Category: Reviews

Reviews on smartphones, gadgets and other useful applications. The reviews and summarised by splitting the features into pros and cons.

Sony Xperia E4 Dual Cons and Pros Review
Sony Xperia E4 Dual is sub 15k Android Dual sim smartphone. It is meant to compete with the likes of Moto G 2nd gen, Yu Yureka, Lenovo A7000, Redme smartphones etc. How well the smartphone fares when compared with the competitors? We see the pros and cons of Sony Xperia E4 in this review.

Sony Xperia E4 Dual is powered by 1.3GHz quad-core Mediatek MT6582 SoC with Mali-400MP2 GPU and 1GB of RAM. The internal storage capacity of the device is 8GB and supports microSD card upto 32GB. It runs on Android 4.4.4 Kitkat along with Sony’s skin. Though the skin is not heavy, devices comes loaded with many bloatwares.

Sony Xperia E4 sports 5 inch IPS LCD screen with a screen resolution of 540×960(qHD) which translates to approximately 220 ppi pixel density. The screen looks dull even with full brightness. The viewing angles and bright legibility are also not satisfactory. Though there is no mention of what kind of glass is used, the screen is scratch resistant as per the company.

Sony Xperia E4 houses 5 MP primary camera which can record 1080p videos and 2MP front facing camera. There is nothing much to right about primary camera as its performance is below average. The front camera does the decent job. The connectivity features of the device includes 3G, WiFi, Bluetooth and USB. One of the highlight of Xperia E4 is its battery. It comes with 2300 mAh battery. In a video loop test, phone ran for more than 9 hours.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Sony Xperia E4

Pros of Xperia E4
- Good Battery life. The performance of the battery is excellent in this price segment.
- Decent front facing camera.
- Decent cellular call quality.
Cons of Xperia E4
- Average performance: The Xperia E4 performance on day to day usage is mediocre. It lags and shutters. Even swipes registered as taps and opened apps instead of scrolling between home screens.
- Average Camera performance: The primary camera performance is below average when compared with the competition.
- Average Display: It has low resolution screen coupled with low brightness and angles view angles.
- No Android Lollipop Out of the box.
- Expensive
Verdict: Sony Xperia E4 is not recommended at this price. However, you can go for it if and only if you are hard core Sony Smartphone fan. Otherwise you can look for Motorola Moto G(2nd gen), Yu Yureka or Lenovo A6000 .

Sony Xperia E4 Specification
- 1.3GHz quad-core Mediatek MT6582 SoC with Mali-400MP2 GPU and 1GB of RAM
- Android 4.4.4 Kitkat
- Dual sim with Dual standby.
- 8GB internal storage and supports microSD card upto 32GB.
- 5MP primary camera and 2MP front facing camera.
- 2300 mAh battery.
April 3, 2015
Mlais M52 Red Note Hands on Review
Mlais M52 Red Note is one of the affordable yet decently powered phablet with 4G capability and dual sim functionality. There are many budget 4G enabled smartphones which are recently launched such as Lenovo A6000, Redme 2 etc. How well it performs against them is to be seen. Mlais M52 Red Note price is $149.99. You can use the PROMO code GBM52 to get the additional discount which is available to our readers. After the discount the price which you pay for M52 Red Note is $136(save 40.67dollars) in Gearbest.

Mlais M52 Red Note is powered by 64 bit 1.7GHz Octa Core Mediatek MTK6752 CPU with ARM MALI-T760 GPU and 2GB of RAM. Internal storage of the device is 16GB and supports TF card up to 64GB. The device runs on Android 4.4.4 without much customisation. The software provide also stock experience. The performance also felt good.

Mlais M52 Red Note sports 5.5 inch HD IPS OGS screen with screen resolution of 1280 x 720 which results in 267 ppi pixel density. The viewing angles are decent and the sun light legibility also good for the price it is offered. The connectivity features of the device are FDD LTE,4G,3G,GPS,Wi-Fi,Bluetooth.

Mlais M52 Red Note houses 13MP primary rear camera with LED flash and autofocus. There is also a 8MP front facing camera with wide angle lens. The new Mlais M52 Red Note has 3200 mAh battery. The built sensors of the device includes Proximity Sensor, Gesture Sensor, Gravity Sensor, Ambient Light Sensor. The other features are GPS, USB OTG and Gesture sensing.

Considering the below $150 Dual sim Android smartphone, Mlais M52 Red Note is has good specifications. The real time performance also good in the price segment. If you are looking for a budget phablet with good specifications, then it is worth considering this.

