Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Gadgets and Gizmos TruePDF-June 2018
Gadgets and Gizmos TruePDF-June 2018
online privacy
In-Focus:
Apple’s iOs 12,
wAtchOs 5
Reviewed:
Honor 10,
Vivo X21
June 2018 / `50/ www.gadgetsngizmos.in
Augment
your reAlity:
DCP No. F.2(I/I) Press/2009
Augmented ReAlity
is tAking technology
woRld by stoRm
GG www.gadgetsngizmos.in
CONTENTS
Assistant Editor: Sapna Nair Purohit
IMPACt tEAM
10
V. Somasundaram (Chennai),
Jitendra Lad (West),
Head (North) – Dipayan Chowdhary
Better Than Real
Product Head: Jaykumar Mistry With Apple and Google focusing on Augmented
Reality, the technology is said to become big.
SALES AND OPERAtIONS
Chief General ManaGer: D.V.S. Rama Rao
LED HD TVs
YouTube, Twitter,
Facebook and Netflix
ABAJ hAs Announced the launch of its latest smart TV by Quad Core A7 850MHz with
in the Indian market. It is a 55-inch full HD LED TV with an A+ Dual Core MALI450MP2 400MHz
Grade panel which the company claims has been optimised for GPU, has three HDMI ports, and
watching movies, music, sports, games, online content and more two USB ports. It uses a LINUX
with a 178-degree viewing angle. It runs Android 4.0 and above operating system and offers the
with pre-installed apps like Gmail, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook option of Mouse Cursor on
and Netflix. The TV features narrow bezel and sound output of Remote. The model, with a three-
8W x 2 speakers. It supports a five-band equalizer, is PC-com- year warranty, has been priced at
patible, and has LAN connectivity and built-in WiFi. It is powered `59,990.
2
Amazon out, and play white noise to fall
asleep. Amazon plans to further
personalise the customer experi-
Alexa for
connect their Amazon accounts to
their Alexa-enabled device in the
room. This will allow customers
Hospitality
to play their personal music from
services such as Amazon Music,
Spotify and Pandora, and also
listen to audiobooks with Audible.
AMAzon'S ALExA foR HoSpiTALiTy Hoteliers will also be able use Alexa
will help hotels, vacation rental for Hospitality to measure engage-
and other hospitality players give ment through analytics and adapt
a voice-first experience to guests. services based on guest feedback.
Amazon Echo smart speakers will
be placed in hotel rooms and guests
will be able to talk to Alexa for
The company will introduce support for
accessing hotel information, room
customers to temporarily connect their
service, housekeeping, controlling
Amazon accounts to their Alexa-enabled
lights/thermostats, and playing mu-
device in the room.
sic. Amazon will work with major
property management, ticketing
and guest engagement solutions
to make Alexa integration simple
for hotels. To start with, Marriott
International is introducing the ex-
perience at select properties under
Marriott Hotels, Westin Hotels &
Resorts, St. Regis Hotels & Resorts,
Aloft Hotels, and Autograph Collec-
tion Hotels starting this summer.
However, even before Amazon
optimised Alexa for the hospitality
industry, smart voice assistants
have been deployed at some of the
hotels, including Wynn Las Vegas
and Hotel Park Inn by Radisson, IP
Extension, Delhi, to name a few.
“Customers tell us they love
how easy it is to get information,
enjoy entertainment and control
connected devices by simply asking
Alexa, and we want to offer those
experiences everywhere customers
want them,” says Daniel Rausch,
Vice President, Amazon.
Other than fetching regular
information about the hotel and
controlling and adjusting in-room
devices, guests will also be able
to check airport wait times, play
games, get in a quick guided work-
Google Adds continued
conversation to
home speakers
smArt speAkers have been the Home Speaker would be able or add something to your shopping
understanding commands and re- to understand when it is spoken to list without having to say “Hey
sponding in real time. But till now, and would be able to respond to Google” each time. "You can say
they could process only one several requests during the conver- thank you or stop once you are
command at a time and not make a sation. done, or we will end the conversa-
conversation. As promised at For instance, you can say "Hey tion once we detect that you are
Google I/O 2018 last month, the Google, what’s the weather to- no longer talking to the assistant.
