budget smartphones – Tech Raman

Panasonic P100 Review

Lakshmi Rajan — Wed, 21 Feb 2018 22:50:22 +0000

Box contents: Everything you would want for your phone is ticked out of the box.

P100 Smartphone
soft back case
Battery
Earphone
screen guard
micro usb cable
power adapter
user guide

Design and Build Quality

The Panasonic P100 is a compact phone that snuggles nicely on your palm. The corners are rounded and the sides are smooth. The rear is glossy and even though it is of plastic construction, it is likeable. It is available in four colour options, namely Blue, Black, Gold, and Dark Grey. The rear panel can be removed, a rare commodity these days. Inside you can fit in the included 2200mAh battery , the P100 has provision for two SIM slots and a dedicated microSD card. The phone supports 4G VoLTE. The right side has the power and volume buttons. The top has the audio jack and a mic and the bottom an audio jack. The rear houses the camera and a LED flash stacked vertically with a finger sensor below. The speaker slit is also at the bottom of the rear side. Panasonic P100 has got a decent looks for a budget offering. It might be a bit old fashioned with plastic chasis and removable back panel but it is more practical and has a pleasing looks. It definitely is one of the most good looking entry-level smartphone in its price segment.

Display

The front is bit aesthetic for the P100 in terms of the design. It kind of makes the phone a little cute, yes I said it. The phone has the 16:9 aspect ratio something that has been taken over by 18:9 aspect ratio in the immediate next segment to this phone. The screen has rounded corners which is rather nice and the black borders around the screen also compliments that rounded design that makes the phone a lot nicer to look at. There are on-screen navigation buttons at the chin and the top has the front firing camera, LED flash, ear piece and sensors. The P100 features a 5-inch IPS display with a 1280 x 720 pixels resolution. I was surprised to find the screen even has a Corning gorilla protective layer for this price. The display is bright with a decent viewing angles. The display setting has adaptive brightness and it works as expected.

Software

Panasonic P100 makes use Android nougat with almost stock flavour but with few additions, you do get app drawer. There are many apps preinstalled like Google’s payment UPI payment app, Tez and even a duplicate gallery app, K gallery along with other random apps like Newspoint etc. P100 comes with some smart features that include:

Pocket mode: When your phone is in your pocket and if there is an incoming call, it automatically increases the ringer volume for better audibility.
Smart dial: When you are in the SMS interface or on a particular contact interface, lifting the phone near the ear will connect the call.
Smart answer: When there is an incoming call, you can simply lift the phone to near ear to get the call connected.
Other smart features include double tap to wake, flip to mute.

Fingerprint sensor

Very few phone offers fingerprint sensor at this price point and P100 has a reliable fingerprint sensor, though a tad slower by fraction of seconds. You can unlock the phone but there is no app lock.

Performance

Powering the P100 is the entry-level MediaTek MT 6735 chipset clocked at 1.2Ghz, Mali-T720 GPU and with a 1GB/2GB RAM option and 16GB of internal storage. The specs covers up for the basic tasks on the phone. The call quality is good, the speaker is decent for this category. The phone does not have Gyroscope, so hence no support for VR. If you are using the phone for your basic requirements like making calls, Whatsapp, social apps like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and playing lighter games, the P100 should not disappoint you. Lighter games can be played without hiccups.

Camera

Rear camera: 8 MP auto focus with LED Flash
Front camera: 5 MP with Flash

I don’t expect much from camera performance of entry-level smartphones, they usually are just to stamp your memories but P100 has decent enough camera optics for this price. The selfies hit the satisfactory mark. Considering the price point, the rear camera is not bad either. It would be injustice to compare the camera with phones twice its price point.

Battery

P100 comes with a 2200mAh battery. On paper this might sound too less considering many phones these days pack 3000mAh and more. But considering the phone has a smaller 5-inch display with HD resolution and is powered by less demanding MT6735 and the targeted users would be using the phone more for basic stuffs, it can sail through a day.

