Nokia Lumia 830 review: A well-rounded smartphone

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_cQ-p9C9XwitMEgv4ijWOAyYxBRbWwMibr5aZldeX7aYs5sSKvpcZMYXg3Smdo5-C4l3eCBb3PljNusmoycFsJ-JaDRcSkFHfA3Y16TpVxCxKteAdXiQMjn4C_EYBAl-hEt_z6A2eKpw/s1600/nokia+830.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_cQ-p9C9XwitMEgv4ijWOAyYxBRbWwMibr5aZldeX7aYs5sSKvpcZMYXg3Smdo5-C4l3eCBb3PljNusmoycFsJ-JaDRcSkFHfA3Y16TpVxCxKteAdXiQMjn4C_EYBAl-hEt_z6A2eKpw/s1600/nokia+830.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <br /> <br /> <h3> <span style="font-size: large;">TOP FEATURES</span><br /><ul style="text-align: left;"> <li>- Great build</li> <li>- Excellent camera</li> <li>- Good display </li> </ul> </h3> <br /> <div class="Normal showpage1" id="artext1" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: georgia; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <div class="Normal" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> Microsoft's new Nokia Lumia 830 aims to reduce the gap between a mid-ranger and a high-end phone. In fact the company has positioned the phone as 'an affordable flagship,' with a premium form factor and a good quality camera. While it's the successor to the Lumia 820, the phone is a major upgrade in terms of both form factor as well as other features.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />The phone is also the first one to come preloaded with Nokia's latest Denim software update.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Is the Nokia Lumia 830 worthy of being called a flagship smartphone? We try to find out in our review.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><strong style="background: transparent; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Build and design</strong><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Lumia 830 arouses a feeling of familiarity as Nokia has not digressed much from its basic design philosophy which has been consistent across its premium devices, right from Lumia 900 to Lumia 1520. The key highlights of the Lumia 830's form factor is the use of a sturdy metal frame and the company's ability to make the phone slim and handy even though it has a complex camera module incorporating Optical Image Stabilization and its PureView technology.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><img _src="/photo/43968784.cms" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; margin: 0px 0px 14px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />It is not the first time we're seeing a metal frame on a Nokia Lumia phone. The Lumia 925 also sported one, although the Lumia 930 takes it to the next level. The frame feels very solid and makes the phone look tough as a tank. We had the black variant as our review unit which sported a dark grey frame. The orange and Black units come with a silver coloured frame. The frame has black bands at the top and bottom edges that serve as the antenna. The edges are not curved like the Lumia 925's but flat. You'd mistake it for a perfect rectangle but the corners are subtly rounded.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />The phone's back features a removable, polycarbonate cover which is slightly curved towards its edges. This gives the phone a good grip. The cover sports matte finish. The big camera module protrudes out slightly. There's a speaker outlet towards the bottom. The micro-USB port and the headset jack are located at the top edge.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Removing the cover reveals the battery compartment, a micrpSD card slot (hot swappable) and a nano-sim card slot. The phone also supports wireless charging and the cover sports contacts for the same.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />The right edge of the phone features metal buttons for volume control, power and camera, and offer good tactile feedback.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><img _src="/photo/43968829.cms" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; margin: 0px 0px 14px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />The front mainly comprises of the 5-inch display with the three capacitive Windows Phone keys located just below it, backlit in White. The display panel is slightly tapered with the frame at the edges. You can also see the front camera, the earpiece and the Nokia branding.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Nokia Lumia 830 is a good looking phone that also feels solid and durable thanks to its metal frame and high quality construction. Although the back panel is removable, it fits snugly into the frame and there was no wobble. Even though the phone sports a5-inch screen, it is very pocketable and can be easily used with one hand.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><strong style="background: transparent; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Display</strong><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Nokia Lumia 830 comes with a 5-inch, 720p (720x1280p) IPS LCD display. Thanks to the use of Nokia's ClearBlack technology, blacks were really deep and Windows Phone's dark theme looked really good. Microsoft and Nokia are calling a 'flagship' and we expected a full-HD panel going by the market trend.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />However, we found that the Lumia 830's display looks bright and vivid, rendering sharp and crisp text and graphics. The flat UI elements such as tiles and lists don't pixillate even though the display is low resolution compared to flagships and even mid-range phones. Sunlight legibility was good and viewing angles were wide.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><strong style="background: transparent; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Software</strong><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Lumia 830 runs Lumia Denim which is essentially Windows Phone 8.1 with Update 1 with some Nokia-exclusive features.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Windows Phone 8.1 ironed out inconsistencies and achieves feature parity with competing smartphone platforms like Android and iOS. It pretty much covers the basics and would satisfy most casual users. You can read more about Windows Phone 8.1 in our Lumia 630 review.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Update 1 brings features like Live Folders, Cortana support (alpha) for India, SMS merge and forwarding, consumer VPN and Internet Explorer improvements.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />You can now organise apps or games by grouping them into folders similar to iOS and Android. You can press, hold and drag an app over another to create a new folder on the Start screen. Folders can be renamed by tapping on the text field above the open folder. The implementation is good, so, better late then never!<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><img _src="/photo/43968831.cms" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; margin: 0px 0px 14px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />You can now select individual text messages to either delete them out of a messaging thread, or copy and past them into a new message to forward them. One can also customize snooze time in the alarm app and configure a VPN (Virtual Private Network) connection to access a work network or use a VPN service to bypass geo-restricted website or service.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Another interesting feature is Apps Corner. It lets you create a customised Start screen, where only specific apps or games are accessible. This could be particularly useful in the workplace if you're issuing Windows Phones to employees or if your kids use your phone for games. You can even choose if you want to give access to Action Center and Settings.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />The key highlight of the Denim update is the enhanced camera app now known as Lumia Camera. It comes with features like speedy shooting that instantly fires the camera as one presses the hardware camera key. There's a new Moment Capture feature activated by a long press of the camera button, and instantly starts recording the subject in full-HD (high-end Lumia phones will be able to capture in 4K). Each of the frames captured in the video is a 2MP shot that can be saved as an individual photo.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />The best part is Rich Capture that allows capturing and merging multiple images together simultaneously, and applying auto HDR with dynamic exposure steps and flash settings. This means that the camera automatically detects if you need a flash and captures a few images with flash and some without it. After the shoot, it lets you merge the best pictures and control the amount of lighting with a slider. The auto-HDR feature works in a similar manner.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Unfortunately, our unit did not come with the Lumia Camera so we could not test out the new features. The app will be rolled out to the phone in the fourth quarter of 2014.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />The Denim update also comes with improved image processing algorithms for clearer lowlight photos. It also offers "Hey Cortana" voice activation similar to hands free versions of Siri and Google Now and allows users to say "Hey Cortana" while the phone is idle to activate it.The feature is powered by the phone's SensorCore technology. It didn't work for us as it reportedly supports phones with Qualcomm Snapdragon 80x processors.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Cortana now works in India if you activate and select UK English in the speech settings. It worked fairly well and was able to detect our speech most of the times. It is not as good as Google Now when it comes to localisation but is slightly better than Siri. The feature is still in alpha so we'll not discuss it at length.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />The Glance Screen feature has also got an update and now shows more information at a glance on the lock screen including Bing Weather, or Bing Health & Fitness data, in addition to time and date, notifications and application data.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Nokia Lumia 830 comes with a large number of preloaded apps (including Flipboard, BoxTV,PicsArt, Snapdeak, Times City and WeChat) in addition to Nokia and Microsoft apps. Thankfully most of these apps can be removed.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />More third party apps and games are now available for Windows Phone 8, but it still pales in comparison to the app selection offered by Android and iOS. Also, official apps for services like Instagram lack some critical features available on other platform. Line, Twitter and WhatsApp (WhatsApp is officially not supported on Denim) notifications are also delayed. The strength of the software, however, is Microsoft Office Mobile and Here Maps.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><strong style="background: transparent; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Camera</strong><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />The Nokia Lumia 830 features a 10MP PureView camera with a 1/ 3.4-inch sensor, f/2.2 aperture and Zeiss lens. It features optical image stabilization and unlike the Lumia 1020 and 1520, does not employ oversampling. The camera module comes with 6-lens optics, Backside-illuminated image sensor, and a true 16:9 sensor<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><img _src="/photo/43969570.cms" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; margin: 0px 0px 14px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />While the Lumia 830 features a smaller sensor in terms of Megapixels compared to flagship phones, it still offers one of the best results. The quality of images captured outdoors, in daylight was excellent with good level of detail, accurate colour reproduction, little or no noise and good contrast.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><img _src="/photo/43969639.cms" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; margin: 0px 0px 14px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Low-light shots also came out well, though these had some noise, especially under 100% zoom.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><img _src="/photo/43969653.cms" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; margin: 0px 0px 14px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />The phone offers video recording in 1080p and 720p resolution at 24, 25 and 30fps for each, allowing more creative use of the camera. It also offers the ability to record videos in Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 Surround Sound. Videos shot with the phone were impressive.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><strong style="background: transparent; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Performance </strong><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />The Nokia Lumia 830 is powered by a 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 quad-core processor and 1GB of RAM. The specifications are more mid-range or budget (Android phones like Moto G are powered by Snapdragon 400) than flagship but we must remember that Windows Phone is not a very resource hungry operating system.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />The Lumia 830 comes with 16GB internal storage that can be expanded with the help of a microSD card (supports cards of up to 128GB). External storage support is a big plus.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />The phone scored 11,939 in Antutu benchmark, and, 1145/10fps and 1737/15fps in GFXBench 2.5 Egypt HD offscreen and onscreen tests, respectively. We don't endorse benchmark tests and do not ​recommend a phone based solely on benchmarks as real world performance is different at times.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><img _src="/photo/43968838.cms" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; margin: 0px 0px 14px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />While the phone's hardware is not top-of-the-line, it delivers great performance when it comes to launching and switching between apps, browsing websites and scrolling inside apps.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />We were able to play graphics intensive games like Asphalt 8 without any hiccups even at visual effects set to maximum level. The phone was able to play HD videos and supports most popular video formats.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />The phone comes with GPS and A-GPS for navigation and maps and was easily able to lock a signal. It also comes with NFC connectivity to initiate file transfers to other NFC-enabled phones and receive data from NFC tags. It worked as promised. It does not support 802.11ac Wi-Fi, which means it will not work with new routers capable of offering higher transfer speeds.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Coming to battery life, the 2200mAh battery of the phone helps in achieving a respectable backup. With the phone's brightness set to automatic and intermittent use of WiFi and 3G, the phone lasted a full day (9-10 hours) with usage comprising few hours of phone calls, casual gaming, an hour of web browsing and accessing Twitter and Facebook, in addition to clicking a few pictures.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />We did not encounter any issues with the network reception and call quality was good, most of the times.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><strong style="background: transparent; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Verdict</strong><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />At a price of Rs 28,799, we don't have any qualms in recommending the Lumia 830. The phone is solidly built, comes with a great camera and offers good performance. It is without doubt a well rounded smartphone, although not a high-end flagship, and offers good value for your money. Having said that, Windows Phone still has a long way to go before it can match up to Android.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><img _src="/photo/43968884.cms" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; font-size: 15px; margin: 0px 0px 14px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />There are some good Android alternatives available in the market. The Google Nexus 5 sports high-end hardware and offers stock-Android but sports an average camera and lacks a microSD card slot. The first-generation Motorola Moto X is still an excellent option though it also has the same limitations. Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Neo is also a good option if you need a phone with a bigger screen and a stylus.</div> </div> <span id="storyendpath" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <br /></div> <div class="clrbth" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; clear: both; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 10px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </div> <div class="flL" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; color: #3f3f3f; float: left; font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; orphans: auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"> </div> </div>