Home Speakers are now getting day?”. “Will it rain tomorrow?" “And You will still need to activate your
support for continued conversation. remind me to bring an umbrella assistant devices with 'Ok Google,
Jacklyn Konzelmann, Product tomorrow morning”...“Thank you!” Hey Google', or with a physical
Manager, Google Assistant, The blog post further explains trigger, but with this new optional
explained in a blog post, "We’re that with 'Continued Conversation' setting turned on, the assistant will
taking another step forward in turned on, after you ask the as- stay active long enough to respond
making your interactions with the sistant a question, you can ask a to follow-up questions so you don't
Google Assistant more natural with follow-up question, set a reminder, have to say Hey Google as often."
Continued Conversation, available The new feature has started
starting today on Google Home, The Home Speaker will be rolling out. Home speaker owners
Google Home Mini and Google able to understand when can turn it on in the Google As-
Home Max." it is spoken to and respond sistant app by going to settings,
So, instead of calling out 'Ok to several requests during preferences, continued conversa-
Google' or 'Hey Google' every time, the conversation tion and hitting the toggle.
4
Amazon Now
rebranded to
AMAzon inDiA has rebranded its grocery service Amazon Now to Prime
Now, offering two-hour delivery to Prime members. Available to cus-
tomers in Bengaluru, Mumbai, New Delhi and Hyderabad, the service is
available any time between 6 am and midnight; consumers can order as
late as 10 pm for midnight delivery. Same-day and next-day delivery will
remain available for all Amazon users, in two-hour slots from 6 am to
midnight. For this, Amazon India has 15 fulfilment centres equipped with
temperature-controlled zones. The centres also store kitchen appliances,
beauty products and household supplies available on Prime Now.
“On Prime Now, customers can shop for products from our Now
store, which is fulfilled by Amazon. We have invested in customised in-
frastructure at fulfilment centres for faster deliveries and chill chains to
maintain temperature for leafy and dairy products like curd and paneer.
We are encouraged by the strong customer response. Quantities ordered
have grown by 90 per cent monthly since the launch of the Now store,”
says Siddharth Nambiar – Head of Prime Now, Amazon India.
With the rebranded app, there are over 10,000 products listed across
categories such as fruit and vegetables, grocery, staples, meats, home
and kitchen and more, fulfilled by Amazon through the Now store and
supermarkets such as Big Bazaar, Aditya Birla More and local speciality
sellers. The app will also have “Crazy Deals” on grocery products with up
to 30 per cent off; there will be Amazon Pay offers as well.
5
Blackberry Key2
With A physical
Keyboard, Dual
Camera, Unveiled
VAnnted As the world’s most aluminium hosting a 4.5-inch glance’ security meter to display
secure Android smart phone, Black- touch display protected with 2.5 D the device’s overall security rat-
berry’s KEY2 has just been unveiled. Corning glass. The KEY2 features ing. It includes a Proactive Health
A sequel to last year’s KeyOne, this two 12-megapixel cameras – one Check with which users can scan
is a mid-range Android smartphone with an aperture of f/1.8 for faster the device for instant feedback on
with a physical keyboard. It is also autofocus, and a second aperture potential vulnerabilities and security
the first Blackberry with a dual f/2.6 for portrait mode. There is also optimisations.
camera. 8-megapixel front camera with fixed The phone also comes with
The KEY2 operates on Android focus and a selfie flash. optimised virtual lockers that offer
8.1 Oreo and includes a Speed As usual, Blackberry has fo- greater personal privacy and con-
Key – the universal shortcut key for cussed on security, and the phone trol over content especially those
instantly accessing apps, contacts, comes with BlackBerry's proprietary like documents and photos. Once
and other repetitive use functions. technique - establishing a hardware activated, the pre-loaded privacy ap-
The manufacturer says the phone root of trust adding security keys plication can only be accessed using
offers a two-day battery backup to the processor. The KEY 2 comes passwords or fingerprints.
and a battery that supports Quick preloaded with DTEK with an ‘at a Another major feature that the
Charging (faster than usual charg- KEY2 supports – making it a big
ing optimised for the type of voltage deal for large organisations to adopt
available). The KEY2 is available in The phone also comes – is the Android zero-touch enrol-
both the 64 GB and 128 GB internal with optimised virtual ment. This is a seamless means for
storage versions with both support- lockers that offer corporate owned, controlled, and
ing expandable storage of 256 GB. greater personal monitored phones to be provided to
The phone’s body is sturdy privacy employees.
