by admin | May 25, 2021 | Branding, Business, Markets, SMEs, Technology
By Gokul Bhagabati,
New Delhi : Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi, which has made deep inroads into the low and mid-price Indian market, is now targeting a bigger share in the premium segment — redefining it with the launch of its sub-brand POCO F1 that comes with high-end specifications at a lower price.
POCO F1, that is now available in India, packs features that were unheard of in the Rs 20,000-Rs 30,000 price segment.
The three variants — 6GB RAM+64GB ROM, 6GB RAM+128GB ROM and 8GB RAM+256GB ROM — are available for Rs 20,999, Rs 23,999 and Rs 28,999, respectively.
Xiaomi, despite having its roots in China, decided to release this smartphone first in India.
As soon as the prices were revealed, the tech world took a note. While some experts thought the company has unnecessarily disrupted the premium market, others speculated the onset of a new price war.
What made everyone stand up and take a look at the new offering from Xiaomi were its superb specifications.
Before POCO F1, expecting the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chip in a phone at nearly Rs 20,000 appeared like asking for the Moon.
OnePlus 6 and ASUS ZenFone 5Z are also powered by the same processor but they come at a higher cost. The 8GB RAM+128GB variant of OnePlus 6 costs Rs 39,999 while the 8GB RAM+256GB storage variant of ASUS ZenFone 5Z costs Rs 36,999.
Moreover, POCO F1 houses a massive 4000mAh battery — as powerful as that of Galaxy Note 9 which costs three times as much as POCO F1 — and runs the Android 8.1 Oreo operating system.
Does it live up to the expectations? Let’s have a look.
In terms of performance, it surely does. What works in its favour is the “LiquidCool Technology” which helps the device dissipate heat when put to heavy use. We also found no problem in downloading and playing the heavy “Asphalt 9: Legends” game.
At moderate usage, the battery was enough to last a whole day after being charged 100 per cent.
The audio quality of the phone is not very great but is loud so you will find it easy to hear recordings, songs or videos.
The 12MP+5MP dual rear camera with Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities captured good quality images, bringing out colours that were very close to natural tones, even in low-light conditions.
The 20MP front shooter is exceptionally good, especially in comparison to ASUS ZenFone 5Z.
It has some other interesting features like the infra-red Face Unlock feature that helps users unlock the phone even in pitch-dark condition, simply by looking at the screen.
The app unlock feature gives an extra level of security to protect your privacy.
What does not work?
The premium features are not backed by a premium look and feel. It has the notch but the bezels cannot be called ultra-thin as is the case with ASUS ZenFone 5Z. Moreover, it is not a glass-bodied phone; it has a polycarbonate back with a metal frame.
It features a 6.18-inch LCD screen which is no match to the vibrancy of the AMOLED display in the OnePlus 6.
The device also lack the optimal image stabilisation (OIS) feature. It means that when your hands are a little shaky, the picture could easily get blurred.
Conclusion: We believe POCO F1 offers what most Indian consumers want — good value for money. In departments that can really enhance the experience of a smartphone user like processor, battery and cameras, the phone shines owing to its relatively lower price.
(Gokul Bhagabati can be contacted at gokul.b@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Branding, Business, Markets, Medium Enterprise, Sales, Technology
By Vivek Singh Chauhan,
New Delhi : With 188 per cent growth, Honor was one of the fastest growing brand in India in the second quarter of 2018 — registering a three per cent market share and grabbing fifth spot.
Sensing the right momentum, the Chinese smartphone maker has brought notch “Honor 9N” with “Full View” display and 19:9 aspect ratio in the sub-Rs 15,000 category to the country.
The smartphone with 3GB RAM+32GB storage variant is priced at Rs 11,999, 4GB RAM+64GB at Rs 13,999 and 4GB RAM+128GB variant at Rs 17,999.
Let’s see if “Honor 9N” (we reviewed 4GB RAM+64GB variant) can help the brand further cement its position.
The 5.84-inch Full HD+ device has 79 per cent screen-to-body ratio. There’s a speaker grille and the front camera on the notch. You can also enable or disable the notch as per wish.
At this affordable range, the display quality was great with good amount of saturation, deep blacks and sunlight legibility. A 2.5D curved glass design with 12 layers of glass with nano-coating finish gave mirror-like effect.
The device is perfect in size as navigating it with a single hand hardly posed any obstacle.
Powered by the Kirin 659 processor and equipped with a dedicated i5 Co-processor, the device comes with hybrid-dual SIM support.
We did not find any major lag. However, it stammered a few times while using heavy-duty apps and playing games.
On the software front, the smartphone runs latest Android 8.0 (Oreo) operating system (OS) topped with Honor’s custom EMUI 8.0. The UI also comes with a gaming mode that will let you play games without much distraction.
The device that houses 3,000mAh battery performed reasonably. On a single charge, it lasted for around 12 hours with moderate use, including surfing and video data consumption.
“Honor 9N” is powered by 3MP+2MP dual lens cameras with LED flash and phase detection auto-focus (PDAF) technology that increases the focusing speed using planar image phase detection.
