The successor to Samsung Galaxy Win I8550, which was launched in India as the Galaxy Grand Quattro, is listed on Samsung Mobiles' China portal (above image translated via Google Translate). So far, there has been no official announcement by the company, and availability and price remain unknown, though most specifications are featured on the listing.
The Samsung Galaxy Win Pro is a dual-SIM (WCDMA+GSM) smartphone that runs on Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean. It is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, but the memory and storage capacity are not mentioned by the company.
The Galaxy Win Pro flaunts higher resolution but smaller 4.5-inch qHD (540x960) display, compared to its predecessor, which had a 4.7-inch WVGA (480x800) display. Apart from a VGA front-facing camera, the smartphone boasts of a 5-megapixel AF rear camera with LED flash with shooting modes like panorama shooting, continuous shooting etc., the camera can also record sound while shooting photos.
The battery power has been slightly improved with a bump up to 2100mAh from 2000mAh on the Galaxy Grand Quatrro. Other specifications of the Galaxy Win Pro include full-HD video playback capabilities, apart from Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 3G, GPS and Micro-USB connectivity.
Recently Samsung had announced the successor to the Samsung Galaxy Grand, the Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 runs Android 4.3 Jelly Bean out-of-the-box. The Galaxy Grand 2 is a dual-SIM device with support for GSM+GSM. It features a 5.2-inch HD TFT display with a resolution of 720x1280 pixels.
The Galaxy Grand 2 is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core processor alongside 1.5GB of RAM. It sports an 8-megapixel autofocus rear camera accompanied by an LED flash. It also houses a 1.9-megapixel front-facing camera. It comes with 8GB inbuilt storage, which is further expandable up to 64GB via microSD card.
Samsung Galaxy Win Pro key specifications
- 4.5-inch qHD display with a resolution of 540 x 960 pixels
- 1.2GHz quad-core processor
- Dual-SIM (WCDMA+GSM)
- 5-megapixel autofocus rear camera with LED flash
- 0.3-megapixel front-facing camera
- Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean
The Samsung Galaxy S Duos 2 is the successor to the Galaxy S Duos, which was launched in September 2012 at a price of Rs. 17,900.
Samsung notes that the Galaxy S Duos 2 supports 10 regional languages, namely Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu.
The Galaxy S Duos 2 comes with a 4-inch WVGA (480x800) TFT display and is powered by a 1.2GHz dual-core processor (unspecified chipset). It is a dual-SIM (GSM+GSM) smartphone and runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean with TouchWiz UI on top.
The Galaxy S Duos 2 sports a 5-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and also includes a VGA front-facing camera. The smartphone comes with 768MB of RAM and 4GB of inbuilt storage, which is further expandable up to 64GB via microSD card.
Connectivity features on the Galaxy S Duos 2 include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, EDGE, GPRS and 3G. There is a 1500mAh battery backing the device which the company claims can deliver up to 8 hours of talktime and up to 280 hours of standby time. The Galaxy S Duos 2 has dimensions of 121.5x63.1x10.57mm, and weighs 118 grams. The smartphone will be available in two colours - Black and White.
Recently, Samsung announced the successor to the Galaxy Grand, the Galaxy Grand 2. However, the South Korean handset maker has not revealed the price for Galaxy Grand 2, and has also not announced the availability details for the smartphone.
Samsung Galaxy S Duos 2 key specifications
- 4-inch WVGA (480x800) TFT display
- 1.2GHz dual-core processor (unspecified chipset)
- 768MB of RAM
- 4GB inbuilt storage, expandable up to 64GB via microSD card
- 5-megapixel rear camera with LED flash
- VGA front-facing camera
- Dual-SIM (GSM+GSM)
- Android 4.2 Jelly Bean with TouchWiz UI
- Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, EDGE, GPRS and 3G
- 1500mAh battery
- 121.5x63.1x10.57mm
The Karbonn Titanium X runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean out-of-the-box. Notably, the smartphone is a single SIM device with support for a micro-SIM.
