Xiaomi Redmi 4A review: One of the best entry-level smartphones, but only if you can get your hands on it

• 
  Other smartphone players have also caught on to Xiaomi’s strategy, and there has definitely been stiff competition in the last one year, but Xiaomi still has a star product in most of the under Rs 30,000 price segments. The only annoying aspect is actually buying a Xiaomi handset. Its flash sales or open sales are notorious for making you wait weeks before you finally get one handset. After these many years, it is high time Xiaomi got this aspect right. It is a pain for mobile phone buyers to wait for weeks before they get lucky in purchasing one handset off the sales.
  
  
  Recently, Xiaomi released its entry level Redmi device — the Xiaomi Redmi 4A, which is priced at Rs 5,999. Will this be the phone to go for someone thinking of making the switch from a feature phone? Let us find out

Build and Design: 7/10

Xiaomi’s mid-range devices have started to sport metallic builds. The Xiaomi Redmi 4A being an entry level device, comes with a polycarbonate finish. It weighs in at 131 grams and feels quite light, but sturdy to hold.

The volume rocker and power/standby button on the right hand side give good feedback. The SIM card tray is located on the left hand edge. The phone measures around 8.5 mm thick.

Xiaomi Redmi 4A ensures that there are no sharp edges on the phone, thanks to bevelled edges. This also helps in giving a good grip to the phone. On the rear of the phone there are fine grooves at the top and bottom, but it’s just a design element and it is not meant for antenna bands. The 13 MP rear camera is housed inside a metallic ring and is located on the top left hand corner with an LED flash unit beside it. The Mi branding is prominent on the lower half of the rear side. Towards the base there is a speaker grille section, with a minor chin just below it.

The phone comes with an infrared blaster on the top edge, which also houses the 3.5 mm audio jack. At the base, you have a microUSB port for charging and data transfer. On the front there is a 5-inch HD display with thick bezels on the top and bottom.

Overall, the build quality at this price point isn’t bad at all. The design is nothing out of the ordinary. The one-hand fit element will certainly attract a lot of buyers.

Features: 7/10
Xiaomi Redmi 4A comes with a 5-inch HD display and houses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 SoC with a quad-core Cortex A53 processor clocked at 1.4 GHz. The graphics portion is taken care of by an Adreno 308 GPU. The chipset is paired with 2 GB RAM. It comes in 16 GB and 32 GB storage variants. We got the 16 GB model to test, which gives around 10.3 GB of usable space. You can expand the storage using a microSD card by up to 256 GB.

The Xiaomi Redmi 4A comes in a hybrid dual SIM configuration (micro SIM + nano SIM), supports Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth 4.1, GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS and BDS. It comes with a micro USB port for charging and data transfer, and there is no support for fast charging.

Thankfully it bundles in an FM radio as well. On the camera front, you get a 13 MP rear camera, along with a 5 MP selfie camera. All this is powered by a non-removable 3,120 mAh Li-ion battery.

Publish date: April 25, 2017 12:48 pm| Modified date: April 25, 2017 12:48 pm

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Huawei Honor 8 first impressions: A contender for the mid-range smartphone crown

In what appears to be an industry trend this year, smartphone manufacturers seem to be slapping dual-cameras on the backs of their flagship and mid-range smartphones. This is by no means is a gimmick and surely improves the quality of the images captured, depending on the way in which the dual-camera system is utilized.

And it is so much of a trend this year that even Apple has decided to add a dual-camera system on the back of its iPhone 7 Plus. With that said, Huawei has been the pioneer of the dual-camera system on smartphones and this began with the Honor 6 Plus.

Huawei at an event announced that it would be bringing its Honor 8 smartphone to India soon.

I got a chance to have a quick look at this remake of the Honor 6 Plus and these are my first impressions.