Nokia Lumia 830 review: A well-rounded smartphone

TOP FEATURES - Great build - Excellent camera - Good display  Microsoft's new Nokia Lumia 830 aims to reduce the gap betw...

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Motorola Moto G review: The budget performer

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <span id="storyendpath" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; color: #3f3f3f; font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; orphans: auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /> <div class="flL" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; color: #3f3f3f; float: left; font-family: arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; orphans: auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"> </div> <br /> <div class="Normal showpage1" id="artext1" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; orphans: auto; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: normal; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;"> <div class="Normal" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: arial; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> The much awaited Moto G, Motorola's economy Android smartphone, has finally been launched in India. The phone has won accolades the world over for its low price and great performance combo, and for bringing the focus back to usability instead of high-end specifications, a trend Motorola started with the Moto X, its flagship smartphone. We try to find out if Moto G really lives up to the hype surrounding it, in our review.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><strong style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">What's in the box</strong><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Unlike the international version of the Moto G, the Indian version imported by Flipkart includes a charger and a headset. It doesn't include a USB cable so you'll need to buy one to transfer data to the phone. Other than these, you'll find the user manual and a warranty-related document. The Moto G comes with a standard black coloured back panel, but additional back panels in other colours can be ordered separately.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><img class="gwt-Image" src="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/photo/30222975.cms" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 14px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><strong style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Build and design</strong><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />One of the most striking things about the Moto G is its minimalist no-frills design. The phone's look is essentially based on Moto X which is not available in India at this moment.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Moto G feels good to hold despite it being heavy at 143 gram and a bit thick at 11.6mm due to its curved back and rounded corners that take care of ergonomics. The phone is made from plastic materials but feels durable. Although it comes with a removable back panel, the construction is excellent. The back panel fits snugly, with no creaks and wobbles.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />At first glance, the only thing you notice is the Moto G's shiny black front panel devoid of any distractions. There's no branding and no hardware buttons. The 1.3MP front camera and a notification LED placed next to the earpiece are the only other components visible.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Turn on the phone, and the 4.5-inch 720p IPS edge-to-edge display comes to life bursting with pixels. The phone's front bezel is designed in a manner so as to put all the focus on the display, making it the centre of attention. On the sides, the bezel is pretty narrow, but it takes up considerable amount of space below the display, which is a good thing as the navigation controls are easily accessible.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />There's a minor gap between the edge of the front panel, which is slightly raised, and the display that tends to attract dust particles. The edge may also be susceptible to wear and tear once you start using the phone. The display comes with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection guarding the screen against scratches. Moto G is the only phone in this price range to feature Gorilla Glass 3.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><img class="gwt-Image" src="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/photo/30223203.cms" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 14px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />The right edge of the Moto G features the narrow Power/ Screen lock keys which are made of metal and offer decent tactile feedback. However, we wish the volume rocker key would have been a little longer as we ended up hitting the power key during the initial period of use.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />The 3.5mm headset jack sits at the top while the micro-USB port is placed at the bottom edge of the phone. There are no ports or buttons on the left edge.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />The back of the phone, which is essentially the removable back cover, is curved and sports a rubberized soft matte finish, that makes holding the phone a pleasant experience. It features the phone's 5MP rear camera lens, an LED flash and Motorola logo (in an indent). We also found the back prone to smudges, but it is thankfully easy to clean.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Moto G also comes with a nano-coating that makes is water resistant up to a certain level. It will be able to handle minor splashes, but most likely won't survive a dip in the pool.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Overall, the Moto G is a compact and durable no-frills smartphone that is built to last.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><strong style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Software</strong><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />The dual-sim version of Moto G available in India comes with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean. Motorola has promised that the phone will get the Android 4.4 KitKat software update in the coming days. At the time of filing of this review, our Moto G unit had not received an update and was still running Jelly Bean.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Moto G runs an almost stock version of Android complete with on-screen navigation controls. The interface is close to Google's Nexus 4 except that Motorola also includes some of its own apps. Thankfully, these apps are not bloatware and add to functionality. One of the Motorola app called Assist changes how the phone alerts you during meetings or sleep. If you've used an iPhone, you must have used or come across the Do Not Disturb; Assist is similar and allows you to silence or auto reply to missed calls while you're in a meeting or sleeping. You can choose exceptions for Favourite callers or when someone calls twice.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Another Motorola app bundled with the phone is Moto Care. The app is not only a searchable user guide featuring Tutorials, FAQs, How-tos and actionable tips, it also offers a shortcut key to get in touch with Motorola's customer care. Motorola Migrate allows you to transfer content and settings from your old Android phone or iPhone.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />The dual-sim Moto G also comes with settings for managing the behavior of two sim cards, allowing you to choose the default connection for data, calls and messaging.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />That's about it. You get a pretty neat slate to customize as per your own preference and use the apps that you wish to.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />The Android 4.4 KitKat update is expected to bring some minor cosmetic improvements including white notification icons and a transparent notification bar, a new Phone dialer app, some camera improvements in addition to other changes under the hood.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><strong style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Camera</strong><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Moto G is an economy smartphone and despite the phone delivering more than what other smartphones in the price segment offer, the limitations are apparent when it comes to the camera.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />The phone comes with a 5MP rear camera and a 1.3MP front facing camera. The rear camera can capture 720p video and also comes with an LED flash for taking pictures in low-light conditions.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><img class="gwt-Image" src="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/photo/30223459.cms" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 14px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Motorola ships its own camera app with the phone which is pretty bare bones when it comes to offering granular settings but designed keeping in mind the casual camera user. You'll only see two controls - one for switching to the video camera and the other to switch between the front and rear lenses till you swipe from the edge to the right side of the screen to reveal an arc shaped dial that features controls for HDR mode, LED flash, focus & exposure, slow motion, Panorama mode, geo-tagging, widescreen mode and shutter sound. Similar to the Windows Phone camera app, you click pictures by tapping anywhere on the screen. The soft viewfinder can be moved up and down to zoom in and out or shift focus.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />We were pretty impressed by the images captured by the Moto G outdoors, during daylight. The images had good amount of detail, reproduced colour accurately and good contrast, especially in HDR mode. Pictures captured in low-light conditions and indoors were not that great but noise levels were comparatively lower than other phones in the same price range.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-collapse: collapse; border-left-color: rgb(209, 226, 243); border-left-style: solid; border-spacing: 0px; border-top-color: rgb(209, 226, 243); border-top-style: solid; border-width: 1px 0px 0px 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif !important; font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal !important; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 652px;"><tbody style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <tr style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td style="background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245) !important; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(209, 226, 243); border-bottom-style: solid; border-right-color: rgb(209, 226, 243); border-right-style: solid; border-width: 0px 1px 1px 0px; font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal !important; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img class="gwt-Image" src="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/photo/30223634.cms" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px 0px 14px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /></td><td style="background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245) !important; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(209, 226, 243); border-bottom-style: solid; border-right-color: rgb(209, 226, 243); border-right-style: solid; border-width: 0px 1px 1px 0px; font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal !important; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img class="gwt-Image" src="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/photo/30223678.cms" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px 0px 14px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /></td></tr> </tbody></table> <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />The rear camera can capture 720p video and we found the quality to be satisfactory.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />The front camera comes in handy for taking selfies and for video chats, and does a decent job.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><strong style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Performance</strong><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Moto G is known for offering the level of performance which is only delivered by phones costing Rs 10,000 more than it. At the heart of the phone is the 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor coupled with Adreno 305 graphics and 1GB RAM. We did not notice any lag whatsoever while navigating through the phone's menu, launching apps and switching between them.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />We were able to play games like Temple Run 2, Banana Kong, and Asphalt 8 without encountering frame drops or freezes. Despite the limited RAM, the phone is a great gaming device.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />In synthetic benchmarks, it beats competitors like the Micromax Canvas Turbo Mini by a margin. The phone scored 17,404 in Antutu, 8574 in Quadrant and 57.9 in Nenamark 2 benchmark tests. Some of these scores are better than the Nexus 4.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-collapse: collapse; border-left-color: rgb(209, 226, 243); border-left-style: solid; border-spacing: 0px; border-top-color: rgb(209, 226, 243); border-top-style: solid; border-width: 1px 0px 0px 1px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif !important; font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal !important; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 652px;"><tbody style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> <tr style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><td style="background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245) !important; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(209, 226, 243); border-bottom-style: solid; border-right-color: rgb(209, 226, 243); border-right-style: solid; border-width: 0px 1px 1px 0px; font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal !important; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img class="gwt-Image" src="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/photo/30223860.cms" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px 0px 14px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /></td><td style="background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245) !important; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-color: rgb(209, 226, 243); border-bottom-style: solid; border-right-color: rgb(209, 226, 243); border-right-style: solid; border-width: 0px 1px 1px 0px; font-size: 12px; font-weight: normal !important; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 6px; vertical-align: baseline;"><img class="gwt-Image" src="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/photo/30224010.cms" style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; margin: 0px 0px 14px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /></td></tr> </tbody></table> <br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Out of the 16GB storage, 12.92GB is available to the user. Unfortunately, you can't expand the storage as the phone doesn't come with a memory card slot. Google is offering 50GB free cloud storage in Google Drive with the phone but we don't see cloud storage going mainstream till data connectivity gets better and data tariffs go cheaper.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Moto G offers Bluetooth, WiFi and GPS connectivity options. Interestingly, it comes with a trusted Bluetooth feature allowing you to disable lock screen when the phone is paired with a device specified as 'trusted.' This means you don't need to unlock the screen to change tracks when listening to music via Bluetooth headphones.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Moto G offers excellent call quality and signal reception and we did not encounter issues while making calls even in areas where cell signal is relatively weaker. The phone was able to lock to GPS without any hiccups.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Moto G offers FM radio but unfortunately, you can't listen to it through the phone's speaker even when you've plugged in the headphones to use as an antenna. It also doesn't offer a recording feature. We were able to play most popular video and audio file formats.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />The external speaker on the phone offers loud sound output though it lacks bass. Of course the sound gets muffled when the phone lies on its back, which is an issue.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />The phone is backed by a 2070 mAh battery and will last you a complete day even if you put the screen brightness at the highest level and use 3G data all the time. You'll be able to make about 2-3 hours of phone calls, play some casual games and browse the web in this time period. The phone can play video continuously for 7 to 8 hours.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />Overall, the Moto G offers impressive performance and using it as our daily driver turned out to be a pleasant experience.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><strong style="background-color: transparent; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border: 0px; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Verdict</strong><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />There has been a vacuum in the Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 price segment when it comes to quality Android smartphones. Indian brands do somewhat fill the gap but the after-sales experience has left many customers high and dry. Also, the build quality and finish of these devices leaves a lot to be desired.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />The Moto G addresses this very segment delivering great performance at an affordable price. We would not shy away for calling it a value for money proposition as the phone is well built and comes with the promise of latest software. We hope Motorola (even after completion of its acquisition by Lenovo) continues to offer software updates and ensures good level of on-ground after sales support.<br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" /><br style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />There's no other Android phone we can recommend in the price segment. If you're fine with Windows Phone and want a better camera, the Nokia Lumia 720 is a good option.</div> </div> </div>