The Titanium X features a 5-inch full-HD (1080x1920) IPS display, and is powered by a quad-core 1.5GHz processor coupled with 1GB of RAM. The smartphone sports a 13-megapixel rear autofocus camera with dual-LED flash, and also houses a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. It includes 16GB of inbuilt storage, which is further expandable up to 32GB via microSD card.
On the connectivity front, the smartphone includes NFC support, which will make the Titanium X the first 'affordable' smartphone from an Indian brand to sport this feature. The smartphone is backed by a 2300mAh battery, which is rated to deliver up to 6 hours of talktime, and up to 240 hours of standby time. The Karbonn Titanium X includes a host of sensors that include proximity sensor, G sensor, magnetic sensor, gyro sensor, and light sensor.
Commenting on the launch, Shashin Devsare, Executive Director, Karbonn Mobiles said "With the Karbonn Titanium X we are taking the Indian smartphone market to a different level altogether - the level X. Our endeavour is to set a benchmark in the Indian smartphone market, and establish Karbonn Titanium X at the pinnacle of research innovation. Unlike any other smartphone in the market, the Karbonn Titanium X enables the Generation X to live life in the fast lane and discover more into their social interactions."
Karbonn Titanium X key specifications
- 5-inch full-HD IPS display
- 1.5GHz quad-core processor
- 13-megapixel rear autofocus camera with dual LED flash
- 5-megapixel front-facing camera
- Single SIM (micro-SIM)
- Android 4.2 Jelly Bean
- NFC support
- 2300mAh battery
Motorola bills the Moto G as the phone for the rest of us - the ones who can't afford $500 to $700 for a high-end smartphone. That's a big deal overseas, where carriers don't subsidize phones with two-year service contracts the way they do in the United States. But even in the U.S., more people are moving to contract-free plans and ones that offer frequent upgrades, meaning the full retail price is what's going to matter.
(Also see: Moto G budget smartphone goes official at $179, coming to India in January)
The Moto G started shipping in the U.S. this week, initially for the GSM networks used by AT&T and T-Mobile. I spent the past week testing the Moto G, comparing the phone primarily with its more expensive cousin, Motorola's $500 Moto X. I also put it up against another lower-cost phone, Google's $349 Nexus 5, as well as the premium, $649 iPhone 5s from Apple.
Where the Moto G fell short was in its camera, battery life and inability to access faster, 4G LTE cellular networks. For everything else I tested, the Moto G stood up well.
Motorola, which is owned by Google Inc., doesn't skimp in equipping the Moto G with a speedy processor. Apps launch almost as quickly as they do on the phone's pricier rivals. The Moto G runs a fairly recent version of Google's Android system, with a promised upgrade to the latest, Kit Kat, early next year.
(Also see: Moto G dual-SIM smartphone to land in India with Android 4.4 KitKat: Report)
The Moto G also has a decent screen. It's about as sharp as the Moto X's and the iPhone's, enough for 720p video, though the Nexus and various Samsung phones do better by offering full, 1080p high definition. The Moto G's screen measures 4.5 inches (11.4 centimeters) diagonally, which is larger than the iPhone's but small for Android. Colors aren't as rich as on the Moto X's display, but if I want a superb visual experience, I'd turn to a tablet, a TV or even a movie theater. For a phone, the Moto G's screen delivers video quite well.
As for the other shortcomings
Cellular access
The Moto G delivers 3G performance at best. Many parts of the world are moving to 4G, but Motorola points out that many of its target markets are still upgrading to 3G. Even in the U.S., many regions lack 4G. If I'm doing a lot of things requiring top-notch speeds, I'm better off finding a Wi-Fi network anyway.
Battery life
The Moto G has 6 percent less battery capacity than the Moto X. I got about up to eight hours of streaming video on Hulu with the Moto G, compared with nine to 10 hours on the Moto X. Although the Moto G has a removable plastic back, the battery can't be exchanged with a spare. That said, eight hours for streaming video is a lot, and you can stretch it to a full day with more moderate use.
The main camera has a resolution of 5 megapixels, less than the 8 megapixels on the iPhone and the Nexus and the 10 megapixels on the Moto X. There's more to a good camera than the pixel count, but the pictures I took with the Moto G weren't particularly good, especially in low light. They are passable for selfies and Facebook posts, but you'll want a better camera for keepsakes. Perhaps the money you save on the phone can go to a point-and-shoot camera that takes better pictures.