Design and build

The Huawei Honor 8 is a big revamp and a big step ahead for the company’s Honor brand. It features an aluminium frame that is sandwiched on both sides by Corning’s Gorilla Glass. Huawei states that there is a very detailed process involved in making the glass with a 2.5D effect that sits on both the front and the back of the device. This results in a seamless design no matter how you hold the Honor 8.

Below the 2.5D Gorilla Glass on the front lies the 5.2-inch Full HD display. Sitting right above it is an 8MP camera for selfies and a well-hidden notifications LED that is tucked into the receiver cavity.

Flipping the phone on its back reveals two 12MP cameras stacked side-by-side. One is a monochrome sensor while the other is an RGB unit which is similar to the stuff you would find on the recently announced Huawei P9 flagship. The two camera modules work in a manner similar to the P9 as well. Also located on the back is a fingerprint reader. As on recent smartphones this one can be pressed down and custom functions can be assigned to the same.

Coming to the sides, the left side of the frame features a SIM tray that can accept up to two nano-SIMS or one nano SIM along with a microSD card. On the right we have the volume rocker and the power/unlock button located on the top half.

The top features a secondary mic and an IR blaster while the bottom features a 3.5mm headphone jack, a USB Type-C port and a speaker grille.

All-in-all the design looks impressive and feels solid.

Display

The Huawei Honor 8 features a 5.2-inch display that neither feels too big nor too small considering its good screen-to-body ratio. It features an LTPS display at Full HD resolution and this delivers a pixel density of 423 PPI, which is pretty good for mid-range device.

Hardware

The Huawei Honor 8 features a HiSilicon-designed Kirin 950 chipset. The chipset is paired with the Mali-T880 MP4 GPU and 4GB of RAM. The device features 32GB of internal storage which can be further expanded up to 256GB via the hybrid SIM tray.

The HiSilicon chipset has been manufactured using the 16nm process, which translates to better battery life for consumers.

Performance and OS

The Honor 8 features Android 6.0 Marshmallow as the base with version 4.1 of Huawei’s Emotion UI keeping things refreshed. During my short hands-on with the device, I did not notice any lag or stutter and apps opened and closed without delay. While users may not notice anything new, Huawei’s Emotion UI is known to take good advantage of the underlying hardware in its smartphones. So I’m hoping that an in-depth review of the same will reveal more.

Camera

With the Honor 8, it was expected that the company would take things further with the camera. And Huawei seems to have done just that with not one but two 12MP cameras at the rear. Add to this the laser assisted focus system and a contrast-based focus detection system, and you get a killer combination that locks focus accurately every single time. There are also plenty of shooting modes, including a Pro mode for capturing photos and recording videos. With the right pricing and a dual camera setup, could this be the one to take the mighty OnePlus 3 head on? Well, that would require some in-depth testing, so don’t forget to check out my full review of the Honor 8’s camera.

Battery and connectivity

The Honor 8 packs in a non-removable 3,000mAh battery. With a capacity that matches that of flagship smartphones. Combined with a 16nm chipset, we have some high expectations from the Honor 8. In terms of connectivity, the smartphone packs in pretty much everything under the sun. You get 4G bands, Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (dual band), Bluetooth v4.2, GPS, NFC and an infrared port as well.

Conclusion

During my short hands on with the Huawei Honor 8 I must say that I was impressed. Impressed by the smartphone’s build quality, hardware and the cameras (for now) which makes for a pretty strong contender in the mid-range space. The mid-range space for most international brands is now threatened by lower priced flagships like the OnePlus 3, the Xiaomi Mi 5/5s and even Lenovo’s Z2 Plus that offer high-end chipsets for a really low price tag. But Huawei, with its dual-camera setup, does seem to have something special here. I just hope that the company prices it right.

Huawei Honor 8 first impressions: A contender for the mid-range smartphone crown

In what appears to be an industry trend this year, smartphone manufacturers seem to be slapping dual-cameras on the backs of their flagship and mid-range smartphones. This is by no means is a gimmick and surely improves the quality of the images captured, depending on the way in which the dual-camera system is utilized.

