Xiomi MI 9T Review

Image Source: www.xataka.com

Highlights

  • In display fingerprint sensor
  • Triple lens camera setup
  • 403 ppi AMOLED display
  • 64/128 GB, 6 GB RAM
  • Edge-to-Edge display
  • Motorised selfie camera

 

Xiomi’s latest smartphone MI 9T smartphone was recently launched on 12th June 2019. The phone comes with a massive 6.39-inch display with a resolution of 1080×2340 pixels. Confusingly, it’s not the first time we’ve seen the MI 9T either, as it’s a renamed version of the Redmi K20, which was revealed in China this May. Let’s take a closer look at the MI 9T.

Price

Although it has been launched in Spain where it costs around $370, However, it hasn’t been launched in India so far. According to rumours its expected launch date is 31st July 2019 with the price tag of ₹ 25,890 for the 6 GB RAM/ 64 GB base variant.

Design

The Xiomi MI 9T comes in 3 variants – Carbon Black, Glacier Blue and Flame Red. It also sports the industry-standard gorilla glass 5 pane on the front along with the full notch-less edge to edge display. On the back of the MI 9T has an eye-catching flame-like design, which has been created using a nano-holographic method which looks super cool. The front-facing selfie camera has been replaced by the latest motorised style popup camera as seen on OnePlus 7 pro and Oppo Reno.

Display

Xiomi MI 9T has a 6.39 inch AMOLED screen with 2340 x 1080 pixel resolution. Moreover, this time Xiomi tried its best to provide the best user experience which is visible from the fact that there is no notch or a punch-hole design and a relatively modest chin.

Camera

Xiomi has adopted the triple-lens camera system consisting of 48 MP wide lens, 13 MP ultra-wide lens and 8 MP telephoto lens. Moreover props to Xiomi’s artificial intelligence features, they have also added a new night mode feature which can take significantly better low-light shots than its predecessors. The selfie camera on the front is powered with the 20 MP lens. Along with the in-display fingerprint sensor, this camera also supports face unlock thus making it convenient for the users who prefer facial recognition.

Features

Despite being a mid-range product, the Xiomi MI 9t is powered by the Qualcomm 730 processor along with 6GB RAM and storage option of 64/128 GB. The phone also uses the optical in-display fingerprint sensor which uses optical light to sense the grooves on your fingers. Besides this If you are a gamer then you’d also like the fact that Xiomi has also added a game turbo 2.0 enhancement which makes the gaming experience better by reducing latency and response time. This time its also equipped with 3.5 mm headphone jack, Bluetooth 5.0 and comes with a 4000 mAh battery along with 18w fast charging. Overall if you are looking for a mid-tier smartphone but also want most of the high tech features than this phone is for you!

Key Specifications –

  • Screen – 6.39-inch AMOLED display at 1080 x 2340 resolution
  • Processor – Qualcomm SDM730 Snapdragon 730, octa-core
  • Memory – 64/128 GB, 6 GB RAM
  • Rear camera – 48 MP + 8 MP + 13 MP (wide + telephoto + ultra-wide)
  • Front camera – Motorised pop up 20 MP
  • Battery – 4,000mAh
  • Charging – Fast battery charging 18W
  • Software – MIUI 10, Android 9.0
  • Biometric security – Fingerprint (in-display)



Huawei P30 Pro Review

Image Source: cellucity.co.za

Highlights

  • In display fingerprint sensor
  • Triple lens camera set up
  • Gorgeous Design
  • Corning gorilla glass 6
  • Reverse Wireless Charging
  • 6.47 inches OLED display

 

With the launch of Huawei P30 Pro is a statement from Huawei, with the Chinese smartphone manufacturer declaring that its new flagship will “rewrite the rules of photography”. Furthermore, its high tech specs such as in-display fingerprint sensor, massive battery life, OLED display and its premium built quality also makes it one of the most promising phone of 2019. Let’s find out more about this phone.

Price

In India, the Huawei P30 Pro is priced at ₹ 71,990 for its top-end variant of 8 GB and 256 GB internal storage. Though it another variant also comes with slightly lower specs such as 6 GB and 128 GB internal storage.