The Moto G is also short on frills. Part of that stems from Motorola's philosophy not to tinker with the Android operating system too much. Many rival phone makers do just that and wind up creating more chaos and confusion.
Instead, Motorola tries to limit what it adds. In the case of the Moto X, you can twist the phone to automatically launch the camera. You can initiate voice commands by saying, "OK, Google Now." The Moto X also offers unprecedented customization when you order; you can choose everything from the color of the power button to a personalized message on the back cover.
Be aware that the $179 price gets you 8 gigabytes of storage, half of what most phones offer. Given all the room your photos and video will need, pay the extra $20 for a 16 gigabyte model. Unfortunately, there's no slot for memory cards, as some Android phones offer.
Motorola sells the phone unlocked, meaning you can switch carriers as long as they use GSM. Verizon and Sprint are among the few carriers in the world using a different technology, CDMA. A Verizon version is coming early next year, while Sprint won't say whether it will have one.
Phone makers have been trying to set themselves apart by loading phones with more and more features, only some of which are useful. Motorola doesn't try to do that with the Moto G, apart from including an FM tuner. Instead, it's distinguishing itself through price. No one can question whether that's useful.
Remember when people used personal computers - desktops and laptops - to check email, view video and keep tabs on Facebook? Back in that far-away era, I'd have several windows open for Web browsers, a word processor, a photo editor and sometimes a reader for PDF documents.
I miss that capability on mobile devices, particularly on full-size tablets with a decent amount of display space. With iPads and Android tablets, I'm typically limited to one window displayed at a time; other apps run in the background, out of sight. With Windows 8 tablets, I can run two windows side by side, but I'm constrained in what I can do with them. It gets better with the Windows 8.1 update due out next week, but it's still not the free-for-all I had with PCs.
So I marveled at a pair of multitasking features that come with Samsung's new tablet, formally called Galaxy Note 10.1 - 2014 Edition. Sporting a 10.1-inch display, measured diagonally, the Note tablet goes on sale in the U.S. on Thursday at a starting price of $550.
The first of the multitasking features, called Multi-Window, has been available in Samsung devices for about a year, but it works with many more apps now. You can run two apps side by side, such as Facebook on one side and YouTube video on the other.
Like Windows 8 tablets, you're limited to just two apps. You can change how much of the screen each one takes, a capability coming with Windows 8.1, but you can't choose to have a window take up just the top left corner, the way you can on PCs. In addition, Multi-Window isn't a universal feature. Apps for Netflix and Hulu won't work, for instance. You currently have about 18 apps to choose from, including Facebook and a variety of Google and Samsung apps.
With that limitation, it's nice that Samsung Electronics Co. is supplementing Multi-Window with a feature called Pen Window.
With it, simply draw a box on the screen with the included stylus, and choose one of seven apps to open in a new window. Do it again and again until you open all seven apps, if you wish. That's nine in all, counting the two with Multi-Window. Each Pen Window app appears in a window that floats over your main app (or two apps if you use Multi-Window). You can move that window around on your screen and resize it, just as you can on PCs. Need a break from it? Just minimize it into a small dot and move it out of the way.
Like Multi-Window, you're restricted in what apps you can use with Pen Window, though I expect more to get added over time. For now, Pen Window on the tablet works with YouTube, the calculator, the alarm clock, your contacts list, the Web browser and two chat apps - Samsung's ChatOn and Google's Hangouts. I like the fact that you can open all of them and keep them out of the way in a minimized state. That way, it's just one click when you need the calculator and one click when you're done.
The iPad doesn't do that. Amazon's Kindle Fire doesn't do that. Other Android tablets don't do that. Windows 8.1 won't do that - at least not in the tablet-style viewing mode that Microsoft prefers you stick with. You'll have to go to the classic, desktop mode to resize windows, which defeats the purpose of having Windows 8 or 8.1. Windows 8.1 will go further than Multi-Window in letting you run up to four apps side by side, but that works only on larger screens, not portable tablets.
