tech2touch

Author: Aniruddh

Asus Zenfone Max 2016 Review- Good overall performer
Asus has launched upgraded version of its previous model Zenfone Max. The new Zenfone Max 2016 has retained all the good features of its predecessor and comes with additional new features at the same price. Here is Asus Zenfone 2016 model review with pros and cons.

One of the key attraction of Zenfone Max is its massive 5000 mAh battery. It delivers what it was expected to. It has great standby time. With my regular usage which consist of playing few games, usage of WiFi and mobile data,dual sim and few calls it easily lasted for more than 2 days. It also functions as power bank. You can use Zenfone Max as powerbank to charge other devices using the OTG cable provided in the box. Only concern in this section is charging duration. Out of thebox, device do not come with fast charger. Hence it takes close to 5 hours to charge the battery fully.

Recommended reading

New Asus Zenfone Max Frequently asked question and useful tips and tricks

The new Asus Zenfone Max 2016 comes with 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 SoC with 32GB of internal storage and support for microSD card. You can choose between 2GB RAM or 3GB RAM variant. My review unit has 2GB of RAM. In my usage I have not faced any lag on my day to day activities. I was able to play games such as Asphalt 8, Dead trigger etc without any issue. With extended gaming, device became little warm. The max temperature it touched is around 39 degrees.

The new Asus Zenfone Max 2016 variant, house 5.5 inch 720 IPS HD screen. The viewing angles, colours accuracy, sunlight legibility are decent. It would have been great if it had a full HD panel and bezels are little narrow. The signal reception and call quality are excellant. When it comes to noise cancellation, it did perform as expected.

New Asus Zenfone Max 2016 sports 13MP rear primary camera with laser auto focus, dual flash and PDAF. In good lit conditions, it took good images. The low light performance is decent for the price segment. The wide angle 5MP front facing camera does take good selfies.

New Asus Zenfone Max Review summary: The Zenfone Max is a worthy upgrade over its predecessor. With new more powerful SoC, great battery life, Decent camera and bigger storage capacity, it fulfills most of the requirements of a smartphone buyers for the price of Rs.9999. However, there are few cons of Zenfone Max as well. This includes, longer charging time, large bezel size and lack of fingerprint scanner.

Advantages and Disadvantages of new Asus Zenfone Max

Pros of Zenfone Max 2016
- Excellent battery life.
- Ability to use the device as power bank to charge other devices.
- Good performance.
- Android 6.0 Marshmallow out of the box.
- Decent camera performance.
- Good price to performance ratio.
Cons of Zenfone Max 2016
- Screen resolution could have been better.
- Longer charging hours.
- No fingerprint scanner.
May 30, 2016
Asus New Zenfone Max 2016 Tips Tricks and FAQ
Today Asus has launched new variants of popular Zenfone Max. The Asus Zenfone Max 2016 runs on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow out of the box. All the good features of earlier Zenfone Max such as 5.5 inch IPS HD display, 5000 mAh battery, 13MP pixelmaster camera with dual LED flash and laser auto focus, 5MP wide angle front facing camera, design philosophy etc are retained in the new device as well. However, now it comes with more powerful SoC and more storage options. Here is the some of the frequently asked questions along with some of the tips and trick of new Zenfone Max.

Asus Zenfone Max 2016 Tips Tricks and FAQ

What are the new variants of Zenfone Max? How it is different from previous Zenfone Max which was launched on January 2016?

Asus has launched 2 new variants of Zenfone Max in India today . Both variants are powered by Octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor which has 64 bit 8 ARM Cortex A53 cores clocked at 1.5GHz along with Adreno 405 GPU. Whereas older variant was powered by 4 ARM Cortex A53 cores clocked at 1.2GHz. So idealistically, the new device is 2 times more powerful than the older variant. Apart from this, new Zenfone Max comes with 32GB internal storage where as its predecessor had only 16GB of internal storage. Also now user has the option to choose between 2GB or 3GB RAM variants which was not available earlier.

What is the price of new Zenfone Max in India? Where this device is available for purchase?
- Zenfone Max 2GB RAM/ 32GB Storage/ Snapdragon 615 price is Rs.9,999.
- Zenfone Max 3GB RAM/ 32GB Storage/ Snapdragon 615 price is Rs.12,999.
You can buy this smartphone from the flipkart by clicking here.

