Apple’s iOS 12.1 update has been hotly anticipated given the number of exciting features it brings with it. Features like e-SIM activation, Group FaceTime and 70 new emojis did make the update exciting for users, but it also brought in a feature that is bound to ruffle some feathers; performance management. Performance Management is a software toggle that will allow you to lower the performance levels of the phone in case the battery has deteriorated beyond a point. This is a feature that Apple had secretly enabled on older iPhones, which eventually exploded into one of the biggest controversies for the brand in 2017. As many iPhone 6s users started to report that their iPhones would suddenly turn off despite having an adequate battery, Apple discovered that the heavy demand of iOS was taxing the deteriorated battery, causing the phone to shut down. Hence, through an iOS update, they silently throttled the performance of all iPhones at the time, provided the battery had deteriorated below a certain level. After the issue blew up, Apple said they have issued an update making the feature optional. They also said that the newer iPhones at the time, the iPhone 8 duo and the iPhone X would not be impacted, but here we are. The Performance Management setting will allow users with an iPhone 8/iPhone 8 Plus or an iPhone X whose battery has deteriorated and are experiencing sudden shutdowns, to turn the feature on and not have their phones switch off randomly. The issue can be fixed by having the battery swapped out, but Apple has traditionally been very difficult about offering this service, sparking conspiracy theories that they built planned obsolesce into their devices. At the time, Apple did say that future iPhones would not have a need for this feature, but it looks like the company is not taking any chances. Thankfully, this time, instead of automatic throttling, the company has given users a choice; choose full performance or stable battery life. Having to choose between the two is a terrible thing and Apple should just go ahead and make battery replacements as easy as walking into an Apple authorized store and walking out with a new battery in the phone, no questions asked. Apple does have a concessional pricing for battery replacement on models iPhone 6 and higher running through till December 31, but it would be nice to see the company extend this indefinitely.
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In a conversation, the Xiaomi Global VP and India MD, Manu Jain, said that this year Xiaomi focussed on bringing its televisions and accessories to India, which were previously exclusive to China. Next year, in 2019, the company will try to bring more of its gadgets here and its gaming laptop are on the list, along with some other devices. Xiaomi sells a range of products in China and It recently announced its biggest Mi Home Experience Store in Bengaluru where its gaming laptops and a slew of other devices that are yet to launch in India are on display. Jain said that Xiaomi garners feedback from its users that experience these devices in its Mi Home Experience Stores and if enough people put in a request, it considers bringing those devices to India. Xiaomi launched its Mi Gaming Laptop back in March this year. It comes in two variants and the more powerful model is priced at RMB 8,999 (Rs 95,400 approx), while its base model costs CNY 5,999 (Rs 62,000 approx). We did get to play with the laptops at the new Mi Home Experience Store and they are considerably thin for a gaming laptop and are comparatively lightweight for their category. The Mi Gaming laptop features a 15.6-inch full HD display with a 1920 X 1080p resolution with 300 nits of brightness and “high-precision anti-glare”. Alongside its gaming laptops, the company also showcased its Mi Notebook Air laptops. They goes up against the Apple MacBook Air with an all-metal build, Full HD 13.5-inch display and a Nvidia MX150 discrete GPU on board. Next year, Xiaomi will look at launching its other non-smart products in India as well, like clothes, shoes and apparels. Jain says that even though there’s no tech infused in them, they are good quality products that will appeal to the masses and of course, Mi fans. As mentioned earlier, the Mi Gaming laptop comes in two versions where the top-most variant is powered by the 7th Gen Intel Core i7 processor with 16GB DDR4 RAM clocked at 2400MHz and is coupled with the 6GB GDDR5 Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 GPU. It comes with a 1TB HDD and 256GB NVMe PCIe SSD for storage. The lower variant of the laptop is powered by the 7th Gen Intel Core i5 processor coupled with 4GB GDDR5 GeForce GTX 1050Ti and 8GB DDR4 RAM clocked at 2400MHz. It is also equipped with a 1TB hard disk but comes with only 128GB SSD.
