india – Tech Raman

Realme X2 Pro Review – The most affordable Flagship Smartphone (with 50W & 90Hz sweetener!)

Lakshmi — Thu, 23 Jan 2020 09:28:33 +0000

Last few years have seen a tectonic shift in the Smartphone industry – the technology has been widely democratized and affordable for the masses. Now brands like Realme are in the forefront to deliver more at smart pricing and Realme X2 Pro is their latest offering that promises a true flagship experience complete with 50W fast charging and 90Hz refresh rate display at a fair price. In this Realme X2 Pro review, let’s unravel everything it has to offer.

Design and Build Quality of Realme X2 Pro

I got here the Neptune blue colour variant, while it is also available in Lunar white colour option. Personally I liked the eye-candy white colour variant with pearl-like gradient finish but has to settle with the Blue variant I received for testing. After a couple of days of use, the blue looks cool too, the light plays subtle variations in colour shades.

An aluminium metal chassis adds to the strength while the front and back are all-glass affair backed up by Gorilla 5 glass. The phone is tad heavier at 199 grams and measures 8.7mm thickness. On the positive side, it feels sturdy while using and the weight balance is done well. While it is not extremely slippery, I would always recommend using a phone with a case, just in case to be on the safer side. The box comes with a soft back case.

The top and bottom are flat with a slight dent in the middle. The top houses a noise-cancelling mic and the bottom houses the speaker, type-C port, mic and audio jack. Yes, the 3.5mm port is not forgotten.

The right side has the power button and the SIM tray. It supports dual SIM but there is no memory card slot. So make a prudent choice when you buy the storage variants with 64GB, 128GB and 256GB on offer. The phone supports dual VoLTE. I was also told the X2 Pro will soon get support WiFi calling (VoWiFi) via a new update. The left side has the volume buttons. The phone features a 4×4 MIMO antenna to ensure proper data or Wi-Fi signal irrespective of how you are holding the phone while gaming.

To sum it up, the Realme X2 Pro is not outlandish but has a feel-good look and feel about it to please everyone.

Display of Realme X2 Pro

Here is where Realme has amped up its aggressive presence. With 90Hz refresh rate on the display, they have literally made it a standard for any future flagship phones. The 6.5-inches screen is a Super AMOLED panel with Full HD+ (2400 x 1080 pixels) resolution. The display is certified for HDR10+ playback and supports a 100% DCI-P3 colour gamut range.

With a 1000 nits brightness rating, the legibility under direct sunlight is a non-issue. The display setting offers control over screen colour temperature with a slider to cooler to warmer., The setting also has night shield which is the eye comfort mode and low brightness flicker-free eye-care mode. There are two colour modes to choose from, Vivid and Gentle. The Vivid colour mode is based on DCI-P3 colour range while the Gentle mode represents sRGB colours. The screen refresh rate can be scaled down to 60Hz to conserve battery life if you want to.

The X2 Pro has Widevine L1 DRM certification which means you can enjoy the Netflix and Prime videos on high resolutions and are not restricted.

The 90Hz refresh rate offers butter smooth experience and the screen is very vivid and bright. Some may feel it slightly oversaturated but with my understanding of the Indian consumer preference, the larger section would enjoy the popping colours the display offers.

Realme X2 Pro OS – Color OS but Realme UI is coming

So far the Realme devices have been running on Android-based Color OS it shares with Oppo Smartphones but Realme is working on Realme UI to differentiate their phones and is currently on the beta testing on few of their devices. The new UI would be coming to X2 Pro too very sooner. At the time am drafting this review, it runs on Color OS 6.1 with Android 9 base.

You get dark mode, a bunch of customization options including navigation gestures, gesture and motions control for screen off gestures, smart call motion controls and extra add ons like an assistive ball, a smart sidebar for quick accesses.

The in-display fingerprint sensor is very quick and face recognition swift to respond too. Additionally, you also get app unlock via these sensors.

Hardware muscle – punching full weight

When it comes to performance, the Realme X2 Pro is a top gun armed with Snapdragon 855+ chipset that adorns every flagship worth the salt this season. The Snapdragon 855 Plus is a slightly overclocked version of the 855 chipsets, the GPU is a bit tweaked to offer 15% better performance. The phone is available in three choices – 6GB+64GB, 8GB+128GB and going full throttle with 12GB RAM and 256GB storage.