Beyond multitasking, the new Note tablet offers a My Magazine mode giving you personalized highlights, such as news topics of interest, content from your social media feeds and suggestions on things to do and see, based on your current location. It's a good concept, though Facebook isn't available through it yet.
The new tablet also gives you quick access to the tools you can accomplish with its stylus. Pen Window is one. Another feature lets you add notes to a screenshot of what you see. Another lets you clip a section of a Web page and store it with a Web link.
Unfortunately, not everything worked. Text recognition was poor. I'm supposed to be able to jot down an email address or a phone number with the stylus and have that handwriting converted into a contacts entry. But the device constantly confuses the letters "o" and "l" with the numerals "0" and "1."
Pen Window also is more difficult than necessary to set up. You need to take out the stylus for an Air Command tool to appear on the screen. You choose Pen Window, then draw a box on your screen with your stylus. Then you choose the app you want to open. Do all of that again to get additional apps, after figuring out how to get Air Command again with your stylus already out. It would have been simpler to have a button on the home screen that you can tap with your finger or stylus.
In addition, Samsung could have done more with the apps in minimized state. Google's chat app is reduced to a circular icon. It could have flashed or changed colors to notify me of a new chat message, rather than make me open and close it regularly to check.
The tablet's back is still made of plastic, but it feels like leather - an improvement over previous Samsung devices. The tablet does feel heavy, at 1.2 pounds, but that's still lighter than the 1.4 pounds for the full-size iPad. If you want light, wait until early November for the large-size version of Amazon's Kindle Fire HDX. It weighs just 0.83 pound.
Samsung's tablet is also pricey - the $550 starting price tops the iPad's $499 and the Fire's $379. Of course, neither the iPad nor the Fire includes a stylus.
One more complaint: Although the tablet uses the latest version of Android, 4.3, it doesn't offer that system's feature of letting multiple people share a device with separate profiles.
With the Note, it's clear some of the functionality we've long associated with PCs is coming to devices we're just getting to know. There's more to be done, including support for multiple users, but I'm glad Samsung is leading us in that direction.
The Galaxy S Duos 2 is also available through online retailers for a discounted price of Rs. 10,730, quoting roughly 3 business days of delivery time.
The Samsung Galaxy S Duos 2 comes with a 4-inch WVGA (480x800) TFT display and is powered by a 1.2GHz dual-core processor (unspecified chipset). It is a dual-SIM (GSM+GSM) smartphone and runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean with TouchWiz UI on top.
The Galaxy S Duos 2 sports a 5-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and also includes a VGA front-facing camera. The smartphone comes with 768MB of RAM and 4GB of inbuilt storage, which is further expandable up to 64GB via microSD card.
Connectivity features on the Galaxy S Duos 2 include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, EDGE, GPRS and 3G. There is a 1500mAh battery backing the device which the company claims can deliver up to 8 hours of talktime and up to 280 hours of standby time. The Galaxy S Duos 2 has dimensions of 121.5x63.1x10.57mm, and weighs 118 grams.
Recently, Samsung announced the successor to the Galaxy Grand, the Galaxy Grand 2. Though, the South Korean handset maker has not revealed the price for Galaxy Grand 2 and has also not announced the availability details for the smartphone.
The Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 runs Android 4.3 Jelly Bean out-of-the-box. The Galaxy Grand 2 is a dual-SIM device with support for GSM+GSM. It features a 5.2-inch HD TFT display with a resolution of 720x1280 pixels.
The Galaxy Grand 2 is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core processor alongside 1.5GB of RAM. It sports an 8-megapixel autofocus rear camera accompanied by an LED flash. It also houses a 1.9-megapixel front-facing camera. It comes with 8GB inbuilt storage, which is further expandable up to 64GB via microSD card.
Samsung Galaxy S Duos 2 key specifications
- 4-inch WVGA (480x800) TFT display
- 1.2GHz dual-core processor (unspecified chipset)
- 768MB of RAM
- 4GB inbuilt storage, expandable up to 64GB via microSD card
- 5-megapixel rear camera with LED flash
- VGA front-facing camera
- Dual-SIM (GSM+GSM)
- Android 4.2 Jelly Bean with TouchWiz UI
- Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, EDGE, GPRS and 3G
- 1500mAh battery
- 121.5x63.1x10.57mm
Build/ Design
The Nexus 5 sports a very understated look and there's nothing really striking in the phone's design that will shout for your attention. The phone is made of plastic and doesn't feel very premium.