OnePlus 6T is now on sale in India and customers can buy the smartphone from Amazon. The OnePlus 6T will be available in three - 6GB RAM + 128GB storage, 8GB RAM +128GB storage and 8GB RAM and 256GB storage - variants. All the three variants will be sold through Amazon India and OnePlus online store. They will also be available in pop-up stores and from November 3, the device will be available offline via OnePlus Stores, Reliance Digital and Croma. Amazon has noted that the order quantity for this product is limited to one unit per customer and the orders which exceed the quantity limit will be auto-canceled. OnePlus 6T price starts at Rs 37,999 for 6GB+128GB variant while the 8GB+128GB variant will retail for Rs 41,999. The top most variant with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage will be available for Rs Rs 45,999. Amazon is bundling several offers with the OnePlus 6T. Under “Unlock The Speed Offer”, Reliance Jio users will get to avail a Rs 5,400 cashback, along with 3TB of 4G data with the OnePlus 6T. The cashback will be provided on the first prepaid recharge of Rs 299 in the form of 36 vouchers worth Rs 150 each in the MyJio app. People who purchase OnePlus 6T will only have to pay 6 per cent for any Kindle eBook and can avail a discount up to Rs 500. If purchased using a pre-paid method (non-COD and pay by Amazon Pay balance, Credit Card, Debit Card or Net Banking) between November 1 to November 5, the customers shall be entitled to receive cashback worth Rs 1000 in the form of Amazon Pay balance which will be credited within 72 hours after the items are dispatched. There is a No cost EMI offer on all major Credit and Debit cards, and the company is providing free damage protection via Kotak Mahindra 811. ICICI bank Credit and Debit card, and Citi Credit Card holders can get Rs 2000 Instant Bank Discount. No Cost EMI is also available on Bajaj Finserv EMI cards. Customers can also get 10 percent cashback and up to Rs 50 using BHIM UPI or Rupay ATM cards, debit cards or credit cards. The cashback will be credited as Amazon Pay balance within 15 days. OnePlus 6T specifications and features The OnePlus 6T sports a 6.41-inch Optic AMOLED display along with an in-display fingerprint sensor, which the company claims is the fastest among its peers. The display is protected by a Corning Gorilla Glass 6 and the phone is sandwiched between two glass sheets. Instead of a regular rectangular notch, the OnePlus 6T has a waterdrop notch and the chin has been shaved off for a bigger screen area. Under the hood, the OnePlus 6T has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor coupled with up to 8GB RAM and 256GB storage. OnePlus has completely striked away the 64GB storage option and the smartphone is being offered only in midnight black and mirror black colours. The camera on the OnePlus 6T has the same sensors as the OnePlus 6. On the back is a 16MP Sony IMX 519 sensor with f/1.7 and 1.12-pixel pitch, which is coupled with a 20MP Sony IMX376K depth-sensing sensor. On the front is a 16MP sensor for selfies. The camera now has a dedicated mode for low-light photography called Nightscape. The OnePlus 6T runs on OxygenOS 9.0.2 which is based on Android 9.0 Pie. The OnePlus 6T packs a battery of 3,700mAh which the company claims that lasts 23 percent longer than its predecessor.
There’s enough noise going on around foldable phones these days. Big players in the smartphone market like LG and Samsung have been indicating their desire to create a smartphone with a foldable display for some years now. In fact, you could say that the curves on the displays of models like the Samsung Galaxy S9 and the LG G Flex 2 is a small step towards getting there. But this new Chinese smartphone called FlexPai is cutting through all of that noise to show off a display that can be folded like a book. Made by a little-known Chinese manufacturer called Royole Corporation, the FlexPai is a phablet (if that term even exists anymore) with a 4:3 7.8-inch display. The 1920 x 1440 display, when flattened out fully to resemble a tablet, can be folded backwards in the middle to make the device resemble a phone. Still a prototype, the FlexPai’s display doesn’t fold completely and without glitches: there’s a rather large gap between the folds and the screen flickers a bit when it’s folded. A folded side of the display measures 4 inches diagonally. The phone was seen in action in IceUniverse's tweet: This is the "world's first foldable screen phone" released by Rouyu Technology, which will use the Snapdragon 8150 processor, but its design is very rough, just to seize the "first", this is a futures product. pic.twitter.com/M0v9o2z0Bw — Ice universe (@UniverseIce) 31 October 2018 The FlexPai is powered by a Qualcomm 8-series chipset that clocks at 2.80GHz and an Adreno 640 GPU. Some believe it’s the to-be-announced Snapdragon 855 or Snapdragon 8150 flagship chipset. On the software front, it runs Android 9.0 Pie with Water OS 1.0 on top. The FlexPai is expected to come in three variants: 6GB RAM + 128GB storage, 8GB RAM + 256GB storage, and 8GB RAM + 512GB storage. According to Royole's product page, the FlexPai features a dual-camera setup on the back: a 16-megapixel wide-angle sensor and a 20-megapixel telephoto sensor. Both have an aperture of f/1.8. The FlexPai uses a fast-charging technology called Ro Charge, which is capable of juicing up the phone from nought to 80 percent in just one hour. The battery on it is a 3,800mAh unit. The FlexPai is reportedly close to being ready for commercial sale and will go on sale in December this year. Pre-orders are said to start on October 31 in China. The FlexPai by Royole Corporation is expected to cost CNY 8,999 (approx Rs 95,000) for the entry-level variant and CNY 12,999 (approx Rs 1,37,000) for the top-end variant. There’s little chance the FlexPai will enter the Indian smartphone market anytime soon.
