Garena has finally confirmed the launch date for Free Fire Max. To recall, Free Fire Max is a new version of Free Fire that will offer players better graphics and a smoother gameplay experience. Thankfully for players, they won’t have to wait long as the game will be released before the end of the month.
Garena Free Fire Max: Launch date and pre-registration details
Garena has confirmed that Free Fire Max will now launch globally on September 28 and will be available on both the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store.
It should also be noted that Garena is giving players bonuses for pre-registering for the game. These include the Cyber Max Loot Box which will include some unique in-game items like the Cyber Max Skyboard, Max Raychaser Bundle, and the Cybermax Loot Box.
However, it should be noted that pre-registration ends on September 27.
Garena Free Fire Max: Details
According to the game’s listing on the Google Play Store, the gameplay of Garena Free Fire Max will be pretty much the same as the standard version of Free Fire. As such, it will still offer 50-player battle royale matches. It is also expected to give players the chance to create their own maps via the Craftland feature
Garena will also be implementing its Firelink technology in Free Fire Max. This will allow Garena Free Fire players to transfer their progress and items across to Free Fire Max and these are maintained across both games. Players will be able to play all game modes with both Free Fire and Fire Fire Max together.
The AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT would be a decent GPU for mid-range 1080p gamers, but It's hard to calculate value when graphics cards regularly sell for over double their MSRPs.
OnePlus has outlined its plans for the future of OxygenOS and camera experience. The company has announced that it is integrating its OxygenOS and Oppo’s ColorOS teams to develop a unified operating system. OnePlus has also confirmed that the integrated OS will debut with the flagship series, likely the OnePlus 10 in 2022.
What's next for OnePlus? @PeteLau talks about his vision for the future.
— OnePlus (@oneplus) September 20, 2021 Future of OnePlus: OxygenOS and ColorOS integration happening next year
OnePlus CEO Pete Lau took to the OnePlus forums and revealed the plans for OnePlus 2.0 which he says is the next phase in the company’s evolution. “I believe we are now a more mature and reliable technology brand that continues to bring top-quality products to users around the world with the same Never Settle spirit as before,” he writes in the post.
OnePlus is looking to combine the best features from OxygenOS such as its fast and smooth interface along with its clean and lightweight design with some smart features from ColorOS. This new unified operating system will be fluid and reliable as OxygenOS but OnePlus did not reveal the exact changes incoming with it.
“I believe that the unified operating system will keep the DNA of OxygenOS that many of you love so much, while also giving you an upgraded experience overall. And of course, OnePlus has a unique group of users, therefore we will customize the unified OS specifically for OnePlus devices to make sure it meets your expectations, for example by keeping it as clean and lightweight as before, and continuing to support unlock bootloaders,” Pete wrote.
The company will share more details about which phones will receive the unified OS at a later date.
OnePlus doubling down on camera features
The CEO also revealed that they are doubling down on camera features to bring a premium experience. In the next phase, OnePlus is looking to simplify and create an easy to use camera app and offer better point-and-shoot capabilities.
OnePlus’ journey with Hasselblad will continue to evolve in this next phase with more focus on colour science, calibration, custom sensors and lenses.
OnePlus also reaffirmed that it will continue to offer phones at multiple prices. “Most importantly, going forward, our more affordable product ranges will become more localized, while continuing to offer our premium and ultra-premium flagship smartphones globally,” Pete says.
Also Read: OnePlus makes a u-turn, could launch OnePlus 9 RT in October after all
Oppo A16 has officially launched in India and is a budget phone powered by the MediaTek Helio G35 chipset. The A16 has a large 5,000mAh battery and also has 13MP triple cameras on the back. It runs on the latest ColorOS 11.1 which is based on Android 11.
“The Oppo A16 balances style with function. Its trendy design makes it flaunt-worthy, while its large battery lets you end the day with power to spare even after a full day of camera use, along with hi-definition video entertainment thrown in for good measure,” said Damyant Singh Khanoria, CMO, Oppo India.