Mlais M52 Red Note Specification
- 5.5 inch HD IPS OGS capacitive screen with 720p resolution.
- CPU: MTK6752 Octa Core, 64 Bit, 1.7GHz
- GPU: ARM MALI-T760.
- 2GB RAM and 16GB internal storage.
- Android 4.4.4.
- Dual SIM card dual standby, two micro SIM card.
- Dual Cameras, 8.0MP 88 degrees wild-angle front camera, 13.0MP back camera, AF with True Flash LED.
- Support FDD LTE/4G/3G/GPS/Wifi/Bluetooth.
- Networking: 2G: GSM 850/900/1800/1900MHz, 3G: WCDMA 850/900/1900/2100MHz, 4G: FDD LTE: 800/1800/2100/2600MHz.
- 3200 mAh battery.
- Dimensions: 15.20 x 7.80 x 0.82 cm / 5.97 x 3.07 x 0.32 inches.
- Weight: 0.158 kg.
March 27, 2015
Huawei Honor 4X Cons and Pros Review
The budget 4G Android smartphone segment is becoming more competitive. We already have Yu Yureka, Xiaomi Redme 2 and Lenovo A6000 in the market. Now there is new entrant to this segment. That is Huawei Honor 4X. This 4G phablet has bigger battery life and good processing power. We will see whether Huawei Honor 4X is worth the buying?

Huawei Honor 4X is powered by 64 bit 1.2GHz Snapdragon 410 CPU with Adreno 306 graphics and 2GB of RAM. It has 8GB of internal storage and supports microSD card upto 32GB. The device runs on Android 4.4.4 Kitkat with Emotion 3.0 skin.

Recommended Reading:

How to download Huawei Honor 4X PC Suite

Huawei Honor 4X comes with 5.5 inch IPS LCD display panel with screen resolution of 720×1280 which translated to 267 ppi pixel density. The screen is sharp enough to see images and text crisp. The screen sun light legibility and viewing angles are average.

Huawei Honor 4X has 13MP rear primary shooter made by Sony and a 5MP front facing camera. It houses a massive 3000 mAh battery. This 4G phablet has dual sim configuration and works in dual standby mode. The connectivity features of Honor 4X are Wi-Fi a/b/g/n and Bluetooth v4.0 with A2DP. This device can connect to Indian 4G LTE networks operating in the 1800MHz and 2300MHz bands.

Competitors for Huawei Honor 4X

Yu Yureka Review

Lenovo A6000 Review

Xiaomi Redme 2 Review

Advantages and Disadvantages of Huawei Honor 4X

Pros of Honor 4X
- Good performance: Decent chipset with 2GB of RAM does provide a good day to user experience.
- Battery Life: The battery life the device excellent compared to the competitors.
- 4G connectivity: Having support for Indian 4G network is good addition.
- Decent 5MP front facing camera: It is one of the best front facing camera available in this budget.
- Decent call quality: The call quality and signal receiving are good.
Cons of Honor 4X
- Average display:The sunlight legibility is average. Also the viewing angle are not great.
- No screen protection: The display does not feature any protective glass . This means you need to use screen guard.
- Average camera performance: The primary camera is low to focus. Also in day light it faces a problem with adjusting the highlights and shadows and some shots, there is little bit of noise.
- No Android 5.0 Lollipop out of the box.
Huawei Honor 4X specifications
- 64 bit 1.2GHz Snapdragon 410 CPU with Adreno 306 graphics and 2GB of RAM.
- 5.5 inch IPS LCD display panel with screen resolution of 720×1280.
- 8GB of internal storage and supports microSD card upto 32GB.
- Android 4.4.4 Kitkat with Emotion 3.0 UI
- 13MP rear primary with LED flash
- 5MP front facing camera
- Wi-Fi a/b/g/n and Bluetooth v4.0 with A2DP, 4G
- 3000 mAh battery.
March 26, 2015
Xiaomi Redme 2 Cons and Pros Review
Xiaomi Redme 2 is the successor to last years Redme 1S. Like Moto E, Redme 1S also made huge impact on the budget Dual sim Android smartphone segment. Now with Redme 2, Xiaomi wants to rule the budget 4G Dual sim Android smartphone segment. Is it worth buying Xiaomi Redme 2?

Xiaomi Redme 2 is powered by 1.2GHz Quad core Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 CPU with 1GB of RAM and Adreno 306 GPU. Internal storage of the device is 8GB and supports microSD card upto 32GB. It runs on Android 4.4.4 Kitkat with MIUI 6.

Useful Posts on Redmi 2

How to download Redmi 2 PC suite

Xiaomi Redme 2 sports 4.7 inch IPS fully laminated display with screen resolution of 1280×720 p which results in pixel density of 312ppi. The connectivity features of the device includes 2G, 3G, 4G, WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0 and tethering.

