Tech2 Touch

Author: Aniruddh

  • Samsung Galaxy A9 with Quad Rear Cameras FAQ

    Samsung Galaxy A9  touted as worlds “first rear quad camera” smartphone launched in India. 6.3 inch full HD Plus Infinity Display, up to 8GB RAM, 24 MP front facing camera, dual gradient curved glass back are the other key features of the device.  Here is the quick summary of Samsung Galaxy A9 with Quad Rear Cameras in the form of the FAQ.

    Samsung Galaxy A9

    Samsung Galaxy A9 with Quad Rear Cameras FAQ

    What are the different variants and color options available?

    Samsung Galaxy A9 comes with 6GB or 8GB RAM variant. It is available in 3 different color options- Lemonade blue, Caviar black, and Bubblegum pink.

    How is it priced in India?

    Galaxy A9 with 6GB of RAM is priced at ₹ 36,990 and for the 8GB RAM variant price is ₹ 39,990.

    What are the key specifications of Galaxy A9?

    • 6.3 inch full HD Plus Infinity Display.
    • Octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 SoC.
    • 6GB/8GB RAM and 128 GB internal storage.
    • Dedicated microSD card slot.
    • 24MP front facing camera.
    • 4 camera setup in the rear.
    • Fingerprint scanner and face unlock options.
    • Accelerometer, Fingerprint Sensor, Gyro Sensor, Geomagnetic Sensor, Hall Sensor, Proximity Sensor, RGB Light Sensor.
    • Android 8.0.
    • 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11ac (dual-band, 2.4GHz and 5GHz), Bluetooth v5.0, USB Type-C, NFC, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
    • 3800 mAh battery with fast charging support.

    How Quad Camera setup on Samsung Galaxy A9 works?

    Here is the summary of 4 rear camera in Galaxy A9.

    1. 10 MP telephoto sensor with  2x optical zoom and a f/2.4 aperture.

    2. 8 MP ultra-wide sensor with a 120-degree lens supporting a f/2.4 aperture.

    3. 24MP primary sensor along with a f/1.7 aperture.

    4. 5-megapixel depth sensor with a f/2.2 aperture.

    What are the cons of Galaxy A9?

    Based on the specifications, here are the few cons of Samsung Galaxy A9.

    • No Android 9.0. It is still running on Android 8.0.
    • There is no water and dust proof certification.
    • The slightly older chipset for the price.

    Samsung is offering a cashback of INR 3000 if you purchase this through HDFC debit or credit cards. You can also purchase through Airtel online store with attractive down payment and EMI.

  • Asus VivoBook S14 (S406U) Review- Pros and Cons

    Asus VivoBook S14 (S406) is a slim compact 14-inch notebook. It comes with 8th Gen Intel Core i5 processor and full HD display panel.  Though it has a 14-inch display panel, the dimension of the laptop is that of the 13.3-inch notebook.  Is this great laptop for the price of 60k? Let us find out in this Asus VivoBook S14 (S406) Review.

    Asus VivoBook 14

    Asus VivoBook S14 (S406) Review- Pros and Cons

    Asus VivoBook S14 comes in two series. One for the offline and another one for online. The offline only model VivoBook S14(S406U) is slimmer, lighter and comes only with SSD for storage. Online variants of VivoBook S14(S410UA ) are exclusive to Flipkart and comes with SSD and hard drives for storage. However, they are little thicker and heavier.

    Our review device is VivoBook S406U with Gold Color.

    Specifications:

    • 8th Gen Intel Core i5-8250U (up to 3.4 GHz).
    • 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD.
    • Windows 10 Home Edition.
    • 14 inch Full HD display.