6
Samsung Samsung has refreshed its QLED TV offering and expanded
its UHD range. The Korean technology giant is not just focus-
launches ing on the premium category but has also introduced a new
Concert series, a 'Make for India' innovation.
Concert Focusing on the Indian consumers’ need for immersive and
quality sound, Samsung’s Concert series will have four speak-
series TV for ers embedded, instead of the regular two. Each channel is said
to deliver 10W sound output to pack a total output of 40W
the sound across a host of apps such as Jio Cinema, Netflix, Amazon
Prime and Big Flix. The range will be available in 32-inch, 43-
experience
inch and 49-inch sizes, with the starting price of `27,500.
The company has added an Ambient Mode in Samsung
QLED TV in which the TV seamlessly blends with the home
interiors. It can mimic the pattern on the wall behind the TV
to create a visual effect that blends the TV into the wall. “Con-
sumers in India are upsizing and are moving to bigger and bet-
Samsung’s Concert ter televisions. We intend to fuel this trend by increasing our
series will have four UHD line-up by 60 per cent and launching new products with
speakers; each channel innovative features such as Ambient Mode and superior sound
is said to deliver 10W quality,” says Piyush Kunnapallil, General Manager, Consumer
sound output Electronics Business, Samsung India.
Focus
apple
annOunceS
iOS 12:
improves
performance
and brings new
features
F
By Nidhi SiNgal
8
watchOS 5
to focus on was able to track calorie burned
connectivity
port for Yoga and Hiking.
Walkie-Talkie
This feature allows Apple Watch
user to quickly get in touch with
friends and family, using the new
watch-to-watch connection,
which is fast, personal and can
be activated between any com-
patible Apple Watch users
around the world over Wi-Fi or
cellular. There isn’t any update
on whether this feature will be
available in India or not.
Siri Updates
The updated Siri watch face for
Apple Watch is said to be a bet-
ter personal assistant. It will of-
daily targets, this new feature al- fer more predictive and proactive
A
low Apple Watch owners to in- shortcuts throughout the day
vite another Apple Watch user to based on routines, locations and
compete in a seven-day Activity information such as heart rate
competition, earning points for after a workout, commute time
closing Activity Rings, while re- with Maps at the appropriate
Along with the iOS 12, Apple ceiving coaching notifications to time of day or sports scores for a
previewed some new features of help stay engaged. favourite team.
the watchOS5. watchOS is
Apple’s proprietary operating Auto-Workout Detection Enhanced Notifications
system for Apple Watch. The For the most popular workouts Notifications from third-party
new OS brings powerful activity on Apple Watch, auto-workout apps can now have interactive
and communication features to detection provides an alert to controls and be used without
Apple Watch. It brings in quick start the correct workout and needing to open the app.
access to information with a host gives retroactive credit. The watchOS will be availa-
of new features. ble for a free update for Apple
New Workouts Watch Series 1 and later models
Activity Competitions Apple had over 12 dedicated and requires iPhone 5s or later
From motivating users to meet workout types and Apple Watch versions on iOS 12.
9
Cover Story
Better
than real
AUGMENTED REALITY IS SET TO TAKE THE
TECH WORLD BY STORM IN THE WAKE
OF NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM APPLE
AND GOOGLE.
By Nidhi Singal
10
a truly immersive experience across fan of AR. “AR has the ability to am- AR experiences – apps and games in
industries. Just pointing the camera on plify human performance instead of which multiple users can participate
the subject can make things come isolating humans,” said Apple’s CEO and view the same virtual environment
alive. Take for instance the IKEA Place Tim Cook during one of the company’s from a different angle.
app that makes shopping for furniture earnings call. Be it the world of education, medi-
easy. The app helps visualise what Apple’s ARKit helped developers cine, gaming, tourism or automobile,
furniture would blend well with your design apps for a seamless AR experi- AR is finding takers everywhere. There
home decor. The Human Anatomy app ence on iPhones and iPads. ARKit 2, are AR apps that can tell you the di-
is another example that helps visualise the latest one, will be helpful in de- mensions of a door or a box without
and understand the intricacies of the signing advanced AR apps that can you having to look for a measurement
nervous system in 3D. track 3D objects and support improved tape. In fact, Apple is launching a
AR is not a new technology but has face tracking. Google, too, has been Measure app with iOS 12. The
Froggipedia AR app for Apple, from an
Indian developer, enables students to
see and dissect a frog virtually; instead
of the scalpel, the student uses the
Apple Pencil. Art lovers can see and
analyse the smallest details in an art
piece using AR. The Boulevard AR app
is a fine example of that.