The camera department did a decent job, delivering sharp images with a nice amount of saturation and contrast along with ample details in the bright light conditions.
The device also comes with “AR Lens” along with quirky background to add fun element to the pictures.
A 16MP selfie shooter that is equipped with the “Portrait” mode captured sharp images with enough detailing.
The fingerprint sensor worked well. Also, a single speaker on the bottom gave nice output.
What does not work.
Both the cameras gave us good output in the bright-light conditions. However, they failed to deliver the same in low-light conditions as we found images to be grainy at times.
The company’s so called “Smart Face Unlock” feature at times did not work properly.
A fast-charging technology could have made the device more impactful.
Conclusion: “Honor 9N” offers decent look and feel with satisfactory battery and performance. At this price point, the device looks set to give some competition to the segment leader Xiaomi.
(Vivek Singh Chauhan can be contacted at vivek.c@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Branding, Business, Markets, SMEs, Technology
Vivo X21
By Krishna SinhaChaudhury,
New Delhi : Chinese smartphone maker Vivo has focussed primarily on selfie-centric smartphones and is among the few players who are credited with starting the selfie-centric smartphone craze in India.
The effort has borne fruit and Vivo has been refreshing its smartphone line-up from time to time in the country.
However, this time around, it has come out of its comfort zone to introduce an innovation in its new Vivo X21 smartphone.
We are talking about the in-display fingerprint scanner embedded in the display — a feature that brands as big as Apple and Samsung have not introduced in their flagship devices.
Priced at Rs 35,990, the smartphone comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 chipset paired with 6GB RAM and 128GB on-board storage that can be further expanded up to 256GB via a MicroSD card slot.
Here is what we think of the latest smartphone from Vivo.
The smartphone’s much-talked about USP — the in-display fingerprint sensor — which is similar to a camera sensor, sits comfortably around 0.68-mm below the AMOLED screen.
Unlike what we saw on the Honor 10, which uses Qualcomm’s ultrasonic fingerprint scanner for biometric authentication, the Vivo X21’s sensor is within the display and not under the cover glass.
The fingerprint scanner was accurate and fast and we could unlock the smartphone even with wet fingers.
Vivo X21 sports a glass sandwich design that does not look particularly striking.
However, it is a decent looking device with a design language that does not scream for attention.
The phone would appeal to those who are clearly not looking for a colour-shifting smartphone such as the Honor 10.
The frame of the device is made from metal while the rear is made of glass and fortunately is not a fingerprint magnet.
The smartphone has a 6.28-inch FHD+ display with Super AMOLED panel and 402 pixels per inch (PPI) display density.
The display was vivid with good amount of saturation with deep blacks and sunlight legibility and is protected by third generation Corning Gorilla Glass.
Vivo’s latest iteration comes with a “notch” — wherein the top of the display cuts into the screen to accommodate the earpiece, sensors and a 12MP front camera.
Photos shot with the device’s 12MP+5MP primary camera came out well and it was quick to focus while shooting in “auto mode”.
Selfies, however, seemed to be a little overexposed but that should not be a bummer.
Thanks to 6GB RAM and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 chipset, the smartphone was fast and did not show any stutter or lag.
The smartphone is fuelled by a 3,200mAh battery that lasted a day on normal usage including browsing videos and running several social media apps.
The bundled charger was pretty fast and charged the smartphone from 0 to 50 per cent in half an hour.
What does not work?
The smartphone runs Vivo’s custom Funtouch OS 4 based on Android 8.1 Oreo which could put off some buyers.
A Micro-USB port in a smartphone that boasts of being the harbinger of futuristic technology such as an in-display fingerprint scanner is disappointing.
Conclusion: Vivo X21 is a good overall performer with a sturdy design. We would recommend the smartphone to those looking for a minimalistic design and want to flaunt the new in-display fingerprint sensor.
(Krishna SinhaChaudhury can be contacted at krishna.s@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, Large Enterprise
By Gokul Bhagabati,
New Delhi : Stressing that there has not been any significant loss of its market share owing to the rise of Chinese smartphone brands in India, a top Samsung executive has said the company is well prepared to fend off challenges from its competitors.
“India being the second largest smartphone market and the fastest growing globally, we have extremely aggressive plans for the country,” Mohandeep Singh, Senior Vice-President, Mobile Business, Samsung India, told IANS here.
Samsung became the leader in the Indian flagship smartphone market, garnering 49.2 per cent share in the first quarter of 2018, the German research firm GfK revealed last week.
In the full financial year (April 2017-March 2018), Samsung registered 55.2 per cent market share in the Rs 40,000 and above price segment, said GfK that reports final consumption of the devices and not only shipments.
In March alone, the South Korean giant registered a massive 58 per cent market share in the flagship segment.
But in the mid-range and budget segments, the Chinese brands seem to have outperformed Samsung.
According to the International Data Corporation’s (IDC) “Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker” report, Xiaomi maintained its lead in the Indian smartphone market with 30.3 per cent market share in the first quarter of 2018, while Samsung came second with 25.1 per cent share.