Design

On the front of the P30, Huawei has slimmed down the small notch at the top of the display. This has also enabled Huawei to increase the size of the screen from 6.1-inch to a larger 6.47-inch OLED display. Coming to its design, the P30 pro looks stunning with its colourful and vibrant shades. In total, the P30 Pro is available in five finishes, known as Breathing Crystal, Amber Sunrise, Pearl White, Black, and Aurora. Huawei is also kind enough to include a silicone cover case for the phone which helps to have a better grip.

Display

The Huawei P30 Pro packs in a 6.47 inch OLED display with the resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels with 398 PPI pixel density. This also allows P30 Pro to produce more vivid, vibrant and colourful imagery and videos making it an overall enjoyable experience for the consumer.

Camera

This time, Huawei has rebuilt its entire camera system from the ground up. The device has a Superzoom Lens, a 40 MP Super Sensing Camera, a 20 MP Ultra-Wide-Angle Lens and a HUAWEI TOF Camera, which allows you to capture incredible moments. Backed by Leica uad Camera System, the phone is capable of clicking excellent pictures even in low light conditions. So if you’re looking for a truly unique smartphone camera experience this might just have to be your next phone. On the front, it has a 32 MP selfie camera which is also capable of shooting amazing pictures in the low light condition.

Features

The Huawei P30 Pro uses the flagship Kirin 980 chipset that debuted last year. P30 Pro also boasts fast-wired and fast-wireless charging, as well as the reverse wireless charging which is quite a handy feature. Talking about battery it is loaded with the massive 4200 mAh battery along with 15W fast charging which can charge your phone from 0 to 70% in just 30 mins. Huawei also uses in-display optical fingerprint sensor which uses optical signals to recognise your fingerprint pattern. Overall P30 Pro is a compelling alternative to heavyweights of Apple, Google and Samsung. The storage is also huge to fulfil the user’s storage needs. Therefore it presents a strong spec-sheet that would be appreciated by all the Huawei fans.

Key Specifications –

  • Screen
 – 6.46 inch OLED Dewdrop display
  • Processor
 – HiSilicon Kirin 980
  • Memory
 – 6GB/8GB/12GB
  • Rear camera
 – 40 MP + 20 MP ultra-wide sensor + 8 MP telephoto sensor
  • Front camera
 – 32 MP
  • Battery
 – 4200 mAh battery
  • Charging
 – Fast wireless charging 15W
  • Software – One UI, Android 9.0
  • Internal storage
 – 256 GB, 8 GB RAM
  • Biometric security – in Display Fingerprint sensor
  • Water Resistance
 – IP-68 Water Resistance



Asus Zenbook Pro Duo Review

Image Source: www.asus.com

Highlights

  • Brilliant Aesthetics
  • High-Quality Design
  • Upto core i9 8-core CPU
  • Multi-purpose extra screen
  • Reverse Wireless Charging
  • 6.47 inches OLED display

Introduction

These days, everyone wants to get their hands on a prosumer laptop, whether it’s a MacBook Pro or a Dell XPS 15. However, Asus has taken a different route here, more specifically with its new Asus Zenbook Pro Duo has taken laptops to a whole new level with a second “Screenpad Plus” display above the keyboard. With Intel i9 and Nvidia RTX 2060, this laptop is a beast with a unique design.

Price

As of now, no price information is available about this laptop, However according to reports, it will start shipping in July itself. Though it is pretty obvious that with the kind of specs it’s packed with, it will be a pretty expensive piece of technology.

Display

A first glance at the Zenbook pro duo , you’ll be immediately struck by a stylish finish and a premium design construction. The body is all aluminium to make more sturdy and increase its durability. Though what makes it unique is the second screen that stands out the most. This screen is a 14-inch 4k panel. This screen has a lot of uses, For example, the photoshop users can use this screen as a control centre to access various tools and improve productivity. For gamers, this screen can be used to display stream chat or a view of there ongoing recording. Moreover, this screen also has the support for the stylus which designers may find interesting. Apart from that the whole structure of this laptop also has ergonomic improvement to ensure a comfortable position while you are using it.

Performance

The Zenbook pro duo has up to an 8-core Intel Core i9 processor paired with RTX 2060 GPU and 32 GB of RAM. Furthermore, it also has 4 microphones and an echo style blue light that activates on voice command. Besides this, it has one thunderbolt 3 port, 2 USB- A ports, a full-sized HDMI port and a headphone jack. Given the amount of internals it has, it’s fairly a heavy laptop at 2.5 kg. Overall it’s certainly going to be a fairly expensive laptop whenever it launches. However, with this kind of hardware internals, it does make it pretty reasonable. Furthermore its also exciting to see another company apart from apple to move forward with a new approach towards a secondary panel for increased productivity.

