Wednesday, 30 November 2016

Xiaomi Redmi 3S vs Moto E3 Power: Battle of the Budget Stalwarts

When it comes to buying a phone on a limited budget, there are many things that make a difference. Right from the availability to battery performance to build. Since two years now, the budget smartphone category has grown stiff in competition, especially with the Chinese giants selling millions of handsets online, but then what good a phone is if you have a hard time buying it.

Redmi 3s vs Moto E3 Power Build

Today, we are taking a look at Xiaomi’s popular Redmi 3S vs Lenovo’s Moto E3 Power. Priced almost same, the difference is substantial, and if you have a hard time figuring out, the details will help.

Availability

Before we go ahead, and deep dive into the finer details, availability of any device plays a major role. Even though Xiaomi phones have broken records on selling millions of handsets, grabbing one in flash sale is not easy for many. On the other hand, Moto E3 Power is readily available on Flipkart. Having said that, the demand for Redmi 3S has subsided in recent times and credit to Xiaomi for keeping up with the supply too.

Design & Build

Redmi 3S sports a partial metallic build which not only feels solid, but also delivers premium feel. While Moto E3 Power carries the traditional Moto look and feel with rubberised rear which is also prone to oil and dust. So we have a clear winner for this segment.

Hardware

Redmi 3S comes equipped with a 5-inch HD display and is powered by an octa-core Snapdragon 430 SoC clocked at 1.1GHz and paired with a 2GB/3GB RAM. The graphics are handled by an Adreno 505 GPU. On the memory front, the Redmi 3S offers either 16GB/32GB Storage depending on the variant. However, the Hybrid microSD card slot common to both the variants can accommodate up to 128GB.

The Moto E3 Power comes equipped with a 5-inch HD display and draws the power from quad-core MediaTek MT6735P processor clocked at 1GHz and paired with 2GB of RAM. The graphics are handled by ARM Mali-T720 GPU. On the storage front, the device offers 16GB of internal memory along with a dedicated microSD card slot that accommodates up to 32GB. The RAM and the storage both have been considerably bumped up as opposed to its predecessor.

Software & Performance

Redmi 3s vs Moto E3 Power Software 2

Redmi 3S trumps Moto E3 Power here. Xiaomi phones are known to deliver performance, thanks to tuning between the software and hardware, and Redmi 3S stands by it. This clearly shows up when it comes to gaming. One should note that Moto E3 Power does not support DirectX 11.2.

While both run on Android 6.0, Redmi 3S is now powered by MIUI 8.0 which comes with a plethora of features including Second Space, Dual Apps, Native Fingerprint App Locking, and so on. Those who are looking for more customization and features, Redmi 3S is the way to go. One thing you should know that MIUI is that it’s very aggressive with RAM management and it kills applications from running in the background pretty quickly to increase battery life.

Redmi 3s vs Moto E3 Power Software

Moto E3 Power has Stock Android on board which comes with vary basic features and minimal customization. It runs smoothly to what I have experienced, but let me get this straight. Moto E3 is not a power house. If you are looking for causal usage on day to day basis, Moto E3 Power lives up to it. Anything beyond? Look away.

Battery Life

Redmi 3S packs in 4100mAh battery which lasts for around 14-15 hours which can vary depending on your usage. If you only end up using few apps, it could be more, but if you are a gamer, it would be less. You get the Idea. Moto E3 Power packs in 3,500mAh user replaceable battery, which gets you around 12 hours on mixed usage. The basic idea is that both the phones can get through your complete day with moderate usage. Technically, Redmi 3S is nose ahead of Moto E3 Power.

Camera

Redmi 3s vs Moto E3 Power Camera

Even though the price is almost the same, there is no comparison between both the phones. In my experience, the Redmi 3S is a better of the two here. The Redmi 3S stacks a 13 MP shooter with F/2.0 aperture and phase detection AF with LED flash. It also supports slow motion video capture. Moto E3, on the other hand, houses an 8 MP camera with LED flash which records video at 720P. Both phones also include a 5MP selfie shooter. However, both phones lack Auto HDR mode.

Now let’s talk about the photo quality of both the phones. Moto E3 captures blown out and overexposed pictures and has a yellowish tinge to them. Compared to this, Redmi 3S takes photos which look attractive to the eyes with its boosted colors and saturation levels. Also, HDR comes out nice on Redmi 3S.

When it comes to low light, Moto E3 takes blurry photos more often than not because of a huge amount of light intake, but when done properly, it gets good amount of details. In extremely low light, Redmi 3S does better thanks to its aperture but is still not very impressive.