Verdict

Panasonic P100 is one of the most pleasing looking phone at this price point. It is a decent phone at this price point and you also get fingerprint sensor which very few phones offer in this segment.]]>

Infinix Hot S3 FAQ : Everything You Need To Know | Answers to Frequently Asked Questions

Lakshmi Rajan — Thu, 08 Feb 2018 07:00:46 +0000

Infinix Hot S3 is an affordable Smartphone with a full vision display and 18:3 aspect ration. In India, the price starts at Rs 8,999. In case you plan to buy this Smartphone, here is the Infinix Hot S3 FAQ to clear the doubts about the device you might have. Also watch: INFINIX HOT S3 UNBOXING | HANDS ON WITH CAMERA SAMPLES https://youtu.be/ae3XGrTeTnk

Question: What are the different colors Infinix Hot S3 is available?

Answer: In India currently it is available in Sandstone black & Brush Gold, though there are other colors but not currently available here.

Question: What is the display size and resolution?

Answer: Infinix Hot S3 has a 5.65-inch fullview IPS display with a HD+ resolution of 1440×720 pixels and 18:9 aspect ratio.

Question: What display settings available?

Answer: The display setting has night mode (blue filter) setting, adaptive brightness, pulse notification light setting, ambient display toggle and font size.

Question: Does Infinix Hot S3 support double tap to wake?

Answer: Yes, there is double tap to wake or lock the screen option.

Question: Does Infinix Hot S3 has Blue light filter settings ?

Answer: Yes, there is a night mode which is the blue light filter setting.

Question: What is the price of Infinix Hot S3? Where can I buy?

Answer: Infinix Hot S3 is priced at Rs 8.999 for 3GB /32GB variant and Rs 10,999 for 4GB/64GB variant in India and and will be available on Flipkart.

Question: What size SIM cards Infinix Hot S3 accepts? Can I add a microSD card?

Answer: Hot S3 has a dedicated microSD card slot, so you can add two microSIM and one microSD card for memory expansion.

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: Infinix Hot S3 is powered by a Snapdragon 430 chipset with a 3GB and 4GB RAM option.

Question: What is the internal storage of Infinix Hot S3?

Answer: Infinix Hot S3 comes with a 32GB and 64GB internal storage option. It has a dedicated memory card for storage expansion up to 128GB.

Question: Does Infinix Hot S3 has Gyroscope sensor?

Answer: Yes, it does not have Gyroscope sensor.

Question: Does it support VR?

Answer: Yes, Infinix Hot S3 does support virtual reality (VR) apps.

Question: Is the buttons back lit?

Answer: Infinix Hot S3 has on-screen navigation buttons with an option to hide it when not required.

Question: What USB type does it use?

Answer: It uses microUSB port

Question: Does it have notification light?

Answer: Yes, Infinix Hot S3 has pulse notification light.

Question: What are the camera specifications of Infinix Hot S3 ?

Answer: Infinix Hot S3 a 20-megapixel front camera with 4-in-1 low light selfie camera mode, dual soft LED flash and a 13MP rear camera with PDAF and F/2.0 aperture.

Question: Does the camera has OIS?

Answer: No.

Question: Can we take 4K videos in Infinix Hot S3?

Answer: No, you can take maximum upto 1080p videos.

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

Answer: Yes, Infinix Hot S3 supports VoLTE. Other options include Bluetooth, A-GPS, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/

Question: Does Infinix Hot S3 have FM app?

Answer: Yes

Question: How to take screnshots in Hot S3?

Answer: Infinix Hot S3 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 Hot S3?

Answer: Yes, we can take long screenshot.

Question: Does Infinix Hot S3 support USB OTG?

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

Question: What is the battery capacity of Infinix Hot S3?

Answer: Infinix Hot S3 has a 4000mAh battery

Question: Does Infinix Hot S3 support fast charging?