The best in class internals means you get the best performance you can drive out of a Smartphone at this age. You can throw any game at it and it will handle at easy and also 90Hz refresh rate means you can have even more smoother gameplay on supporting games.

With HDR10+ playback and higher nits level, watching your favourite movies on the screen would be a pleasant experience. The stereo speakers, AMOLED panel all aid in the audio-visual experience.

On a short note, there is nothing to complain about the capability of the X2 Pro.

Realme X2 Pro Camera

64 MP, f/1.8, 26mm (wide), 1/1.7″, 0.8µm, PDAF
13 MP, f/2.5, 52mm (telephoto), 1/3.4″, 1.0µm, PDAF, 2x optical zoom
8 MP, f/2.2, 16mm (ultrawide), 1/3.2″, 1.4µm, PDAF
2 MP, f/2.4, 1/5.0″, 1.75µm, depth sensor

Vertical quad-camera setup is centred at top of the rear side of X2 Pro. The main camera is a Samsung ISOCELL Bright GW1 64MP sensor with an f/1.8 aperture. It uses quad-Bayer arrangement to capture 16MP photos. If you want to go full pixels, there is a dedicated 65MP mode to capture the photos in full glory of detailing but also makes it a heavy file. The primary camera is complemented by a 13MP telephoto lens, an 8MP ultra-white sensor and a 2MP depth sensor.

For regular photography, the phone does justice. The images are vivid and adequately detailed. There is a chroma boost on toggle for those who prefer more pronounced colours in their photos.

The X2 Pro is also equipped with 5x optical zoom and 20x hybrid zoom. It manages to do well in this front compared with its competitors in this segment barring the likes of Reno.

The pictures below shows 1x, 2x, 5x, 10x and 20x zoom pics.

The X2 Pro also comes handy with macro photography and can keep you adequately busy if you love taking macros. There is no dedicated macro setting but going up close on wide-angle mode gets you the job.

The wide-angle is a good addition too though not very sharp enough as in normal mode. The night mode is a bit forgettable affair with noise creeping in. It lacks OIS but EIS helps to an extent for videos. You can take videos up to 4K @ 60fps.

Battery Life – Unbelievably fast!

Another area where the X2 Pro takes the limelight is with its 50W SuperVOOC fast charging technology. The adapter comes bundled out of the box. It can fire up the 4000mAh battery from 0% to 100% in 35 minutes flat. As far as the battery life is concerned it can sail through a day at ease and even when down, it’s just 30 minutes away from a full charge.

Verdict

What works for Realme X2 Pro

Smoother 90Hz Refresh rate display
Ultra-fast 50W SuperVOOC charging technology
Rich Dual Stereo Speaker
Decent Camera
Gaming powerhouse
Value for money

What X2 Pro lacks

No OIS
No expandable storage
Night mode could have been better

Overall, Realme X2 Pro punches above its weight. It’s a flagship phone at an affordable price. The 90Hz display and the crazily fast 50W SuperVOOC charging rewrites the budget flagship expectations and like I said in the beginning it truly democratizes the flagship experience.

Huawei launches four Android smartphones, prices start at Rs 6,499

Lakshmi Rajan — Thu, 16 Jan 2014 16:22:58 +0000

Huawei Ascend G700 specs The top end of the four new smartphones launched, the Huawei Ascend G700 comes with a 5-inch IPS display with a 720×1280 pixel resolution. The dual-SIM handset runs on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean layered with Huawei’s Emotion UI. It is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core processor and has 2GB of RAM. It comes with 8GB inbuilt storage and can be expanded up to 32GB via microSD card. It bears an 8-megapixel rear camera accompanied by an LED flash and also houses a 1.3-megapixel front camera. The Ascend G700 is powered by a 2150mAh battery. Price: 17,999.

Huawei Ascend G610 specs

The dual-SIM device features a 5-inch IPS display with a 540×960 resolution. It runs on Android 4.2 topped with the company’s Emotion UI. The handset is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core processor and 1GB of RAM. A 4GB of internal storage is complimented by a 32GB expandable memory via microSD card. The camera department is taken care by a 5 megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a VGA front facing-camera. The device packs a 2150mAh battery. The device also includes sensors like G-sensor, light sensor and digital proximity and is available in black and white colors. Price: 12,999.