Motorola Moto G review: The budget performer

The much awaited Moto G, Motorola's economy Android smartphone, has finally been launched in India. The phone has won accolades t...

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Dell Venue 8 vs 2013 Google Nexus 7: Features and specs review

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> If you had a choice between the Dell Venue 8 and 2013 Google Nexus 7 tablets, which one would you pick? Both run on Android, are modestly proportioned and fill the space for mid-range devices of their kind. Out of all the things you should be considering while picking a tablet, a few that stand above the rest. We’ve put down a few useful tips you may need before making up your mind.<br /> <div style="background-color: white; color: #4b4b4b; font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 21px;"> <strong>Operating system and processor:</strong></div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #4b4b4b; font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 21px;"> The Google tablet runs Android KitKat 4.4 currently, while the Venue 8 works with the older Jelly Bean 4.3 OS. At the same time, it doesn’t mean an update to KitKat is out of the question, though Dell hasn’t offered details on that. The Nexus 7 is powered by a 1.5GHz quad core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor with Adreno 320 graphics. Its rival has the 2GHz dual core Intel Atom Z2580 chipset. That’s 2 points for the Mountain View device.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #4b4b4b; font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 21px;"> <img alt="Dell Venue 8" class="aligncenter" src="http://www.mobiletor.com/img/8114-302.jpg" style="border: 0px; clear: both; display: block; height: auto; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;" /></div> <div style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 21px;"> <span style="color: #4b4b4b; font-family: Open Sans;"><span style="line-height: 28px;">RAM, memory space and battery:</span></span></div> <div style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 21px;"> <span style="color: #4b4b4b; font-family: Open Sans;"><span style="line-height: 28px;"><br /></span></span></div> <div style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 21px;"> <span style="color: #4b4b4b; font-family: Open Sans;"><span style="line-height: 28px;">Just like the Dell Venue 8, the Google Nexus 7 2013 is also available with 16GB or 32GB internal memory. But the former scores extra for accommodating 32GB expandability. Both these chunks of Android hold on to 2GB of RAM. On the battery front, the Dell device has a 4100mAh one with no mention of usage time, while the other embeds a 3950mAh powerhouse delivering up to 9 hours between charges. Since there’s no vast difference between the batteries and how you use the tablet matters most, this shouldn’t be a make or break factor.</span></span></div> <div style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 21px;"> <span style="color: #4b4b4b; font-family: Open Sans;"><span style="line-height: 28px;"><br /></span></span></div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #4b4b4b; font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 21px;"> <strong>Screen, camera and design:</strong></div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #4b4b4b; font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 21px;"> Earning another point, the Nexus features a 7.2-inch 1920 x 1200p resolution touchscreen, unlike the Venue which flaunts a lower resolution (1280 x 800p) 8-inch display. The former integrates 5MP and 1.2MP cameras, while the latter has 5MP and 2MP ones. Again, minor distinction in the webcam specification. The Nexus 7 is 290g light and takes up 114mm x 200mm x 8.65mm of space. Its competitor is 130mm x 212mm x 9.5mm and weighs 350g. Neither gets our vote for aesthetics, but the Google tablet is 60g less heavy and it makes difference to some people. That’s another point</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #4b4b4b; font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 21px;"> <img alt="2013 Google Nexus 7" class="aligncenter" src="http://www.mobiletor.com/img/8114-301.jpg" style="border: 0px; clear: both; display: block; height: auto; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;" /></div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #4b4b4b; font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 21px;"> <strong>Price comparison</strong></div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #4b4b4b; font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 21px;"> Want to go with the Nexus? It’ll cost you Rs 21,000, Rs 24,000 or Rs 28,000 for the 16GB Wi-Fi, 32GB or 32GB Wi-Fi/LTE/HSPA+ models. On the other hand, the Dell offering commands Rs 19,500 or Rs 23,500 depending on whether you pick the 16GB or 32GB capacity, respectively. Neither have 3G or 4G capability and are plain Wi-Fi flavored. Only considering the Wi-Fi options, we’re giving the cheaper Venue another point for tempting buyers with better pricing.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #4b4b4b; font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 21px;"> <strong>Conclusion:</strong></div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #4b4b4b; font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 21px;"> If you’ve been keeping count, then you’ll know by now that we think the Google Nexus 7 2013 is a better buy than the Dell Venue 8 based on the OS, processor and touchscreen. And it’s not much costlier than the Dell device.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #4b4b4b; font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 21px;"> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="350" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/1CA9XidADOk" style="height: 420px; max-width: 100%;" width="100%"></iframe></div> </div>

Dell Venue 8 vs 2013 Google Nexus 7: Features and specs review

If you had a choice between the Dell Venue 8 and 2013 Google Nexus 7 tablets, which one would you pick? Both run on Android, are modestly p...