Paytm is once again hosting its Maha Cashback Sale on Paytm Mall and there are a bunch of good smartphone deals one can grab on sale days - November 1 to November 7. Offers include a sale-wide 10 percent cashback on Axis Bank credit and debit cards, over and above the cashback Paytm is offering. The platform is also offering cash on delivery on sale items as well as cashback up to Rs 16,000 on some smartphones. Here are some lucrative smartphone deals on Paytm mall right now. Google Pixel 2 XL (64GB) - Buy Now Before Sale: Rs 43,590 After Sale: Rs 32,931 after cashback Last year’s Google flagship smartphone is still a good phone to buy, especially at this price. The device has one of the best cameras a smartphone can sport and offers a stock Android experience in a 6-inch form factor. The Pixel 2 XL (review) features Quad HD+ P-OLED display. The handset is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 835 chipset coupled with 4GB RAM and 64GB internal storage. It sports a 12MP rear camera with f/1.8 aperture, Dual Pixel autofocus, optical and electronic image stabilisation (EIS). When it was launched, the smartphone ran on Android 8.0 Oreo but Google has already rolled out the Android 9.0 Pie update to it. On Paytm Mall, you can get a Rs 7,000 cashback on the purchase of the smartphone straight away and add a 10% cashback if you purchase the device through an Axis bank debit or credit card, taking its price down to Rs 32,931. iPhone 7 (32GB) - Buy Now Before Sale: 39,499 After Sale: Rs 29,680 after cashback The iPhone 7 (review) may be a two year old device, but it’s still a pretty good Apple device to buy. The smartphone has been updated to Apple’s latest iOS 12.1 operating system. It features a good camera, is a great performer and has a good display. Specs wise, the iPhone 7 has a 4.7-inch display with a 1334 x 750 pixel resolution, giving it a pixel density of 326 ppi. It runs on the A10 Fusion chip which is a quad-core 64-bit chipset coupled with 3GB RAM. The phone has a 12MP camera at the back and a 7MP camera on the front. On Paytm Mall, you get a cashback of Rs 6,500 up front and another 10% with Axis bank cards, taking the price of the phone down to Rs 29,680 iPhone X (64GB) - Buy Now Before Sale: Rs 83,990 After Sale: Rs 61,200 Last year’s iPhone X (review) has all the latest features that even this year’s iPhones sport. It has a notch, a TrueDepth camera system at the front, dual 12MP cameras at the back, a 5.8-inch OLED Super Retina Display that supports HDR10 as well as Dolby Vision and an A11 Bionic Chip. The very first version of the future of phones as per Apple, the iPhone X, is an excellent smartphone and steered Apple into a whole new direction. On Paytm Mall, the flagship phone is available with Rs 16,000 cashback upfront, and another 10% cashback using Axis Bank cards, bringing its price down to Rs 61,200.
