by admin | May 25, 2021 | Branding, Markets, Sales, Technology
Nikon Z7
By Partha Sarathi Mitra,
New Delhi : The camera game has now shifted to full-frame mirrorless and sensing the global $11 billion opportunity, Japanese camera maker Nikon has launched Z6 and Z7 — its first full frame mirrorless range of cameras — in India.
The DSLR cameras still account for 70 per cent of interchangeable lens cameras sold globally as against nearly 30 per cent for the mirrorless segment. But the DSLR market is shrinking while mirrorless is definitely growing.
The brand new FX-Format Z7 camera fully exploits the unprecedented optical performance offered by the new NIKKOR Z lenses and delivers overwhelming, edge-to-edge detail in both stills and videos.
Nikon Z7, that will cost Rs 2,69,950, will be available in the country starting September 27 while Nikon Z6 will be available in November at a price of Rs 1,69,950.
Let us see what Nikon Z7 has to offer.
The Z7 is basically a mirror-less version of the famed D850. The camera comes with a large, deep grip for better handling of tele-photo lens.
The Z mount mirrorless camera system is designed to enhance the optical performance of lenses thanks to a large-diameter mount and short flange focal distance.
The optional mount adapter FTZ will make older AF-S lenses fully compatible with the Z7 and Z6.
Nearly 360 NIKKOR F lenses are compatible with the FTZ, including 92 AF-P/AF-S/AF-I lenses that enable shooting with AF and AE, as stated by Nikon.
Z7 has a 493-point hybrid AF system with superb focusing accuracy and the new EXPEED 6 image-processing engine. The camera has ISO sensitivity of 64 to 25600.
The camera’s 3690k-dot Quad-VGA electronic viewfinder provided a clear view and was quite a comfortable shooting experience.
Z7 with its 10-bit N-Log as well as 4K UHD and 8K time-lapse movie that requires third-party software is designed to meet demands from video creators.
The camera is powered by “EN-EL15b” rechargeable Li-ion battery. However, “EN-EL15a” and “EN-EL15” batteries can also be used but the charging AC adapter can be used to charge “EN-EL15b” batteries only.
The body weighs around 585 gm and with battery and memory card, the system weighs around 675 gm. It is 5.3 inches wide and has a height of 4 inches and depth of 2.7 inches.
The camera has Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. It also supports Type C USB and Type C HDMI connector.
We used the camera for low-light photography and it performed very well. The Nikon Z7 was worth the wait for photo enthusiasts.
Nikon “Z mount system” comprises mirrorless cameras with a new, larger-diametre mount as well as compatible “NIKKOR” lenses and accessories.
The “Z mount system” offers a variety of high-performance lenses, including the fastest lens in the company’s history, with f/0.95.
The new mount adapter enables compatibility with “NIKKOR F” mount lenses, thus adding to the variety of choices for photography enthusiasts.
Nikon Z7 along with “NIKKOR Z” 24-70mm F/4 S + Mount Adapter FTZ Kit will cost Rs 3,26,950; Z7 with “NIKKOR Z” 24-70mm F/4 S Kit Rs 3,14,950; and Z7 with Mount Adapter FTZ Kit will be available for Rs 2,81,950.
What doesn’t work.
It is hard to compare a full-frame mirrorless camera with any DSLR as this market is just heating up. Let us wait for more full-frame mirrorless cameras to join the fray and we will have more to talk about. At the moment, the Z7 camera is flawless.
Conclusion: Z7 is the first advanced full-frame mirrorless camera from the house of Nikon and the users now have a better option without the need to look at the rivals like Sony and Fujifilm. Overall, a good deal for a Pro.
(Partha Sarathi Mitra can be contacted at ps.mitra@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Branding, Business, Markets, Sales, SMEs, Technology
By Krishna SinhaChaudhury,
New Delhi : South Korean tech major LG has always been a darkhorse in the flagship smartphone race in India, in a market that is essentially dominated by the likes of Apple, Google and Samsung — not to forget top Chinese smartphone player OnePlus.
The company’s focus has been to present their smartphones in a rather hushed tone in the country, often minus the limelight.
Its recently-launched G7+ ThinQ is no exception. It was introduced in the country for Rs 39,990 amid no fanfare with specifications as good as any other flagship smartphone.
What makes the G7+ ThinQ different from LG’s other smartphones is the “ThinQ” branding is the fact that the device can be used along with some of the other Artificial Intelligence (AI) products from the company.
With a premium-looking body and a top-notch processor, the South Korean tech major has cleverly pitted the G7+ ThinQ in the sub-Rs 40,000 price segment that competes with the likes of the affordable flagships, such as the OnePlus 6 and the Asus Zenfone 5Z.