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Xolo Q1100 vs. Motorola Moto G

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> The Motorola Moto G is currently enjoying being the center of attraction in the mid-range mobile market, but another affordable device that goes by the name of Xolo Q1100 has arrived to hog a bit of its spotlight. Both the devices have a number of similar features and hence, we have pitted the two against each other to figure out which one you should go for.<br /> <br /> The Xolo smartphone has only been unveiled in India and we are yet to hear something about its availability details. And as for the Motorola gadget, it hit pre-order status earlier this week and its first stock has already been sold out too. After the break, we have jotted down a detailed report of the specifications of the devices, so take a look.<br /> <div style="background-color: white; color: #4b4b4b; font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 21px;"> <strong>Motorola Moto G:</strong></div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #4b4b4b; font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 21px;"> <img alt="Motorola Moto G" class="aligncenter" src="http://www.mobiletor.com/img/14-11-13-17.jpg" style="border: 0px; clear: both; display: block; height: auto; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;" /></div> <div style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 21px;"> <span style="color: #4b4b4b; font-family: Open Sans;"><span style="line-height: 28px;">The Moto G brings a set of advanced features for an economical price. Its front panel has been fitted with a 4.5-inch multi-touch screen capable of rendering HD visuals in 1280 x 720p resolution as well as 1.3MP webcam. And on the flip side you will find a 5MP camera complete with flash and auto focus amongst other things.</span></span></div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #4b4b4b; font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 21px;"> It has been powered by the Android Jelly Bean 4.3 OS and the gadget has already started receiving the KitKat update as well. A quad core processor sprinting at 1.2GHz as well as 1GB of RAM are responsible for facilitating multitasking, while a 2070mAh battery shoulders the responsibility of keeping it powered up for almost an entire day.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #4b4b4b; font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 21px;"> <strong>Key specs of the phone at a glance:</strong></div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #4b4b4b; font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 21px;"> - 4.5-inch 720p touchscreen<br />- 5MP camera, 1.3MP webcam<br />- Android 4.3, upgradeable to KitKat 4.4<br />- 1.2GHz quad core Snapdragon 400 processor<br />- Dual SIM<br />- 2070mAh battery</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #4b4b4b; font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 21px;"> <strong>Xolo Q1100:</strong></div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #4b4b4b; font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 21px;"> <img alt="Xolo Q1100 02" class="aligncenter" src="http://www.mobiletor.com/img/7-2-2014-60.jpg" style="border: 0px; clear: both; display: block; height: auto; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;" /></div> <div style="background-color: white; margin-bottom: 21px;"> <span style="color: #4b4b4b; font-family: Open Sans;"><span style="line-height: 28px;">The Xolo Q1100 can give the Moto G a run for its money considering that the gadgets are pretty similar to each other. But unlike the aforementioned device, this handset brings a 5-inch IPS OGS touchscreen of HD resolution and even boasts of an 8MP camera complete with LED flash and auto focus amongst other essential features.</span></span></div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #4b4b4b; font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 21px;"> <img alt="Xolo Q1100" class="aligncenter" src="http://www.mobiletor.com/img/7-2-2014-59.jpg" style="border: 0px; clear: both; display: block; height: auto; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 100%; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;" /></div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #4b4b4b; font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 21px;"> You can expect the Jelly Bean 4.3 OS from this smartphone as well, but whether it is upgradeable or not is not known. A quad core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor resides within this smartphone as well and 1GB of RAM can also be found. Also, its total internal memory amounts to 8GB and you get the option of increasing it further by up to 32GB using a microSD card.</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #4b4b4b; font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 21px;"> <strong>Key specs of the phone at a glance:</strong></div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #4b4b4b; font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 21px;"> - 5-inch IPS OGS touchscreen<br />- 1280 x 720p resolution<br />- 8MP camera, 2MP webcam<br />- Android Jelly Bean 4.3 OS<br />- 1.4GHz quad core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 SoC<br />- 1GB of RAM<br />- 8GB onboard storage, 32GB expandability<br />- 2000mAh battery<br />- 3G talk time of 12.5 hours<br />- 143.8 x 70.8 x 8.3 millimeters</div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #4b4b4b; font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 21px;"> <strong>Conclusion:</strong></div> <div style="background-color: white; color: #4b4b4b; font-family: 'Open Sans'; font-size: 16px; line-height: 28px; margin-bottom: 21px;"> The Motorola Moto G can now be purchased for Rs 12,499 (8GB) or Rs 13,999 (16GB), while the Xolo Q1100 will make you shell out Rs 14,999. The latter does come across as better than the former considering that it offers expandable memory, better camera as well as a bigger screen. So have you made up your mind? Do tell us.</div> </div>

Xolo Q1100 vs. Motorola Moto G

The Motorola Moto G is currently enjoying being the center of attraction in the mid-range mobile market, but another affordable device that...

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Maruti Suzuki Celerio: Return of the hatchback king

