Ever since the inception of the Reliance Jio, the demand for 4G VoLTE phones have peaked. While a large number of smartphones now come with 4G and VoLTE, that’s not the case with the feature phones. Add to that the fact that a large chunk of Indian consumers is still stuck with feature phones. In fact, Lava 4G Connect M1 is the only feature phone available in the market that comes with support for Reliance Jio, although Micromax is expected to launch Bharat 1 and Bharat 2 soon....

What’s the need for Snapdragon XR1? Qualcomm says that it sees two different emerging markets from AR/VR, one being the more premium segment where people are willing to shell out a good amount of money in order to experience these headsets (which Qualcomm is calling the “premium-quality sector”), and the second, a more budget-friendly audience, but with the expectations of encountering a similar experience as compared to the more premium headsets (which Qualcomm is calling the “high-quality sector”)....

The new Snapdragon 675 promises to handle resource-intensive mobile games much better with a multitude of internal optimizations. Qualcomm claims, compared to the Snapdragon 670, the 675 can launch games about 30% quicker and reduces janks by 90%. Qualcomm says it has also specifically tweaked the chipset to offer a more refined experience on the most popular games such as PUBG, Honor of Kings, and others. As far as general performance is concerned, the Snapdragon 675 comes with an upgraded Adreno 612 GPU, 4th-Gen Kryo 460 octa-core CPU, the two performance cores of which are clocked at 2....

“You gotta be kidding. It is called the Realme 6 Pro…” “Yes, yes, but that is actually just nomenclature. This is actually the successor to the Realme X.” “What! Wait, but wasn’t that the Realme XT?” “No, that was just an extended version…” “Oh and what of the Realme X2 Pro?” “A budget flagship, my dear chap.” “And the Realme X2?” “Oh come on, look, Realme insists this is the sequel to the Realme X....

Shipments go up by a record margin The first quarter of the year saw 340 million smartphones being shipped all over the world. That is a year-on-year growth of 24 percent (275 million smartphones were shipped globally in Q1 2020). That is the highest growth recorded since 2015. According to the report “The smartphone market rebound was driven by the healthy demand of consumers with aging devices and a phenomenal 5G push from Chinese vendors....

Redmi 9 Power: Design and Display In terms of design, the Redmi 9 Power features an Aura Power design with a rectangular camera module housing the quad cameras. It has the Redmi logo embossed on the rear, vertically-aligned with the camera module. Redmi 9 Power comes in four colors: Might Black, Fiery Red, Electric Green, and Blazing Blue. Towards the front, the device features a 6.53-inch FHD+ (IPS) display with Gorilla Glass 3 on top and a waterdrop notch to house the front-facing camera....

Looks like the Redmi Watch In terms of design, the Redmi Watch 2 Lite broadly follows the template of the Redmi Watch, which is not a bad thing. This is a smart-looking watch. You get a slightly squarish display and a comfortable TPU strap with a conventional buckle. We got the blue strap in the box, but there are also pink, ivory, coral, and black options. The body of the watch is sturdy plastic, the display is glass, and the device has 5 ATM water resistance so that it can be taken swimming....

In addition to that, the Rs 149 plan has actually been improved and offers more data now. Before it was limited to 2GB per 28 days and now, it has a daily restraint of 0.15GB and 4.2GB in total. Below this price range, there are now only two plans you can look into instead of three. The Rs 98 one has a 0.15GB daily limit and 2.1GB for two weeks....

XOLO 8X-1000 is the company’s first ever phone to carry the Hive UI. This is XOLO’s effort to differentiate from other OEMs through its own Android UI overlay. This is the first time an Indian company has gone this route. Does it hamper the user experience of the phone or does it help it work better? Let’s find out in our Xolo 8X-1000 review. Design & Build XOLO 8X-1000 doesn’t carry the run-of-the-mill design we usually see from local manufacturers....

Freedom 251 Specs 4-inch qHD screen with IPS 1.3 GHz quad-core processor 1GB RAM 8GB internal storage microSD slot for up to 32GB of external storage 3.2MP rear camera with auto focus 0.3MP (VGA) front camera 3G support 1450 mAh battery Android 5.1 Lollipop The above hardware specifications look like an entry level smartphone from 2014 with no major compromises. Going by the published images, it doesn’t look bad either, at least not an eyesore that one would expect for a phone costing less than what you’d pay for a coffee at Starbucks [Update: Actual image of the phone is at the end of the article]....

