Android - Blog about Gadgets and News

Huawei Honor 6 2025

February 5, 2015 Richard Gomez 1

Huawei is among the present day entrants within the tremendously aggressive Indian smartphone market. It launched Honor, which is virtually a sub-brand and its smartphones […]

After taking the smartphone world by storm, Xiaomi is trying to repeat its success where tablets are concerned. We've been almost universally impressed by what the Chinese company has managed to produce given the prices it charges, and the rest of the industry has had to scramble to match this new competitive force. As customers and compulsive bargain hunters ourselves, Xiaomi has brought nothing but good news this past year.
Recent launches haven't had as much of an impact as the first few did, but that's set to change again with the new Xiaomi Mi Pad. While there are plenty of Android tablets in this price range already, the company is promising high-end features and the kind of quality that competitors do not deliver. Apple, in particular, stands out as the prime target – not the horde Android manufacturers offering oversized phones.
Xiaomi's biggest constraint has been its strategy of hosting weekly online flash sales, which might be great for generating some in..

Philips SHE1360/97 2025 Review

July 19, 2018 Richard Gomez 0

Headphones can get really expensive, depending on which brand you're buying and what kind of performance you're looking for. You could end up spending upwards of one lakh rupees on a pair such as the Audeze LCD-3, or if you're really serious about personal audio, there's the $55,000 Sennheiser Orpheus. But if your needs are more functional and your budget limited, what do you do?
You buy low-end, of course, and you're unlikely to find a lot of audio products less expensive than the Philips SHE1360/97. Selling at Rs. 150 (maybe a little less if you look around), it's one of the most affordable pairs of earphones you can buy from a reputed brand. With the Philips name and a price tag that's probably lower than what you paid for lunch yesterday, the Philips SHE1360/97 is on our review bench today.
Specifications, design, and comfort
As far as specifications go, the Philips SHE1360/97 is straight up impressive. The 15mm dynamic drivers are large for a pai..

Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 – 2025 review

August 18, 2017 Richard Gomez 0

On the heels of Apple's new, lighter iPad, Amazon has come out with a full-size tablet that weighs even less yet sports a sharper display and a lower price tag. Although Amazon's Kindle Fire HDX 8.9 hasn't received as much attention as the iPad Air, it is emerging as the strongest challenger yet to Apple's device.
The new Kindle shares many of the features found in a smaller version that came out Oct. 18.
A row of tabs at the top of the screen gives you quick access to Amazon services such as e-books, music, video and shopping. Recently used apps and content appear in the middle so you can return to them quickly. The bottom row has icons for frequently used apps such as email and the camera.
Need help? Just hit the “Mayday” button. You'll be connected within seconds to a live customer-service representative, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You see the representatives in a video box, but they can only hear you and see what's on your screen. They can also..

Dead Among Us Review: Zombie Archery Made in India

March 12, 2017 Richard Gomez 0

Like military shooters, games featuring zombies are a cliche. From survival horror staples like Resident Evil to modern masterpieces like Uncharted, you'll be hard pressed to find a game that doesn't have the undead in one form or another. And at the other end of the spectrum, there's Rolocule. The Pune-based studio has made games like Motion Tennis Cast and Bowling Central. While these two titles cemented its position as one of the better niche developers focusing on motion controlled games on Android and iOS, its latest game Dead Among Us is perhaps its most accessible yet, as you don't need a Chromecast or Apple TV for this one.
(Also see: Turn Your Android Phone Into a Tennis Racquet with Motion Tennis Cast)
Unlike Rolocule's earlier games, Dead Among Us shows a definite attempt at creating some sort of narrative. There's been a virus outbreak and everyone you know is dead or worse, turned into the walking dead. Conveniently, your character is a gold..

Meizu m2 2025

February 22, 2016 Richard Gomez 0

Meizu might have some way to go before establishing itself as a serious player in India, but it's fairly well established in its home market China. In the business of smartphones since 2008, Meizu is one of the top 10 manufacturers in China. Following a heavy infusion of capital investment from Alibaba in February, the company announced plans to launch in India a month later and finally launched the m1 Note in May.
The latest product from its stable to launch in India is the Meizu m2. Priced at Rs. 6,999, the m2 offers a solid set of specifications and features, while keeping the price competitive. We explore the device in our in-depth review.
Look and feel
The Meizu m2 has a distinct look, which follows the same design philosophy that the company has used with all of its devices. It apes Apple's designs to a certain extent, especially the front which has only a single physical button. While this might look good, the button has to serve as both the Home and Back keys, since i..