Oppo A16 Price and availability
The Oppo A16 is available in a single model with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage and it is priced at Rs 13,990. It will go on sale from September 20 on Amazon and in retail outlets.
Oppo A16 Specifications
Oppo A16 features a 6.52-inch HD+ (1600x720 pixels) resolution display with a waterdrop notch cutout for the selfie camera. The A16 has 8.4mm thickness and weighs 190 grams. It will be available in two colours: Crystal Black and Pearl Blue.
The A16 is powered by the MediaTek Helio G35 chip with an octa-core CPU and is paired with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage. There is an option to expand the storage further by adding a microSD card.
The Oppo A16 has a 13MP primary camera, 2MP macro camera, and 2MP depth sensor. The rear cameras can record in 1080p at 30FPS backed by the LED flash. There is an 8MP selfie camera on the front as well.
The Oppo A16 has a fingerprint reader on the side and is equipped with a 5,000mAh battery.
Also Read: Oppo K9 Pro listed on China Telecom website, details revealed
Priced at Rs 2,999, the Redmi Earbuds 3 Pro attempts to make a case for itself with its dual-driver setup and aptX Adaptive Bluetooth codec support. While these specifications intrigued us, Redmi's delivery didn't land when it comes to performance. The buds have good sound separation and imaging, but the tuning needs some serious work. The lows sound very bloated and the bass-biased sound signature causes some serious auditory masking in the mids and even highs. Although there are some things to like such as the impressive battery life, good microphone performance, and secure fit of the buds, other misses such as lack of app support, absent volume controls, and unintuitive controls make it very hard for us to recommend the Redmi Earbuds 3 Pro over competitors.
Redmi is well-known for its value-for-money products that provide eye-catching specs without putting a large dink in your wallet. The latest audio product from the company is the Redmi Earbuds 3 Pro that is essentially the Redmi AirDots 3 that launched in the international market. The Earbuds 3 Pro is priced aggressively at Rs 2,999 and it competes against the likes of the Realme Buds Air 2 and the OnePlus Buds Z. On paper, the Redmi Earbuds 3 looks like an imposing contender in the entry-level TWS segment since it not only comes equipped with a dual-driver setup but also supports the aptX Adaptive codec, which is almost unheard of at this price range in TWS earphones. So, does the performance match up to the impressive specifications? We're going to find out in this review.
Redmi Earbuds 3 Pro: Performance
The Redmi Earbuds 3 Pro house a dual driver setup consisting of one dynamic driver and one balanced armature driver. Essentially, the dynamic driver takes care of the low end of the frequency range while the Balanced armature drives the high end. This usually means better separation and usually, more detailed sound. The earbuds support SBC, aptX and aptX Adaptive codecs, there's no AAC codec support so iPhone users will have to make do with SBC.
Now, the Redmi Earbuds 3 Pro definitely has impressive separation, good imaging and a detailed soundstage but the tuning can really use some work. The bass response is way too bloated and as a result, the mids and highs get very little prominence in the mix. To objectively test the sound signature, we use a measurement microphone from iSEMcon connected to an adapter from SLS audio specifically made to test earphones. For our audio interface, we use the Focusrite Scarlett 2i2. All of this is hooked up to a PC running the SMAART Di v2 software that generates frequency graphs for earphones.
Uncompensated frequency response graph of Redmi Earbuds 3 Pro (Dark Blue) vs Flat Response (Light Blue)
In the frequency graph that was generated for the Redmi Earbuds 3 Pro, you can clearly see that the frequency range up until 350Hz is massively boosted, especially in the sub-bass region. The mid-range and highs are pretty muted in comparison, although there is a slight jump from 1kHz to 4kHz that brings some presence to that part of the frequency range. Overall, this sound signature sounds dark with muddy bass and muted mids and highs even when listening using the aptX codec. The bloated bass response causes massive auditory masking in the mids, so vocals and lead instruments are relegated to the background of the mix.