When taking pictures, Redmi 3S does better autofocusing, but when in low light, both the phones struggle.

Moto E3 Power

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Redmi 3S

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Value for Money

There is only a marginal difference between the phones when it comes to pricing, and they both are worth their price. Keeping in mind that both the phones perform decently, you need to consider other factors which we mentioned above.

If you’re someone who’d consider all the details, it’s pretty clear that Redmi 3S is a clear winner, however, the lack of availability adds to the advantage of Moto E3 Power. Which device will you choose?


© Raju PP for Technology Personalized, 2016. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us, so we can take legal action immediately. If you are on Twitter you can follow me @rajupp! | Permalink |

The post Xiaomi Redmi 3S vs Moto E3 Power: Battle of the Budget Stalwarts appeared first on Technology Personalized.

  

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How to Choose a Good Gaming Laptop

The world of gaming and eSports has exploded over the last few years and it has become a massive industry that attracts fans from all works of life. While consoles such as the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4 make up a good chunk of the gaming industry, the so called “Glorious PC Master Race“

The post How to Choose a Good Gaming Laptop appeared first on Nigeria Technology Guide.



DIY: Extending WiFi throughout your house

Netgear Orbi sample placement

As more of our networking moves from wired to WiFi, at the same time as bandwidth demands continue to increase, it may be time to look at providing more effective wireless coverage throughout your home or office.

The post DIY: Extending WiFi throughout your house appeared first on ExtremeTech.



Coolpad Note 3S and Mega 3 Launched in India at Rs 9,999 and Rs 6,999 Respectively

Coolpad has now launched two new budget smartphones, dubbed Note 3S and Mega 3 in India today. While the Coolpad Note 3S is the successor to the company’s Note 3 launched last year, the Mega 3 aims to draw attention of consumers with the inclusion of a third SIM slot. The smartphones will go on sale via Amazon starting December 7.

Coolpad Mega 3

The Coolpad Note 3S and Mega 3 incidentally shares the same footprint as both the devices share a 5.5-inch HD display upfront. That said, Coolpad has carried forward the same 5.5 inch HD (1280x720p) IPS display from the last gen Note 3 to their recently launched Note 3S. The Chinese firm has however played around with the externals of the Coolpad Note 3S, and has made use of glossy plastic shell in place of the matte plastic polycarbonate shell found in the last generation Note. Under the hood, the Coolpad Note 3S packs a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor this time around. In fact, it sports a Snapdragon 415 octa core chip with cores clocked at 1.36GHz each. This is clubbed with 3GB RAM and 32GB internal storage. Apart from that there’s room for memory expansion upto 128GB via MicroSD card slot.

Talking of cameras, the Coolpad Note 3S features a 13MP rear camera with LED Flash. This is mated with a 5MP front facing selfie snapper which comes with a f/2.2 aperture. Just below the rear camera module, lies a circular fingerprint sensor which is again encircled by a golden ring. Powering the smartphone is a 2,500mAH battery which according to Coolpad will last you through a day of heavy to moderate usage. Besides, the smartphone is expected to come with Quick Charge support considering the fact it comes with Snapdragon 415 chip inside. That said, Coolpad hasn’t officially revealed the fast charging capabilities of the device. It’s also worth noting that the Coolpad Note 3S comes with support for 4G VoLTE thus you can enjoy all services of Reliance Jio on your smartphone without using any third party apps.

The Coolpad Note 3S runs on Android Marshmallow 6.0.1 with the company’s own Cool UI 8.0 on top. The smartphone will be available only in two color options namely Gold and White at a price of Rs 9,999.

Coolpad Note 3S Specifications

  • 5.5 inch HD (1280x720p) IPS LCD Display with 2.5D Curved Glass
  • 1.36GHz octa core Qualcomm Snapdragon 415 SoC with Adreno 405 GPU
  • 3GB RAM
  • 32GB RAM Internal Storage + Upto 128GB External Storage
  • 13MP f/2.2 Rear Camera with LED Flash
  • 5MP f/2.2 Front Facing Camera
  • Fingerprint Sensor
  • 2500mAH Battery
  • WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, USB OTG
  • Dual SIM with 4G VoLTE support
  • Android Marshmallow 6.0.1 with Cool UI 8.0

The Coolpad Mega on the other hand is a budget phablet whose claim to fame is the presence of three SIM card slots. Well, that mayn’t be something new in the market as we have seen many a ‘cheap Chinese phones’ in local markets being sold with such feature, however it is one of the first time we are seeing a OEM adapting such features. Powering the Coolpad Mega 3 is a 1.3GHz quad core Mediatek 6737 processor with Mali T720 GPU. Along with that the Mega 3 packs 2GB RAM and 16GB internal memory which can be further expanded to 64GB with help of a MicroSD card slot.

