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.

HTC One M8

HTCs current flagship is the HTC One M8. The M8 carries forward HTC's mantra of good built quality and great speakers.
The new HTC One M8 comes in a new, more rounded off metal chassis. The cold metal feel is what people love about the phone. HTC sells the phone in 3 colors: 1. Amber Gold, 2. Gunmetal Grey 3. Glacial Silver. The front facing speakers, though not branded 'beats audio' anymore, still give a great stereo sound experience when watching video or playing games.

The HTC One M8 comes with HTC's new blink feed which keeps you updated with its news feed.
HTC's skin over android is intrusive but not as bloated as touchwiz from Samsung.The phone runs kitkat and is slated to get updates.
The M8 has almost the same camera as last year with improved optics but it loses optical image stabilization. There is a second lens that allows another angle to your photographs and lets you change the focus after the photo has been taken. The HTC photo gallery lets you see view an interactive version of the image. the accelerometer and gyroscope work together to give a parallax effect. Most think it is just a gimmick with inconsistent performance and varied results. The ultrapixel branding of the camera sensor has not managed to wow people except for in low light. The front facing camera has a 5MP sensor that actually has a higher mega pixel count than the back camera.
The phone has a 5" 1080p display that is crisp and bright. Text is sharp and looks good.

The HTC One M8 is a great phone but it is mostly overshadowed by the two big boys of the tech world and has a niche fanfollowing.
The one is supposed to get an update with a new 13 MP camera for Indian and Chinese markets where camera quality is judged merely on megapixel count.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 4

The Note line of phones was an experiment by Samsung that has payed off big time as it sparked the big phone (phablet) race. The new Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is not a radical departure from the previous Note line up but it is improved in every field possible.

The Note 4 is a big leap forward for Samsung in terms of quality of materials used. The phone now has a metal chassis which is cold to the touch and does wonders for the feel in the hand. The fauxe leather on the back cover is carried over, but the gaudy stitching is no longer there. 

The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is set to pack a 5.7" screen (same as the Note 3) but with a 1440p (or 2K) display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3. It has a 2.7 GHz quad core processor with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 chipset and has 3 GB of RAM. It comes with Android 4.4.4 KitKat out of the box with the standard TouchWiz UI. It has a 16 MP rear camera with optical image stabilization and it is capable of shooting video in 2160p (or 4K) at 60 frames per second. It also has a 3.7 MP front facing camera with 1080p recording at 30 frames per second. It also has a heart rate monitor and a fingerpringt sensor just like the Samsung Galaxy S5. It has a 3220 mAh battery.


The Note 4 uses a microUSB 2.0 unlike the microUSB 3.0 from last years Note 3.
The Note 4 is compatible with the Gear VR- Samsung's Virtual Reality headset and right now, it is the only phone that is compatible with it.

The standard S-Pen stylus is now better than ever. It's more sensitive than the previous generations of Note's S Pens thus making it feel more like a pen while drawing or writing. The s pen in ow more useful as you can select multiple pictures or lines of text easily to share or save them.
Now you can run as many as 5 apps at the same time in windows that you can minimize to pinheads on your home screen. you can now copy and paste media from one window to another window, which does not seem like a big feature but it is in daily use.
The note4 is one of the best big screen phones you can buy and the new materials make the device a nice buy for the people who like getting things done on the go.

The Motorola Moto X

The Moto x (Gen 2)

Motorola just launched its new flagship, that is a revision to its model from last year called the Moto X. The phone follows the family design language.
All the new phones unveiled by Motorola now get front facing speakers, including the new Moto X. The phone is really well built with an aluminium frame with a slew of customization to the trim, back and boot up animation (though this only in the USA). For those of you who were wondering, the phone does not bend like the iPhone despite its aluminium frame. Reports from Unbox Therapy have shown that the phone doesn't as much as creak under pressure and is probably one of the most sturdiest phones in the market.

This phone has a 5.2" 1080p, having a pixel density of 423 ppi with Corning Gorilla Glass 3. It includes a 2.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 quad core CPU and has 2 GB of RAM with an Adreno 330 GPU. Only the 16 GB variant is available in India however, a 32 GB model is sold abroad. It has a 13 MP rear camera capable of 4K recording and a 2 MP front facing camera. It comes with Android 4.4.4 KitKat out of the box and is upgradable to android L when it releases. It has a 2300 mAh battery. The phone also has NFC and bluetooth 4.0 and is water resistant.

It also comes with enhanced voice controls and compatibility with the Moto Hint.

This phone is a huge improvement over its predecessor, the Moto X (1st generation). However, the camera is average and does not have a great battery life as compared to its rivals.