And it is so much of a trend this year that even Apple has decided to add a dual-camera system on the back of its iPhone 7 Plus. With that said, Huawei has been the pioneer of the dual-camera system on smartphones and this began with the Honor 6 Plus.

Huawei at an event announced that it would be bringing its Honor 8 smartphone to India soon.

I got a chance to have a quick look at this remake of the Honor 6 Plus and these are my first impressions.

Design and build

The Huawei Honor 8 is a big revamp and a big step ahead for the company’s Honor brand. It features an aluminium frame that is sandwiched on both sides by Corning’s Gorilla Glass. Huawei states that there is a very detailed process involved in making the glass with a 2.5D effect that sits on both the front and the back of the device. This results in a seamless design no matter how you hold the Honor 8.

Below the 2.5D Gorilla Glass on the front lies the 5.2-inch Full HD display. Sitting right above it is an 8MP camera for selfies and a well-hidden notifications LED that is tucked into the receiver cavity.

Flipping the phone on its back reveals two 12MP cameras stacked side-by-side. One is a monochrome sensor while the other is an RGB unit which is similar to the stuff you would find on the recently announced Huawei P9 flagship. The two camera modules work in a manner similar to the P9 as well. Also located on the back is a fingerprint reader. As on recent smartphones this one can be pressed down and custom functions can be assigned to the same.

Coming to the sides, the left side of the frame features a SIM tray that can accept up to two nano-SIMS or one nano SIM along with a microSD card. On the right we have the volume rocker and the power/unlock button located on the top half.

The top features a secondary mic and an IR blaster while the bottom features a 3.5mm headphone jack, a USB Type-C port and a speaker grille.

All-in-all the design looks impressive and feels solid.

Display

The Huawei Honor 8 features a 5.2-inch display that neither feels too big nor too small considering its good screen-to-body ratio. It features an LTPS display at Full HD resolution and this delivers a pixel density of 423 PPI, which is pretty good for mid-range device.

Hardware

The Huawei Honor 8 features a HiSilicon-designed Kirin 950 chipset. The chipset is paired with the Mali-T880 MP4 GPU and 4GB of RAM. The device features 32GB of internal storage which can be further expanded up to 256GB via the hybrid SIM tray.

The HiSilicon chipset has been manufactured using the 16nm process, which translates to better battery life for consumers.

Performance and OS

The Honor 8 features Android 6.0 Marshmallow as the base with version 4.1 of Huawei’s Emotion UI keeping things refreshed. During my short hands-on with the device, I did not notice any lag or stutter and apps opened and closed without delay. While users may not notice anything new, Huawei’s Emotion UI is known to take good advantage of the underlying hardware in its smartphones. So I’m hoping that an in-depth review of the same will reveal more.

Camera

With the Honor 8, it was expected that the company would take things further with the camera. And Huawei seems to have done just that with not one but two 12MP cameras at the rear. Add to this the laser assisted focus system and a contrast-based focus detection system, and you get a killer combination that locks focus accurately every single time. There are also plenty of shooting modes, including a Pro mode for capturing photos and recording videos. With the right pricing and a dual camera setup, could this be the one to take the mighty OnePlus 3 head on? Well, that would require some in-depth testing, so don’t forget to check out my full review of the Honor 8’s camera.

Battery and connectivity

The Honor 8 packs in a non-removable 3,000mAh battery. With a capacity that matches that of flagship smartphones. Combined with a 16nm chipset, we have some high expectations from the Honor 8. In terms of connectivity, the smartphone packs in pretty much everything under the sun. You get 4G bands, Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (dual band), Bluetooth v4.2, GPS, NFC and an infrared port as well.