    VivoBook S14 Pros

    Here are the merits of  VivoBook S406U

    • Slim and lightweight design:   VivoBook S406U sports a stylish slim and light weight design.  It looks and feels like an ultrabook. The lid is metal and scratch resistant according to Asus. The hairline finish looks on the back is impressive especially the Gold variant. Sandblasted finish in the palm rest area and surrounding looks good.
    • Good Display panel: One of the main USP of the device is its display panel. It sports 14 inch full HD IPS display panel with a matte finish.  The display provides good viewing angles and brightness.
    • Performance: 8th Gen Intel  Core i5 with 8GB RAM and SSD provides good performance for the regular usage. It may be browsing or for watching videos, there is no issues. Tried with basic video editing, it managed to perform satisfactorily. In our usage, we have not faced any heating issues.
    • Good Keyboard and trackpad: VivoBook S14 comes with a full sized keyboard and keys has 1.4mm of travel. It feels good for typing. The wide trackpad performance is decent for the price tag.

    VivoBook S14 Cons

    Here are the few demerits of VivoBook S406U.

    • The lid is not solid enough: The hinge is not strong enough to hold display firmly. Due to this if you are using the notebook while traveling, display wobbles.
    •  Flex in the keyboard area: There is a flex in the keyboard area when pressure is applied. Due to this, little noise comes when typing fast.
    • Average battery life:  With casual usage, this notebook provides 6 to 6 and a half hours of battery life. However, it could have been better.

    Asus VivoBook S14 (S406) Review summary: It is a good compact ultrabook in the price tag of around 60k with few minor compromises.

  • OnePlus 6T Cons – Top 5 missing Features

    OnePlus 6T is one of the much-awaited smartphones of 2018. It has most of the best features of its predecessor and has some additions. However, there are few disappointments as well. High expectations set by OnePlus smartphones lead to these disappointments on this device. Here are such OnePlus 6T cons based on missing features.

    OnePlus 6T Cons

    OnePlus 6T Cons – Top 5 missing features

    1. No 3.5mm headphone jack

    One of the useful features which were available on OnePlus 6 and not available on OnePlus 6T is a 3.5mm headphone jack. This Pushes the users to buy an adapter or buy the new headphone or earphones.

    2. Missing wireless charging

    It was expected that the latest smartphone will come with wireless charging options. Though OnePlus 6T still has one of the fastest charging technology, having wireless charging provides additional convenience. It is one of the common features of current flagship smartphones.

    3. Same camera hardware

    OnePlus 6T comes with the same hardware when it comes to camera sensors and optical. There are few added software enhancements which will be coming to OnePlus 6 as well in the coming days. We expected an upgrade in the camera hardware department.

    4. In display Finger display is not as fast as a regular fingerprint scanner

    In display fingerprint scanner is the latest technology. However, it is still in the developing stage. It is not as fast as a regular fingerprint scanner which we saw in OnePlus 6. Also, one minor issue is screen becomes full bright when in display fingerprint scanner is used. This is not great if you are using in the night times.

    5. No changes in the SoC or display resolution

    OnePlus 6T has the same SoC and screen resolution compared to its predecessor. Now the base variant comes with 128GB of storage instead of 64GB.

    Our call on OnePlus 6T: If you already have OnePlus 6, it is not advisable to upgrade. However, if you have older phones, then it is good to upgrade. As the new phone has a bigger battery, higher screen real estate due to smaller notch and more importantly higher internal storage at the same price are the key reasons to upgrade.

    These OnePlus 6T cons are based on our observation by looking into the specifications. We will be making a detailed review with pros and cons once we get the device.

  • Asus ZenFone Max M1 Review-Pros and Cons

    Asus has recently launched two budget Android smartphones in India-ZenFone Max M1 and Zenfone Lite L1.  These smartphones are directly competing with the likes of Redmi 6 and Redmi 6A.  Currently, ZenFone Max M1 is available at special price of Rs.7,499.  For this price is it a good value for money smartphone? Let us explore in our Asus Zenfone Max M1 review.

    Recommended Reading:

    ZenFone Lite L1 FAQ

    Asus Zenfone Max M1 Review

    Asus ZenFone Max M1 Review-Pros and Cons

    Specifications of Asus ZenFone Max M1

    • Octa Core Snapdragon 430 SoC.
    • 3GB RAM and 32GB internal storage.
    • 5.45-inch HD+ Display screen with 18:9 aspect ratio.
    • Dual nano sim card slot+dedicated microSD card slot.
    • 13MP primary camera with a f/2.0 aperture and PDAF.
    • 8MP front facing camera with a f/2.2 aperture.
    • 4000 mAh battery.
    • Fingerprint scanner.
    • Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, GPS, and GLONASS.