Huawei Ascend Y511 specs

The third in the line of the four new phones launched by Huawei, the dual-SIM Huawei Ascend Y511 sports a 4.5-inch FWVGA display with a 480×854 pixel resolution. Powered by a 1.3GHz dual-core MediaTek MT6572 processor with 512MB of RAM, the smartphone runs on Android Jelly Bean and also comes with a 4GB internal storage expandable up to 32GB aided by a microSD card. A 3 megapixel front camera and a VGA rear camera completes the camera specs. The handset comes with a 1730mAh battery packed in. Price: Rs 7,999

Huawei Ascend Y320 specs

The least priced of the four smartphones, Huawei Ascend Y320 runs on Android 4.2 Jellybean and comes with a 4-inch WVGA display (480×800 pixels). Like Ascend Y511, the dual-SIM handset is powered by a 1.3GHz dual-core MediaTek MT6572 processor with 512MB of RAM. Like the rest of the devicces, it also includes a 4GB internal storage and a expandable memory slot up to 32GB. The camera department is restricted to only a 2-megapixel rear camera. No front camera here. The device hosts a 1350mAh battery. Price: Rs 6,999]]>

The new 2013 Nexus 7 now available on Google Play Store in India starting at Rs 20,999

Lakshmi Rajan — Wed, 20 Nov 2013 05:42:23 +0000

The 2013 edition Nexus 7 is a commendable sequel to the last year’s Nexus 7 and is thinner, lighter, more powerful. It also features a 7 inch LED-backlit IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels. It is powered by a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor clocked at 1.5GHz and paired with Adreno 320 GPU and 2GB of RAM. The camera specs include a 5-megapixel rear camera, 1.2 megapixel front camera and the device also features dual stereo speakers and packs in a 3,950mAh non-removable battery which Google claims would deliver 9 hours of HD video playback and 10 hours of web browsing. The advantage of Nexus devices is getting priority over the new releases of Android updates and not surprisingly new Nexus 7 gets the taste of the latest release of Android KitKat version. Check out the new Nexus 7 on Google Play HERE]]>

Watch live webcast of Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 India launch event

Lakshmi Rajan — Thu, 18 Jul 2013 04:29:41 +0000

reported that the latest Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 range of Android tablets will be launched in India today. In case you are interested in catching the launch event happening in NewDelhi at 12:15 PM, here is the live webcast link to catch the descending of the new Galaxy in Indian shores. You can also catch all the related news on Twitter and the official hashtag for the launch event of Tab 3 is #Tab3Launch Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 India launch event live webcast

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Amazon arrives in India, rolls out it's marketplace

Lakshmi Rajan — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 04:11:44 +0000

February last year Amazon made a backdoor entry into the Indian market with Junglee, which was rather a product discovery and price comparison model. Now the e-commerce giant has arrived with its original business model with drums rolling to take on the $400 billion retail market by launching it’s Indian site, Amazon.in With the addition of India, Amazon has 10 market place globally. Currently Amazon India site lists books and movies with coming soon section indicating camera, mobiles and more. The marketplace allows sellers in India to establish a virtual rack space and benefit from Amazon’s technology,innovative service, shopping and payment infrastructure to read a wider audience pan-India. For sellers they offer two services ‘Sell on Amazon’ and ‘Fulfillment by Amazon’ With over 7 million books to choose from, the company is also offering free home delivery for a limited time for products listed with ‘Fulfilled by Amazon’. When the offer expires, orders above Rs 500 will be home delivered. With the entry of Amazon expect lots of fireworks in fledgling Indian e-commerce market, dominated by homegrown Flipkart till now. Meanwhile check this infographic provided by Amazon India. ]]>

Even Ranbir could not boost the sagging Blackberry market share in India, Says a survey

