Motorola MOTO E

Motorola has upgraded its cheapest smartphone, the moto e, and has beefed it up with some new connectivity features. The MOTO e was the company's budget phone that was supposed to give you a decent experience for a modest price. the new Moto e does exactly the same.

The  main reason this phone is creating such a buzz is, the fact that it is the first budget phone from a mainstream phone manufacturer that has 4G LTE built in. Though this doesn't benefit people in developing markets (as LTE is still not widely available) it is still a bump up in specs. 

While other flagship phones still wait for the lolliipop update , the new MOTO e comes with lollipop right out of the box. The MOTO e is the first budget device to run lollipop and handles the new OS well. 

The MOTO e runs on a snapdragon 400 processor that is good enough for basic gaming and day to day tasks.   

The MOTO e sports a 45" 540 x 960 pixel display that  gives it a pixel density of  245 PPI . Even though the screen has gotten larger , the resolution has stayed the same. The screen is not great, but that can be expected from a budget device. The IPS panel has decent colour reproduction and good viewing angles.

The new MOTO e now has a front facing VGA camera in addition  to the primary 5 MP camera that now has autofocus. the pictures are far from perfect but are decent in outdoor conditions with natural light. The phone still lacks an LED for flash.

The MOTO e takes Micro SIMs and has an SD card slot to upgrade the 8GB internal storage to 40 GB with a 32 GB SD card.

It is an amazing phone for the price and also comes in a 3G variant that runs on a Snapdragon 200 processor.  

  

The iPad Air 2 and the iPad Mini 3

The iPad Air 2

The iPad Air 2 is the latest tablet by Apple unveiled along with the iPad Mini 3 and the iMac with Retina Display. It features an A8X chip with an M8 co-processor, a huge upgrade from last year's A7. It packs the same 9.7 inch screen with the same resolution as the iPad 3rd and 4th generation's and the iPad Air's. It uses a 64-bit architecture and now uses a Touch ID, just like the iPhone 5s, 6 and 6 Plus.

It has an upgraded 8 MP camera with a native resolution of 3264x2448 capable of recording in 1080p. It can shoot time-lapse videos and slo-mo videos in 120 frames per second. It is also 18% thinner than its predecessor and comes with iOS 8.1 out of the box and now comes in a gold model. It starts from $499 in the United States for the Wi-Fi only model and ₹ 35,900 in India for the same.

                                    The iPad Mini 3

The iPad Mini 3 is a huge disappointment. It has the same specs as the iPad Mini 2, which includes an A7 chip with an M7 co-processor, 7.9 inch screen, 2048x1536 Retina Display and a 5 MP camera capable of recording in 1080p. The only differences include a Touch ID and a gold model for $100 more than the iPad Mini 2. If you were to buy an iPad Mini, I would not recommend the iPad Mini 3 unless you really want the Touch ID. It costs $399 in the United States for the Wi-Fi only model, whereas the iPad Mini 2 costs $299. The iPad Mini 3 starts from ₹ 28,800 in India and comes with iOS 8.1 out of the box.

Motorola Nexus 6

The Motorola Nexus 6

Google just unveiled its newest smartphone, the Nexus 6, and for those of you wondering, yes it does have a six inch screen. The Nexus 6 and the Nexus 9 will be the first two devices to ship with Android Lollipop out of the box. The phone is made by Motorola which is apparent.

Most people were put off by the fact that the Nexus 6 has a 5.92" screen but in reality the bezels on the screen are not very large and the phone is actually as tall as the iPhone 6 Plus. The phone looks like a blown up Moto X with the same design and materials. The phone continues with the same camera as the Moto X with the same ring flash. This is the first Nexus device with explicit branding of the maker in the form of the Motorola dimple in the back of the phone.

The screen of the Nexus 6 is a 6 inch Quad HD (or 2K) display AMOLED screen that gives high contrasts and deep blacks. The most amazing part of the Nexus 6 apart from the screen is the Snapdragon 805 processor clocked at 2.7 GHz that is backed by 3GB of RAM. This makes the Nexus 6 a monster of a device in every field possible. The phone comes with the signature front firing speakers of the other Moto devices. The device comes with a 3220 mAh battery that should last even the power users a whole day without dying on them.
On the whole the Nexus 6 is great if you like large phones, as it lets the designers fit a larger screen and battery in the device. 

HTC Nexus 9

HTC Nexus 9

The Nexus 9 was unveiled along with the Nexus 6 and the Android TV. It is the first tablet running Lollipop (Android 5.0). This tablet is a blend of the Nexus 7 and the Nexus 10. The most eye catching features is the thin bezel and brushed metal sides.

This phone packs an 8.9" 1536x2048 display (just like the iPads with retina display) with a pixel density of 281 ppi.  It uses a quad core 64-bit Tegra K1 processor, 2.3 GHz with 2GB of RAM and uses a 192-core Kepler GPU. It has an 8 MP rear camera capable of shooting video in 1080p at 30 fps and a 1.6 MP front facing camera. It also has an LED flash. It uses a 6700 mAh battery.
This tablet also has the Boom Sound speakers found in most of HTC's devices which produces great sound quality.
HTC has also designed a keyboard case for the Nexus 9 that helps boost productivity and usability.

Pre-orders for the Nexus 9 starts on October 17th and releases on November 3rd. The Wifi-only 16GB model retails for $399, 32GB Wifi-only model retails for $479 and the 32GB LTE model retails for $599.