Answer: No, it does not support fast charging. It comes with 5V 2A power adapter.

Question: Does it have power saver modes?

Answer: Yes it has a battery saver mode.

Question: Does Infinix Hot S3 have IR blaster?

Answer: No Hot S3 does not have a IR blaster.

Question: Is Infinix Hot S3 Waterproof?

Answer: No, Hot S3 is not waterproof.

Question: How is the call quality?

Answer: Call quality of Infinix Hot S3 is good.

Question: Does Infinix Hot S3 support one hand UI?

Answer: Yes

Question: Does Infinix Hot S3 has fingerprint scanner?

Answer: Yes, it does have a fingerprint sensor

Question: Does Infinix Hot S3 support App lock?

Answer: No, Hot S3 does not support app lock. You can assign a fingerprint sensor to launch a particular app. The sensor area can also be use to take photo, accept call, browse pictures, record call and dismiss alarm by touching the sensor area.

Question: What OS does Infinix Hot S3 run?

Answer: Infinix Hot S3 runs on Android Oreo with their custom XOS layered on top of it.

Question: Does Infinix Hot S3 support two Whatsapp in the same phone?

Answer: No, it does not support dual apps (App twin) feature.

Question: Does Infinix Hot S3 support call recording?

Answer: Yes, there is a auto record setting which can be turned on during call by touching the finger print sensor area.

Question: Does Infinix Hot S3 have video call feature in dialer?

Answer: No, there is no video call feature in the Hot S3 dialer. Question: Does Infinix Hot S3 support NFC? Answer: No, NFC is not supported.

Question: Does Infinix Hot S3 has split screen feature?

Answer: Yes it supports multi windows.

Question: Does Infinix Hot S3 have Dolby Atmos support?

Answer: No, Hot S3 does not have Dolby Atmos but the audio quality is pretty good.

Question: Does Infinix Hot S3 have heating issue?

Answer: No, heating is within the limits. https://youtu.be/cOkFO-h8NkY]]>

Tecno Camon i FAQ : Everything You Need To Know | Answers to Frequently Asked Questions

Tech Raman — Thu, 08 Feb 2018 06:24:02 +0000

Tecno Camon i is an affordable Smartphone with a full vision display and a good camera capabilities. It will be available at offline stores in India and is priced at Rs 8,999. In case you plan to buy this Smartphone, here is the Tecno Camon i FAQ to clear the doubts about the device you might have.

Question: What are the different colors Techno Camon i is available?

Answer: In India currently it is available in Champagne Gold, Midnight Black and City Blue.

Question: What is the display size and resolution?

Answer: Techno Camon i has a 5.65-inch fullview IPS display with In-cell technology and supports a HD+ resolution of 1440×720 pixels and 18:9 aspect ratio.

Question: What display settings available?

Answer: The display setting has eye care (night mode) setting, indicator light (pulse notification) , font size, mira vision settings and full screen mode settings for apps.

Question: Does Techno Camon i support double tap to wake?

Answer: No.

Question: Does Tecno Camon i has Blue light filter settings ?

Answer: Yes, there is eye care setting which is the blue light filter setting.

Question: What is the price of Tecno Camon i? Where can I buy?

Answer: Camon i is priced at Rs 8.999 in India and and will be available offline in around 30,000 stores across India.

Question: What size SIM cards Tecno Camon i accepts? Can I add a microSD card?

Answer: Camon i has a dedicated microSD card slot, so you can add two microSIM and one microSD card for memory expansion.

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: Camon i is powered by a quad-core MediaTek MT 6735 chipset clocked at 1.3GHz, 3GB of RAM and 32GB storage.

Question: What is the internal storage of Tecno Camon i?

Answer: Camon i comes with a 32GB internal storage. It has a dedicated memory card for storage expansion up to 128GB.

Question: Does Camon i has Gyroscope sensor?