Lakshmi Rajan — Wed, 22 May 2013 07:52:54 +0000

If Simplify360 social media survey is to be believed, Blackberry has much to worry about it’s Indian market share. The survey by the leading social business intelligence company indicates a dwindling market share, lack of interest for the once iconic brand and overall negative reaction of consumer towards the brand. Quiet a gloomy picture here. Blackberry has pinned much of it’s future hope on it’s brand new Blackberry 10 OS and Z10 was the first smartphone to roll-out on the platform. The company launched Z10 in India this February and roped in Ranbir Kapoor as it’s brand ambassador. The company had boasted of 1 million sales globally since the launch of Z10 and recently announced a new handset, Blackberry Q10. If the insights of Simply360 survey are any indicators, even Ranbir cannot salvage the past pride and market position of Blackberry in India. There is no denying the fact that at the time of launch, Blackberry Z10 commanded considerable attention from social media users. But the pricing of the Z10 at Rs. 43,490 seems to have generated huge negative reaction and subsequently as per the survey has lead to 65% negative sentiment towards the brand from the audience. [gallery link="file" ids="3671,3672,3673"]

The key insights of the Simplify360 survey are:

65% of the audience has negative sentiment towards the brand.
Only 11% indicated that they are likely to buy a Blackberry
7% of them indicated that they are eager to buy the new Blackberry Q10
63% of those using blackberry would not recommend it to others
12% of those using the phone are likely to switch to other brands

What should be worrying the company would be high percentage of people unlikely to recommend the brand to others. We all know when it comes to picking a new phone, people are more likely to be influenced by recommendations from friends, relatives and peers. What do you think about the survey? Do such surveys based purely on social media inference reflect the overall consumer perception? Do chip in your thoughts. Source: Simplify360.com]]>

Samsung Galaxy S4 India launch pics

Lakshmi Rajan — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 12:17:09 +0000

Venue of Samsung Galaxy S4 launch event in India The venue was befitting to unveil the possible king of Android devices this year. [gallery link="file" ids="3352,3349,3351,3353,3354,3355,3356"]

Entertainment

Shiamak Davar’s troupe performed did a brilliantly choreographed dance numbers.. Diana Hayden, former Miss World was the host of the event. [gallery columns="5" link="file" ids="3360,3361,3362,3363,3364,3365,3366,3367"]

Launch

And the moment everyone waited for – the launch of Galaxy S4 by Vineet Taneja, Samsung India’s mobile and digital imaging business and B D Park, Samsung Electronics president and CEO (South West Asia) As usual it was Asim Warsi, VP Samsung mobile India stage time to explain the features of Galaxy S4. [gallery columns="5" link="file" ids="3372,3373,3374,3375,3376"] And then it was time to hit the demo area for the media to get hands-on the device. So how was my experience with Galaxy S4 will explain in the next article. annyonghi-kjeseyo. In case you wonder what is it, its good-bye in Korean. Oh, that also reminds why S-translator will be quiet a handy feature in Galaxy S4.]]>

India is the Fastest Growing Smartphone Market states IDC reports

Lakshmi Rajan — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 17:09:55 +0000

IDC states that India having the lowest smartphone penetration in in Asia/Pacific countries is also the fastest growing smartphone market in the world. Though it only accounts for 2.5% share of the total smartphones shipped globally this year, being the world’s second most populated nation with a billion plus market and a zooming economy, India is poised to grow at 57.5% for the next couple of years making it the fastest growing smartphone market in the world. But even at this phenomenal growth, it would only be garnering 8.5% of the market share in 2016. With the markets flooded with low-cost smartphones and dropping data tariffs India has a huge untapped growth potential and a lucrative market for the mobile makers of all pedigrees. Faced with intense competition, the data tariffs are poised to nosedive further and though 3G charges are still expensive, it might get cheaper in coming years and also the advent of 4G would drive the market further. Localized apps also plays a key role in fueling the growth. While India is poised be the fastest growing smartphone market, it’s giant neighbour China is expected to overtake the US as the world’s biggest smartphone market. Commanding a 25.5% share it is comfortably ahead of U.S.’s 17.8%. Top Five Smartphone Markets and Market Share for 2011, 2012, and 2016 (based on shipments)

Country	2011 Market Share	2012 Market Share	2016 Market Share	2011 – 2016 CAGR
PRC	18.3%	26.5%	23.0%	26.2%
USA	21.3%	17.8%	14.5%	11.6%
India	2.2%	2.5%	8.5%	57.5%
Brazil	1.8%	2.3%	4.4%	44.0%
United Kingdom	5.3%	4.5%	3.6%	11.5%
Rest of World	51.1%	46.4%	46.0%	18.1%
Total	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	20.5%

Source: IDC Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker, 2012 Q2 Forecast Release, August 30 2012 Note: Countries listed in terms of ranking in 2016.]]>