Tech2 Touch

Author: Aniruddh

  • Vivo V5 Plus Cons- Reasons not to buy

    Vivo V5 Plus is considered to be one of the best Selfie centric smartphone in the sub 30k budget. Priced at Rs.27,990, it is directly competing with the likes of OnePlus 3, Asus Zenfone 3 etc. In this post, let’s have a quick look into Vivo V5 Plus Cons which may not be deal breaker but good to know.

    Vivo V5 Plus Cons- Reasons not to buy

    Vivo V5 Plus Cons

    No Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box

    It is been more than 4 months since the launch of latest Android version 7.0. Budget smartphone such as Zenfone 3s Max comes with Android 7.0 out of the box. OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T already started receiving the Android Nougat update. Vivo in the past hardly updated their phones. Most of the phones still running the Android version which it sold with.

    No NFC, IR Blaster and USB Type-C

    Though these are not must have features, many phones which are priced lesser than this phone and similar priced phones have these features.

    Mediocre SoC for the price

    Snapdragon 625 is a efficient SoC. But for this price, there are phones with Snapdragon 820 which is much more powerful than this. Redmi Note 4 which is priced almost half of this phone is powered by this same SoC. OnePlus 3 offers Snapdragon 820 with 6GB of RAM which is also priced almost similar. When playing high end games such as Asphalt 8 in Vivo V5 Plus, we observed minor lags in the highest setting.

    No expandable storage

    Vivo V5 Plus comes with 64GB of internal storage which is enough for most of the customer. But lack of option to add a microSD is a bit disappointment. It would have been great atleast it had hybrid sim card slot.

    Fast charger is not as fast as DASH charger in OnePlus 3

    Vivo V5 Plus comes with Proprietary fast charging support. It does charges battery faster. However, when compared to Dash charger on Oneplus, it is bit slow.

    These are some of the Vivo V5 Plus Cons according to us.

  • Asus Zenfone 3s Max FAQ Tips and Tricks Cons

    Zenfone Max series smartphones from Asus are well known for its great battery life. Zenfone 3s Max is the latest smartphone from this series. In this post, we will have a quick look into frequently asked question,few basic tips and tricks and Cons of Asus Zenfone 3s Max.

    Asus Zenfone 3s Max FAQ Tips and Tricks Cons

    Asus Zenfone 3s Max

    What size sim cards Zenfone 3s Max accepts? Does it has dedicated microSD card slot?

    It comes with hybrid sim card slot. This means that you can either use 2 sim cards or 1 sim card with microSD card. Zenfone 3s Max supports 1 micro SIM card and 1 nano sim card. If you want to use microSD card, then 1 micro SIM and microSD card can be used.

    How to insert sim card and microSD card into Zenfone 3s Max?

    For inserting 2 sim card follow the steps given below.

    • First you need to turn off the device.
    • Push the eject pin which comes in the box into the hole on the card slot to eject the tray out.
    • Place the nano and micro SIM cards  into the appropriate slot.
    • Push the tray to close it.

    For inserting 1 micro SIM card  and microSD card follow the steps given below.

    • As mentioned in the above step, remove the sim card tray.
    • Now place the sim card and microSD card in the appropriate slots.
    • Push the tray to close it.

    How to take screenshot on Asus Zenfone 3s Max?

    Asus ZenUI provides 3  simple methods to take screenshot. I have made a detailed post. You can refer the post here. How to take screenshot on Zenfone 3.

    Is it possible to use Zenfone 3s Max as power bank?

    Yes. Zenfone 3s Max supports reverse charging.

    What are the specification of Zenfone 3s Max?

    The key specifications of the device are as follows.

    • 5.2 inch IPS 720p HD display screen.
    • 1 GHz Octa-core MediaTek MT6750 SoC with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage.
    • 5000 mAh battery with reverse charging support.
    • Android 7.0 with ZenUI 3.
    • 13MP primary camera and 8MP front facing camera.
    •  Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB OTG, FM, 3G and 4G.

