smartphones

Coolpad Note 3 [year] 1

Coolpad Note 3 2022

June 27, 2018 PTdrivers 0

Coolpad, a tech company that is still taking baby steps in India, announced last year that it would soon launch its first 'Made in India' handset. As promised at the time of announcing the Coolpad Note 3, the company on Friday introduced a variant called the Coolpad Note 3 Lite, which is manufactured in India in partnership with Videocon. The Chinese firm continues its tie-up with Amazon for exclusive sales of the device. Priced at Rs. 6,999, the Note 3 Lite will be available through scheduled flash sales starting on January 28.
The Coolpad Note 3 Lite is a budget smartphone, but still packs a number of features and some specifications that customers look for in mid-range handsets. Although on paper it is not as powerful as its elder sibling, it does leave us with some overall positive first impressions. It is also one of the least expensive smartphones in India with a fingerprint sensor.
(Also see: Coolpad Note 3 Lite vs. Coolpad Note 3)
The design of the Coolpad Note 3 L..

Asus ZenFone 2 Deluxe [year] 3

Asus ZenFone 2 Deluxe 2022

February 17, 2016 PTdrivers 0

If there's one thing we have too many of, it's ZenFones. Asus's popular range of smartphones has so many variants and different configurations that it's hard to keep track of everything that comes out of the Taiwanese manufacturer's stables. The company's 2015 product range varies in price from as low as Rs. 7,999 for the Asus ZenFone Go to Rs. 29,999 for the top end 128GB variants of the Asus ZenFone 2 and Asus ZenFone 2 Deluxe.
Speaking of the latter, it's our review product of the day. Asus announced the ZenFone 2 Deluxe in August this year as its top-spec variant. It's essentially a ZenFone 2 with cosmetic changes, and is only available in the two highest configurations here in India: 4GB RAM with either 64GB or 128GB of storage. In fact, it's priced the same as the ZenFone 2 for those same two variants as well. Is there more to the Asus ZenFone 2 Deluxe than meets the eye? Let's find out.
Look and feel
This is the only department i..

Honor Holly 2 Plus Review 4

Honor Holly 2 Plus Review

February 9, 2016 PTdrivers 6

Honor recently added two new smartphones to its roster, the Honor 5X (Review | Pictures) and the Holly 2 Plus, to counter aggressive moves by Lenovo and new entrants like Coolpad and LeEco. The Holly 2 Plus will replace the older Honor Holly (Review), which launched in 2014 and will compete with offerings such as the Coopad Note 3 (Review | Pictures) and Intex Cloud Flash (Review | Pictures), which are some of the better options in this price segment.=””>
Honor will open the retail gates from February 15, when the phone will go on sale at Rs. 8,499. Let's find out if the features and performance are aggressive enough to rival the competition.
Look and feel
The Holly 2 Plus has gotten tiny bit fatter and heavier compared to its predecessor but other than that, it is pretty similar in terms of proportions. The rounded top and bottom of the older model have given way to a more traditional candy bar design. The plastic body has undergone a special treatment to give it a metallic lo..

Asus ZenFone Max [year] Review 5

Asus ZenFone Max 2022 Review

June 25, 2018 PTdrivers 0

The last few months have seen an increasing focus on battery size, in a bid to answer the growing demand for devices that won't shut down on you before you go to bed every night. Apart from many mid-range and high-end phones offering batteries with capacities in excess of 3000mAh, smartphones such as the Gionee Marathon M5 (Review | Pictures) and Lenovo Vibe P1 (Review | Pictures) have gone above and beyond the norms with 6020mAh and 4900mAh batteries respectively.
Not one to miss out on the current trends, Asus has launched the ZenFone Max, a phone that announced in August last year. This lower mid-range smartphone costs Rs. 9,999 and is distinguishable by its large 5000mAh battery. It's considerably cheaper than the Marathon M5 and Vibe P1, and has a specification sheet that is geared towards achieving maximum power efficiency. Is the ZenFone Max the energy efficient Android smartphone that you need? Let's find out in our review.
Look and feel
The ZenFone range from ..

Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016) and Galaxy A5 (2016) First Impressions 6

Samsung Galaxy A7 (2016) and Galaxy A5 (2016) First Impressions

February 8, 2016 PTdrivers 4

Samsung, at its Southwest Asia Forum 2016 in Kuala Lumpur, announced details of its new Galaxy A5 and Galaxy A7 2016 edition smartphones for the Indian market. The handsets were first unveiled last year in China, though the company had not disclosed anything about the availability of the two refreshed models outside China at that time.
The Galaxy A series was first launched in late 2014, and now the South Korean giant claims that it has contributed to increase in its worldwide 4G market share, along with the J-series. According to Samsung, its share in 4G devices increased from 25.9 percent in December 2014 to 60.6 percent in December 2015. The company however declined to share exact numbers.
We spent some time with both the new Galaxy A5 and Galaxy A7 2016 edition smartphones at the launch event and here are our first impressions.
At the press briefing in Kuala Lumpur, Samsung stressed that the new generation Galaxy A5 and Galaxy A7 are designed using glass and metal. This was evident..

Micromax Canvas 5 [year] 7

Micromax Canvas 5 2022

February 16, 2016 PTdrivers 0

As expected, Micromax on Wednesday took the wraps off its much-awaited “Canvas flagship” smartphone, the Canvas 5. The company has this time priced its premium new smartphone at Rs. 11,999, which is interestingly Rs. 6,000 less than the price its predecessor, the Canvas 4, was launched at. Buyers will also receive free double data on 4G for six months from Airtel on the purchase of the handset.
Arriving more than two years after the launch of its predecessor in 2013, the Canvas 5 is a definite upgrade. However, the specifications are not that ground-breaking by today's standards. The device is likely to appeal to media users more than power users, or those who wish for a superior smartphone camera at this budget level.
The Canvas 5 has its own pros and cons in each department, most of which we will discuss here. The 4G LTE-enabled Micromax Canvas 5 sports a 5.2-inch display. Above the screen, you have a speaker grille along with the front-facing camera on one side and the front-..

Honor Holly 2 Plus [year] 8

Honor Holly 2 Plus 2022

February 9, 2016 PTdrivers 6

Huawei, one of the top-ranked Chinese tech companies, expanded its Honor smartphone portfolio in India on Thursday by unveiling two new models – the Honor 5X and the Honor Holly 2 Plus. Both budget offerings will be available only through Flipkart and Amazon. The Honor 5X is already up for pre-order, with sales set to begin on February 1. It costs Rs. 12,999. The Honor Holly 2 Plus on the other hand will go on sale from February 15 priced at Rs. 8,499. Here are our initial impressions of the the more budget-minded smartphone of the two – the Holly 2 Plus.
(Also see: Honor Holly 2 Plus vs. Samsung Galaxy On5 vs. Lenovo Vibe P1m vs. Lenovo K3 Note)

With the Honor Holly 2 Plus, the company aims to go head-to-head with smartphones such as the Samsung Galaxy On5, Lenovo Vibe P1m and even the Lenovo K3 Note. While the majority of its features have been borrowed from the Honor 5X, the company has made cuts in several areas of the handset in order to reach the Rs. 8,499 price point. The Hono..