At a first glance, LG’s latest offering G7+ ThinQ looks like a dependable smartphone. But, is there more to it? Let’s find out.
LG has made use of glass and metal to render a surprisingly light and ergonomic feel to the G7+ ThinQ. It is worth mentioning that despite housing a 6.1-inch IPS QHD+ display, this is one compact flagship available out there now.
The screen has 1000nits of brightness, which makes for an impressive sunlight legibility at this price point.
There are two vertically-stacked 16MP+16MP cameras at the rear, which are almost flush with the device. The dual-lens AI snapper categorises subjects and automatically tune its settings to click better shots via Machine Learning (ML) technology.
The camera’s AI feature was useful but we found it a bit overwhelming when it scanned the frame and added a filter or adjusted the colour exposure automatically.
Images taken in the daylight condition had a good amount of detail and punchy colours. The close-up shots turned out better than the landscape photos. Snaps shot in low-lighting conditions came out equally good.
Below the rear cameras lies the fingerprint sensor which was snappy during the authentication.
The 8MP sensor at the front is a significant camera upgrade from LG. The self portraits were neat with just enough details.
The overall performance of the smartphone was good and we didn’t notice occasional hiccups, given the 6GB RAM and 128GB onboard storage.
LG has made the device weather-proof with IP68 certification for dust and water resistance. Interestingly, the phone is also shock-resistant to an extent thanks to the military standard (MLT-STD-810G) certification.
A dedicated AI button lies on the left side of the phone and unlike its South Korean rival Samsung, LG is not forcing its own smart assistant into our daily lives.
Pressing the key fires up the Google Assistant but the feature can thankfully be disabled.
Just like LG’s previous flagships, this device also has additions like “Quad-DAC” and “DTS:X 3D” surround sound up its sleeve. The earphones bundled in the box offer decent audio quality.
The phone comes with Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0, which gave us around 40 per cent juice in 30 minutes of charge.
What doesn’t work?
The smartphone is fueled by a 3,000mAh battery which, we thought, would deplete easily if you’re a heavy gamer or browse videos a lot.
It was unusual to see the phone heat up on few occasions, such as using the camera app or updating apps on the Google Play Store.
Conclusion: LG G7+ ThinQ isn’t a flashy smartphone but it woos the user with competent cameras and ergonomics. The aggressive pricing and solid performance make it a good value-for-money buy.
(Krishna SinhaChaudhury can be contacted at krishna.s@ians.in)
—IANS
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, Investing, Marketing Basics, Markets, Medium Enterprise, Technology
Samsung Galaxy Note 9
By Nishant Arora,
New Delhi : What exactly do you want in your smartphone? Is it day-long performance, fast charging, more data storage, speed and power, better immersive experience, or all of these?
There are several smartphones out there that promise to give you most of these features — or even all — but a true premium experience can only happen with a true premium device.
The 6.4-inch Samsung Galaxy Note 9 — to be launched in India on August 22 — has focused equally on performance as well as empowering users’ expressions.
In India, The 6GB+128GB variant will cost Rs 67,900 and 8GB+512GB model will come at Rs 84,900.
With Stylus Pen (the company calls it S Pen), Note 9 becomes a piece of art, where you can write, create, draw, colour, give a presentation at office, click selfies and what not.
Let us see what Note 9 offers in the premium space where Apple iPhone X, Huawei P20 Pro and Google Pixel devices are its main rivals.
We tested the Ocean Blue variant with yellow S Pen (6GB+128GB variant).
Galaxy Note 9’s Quad HD+ Super AMOLED Infinity Display is the series’ largest so far that offers more room for work, play and everything in between — maintaining Samsung’s design legacy.
Note 9 offers a sleek and square form factor and comes with enhancements that enable users to multitask as well as enjoy immersive multimedia experiences.
To amplify immersion, Samsung has rounded the corners of the display to a bare minimum, refining the Galaxy Note 9’s barely-there bezels to conceal its iris sensor.
The screen is deeper black, which allows it to blend in with the bezels when the device is off, thus enhancing the overall aesthetic.
The frame is sleek and slim and features interplay of glossy and matte finishes.
Other enhancements include the redesigned camera which now matches the colour of the device and the repositioned fingerprint sensor, which is now housed beneath the camera.
In our tests, Galaxy Note9 performed well on screen reflectance, colour accuracy, brightness, native colour gamut, contrast ratio and screen resolution — much better than what iPhone X, Huawei P20 Pro or Google Pixel would offer.
Galaxy Note 9 houses a 4,000mAh battery — the largest ever on a flagship Galaxy phone. With fast-charging technology, the device had full juice in a little bit over an hour (You charge it in the morning and it will stay put till late night on regular usage).