    Does Asus Zenfone 3s Max supports Multi-window mode?

    Yes.

    How to open and see the components inside Zenfone 3s Max?

    Opening the phone may void warranty and may become unusable. Still if you are interested, you can refer to the video on Tear Down of the Incredible ZenFone 3s Max below.

    What are the cons of Asus Zenfone 3s Max?

    This is not a complete review. Based on the short period of usage and looking at the spec sheet, below are the Zenfone 3s Max cons according to us. However, we will be publishing a detailed review in the coming days.

    • Only 720HD screen.
    • No laser auto focus.
    • Lot of bloatwares.
    • Lack of fast charging support.

  • Lenovo K6 Power Review- Pros and Cons

    Lenovo K6 Power is a sub 11k feature rich dual sim Android smartphone. It has got impressive specifications at affordable price. But how well it fares in real time scenarios?. Let us find out in this Lenovo K6 Power Review based on pros and cons.

    Lenovo K6 Power Review

    Recommended Reading:

    Redmi 3s Prime vs Lenovo K6 Power 

    Lenovo K6 Power FAQ

    Lenovo K6 Power sports 5 inch full HD display screen with pixel density of around  441. Brightness, sunlight legibility, viewing angles are decent. The text looks quite sharp and colours are punchy. Overall display screen of the Lenovo K6 Power is one of the main USP at this price.

    Next highlight of the Lenovo K6 Power is its large battery. It houses 4000 mAh battery with reverse charging support. With my regular usage, it easily lasted more than 1 and half days.  If you enable power saving mode, the battery life can be extended further. One of the Lenovo K6 Power cons in this segment is lack of fast charging support. To charge the device from 0 to 100% it takes slightly more than 3 hours.

    Lenovo K6 Power is powered by Octa core Snapdragon 430 SoC with Adreno 505. It is available in 3GB and 4GB RAM variant. It runs on Android 6.0 along with Vibe UI. Users have the option to switch between Vibe UI and pure Android launcher in settings.

    Coming to performance, it is impressive. I have not faced any lag in general usage. Even while gaming, there was no stuttering observed. Games like Asphalt 8 can be playable on this device. The cellular call quality was decent. The fingerprint scanner on the device is fast and accurate. Lenovo K6 Power con in this segment I have observed is slow security patch updates. The device security patch update date on my device was of June 2016.

    Lenovo K6 Power has 13 megapixel primary camera with Sony IMX258 sensor, PDAF and LED flash. In the front, it has 8MP camera with Sony IMX219 sensor and wide angle lense. Camera performance in well lit situations came out well. It can also record videos at full HD resolution which came out well. Even selfie camera does decent job. In low light, performance is not great.

    Advantages and Disadvantages of Lenovo K6 Power

    Pros of Lenovo K6 Power

    • Excellent battery life.
    • Good performance.
    • Decent looking design and good build quality.
    • Features all basic sensors and supports GLONASS for GPS.

    Cons of Lenovo K6 Power

    • No fast charging option.
    • Navigation keys are not backlit.
    • Slow Android security patch updates.
    • Only available through Flash sales.
    • Low light camera performance could have been better.
    • Earpiece call volume feels little low.

    Lenovo K6 Power Review Summary

    Lenovo K6 power is one of the best value for money device in the price segment of sub 11k. Excellent display screen and good battery life are the main highlight of the device. In the segments such as gaming performance, camera also it fared decent. This Lenovo K6 Power review is based on my usage of around 15 days.

  • Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 Cons-Reasons not to buy

    Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 is one of the best selling smartphone in India. As per data shared by Xiaomi, in the first flash sale 250k units got sold out in just 10 minutes.  It offers very good specification for the price. However, no phone is perfect. So in this post, let’s have a quick look into Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 Cons according to us.

    Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 Cons

    Image source: Flipkart

    Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 Cons-Reasons not to buy

    No fast charging

    Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 comes with 4100 mAh Li-polymer battery. But fast charging is limited to 5V/2A.  Hence for charging the device from 0 to 100% it takes around 3 hours. It would have been better if it had faster charging option.

    No Android 7.0 Nougat and lot of bloatware

    Redmi Note 4 runs on MIUI 8 on top of Android 6.0. It is been more than 4 months since Android 7.0 is released. It is sad to see a new smartphone which is not running on latest version of Android out of the box.

    Also, the device comes with lot of preinstalled apps which is very difficult or not possible to remove. In the 4GB variant, almost 1.5GB of RAM is always used by the system due to heavily customised MIUI.

    Difficult to buy due to flash sales

    Ever since Xiaomi launched its first smartphone Mi3 in India in 2014, it opted for flash sale model. The units will be sold out in a minute or two. Customers have to wait for a specified day and time in week and should be quick enough to buy the device. Many times due to sudden spike in traffic, ecommerce sites goes down which makes buying a device more cumbersome.

    Average camera performance

    Compared to Redmi Note 3, camera performance on Redmi Note 4 is much better. However, comparing with other smartphone in the price segment, camera performance is not great especially in low light and artificial lighting condition. The front facing camera performance also average.

    Hybrid sim card slot

    Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 comes with hybrid sim card slot which means that user can use two sim cards or one sim card with microSD card. There is no dedicated microSD card slot. Though the base variant of the device has 32GB internal storage, it would have been great if it had microSD card slot.

    This is not a complete review. These Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 Cons are may not be a deal breaker for most of us. But, knowing the demerits of the device helps to set the expectation from the device. In Spite of all these Redmi Note 4 Cons, we still believe it is one of the best value for money smartphone in the sub 15k price segment.

  • Moto M Review- Pros and Cons

    Moto M is the first smartphone from Moto series with all metal unibody design. It comes in 2 variants. One with 3GB RAM and 32GB internal storage and second one has 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage.  Here is the Moto M review based on the pros and cons.

    Moto M Review

    The first thing you notice on Moto M is its design and build quality. The all metal unibody design with slightly curved back gives premium feel to the device.  It has a body to screen ratio of 73 percent, thanks to the thin bezels.

    Moto M sports 5.5 inch 1080p IPS LCD screen with pixel density of around 401 ppi. Quality of the display panel used on this device is excellent. The viewing angles, colour saturation and sunlight legibility are good. The touch response also impressive.

    Moto M is powered by 2.2GHz Octa Core Mediatek Helio P15 SoC with Mali T860 MP2 GPU. The unit which we have used for this review has 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. It is a dual sim smartphone which has hybrid sim card slot. This means that, you can either use one sim card and a microSD or 2 sim cards.

    Performance of Moto M is decent. We have not faced any laginess while using the device for basic day to day tasks. However, gaming performance was just average. There was visible stuttering while playing high end games. Also, some of the trade mark features of Motorola smartphones such as Moto display and Moto action etc are missing.

    Moto M comes with 16MP primary camera with LED flash and 8MP secondary camera. The primary camera takes decent pictures in well lit conditions. However in low light and indoor lighting condition, camera performance is just average. The 8MP front facing camera performance was good compared to Moto G4 Plus.

    Moto M houses 3050 mAh Li-Polymer battery which lasted one full day in our review period. Charging time to fully charge the device was around one and half hours.

    Moto M Review- Pros and Cons

    Moto M Pros

    • Good design and build quality.
    • Excellent display panel.
    • Decent battery life.
    • Features all the basic sensors like compass, gyroscope, auto brightness sensor etc.
    • Front facing camera performance is decent.
    • LED notification light.

    Moto M Cons

    • Average performance.
    • Hybrid sim card slot.
    • Lack of Moto Display, Moto Action.
    • Camera performance is average.
    • No laser auto focus.

    These are the some of the pros and cons we found while doing the Moto M Review. Please let us know your thought on this device in the comment section below.