The Google Pixel 3 (Review) and the Google Pixel 3 XL smartphones are have now gone on sale in India. The smartphones are available online on Flipkart and offline on Reliance Digital, Croma, Poorvika, Bajaj Electronics and Vijay Sales. The 64GB storage variant of the Google Pixel 3 is priced at Rs 71,000 while the 128GB Google Pixel 3 will be sold for Rs 80,000. The Google Pixel 3 XL (64GB) will be sold for Rs 83,000 while the 128GB variant will be offered at Rs 92,000. The smartphone was already available for pre-order from October 11. Flipkart is giving exclusive launch offers on the two Pixel 3 flagships. There is a No-Cost EMI option with the purchase of the smartphones and if you buy any of the devices with EMI transaction through HDFC Credit or Debit Card, you are entitled for a 5% instant cashback. Customers can also avail up to Rs 17,900 off on exchange. With the Pixel 3 XL, one can opt for a 50% buyback value offer by paying Rs 199. Previously, Mumbai-based popular smartphone retailer Mahesh Telecom revealed that existing Pixel and Nexus owners will get a free Google Home Mini with the purchase of the Pixel 3 or Pixel 3 XL. Noteworthy is that there is no need for Pixel or Nexus owners to exchange their existing Google devices to avail the offer which is valid from November 1 to November 7. Google Pixel 3 and Google Pixel 3 XL specs and features Google announced the Pixel 3 and the Pixel 3 XL on October 9 with a bunch of other ‘Made By Google’ products including the Pixel Stand, Google Home Hub, Pixel Slate and more. Both the phones are powered by an octa-core flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset, which is coupled with 4GB LPDDR4X RAM with either 64GB or 128GB onboard storage. The smartphones also feature the Titan M custom chips for added security. While the Pixel 3 features a Full HD 5.5-inch flexible OLED display, the Pixel 3 XL sports a 6.3-inch QHD+ flexible OLED panel with 18.5:9 aspect ratio and a notch. Both the smartphones have a 12MP dual-pixel camera with 1.4um pixels and Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS). There’s an added spectral and flicker sensor and the lens has f/1.8 aperture. On the front is a dual camera setup. Two 8MP sensors are housed in the notch of the Pixel 3 XL, while on the Pixel 3, they are placed above the display. The second sensor on the front has a wide-angle lens with f/2.2 aperture and 97-degree wide field of view. The second sensor has an aperture of f/1.8 with a field of view of 75-degrees. Both the Pixel 3 and the Pixel 3 XL inherit the pressure-sensitive edges from their predecessors and there’s an Android Sensor Hub for added sensory information. The Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL support wireless charging which works with Qi-certified chargers. There is a speaker on the chin and the earpiece doubles up as the second speaker to deliver stereo sound. The Google Pixel 3 sports a 2915mAh battery while the Google Pixel 3 XL is powered by a 3,430mAh battery. The smartphones run on Android 9.0 Pie out of the box and are Daydream ready. Customers get the Pixel USB-C earbuds, a USB-C to 3.5mm dongle, Quick Switch adapter, charging cable and an USB-C 18W fast charger. The smartphone is launched in Clearly White, Just Black and Not Pink colours.
If information circulating the internet is to be believed, then Huawei is planning on launching more than just smartphones in the country. It looks like the Chinese giant will launch laptops and tablets in India as well. There is no information on when these devices will launch, nor which models will come first to the Indian shores. Jim Xu, Vice President, Huawei Consumer Business Group told a group of journalists, “India is now a Tier-1 country for us and we will make new investments in the country to bring to the Indian consumers the benefits of new technology as early as possible. We are making strategic investments in the PC business. In the smartphone segment, Honor will continue to do their business as usual even as we plan to increase the presence of Huawei-branded phones” If India is a tier one market for the company it only makes sense for Huawei to launch a diverse portfolio of their offerings in the country. At MWC 2018, Huawei unveiled a new MateBook X Pro laptop and the MediaPad M5 tablet. Both the devices are aimed to provide a better viewing experience and come with a 91 percent and 82 percent screen-to-body ratio respectively. The laptop is powered by up to 8th-gen Intel processor and comes with a discrete GeForce MX150 GPU. You can read more about it here. Moving to the tablet, the MediaPad M5 comes in 8.5-inch and two 10.8-inch display size models. They are powered by a Kirin 960 chipset and feature a resolution of 2560×1600 pixels. The 10.8-inch Pro variant offers a desktop-like experience which can be accessed via a detachable keyboard dock. You can read about the tablets in detail here. Xu said, "We understand the importance of offline business. We may shortly open either exclusive Huawei brand shops or Huawei display zone or display desks in India." Huawei won’t be the only one starting its own dedicated offline experience centres in the country. OnePlus and Xiaomi already have their experience centres for consumers to experience their products. Xiaomi recently opened its Mi Home store in Bengaluru, where consumers can not only purchase products available in India, but also experience Xiaomi products that are yet to launch in the country.