Galaxy Note 9 houses a cutting-edge 10nm processor and support for the fastest network speeds available in the market (up to 1.2 gigabits per second) to stream and download without slowing down.
Be it with watching videos on YouTube or streaming Netflix series, the phone offered a smooth experience throughout.
The on-device Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based performance adjusting algorithm helped deliver the powerful yet stable performance.
This time, the S Pen is more than a tool but rather a device in its own right — complete with Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) connectivity and its own independent functions.
Also included in the Galaxy Note 9’s collection of compatible accessories is a Wireless Charger Duo.
The fast-charging two-in-one allows a user to quickly charge the phone alongside another Qi-compatible (for wireless charging) phone or a smart watch.
The device that runs OS Android 8.1 (Oreo) has the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 system-on-chip (SoC) for the US customers and Samsung’s very own “Exynos 9 Series 9810” chips for the Indian customers.
Let us talk about the camera.
The device sports dual camera system (12MP+12MP) with dual optical image stabilisation (OIS) at the rear — with 2 times more powerful optical zoom and up to 10 times powerful digital zoom — and an 8MP front shooter.
The “Scene Optimiser” technology uses intelligence to identify elements of a photo, such as scene and subject, to automatically classify it into one of 20 categories and instantly optimise it based on the category.
The result was a life-like image with bold colours and dynamic definition.
With “Flaw Detection” feature, Note 9 lets users know if there’s something wrong so that they can take another picture without losing the moment.
An immediate notification appears if the image is blurry, the subject blinked, smudge on the lens or there is backlight impacting the quality of the image.
Galaxy Note 9’s camera delivered crystal-clear shots in almost all light conditions.
What doesn’t work?
Face recognition system to unlock the device falters at times, especially in low-light conditions.
Conclusion: If you have been using a Note device, this is a real upgrade. If you are on other premium-segment smartphones, Note 9 is definitely worth trying.
If you opt to buy Galaxy Note 9 with 512GB internal storage option, insert a microSD card and you will have massive 1TB storage at your disposal — no need to buy any Cloud storage as with iPhones.
(Nishant Arora can be contacted at nishant.a@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Branding, Business, Markets, Medium Enterprise, Technology
By Krishna SinhaChaudhury,
New Delhi : We have seen Huawei’s sub-brand Honor bringing out some dependable smartphones such as Honor View 10. And now, the company is betting big on its gaming phone Honor Play to make its mark in the sub-Rs 25,000 segment in India.
The device houses the proprietary flagship Kirin 970 chipset with “Neural Processing Unit” (NPU) which specialises in the acceleration of Machine Learning (ML) algorithms.
The smartphone maker, however, has marketed Honor Play as a performance-centric device in India, which comes with a flagship processor and powerful internals at a relatively lower price than its rivals.
We reviewed the 4GB RAM+64GB internal storage variant (that costs Rs 19,000) and here is what we think of it.
Vertically-stacked dual cameras at the back, metal unibody design with subtle antenna bands running on the top and bottom and a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, the smartphone is nothing different from other devices from Honor when it comes to design.
At 7.5-mm, the smartphone is sleek and thanks to the metal design, the device could handle a few bumps and falls.
The volume rockers and power keys are housed at the right side of the device.
At the bottom, you will find the 3.5-mm standard headphone jack, a USB-Type C charging port and a single speaker grill.
The overall build quality of the smartphone was solid and reassuring. The front is dominated by a 6.3-inch IPS display with a resolution of 2340×1080 flanked by metal edges.
The screen has an aspect ratio of 19.5:9 with enough brightness to view under direct sunlight. Those who dislike the notch can simply turn it off via the display settings.
Once the feature is turned off, you will be able to see a black band across the notched area that houses the notification icons.
The display is adequately bright for using it outdoors but we found it being prone to reflections owing to the reflective nature of the panel. This is where Honor Play really showed its muscles.
Huawei’s home-grown Kirin 970 chipset essentially competes with the last year’s flagship processors but thanks to its dedicated NPU feature, the smartphone delivered fluid performance and gaming as well.
In terms of camera performance, the Honor Play is a mid-range device with a dual rear camera set-up of 16MP+2MP. The rear shooter churned out decent images in daylight with adequate details.
Another high point of the Honor Play is the massive 3750mAh battery which, on moderate usage, lasted over a day.
What does not work?
The camera performance in low-light conditions and at night was not impressive. We found noise and loss of detail in photos.
Images shot with the Artificial Intelligence (AI) feature enabled also looked over-saturated in comparison to the images which were taken when AI was turned off.
Conclusion: The experience of gaming, after all, is settling in smaller devices so we would recommend the smartphone to those who are looking for a serious gaming phone on a budget.
(Krishna SinhaChaudhury can be contacted at krishna.s@ians.in )
—IANS
