budget smartphone – Tech Raman

Infinix Hot S3 Review – A budget all-rounder

Lakshmi Rajan — Sat, 31 Mar 2018 23:27:43 +0000

At a price starting at Rs 8,999, the Infinix Hot S3 stirs up the sub-10K segment and provides a good challenge to the unrivaled reign of Redmi Smartphones. Infinix is an online exclusive brand of Transsion Holdings which also own the other brands iTel, Tecno and Spice. The Hot S3 comes in two variants 3GB RAM with 32GB storage at Rs 8,999 and the 4GB RAM variant with 64GB storage at Rs 10,999 in India. Let’s uncover in this Infinix Hot S3 Review if the phone is impressive enough.

Infinix Hot S3 box contents:

https://youtu.be/ae3XGrTeTnk

Hot S3 Smartphone
Soft back case cover
Power adapter 5V 2A
microUSB cable
Screen guard
Pin
Documents

Infinix Hot S3 Design:

The Hot S3 is available in two colors – gold and black and what I got for review is the black model. Though made of plastic, the phone doesn’t look cheap and sports good looks. The matte finish at the rear gives it an impressive finish but is also prone to fingerprint smudges but I can live with it compared to the glossy finishes. The Hot S3 weighs 150 grams and measures 8.4mm in thickness. The back panel has a 13MP rear camera and LED light enclosed in a capsule shell, fingerprint sensor and Infinix branding. The corners are smooth and the rear side edges curved. It’s got ergonomic design offering a good grip over while holding it. The bottom has the mic, microUSB port and the speaker grille. The top houses the audio port. The right side has the power button and the volume rocker. The left side has the SIM tray, it supports dual SIM and there is a dedicated microSD card slot.

Infinix Hot S3 Display

In tune with the hot trend of the season and which is becoming a norm the Hot S3 has a 5.65-inch display with a 18:9 aspect ratio offering a HD 720*1440 resolution. The display is vivid with good saturation levels. If you were comfortable with the compact size of 5-inch display till now, then you should not have any trouble adjusting to the tall 5.65″ screen size. The display settings has the night mode a.k.a blue filter toggle, adaptive brightness, ambient display etc. There is also notification lights in this phone. The display has on-screen navigation buttons. The top of the screen houses the 20MP selfie camera, LED light, sensor and ear piece receiver.

Infinix Hot S3 Software | Features

It’s reassuring to know that out of the box the Hot S3 comes with Android Oreo with their own custom HiOS layered on top of it. So what features the HiOS brings to the device? Let’s find out.

Smart Features of Hot S3:

Double tap to wake
Gesture actions to quickly open an app from the lockscreen
one hand mode which allows the screen to be minimised to 4.7 inch or 4 inch.
three fingerscreen shot with support for long screenshot.
Turn the phone to silence.

There is no app drawer but otherwise the UI is more like stock Android. There is cast option. The phone also supports OTG. The Hot S3 also comes with its own share of bloatware apps preinstalled.There is Inifinix’s own set of apps called XClub, XShare and XTheme. XClub is a forum for Infinix; Xshare is a file sharing app; and XTheme is a theme repository. Plus, there is an additional browser, Phoenix browser, Magic Movie, a social networking app for sharing videos made by Transsion Mobile and a Cleaner app that as the name suggests kills apps in the background to free up RAM; and a Freezer app which hibernates apps that you drag into it.

Infinix Hot S3 Fingerprint Sensor Review

Infinix has added few tricks to the fingerprint unlock. Apart from unlocking the phone with the finger, you can also associate an app with a finger to be launched immediately upon unlocking the phone. You can also touch the sensor area to take photo while on camera app, accept incoming call, browse pictures, record an call or dismiss an alarm. Strangely, there is no app lock feature. https://youtu.be/H5FmgrJN254

Infinix Hot S3 Performance

Powering the Infinix is the entry level Snapdragon 430, an octa-core processor clocked at 1.4GHz , with a 3GB/4GB RAM, Adreno 505 Adreno 505,and 32GB/64GB storage. I didnt had any issue using the phone for basic tasks, there was no observable lag in the time I spend with it. Games are playable though there are frame drops considering the entry-level processor, still most games are playable. Heavy games take a bit of time to load. Also you would find the phone heating up a bit on heavy graphic intensive games. Call quality is good, the speaker is manageable too.