Answer: No, it does not have Gyroscope sensor.

Question: Does it support VR?

Answer: No, Camon i does not support virtual reality (VR) apps.

Question: Is the buttons back lit?

Answer: Tecno Camon i 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, Camon i has pulse notification light.

Question: What are the camera specifications of Camon i ?

Answer: Camon i has a 13 MP rear & front camera, which uses f/2.0 aperture & 5P lens. The rear also has a quad-lens with 4X flash.

Question: Does the camera has OIS?

Answer: No.

Question: Can we take 4K videos in Camon i?

Answer: No, you can take maximum upto 720p videos.

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

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

Question: Does Camon i have FM app?

Answer: Yes

Question: How to take screnshots in Camon i?

Answer: Camon i 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 Camon i?

Answer: Yes, we can take long screenshot.

Question: Does Camon i support USB OTG?

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

Question: What is the battery capacity of Camon i?

Answer: Tecno Camon i has a 3050mAh battery

Question: Does Camon i 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 Camon i have IR blaster?

Answer: No Tecno Camon i does not have a IR blaster.

Question: Is Camon i Waterproof?

Answer: No, Tecno Camon i is not waterproof.

Question: How is the call quality?

Answer: Call quality of Camon i is good.

Question: Does Camon i support one hand UI?

Answer: Yes

Question: Does Camon i has fingerprint scanner?

Answer: Yes, it does have a fingerprint sensor

Question: Does Camon i support App lock?

Answer: Yes it supports app lock. You can also take photos and accept call by touching the fingerprint sensor area.

Question: What OS does Tecno Camon i run?

Answer: Tecno Camon i runs on Android Nougat 7.1. with their custom Hi OS 3.2.0 layered on top of it.

Question: Does Camon i support two Whatsapp in the same phone?

Answer: No, it does not support dual apps (App twin) feature.

Question: Does Tecno Camon i support call recording?

Answer: Yes, there is a auto record setting in contacts.

Question: Does Tecno Camon i have video call feature in dialer?

Answer: Yes, there is video call feature in the Tecno Camon 1 dialer. Question: Does Tecno Camon i support NFC? Answer: No, NFC is not supported.

Question: Does Tecno Camon i has split screen feature?

Answer: Yes it supports multi windows.

Question: Does Tecno Camon i have Dolby Atmos support?

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

Question: Does Tecno Camon i have heating issue?

Answer: No, heating is within the limits.]]>

Celkon Campus Nova A352E is priced at 2K; Android gets more affordable

Lakshmi Rajan — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 18:18:54 +0000