Although most of these apps can
be used on smartphones, AR gadgets
such as AR glasses and headgear are
on the cards for special uses. In its
paper An Augmented Realit y
Microscope for Real-time Automated
Detection of Cancer, Google describes
a prototype Augmented Reality
Microscope (ARM) platform that could
possibly help accelerate and democra-
tise the adoption of deep learning tools
for pathologists around the world. The
platform consists of a modified light
FRoggipediA microscope that enables real-time im-
enables
students to age analysis and presentation of the
dissect a frog results of machine learning algorithms
virtually
directly into the field of view.
A new market intelligence report
by BIS Research states that the AR
been overshadowed for long by virtual working on this technology for quite market is estimated to reach $198.17
reality (VR) that finds significance in some time. It has now replaced its billion by 2025, growing at a CAGR of
the gaming industry. VR technology Project Tango with ARCore, a platform 65.1 per cent. Mixed Reality, a mix of
disconnects you from the real world to build AR experiences. It supports AR and VR, is also set to grow to $3.68
and involves the use of specialised vertical plane detection, which means billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 72 per
headsets (priced as low as `220 for a that instead of pointing at a flat sur- cent. Mixed Reality requires high-end
cardboard VR), whereas AR offers a face, one can place AR objects on dif- glasses like Microsoft HoloLens and
more life-like experience and involves ferent surfaces, like a textured wall; Meta 2 and has great uses in the man-
placing a computer-generated graph- and Augmented Images that can bring ufacturing and medical industries.
ics in the real world environment. For images to life by merely pointing the HoloLens is actually helping doctors
developers, the lure of creating virtual phone at a poster or see what’s inside achieve more accuracy, shorter sur-
content instead of placing it over the a box without opening it. gery times and risk reduction.
real environment was a big one. But Both ARKit 2 and ARCore are en-
Apple’s CEO Tim Cook has been a big couraging developers to build shared @nidhisingal
11
Feature
Boosting
online
privacy
A host of browser
extensions cAn help
you keep AwAy sites
trAcking you.
By Nidhi Singal
Illustration by Raj Verma
block third-party cookies and even trackers or choose the list of analytics
grant permission to specific sites to options you want to allow. Ghostery
e
save and read cookie data. also allows you to enable enhanced
Firefox users will have to navigate anti-tracking, smart blocking and even
a little more. The can click on the create a Ghostery account for syncing
‘Privacy & Security’ panel under settings across browsers and devices.
‘Preferences’, go to the ‘History’ sec- Once set up, the Ghostery icon ap-
tion and use ‘Custom Settings for pears next to the address bar that
History’ to choose ‘accept third-party shows a report card of the number of
cookies’ or 'reject third-party cookies'. trackers blocked, page load time and
Similarly, in Safari, ‘cookies and even the details of the blocked track-
website data’ option can be accessed ers for you to identify if they are harm-
through the ‘Privacy’ option in less or intrusive.
‘Preferences’. With Opera, one has to Another popular extension is
very time you visit a website, you visit the browser settings, followed by Adblock Plus. It blocks banners, pop-
leave behind a digital footprint. These ‘Preferences’, ‘Advanced’ and ups, tracking, malware and more.
traces of information might include ‘Cookies’, whereas on Microsoft Edge, Clicking on the Adblock Plus icon next
search history, social media account one can go to ‘Privacy and Services’ to the search bar gives you a report
information, and much more. Some of under ‘View Advanced Settings’. which shows the number of ads
this is stored in the form of cookies, To be on the safer side, you can blocked on the particular page and in
text files that contain two pieces of in- also turn on auto-delete cookies every total. With just one click, you can turn
formation — the name of the site and time you close the browser. Within the on/off the blocker for a particular site.