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div style="font-family: Lato, Calibri, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> <span style="background-color: white;">Maruti Suzuki had a relatively quiet 2013. Apart from a few special editions of existing models, the company didn't have much to offer. But it started 2014 with a bang with the launch of a new hatchback called the Celerio. And, this is just the start as the company has plans to launch an array of new models. </span></div> <div style="font-family: Lato, Calibri, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> </div> <div style="border: 0px solid rgb(215, 215, 215); float: left; font-family: Lato, Calibri, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 2px 15px 2px 0px; width: 650px;"> <div style="width: 650px;"> <img align="left" alt="Maruti Suzuki Celerio" border="0" hspace="0" src="http://media2.intoday.in/indiatoday/images/stories//2014FEB/celerio-thumb_650_020814044935.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(215, 215, 215); margin: 2px 0px;" title="Maruti Suzuki Celerio" valign="top" vspace="0" /></div> <div class="mos-caption" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; display: inline-block; font-family: Roboto, san-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; padding: 10px 0px; text-align: center; width: 650px;" valign="bottom"> The large headlamps and the curvy chrome grille give the Celerio a pleasing face. All photos by Kingshuk Dutta.</div> </div> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lato, Calibri, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">The first incarnation of the Celerio was the A-Wind Concept car that the company unveiled a few months back. Worldwide it is being hailed as a replacement for the Alto that is badged as the A-Star in India. But over here, the A-Star and the Celerio will continue to co-exist. The Celerio keeps the design close to its concept avatar. The front-end comprises a smiling setup, thanks to the large headlamps and a curvy chrome grille. The stout bonnet flows in smoothly and a prominent shoulderline merges with the boot. The rear section appears quite chunky with big tail lamps and a small tailgate. Dimensions reveal that the Celerio sits between the Hyundai Grand i10 and the i10. It's marginally shorter and narrower but taller than the Grand. The wheelbase at 2,425mm is exactly the same as on the Grand, offering decent amount of kneeroom at the back.</span><br /> <div style="font-family: Lato, Calibri, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> </div> <div style="font-family: Lato, Calibri, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> </div> <div style="border: 0px solid rgb(215, 215, 215); float: left; font-family: Lato, Calibri, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 2px 15px 2px 0px; width: 650px;"> <div style="width: 650px;"> <img align="left" alt="Maruti-Suzuki Celerio" border="0" hspace="0" src="http://media2.intoday.in/indiatoday/images/stories//2014FEB/celeriosteering_650_020814044935.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(215, 215, 215); margin: 2px 0px;" title="Maruti-Suzuki Celerio" valign="top" vspace="0" /></div> <div class="mos-caption" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; display: inline-block; font-family: Roboto, san-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; padding: 10px 0px; text-align: center; width: 650px;" valign="bottom"> The large and sweeping dash seems to have been inspired by the Swift. The centre console-mounted gear lever mimics the one on the Grand i10.</div> </div> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lato, Calibri, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">The inside of the Celerio reminds one of the Swift. The large dash has a sweeping design that flows into the centre console where the audio system and air-condition controls are housed. The instrument panel is new and is neatly laid out with a tacho, speedo and a digital display for fuel apart from other telltale lamps. The steering offers controls for Bluetooth and the audio system that comes factory-fitted on the top ZXI variant. The quality of plastic bits too is good. The gear lever is mounted on the centre console much like in the Grand i10. The designers have also added around approximately 15 slots and cubby holes in the cabin for stowage adding to the convenience factor.</span><br /> <div style="border: 0px solid rgb(215, 215, 215); float: left; font-family: Lato, Calibri, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 2px 15px 2px 0px; width: 650px;"> <div style="width: 650px;"> <img align="left" alt="" border="0" hspace="0" src="http://media2.intoday.in/indiatoday/images/stories//2014FEB/celeriospeedometer_650_020814044935.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(215, 215, 215); margin: 2px 0px;" title="" valign="top" vspace="0" /></div> <div class="mos-caption" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; display: inline-block; font-family: Roboto, san-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; padding: 10px 0px; text-align: center; width: 650px;" valign="bottom"> Trip computer, tacho and speedo are standard on the ZXI trim.</div> </div> <div style="font-family: Lato, Calibri, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> </div> <div style="font-family: Lato, Calibri, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> <span style="background-color: white;">The seats are comfortable and not as low as in some of the new cars. As a result, the all-around visibility is great. Space too is not a concern in the Celerio as it also offers a decent amount of headroom and the boot at 235litres is ample too. The rear seat can be folded to increase the boot space even further adding to the versatility of the boot.</span></div> <div style="font-family: Lato, Calibri, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> </div> <div style="border: 0px solid rgb(215, 215, 215); float: left; font-family: Lato, Calibri, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 2px 15px 2px 0px; width: 650px;"> <div style="width: 650px;"> <img align="left" alt="Maruti Celerio" border="0" hspace="0" src="http://media2.intoday.in/indiatoday/images/stories//2014FEB/celerioengine_650_020814044935.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(215, 215, 215); margin: 2px 0px;" title="Maruti Celerio" valign="top" vspace="0" /></div> <div class="mos-caption" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; display: inline-block; font-family: Roboto, san-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 18px; padding: 10px 0px; text-align: center; width: 650px;" valign="bottom"> Maruti Suzuki claims a fuel economy of 23.1kmpl under ARAI testing.</div> </div> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lato, Calibri, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">The Celerio derives its power from an all-aluminium 998cc petrol motor that's quite smooth at start up. The clutch is light and the gears slot nicely, but are not as slick as the Swift's box. On the move, the Celerio offers enough amount of torque to avoid frequent downshifts and on one of the high-speed runs we touched 140kmph on the clock. The company also claims a fuel economy of 23.1kmpl under ARAI testing regulations, and we feel that the manual version can return a mileage close to the certified figure. Maruti Suzuki has done a good job of tackling NVH with minimal noise and vibrations intruding inside the cabin, returning a serene ride.</span><br /> <div style="font-family: Lato, Calibri, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> </div> <div style="font-family: Lato, Calibri, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> </div> <div style="border: 0px solid rgb(215, 215, 215); float: left; font-family: Lato, Calibri, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 2px 15px 2px 0px; width: 650px;"> <div style="width: 650px;"> <img align="left" alt="Maruti Celerio" border="0" hspace="0" src="http://media2.intoday.in/indiatoday/images/stories//2014FEB/celerio_650_020814044935.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(215, 215, 215); margin: 2px 0px;" title="Maruti Celerio" valign="top" vspace="0" /></div> </div> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Lato, Calibri, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">The Celerio handles well, going into corners confidently. The ride quality too is top-notch and the suspension soaked up the ruts and potholes with ease. Not only that, the Celerio stays planted on the road at high speeds, giving confidence to the driver but the same can't be said for the steering. It's light, which makes it brilliant in city, especially while parking in tight spots or making three-point turns, but as speeds climb, one starts to feel the absence of any feedback. On the highway at high speeds, the steering feels dead and lifeless.</span><br /> <div style="font-family: Lato, Calibri, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> </div> <div style="font-family: Lato, Calibri, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> <b style="background-color: white;">Specs: Maruti Suzuki Celerio</b></div> <div style="font-family: Lato, Calibri, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> <b style="background-color: white;">Engine: 998cc, three-cylinder<br />Max Power: 68bhp@6,000rpm<br />Max torque: 90Nm@3,500rpm<br />Gearbox: 5-speed manual/auto<br />Wheelbase(mm): 2,425<br />LxWxH(mm): 3,600x1,600x1,560<br />Top Speed: 140kmph<br />0-100kmph: NA<br />Price: <span class="rupee" style="font-family: WebRupee;">Rs.</span>3.9 -4.96 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi)<br />On sale: February, 2014</b></div> </div>

Maruti Suzuki Celerio: Return of the hatchback king

Maruti Suzuki had a relatively quiet 2013. Apart from a few special editions of existing models, the company didn't have much to offer...

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Karbonn Titanium X review: Affordable full HD phone