Samsung Galaxy Alpha

The Galaxy Alpha

The Samsung Galaxy Alpha is a flash of light in new direction for the company. The company is now focusing on the design of their phones which was one of the sour points of Samsung phones for a while. Gone are the fake metal bands around the phone, that are now replaced by real aluminium bands all around the sides.

The phone feels great in the hand and the cold aluminium makes the device feel all the more premium. The back is still a removable plastic panel but it has a new rubbery finish. There are subtle curve on the left and right of the phone that makes the phone fit nicely in the hand. The buttons are thin but very clicky and tactile. The heart rate monitor on the back is now to the side of the camera module compare to it being under the camera in the Samsung Galaxy S5. It is no longer an indent in the phone rather it is flush with the back of the phone.

The phone comes with a 720p 4.7" display that is not the best in terms of pixel density but is vivid and has high levels of contrast as all Samsung displays do. The speaker grill on the phone is at the bottom of the phone and is easy to cover. The camera is a 12 MP snapper that has the usual Samsung camera interface that lets you take some crazy shots. The home button doubles as the fingerprint scanner that you have to slide your finger over. It has been improved and the success rate of it working has increased.

This phone does not come with expandable storage, has a 4.7" screen and uses a nano SIM, hinting that it is an alternative to the iPhone. Many would say that the device is underpowered and lacks flagship specs, but this is not aimed at spec heads. This phone is meant to impress the average Joe who wants a good looking and feeling phone.
The phone costs $659 in the US and ₹39990 in India.

HTC Desire EYE

HTC Desire Eye

The HTC desire eye is the ultimate selfie cam-phone. It is the rumoured 13 MP camera HTC phone. Most thought it would be the back camera that was getting the spec boost, and it did, but the phone has the same camera facing forward. This is HTC's attempt to tap into the selfie crowd. The phone was supposed to have a metal chassis, like the One M8, but now we know it has a plastic casing.

The Desire EYE has a nicely designed body with the signature Boom Sound speakers which are now hidden between the chin of the phone and the screen and between the bezel and the screen in the top. Both cameras have a dual LED flash. The Desire has a 5.2" 1080p display which is sharp and bright. It does not have the metal build that many people wanted, but it has a polycarbonate frame that is IPX7 certified. This means it is waterproof but not dust proof.

The phone runs Android KitKat with HTC's skin on it (HTC Sense), so it gets the new Blinkfeed for news and entertainment.

There are still rumours of a One M8 with a 13 MP camera, but we have to wait and see if it is true or not.

Update: Looks like the HTC One M8 Eye rumours are true, but it's only available in Asian markets. Nothing has been said about the phone releasing in Indian and North American markets yet.
Here is the link for the HTC One M8 Eye: http://eshop.htc.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Banner03?storeId=10001&catalogId=10001&langId=-7

The Moto G 2nd gen

The Moto G 2nd gen

Motorola's middle range phone has gotten a refresh to keep with the times. Facing stiff competition from smaller OEMs in developing markets like India, Motorola has had to refresh the Moto G to keep the masses interested.

The phone continues Motorola's family look. It has the Motorola dimple and the curved back that lets it fit perfectly in the hand.

The Moto G now has a 5" display with a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels. The phone now gets front facing speakers that give stereo sound. The Moto G is powered by the same Snapdragon 400 processor as before.The camera on the Moto G is an 8 MP camera that is an upgrade from last year's 5 MP camera. It gets a 2 MP front camera that is good for Skype calls and the occasional selfie. A big bonus for the Indian market is the addition of a microSD card slot, which allows expandability upto 32 GB of space.

There is not much different in the new Moto G from last years model. Motorla has stuck to the basics and has given us yet another well engineered phone that should be more than enough to keep the average consumer happy. The added Motorola logo adds a sense of reliability to the phone and should boost the sales of this phone.

This phone runs on Android 4.4.4 KitKat and is upgradable to Android Lollipop when it releases.




Review


I've been using the new Moto G for almost a month now. The first thing I noticed when I held the phone was how comfortable the back shell was and how it snugly fit in my hand. So far, I have never encountered any stutter or lag. None of the apps have crashed- not even once. KitKat runs smoothly and stock android is just beautiful.

The 720p display is decent. I use an iPad with a retina display and I feel the displays are more or less the same. However, the Moto G seems to have a greater pixel density than the retina iPad, although it has a lower ppi than its predecessor.

5 inches is the perfect size. At first, it was big for me but now I've gotten used to it.

The battery lasts for a little more than a day with regular use with its 2070 mAH battery. That is pretty decent battery life for a low end phone.

The new Moto G is very sturdy. I've dropped my phone a few times and I haven't got anything- not even a scratch. Although I would recommend using a case.

The camera is an upgrade from last model's camera- from 5 MP to 8 MP. The pictures are decent. Video, however is not that great. It shoots video at 720p, which is not satisfactory as its competitors can shoot video at 1080p.

The front facing 2 MP camera is great for taking selfies and for video conferences.

Only the 16 GB variant is available on Flipkart and storage can be expanded upto 32 GB, which is enough storage (for a person like me).

The dual speakers are brilliant, but not the best (when compared to HTCs boom sound speakers).

Overall, the phone is brilliant and runs smoothly. It is worth every penny although the rear camera could have been improved for video (taking 1080p videos).

KitKat runs smoothly and is beautiful. This will change for the better when Android Lollipop comes out.

This phone is one of the best in its price range. I would give it an overall rating of 8.7.