What are the different colour variants available?

The new Zenfone Max will be available in Black, Orange and Blue colours variants.

What type of SIM cards new Zenfone Max accepts? Does it has separate slot for microSD card?

The new Zenfone Max accepts 2 micro sim cards along with microSD card.

What is the capacity of battery? Does it support fast charging? What is the capacity of charger which is bundled in the box?

New Zenfone max comes with 5000 mAh battery which is rated to provide upto 37.6 hours of talk time or 32.5 hours of Wi-Fi web browsing or 22.6 hours video playback. Asus claims that, the device can hold charge for upto 38 days. The output of the charger which comes within box is 1A 5.2 V. Unfortunately, Zenfone Max do not support fast charging.

How long does it takes to fully charge the battery from 0% using the bundled charger?

It takes around 5 to 5 and half hours.

Is it possible to use Zenfone Max as power bank? Does it supports USB OTG for data sharing?

Yes. You can use this device as power bank. USB OTG is supported on this device.

How to take screenshot on new Zenfone Max?

There are 3 different methods through which you can take screenshot on these devices. I have already made a detailed post on the same. You can refer it here.
May 23, 2016
Moto G4 Plus Tips Tricks and FAQ
Motorola has launched its much expected 4th gen Moto G smartphones in India in two variants. Moto G4 and Moto G4 Plus are new smartphones which will succeed the last years Moto G3 and Moto G Turbo. Here are few tips and tricks on Moto G4 Plus with FAQ.

Motorola Moto G4 Plus Tips and Tricks with FAQ

What are the different variants of Moto G4 Plus available in India?

The new smartphone will be available in India in two variants based on the internal storage and RAM size. One is 2GB RAM with 16GB of internal storage and another one is 3GB RAM with 32GB internal storage.

What is the Moto G4 Plus price in India?

The price of 4th Gen Moto G in India are as follows.
1. 2GB RAM and 16GB internal storage-Rs.13,499
2. 3GB RAM and 32GB internal storage- Rs.14,999.
What are the different colour variants available?

Currently, the device will be available in Black and White colour variants.

What type of sim cards Moto G4 Plus accepts?

It accepts 2 micro sim cards.

Is Moto G4 Plus water resistant?

No. It just has water repellant nano coating which we have seen in Moto G, Moto G2 etc.

Does it accepts microSD card? What is the maximum capacity of microSD card can be used on these devices?

Yes. Both variants of 4th gen Moto G plus supports upto 128GB of microSD card.

What is the SoC is used in Moto G4 Plus?

It is powered by Octa core Snapdragon 617 Soc(8x ARM Cortex A53) with Adreno 405 GPU.

Does it has LED notification light?

Yes. It has white LED light. But it glows only when device is connected to charger and it is charging.

What are the camera features?

4th Gen Moto G Plus has 16MP primary camera with f/2.0 aperture. It also has laser auto focus and phase detection auto focus(PDAF). There is a 5MP front facing camera with wide angle lens for selfies and video calling.

Does Moto G Plus 2016 has fast charging option? Is fast charger bundled in the box?

Yes. It supports fast charging. The bundled charger supports fast charging. Motorola claims, 15 minutes of charging will give around 6 hours of power.

How to take screenshot on Moto G4 Plus?

For taking screenshot, follow the steps given below.
- Go to the screen on which you want to capture screenshot.
- Press and hold volume down and power button simultaneously.
- The screenshot will be taken and saved in the Gallery folder. You can access it from “File Manager” or from the “Photos” app from Google which are preinstalled on your Moto G4 Plus.
Here is video guide on How to take screenshot in Moto G4 Plus

How to use Moto G4 Plus as modem?

The new 4th generation Moto G supports USB tethering, WiFi hotspot and Bluetooth tethering. Using any of this method, you can share your mobile data with other devices. You can read more on this here.
May 17, 2016
Helpchat-all in one personal assistant App
Helpchat is a personal assistant app which aims to provides multiple services in a single app. With the ability to learn from user behavior, it provides customised experience to users. This app is available on iOS and Android platforms.

