Android Wear operating system.
Whilst previous devices were powered by Sony’s proprietary user interface, the adoption of Android Wear has meant Sony can stop focusing on the software and instead look to innovate in hardware and design. Has this move paid off or should Sony have continued using its proprietary OS? Continue reading “Sony SmartWatch 3 Review”
In 2007, Apple introduced the iPhone as a one-size-fits-all device. “You can’t get your hand around it”, “no one’s going to buy that.” said Steve Jobs, when asked about big screen phones like the 5″ Galaxy Note. This was 2010, after a controversial launch of the 3.5″ iPhone 4. Two years later, a 4″ iPhone 5 happened, and Tim Cook said “It also provides a larger screen without sacrificing one-handed use.”. People had already wanted a bigger iPhone by then. Even the generally awesome Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak got frustrated and said “Part of me wishes that Apple had not been so, kind of, arrogant and feeling we’re the only one with the right clue. I wish they had made a small and a large version of the iPhone; that would have been great for me.” That was the old Apple.
The new Apple heeded to public demand and released the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus a while back. There are now two kinds of iPhones, not one, and in this review, we are going to focus on the “phablet” from Apple, the 5.5″ iPhone 6 Plus.
Note: The review will focus solely on the 6 Plus, in assumption that you already know about the iPhone 6. In case you don’t, we have our iPhone 6 review available for educational purposes.
Huawei launched the Honor Holly smartphone in India last month for Rs. 6999. With its 5-inch HD screen, 8-megapixel rear camera and a quad-core processor, the Honor Holly directly competes with the Xiaomi Redmi 1S. The specifications of the smartphone looks good on paper. How good is the performance and other aspects of the smartphone? Let us find out in the complete review.
Arguably a must-have purchase for any iPhone owner is a handset dock with the range available including everything from a dock to charge and sync your handset to a speaker dock that charges your handset whilst filling the room with your music of choice. However, one issue faced with most docks is that you often need to remove your iPhone from its protective case before it can be docked but the Twelve South HiRise seeks to fix this problem. Continue reading “Twelve South HiRise Apple iPhone 6 Dock Review”
One feature of the new iPhone 6 is the stunning new design which features Apple’s slimmest body yet, a larger display and a smooth rear that looks stylish but doesn’t provide any grip. When using the iPhone 6, it’s clear that the handset needs some protection but finding a protective case that will protect a fragile handset can be quite tricky. This is where the Tech 21 Impact Case comes in as it provides some stylish orange aesthetics whilst also protecting your iPhone 6 from drops, bumps and bruises.
Continue reading “Apple iPhone 6 Tech 21 Impact Case Review”