However, when you place the phone in your hand, you'll feel that it's very pleasant to hold thanks to the soft touch matte finish. Also, despite its large 4.95-inch screen, we didn't face any issues operating it with one hand. This is also due to the phone being quite lightweight at 130 grams.
The Nexus 5's edges are less curved and its corners less rounded compared to other phones, including the Nexus 4. The phone is available in Black and White colour variants and we got a Black one as our review unit.
The 4.95-inch full-HD display dominates the front of the Nexus 5, and there are no hardware buttons. A round LED notification light is placed below the display, while the sensor array and the front camera sits above it.
The right edge of the Nexus 5 features the Power/ Screen lock and the Micro-SIM card tray, and the left edge features the volume rocker key. All the keys are made of ceramic and offer decent tactile feedback.
The 3.5-mm headset jack sits at the top edge of the Nexus 5, while the Micro-USB port and speaker grill sits at the bottom edge.
As we mentioned, the back of the Nexus 5 sports a matte soft touch finish giving it a good grip. It is a bit susceptible to smudges, though. The rear features an 8-megapixel ring shaped camera lens and the LED flash, apart from LG and Nexus branding.
Display
The Nexus 5 comes with an IPS LCD display with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels and pixel density of 445 ppi. The display comes with Corning's Gorilla Glass 3 protection making it resistant to scratches.
In our use, we found the Nexus 5's screen to be very bright, with text and images looking crisp and sharp. Colours looked vivid and not oversaturated like they look on AMOLED display though blacks don't look very deep.
The screen delivers great viewing angles, though it was a little reflective. Sunlight legibility was good though the screen brightness levels could be better.
Overall, the Nexus 5's display is one of the best in its class.
Software/ User Interface
The Nexus 5 is the first smartphone to ship with Android 4.4 KitKat, the latest release of the operating system. As with all Nexus devices, the phone includes the stock build of the operating system, without any additional UI skinning.
Android 4.4 KitKat on the Nexus 5 features a number of visual changes including a new launcher, making the interface even more minimalistic. It sports flatter design elements, muted colours in status icons, transparency, and smoother transition animations.
With Android 4.4 KitKat, you can now have as many home screens as you want by simply dragging an icon or placing a widget on a new one. After enabling Google Now, Google's smart assistant that fetches information and offers updates based on your data and usage behaviour, you'll see that the left most home screen would be Google Now pane with information cards and a search bar. The screen can also be invoked by swiping up the screen from the Home button. The Google search bar with the voice search icon is present on all home screens and cannot be removed.
Interestingly, you can also initiate voice search from the Nexus 5 when it's in the unlocked state by simply saying, 'Ok Google.' The option is only available when you choose US English as the default language option in the Google Now app's settings, though. With this change, Google search is integrated deeply with the phone.
The launcher has been revamped with icons looking bigger than their Jelly Bean avatars and dots are used to indicate the pagination in the home screen and app launcher, similar to iOS.
When you launch the KitKat app launcher or go back to the home screen, you'll notice a smooth fly away animation.
The app launcher now only features app icons and gets rid of widgets. Due to the larger icons, you'll see a 4x5 grid instead of a 5x5 grid.
Long pressing on the home screen brings up the menu to change the Wallpapers, Widgets and Google Now settings. The choice of default still wallpapers, live wallpaper and custom wallpapers are now available under a single menu.
The KitKat notifications tray features notifications that can be expanded by using two finger pull. It also features buttons for clearing all notifications and for displaying toggles for Brightness, Settings, Wi-Fi, Network, Battery, Aeroplane Mode, Bluetooth, Location settings and Alarm clockAndroid 4.4 KitKat also includes an immersive mode that hides the status and navigation bars offering a full screen experience in apps. Apps like Google Play Books already support this mode and developers can choose to enable it for their apps. The OS also allows developers to display semi-transparent navigation and status bars. We've not seen any apps that take advantage of this feature, however.