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: x-small;"><br /> </span><br /> <div id="nrelate_flyout_placeholder" style="font-family: Arial; line-height: 16px;"> <div id="artext1"> <span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.canindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/08/1.jpg" style="text-decoration: none;"><img alt="1" class="alignright size-full wp-image-181995" height="189" src="http://www.canindia.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/08/1.jpg" style="border: 0px; float: right; margin: 5px 0px 10px 20px; padding: 0px;" width="267" /></a>Indian handset firms have finally started upgrading their flagships to offer full <strong class="StrictlyAutoTagBold">HD</strong> (1080p) displays. After Micromax, the latest to join the bandwagon is Karbonn, with its Titanium X smartphone. Is theKarbonn Titanium X the best full <strong class="StrictlyAutoTagBold">HD</strong> economy smartphone available in the market?</span><br /> <span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: x-small;">We put it to test and tried to find out in our review.</span><br /> <span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: x-small;"><strong>Build and design</strong><br /><strong class="StrictlyAutoTagBold">Karbonn Titanium</strong> X is designed in a way that all the attention goes to the display, which is a major USP of the <strong class="StrictlyAutoTagBold">phone</strong>. Though the <strong class="StrictlyAutoTagBold">phone</strong> doesn’t look very different from the current crop of 5-inch Android phones in terms of shape, the <strong class="StrictlyAutoTagBold">display</strong> panel is placed atop the rear shell in a manner that accentuates it. It is surrounded by a thin metal frame and appears to be a little raised.</span><br /> <span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: x-small;">The back shell is made of thick plastic that looks and feels durable but lacks the premium touch despite the matte finish.</span><br /> <span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: x-small;">The front of the <strong class="StrictlyAutoTagBold">phone</strong> is dominated by the 5-inch full <strong class="StrictlyAutoTagBold">HD</strong> <strong class="StrictlyAutoTagBold">display</strong> which is flanked by thin, side bezels. The capacitive touch keys for navigation are located at the bottom, while the 5MP front-facing camera, an LED flash, a notification LED and the sensor array are placed at the top along with the earpiece.</span><br /> <span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: x-small;">The Power key is located on the right side while the Volume rocker is placed on the left side. The bottom features the micro-USB port while the micro-sim slot and the 3.5mm headset jack sit at the top. If you don’t read the quick-start guide, chances are you’ll not be able to figure out the sim slot mechanism. The tool has to be used to push the flap that covers the sim tray. This mechanism is pretty different from what is usually deployed by device makers, where one needs to push the toll to eject a sim tray.</span><br /> <span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: x-small;">The back of the <strong class="StrictlyAutoTagBold">phone</strong> sports a 13MP rear camera lens and a dual-LED flash, some Karbonn branding and a speaker grill.</span><br /> <span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: x-small;">It won’t be wrong to say that Titanium X is not really a looker, but it still feels nice to hold and use.</span><br /> <span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: x-small;"><img alt="" src="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/photo/30054758.cms" /></span><br /> <span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: x-small;"><strong>Display</strong><br />As we pointed out, the full-<strong class="StrictlyAutoTagBold">HD</strong> <strong class="StrictlyAutoTagBold">display</strong> on the Titanium X is one of the best we’ve seen in the mid-range category, next only to Gionee Elife E6′s <strong class="StrictlyAutoTagBold">display</strong>. The One Glass Solution IPS <strong class="StrictlyAutoTagBold">display</strong> <strong class="StrictlyAutoTagBold">offers</strong> good viewing angles, decent under-sun legibility and brightness. Text and images look crisp and sharp, colours look vivid and the screen is not very prone to smudges.</span><br /> <span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: x-small;"><strong>Software</strong><br /><strong class="StrictlyAutoTagBold">Karbonn Titanium</strong> X runs Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean with minor customization and some pre-loaded apps. The navigation structure is more or less standard with five home-screens, a lock screen and the app launcher. The only bit of customization offered is the inclusion of three themes that alter the interface in a very subtle manner.</span><br /> <span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: x-small;">Other than that, the <strong class="StrictlyAutoTagBold">phone</strong> <strong class="StrictlyAutoTagBold">comes</strong> with some preloaded third party apps including Opera Mini, UC Browser, Maxthon Browser, true caller, Kingsoft Office, and demo versions of games like Bubble Bash 3, Death Racing, Fruit Devil and Modern Combat 4.</span><br /> <span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: x-small;">With access to Google’s Play Store, there’s no limit to the number of apps that you can download. The <strong class="StrictlyAutoTagBold">phone</strong> also includes Karbonn’s own content and services marketplace, Karbonn Zone and Karbonn Live.</span><br /> <span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: x-small;"><strong>Camera</strong><br />The <strong class="StrictlyAutoTagBold">Karbonn Titanium</strong> X sports a 13MP rear camera with dual-LED flash and a 5MP front-facing camera that also <strong class="StrictlyAutoTagBold">comes</strong> with a flash. Karbonn <strong class="StrictlyAutoTagBold">offers</strong> a custom camera app that also <strong class="StrictlyAutoTagBold">offers</strong> HDR and Panorama modes, in addition to face detection and continuous shot modes. The app <strong class="StrictlyAutoTagBold">offers</strong> granular settings for most attributes .</span><br /> <span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: x-small;">The image quality offered by the rear camera is just average. Pictures suffered from soft edges, missed out on detail and had bland colours. Photos captured indoors in less light were grainy. The camera is capable of shooting 1080p videos and did a satisfactory job.</span><br /> <span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: x-small;">The front camera captured decent quality pictures for selfies, but we didn’t find the front flash useful. It’s also good for video chats.</span><br /> <span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: x-small;"><img alt="" src="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/photo/30054926.cms" /></span><br /> <span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: x-small;"><strong>Performance</strong><br /><strong class="StrictlyAutoTagBold">Karbonn Titanium</strong> X is powered by a 1.5GHz quad-core MT6589T MediaTek chipset and has 1GB of RAM with PowerVR SGX544 graphics chip. We were satisfied with the performance of the <strong class="StrictlyAutoTagBold">phone</strong> while navigating across the menu, launching apps, browsing the web and clicking photos. Games like Subway Surfers and Temple Run 2 were running smoothly without any lag or stutter. However, we encountered lag in the form of frame drops while playing graphics-intensive games like Asphalt 8 and Dead Trigger 2.</span><br /> <span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: x-small;">The <strong class="StrictlyAutoTagBold">phone</strong> <strong class="StrictlyAutoTagBold">comes</strong> with 16GB of internal storage which can be expanded by connecting a pen drive with the help of a USB on-the-go cable with the <strong class="StrictlyAutoTagBold">phone</strong>. It supports flash drives up to 32GB capacity.</span><br /> <span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: x-small;">In terms of multimedia, the <strong class="StrictlyAutoTagBold">phone</strong> <strong class="StrictlyAutoTagBold">comes</strong> with FM radio capability and the phone’s built-in speaker <strong class="StrictlyAutoTagBold">offers</strong> decent sound output. The default video player doesn’t support some multimedia file formats such as .AVI, but this can be solved by installing a third party player.</span><br /> <span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: x-small;">We did not encounter any issues while making calls and were satisfied with the phone’s network reception. Voice clarity and loudness levels were also up to the mark. The <strong class="StrictlyAutoTagBold">phone</strong> <strong class="StrictlyAutoTagBold">comes</strong> with GPS for navigation and maps and was easily able to lock a signal.</span><br /> <table border="1" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="1"><tbody> <tr><td><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: x-small;"><img alt="" src="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/photo/30055457.cms" /></span></td><td><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: x-small;"><img alt="" src="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/photo/30055489.cms" /></span></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: x-small;">Talking about battery life, the Titanium X is backed by a 2300mAh battery with a claimed standby time of up to 240 hours and talk time of up to 6 hours. With moderate to high usage including about one to two hours of making calls, playing games, clicking some pictures, listening to music and browsing the web, the <strong class="StrictlyAutoTagBold">phone</strong> will easily last you a little more than a full working day, even if you put the screen brightness at the highest level and keep 3G turned on.</span><br /> <span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: x-small;"><strong>Verdict</strong><br />At a price point of Rs 16,490, the <strong class="StrictlyAutoTagBold">Karbonn Titanium</strong> X is one of the lowest-priced full <strong class="StrictlyAutoTagBold">HD</strong> <strong class="StrictlyAutoTagBold">display</strong> phones available in the market. The USP of the <strong class="StrictlyAutoTagBold">phone</strong> is indeed its display, which no doubt stands out among other mid-range/ budget alternatives. However, the average camera is a dampener.</span><br /> <span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: x-small;">The other factors to consider would be software updates and after-sales support. Indian smartphone brands don’t really have a good track record when it <strong class="StrictlyAutoTagBold">comes</strong> to after sales support.</span><br /> <span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: x-small;">You can also look at the Micromax Canvas Turbo and the Gionee Elife E6, if you’re only looking for a mid-range full <strong class="StrictlyAutoTagBold">HD</strong> <strong class="StrictlyAutoTagBold">display</strong> <strong class="StrictlyAutoTagBold">phone</strong>. If you’re willing to settle for a 720p <strong class="StrictlyAutoTagBold">display</strong> with a smaller screen size and non-expandable storage, you can also consider the much awaited Moto G smartphone.</span></div> </div> </div>

Karbonn Titanium X review: Affordable full HD phone

Indian handset firms have finally started upgrading their flagships to offer full  HD  (1080p) displays. After Micromax, the latest to ...

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Maruti Suzuki Celerio review: Almost a celestial drive

