Author: Aniruddh

  • Airtel Platinum Postpaid Review- Is it really worth?

    There is a huge hype on the Airtel Platinum Postpaid plans. It is expected to provide Priority 4G network and faster data speeds along with other set of features. I have been using the Airtel postpaid SIM for more than 5 years now. My plan was 399 per month. So upgrade to 499 plan to experience the benefits of Airtel Platinum priority 4G services. Here is my Airtel Platinum postpaid plan review based on my experience.

    My expectations from the Airtel Platinum postpaid plan was better data speeds. In my location, the signal strength is average. With my postpaid sim and prepaid sim was giving an download speed of 3 mbps and upload speed to 700kbps. Called the customer care center and asked about whether it improve the performance. Post confirmation, I have opted for the 499 Airtel platinum postpaid plan.

    Airtel Platinum Postpaid Review

    Claim 1: Free Doorstep delivery of SIM card

    I am using the eSIM. So called the customer care number and requested for the new physical sim card. The answer I got is I have to visit the Airtel store to get the sim card and it is charged Rs.25. When asked about free sim card and doorstep delivery, they replied that, it is applicable only for those who migrate from prepaid and not applicable to existing postpaid customer. I stay near a taluk center called Sullia. The centers which provides physical sim card near me are Mangalore, Mysore or Bangalore. That is around 100KM from my place. The sim card for my postpaid connection is not even available in Madikeri which is the district center of Kodagu. To get a replacement sim card being a Airtel platinum postpaid user, I need to travel at least 200 km(Considering the both side travel).

    The airtel prepaid sim card replacement is available in Sullia which is a taluku center. So a prepaid customer has better service compared to Platinum postpaid user.

    Claim 2: Priority 4G network

    This is the main reason I have opted for the 499 plan. I have placed my prepaid and postpaid sim cards of Airtel in Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra as well as on iPhone 11. Then ran a speed test. The results are as follows.

    As you can infer from the speed test results, there is no advantage of having a platinum postpaid plan over a prepaid plan.

    Claim 3: Priority customer support

    I have raised a complaint regarding the issue of data connectivity on September 9th 2020 through Airtel thanks app. The resolution date provided was 16th September. I repeatedly did a follow up. The answer I am getting is our network engineers are working it to resolve the issue. You will notified on the status. Even today, issue is not resolved.

    Claim 4: Other benefits like free data rollover Amazon prime membership

    I had this benefits on my 399 plan as well. Also as data speed are not reliable watching a live tv is not a good experience. Only the advantage I got is the free Amazon prime membership.

    Airtel Platinum Postpaid Plan review verdict

    The base plan to get Airtel platinum postpaid is Rs.499 plus GST. For that you 75GB of data per month and free incoming and outgoing calls. However, prepaid 599 plan gives you 56 days of validity and 2GB of data per day along with free incoming and outgoing calls. As there is no advantage of platinum plan or postpaid connection, prepaid connection is better value for money.

  • iPhone 11: How to take screenshot without using the Power and Volume down Key iOS 14

    iOS 14 comes with lot of new features. One of the such feature is back tap. The double tap or triple tap can be customised to do many tasks. If you are not comfortable in taking screenshot on iPhone 11 using the hardware keys, you can take advantage of it. So let us explore how to take screenshot on iPhone 11 without using hardware keys.

    How to take screenshot on iPhone 11 without using the hardware keys-iOS14

    This method will work on all the devices running on iOS 14. So here are steps to take screenshot using double tap or triple tap.

    • Go to Settings>>Accessibility >>Touch.
    • Select Back tap.
    • Select Double tap or Triple Tap based on which one you want to assign for screenshot.
    • From the list select screenshot.
    • Now double or triple back tap on your iPhone 11 to take screenshot.
    • You will get the editing options as usual.
    • If you are in safari browser, you will get the full screenshot option as well.

    This is the quick post on how to take screenshot on iPhone 11 without using the hardware keys on iOS 14.

  • How to take screenshot on Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra

    Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra provides multiple different ways to take a screenshot. Though some of these methods are seen on other Galaxy devices, some are exclusive to Galaxy Note 20. If you want to capture the entire screen or portion of screen in certain shape or a long screenshot, Galaxy Note 20 Ultra has a option to do it. In this post, let us explore 4 popular methods to take screenshot on Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra and Note 20.

    The different ways to take screenshot on Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra are

    • Using the screenshot button.
    • S Pen to capture screenshot
    • Palm swipe to take screenshot
    • Hardware keys method

    How to take screenshot on Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra or Galaxy Note 20

    Screenshot Button method

    To use this method, you need to add screenshot button to the edge panel. For that,

    • Go to Edge panel.
    • Tap Settings.
    • Add task to edge panel by selecting it.

    To take screenshot,

    • Go to the page you want to take screenshot.
    • Now navigate to Edge panel.
    • Browse between the Edge panels to get Task panel.
    • Tap on the screenshot.
    • Screenshot will be saved.

    S Pen Method

    • Get the S Pen and open the S Pen options.
    • Select Smart Select.
    • From the toolbar, select the shape you want the screenshot.
    • You can save or share the screenshot.

    Palm Swipe to capture screenshot

    • Navigate to the page you want the screenshot.
    • Swipe your palm from left to right or right to left.
    • It will save the screenshot.