a unique user ID. Some of these cook- Adblock Plus can be customised from
ies help you remain signed into your e- the Settings — this allows you to
mail accounts, some remember your block social media icons tracking,
site preferences and some even pre- block additional tracking, and allow/
sent you with locally relevant content, block acceptable ads that are non-in-
improving the browsing experience. a large numBer of cook- trusive. It also gives quick access to
These are first-party cookies created ies are created to track Whitelisted websites for which you
by the websites you visit. have turned off ad blocking and more.
your profile or surfing
However, there is a flip side too. A The advanced option is for customis-
haBits. often, these are
big chunk of cookies is created to ing Adblock Plus, add or remove filter
track your profile or surfing habits.
third-party cookies lists, and create and maintain own fil-
Often, these are third-party cookies, ter lists. It can also be used for disa-
added on to the various websites you bling third-party tracking cookies and
visit. While it is difficult to identify scripts.
these third-party cookies, you can get Disconnect finds companies that
rid of all cookies while deleting cookies setting on Google Chrome, for track people and then blocks their
browser history, or change cookie set- instance, you can select the option to tracking requests. Available for
tings in your browser to eliminate ‘keep local data only until you quit Chrome and Firefox, this is a user-
them altogether. But there is a catch. your browser’. With Firefox, select supported software that allows users
If all cookies are turned off, you may ‘keep cookies until I close Firefox.’ to pay as much as they want annually.
face trouble signing into your Gmail Another popular extension is
account or visiting many websites. Let Extensions and Apps uBlock Origin. With advanced settings,
us look at ways to safeguard oneself There are some web-browser ex- this one isn’t for beginners. It shows
from unwanted third-party cookies. tensions to protect privacy. Ghostery, the number of requests blocked and
available for almost all popular gives a quick access to the list. Even
Built-in Browser settings browsers, improves your browsing ex- the settings have a wide list of options
All leading web browsers have these perience by giving you control over to choose from, which includes auto-
settings built into them. You can block ads and tracking technologies to update filters, parse and enforce cos-
all cookies or just restrict third-party speed up page loads, eliminate clutter metic filters, malware domains, an-
cookies. Under the ‘Privacy and and protect data. It allows you to go noyances, and more.
Security’ tab on Chrome’s ‘Settings’ is with default settings or customise
the Cookie tab, which allows you to settings. The latter lets you block ad- @nidhisingal
13
Price
`35,990
top
notch
By Nidhi SiNgal
14
12 mP front
camera
captures great
bokeh selfies
15
TesT Bench
Price multifunctional
`8,990 swivel dial
stylish
but feels overweight
at 960g
16
Power
button
used to switch
between preset
Big On
modes
17
TesT Bench
Physical
controls
CinematiC
of course, a tub of popcorn. The
market is teeming with projectors
and soundbars in a range of shapes,
sizes and price points. Among them,
thrills
the BenQ W1700 stands out as a
notable and affordable 4K projector.
Bringing home the enthralling
cinematic experience using a 4K
projector and a large flat panel
TV is a tempting and, at the same
By Nidhi SiNgal time, an expensive proposition – 4K
projectors from brands such as
Sony and JVC are priced upwards
of `3 lakh. But BenQ’s W1700
18
Price
`2,25,000
4K dlP
projector
home cinema projector, priced at handy when operating the projector The projected content was sharp
`2,25,000, panders to your whim in the dark. BenQ packs in a 0.47 and the colours produced were
without leaving you feeling guilty for inch single-DMD DLP technology brilliant. The preset modes – bright,
the indulgence. with 3,840x2,160 native resolution vivid TV, cinema and sports – let
A compact conventional-looking and 2200 ANSI lumens lamp, and you customise settings as per your
projector, BenQ W1700 can be creates a 200-inch screen easily. liking. To adjust the focus, one has
mounted on the ceiling or placed on This projector is ready for use to use the controls on top of the
a table. It houses a lens in the front, right out of the box. All one has to projector. The sound output of the
grills on the right, connectivity ports do is plug in the power cable and 5W speaker is good, but does not
at the rear and physical controls, connect to the source. When turned quite fit in with the cinema set-up.
zoom and manual focus controls at on, it automatically searches for the Plugging in a solid soundbar is a
the top. source; it can be swapped manually, good idea. The lifespan of a projec-
BenQ has added a host of con- too. When the projector is tilted/off- tor lamp is crucial. BenQ W1700
nectivity options – two HDMI ports, centre, rendering a trapezoid effect, claims it is close to 4,000 hours
PC and VGA port and USB port for the auto keystone setting comes in on normal usage, can stretch up to
power along with audio in and out handy; it re-aligns the projection for 8,000 hours on SmartEco mode and
– as well as a backlit remote that is comfortable viewing. 10,000 hours on economic mode.