In terms of optics the Coolpad Mega 3 comes with an 8MP f/2.2 rear camera with LED Flash. This is clubbed with an 8MP f/2.2 front camera which promises 80.1-degree wide field of view. The big highlight of the Coolpad Mega 3 however is the presence of triple SIM card slots which apparently come with support for VoLTE. That said, Coolpad hasn’t clearly mentioned whether all three SIMs come with 4G VoLTE support. Nonetheless, the ability of adding three SIM would definitely attract a number of consumers in the budget segment. Apart from that, justifying its ‘Mega’ branding, the Coolpad Mega 3 comes with a large 3,050mAH battery which according to the company can deliver up to 350 hours of standby time.

Just like the Coolpad Note 3S, the Mega 3 runs on a highly skinned version of Android Marshmallow 6.0 with the company’s own Cool UI 8.0 on top. The smartphone will go on sale on Amazon at Rs 6,999 in three color options namely White, Grey and Gold.

Coolpad Mega 3 Specifications

  • 5.5 inch HD (1280x720p) IPS LCD Display with 2.5D Curved Display
  • 1.3GHz quad core Mediatek 6737 processor with Mali T720 GPU
  • 2GB RAM
  • 16GB Internal Storage + Upto 64GB Expandable Storage (via MicroSD card)
  • 8MP f/2.2 Rear Camera with LED Flash
  • 8MP f/2.2 Front Facing Camera with 80.1 degree wide angle view
  • 3050Mah battery
  • Triple SIM with 4G VoLTE
  • WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, USB OTG
  • Android Marshmallow 6.0.1 with Cool UI 8.0

© Raju PP for Technology Personalized, 2016. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us, so we can take legal action immediately. If you are on Twitter you can follow me @rajupp! | Permalink |

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Asus Zenfone 3 Deluxe and Zenfone 3 Ultra Launched in India at Rs 62,999 and Rs 49,999 Respectively

Earlier this year Asus has launched the Zenfone 3, Zenfone 3 Deluxe and the Zenfone 3 Ultra at the Computex 2016. The Zenfone 3 Deluxe was, in fact, the first phone to be powered by the Snapdragon 821. While Asus had made the Zenfone 3 available after the launch the Indian buyers had to wait for a while for the other two. Today Asus has announced the availability of Zenfone 3 Deluxe (ZS570KL) and the Zenfone 3 Ultra (ZU680KL) in India priced at Rs 62,999 and Rs 49,999 respectively.

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Zenfone 3 Deluxe Specifications

  • 5.7-inch FHD Display, Corning Gorilla 4
  • Snapdragon 820/821 with 6GB RAM
  • 23-Megapixel Primary sensor with Sapphire cover, 6-element largan lens, OIS. 8-Megapixel Secondary Sensor with 85-degree wide angle lens
  • Fingerprint sensor, NXP Audio amplifier and Hi Res HD audio support
  • Android Marshmallow with ZenUI 3.0
  • 3000mAh battery with Qualcomm QuickCharge 3.0 Support
  • Wi-Fi 802.11, LTE Cat 13, Bluetooth 4.2, hybrid SIM slot and WiFi repeater capability

Zenfone 3 Deluxe comes equipped with a 5.7-inch Super AMOLED FHD display with Gorilla Glass 4 protective layering and a screen to body ratio of 79%. The Zenfone 3 Deluxe comes in two variants, one powered by a Snapdragon 820 while the other powered by a Snapdragon 821. Both the variants come with 6GB RAM and a 64GB/256GB internal storage with UFS 2.0, On the imaging front the Zenfone 3 Deluxe features a 23-Megapixel primary sensor with sapphire cover, f/2.0, 6-element large lens, Pixelmaster 3.0 Camera app and 4-axis photo OIS. The secondary camera is an 8-Megapixel sensor with 85-degree wide field of view.

The Zenfone 3 Deluxe runs on Android M along with a ZenUI 3.0 layering and is backed by a 3000mAh battery that supports QuickCharge 3.0. Connectivity features on this phone include Wi-Fi 802.11, LTE Cat 13, Bluetooth 4.2, hybrid SIM slot and WiFi repeater capability. On the design front, Asus has managed to wipe out the antenna lines on the exterior and the fingerprint sensor is claimed to be working even with moist fingers. Also, the NXP smart audio amplifier helps in providing clear and high definition sound output.