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <strong style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #464646; display: block; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 20px; margin: 0px 0px 5px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;">SUMMARY</strong><span style="background-color: white; color: #464646; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; line-height: 23px;">Cabin space of Zen Estilo, driveability of A-Star, path-breaking technology. That’s Celerio for you.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxEfZ0WLS91Nmu8WBK-Xd61-zznvXHIw7WymhId2d6XqxH-PRT1WHsoJ1Rm_Br05SpS9A9wCNEnpoRU862S_7OgH3J7SVt0ZlG1GAOY_uWI-5SfXxRDWtQJLHUcUmp8qv_zDXpt0DKfp0/s1600/M_Id_460050_Maruti_Suzuki_Celerio.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxEfZ0WLS91Nmu8WBK-Xd61-zznvXHIw7WymhId2d6XqxH-PRT1WHsoJ1Rm_Br05SpS9A9wCNEnpoRU862S_7OgH3J7SVt0ZlG1GAOY_uWI-5SfXxRDWtQJLHUcUmp8qv_zDXpt0DKfp0/s1600/M_Id_460050_Maruti_Suzuki_Celerio.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption"><span style="font-size: x-small;">With price range of Rs 3.9 lakh to Rs 4.29 lakh (Delhi ex-showroom prices), the Celerio can prove to be the most important launch by Maruti</span></td></tr> </tbody></table> </span><div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px;"> In India, a small car is always big news. And bigger if it comes from Maruti Suzuki. From the Maruti 800 to the Zen and from the Alto to the Swift, Maruti has barely failed with its small wonders. But it had two cars that didn’t quite set the markets on fire—the Zen Estilo and the A-Star. What to do? Make a car that has all the goodies of the two, introduce a path-breaking technology into the product, give it a cute name, price it correctly and launch it at the biggest automotive event in the country. That’s the Celerio for you.</div> <div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px;"> <b style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">First impression</b></div> <div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px;"> The Celerio gets a bold and curvy design which the company calls CICO (curve in, curve out) styling. The car looks really ‘happy’ from the front—the new wide smiley grille flanked by swept back headlamps looks fresh. The stylised front bumper with a large air dam and character lines on the bonnet are contemporary. Yet it remains an out-and-out Maruti and this is apparent from various angles, especially the rear which strongly resembles the Alto 800. The Celerio may not be called stylish in the true sense of the word, but functional it definitely is. Let’s see how.</div> <div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px;"> </div> <div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px; text-align: right;"> <img align="right" alt="Maruti Suzuki Celerio" border="0" src="http://static.indianexpress.com/frontend/iep/story_images/Celerio-key-features.jpg" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" vspace="4" /></div> <div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px;"> </div> <div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px;"> <b style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The cabin</b></div> <div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px;"> Step inside and you will realise how much has Maruti worked to make the driver and the passengers feel good. This car, no doubt, has the best cabin quality among all Maruti small cars—yes, the plastic quality seems even better than what you get in the class-higher Swift. Then, there is generous space all around. The Celerio is 3,600 mm long, 1,600 mm wide and 1,560 mm high. But what really works for the car is its wheel base of 2,425 mm, which ensures ample legroom for the rear passengers. In fact, as we found our during our test drive in Jodhpur, even three tall people can fit in the rear seats with some amount of adjustment. The headroom, too, at the rear is good. The boot space is a decent 235 litres.</div> <div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 20px;"> The driving position is good. The seat height is just <span style="font-size: 14px;">right, the vision all around is clear and the A-pillar doesn’t obstruct your view much. The design fabric chosen by Maruti is fresh and the dual-tone dashboard looks good. All the buttons are easy to reach and the steering wheel is nice to hold. The EZ Drive model’s gear-lever is also conveniently placed.</span></div> <div style="border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 20px;"> <b style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The drive</b></div> <div style="border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 20px;"> The Suzuki K10B three-cylinder engine that sits under the hood of the Celerio is one of its best assets. It produces a peak power of 68ps@6000rpm and a torque of 90Nm@3500rpm, which is more than enough for the Celerio that weighs 810 kg (830 kg with full options). This not only ensures amazing driveability but also a class-leading fuel efficiency of 23.1 kmpl. The car has got a tight turning radius of 4.7 metres and that can be a boon while parking or when driving on congested roads.</div> <div style="border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 20px;"> <b style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">The EZ Drive</b></div> <div style="border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 20px;"> The best thing about the Celerio is the path-breaking technology that it comes equipped with, the two-pedal (accelerator and brake) Auto Gear Shift technology, which the company has christened as EZ Drive, pronounced as ‘easy drive’. Auto gear shift it is, but is it an automatic transmission? Not exactly. The EZ Drive is essentially a simple manual transmission that has been robotised. It uses a regular manual gearbox and a clutch (there is no clutch pedal though), but acts like an automatic, changing gears for the driver with the help of a dedicated ECU and actuators (call it a robotic arm). Unlike traditional automatic transmission, there is no torque convertor.</div> <div style="border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 20px;"> <b style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">How does it look: </b>The gear-lever unit, placed between the two front seats, looks exactly like a traditional automatic transmission unit. Towards the right, there are three slots—‘N’ for neutral, ‘D’ for drive and ‘R’ for reverse. Towards the left, there is one slot marked ‘M’ for manual. In the manual mode, there are options of ‘+’ to upshift and ‘-’ to downshift gears.</div> <div style="border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 20px;"> <b style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">How does it drive: </b>Before starting the engine, ensure the gear lever is in the ‘N’ mode and the brake pedal is pressed. Once the engine starts, put the gear lever in the ‘D’ mode and <span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14px;">release the brake. The car will start moving, but slowly—this is called the ‘Creep’ function, which is effective in urban stop-and-go traffic. Gradually step on the accelerator and the car will pick up speed. Based on how much you press the accelerator, the car will move to a higher gear, the highest being fifth.</span></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 20px;"> Similar to the traditional automatic transmission unit, the EZ Drive offers the ‘M’ mode—put the gear lever in the ‘M’ position and then shift gears by pushing the lever to either the ‘+’ or ‘-’ modes.</div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 20px;"> <b style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">How does it stop: </b>Pressing the brake reduces the speed of the car and the gears shift down automatically until the car comes to a complete stop. Then you have to shift the lever to the ‘N’ mode, switch off the engine and engage the parking brake. But unlike most traditional automatics, the EZ Drive does not have a ‘P’ slot—which indicates ‘parking’—therefore engaging the parking brake is important.</div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 20px;"> <b style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Verdict</b></div> <div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; padding: 0px 0px 20px;"> From Rs 3.9 lakh for the manual and Rs 4.29 lakh for the EZ Drive (Delhi ex-showroom starting prices), the Celerio can prove to be the most important launch by Maruti in a long time. What it offers is tremendous value at an affordable price point, and is sure to shake up the market.</div> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;"></span><br /> <div class="sociallinks" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; clear: both; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; margin: 10px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> <fb:like action="recommend" class=" fb_iframe_widget" fb-iframe-plugin-query="action=recommend&app_id=&font=verdana&href=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.financialexpress.com%2Fnews%2Fmaruti-suzuki-celerio-review-almost-a-celestial-drive%2F1224126%3Frheditorpick&locale=en_US&sdk=joey&show_faces=false&width=500" fb-xfbml-state="rendered" font="verdana" show_faces="false" style="display: inline-block; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative;" width="500"><span style="border: 0px; display: inline-block; height: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; text-align: justify; vertical-align: bottom; width: 500px;"></span><br /></fb:like></div> </div>

Maruti Suzuki Celerio review: Almost a celestial drive

SUMMARY Cabin space of Zen Estilo, driveability of A-Star, path-breaking technology. That’s Celerio for you. With price range of Rs 3.9 l...

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Beats Music review

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <div class="newslist_img" style="color: #4e4e4e; float: left; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px; outline: none;"> <img alt="beats_music_screenshot_website.JPG" class="imgbdr" id="HeadContent_FullstoryCtrl_mainstoryimage" src="http://cdn.ndtv.com/tech/images/gadgets/beats_music_screenshot_website.JPG" style="background-color: white; border: 1px solid rgb(225, 225, 225); outline: none; padding: 4px;" /></div> <div style="color: #4e4e4e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; outline: none;"> </div> <div class="description" id="HeadContent_FullstoryCtrl_fulldetails" style="color: #4e4e4e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; outline: none;"> There's no shortage of music subscription services that offer unlimited streaming for a monthly fee. The conceit of the latest offering, Beats Music, is that its playlists and other recommendations are curated by warm-blooded humans, not robots.<div style="outline: none;"> As CEO Ian Rogers proclaims, "Algorithms can do 'sounds like.' They can't do 'feels like.'"</div> </div> <div style="outline: none;"> <span style="color: #4e4e4e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">Beats Music comes from Beats Electronics, the headphone-maker backed by hip-hop mogul Dr. Dre and former music executive Jimmy Iovine.</span></span></div> <div style="outline: none;"> <span style="color: #4e4e4e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></div> <div style="outline: none;"> <span style="color: #4e4e4e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">For $10 a month, you get unlimited streaming and song downloading for offline listening. Downloaded songs expire once you cancel the subscription. AT&T customers are also eligible for a $15-a-month family plan for as many as five family members. You can sign up for a 90-day free trial, but there's no free, ad-supported version like some of its rivals.</span></span></div> <div style="outline: none;"> <span style="color: #4e4e4e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></div> <div style="outline: none;"> <span style="color: #4e4e4e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">Beats Music has its roots in the MOG streaming service, which Beats Electronics bought in 2012. Beats Music has a more playful interface than MOG, which was mostly utilitarian. Beats also introduces a few ways to discover both new and old material.</span></span></div> <div style="outline: none;"> <span style="color: #4e4e4e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></div> <div style="outline: none;"> <span style="color: #4e4e4e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">Apps Android, iOS, and Windows Phone are available now. Computer users can listen through their Web browser. And like other streaming services, you can choose specific songs, albums or artists on your own. Beats Music has a catalog of more than 20 million songs, which is comparable to its rivals.</span></span></div> <div style="color: #4e4e4e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; outline: none;"> I began by going through a get-to-know-you sequence for new users, picking a few genres and artists I like. Somewhat flustered by the scarcity of choices, I picked "Sting," "Katy Perry" and "Harry Connick Jr." and the genre "Pop." I'm glad I was discerning about these choices (redoing them several times), because eventually I was presented with something I liked.</div> <span class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image" style="color: #4e4e4e; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; outline: none;"><img alt="beats_music_screenshot_ap.jpg" class="mt-image-center" height="512" src="http://cdn.ndtv.com/tech/images/gadgets/beats_music_screenshot_ap.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 20px; outline: none; text-align: center;" width="288" /></span><br /> <div style="color: #4e4e4e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; outline: none;"> The Beats Music app tries to take the information you enter in order to present you with a variety of albums and playlists that are "Just For You."</div> <div style="color: #4e4e4e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; outline: none;"> Another section for recommendations, dubbed "The Sentence," prompts you to fill in blanks to establish what you'd like to hear, but you end up with silly sentences like "I'm in the shower & feel like ordering in with my family to Indie." It's reminiscent of Allrecipes' "Dinner Spinner" except I'm not sure what ingredients I'm adding in. I mostly skipped this game because I found the resulting choices to be far too random.</div> <div style="color: #4e4e4e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; outline: none;"> Another "Highlights" section made more sense, like a playlist of the "2014 Grammy Winners."</div> <div style="color: #4e4e4e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; outline: none;"> One recommendation I liked from the "Just For You" section was a playlist called "Young Lovers Heartbreak Mix." If you have a rainy day - or in drought-plagued Los Angeles, at least a few hours with nothing better to do - it's worth a listen.</div> <div style="color: #4e4e4e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; outline: none;"> The 25-song, 96-minute playlist starts off slowly with the piano ballad "Say Something" by A Great Big World. It builds gradually, ramping up with the rise-from-the-ashes fourth song "Skyscraper" by Demi Lovato. It hits a crescendo between songs 13 and 14, when "Don't Speak," Gwen Stefani's 1996 hit with her band, No Doubt, crashes into Miley Cyrus' "Wrecking Ball" from last year. Somewhat appropriately, the playlist ends with Taylor Swift's power recovery song "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together."</div> <span class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image" style="color: #4e4e4e; display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; outline: none;"><img alt="beats_music_screenshot_playstore.JPG" class="mt-image-center" height="271" src="http://cdn.ndtv.com/tech/images/gadgets/beats_music_screenshot_playstore.JPG" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 20px; outline: none; text-align: center;" width="635" /></span><br /> <div style="color: #4e4e4e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; outline: none;"> The app says the playlist was created by "Beats Pop," but the curator was actually Arjan Timmermans, the popular blogger behind ArjanWrites.com. Hired as the head of pop and dance programming at Beats Music last year, Timmermans is one of nine real people who put some 5,000 playlists together for Beats Music. (Neither Dre nor Iovine are among them).</div> <div style="color: #4e4e4e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; outline: none;"> The playlist was designed for "a teenager who got their heart broken for the first time," Timmermans said in an interview. The songs - a mix of hits by current teen idols and breakup classics like "Don't Speak" - are meant to work together emotionally, he said, telling the listener, "It's OK to be sad, but I can move through this."</div> <div style="color: #4e4e4e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; outline: none;"> The playlist has a beginning, middle and an end and runs about as long as a movie. And I found that some songs' lyrics work together back-to-back, like the way Stefani's line "don't tell me cause it hurts" runs into Cyrus' "don't you ever say I just walked away, I will always want you."</div> <div style="color: #4e4e4e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px; outline: none;"> That's a link I don't see a machine making these days. For people, it's probably a subconscious connection buried deep down there somewhere.</div> <span style="color: #4e4e4e; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 20px;">I am no teenager anymore, am happily married and am not the playlist's presumptive audience. But as a sampling of what Beats Music has to offer, it shows me this app has a soul.</span></div>

