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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 First Impressions

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 First Impressions

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..

iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus Review

June 14, 2018 PTdrivers 0

For most of the reviews here at Gadgets 360, we use the mobile in question as our primary phone for about a week or so before sharing our verdict with you. We realise this isn't perfect, since there are some aspects of the device that don't become obvious during that time, and in an ideal world, we'd use every phone for a couple of months before we publish our review. But we work under constraints where most devices aren't available to us for that long – almost all products that we review are loaned to us by companies for short durations – and there's also the competitive pressure of wanting to get your review out before others do, as long as it doesn't involve cutting any corners.
With the launch of iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus in India, Apple offered to loan the two new iPhones to Gadgets 360 – and indeed other publications – for more than the typical timeframe of a few days. The India iPhone launch of course came a few weeks after it was available in t..

Lenovo Phab Plus Review

February 8, 2016 PTdrivers 7

Yes, the new Lenovo Phab Plus is enormous and unweildy. No, it's not worth buying if you do not explicitly want a huge phone – or a tablet that can also make voice calls. Now that that's out of the way, we can look at it for what it really is rather than dismissing it as ridiculous: a hybrid device designed for people who spend a lot more time playing games and watching videos than talking on the phone.
Lenovo stresses the screen and audio quality of the Phab Plus, which is a way of saying it's an entertainment-focused device. There really isn't anything else like it on the market. With a metal body and a price tag close to Rs. 20,000, Lenovo is trying to create a premium niche in the voice-calling tablet market. Let's see if the company has tapped a whole new product category, or whether the Phab Plus is just a novelty that will soon be forgotten.
Look and feel
The very first thing to deal with when it comes to this phone is its size. With a 6.8-inch screen an..

Review: Lytro Camera

June 17, 2016 PTdrivers 0

When cameras went from analog to digital, it was one of those once-in-a-generation shifts, like going from black-and-white film to Kodachrome. But whether you're using a 35-millimeter or a point-and-shoot, the steps you take to shoot a picture have remained the same: you focus on something, then push a button to record the image.
But what if you could take a picture and refocus it after you had taken it? What if, just by clicking around a photo on your computer screen, you could choose which part of the image should be clear and which part should be blurry?
You can with a new camera called Lytro, and it's astonishing. With a Lytro, you take a picture as you would with any camera, but the digital file it creates can be refocused after the fact.
Inside the Lytro: An example of how the Lytro works can be found here.Inside the Lytro: An example of how the Lytro works can be found here.
This is fairly mind-blowing. Imagine a wedding photo with the bride in the foreground and the w..

Honor 5X Review

February 9, 2016 PTdrivers 8

Huawei's online-only Honor range of smartphones has been developed and positioned as complementary to the parent company's more premium products. Naturally, it's targeted at developing markets such as India, and the phones have managed to generate enough buzz and attention to make Honor a significant player in the budget and mid-range smartphone segments in India.
The newest product from the Honor stable is the Honor 5X. This mid-range smartphone has a little bit of everything that you might be looking for in a smartphone. With a fingerprint sensor, 4G dual-SIM connectivity and the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 616 SoC, the Honor 5X has a lot to offer for Rs. 12,999. There's also Huawei's reputation, which got a significant boost after the Chinese company was chosen to manufacture the Google Nexus 6P (Review | Pictures). Does the Honor 5X live up to or even exceed typical mid-range expectations? We find out in our review.
Look and feel
One of the Honor 5X's key ..

Intex Cloud Flash Review

January 3, 2018 PTdrivers 0

The Cloud Flash is Intex's most recent entry in its 'Cloud' series of smartphones and it's just in time for the holiday rush. This Rs.10,000 smartphone boasts off having a protective glass back and of course 4G connectivity. However, the Intex has its work cut out for it as the Lenovo K3 Note (Review | Pictures) happens to reside in this segment too. The latter is one of our favourite phones of 2015 and was one of the most popular handsets on Flipkart this year. Let's see if the Cloud Flash has what it takes to pose as a better alternative.
Look and feel
Intex has certainly stepped up its game in the build and finish department. With smooth, rounded edges and Gorilla Glass for the front and back, the Cloud Flash doesn't feel cheap. The glass back does make the phone very slippery though and can easily slip through your fingers or slide of an uneven surface.
Dominating the front is a 5-inch HD AMOLED display, which produces saturated colours along with good..