Android 4.4 also includes a revamped Phone app that now automatically prioritises your contacts based on the people you talk to the most. When you first launch the app, you'll see a screen that displays a search bar, a place where most frequently called contacts and favourites are displayed and shortcuts to launch all contacts, the dialling pad, call history and settings.
You can also search for nearby places and businesses, contacts, or people in their Google Apps domain directly from the search bar.
If you receive a call from a phone number that is not saved in your contacts, the Android 4.4 KitKat-based Nexus 5 will look for matches from businesses with a local listing on Google Maps.
We felt that the new Phone app could be a little overwhelming for some as it's not very intuitive when it comes to describing what the shortcut keys do. However, the search feature packs in an online phone directory in the app. It will even fetch numbers for users who've registered their phone numbers with Google. The number identification feature also works for incoming calls eliminating the need for apps like Trucaller.
Camera
The Nexus 5 sports an 8-megapixel rear camera with Optical Image Stabilisation, and a 1.3-megapixel front facing camera. The phone features the stock Android 4.4 Camera app with 4 default shooting modes - Still, Video, Panorama and Photo sphere (360-degree).
Similarly, in the Video mode, you can change video quality settings (1080p, 720p or 480p), Time lapse, Exposure settings and Flash. We have to say that we're no fans of the nested arc shaped settings toggles and find the app a bit unintuitive.
Putting the camera of the Nexus 5 to test, we observed that images taken outdoors during daylight came out a tad brighter. However, there are a number of issues with the phone's camera that we encountered in our use. We observed that auto-focus is not consistent, and focusing manually takes time resulting in images being different from what we desired. We also observed that there was a slight lag between the time we fired the shutter and when the phone captured the image.
Comparing images with the ones taken with an iPhone 5 in the same settings revealed that the white balance on the Nexus 5 camera (in the default mode) is skewed towards the warmer end of the spectrum. Low-light shots were also not up to the mark and had noise.
The camera does a good job for shooting videos and supports 1080p video capture.
The 1.3-megapixel front shooter does a decent job for video calling and taking self clicks. It supports 720p video capture.Overall, the Nexus 5's camera is underwhelming at best. We hope Google pushes out a software update to fix the focus issues and shutter lag.
Performance/ Battery Life
The Nexus 5 comes with top of the line hardware (at this point in time), as it is powered by a quad-core 2.26GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor with 2GB of RAM, and an Adreno 330 chip for processing graphics. Our review unit had 32GB of built-in storage (a 16GB variant is also available), out of which 26.7GB is available to the user. The phone doesn't offer a microSD card slot for expandable storage.
The overall experience of navigation through the Nexus 5's interface was extremely impressive, thanks to all the power under the phone's hood and the UI being devoid of unnecessary bells and whistles such as transition effects.
We did not experience any lag at all while launching apps, playing games, scrolling web pages or switching between apps on the Nexus 5. The gaming experience on the Nexus 5 was pretty good with games like Temple Run 2, Subway Surfers, Shadow Gun: Dead Zone and Asphalt 7 running without encountering any issues.
We were able to run a number of video formats except for full-HD MOV and AVI through the native video player on the Nexus 5. We also experienced some issues with audio while playing an MKV format video. This was easily fixed by downloading a third-party video player. The phone then plays full-HD videos without any issues.
The speaker on the Nexus 5 is another pain point. It delivers below average quality sound at high volume levels and the sound gets distorted. However, the speaker grill is located at the bottom edge so the sound doesn't get muffled when the phone lies on its back.
Notably, the Nexus 5 doesn't include FM radio functionality.
Call quality was good on the Nexus 5, and we were able to receive cellular signals even in low signal areas.
The Nexus 5 comes with a 2300mAh battery, and in our usage, it lasted us just about a day with medium usage, including 1-1.5 hours of phone calls, two e-mail accounts with push notifications, playing some music, clicking a few pictures, Twitter notifications and WhatsApp chats.