Xiaomi Redme 2 houses 8MP back illuminated(BSI) camera with 5 element lens. It is claimed to deliver great low light performance. There is a significant improvement in the camera section. But quality still not great. There is also a 2MP front facing camera for taking selfies and video calling.

Xiaomi Redme 2 has Li-Polymer 2200 mAh battery which is one of the biggest strenght of the device. It last close to 12 hours and 18 minutes.

Verdict: Xiaomi Redme 2 comes with many upgrades over its predecessor. However, in the performance and camera section is not significant. 4G network is not yet available in many major cities in India. Overall if you already have Redme 1S, then upgrading is not recommended. The other two similar priced smartphones Lenovo A6000 and Moto E 2nd are worth considering when it comes to performance.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Xiaomi Redme 2

Pros of Xiaomi Redme 2
- Excellent battery life
- Decent build quality
- Good Display panel
- Great value for money
- Good Front facing camera performance.
Cons of Xiaomi Redme 2
- No Android 5.0 Lollipop out of the box: The similar priced Moto E 2nd gen comes with latest Android 5.0.2 out of the box.
- Average performance: Because of the heavy MIUI skin, phone tends to lag at times. Opening the app takes a while to open.
- Camera colour accuracy is a bit off
- Limited availability: The device is available only through flash sales.
- Minor upgrades over its predecessor with additional Rs.1000 price.
Xiaomi Redme 2 Specification
- 1.2GHz Quad core Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 CPU with 1GB of RAM and Adreno 306 GPU
- 4.7 inch IPS screen with 1280x720p resolution.
- 8MP primary camera and 2MP front facing camera
- 2G, 3G, 4G, WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0
- Li-Polymer 2200 mAh battery.
March 21, 2015
Motorola Moto E 2nd Gen Cons and Pros Review
Last year Motorola Moto E has changed the low end smartphone market in India. Decent screen, good battery life and sufficiently powerful processor with latest Android OS for a budget price attracted masses. Motorola Moto E 2nd generation is here with few more upgrades over its predecessor. With the launch of Lenovo A6000 and Xiaomi Redme 2, there is a tough competition for the new Moto E. We will have quick glance on what actually new Moto E brings in.

Motorola Moto E 2nd Gen comes with 4.5 inch display screen with qHD resolution of 540x960p. Though there is a slight increase in the screen size, the resolution remained unchanged. However, the display panel quality very good considering the price. Colour reproduction of the screen and sunlight legibility are decent. The screen has Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection.

Motorola Moto E 2nd Gen is powered by 1.2GHz quad core Snapdragon 200 processor with 1GB of RAM and Adreno 302 GPU. The device supports 2 sims and runs on Android 5.0.2 Lollipop. The internal storage of the device is 8GB and supports microSD card upto 32GB.

Motorola Moto E 2nd Gen sports 5MP primary camera with LED flash. There is also VGA front facing camera. Now camera has touch to focus feature. But primary camera quality on photos as well as videos are just average. The front facing camera performance also below average. The connectivity features of the device includes 2G, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 and microUSB 2.0. It has 2390 mAh battery.

Moto E 2nd Vs Lenovo A6000 Vs Xiaomi Redme 2

Moto 2nd Gen, Lenovo A6000 and Xiaomi Redme 2 all comes with same price tag. Choosing the best is based on the individual choices. Except camera and connectivity features, Moto E 2nd Gen is better option. I will do a detailed comparison on my next post.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Motorola Moto E 2nd Gen 2015

Pros of 2nd Gen Moto E
- Good build quality.
- Excellent battery life.
- Stock android experience with intuitive tweaks.
- Good value for money.
- Decent Display panel.
- Android 5.0.2 out of the box.
Cons of 2nd Gen Moto E
- Poor camera performance: In spite of improvements in camera section, camera performance of both primary and secondary are bad.
- No 720p HD screen: There are smartphones such as Lenovo A6000 and Xiaomi Redme 2 which are priced similarly offer 720p HD screen.
- 1080p video playback stutters.
- Non removable battery.
2nd Gen Motorola Moto E Specification
- 4.5-inch TFT LCD Touchscreen with qHD resolution.
- Dual Sim (GSM + UMTS).
- 1.2 GHz Quad Core Processor with 1GB of RAM.
- 2G, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 and microUSB 2.0.
- Android v5.0.2 (Lollipop) OS.
- 0.3 MP Secondary Camera.
- 5 MP Primary Camera with LED flash.
- 8GB internal storage.
- Expandable Storage Capacity of 32 GB.
March 20, 2015