Uncompensated frequency response graph of Redmi Earbuds 3 Pro (Dark Blue) vs Realme Buds Air 2 (Purple)
The treble response is not as refined as we'd like it to be as well, considering the device has a balanced armature driver. The highs have a decent amount of detail when not being masked by the bass but the roll-off is too abrupt. So, even though the earphones have good separation and imaging, it's very hard for us to recommend these earphones over something like the Realme Buds Air 2 since they are tuned much better and have a more agreeable sound for most genres of music. The Redmi Earbuds 3 Pro sound decent enough when listening to genres such as EDM, rap, pop and hip hop, but they especially don't cut it for genres such as rock and classical. In rock tracks, the kick drums sound boomy and shroud instruments such as cymbals and hi-hats. Even in pop songs, the bass response takes away the focus from the vocals.
Moving on to microphone performance, we were actually pleasantly surprised in this department. Even though the buds don't have long stems, the voice quality was better than the Realme Buds Air 2 and the OnePlus Buds Z. Our voice sounded pretty natural and was clear, however, ambient sounds were picked up pretty easily by the microphone. So, if you're in an area with traffic, those car honks are definitely getting through.
The Redmi Earbuds 3 Pro come with Bluetooth 5.2 wireless connectivity. We faced some issues like occasional stutters in the audio, especially in the left earbud. At times, the stutters would last for really long and would only go away if we put the buds in the case and then took them out again, which is really disappointing. This happened when using aptX codec as well. The Redmi Earbuds 3 Pro also come with Fast Pairing for Xiaomi phones with MIUI 12. Other phones will have to follow a more conventional pairing process.
After pairing, subsequent connections are pretty much instantaneous as soon as you open the case and pull the buds out. We would have preferred it if Redmi had gone for Google's Fast Pair protocol though so that all Android devices could benefit from it, like on the Realme Buds Air 2. The earbuds also come with latency as low as 86ms for gaming. When we played games or streamed content, we noticed only slight latency, most people won't be bothered by it.
Overall, the Redmi Earbuds 3 Pro hasn't impressed us with its performance. The sound signature is too dark and bass-biased and the wireless connectivity is spotty. We'd recommend the Realme Buds Air 2 or the OnePlus Buds Z over these when it comes to performance.
Redmi Earbuds 3 Pro: Features
The Redmi Earbuds 3 Pro cannot compete with the Realme Buds Air 2 when it comes to features due to the lack of Active Noise Cancellation and Realme Link app support. It does come with a fair number of features, however, companies like Realme and OnePlus offer a larger feature set for around the same price. While the OnePlus Buds Z does not come with ANC, it does have HeyMelody app support to tweak the earbuds' settings. You get touch controls on the Redmi Earbuds 3 Pro, however, you cannot customise them due to the lack of an accompanying app even on Xiaomi phones.
We reached out to Xiaomi and they said that they were evaluating bringing a dedicated app for their audio devices, and we really hope they do. The touch controls are tricky and not very intuitive, a double-tap on the right pauses/plays music, a double tap on the left invokes voice assistant, and touching and holding the right or left earbud plays the next track or goes to the previous track respectively. You can also answer calls by double-tapping either bud. There are no volume controls, which is disappointing.
Other features include IPX4 water resistance, 86ms low latency gaming, mono bud use where you can use either bud independently of the other, and in-ear detection. In-ear detection pauses music automatically when a bud is removed from the ear and resumes music when it is put back in. This feature worked excellently during our testing process. Overall, these earbuds aren't exactly feature-rich and other buds such as the Realme Buds Air 2, the OnePlus Buds Z and even the cheaper Realme Buds Q2 seriously undercut them when it comes to features.