Helpchat provides a single platform to access multiple services. For example for booking a cab in Bangalore, apart from giving a just option to book a cab, it provides comparison between multiple service provider. This includes the availability of cab, price and how far the nearest cab is the there etc. Users have the option to compare and select the service provider.

Helpchat like many other personal assistant apps, helps to manage our transactions. For example, it fetches the details of post paid mobile bill from your message inbox and provides notifications about your payment due date. You have option to pay the bill right from the same app without installing any other app. Even it shows the details of train PNR status, option to book a train ticket, notification on tatkal ticket etc. Company said that, it will add booking of meals via this app while travelling in trains in the coming days.

Helpchat currently has tie up with many popular service provider such as OLA, Uber, Zomato, Swiggy, bookmyshow, billDesk, mysmartprice, Jugno, cleartrip, nearbuy, urbanclap, redbus to name few. What this means is that, if you have Helpchat app installed in your phone, you can book a cab, book movie tickets, plan your travel, recharge your mobile, pay your mobile bill, buy groceries, get appointment with doctor without having multiple apps.

Helpchat also offers useful cards. This includes weather forecast, air quality in your area, customisable news stand, horoscope etc. It also provides notification on live cricket scores. Apart from this, you will also get customised deals which will help you to save your money on shopping.

In summary, it is a good initiative from Helpchat to offer multiple services in a single app. It eliminates requisites of installing multiple apps for using multiple services. It not only saves your storage space, you have option to compare and get the best. Currently Helpchat is in evolving stages. Company has assured addition of many more services in the coming days. It is worth having this app if you really want to save time, money and space on your smartphone.

Helpchat App Features
- Travel: Find information on the nearest cabs, autos, buses and trains. Super efficient to get from point A to point B. It also provides option to book flights, one-click web-checkin, get reminders about PNR and train travel.
- Recharge and Bill payments: Get reminded about your postpaid, DTH and utility bills. Pay over 100+ prepaid and utilities providers.
- Best Deals: Helpchat has tied up with the top deals websites (both online and offline). Hence you will be notified on the best deals and offers near to you.
- Horoscope, news, weather all in one place.
May 10, 2016
Samsung Galaxy J5 2016 Cons- Reasons for not to buy
Samsung has launched its Galaxy J5 2016 edition smartphone in India. The smartphone comes in Radiant Gold, Midnight Black, and Pearl White colour variants. It will be available exclusively on Flipkart starting 10th May 2016. By looking at the specification and features, here are the some of the cons of Samsung Galaxy J5 2016 edition.

Samsung Galaxy J5 2016 is an incremental upgrade over its predecessor. Coming to the pros of Galaxy J5 2016 over its predecessor are mentioned below.

Recommended Reading:

How to take screenshot on Samsung Galaxy J5 and Galaxy J7

Advantages of Samsung Galaxy J5 2016 compared to Galaxy J5 2015
- Better design and build quality.
- Bigger battery. (3100 mAh battery Vs 2600 mAh battery).
- Bigger display screen.(5.2 inch screen vs 5 inch screen).
- Inclusion of NFC.
- Higher RAM. (2GB of RAM instead of 1.5GB)
Cons of Galaxy J5 2016 Edition

As mentioned before, these are the cons of Galaxy J5 2016 editions based on the specification.
- Same camera: Galaxy J5 2016 has the same camera specifications as that of its predecessor. It has 13MP primary camera with F1.9 and LED flash. It also has 5MP front facing camera.
- No Full HD Display screen: Samsung has increased the size of the display screen of 2016 edition of Galaxy J5. But it continued the same screen resolution of 720p. Hence the pixel density is reduced compared to 2015 edition of Galaxy J5.
- No major upgrade over CPU and GPU: The Galaxy J5 2016 is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 quad core CPU clocked at 1.2GHz along with 2GB of RAM. There are many devices at this price range has more powerful SoC.
- No Fingerprint scanner: Being priced at Rs.13,990, it was expected to have fingerprint scanner. The devices like Honor 5X, Coolpad Note 3 etc have fingerprint scanner and priced much lower than this device.
- Omission of basic sensors: Samsung Galaxy J5 2016 does not feature basic sensors like light sensor, compass etc.
- No LED Notification light: The LED notification light is not available in this device also.
May 9, 2016