BlackBerry Venice 2025

September 28, 2015 Richard Gomez 2

BlackBerry is making a brand new telephone in order to run on the Android system, presently codenamed ‘Venice’. BlackBerry has had a tough time inside […]

Asus Fonepad 7 (FE171CG) 2025 Review

December 5, 2018 Richard Gomez 0

We wouldn't be surprised to hear that people are beginning to lose count of how many Fonepad models Asus has released. This is a product line that Asus has been pushing for a while now, attempting to solidify its position in the voice-calling tablet market. Although a lot of people laugh at the idea of using a 7-inch tablet as their primary phone, Asus evidently has enough reason to believe that it's a product category worth investing in.
The new Asus Fonepad 7 (FE171CG) offers improved specs and features over previous versions of the device, including a better camera and more storage. It sticks to the 7-inch display and Intel Atom SoC, and retains the typical Asus tablet look and feel. Performance is of course important, but we are also eager to see whether the Rs. 10,999 price tag is justified by the inclusion of a few new features and hardware upgrades.
Look and Feel
Ever since the success of the Asus Google Nexus 7, Asus has tried to stick to the same design formula as fa..

Coolpad Note 3 Lite 2025 Review

July 3, 2018 Richard Gomez 0

The Coolpad Note 3 Lite, as the name suggests, is a toned down version of the Coolpad Note 3 (Review | Pictures) that launched back in October last year. It was one of the first phones in the sub-Rs. 10,000 price segment to sport a fingerprint sensor, and today, the company is bringing this feature available at an even lower price segment.
(Also see: Coolpad Note 3 Lite vs Coolpad Note 3)
Our initial impressions of the Note 3 Lite were fairly positive but that was after using it for just a short while. Let's see if Coolpad will be able to disrupt the entry-level Android market with its latest offering.

Look and feel
The Coolpad Note 3 Lite has all the hallmarks of a budget phone but a few good design choices help it stand out. The gold trim running along the edges of the body, camera lens, and fingerprint sensor jazzes up the phone a bit. The quality of the plastics and the overall fit and finish of the parts is quite good, and the phone feels sturdy and durable on the whole.
..

Kobo Arc 2025 review

June 30, 2017 Richard Gomez 0

Canadian e-reader maker, Kobo, recently launched three of its e-readers (it calls them eReaders), and a 7-inch Android tablet, in the Indian market.
Tablets made by e-book reader companies are essentially multimedia capable devices made to please users who're looking to invest in e-books but don't want an e-ink display and want their device to do much more.
Kobo's Android tablet is called the Kobo Arc and competes with the likes of the Kindle Fire HD. As with the Kindle Fire tablet, Kobo's Arc tablet is deeply integrated with Kobo's 'eBooks'
ecosystem, which is also one of the USPs of the tablets. However, it also features the Google Play Store and Google's natives app, that are missing from Amazon's Kindle offering.
So, in a way it also competes with other 7-inch Android tablets like the Nexus 7 and Galaxy Tab 3. We try to find out if Kobo's been able to strike a balance between an e-reading device and a full-featured Android tablet,..

Acer Iconia B1-A71 2025

February 25, 2016 Richard Gomez 0

Acer created a lot of buzz when it announced its decision to jump into the Budget tablet segment with the Acer Iconia B1-A71, that it first announced during CES, and later, as reported by us, launched it in India at an attractive price of Rs. 7,999. Here's our review of the tablet.

Hardware/ Build & Design
The Acer Iconia B1-A71 is a 7-inch tablet, and accordingly comes in a compact form factor. However, the first thing that you notice about the tablet is that it's very apparent that it's made of plastic. The tablet is light-weight but feels flimsy. The hardware doesn't exude the feeling of durability, and if you put even a little bit of pressure on the screen, you'll see that it creaks and pushes through.
Talking of the design and construction, the front of the tablet has a big black bezel, and the screen peeps through it in a manner similar to a digital photo-frame. The top sports Acer branding at the middle and a VGA camera at the right side. There's a..

China’s Huawei Backs Apple in Fight Over Encryption

February 22, 2016 Richard Gomez 0

China's Huawei said it backed Apple's chief executive Tim Cook in his stand-off with the United States government over breaking into an iPhone, but stopped short of saying explicitly it would adopt the same stance.
“It is very important, we agree with that,” Richard Yu, chief executive of Huawei's consumer business group, told reporters in Barcelona gathered for the Mobile World Congress. “Privacy protection is very important for Huawei, we put a lot of investment into privacy, and security protection is key, it is very important for the consumer.
“Apple is resisting US government demands that it unlock an iPhone used by Rizwan Farook, who along with his wife, Tashfeen Malik, shot and killed 14 people and wounded 22 others at a holiday party in San Bernardino in December.
(Also see: Why Even the FBI Can't Hack the iPhone)
“Tim Cook spoke up for that (privacy) … for us it is really very important,” Yu said. “I think it's good letting the government understand ..