Redmi Earbuds 3 Pro: Battery life
If the Redmi Earbuds 3 Pro has one thing going for it, it has got to be the battery life. The buds are rated at 30 hours of total wireless playback time, with 7 hours on the earbuds alone according to the company. During our tests, we used the Redmi Earbuds 3 Pro with aptX codec active and at around 60-65 percent volume. The earbuds lasted 6 hours and 15 minutes on a single charge, which is pretty close to the company's estimate. The charging case can top off the earbuds three times over and still have juice to spare, which is very impressive. The battery life of the Redmi Earbuds 3 Pro surpasses competitors such as the Realme Buds Air 2 that has 25 hours of total playback time, and the OnePlus Buds Z with its 20 hour playback time.
The earbuds have USB-C charging and are supposed to come with a USB Type-C cable in the box, but for some reason, it was missing in our review unit's box. There's no fast charging support, which is a shame. The case takes around 3 hours to fully charge from zero battery.
Redmi Earbuds 3 Pro: Build and comfort
Sporting an oblong-shaped charging case with a matte texture, the Redmi Earbuds 3 Pro have a simplistic design language. These earphones are available in three colours - White, Pink and Blue. We got the blue variant for review and were pretty pleased with the colour. There's nothing eye-catching about the case, there's a simple Redmi logo on top and the matte texture is resistant to fingerprints but can get smudges and scratched.
There's an LED indicator on the front, a USB-C charging port at the back and a pairing button inside the case. The case has a pretty sizable footprint and looks pretty clunky, to be honest. We're bigger fans of the pill-shaped compact case design or the cobble-shaped case design as seen on some of its competitors. The case can be opened one-handed relatively easily. Due to its larger size, it does bulge out of pockets significantly, especially if you're wearing skinny jeans. The case's hinge is very loose and feels very wobbly. The lid's magnet is pretty strong though and shuts close audibly.
As for the earbuds, they also sport a larger footprint than what we usually see these days. The buds are pill-shaped and pretty bulky. The weight of the buds bulky outer portion causes some ear fatigue after a few hours of listening. However, the fit is snug and secure, with a good seal that blocks out a fair amount of ambient sound. The buds don't shuffle too much or fall out when walking or exercising as well.
You get two extra sizes of silicone ear tips in the box to help you find a good fit. The buds have a glossy and matte dual texture that looks pretty decent. The glossy outer area is the touch-sensitive zone for controls and since the area is large, you can pretty easily hit the controls without too many misreadings. Overall, the case and the buds are on the larger side but the earbuds do have a good fit and look pretty decent as well.
Redmi Earbuds 3 Pro: Verdict
Priced at Rs 2,999, the Redmi Earbuds 3 Pro attempts to make a case for itself with its dual-driver setup and aptX Adaptive Bluetooth codec support. While these specifications intrigued us, Redmi's delivery didn't land when it comes to performance. The buds have good sound separation and imaging, but the tuning needs some serious work. The lows sound very bloated and the bass-biased sound signature causes some serious auditory masking in the mids and even highs. The Redmi Earbuds 3 Pro struggles to find its identity. On one hand, it features a dual driver setup and high-quality codec support to appease the purists, and on the other hand, its bass biased tuning is targeted towards the masses. As a whole, it struggles to do either properly.
Additionally, the wireless connectivity is not stable enough, which is a problem. Although there are some things to like such as the impressive battery life, good microphone performance, and secure fit of the buds, other misses such as lack of app support, absent volume controls, and unintuitive controls make it very hard for us to recommend the Redmi Earbuds 3 Pro over competitors such as the Realme Buds Air 2, OnePlus Buds Z and the Realme Buds Q2.
It is no secret that iQOO Z5 is set to break cover in China on September 23. And now, we have received exclusive information about the phone's India launch date as well. As per our sources close to the matter, the iQOO Z5 will be launched in India on September 27. We have also received information that the phone will be an Amazon exclusive. Interestingly, this information also falls in line with previous reports that the device could be launched at the end of the month.