It's worth pointing out that we had mostly used 3G data with intermittent use of Wi-Fi and had put the phone's screen brightness at the highest level. Altering these settings might help in running the phone for a longer duration, depending on your usage pattern.
Verdict
The Nexus 5 is one of the best Android smartphones that you can buy for under Rs. 30,000. Powered by a Snapdragon 800 processor, and 2GB RAM, the phone ticks all the right boxes in terms of hardware specifications. Since it's a Google experience device, you're always assured of regular software updates (at least for the 18 months promised period).
These two big factors do partially offset the main disadvantages of the phone, namely its mediocre camera, lack of external storage support and underwhelming battery backup. Google may or may not bring a software fix to resolve the issues (if these are due to the software limitations) but even assuming that this is not the case, the starting price of Rs. 28,999 makes the Nexus 5 a great deal. We can't think of a phone in this price range that delivers the same value.
Price: Rs. 28,999
As per GizChina, Huawei's President, Xu Xin Quan was spotted saying on the Weibo blogging platform that the new Ascend P6S smartphone, successor to the Ascend P6, will be unveiled with company's updated version of the in-house K3V2 processor with octa-core processing prowess. Further, the report revealed that the upcoming eight-core chipset will feature integrated 3G and will be optimised for extended battery life.
Unfortunately, the company's President has not shed much light on the innards of the Ascend P6S except the chipset. No details about the release and availability of the smartphone were shared either.
Samsung and MediaTek have already launched octa-core processors, the Exynos 5 Octa chips and MT6592 chipset respectively.
Sammobile has leaked an Android 4.3 test firmware with build number N7100XXUEMK4, allegedly for the Samsung Galaxy Note II phablet with model number GT-N7100. The site also speculates that the South Korean major will be rolling out the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean update for the phablet this week.
As per the site, Samsung has updated the core UI elements of the Galaxy Note II to match the Galaxy S4 and Note 3's interface. Further, the rumoured update for the phablet will add new features like Samsung KNOX and Samsung Wallet. The update also makes the Galaxy Note II phablet compatible with the Galaxy Gear smartwatch.
Earlier this month, a report indicated that the Galaxy Note II phablets are being updated to Android 4.3 Jelly Bean via service centres in India.
Recently a report suggested that some users in UK were encountering problems with their Galaxy S III smartphone after the Android 4.3 update.
As per the report, the Galaxy S III users were complaining of unresponsive handsets, particularly the lockscreen, after updating the smartphone. Other issues included erratic Wi-Fi connectivity, poor battery backup, and a system hanging problem that required the battery to be pulled out to restart the smartphone.
The report also speculated that the South Korean manufacturer might stop the Android 4.3 update for Galaxy S III, after the issue attracted attention. It also expected that this may result to delay in Android 4.3 update for the Galaxy Note 2 phablet.
However, the leaked test firmware for Galaxy Note II hints that it might be released soon.
While it has already been confirmed that Motorola will be launching the dual-SIM version of the Moto G in India in early-January 2014, and that the smartphone would be receiving a 'guaranteed' Android 4.4 KitKat the same month, a new report says the model that will ship in India will come pre-loaded with Google's latest iteration of Android.
Omio News Blog in a report has revealed Motorola's plans for the rollout of Moto G with the latest Android iteration in various countries.
The report quotes Mark Randal, Senior Vice President, Supply Chain & Operations, Motorola who while replying about Android 4.4 KitKat rollout plans for Moto G said that the company will be shipping the smartphone with Android 4.4 KitKat after Christmas. Considering that in India, the Moto G will be launched next year, in early January, it is quite evident that the device will be running Android 4.4 KitKat out-of-the-box.
Further, the report notes that the Motorola Moto G will release in two waves (as we confirmed during the press conference) , the first wave includes countries namely Brazil, France, Germany, Mexico and UK, while the second wave includes US, South East Asia and other countries. Randal also revealed that the Motorola Moto G will be launched with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean in first wave countries, though they will also receive the Android 4.4 KitKat update by the end of January.
On Thursday, a tweet by Guy Kawasaki confirmed that the Motorola Moto G dual-SIM variant would be making it to the Indian market, as well as Brazil. While Motorola has already confirmed that the Moto G will be arriving in India, it has yet to reveal the precise plans for the type of retail availability.