Celkon Campus Nova A352E is priced at 2K; Android gets more affordable

Lakshmi Rajan — Wed, 24 Sep 2014 18:18:54 +0000

Mozilla to bring out a $25 (Rs 1,500) Firefox OS smartphone soon

Lakshmi Rajan — Mon, 24 Feb 2014 04:50:27 +0000

Aakash tablet makers Datawind launches PocketSurfer range of budget smartphones

Lakshmi Rajan — Sat, 14 Dec 2013 04:41:30 +0000

Samsung updates its budget smartphone portfolio with Galaxy Trend for Rs 8,700

Lakshmi Rajan — Mon, 23 Sep 2013 08:37:44 +0000

Gamsung India has 17 smartphones in its Galaxy series and has now added one more device to its portfolio. Galaxy Trend, a budget smartphone is listed in its website for Rs 8,700. There is no word yet on the availability of the device with the page showing a ‘Notify Me’ option for consumer. While Samsung’s official website is mum on the availability, Galaxy Trend is available in online e-commerce sites like Flipkart and Snapdeal for a discounted price of Rs. 8,490 and with a 2-3 working days for delivery. The dual-SIM (GSM+GSM) Samsung Galaxy Trend comes with a 4-inch WVGA TFT display with a 480×800 pixel resolutions and is powered by a 1GHz processor and 512MB of RAM. The internal storage includes 4GB of inbuilt storage, out of which only 2.05GB is user-accessible. A 32GB expandable storage is possible via microSD card. According to the specs listed on the official site it runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich with TouchWiz 4.0 UI on top while the listings on the online retailers talk about the Galaxy Trend as an Android 4.1 Jelly Bean device. The device has dimensions 121.5×63.1×10.85mm and weighs 126 grams. The Galaxy Trend sports a 3-megapixel rear camera with no flash and there is no room for front camera. Connectivity features on the device include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, EDGE, GPRS and 3G. There is a 1500mAh battery which the company claims can deliver up to 8 hours of talktime and up to 350 hours of standby time. ]]>

It's official! Samsung Galaxy Star and Galaxy Pocket Neo

Lakshmi Rajan — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 12:28:06 +0000

Galaxy Star Specifications Sporting a 3-inch QVGA TFT display with a lowly 240×320 pixel resolution, the dual-SIM Galaxy Star is powered by a 1 GHz processor and 512 MB RAM and runs on Android Jelly Bean 4.1 OS. It comes with a 4 GB internal storage which is expandable upto 32 GB via microSD card. It features a 2-megapixel rear camera but no front camera. Connectivity options include WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, microUSB along with GPRS and EDGE. On the battery side, it packs a 1,200 mAh battery.

Galaxy Pocket Neo Specifications

Like Galaxy Star, Galaxy Pocket Neo also features a 3-inch QVGA display with a modest 240 x 320 pixels resolutions but has a less processing power with a 850 MHz processor and 512 MB RAM. Apart from the processing power, it shares the other similar specs like dual-SIM,4 GB internal storage, 2 MP rear camera and 1,200 mAH battery. ]]>

Neo N003 specifications and pricing blows us away

Lakshmi Rajan — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 12:04:42 +0000

Few days back we reported about Neo N003,World’s cheapest full HD Smartphone priced at $ 145. Now I have the full specifications of the smartphone to share with you and I am sure what you read is going to pleasantly stun you, I was sold out. Take my $ 144 and pack me this phone, I am sold. According to Chinese mobile blog, GizChina.com Neo N003 features a 5-inch corning gorilla Ggass 2 display with a full HD 1920 x 1080 resolutions. The display is a OGS (One-touch glass) so it uses a single piece of glass as both cover lens and sensor substrate and thereby reducing the cost, thickness and weight of the device. Did you hear Nokia boasting of it’s premium Lumia devices could be used with gloves? Well, this budget dynamite device also be used gloves-on. Running on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, Neo N003 is powered by a Mediatek 1.2Ghz MT6589 quad-core processor mated to a 1 GB or 2 GB RAM depending upon the model you choose. More on the models we talk below. Competing with the premium devices of 2013, Neo N003 also features a 13 MP rear camera. Even the battery is a massive 3000mAh. I’m loving it. The musical experience is enhanced by built-in Yamaha speakers. Neo N003 comes in two variants – Youth and Premium models. Only differences between both the models are in RAM and internal storage. While Youth has a 1 GB RAM, Premium doubles it with a 2 GB RAM. Neo N003 Youth has a 8 GB on-board storage while Premium variant has a 32 GB. Also, the front camera in Youth model is a VGA while the Premium model flaunts a 2 MP front camera. Though both of them has a 13 MP rear camera. The Neo N003 Youth is expected to retail at 899 Yuan ($144) while the Premium model is slightly costlier at 1299 Yuan ($204) Both the models is due for release in China this April, 2013.

Neo N003 specifications

5-inch display
corning gorilla Ggass 2
IPS One-touch glass display
full HD 1920 x 1080 resolutions
Android 4.2 Jelly Bean OS
Mediatek 1.2Ghz MT6589 quad-core processor
1 GB / 2 GB RAM
8 GB / 32 GB internal storage
13 MP rear camera

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