Key Specifications –

  • Screen
 – 15.6 inch 3840×2160 resolution display
  • Processor
 – intel i9, 8-core processor
  • RAM
 – 32 GB
  • Internal Storage
 – 1 TB SSD
  • Weight
 – 2.5 Kg
  • Graphics – 6 GB Nvidia RTX 2060
  • OS
 – Windows 10



Amazon Echo Show (Gen 2)

Image Credits: www.techadvisor.co.uk

Highlights

  • Big responsive touch screen
  • Powerful Audio
  • Friendly and Attractive design
  • Compact Size
  • Entry-Level Price

Introduction

Amazon launched its 2nd Generation of echo show which feels like a more sleeker, louder, and features loads of new touch-screen features, all for the same price of its 1st generation echo show. Moreover, it also addresses nearly all of the issues with its original model, with the promise of even more useful features in the future. Let’s find more about this Amazon’s latest echo product.

Price

The 2nd generation of Echo show is priced at same $229 tag or ₹ 22,999 in India. This also makes it the most expensive echo product by Amazon. Though the best time to buy this will be the frequent Amazon’s sale events where you can easily get a nice discount for the echo show.

Design

In terms of design, the 1st generation echo show was nothing flashy. It was all sharp edges surrounded by black plastic which was easily prone to fingerprints smudges and generally boasted an uninspired look. Though the 2nd generation of Echo Show has an all-screen front with thick black bezels and speakers have been shifted to the back. This has made the Echo Show 17mm thicker than its predecessor, this way it gets more real estate for the display and speakers. Overall it looks like a futuristic mini television, that rests on your desk with that hump on its back.

Display

Since Amazon has moved the placement of its speaker, the new echo show with 1280 x 800 resolution looks much more like a miniature flat-screen TV. Moreover, the colours are now more bright and vivid which also makes the overall viewing experience nice. Furthermore, I think we can expect a sharper display in the future since technology is rapidly getting better.

Sound

Amazon Echo Show features upgraded side-firing speakers which can fill a room with sound quite easily. The music is louder and clearer than any Amazon speaker so far. The echo show also displays the song lyrics while playing the music which is a pretty handy feature. Moreover, since Amazon has partnered with Dolby, therefore you can be sure that the sound will be quite good with its 10.1 inch HD screen.

Features

Aside from the new display and audio, the Intel Atom-based Echo Show has a few other new specs and software enhancements of note. You can also access those smart home devices directly with a swipe on the display. Furthermore, there also and 5 MP camera for HD video calling. You can also use Skype aside from directly using Amazon’s built-in video calling interface for echo devices. Apart from that there total eight microphones on the Echo Show which makes it more responsive to your voice commands. The 2nd generation echo show also comes with the browser so browsing google and YouTube is now possible. Besides this, the Amazon prime video content is also available at your fingertips which is quite useful. Overall the new Echo Show now comes with beefier sound and a larger display than the original. Though I think there is still a room for improvement in terms of its sound quality and its software part too. But nonetheless, the new Echo Show is well-poised to be the essential kitchen device if you’re an Amazon and Alexa devotee.

Key Specifications –

  • Screen
 – 10 inch, 1280 x 800 resolution
  • Processor
 – Intel Atom x5-Z8350
  • Memory
 – 64/128 GB, 6 GB RAM
  • Camera – 5 MP
  • Microphone
 – 8 Microphones in-total
  • Sound
 – Dual 2” neodymium drivers & passive bass radiator



Samsung Q900R 8K QLED TV

Image Source: news.samsung.com

Highlights

  • 8K Videos Support
  • Massive 85-inch display
  • Incredible brightness and colour
  • Wide Viewing Angle
  • Great local dimming and dark room performance

The Samsung Q900R is a high-end TV. It is the first 8k TV to enter the market and is currently just above Samsung’s 4k flagship, the Samsung Q90R. Though in the era where people are just starting to get the grip of 4K, we already have the world’s first 8K TV. In the US, it’s available in an 85-inch variant and soon will also be available in a new 98-inch variant.