19
TesT Bench wireless
subwoofer
offers deep bass
connectivity
Ports at the rear
soundbar
has four 2.25-
inch drivers and
two 1.25-inch
tweeters
Price
`23,499
20
Big On
O
The simpleim design of the all-black
JBL Bar 2.1 2 soundbar makes it blend
perfectly
f y with h home interiors, whether
it is placed e flat or mounted on the wall.
What it i will
wi also do is enhance your
entertainment
in nt experience by several
sO
sOund
sOun
notches.
h .
The JBL
J Soundbar has a front
display,
i physical
p sical controls on top, con con-
nectivityy options ions at the rear (including
HDMI ARC, C Bluetooth, auxiliary, SPDIF
and USB), B) four ur 2.25-inch drivers and
two 1.25-inch
25 h tweeters. It also comes
with 6.5-inch wireless subwoofer and a
B Nidhi SiNgal
By S Ng l remote. It was ready to plug and play,
when connected with the TV using the
HDMI ARC, C or with the BenQ W1700
projector
j using
ing the auxiliary cable or my
phone
h over Bluetooth. It also supports
SPDIF
S connectivity
ectivity and a cable is duly
bundled iin the he box.
The JBL soundbar offers impeccably
clear sound in the standard mode. One
can choose from audio modes to go
with the genre re of content watched –
movies,i sports, rts, voice and music. In the
movie i mode,, the dialogue delivery was
crisp
i without
i t the highs being compro
compro-
mised. The music mode was ideal when
streaming i music over YouTube on TV or
h smartphone
the hone as well.
The wireless ess subwoofer offered deep
bass and that at is adjustable. The night
mode on the remote was a blessing;
when turned on it automatically bal bal-
anced the h loud
l ud sounds, but works only
i Dolby Audio. Multiple remotes to
with
ff rent gadgets can be a nui
control different nui-
night mode on kfully, the option to control
sance; thankfully,
remote the soundbarr using the TV’s remote is a
balances loud
sounds big
i plus..
Iff an immersive
mersive audio experience is
what you seek, ek, the JBL Bar 2.1 wireless
soundbar will ill be a sound addition to
h
your home heatre set-up.
theatre
21
TesT Bench
16-mP
AI front camera
dual camera
for bokeh images
selfie
master
By Nidhi SiNgal
Price
`9,999
sPeaKer grill,
microUSB port at
bottom panel
22
bottom of the rear look
good. There is a vertical
camera setup towards the
top left rear and a circular
The Redmi Y2 is Xi- fingerprint sensor at the
aomi’s second attempt rear. Power key, volume
at a selfie smartphone button are on the right
and aims to compete navigation is a welcome edge, 3.5mm port on the
against the the offerings addition. Instead of top, SIM tray on the left
from Honor, Vivo and stretching the hand to and speaker grills along
Oppo. With its good looks, access navigation but- with micro USB port at
portrait selfies and dual tons placed towards the the bottom. The curved
camera setup at the rear, bottom of the screen, sides on the rear make it
the Redmi Y2 does not swiping finger across the comfortable to hold.
disappoint. screen felt intuitive. The
navigation buttons were Performance: Just like
Portrait Selfie: The turned on by default. it's elder sibling Redmi
Redmi Y2 captures some Note 5, Y2 is powered by
great bokeh selfies. Even IR sensor & Mi Remote: Qualcomm Snapdragon
though equipped with One of my favourite 625 processor and paired
a single 16-megapixel features on the Redmi with 3GB RAM. Yes, the
camera, it uses artificial smartphones is the IR processor is a bit old but
intelligence to identify the blaster and Mi Remote. does the job perfectly.
face and blurs the back- The Y2 also has one. Us- Navigating through multi-
ground. But there isn’t a ing this app, I was able ple social media accounts,
dedicated Portrait Mode to configure remotes capturing videos and post-
for selfies. for various gadgets and ing them on social media
home appliances within accounts, streaming vid-
Rear camera: Not just the app and save short- eos on YouTube and even
5.99inch the selfie camera but cuts on the homescreen. basic gaming (not meant
18:9 display
even the rear camera for heavy graphics games
setup of the smartphone Display: The Redmi Y2 though) – it handled eve-
is impressive. Redmi Y2 is a tall device featuring a rything smoothly. Not even
houses a dual camera 5.99-inch 18:9 full-screen a single app crashed while
setup (5-megapixel and display with 1440 x 720p testing.