Infinix Hot S3 battery life

The Hot S3 has a 4000mAh non-removable battery didn’t disappoint me in the actual use either. The phone can last anywhere between one day and half a day more depending on your use.

Infinix Hot S3 Camera

The camera setup includes a 20-megapixel fixed focus front camera and a 13-megapixel rear camera. Let’s begin with the camera app. Apart from the usual video, auto and beauty mode there is a separate modes section, tapping it shows panorama, night, time lapse and professional mode. The professional mode lets you fiddle around with the ISO, white balance, exposure, shutter speed, and focus. There are quick toggles for HDR and the flash and the selfie camera also has a flash light. The photos taken with Hot S3 contrary to my expectations were surprisingly good enough. The photos not only look good on the vivid display but even when you transfer it to your computer, look good. The details are well captured. The colors pop out a bit more, with the contrast and saturation slightly boosted, nevertheless they look good visually. The images are sharp too. Macros come well also. At times under bright sunlight, there tends to be a bit of over exposure, if you know how to use the pro mode, you could get it right the way you want. Here is an example of the HDR image (right) The selfies come pretty good too. Though a bit more sharper with contrast notched up a bit. There is a bokeh effect too for the selfies, though at times you could see the edges getting blurred but still it is a good addition and something you can experiment with while taking selfies. Overall, the Hot S3 has one of the better camera optics in this price segment.

Infinix Hot S3 Verdict

What works for the Infinix Hot S3 is the impressive display and a pleasing camera performance for this price segment along with a decent battery life. The hardware might not be the powerful workhorse but it can get things done. At Rs 8,999 Infinix Hot S3 should be one of the phone you could consider if you are looking for a mobile at this price point.]]>

Alcatel 1X Android Oreo Go Edition smartphone announced in India: Details

Lakshmi Rajan — Tue, 13 Mar 2018 16:36:18 +0000

Alcatel 1X specifications The smartphone features a 5.34-inch display with 18:9 aspect ratio. Powering it is an octa-core MediTek MT6739 SoC paired with 1GB of RAM. There is also 16GB of internal storage, which is expandable via microSD card. The camera specs include a 13MP rear camera and 8MP front with flash. On the battery side, the X1 has a 2,460mAh battery. The phone supports 4G VoLTE. . The pricing of the Alcatel X1 is yet to be announced for the Indian market but going by the specifications, it would be an entry-level Smartphone at competitive pricing. ]]>

InFocus Vision 3 FAQ : Everything You need to know about the Budget Smartphone with Dual camera

Lakshmi Rajan — Tue, 19 Dec 2017 19:29:07 +0000

Also watch: https://youtu.be/9WLzpe96gG0

Question: What are the different colors InFocus Vision 3 is available?

Answer: In India currently it is available in gold color and the black might come for sale later.

Question: What is the display size and resolution?

Answer: InFocus Vision 3 has a 5.7-inch On-cell display with a HD+ resolution of 1440×720 pixels.

Question: What display settings available?

Answer: The display setting has auto brightness, color temperature settings, theme, wallpaper, font size.

Question: Does InFocus Vision 3 support double tap to wake?

Answer: No.

Question: Does InFocus Vision 3 has Blue light filter settings ?

Answer: No there is no blue light filter settings and you might need to download a third party app in case you need one.

Question: What is the price of InFocus Vision 3? Where can I buy?

Answer: Vision 3 is priced at Rs 6.999 in India and and is available on Amazon India website.

Question: What size SIM cards InFocus Vision 3 accepts? Can I add a microSD card?

Answer: InFocus Vision 3 has a hybrid dual SIM so you can have two SIMs or one SIM and another microSD card.

Question: Does it have Corning Gorilla Glass protection?

Answer: No it does not have a protective layer.

Question: What is the processor used in this smartphone?

Answer: InFocus Vision 3 is powered by a quad-core MediaTek MT 6735 chipset clocked at 1.3GHz, 2GB of RAM and 16GB storage.

Question: What is the internal storage of InFocus Vision 3?

Answer: The Vision 3 comes with a 16GB internal storage with around 9GB user available. It has a dedicated memory card for storage expansion up to 128GB.

Question: Does InFocus Vision 3 has Gyroscope sensor?