Zenfone 3 Ultra Specifications

  • 6.8-inch FHD display, Body-to-Screen Ratio of 79%
  • Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 1.8GHz with 4GB RAM.
  • 23-Megapixel Primary sensor with Sapphire cover, 6-element largan lens, OIS. 8-Megapixel Secondary Sensor with 85-degree wide angle lens
  • Fingerprint sensor, NXP Audio amplifier and Hi Res HD audio support
  • Android Marshmallow with ZenUI 3.0
  • 4,600mAh battery with Quickcharge 3.0
  • Wi-Fi 802.11, LTE Cat 6, Bluetooth 4.2, hybrid SIM slot and WiFi repeater capability, USB-Type C

The highlight of the Zenfone 3 Ultra is ought to be the humongous 6.8-inch FHD display that comes with 4K TV-Grade image processor bundled with Tru2Line+technology. The Zenfone 3 Ultra is powered by Snapdragon 652 and is coupled with 4GB of RAM. On the storage front, the device offers 64GB of onboard storage along with a microSD card slot. The camera setup on the Zenfone 3 Ultra is identical to the Zenfone 3 Deluxe.

The Zenfone 3 Ultra is backed by a 4,600mAh battery that supports QuickCharge and Reverse Charging. Similar to the Zenfone 3 Deluxe the Ultra also comes with various dedicated audio hardware including NXP Smart AMP, DTS headphone output, and bundles ZenEar S earphones. The Zenfone 3 Ultra is priced at Rs 49,999 and retails in Titanium Grey and Glacier Silver and both of these phones come with the sand-blasted back finish.

 


© Raju PP for Technology Personalized, 2016. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us, so we can take legal action immediately. If you are on Twitter you can follow me @rajupp! | Permalink |

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Samsung Galaxy On Nxt Review: a Confused Offering

While on one end, Samsung’s flagship side of things is going quiet for the year, the budget segment is only getting busier. With a range of phones in the On, J and C series, Samsung has been making all possible combinations with the specs to push the phones. And why not, it’s working for them! In the recent IDC reports for smartphones sales in India for 2016, Samsung has a healthy share of around 20%. Following up on the recently launched J7 Prime with just an addition or two on it, Samsung launched the Galaxy On Nxt in their Galaxy line up. This phone does bring some changes which we liked but coming at a price of little more than Rs 18,000, does the Galaxy On Nxt justify itself? And how does it perform as compared to many others out there that come at a much lesser price? Regardless of you being a Samsung fan, read on as you make your purchase decisions as we roll out our full review.

Samsung-Galaxy-on-nxt-review-6

If it is a Samsung Galaxy, it has to look like one! And the Galaxy On Nxt doesn’t stray too far from Samsung’s iconic smartphone design. That home button on the front with a capacitive button on either side for back and recent apps respectively, a power button on the right and volume rockers on the other side, they’re all intact just as expected. The Galaxy On Nxt is a delight as soon you pick it up, fits so well in the hands thanks to the subtle curve on the rear edges, the 2.5D curved screen and one of the most compact 5.5-inch screen phones we’ve seen despite having a home button at the bottom. The blue version we got has a very premium look to it. The phone has dedicated slots for two sims and a microSD slot that can accommodate 256GB of additional memory. Coming at a healthy 168gms and 8mm thickness, the On Nxt is a pleasure to use.

But there are some cutbacks which really hurt the user experience especially at that price – the home button makes a choppy noise and is not as smooth as the ones we find on other Samsung’s phones but does double up as a fingerprint scanner. The capacitive buttons are not backlit which is a bummer and we fail to understand why Samsung would do this. Another gripe is the rather strange positioning of the speaker grille which is not on the back, not on the bottom but bang right next to the power button on the right edge! This is so disadvantageous as it gets encumbered by your hands when using the phone in the landscape mode. Thankfully the sound output is loud and holds its own at max levels too.

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The 5.5-inch display is Full HD and packs in 401 pixels per inch. While the viewing angles are great and so is the sunlight visibility, Samsung has skipped the AMOLED screen here to make ways for a TFT screen that is protected by Gorilla Glass. One of the main reasons folks buy Samsung’s midrange phones is the AMOLED screen and this is another puzzle why Samsung skipped it. The TFT screen would mean the colors aren’t as punchy as on the former, but the touch sensitivity is top notch and so is the usability on the 2.5D curved glass.