Beats Music review

There's no shortage of music subscription services that offer unlimited streaming for a monthly fee. The conceit of the latest off...

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Review: Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Gear

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px;">Meet Samsung's luxurious Galaxy Note 3, the sleekest blend of style and do-it-all features on the always-crowded smartphone market.</span><span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /><br /><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span><br /> <span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0ugwelgo37kRy0jY5nq4aV0PAnxwfFIoDNl__MrkzwivNdnWxA8iB2l6DcU3AkVyL67oTQtL9D1OqGZtEiLkOXA3dAwFmO62rfMQ4r59GdKDcD8Y3tDCbb4MmE8OKwv2QQvXDvBki4on1/s1600/samsung19n-1-web.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0ugwelgo37kRy0jY5nq4aV0PAnxwfFIoDNl__MrkzwivNdnWxA8iB2l6DcU3AkVyL67oTQtL9D1OqGZtEiLkOXA3dAwFmO62rfMQ4r59GdKDcD8Y3tDCbb4MmE8OKwv2QQvXDvBki4on1/s1600/samsung19n-1-web.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white;">Samsung Galaxy Note 3 (left) and Galaxy Gear work together to make the stylus and ‘smartwatch’ cool.</span></span><br /> <span style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span></span> <span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px;">Styluses and watches weren't supposed to be "cool." Until now.</span></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px;">Meet Samsung's luxurious Galaxy Note 3, the sleekest blend of style and do-it-all features on the always-crowded smartphone market. Samsung's Galaxy Note 2 was my favorite smartphone of 2012, the only device I wanted to use more than that old reliable iPhone. In 2013, Samsung somehow makes things even better, yielding an absolutely splendid device.</span></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px;">It's all about innovation. In recent years, Samsung has been at its best when it's delivered unique devices (think the Note 2 and last year's Galaxy Camera) instead of merely following a crowd focused on battery power (yawn) and "thin and light" (sigh). So this time around, it focuses more on its S Pen stylus and crafts an optional Galaxy Gear, a completely pointless (yet totally cool) watch accessory, just for good measure.</span></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px;">The resulting smartphone is the best Android device this year, even if you don't shell out the exorbitant $299 extra for the Gear.</span></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px;">At a whopping six inches long, the Note 3 is far larger than even oversized devices such as the HTC One and Droid Maxx, but it never feels that way, still fitting easily into my jeans' back pocket. Samsung uses the real estate well, too, delivering a beautiful 5.7-inch full-HD display that makes movies and games look fantastic.</span></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px;">The Note 3 never feels or looks clunky, either. Samsung smartly ditches the cheap-feeling plastic back of this year's Galaxy S4, giving you a faux-leather back on the Note 3. No, it's not real (it's plastic, too), but, combined with the silver etching around the border, it adds a slight elegance to this phone. The grip and resistance against fingerprints help, too.</span></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px;">The guts of this phone are impressive. A 2.3-GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor runs Android Jelly Bean (sorry, not KitKat), and there's a solid 3 GB of RAM. In practice, that means swift handling of everyday processes and easy Web browsing. The Snapdragon is so powerful it lets you balance two apps at once via Advanced Multi Window, a setup that's perfect on this oversized phone.</span></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px;">RELATED: REVIEW: SAMSUNG GALAXY S 4</span></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px;">The Snapdragon allows the Note 3 to run games easily, too. That last bit is especially worth noting when you consider the size of the Note 3. As a handheld gaming device with on-screen controls, it feels natural.</span></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px;">Not that Samsung intended this to be a gaming machine. The focus here is on productivity. To that end, there's a solid 13 megapixel camera. Like the S4, the Note 3 cam is loaded with software features and it functions well.</span></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px;">And then there's the S Pen, and this is truly the game changer. I fell in love with the S Pen last year and I haven't killed trees with awful reporter paper waste since. And this year's pen is even more appealing.</span></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px;">The S Pen itself is slick and responsive once you remove it from its unnoticeable slot on the bottom right side of the Note 3. Removing it from this slot instantly brings up a menu of stylus-compatible apps for use.</span></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px;">You can easily take notes with S Note or you can give Action Memo a try. This app converts your handwriting into texts or emails or contacts, and while it struggled to translate my reporter chicken scratch, in the right hands, it is a powerful, easy-to-use tool. The S Pen, meanwhile, is so easy to use that this phone is easy to recommend to students or reporters or anyone who takes plenty of notes.</span></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px;">It's a shame that Samsung's user interface isn't quite that good. This used to be my favorite Android UI, but it takes slight steps backwards here. On the positive side, the WatchON app, designed to let you control your TV via the Note 3's IR blaster, is brilliant and easy to set up, and it finally smoothly integrates AV receivers. The Note 3 also incorporates a numerical row of keys on its onscreen keyboard, a smart use of its real estate when you are texting.</span></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px;">But the drop-down menu has gotten overcrowded and, especially if you use WatchON, and there are so many apps that it is easy to lose track of things. It is good to give users options, but stuffing all of them onto the easy-access drop-down is overwhelming. You will want to tweak this early on. Air Gestures, which lets you command the phone without actually touching it, are needless and the eye-tracking capabilities are as useless here as they were on the S4.</span></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px;">RELATED: REVIEW: SAMSUNG GALAXY S4 ACTIVE SMARTPHONE</span></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px;">Still, all that stuff is customizable, so it is more annoyance than anything on a tremendous phone. At $299 on contract, the Note 3 is the class of premium smartphones, a dynamic performer, and it only gets better if you add the Galaxy Gear, too.</span></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px;">To be clear, you don't need a Gear because this device is completely unnecessary. But anyone who has ever wanted to feel like a secret agent or Michael Knight from "Knight Rider" will have a blast with this smartwatch, which links easily to your Note 3 via Bluetooth and stays connected. You can take calls from the Gear and you can take pictures using the Gear's camera (yes, slightly creepy), and eventually, you will be able to add other apps to the Gear.</span></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px;">It's a fun little add-on for those with a little extra income, although it's not quite there yet. The Gear takes calls easily and fluidly (and there's nothing quite like a bystander watching you talk to your watch), and the camera takes surprisingly solid shots. The Bluetooth pairing with your Note 3 is easy, too.</span></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px;">But at the moment $299 is just too much to pay for a device that doesn't have a full library of apps just yet. If you could, say, read your Twitter feed and text messages from your watch, that would be cool, and it would help eliminate the need to constantly pull out your oversized cellphone all the time. But as of this printing, there are no reliable apps that do that.</span></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px;">The Gear, therefore, is an extraneous gadget that's cool but not necessarily worth the cash — but you can't fault Samsung for giving it a try. It's innovative and different, and it'll strike a chord with at least a few people who have the extra income, which is increasingly becoming Samsung's way. Just look at the newly released Galaxy S4 Zoom phone, or the company's expanding line of tablets.</span></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px;">It's nice to see a company truly innovating, trying to develop interesting tech instead of simply copying and restyling the features that have been on the market for years. It's nice to see something different and unique.</span></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px;">And it's nice to use the Note 3, the finest Android smartphone to date.</span></span><br /> <span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px;"><br /></span></span> <span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px;"><br /></span></span> </div>

Review: Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Gear

Meet Samsung's luxurious Galaxy Note 3, the sleekest blend of style and do-it-all features on the always-crowded smartphone market. ...

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