Answer: Yes, it has Gyroscope sensor.

Question: Does it support VR?

Answer: No, InFocus Vision 3 does not support virtual reality (VR) apps.

Question: Is the buttons back lit?

Answer: InFocus Vision 3 has on-screen navigation buttons.

Question: What USB type does it use?

Answer: It uses microUSB port

Question: Does it have notification light?

Answer: Yes, InFocus Vision 3 has pulse notification light.

Question: What are the camera specifications of Vision 3 ?

Answer: InFocus Vision 3 has a 13-megapixel primary sensor and a 5-megapixel secondary sensor dual rear camera with a LED flash and a 8-megapixel front camera with LED flash for selfie.

Question: Does the camera has OIS?

Answer: No.

Question: Can we take 4K videos in InFocus Vision 3?

Answer: No.

Question: What are the connectivity options? Does it support VoLTE?

Answer: Yes, InFocus Vision 3 supports VoLTE. Other options include Bluetooth, A-GPS, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/

Question: Does InFocus Vision 3 has FM app?

Answer: Yes

Question: How to take screnshots in InFocus Vision 3?

Answer: InFocus Vision 3 has a tri finger screen shot feature apart from the basic power button and volume down together option.

Question: Can we take long screenshot in InFocus Vision 3?

Answer: Yes, we can take long screenshot.

Question: Does InFocus Vision 3 support USB OTG?

Answer: Yes, it supports OTG and you can connect the USB drive to it.

Question: What is the battery capacity of InFocus Vision 3?

Answer: InFocus Vision 3 has a 4000mAh battery

Question: Does InFocus Vision 3 support fast charging?

Answer: No, it does not support fast charging.

Question: Does it have power saver modes?

Answer: Yes it has a battery saver mode.

Question: Does InFocus Vision 3 have IR blaster?

Answer: No InFocus Vision 3 does not have a IR blaster.

Question: Is InFocus Vision 3 Waterproof?

Answer: No, InFocus Vision 3 is not waterproof.

Question: How is the call quality?

Answer: Call quality of InFocus Vision 3 is good.

Question: Does InFocus Vision 3 support one hand UI?

Answer: No

Question: Does InFocus Vision 3 has fingerprint scanner?

Answer: Yes, it does have a fingerprint sensor

Question: Does InFocus Vision 3 support App lock?

Answer: No, it does not.

Question: What OS does InFocus Vision 3 run?

Answer: InFocus Vision 3 runs on Android Nougat 7.1. with their custom Smile UI layered on top of it.

Question: Does InFocus Vision 3 support two Whatsapp in the same phone?

Answer: Yes it has a dual apps feature that can duplicate any apps.

Question: Does InFocus Vision 3 support call recording?

Answer: Yes, Vision 3 support call recording feature. Question: Does InFocus Vision 3 support NFC? Answer: No, NFC is not supported.

Question: Does InFocus Vision 3 has split screen feature?

Answer: Yes it supports multi windows.

Question: Does InFocus Vision have Dolby Atmos support?

Answer: No, InFocus Vision does not have Dolby Atmos but the audio quality is pretty good.

Question: Does InFocus vision 3 have heating issue?

Answer: Will test and update.]]>

Redmi 4A FAQs – Everything You Need to Know

Lakshmi Rajan — Thu, 30 Mar 2017 18:04:18 +0000

paisa vasool or blockbuster model. Here are some of the commonly asked questions about the Redmi 4A answered.

Question: What are the different colors Redmi 4A is available?

Answer: Redmi 4A is available in three color options – Dark Grey, Gold and Rose Gold

Question: What is the display size and resolution?

Answer: The Redmi 4A has a 5-inch IPS LCD display offering a 1280 x 720 pixels HD resolution with a 296 pixels per inch (PPI)

Question: What display settings available?

Answer: The display settings has brightness control, Reding mode, Colors and contrasts which offer three settings – automatic contrast, increased contrast and standard, Text size adjustments that can go from XS to XXL.

Question: What is Reading Mode in Redmi 4A?

Answer: Yes, there is bluefilter option and Xiaomi calls it Reading mode. It can be set manually and a start and end time can also be set. Interestingly, it can be applied to all apps or you can choose particular set of apps. Whenever you open those selected apps, the display automatically goes to reading mode and reverts back to normal when you close the app.