Conclusion

During my short hands on with the Huawei Honor 8 I must say that I was impressed. Impressed by the smartphone’s build quality, hardware and the cameras (for now) which makes for a pretty strong contender in the mid-range space. The mid-range space for most international brands is now threatened by lower priced flagships like the OnePlus 3, the Xiaomi Mi 5/5s and even Lenovo’s Z2 Plus that offer high-end chipsets for a really low price tag. But Huawei, with its dual-camera setup, does seem to have something special here. I just hope that the company prices it right.

Asus Zenfone 5 review: A worthy mid-range smartphone contender

#ASUS ZENFONE

• Asus has re-entered the smartphone market in India with their new Zenfone series announced at this year’s CES. The new series is available in four screen sizes – 4, 4.5, 5 and 6 inches. Today we’ll be taking a closer look at the Zenfone 5. With a starting price of just Rs 10,000 for the 8GB model, can it take the ‘budget-king’ crown away from the Moto G?

Design and Build

We’ve already talked about the design and aesthetics at great length in our unboxing and first impressions articles, so we’ll keep it short and sweet this time. The Zenfone 5, as with the rest of the family, has a simple candy bar design. It’s not too flashy and thanks to the changeable covers, it’s not boring either.

Good build and finish

The phone is built mostly of plastic while retaining a premium look and feel. The Zenfone is also quite sturdy and durable and will easily handle a few knocks and bumps along the way. The placement of ports and buttons are pretty ergonomic and have good tactile feedback.

Overall, the Zenfone 5 is built well and although it might not be the flashiest phone on the block, many will appreciate its simple aesthetics.

Feature

The middle child of the family rocks a 5-inch IPS, HD display that’s also got a scratch resistant coating from Corning. The display is quite vivid and colours are fairly punchy. Viewing angles are pretty good as well. Asus also bundles an app which lets you adjust the colour temperature of the display to suite your needs.

The new Zen UI looks very nice

The phone features Android 4.3 and the refreshed Zen UI, which is a big departure from Asus’s previous skins. The new theme follows a flat look for all the icons, which seems to be the trend these days. There’s a bunch of useful apps thrown in as well from Asus like Share Link and Remote Link. The heavily skinned version of Android doesn’t slow down a bit however, which is highly commendable. The app called ‘What’s Next’ throws up lockscreen notifications on the weather or any upcoming calendar appointments you might have.

The Zenfone 5 is powered by an Intel Atom Z2560 SoC which consists of a dual-core Clover Trial+ CPU running at 1.6GHz. The phone also features 2GB of RAM. Together, the chipset delivers better performance than MediaTek’s MT6582 and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 400 SoC, which are commonly seen in phones in this price segment.

Media

The Zenfone is available in 8GB and 16GB variants and both have expandable memory. The new look of the music player is very slick and easy to use. Audio is pretty loud as well through the loud speaker. The player lets you stream audio through DLNA as well and we have the standard EQ settings of Jelly Bean.

Media playback is good

Connectivity

The Zenfone 5 supports dual-SIM functionality, 3G and 2G. We also get Wi-Fi ‘n’, Bluetooth v4.0, GPS and GLONASS. The phone comes with plenty of productivity apps like Tasks, Flashlight and an app called Omlet, which lets you share photos among friends.

Some of the bundled apps

Camera

The 8MP camera sensor features an aperture value of f/2.2 and manages to capture good low-light-shots. The camera interface is completely overhauled but is still easy to get around. The quality of pictures is pretty good as well for a budget offering.

The new interface for the camera

HDR mode

Battery life

The 2110mAh battery manages to deliver a day-long battery life and you can squeeze out even more with the power saving modes turned on. It came out of our 8-hour battery test with quite some juice to spare. This is a great advantage for the Zenfone 5.

Verdict and Price in India

The Asus Zenfone 5 starts at Rs 12,999, although at the launch, Asus said you could find it for as low as Rs 10,000, for the 8GB model. In our books, that seems like unbeatable value when you consider its rich feature-set and good all-round performance. It’s really hard to fault the Zenfone 5 as it doesn’t really stumble much in any department. The Moto G seems to have met its match, finally!