    Hardware Keys method

    • Go to the page you want to capture screenshot.
    • Quickly press and release the Volume down and power keys simultaneously.
    • It will save the screenshot.

    Long screenshot or scroll screenshot

    To take scroll screenshot or long screenshot on Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra or Note 20, take screenshot using screenshot button or palm swipe or Hardware keys method. Now you will get screenshot toolbar. Tap on the down arrow key to scroll the page and take screenshot.

    How to access taken screenshot

    Go to Gallery, Albums and then screenshot folder.

    These are some of the ways to take screenshot on Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra or Galaxy Note 20.

  • How to take screenshot on Samsung Galaxy M31s- 3 Ways + Long screenshot

    Galaxy M31s is the successor to the popular Galaxy M31. Though it has incremental upgrades, the user interface and software experience is almost identical. In this post, we will explore on how to take screenshot on Samsung Galaxy M31s using three different ways.

    Long screenshot or Scroll screenshot is a handy feature to grab a screen where you want multiple pages in one screenshot. Luckily, Galaxy M31s supports long screenshot. You can use it to capture long multi page web page, settings page etc.

    How to take screenshot on Samsung Galaxy M31s

    Using the hardware keys to take a screenshot

    • First go to the page you want to capture screenshot.
    • Now press and release Power and Volume down keys together.
    • Screen will flicker and preview will be shown.
    • You will also get screenshot tool bar using which you can directly share the screenshot or edit the screenshot.

    Using the palm swipe gesture to capture a screenshot

    • Navigate to the page you want to grab a screenshot.
    • Swipe your palm on screen from one side to another wherein your palm slightly touches the screen.
    • Screenshot will be captured.

    Assistive Touch Menu method to take screenshot

    For using this method, you need to enable Assistive Touch menu.

    • Go to Settings->Accessibility->interaction and dexterity. Enable Assistant Menu.
    • A small floating icon will appear on the screen. This is called Assistant Menu

    To take a screenshot, navigate to the page you want to take screenshot on Galaxy M31s. Now tap on Assistant menu and then screenshot. It will save the screenshot.

    Long screenshot or Scroll screenshot on Samsung Galaxy M31s

    If you want to take scroll screenshot or long screenshot, take screenshot using any of the methods mentioned before. You will get a screenshot tool bar. Now, tap on this down arrow icon. It will take scroll screenshot. If you are not getting this menu, then Go to Settings->Advanced Features. Here select Screenshots and Screen recorder. Enable Screenshot toolbar.

    How to access taken screenshot

    To view the taken screenshots, Go to Gallery. Here Albums then Screenshot folder. You will find all the taken screenshots.

  • Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Cons – Reasons not to buy

    Much anticipated flagship device of the year 2020 from Samsung is finally unveiled and it will start shipping to the consumers very soon. However, I was disappointed by looking at the specifications of the regular Galaxy Note 20. It looks like a downgrade from even Galaxy Note 10. So here are some of the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 cons which I felt it is not worth to buy.

    USD 999 or INR 77,999 is a hefty price for any smartphone. However, Galaxy Note 20 has lot of compromises which is not expected from a smartphone in that price segment. This is not the review. Based on the specifications available, here is my thoughts.

    Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Cons- Reasons not to buy

    Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Cons

    60Hz Refresh Rate

    Samsung Galaxy Note 20 comes with a 6.7 inch Full HD Plus Super AMOLED flat display with 1080×2400 pixel resolution and 60Hz refresh rate. There are many smartphones with price around INR 50,000 or less, comes with 90Hz Refresh rate display panel. For example, OnePlus Nord which is priced at 27,990, has a display panel with 90Hz. RealMe 6 and RealMe 6 Pro which are priced around INR 17,000 and INR19,000 also provides a display panel with 90Hz refresh rate. Asus ROG 3 comes with 144Hz refresh rate and priced at 49,990. This is not expected from a premium smartphone. Samsung Galaxy S20 has a optional 120Hz panel. It is clearly a downside for a smartphone with a price tag of INR 77,990.

    Design

    Design and build of Samsung Galaxy Note 20 is step back from last years Galaxy Note 10. Now it has polycarbonate plastic build instead of Glass design.

    Gorilla Glass 5 Protection

    Galaxy Note 20 comes with two year old Gorilla Glass 5 whereas Galaxy Note 10 came with Gorilla Glass 6. The latest flagship has the lesser screen protection compared last years flagship.

    Lack of 5G support

    When we buy a smartphone with premium price tag , we expect it to use it minimum 3 to 4 years. 5G is not yet launched in India. But it will be there soon. Though Galaxy Note 20 with 5G support is available in Global markets, the one available in India will not have support for 5G. So it is not future proof.

    No Expandable Storage

    Once again Samsung omitted the microSD card support on Galaxy Note 20. So you are restricted to the built in storage.

    Performance

    In the global market, Samsung Galaxy Note 20 comes with Snapdragon 865 Chipset. In India, it is powered by Exynos 990. Benchmark scores show that, Exynos 990 slower compared to Snapdragon 865 particularly for gaming and less energy efficient in CPU demanding scenarios.

    In summary, Samsung Galaxy Note 20 didn’t justify the price tag of INR 77,990. In some ways, it is inferior than last years Galaxy Note 10 or Note 10 Plus.