    Asus Zenfone Max M1 Pros

    Let us start some of the things which we liked in this device.

    Compact form factor

    This device has a 5.45-inch display screen with 18:9 aspect ratio and thin bezels. Hence, this is very compact in hand and easy to use in one hand.

    Decent Display Panel

    The 5.45-inch HD+ display panel on Zenfone Max M1 is good. It does provides good viewing angles and has enough brightness to be legible in outdoors.

    Battery Life

    4000 mAh battery is one of the key merits of this device. In our usage, it easily lasted more than 1 and half days. This included a lot of video streaming, playing some games and some calls. 4G is enabled all the time.

    Asus Zenfone Max M1 Cons

    Outdated SoC

    Asus Zenfone Max M1 performance is decent for the price range. However, Snapdragon 430 is little older chipset compared to Mediatek Helio A22 which is used on Redmi 6A or Redmi 6.

    Average camera performance

    In good daylight conditions, Zenfone Max M1 takes good photos. However, in low light condition, it struggles.

    Slow Android security update

    At the time of writing this, the device still runs on July security patch update.

  • Honor 8X Review-Pros And Cons

    Honor 8X is a premium looking mid-range smartphone with impressive hardware. AI-powered dual camera setup, 6.5inch full HD+ display with the screen to body ratio of 91%, Huawei’s latest HiSilicon Kirin 710 SoC are the main USP  of this device. With all these great features, is it a great midrange smartphone? Here is our Honor 8X review based on our experience with the device.

    Honor 8X Review

    Honor 8X Review-Pros And Cons

    Specification

    • 6.5inch full HD+ display with notch.
    • EMUI 8.2 based on Android 8.1 Oreo.
    • HiSilicon Kirin 710 SoC with Mali-G51 MP4 GPU.
    • 4GB/6GB RAM and 64GB/128GB internal storage.
    • 20MP primary camera with 2MP depth sensor.
    • 16MP front facing camea.
    • 3750 mAh battery.

    Honor 8X Pros

    First, let us start with the features which are good.

     Design

    Honor 8X sports dual tone gradient aurora glass in the back which provides a stylish look to this device.  Design wise it is one of the best-looking smartphone in the mid-range smartphones we have seen.

    Display

    6.5-inch full HD+ display with an aspect ratio of 19:5:9 on Honor 8X impressive. It has a small notch and thin chin at the bottom. There is an option to hide the notch and change the color temperature. Overall the display provides good viewing angle and color saturation.

    Performance

    Honor 8X comes with HiSilicon Kirin 710 SoC with 4GB/6GB RAM variant. We have tested the 4GB variant. We didn’t face any lag or shuttering while multitasking or running regular apps like Instagram, WhatsApp or playing videos. The graphic demanding games like Asphalt 9 ran smoothly without any frame drop.

    Camera

    Dual camera setup which consists of a 20MP primary sensor with f/1.8 and a 2 MP secondary sensor with AI support takes good photos in well-lit conditions.  Photos had plenty of details and colors are vibrant.  The AI support can recognize more than 500 different scenario and around 22 categories. Front facing camera performance in well-lit condition is good.

    Battery

    Real life battery performance of Honor 8X is incredible for the price and features this phone has. In spite of using 4G LTE all the time with a lot of youtube video streaming and few games phone easily lasted more than a day.

    Honor 8X Cons

    Here are the few demerits of Honor 8X.

    Average camera performance in low light

    The camera struggles in low light situations. The taken photographs lack details. AI is also not helpful. It just oversaturated bright colors.

    Slow charging

    The bundled charger takes more than 2 hours to fully charge from zero. It would have been great if this had a fast charging capability.

    A bit bulky for small hands

    Though having a large screen phone has a lot of advantages, it also difficult to handle in one hand especially if you have small hands. It feels bulky and difficult to handle.

    Outdated micro USB port

    It would have nice if this device had a new generation USB-C port.