The Motorola Moto G features a 4.5-inch HD 'edge-to-edge' display with a resolution of 720x1280 pixels (translating to a pixel density of 329ppi) and boasts a Corning Gorilla Glass 3 screen. Powered by a quad-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor coupled with an Adreno 305 GPU, the Moto G features 1GB of RAM. On the optics front, the Moto G sports a 5-megapixel rear camera along with an LED flash and also includes a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera. The rear camera supports HD (720p) video recording.
The Motorola Moto G also features water-resistant nano-coating on the inside and outside. The Moto G packs a 2070mAh battery, which Motorola claims can deliver up to 30 percent more talktime than the Apple iPhone 5s.
The yet to be announced HTC Butterfly S smartphone has been listed on company's official website. However, there is no word when HTC may launch the device.
Earlier, HTC unveiled Butterfly S in Taiwan and it was speculated that the company would launch the device in developing markets soon that includes India.
HTC Butterfly S sports a 5.0-inch Super LCD 3 display with a pixel density of 440PPIs and the display also features Corning Gorilla Glass 3. On the hardware front, the device is powered by a 1.9GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 quad-core processor with 2GB RAM. It would run the Android 4.2 Jelly Bean with HTC Sense 5.0 UI on top. The HTC Butterfly S much like the HTC One, comes with a 4.0-megapixel UltraPixel camera with the Zoe camera software feature and the rear camera supports full-HD video recording. It also has a 2.1-megapixel front camera with an 88 degree wide-angle lens.
The device supports single SIM and would use a micro-SIM rather than the regular sized SIM. On music front, the device boasts off the HTC BoomSound feature with dual front stereo speakers with built-in amplifiers and Beats Audio.
Connectivity options include NFC support, Bluetooth 4.0 and Wi-Fi. The company has included a 3,200mAh battery that the company claims would deliver 29 hours of talk time and 544 hours of standby time. HTC has added the tagline, "Impressive style meets long-lasting stamina" to its HTC Butterfly S smartphone on the official site, highlighting the battery strength of the device.
Earlier we reported about HTC allegedly working on a 6.0-inch device, the One Max. The company is said to be working to expand its One series of smartphone globally. If the rumours are true, this would be the smartphone with biggest display from HTC and would be up against Samsung's Galaxy Mega series and Sony's Xperia Z Ultra smartphone.
The rumoured specifications include a 6.0-inch 1080p display and a 2.3GHz Snapdragon 800 processor with Adreno 330 graphics chip and 2GB RAM. The device will supposedly feature an UltraPixel rear camera that has been used in the HTC One, with a 2.1-megapixel front facing camera, Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity and would pack a 3,300mAh battery. The device is likely to be available in two storage variants, 32GB and 64GB, though storage would not be expandable.
The report also claims that the device would be a dual SIM phone and would be LTE compatible. Much like its predecessors, the HTC One Max is also expected to come with Sense 5.0 UI layer on top of the Android operating system.
Looking at the sheer size of the rumoured HTC One Max, it is being speculated that it would be a serious rival to the Samsung's Note Series that has been doing well in terms of sales since its launch. If true, this would be the first phablet from the stable of HTC.
The Taiwanese handset giant has been rumoured to be expanding its 'One' series and the HTC One Max can be considered to be a part of this expansion.
The Mobilegeeks.de also claims that HTC is all set to release the One Max and One Mini in September. However, it is also being said that HTC has no plans to release any new phones this calendar year.
Earlier, HTC One Mini was spotted again in fresh photos with supposedly confirmed specifications. The HTC One Mini is rumoured to be powered by a 1.4GHz dual-core Snapdragon 400 processor with Adreno 305 for graphics and 1GB RAM. It could sport a 4.3-inch 720p display with a resolution of 720x1280 pixels. It is also expected to feature the 4.0-megapixel UltraPixel camera found in the HTC One along with a 1.6-megapixel front camera. It would run Android 4.2 Jelly Bean with the latest Sense 5.0 UI layer on top. The device will come with 16GB storage of which 12GB will be user-accessible.