Xiaomi maintained its lead in the market for the second quarter in a row, the report said.
“More than the competition, we are focused on the consumers because that is where we find the inspiration for the products that we want to launch in the country,” Singh noted.
In an apparent move to counter the competitively-priced Chinese smartphone brands, Samsung this week launched four new smartphones in its Galaxy “A” and “J” series with “Infinity Display” — a bezel-less screen for an immersive viewing experience – which are priced between Rs. 13,990 to Rs. 25,990.
The devices are packed with smart features such as “Chat Over Video” that facilitates an uninterrupted viewing experience while chatting, memory management and automatic duplicate remover to free up phone space, and the Samsung Mall app that uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enhance the shopping experience of the users.
While these phones are aggressively priced, Singh said that Samsung is not solely focused on bringing down the prices of its devices to stay ahead in the competition.
“More than the price, the Indian consumer is now looking for the right value in the products,” Singh said, adding that what was acceptable to the consumer three to four years ago in a smartphone no longer works.
The average selling price (ASP) of smartphones in India has increased over the years and it will continue to go up.
While the Indian consumers are price-sensitive, they are now ready to pay a premium if the features in the phones are to their liking.
“As long as you are doing the right thing for the consumer, you would continue to grow in the market quite irrespective of the competition. That’s where our focus is – what is it that the consumer requires from us,” Singh told IANS.
Samsung has five R&D centres in India — two in Bengaluru and one each in Noida, New Delhi and Pune.
Last year, the South Korean tech giant announced an investment of Rs 4,915 crore in India to boost the capacity of the company’s Noida plant, where it manufactures smartphones, refrigerators and flat panel televisions.
“India is a very important market for Samsung. We are heavily invested in this country – whether it is manufacturing or R&D.
“We are preparing ourselves from every aspect to be able to grow alongside India’s mammoth smartphone market,” he added.
“We are a market leader not only in the premium but across categories, across segments. We expect to continue this momentum,” Singh stressed.
(Gokul Bhagabati can be contacted at gokul.b@ian.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business, Large Enterprise, Markets, Technology
By Krishna SinhaChaudhury,
New Delhi : Paying heed to the global buzz around Artificial Intelligence (AI), Chinese smartphone major Huawei has brought to India a mid-premium flagship device, Honor View 10, that includes a Neural-Network Processing Unit (NPU) tasked with handling AI functions.
Housing the latest homegrown “Kirin 970” chipset that is powered by an eight-core CPU and a new generation 12-core GPU, the device can perform AI computing tasks faster, using far less power.
At Rs 29,999, the smartphone is a successor to Honor 8 Pro and essentially competes with the likes of OnePlus 5T and Xiaomi Mi Mix 2.
The company markets it as “your first AI phone”. Does the smartphone live up to the hype? Here is what we think of it.
The phone sports a metal body with a matte finish and the review unit was Honor’s trademark navy blue colour that looked stunning.
The rear had concealed antenna bands running at the top and bottom, with a slight gleam.
Unlike other edge-to-edge display smartphones, the fingerprint sensor is placed under the screen, leaving the back of the device untouched aside from a pair of protruding camera sensors and the Honor branding.
In fact, the smartphone looks quite like the Honor 7X, albeit for a bigger frame and no fingerprint scanner at the back.
The front had thin bezels to accommodate a 5.99-inch, “Full View FHD+” display with a resolution of 1080p x 2160p. The IPS LCD display was bright and vivid and we did not have trouble in viewing text and images under direct sunlight.
However, we missed the punch that AMOLED displays offer. Users who wish to add a little “pop” to the display can switch to “Vivid” mode.
It is good to see the device run the latest Android 8.0 Oreo Operating System (OS) topped with Honor’s custom EMUI 8.0 out of the box.
The primary camera with 20MP + 16MP lenses and f/1.8 aperture uses NPU to understand and recognise subjects such as human faces, food and changes the settings accordingly to click the perfect picture in any condition.
Images shot in daylight conditions were sharp but slightly over-saturated while macro shots turned out to be impressive.
The camera is especially good at locking focus. The 13MP front shooter captured neat selfies with good colour reproduction.
We were impressed by the smooth performance of the phone, courtesy 6GB RAM and 128GB onboard storage.
Honor View 10 is powered by a 3,750mAh battery with “Super Charge” technology. We found it lasted over day with normal usage, including surfing videos on YouTube and using WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter.
What does not work?
It is disappointing to see the face unlock feature work only for showing notifications on the lock screen.
The primary shooter has a significant and uncomfortable protrusion that is a put-off. Honor has protected the lenses with metal surrounds but that also make them rough to touch.
We also found lack of extra detail in photographs taken in HDR mode.
At times, the primary camera was aggressive in dealing with low-lighting conditions and noise reduction that resulted in loss of detail.
The placement of the fingerprint sensor is rather awkward as the device has a big form factor.
Conclusion: Banking on AI capabilities, decent battery and a good camera, the View 10 is a dependable contender with some great hardware in the mid-premium flagship segment.
(Krishna SinhaChaudhury can be contacted at krishna.s@ians.in)
—IANS