12-megapixel camera) resolution. Display set-
that can also capture tings included options to Battery: With an average
depth images. Accessible choose the colour (warm, use, including a couple of
through the Portrait standard, cool), contrast hours of camera usage
mode, the camera was (automatic contrast, in- along with calls, push
quick to focus on the creased contrast, stand- notifications for two email
subject and blurred the ard) and readingmode. accounts along with con-
background in the real Offering decent viewing stant access to Facebook,
time. But there isn’t any angles, the screen is leg- Twitter and Instagram,
option to adjust the depth ible in bright sunlight too. the 3080mAh battery
effect. However, the addi- lasted me a day with ease.
tion of filters resulted in Design: The smartphone
some nice, creative bokeh has a plastic body with Verdict: If you are looking
images. metallic finish and not a for a budget selfie smart-
metallic unibody as on phone, look no further.
Gesture Navigation: the elder sibling Redmi For the price (`9,999),
With phone's display Note 5. The distinct lines Redmi Y2 does an impres-
getting taller, gesture towards the top and the sive job.
23
TesT Bench notch houses
24mP
front camera
5.99inch
super bright
display
aPerture
mode allows
background blurr
adjustment
ultrasonic
underclass
fingerprint scanner
24
With the recent launches of OnePlus Camera: Honor’s cameras have
6 and Vivo X21, the mid-segment been outstanding and improving with
smartphone space (`30,000 to each successive phone. This one for
`40,000) have witnessed some worthy instance has an Artificial Intelligence
flagship killer devices. Joining the setting within the default photo mode,
bandwagon is the 10 from Honor, a which detects the subject and adjusts
company that gave some impressive settings automatically. There is also a
devices in the past (my favourite being separate aperture mode for capturing
the Honor 8 Pro). Can the Honor 10 depth images. In addition to the usual
continue the success story created by modes such as night or panorama,
the predecessors? Honor offers a Pro mode with manual
settings for those who prefer fine-
tuning their own settings. For selfies,
there is a 24-megapixel sensor and
On
the Portrait mode gives access to the
same options including turning on/off
bokeh, beautification, and 3D modes.
UI and Performance: Honor 10 with
its 128 GB internal storage brings
a ten
AI to the fore by reducing in-call
background noise. It also displayed
no frame loss or lag while playing
heavy load games like Battle Warship
for prolonged times. It handled heavy
usage loads well but the rear top of
By Nidhi SiNgal
the phone (near camera module) does
begin to get warm after a few minutes
Design: Even with a display that is of camera usage.
almost six inches, the Honor 10 feels The Honor 10 supports knuckle
compact and allows for one-hand use gestures - for instance, drawing
if only the rear wasn’t so slippery. At the line across the screen using the
153 grams, the phone feels light and knuckle entered into split-screen and
has a premium hand-feel. captured a smart screenshot when
Display: With 2280 x 1080-pixel I drew a circle. There is also an IR
resolution, the screen offers crisp text remote app - Smart Controller - for
and great colour reproduction, making controlling appliances with the phone
it ideal for reading, watching videos, but it failed to work with the Lloyd and
gaming and more. The display is leg- LG ACs I tried using it with.
ible in both – bright daylight and even Battery: Honor 10 packs in a 3400
under direct office lights. mAh battery and supports fast charg-
Ultrasonic Underglass Fingerprint ing. A full charge with extensive use
sensor: Having a fingerprint sensor easily lasted me a day with brightness
below the display isn’t new but this tuned to auto and vibration turned off.
one has been so seamlessly merged Verdict: Not just good-looking, the
into the bottom bezel that I almost Honor 10 scores in camera as well
thought it didn’t have one. It works as the performance department. Giv-
with wet and oily hands too, but did ing tough competition to the OnePlus
need more pressure than other 6, the Honor 10 for `32,999 is a
scanners. stellar device.
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