The VPN technology has evolved a lot in the past few months and the VPN services in general have become more reliable and affordable than ever before. Previously, the VPN tools were always looked upon as slow and unfit for video browsing. But now, VPN services like SailFish VPN are fast yet affordable and offer high reliability in addition to the general nuances like privacy, freedom from censorship and anonymous browsing....

Growth in Q1 Like its counterparts, IDC has also reported that the Indian smartphone market recorded a very healthy 18 percent growth in the first quarter of the year, with shipments of 38 million units. Interestingly, however, the report also highlighted that this figure represented a 14 percent decline from Q4 2020. Tough Q2 coming up, but not as bad as last year Just as Counterpoint and Canalys, IDC too has pointed to a much tougher second quarter in the year, because of the onset of the second wave of COVID-19....

In terms of design, the Galaxy A70 feature’s Samsung’s 3D Glasstic design, with a large 6.7-inch Super AMOLED display with a waterdrop notch, that Samsung calls an ‘Infinity U display’. The display offers a resolution of 2400×1080 pixels with a 20:9 aspect ratio. Under the hood, the device is powered by an Octa-Core processor, paired with 6GB or 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage, expandable up to 512GB using a microSD card....

In terms of specifications, there’s a gigantic 6-inch Full HD Super AMOLED panel up front with Gorilla Glass 4 and the device flaunts Samsung’s signature glass and metal build body that measures merely 7.9mm in thickness. The phone is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 652 Octa-Core processor clocked at 1.8GHz, 4GB of RAM, 32GB internal storage that can be expanded up to 256GB, and a non-removable 5000mAh battery pack which supports fast charging....

Back in the beginning of this summer, there have been rumors circulating online suggesting that both Samsung and Apple were exploring a dual-camera phone technology. But as Apple unveiled its newest iPhones and Sammy released the Galaxy Note 5 and the S6 Edge+, we didn’t see this feature being present. However, it seems that at least Samsung is still tinkering with this technology behind the curtains. At the time it was believed that Samsung would incorporate the new tech into its 2016 Galaxy S7 flagship smartphone, but now sources say that this will actually happen after the device is released, and Sammy will use it in the handsets that will follow the S7....

In a few words, Siri is an unique automated voice control system that was introduced by the iPhone 4S and iOS 5 and which allows the user to give various commands to the device. The most wonderful aspect of these commands is that they don’t have to follow a specific pattern, like “Siri, please tell me the weather forecast” or “Siri, pass me the beer”, you can speak with the device as with a regular person, as long as you maintain a casual accent....

A feature which initially was exclusive to high-end earbuds, it is now slowly making its way to the budget and more affordable segment as well. And one of the latest brands to have taken the “truly wireless” plunge is Skullcandy, a brand that is known for its eye-catching design and slightly bass heavy sound, both of which it offers at relatively affordable prices. Skullcandy has recently launched its new truly wireless earphones, Push....

The Snapdragon 700 series by Qualcomm slots right below the flagship 800 series and is generally used in higher mid-range smartphones. The newly announced Snapdragon 720G caught our interest since Snapdragon 710 (and 712) which was a staple for brands launching phones in the Rs 15,000 to Rs 18,000 segment is now quite old, and the next chip in the series, which is the Snapdragon 730G jumps up a tier in terms of price due to superior performance....

When it comes to premium tablets, most arguments fall flat when the Apple iPad is brought up, and not without good reason. However, that’s not to say there’s no market for rivals – you could attribute it to personal preferences or sometimes, a more practical matter of desired capabilities and features, such as say, expandable memory or plug-n-play connectivity with a computer. And this is where Sony’s new Xperia Tablet Z comes in....

The Suaoki G 500 is currently available via an Indiegogo campaign. Apart from including a 500 watt-hour battery pack, the power station also offers a variety of outlets for plugging in devices. The Suaoki G 500 offers two standard AC outlets, two quick-charging USB-A ports, USB-C port, two 12-volt DC ports and a 12-volt carport. The numerous ports and the large battery life should essentially keep you covered for the entire camping trip....