Question: What is the price of Redmi 4A? Where can I buy?

Answer: Redmi 4A is priced at Rs 5,999 and is available on Amazon.in and Xiaomi’s own store in India , Mi.com/in.

Question: What size sim cards, Redmi 4A accepts? Does it has dedicated microSD card support?

Answer: It supports hybrid dual-nano SIM (Nano SIM / MicroSIM) with 32GB of internal storage. So you can use either two SIM’s or can use one SIM and the second SIM slot can be used to house a microSD card.

Question: Does it have Corning Gorilla Glass protection?

Answer: No Redmi 4A does not have Corning Gorilla Glass protection but it does have an unnamed strengthened glass.

Question: What is the processor used in this smartphone?

Answer: Redmi 4A is powered by Qualcomm MSM8917 Snapdragon 425 SoC mated to an Adreno 508 GPU, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage with an option to expand via microSD card.

Question: Does Redmi 4A has Gyroscope sensor?

Answer: Yes, it has Gyro sensor.

Question: Does Redmi 4 support call recording?

Answer: Yes Redmi 4 supports call recording. The setting can be accessed in the call settings. You can record all calls automatically or from selective numbers.

Question: Is the buttons back lit?

Answer: No, the buttons are not backlit.

Question: What USB type does it use?

Answer: It supports microUSB port not USB-Type C

Question: Does it have notification light?

Answer: Yes, it has notification light.

Question: What are the camera specifications of Redmi 4A?

Answer: Redmi 4A has a 13-megapixel rear camera with f/2.2 aperture, autofocus and LED flash and a 5-megapixel selfie camera. The rear camera can take 1080p videos.

Question: What are the connectivity options? Does it support VoLTE?

Answer: Yes, Redmi 4A supports VoLTE. Other options include Bluetooth, A-GPS, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, WiFi direct, FM etc.

Question: How to take screnshots in Redmi 4A?

Answer: Press and hold the power and volume button together or go to quick shortcuts and there is a screenshot option that can be tapped to take a screenshot.

Question: Does it support fast charging?

Answer: No, it does not support fast charging.

Question: What is the storage? How much is user available?

Answer: It has 16GB of internal storage with 10.43GB user available.

Question: Does it support USB OTG?

Answer: Yes, it supports OTG and you can connect the USB drive to it.

Question: Does it have power saver modes?

Answer: Redmi 4A has a battery saver mode.

Question: Does it have IR blaster?

Answer: Yes, it does have an IR blaster.

Question: How is the call quality?

Answer: Call quality of Redmi 4A is very good.

Question: Does it support one hand UI?

Answer: Yes it supports one hand UI. The display can be reduced to 4-inch or 3.5-inch

Question: Does Redmi 4A has fingerprint scanner?

Answer: No, it does not have a fingerprint sensor.

Question: Does Redmi 4A support App lock?

Answer: Yes, it supports app lock and you can use password or pattern lock to secure apps.

Question: What OS does it run?

Answer: Redmi 4A runs on Android Marshmallow based MIUI 8.1 .

Question: Does it have Second Space MIUI 8 Feature?

Answer: Yes, it does have Second space feature that allows to have two phones within a phone.

Question: Does it support two whatsapp in the same phone?

Answer: Yes it supports two Whatsapp app. You can enable it via Dual apps settings or Second space settings.

Question: What is Dual apps in Redmi 4A?

Answer: Dual App features allows to have two accounts or instances of the same app running at the same time. Question: Q) What are the full specifications of the Redmi 4A? Answer: Here is the full specification list of the Redmi 4A.

Dimensions: 139.9 x 70.4 x 8.5 mm
Weight: 131.5g
Display: 5-inch 720p IPS LCD, Reading mode
Chipset: Quad-core Snapdragon 425 chipset clocked at 1.4GHz
GPU: Adreno 508
RAM: 2GB
Storage: 16GB, microSD card slot
Rear camera: 13MP, f/2.2 aperture, LED flash, Full HD video recording
Front camera: 5MP, f/2.2 aperture
Sensors: Gyroscope, Accelerometer, Proximity, Ambient light sensor, Infrared
Connectivity: LTE, (Hybrid) Dual-SIM, GPS, Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.1, microUSB
Battery: 3120mAh non-removable
Others: MIUI8

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