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Popping all the content off that TFT display is a skimmed TouchWiz-flavored Android Marshmallow that comes with most of the features that we have come to see on Samsung’s budget and midrange phones in the recent past. The theme store has tons of well-optimized options that apply themselves all across the phone and our favorite remains the Material Android that turns the look and feel into stock Android. The overall performance of day-to-day tasks is free of any issues and pretty smooth. The multitasking too is handled well. What is surprising to see is that that the Galaxy On Nxt struggles a lot when it comes to gaming. At times even lighter ones such as Subway Surfer has some occasional stutters and heavier ones such as Asphalt 8 have significant lags. And on a day where you’re lucky, they just run very smooth. This is a clear indication that Samsung has not optimized the phone for gaming as the J7 Prime did better on the gaming front and both phones are good on normal day-to-day tasks. There are few gestures that range from the ones for silencing a call to the ones on the S-Bike mode that ensure one’s safety while on the move. The phone also has an S Secure mode that lets you bifurcate your apps and content across two profiles.

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All of these activities is powered by Samsung’s homegrown 1.6GHz Octa-Core Exynos 7870 Processor coupled with Mali T830 GPU and 3GB of RAM. With 32GB of inbuilt memory, of which around 20GB is available to the user, the phone can be bumped up by 256GB. Samsung will join the race of providing longer battery life by fitting in a 3300 mAh battery that is non-removable and performs quite well. On days of heavy usage too, it kept the phone alive till the end of the day with some 10% juice left. And on days of lighter usage, it can take you through a day and a half easily. With an adaptive fast charger off the box, the phone takes around 2 hours to charge up fully.

The Galaxy On Nxt comes with a fingerprint scanner that lets you unlock the phone with a touch, though it can be clicked. You can program up to 5 fingerprints. While this touch and start using the phone is really cool to use, the reliability of the sensor itself is below average. At times, it needed 3-5 attempts to get it working and most of the times we could ourselves using the pattern unlocking going irate. This almost reminds us of the performance on the Galaxy S5, Samsung’s first ever implementation of the fingerprint scanner. We hope this is something to do with the software and Samsung can fix it. Their flagship phones and the ones in the A and C series carry some of the best fingerprint scanners out there.

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One area where the On Nxt excels is the camera – coming with a 13MP rear shooter with f/1.9 aperture, something that literally no other phone in its category has and price range carry, with an LED Flash. Coming with Samsung’s camera app with a wide range of options from HDR to Panorama, Manual Mode and so on, with a rather simplified interface that is easy to adapt to. What will take some time to adapt to, is clicking the pictures as focusing is a tad slow and the processing too takes that additional second most of the times. Making up for that lag, the output is really good. There is a bit of saturation but its only when you look at it with a keen eye. Very good on the dynamic range and white balance, the camera produces good images almost all the time as the goodness continues with low-light and indoor conditions as well. Of course, there is noise but the sharpness in the pictures ensure you are not disappointed for having a midrange camera on your phone. Videos are good too with nice voice clarity and volumes captured. The front facing 8MP camera with f/1.9 aperture does a great job as well when compared to the phones in this price segment.

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Samsung has priced the On Nxt at around Rs 18,000 which is at least Rs 5,000 more than many other phones which come in this category. It brings a little bit of many things but fails to delivery completeness in any of the categories. The build quality is great and has a notification LED but the capacitive buttons are not backlit, the fingerprint scanner isn’t reliable and the speaker position is really bad . The screen has Gorilla Glass protection but is made of TFT that fails to deliver the punch that a typical Samsung’s AMOLED screen does on phones like On8 that is priced lower. The day-to-day performance is good with decent RAM management and good features in the OS but gaming is highly unreliable, even with lighter ones. Call quality and reception are great, has dedicated dual sim and microSD slots but the phone misses out on almost all other sensors including Gyroscope and Auto Brightness which is a bummer. The battery and the camera are the only ones which do well end-to-end in their department. Given all of this, it’s hard and unfair to recommend the Galaxy On Nxt to even a die hard Samsung fan when some bright candidates such as Xiaomi’s Redmi Note 3, LeEco’s Le2, InFocus Epic 1, Coolpad Note 5, Lenovo’s Moto G4 Plus et all are priced much lower, and yet bring much more to the table. Consider all these phones, many of which we’ve reviewed for you before you place your bet on the On Nxt – may your purchase decision keep you happy.


© Raju PP for Technology Personalized, 2016. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact us, so we can take legal action immediately. If you are on Twitter you can follow me @rajupp! | Permalink |

The post Samsung Galaxy On Nxt Review: a Confused Offering appeared first on Technology Personalized.

  

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