Huawei P9 hits the top range of smartphones with its dual camera technology

Huawei’s latest device, Huawei P9 launched last month. Remarked as one of the best devices from Huawei so far, the device joins the top range of smartphones, like Samsung Galaxy S7, iPhone 6S, etc. This smartphone boasts of dual rear camera technology for a never before smartphone camera experience and result. In this precise review, we will see if Huawei P9 has enough to challenge the leading smartrphones in its range.

In design, Huawei P9 meets our basic expectation of phones above the $600 range. It is a unibody device with premium metal cover. The device has architectural features that are similar to that of an iPhone. It has rounded corners, brushed aluminium body and antenna bands on the rear. Hence P9 does not have much originality as such to stand out in design and is similar to its predecessor. However, the device is very user friendly in form factor, it measures 145x70.9x6.95mm and weighs 144g. The device comes in six colors white, grey, silver and in three variations of gold: rose, haze and “prestige”.

Huawei P9 surprises us with its large display screen of 5.2 inches in a pretty slim and light device. It offers a a decent, good display with 1080x1920 pixels resolution and 424ppi density. Also, the device runs on the Kirin 955 processor coupled with a 3GB/4GB RAM. This makes the device a much better performer than its predecessor. In terms of software the phone has the latest Android 6.0 Marshmallow and Huawei’s EMUI 4.1 on top. It has 3GB/32GB and 4GB/64GB memory variant which is expandable up to 128GB. P9 also comes with a beefy battery power of 3000mAh.

If there is one thing that Huawei P9 stands out among the others, it is for its camera innovation. Huewai P9 features dual camera technology, with two 12MP rear snappers to produce one image. It has certified both its 12MP lenses with Leica, the top notch camera expert company. Here again, one of the two lenses is monochrome monochrome to take in the full array of light and makes up for what is lost in the other lens that has colour filter. A smart algorithm combines the two images by the respective lenses to form one light sensitive image with superior quality.

Additionally, both the cameras on the device can be used to calculate the distance to objects, which is part of Huawei’s Hybrid autofocus (which also includes Laser AF). You can also leverage on the two sensors to create bokeh and other depth of field effects. Hence Huawei P9’s dual cameras bump up the contrast and lighting captured images. Huawei is also a notch up on the secondary camera front with an 8MP snapper compared to other phones in this range.

To conclude, Huewai P9 is a stylish smartphone that is commended for its dual camera technology. Although it puts across a good competition, making it comparable, it would need a lot more than a camera to battle out the leading phones in the market. Huawei P9 is a dual SIM device that comes with a biometric fingerprint sensor. The sensor is placed on the rear side. The device’s 3GB/32GB variant is available for USD680 and the 4GB/64GB variant for USD794. 

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Obi Worldphone MV1 launched at Mobile World Congress 2016

San Francisco based Obi Worldphone has launched its third smartphone called Obi Worldphone MV1 in Barcelona, Spain. The phone has been designed by San Francisco based Ammunition Group lead by Robert Brunner. The Obi Worldphone MV1 has been specifically made for the 'young professionals' according to Obi Worldphone's co-founder John Sculley. 

As far as the features of the phone go, MVI comes unlocked and has dual SIM LTE phone. The screen size of the phone is 5 inch and it has a floating display. The display is totally HD and has a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels.The phone's display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3. 

This latest Obi Worldphone offering is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 212 with 1.3 GHz  quad-core processor. The phone's battery has a power of 2500 mAh. Now coming to camera, the phone features a primary camera of 8 MP and the frontal camera comes with 2 MP. The phone will be available in 2 variants: 1 GB RAM  and 16 GB internal memory and 2 GB RAM and 16 GB RAM. Both the variants can be expanded to up to 64 GB through the microSD card.

The Ammunition Group founder Robert Brunner said, "For our markets, the design of the MV1 is a fresh, modern breath of air in a sea of sameness. Its combination of simple form, iconic outline and resolved details make it an object to be desired." 

Obi Worldphone co-founder John Sculley said, “This is an industry with 200 different brands vying for consumers’ attention. There will be 1.4 billion Android phones produced in 2016 alone, so there needs to be a way to stand apart from the pack. The components for all these different phones are mass produced, in the same countries, and often in the same exact factories. What we’ve done with the Obi Worldphone from the very beginning is show that it’s possible to have a beautifully designed phone that fits into your lifestyle at an accessible price without sacrificing form and technology. You don’t have to give up style in exchange for substance. With the MV1, you can have both.”

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Xiaomi Redmi 3 ensures you never run out of power

Xiaomi, which is more known for making low cost budget smartphone as a seller has definitely raised many eyebrows with its latest releases Xiaomi Redmi 3. Xiaomi Redmi 3 launched in China on 12th January 2016 at USD159 and will soon release in other regions as well. With 41000 mAh battery back up, some even call it an external battery first and a smartphone second.

Xiaomi Redmi 3 will definitely stand out as a stylish device in your hand with its metal built body and with some popular sheen in Dark Gray, Silver and Classic Gold. It is surprisingly thinner compared to its predecessor Redmi 2. Despite the metal built and huge battery, Redmi 3 measures 139.3 x 69.4 x 8.5 mm and weighs only 144g.

Xiaomi Redmi 3 comes with the usual 5 inch screen, but with a below average display resolution of 720x1280 pixels. This is disappointing considering that a 5” screen needs a better resolution for a good visual experience.

Xiaomi Redmi 3 runs on the now common Android 5.1 (Lollipop) software. For our good, it also runs on eight cores. This is supposed to make multi taking easier for the users. With Snapdragon 616 chipset and Cortex-A53 and Adreno 405 GPU at 1.5GHz clock speed, it should make a smooth combination for the phone to run.