For now, we are yet to receive any official update from the company on the matter, however, considering the device has already been teased on Amazon, we expect an official confirmation of the above-mentioned launch date very soon.
Upon its launch, iQOO Z5 is expected to become the latest mid-range offering from the company and flaunt an aggressive price tag that's under the Rs 30,000 mark. The phone will most likely be positioned as an upgrade over the iQOO Z3, bridging the gap between the iQOO Z3 and the iQOO 7.
iQOO Z5: Specifications
There is little else known about the iQOO Z5 at the moment, with most of the spec and feature sheet of the device remaining a mystery. However, there is information about the device that's known to the world ahead of the device's launch.
For example, the iQOO Z5 is confirmed to be powered by the Snapdragon 778G chipset which will be paired with LPDDR5 RAM and fast storage. The phone is tipped to get a 120Hz refresh rate display with a punch-hole notch cutout. This display is also said to support a 240Hz touch sampling rate and also comes with HDR10 certification.
Apart from these, the phone will likely get stereo speakers and support for Hi-res audio. The phone has also been confirmed to come with a 5,000mAh battery that iQOO claims can offer up to 96 hours worth of music playback, 18.3 hours of video playback, and 10.4 hours of gaming. More information about the device is expected to be available once the iQOO Z5 goes official in China on September 23.
Also Read: iQOO Z5 India pricing tipped, could launch by September end
With increased smartphone usage, telecom companies like Airtel, BSNL, Jio and Vi have tons of prepaid plans for consumers. These plans include calling, access to data, SMS and even streaming benefits. We have tons of options from various telecom service providers. Jio offers our prepaid plans starting from ₹149 for 1GB/day for 24 days, along with a plan for ₹3499 with 3GB/day for 365 days. Airtel, BSNL and Vi offer us many prepaid plans just like that. We can find tons of prepaid plans with 1.5GB of data per day for less than ₹500.
BSNL Data Prepaid Plans Under Rs 500
BSNL is offering two prepaid plans at ₹153 and ₹485 with a validity of 28 days and 90 days, respectively. Both of these plans offer us 1GB of data per day, unlimited voice calls and 100 SMS per day. Here you won't be getting any additional benefits.
Jio Data Prepaid Plans Under Rs 500
Jio offers three prepaid plans at ₹98, ₹199 and ₹399 with 1.5GB of data per day. These plans have a validity of up to 14 days, 28 days and 56 days, respectively. Jio is offering us 1.5GB of data at high speed, with unlimited voice calls and 100SMS per day. Here you also get access to JioTV, JioCinema, JioNews, JioSecurity and JioCloud.
Airtel Data Prepaid Plans Under Rs 500
Airtel offers three prepaid plans under ₹500. These plans are priced at ₹249 and ₹399 with a validity of 28 and 56 days, respectively. Airtel will provide us with unlimited voice calls and 100SMS per day. When it comes to additional benefits, you will get Prime Video Mobile Edition Free Trial for 30 days, Apollo 24|7 Circle for three months and Wynk Music Free. Along with that, you can set Hellotunes for free, free online courses on Shaw Academy for a year and ₹100 cashback on FASTag. You are also getting a ₹289 plan with an extra ZEE5 Premium Subscription for 28 days. It is valid for 28 days.
Vodafone Idea - VI Data Prepaid Plans Under Rs 500
Just like Airtel, Vi offers a ₹249 plan with 28 days of validity. Other than that, we have got plans at ₹399 and ₹499 with a validity of 56 and 70 days, respectively. All three plans come with 1.5GB of data per day with unlimited voice calls and 100 SMS/day. Along with that, the company offers us Binge All Night, where you can use unlimited data from 12 midnight to 6 am without any extra cost. We are also getting weekend rollovers and access to Vi Movies and TV. In addition to these plans, Vi offers a ₹301 plan with 28 days validity and offers ₹1000/day hospicare benefit.