Price

Samsung’s new range of QLED 8K TVs will be priced at ₹ 10,99,900 and ₹ 16,99,900 for 75-inch (189 cm), and 82-inch (207 cm) variants respectively. Moreover, according to Samsung, it will also be soon available in 2 more sizes (65 and 98 inches) as well. This new 8K TV will also have approximately 4x the current resolution of 4K TV and 16 times the resolution of Full HD TV.

Design

As far as its design, for all its astonishing, cutting-edge features, this TV isn’t much to look at in design terms, It’s just a thin dark frame wrapped around an 85-inch screen with a pair of king-sized feet tucked under each bottom corner. Furthermore, I am impressed as of how Samsung kept its design minimalistic by putting all its connection in a ‘One Connect’ Box that jacks into the TV via a single, surprisingly slender cable.

Display

With more than 33 million pixels, Samsung QLED 8K Q950R gives you amazing pixel-less viewing experience. This also makes the picture performance so much sharper and looks much more detailed with sub-8K content. A big part of this achievement goes to its upscaling being even better than that of the Q900Rs. The upgraded 4K chip in the upscaling chain delivers a marked boost in sharpness and detail with all sub-8K sources. In other words, its upscaling abilities allows SD, FHD and 4K videos, bring closer to its near 8K resolution but also improve contrast and image quality at the same time. This all was made possible due to Samsung’s machine learning approach with an intelligent algorithm to learn the difference between edges and lines as well as handle movement and remove potential blur.

Sound Quality

The sound quality of the Samsung Q900 is decent. It can get fairly loud, which is good for most use cases and will deliver well-balanced dialogues. However, the TV lacks bass, so it won’t be able to produce any thump or punch. Though it delivers a wide soundstage, at least, and positions effects quite accurately within that soundstage. Notwithstanding the way, those effects always sound like they’re slightly behind the on-screen action. Therefore additional sound-bars will be highly recommended.

Overall at this point, this is the future of Television industry and perhaps at this point, there is still a long way to go for the people to afford this expensive technological product. However being optimistic, TVs do get cheaper over time so therefore we can see more competitors entering this market niche soon, which will be a win-win situation for all.




AirPods (Generation 2) Review

Image Credits (Apple.com)

What’s New

  • Wireless Charging
  • All-new Apple’s H1 Chip
  • Voice Activated “Hey Siri”
  • Improved talk time
  • Faster Connectivity with Bluetooth 5.0

Introduction

After 2 years since the introduction of AirPods, apple’s new AirPods have arrived this year. Though from a design perspective, nothing much has changed but apple has packed it with some pretty powerful features. Let’s take a closer look at its specifications.

Price

The 2nd Generation of AirPods is priced at ₹18,900. This time the AirPods come with the wireless charging case instead of the standard AirPods case. With this move, Apple is shifting towards a complete wireless lifestyle, thus no longer you have to struggle to find those strangled wires.

Design

Coming to its design, apart from some minor changes in the AirPod case, nothing much has changed since its predecessor. AirPods look pretty much identical to its first generation.

Performance

However in terms of performance, AirPods now comes with apple’s all-new H1 chipset, which according to apple allows a faster connection, lower latency and up to 50 percent more talk time compared to the 1st generation AirPods and even enables hands-free “Hey Siri” feature which I find pretty handy during the workout. Additionally, the chip allows faster switching between your iPhone and Apple Watch. You can also connect these AirPods to apple tv, iPad or even MacBook. Apart from that even if you are an android user, you can still connect them with your smartphone thus making AirPods compatible with almost all the smartphones out there.

Sound Quality

Considering how loud these can get, I’m impressed with the highs. Just like the regular wired EarPods, the mids are given a huge boost in these. Overall the AirPods have a very consumer-friendly sound, making it a perfect companion for the workout.

Verdict

Overall the AirPods are very easy to use, easy to carry and even easy to charge. Apart from that the charging case is amazingly built and easy to carry (removing one bud to pause or play music works perfectly) and the connection rarely drops. Plus, the 2nd generation of AirPods gives even more battery life and you can charge the case wirelessly which is a nice little addition.

Key Specifications –

  • Battery life (talk)
 – 3 hours
  • Weight – 4g
  • Battery life (music)
 – 5 hours
  • Chipset
 – Apple H1
  • Bluetooth version
 5.0
  • Siri connection
 Voice-activated or double-tap
  • Wireless charging
  • For iOS 12.2 or later
  • Apple TV support
 – Yes