Redmi 3 is well on the storage front as well. It comes with a 2GB RAM, comparable to what its competitors in the smartphone market offer. It has 16GB internal storage and a good 128GB expandable memory. In camera, here, Xiaomi offers a 5MP front snapper and a 13MP rear snapper, which is deemed good enough.

Lastly, the top most feature of Xiaomi Redmi 3 is its huge 4100mAh battery power. One would wonder why we need such a huge battery, this again is part of the trending battery race, hence we can flaunt it. However, Xiaomi would be the first company to give such a huge battery power at just USD 159.

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Huawei Honor 5X cracks a better deal over LG Nexus 5X

Just few months back, LG came out with Nexus 5X that was released at about USD379, however, currently, they have cut down the cost to USD349. The highlight of the device was of course the fact that LG collaborated with Google to give the latest and updated Android device. The device had its own pros and cons and since then we have been wondering if anything, better can be delivered at a much more customer friendly price. Now, that Huawei has released Honor 5X for USD199 in US, Nexus 5X may have to cut down its price further to keep par.

With a 5.5 Inch screen, Huawei Honor 5X is a little bigger and heavier device with 151.30 x 76.30 x 8.15mm and 158g, while LG Nexus 5X measures 147.0 x72.6 x 7.9 mm and weighs about 136 g. However, LG Nexus 5X only gives a 5.2 Inch screen, so is relatively thinner and has a plastic body, hence lighter than Honor 5X, which comes in a full metal body. Overall in design, Honor 5X definitely steals the show with a metal body. In terms of display quality, despite the different screen sizes, both the devices give the same resolution, i.e. 1920 x 1080 pixels. Hence we are expecting Nexus 5X to give a slightly better display, though the pixel density of Honor 5X is yet not out.

In terms of performance, despite the lower cores in Nexus 5X, many would still go by the hardware and algorithm quality offered by LG over Huawei. However, if we go by the specifications, Honor 5X would definitely guarantee a smoother performance with an Octa core processor at 1.2GHz clock speed. While Nexus 5X comes with an older chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 808, that runs at 1.8GHz, with Hexa Cores. Honor 5X comes with the more latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 616.

In terms of software, Nexus 5X is updated to the latest Android Marshmallow and Honor 5X offers Android Lollipop. Honor also features its UI, EMUI3.1. On the memory front, both Honor 5X and Nexus 5X offer the same memory combination of 2GB RAM with 16GB internal storage or ROM. However, Honor 5X steals the show with an option for expandable memory, something that Nexus 5X surprisingly misses out despite having a better software, which should need more memory back up. Considering that 16GB is nothing much these days, many opt for the 32GB variant; Honor 5X offers expandable memory up to 128GB. Even on battery power, Huawei is a notch up with 3000mAh battery power over the 2,700mAh that LG offers. In camera, both the devices have the same 5MP front camera, while on the rear snapper, Honor 5X sports a higher 13MP over Nexus’s 8MP.

Overall, we can see that both Honor 5X and Nexus 5X offer comparable hardwares with a slight cost margin. However, Huawei has definitely cracked a better deal for the smartphone consumers by offering even better technology at a lower cost. It offers a full metal body device that has more engines and a higher battery back up and the camera. Most importantly, it offers an expandable memory option over Nexus 5X. While Nexus 5X still holds a stand because of the latest Android update it offers.

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Micromax launches their new Yu Yutopia flagship smartphone

Is it going to be the world’s most powerful phone? With the tagline of ‘The world’s most powerful phone’, Micromax’s subsidiary Yu has just launched its Yutopia smartphone. The phone is priced at Rs 24,999 (app. 400 USD) and packs in it a 4 GB DDR4 RAM, 32GB internal storage expandable to 128GB.

Yutopia packs a 5.2” screen with WQHD IPS display technology. It runs on 1.5GHz octa-core, Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor and also sports a fingerprint scanner. According to the makers of the device, Yutopia is a revolutionary phone since it features the compelling ‘Around Yu’ services. The ‘Around Yu’ offers services in travel, food, entertainment etc. all packed into one window for the users.

The dual SIM, 4G enabled phone runs on Android 5.1.1 and is powered by 3000mAh battery which also has Quick Charge 2.0 feature that charges 60 per cent in 30 minutes. It comes with a 21 megapixel rear camera and an 8 megapixel front snapper. Additionally the smartphone also features an alert slider for easy and quick access to custom notifications.

“Yutopia was really about proving that we can create a flagship smartphone. We are not in the race to be number one or number two or how much are we going to contribute to Micromax. It’s about our vision as a brand, can we give the customer a special experience. We don’t want to be another version of a similar hardware company,” says YU Advertiser Rahul Sharma.

“We are proud that this flagship is completely designed and made in India. Manufacturing for components is done by Compal in Taiwan, but the rest of the process is done in India in our factory in Rudrapur in Uttarakhand,” YU’s Spokesperson says that the Phone is a made in India, even though the box for the review unit notes that the phone is made in China.

Considering that we have witnessed a really competitive smartphone market this year, where in, the phone makers have tried to provide the best in the most economical way possible, Yu surprises us by overpricing its flagship Yutopia. As per the specifications of Yutopia, except for the 4GB RAM on which Yu claims its powerfulness, one has to hunt for what better and more it offers.

Some of Yu’s competitors are Obi Worldphone SF1, One Plus2, Asus Zenfone 2, Lenovo Vibe S1 etc. some of which offer a similar RAM at a lesser price. However, Yu also comes with a promise of future upgrade to Yutopia 2 with its ‘Assured Upgrade Program’. Pre booking for Yutopia began on Amazon this week and the phones will be shipped from 26^th Dec’15.

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