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Category: Smartphones

Meizu M3 Note Review- Pros and Cons
Meizu has recently launched its new budget Android smartphone in Indian market- M3 Note. With good specification list it also features impressive design and build quality. Priced at Rs.9,999, it is available exclusively Amazon.in via falsh sales. In this, we will have a quick Meizu M3 Note review based on its pros and cons.

Meizu M3 Note is the first device to sport all metal design from the M series smartphones of Meizu. From the initial impression, it looks like it is inspired by the iPhone 6 design. It has all metal rear cover with curved edges which gives good in hand experience. Antenna cutouts are covered in plastic with chromium finish. Overall in terms of design and build quality, M3 Note is very impressive. It measures 153.6×75.5×8.2mm and weighs 163 grams.

Meizu M3 Note has 5.5 inch full HD display of 1080×1920 pixels resolution with 2.5D curved glass design. It has Dinorex T2X-1 scratch/shock resistant glass protection. The viewing angles, colour reproduction and brightness are good. As screen is reflective, the sunlight legibility is average. One more good thing about the display panel is it hardly catches fingerprint smudges.

Meizu M3 Note features 13MP primary camera with Dual LED flash. It does take overall good images in good lighting conditions. The low light performance is just average. There is also a 5MP front facing camera, which takes decent selfies.

Meizu M3 Note is powered by 1.8GHz MediaTek Helio P10 processor with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. Unfortunately, we have received Chinese variant of Meizu M3 Note Review unit which has only 2GB of RAM. Also as it was a Chinese variant, we didn’t had Google play store access. Hence we were not able to do any gaming tests. The regular performance was good. It runs on Android 5.1 Lollipop with Flyme OS. The physical home button which also works as fingerprint scanner. It is responsive. But at times, it misses to recognise.

Meizu M3 Note houses 4100 mAh battery and includes connectivity options like 4G, LTE, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS and NFC. The battery lasted for more than a day and half without any gaming.

Meizu M3 Note Review: Based on the time spent with the device, here are the quick summary of this review. It rates high on design and build quality, decent battery life and decent camera. Coming to downsides, Fingerprint responsiveness is not good. Also camera performance on low light is just average.

Meizu M3 Note Review- Advantages and Disadvantages

Pros of Meizu M3 Note
- Impressive design and build quality.
- Fingerprint smudges free display panel.
- Decent battery life.
- Affordable price tag.
- Good call quality and signal reception.
Cons of Meizu M3 Note
- Fingerprint scanner accuracy is not good.
- Flyme OS takes time to learn.
- Single button navigation is bit tricky.
Meizu M3 Note FAQ and Tips

What types of SIM card M3 Note accepts?

It has hybrid sim card slot. Hence, you can use 2 nano sim cards or 1 nano sim card with microSD card.

How to take screenshot on Meizu M3 Note?

For taking screenshot on M3 note, you need to press and hold volume down and power button simultaneously. The screenshot will be captured. The taken screenshot will be saved in the gallery folder.

Video guide on Meizu M3 Note screenshot capture method

Does Meizu M3 Note has any gesture controls?

Yes. It has some gesture controls such as double tap to unlock the device, swipe horizontally to switch tracks etc.
June 5, 2016
Moto G4 Plus Review- Pros and Cons
Moto G is one of the most popular smartphone in India. Moto G4 Plus is the latest iteration of Moto G smartphone. So the expectation from this device is also very high. Let us have a quick look into whether it is a worthy upgrade to its predecessor in this quick Moto G4 Plus review.

Moto G4 Plus comes with noticeable design change. The back is more flatter compared to previous Moto G smartphones. It has plastic back with textured pattern and silver metal frame on the side with round edges. It has slimmer form factor compared to Moto G3. However, the signature curved back is missing in this device. Also water and dust resistant features omitted in the new 4th gen Moto G which is surprising.

Recommended reading:

Moto G4 Plus FAQ with Tips and Tricks

Moto G4 Plus vs Redmi Note 3 Comparison

Moto G4 Plus sports 5.5 inch full HD display screen. It offers good sunlight legibility and viewing angles. Only con with the display is it is prone to fingerprint smudges. Though it has Corning Gorilla glass, in my limited time with the device, screen got few minor scratches. Hence it is highly advisable to use screen guard.

Our Moto G4 Plus review unit was powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 617 SoC, which is an octa-core chip running at 1.5GHz coupled with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. The phone will also be available in 2GB of RAM with 16GB of internal storage. The connectivity features includes 4G LTE (Category 4), Bluetooth 4.1 Low Energy, dual-band Wi-Fi b/g/n, GPS, GLONASS, USB-OTG, and FM radio. There is a finger print scanner as well. The device runs on stock Android Marshmallow out of the box. The performance of Moto G4 plus was good in our review period. The gaming performance too decent. However, we have noticed that with extended gaming, device tends to heat up a bit.

Moto G4 Plus excels in camera segment. It has 16MP primary camera with laser auto focus and PDAF. The camera performance was excellent in outdoor and in low light conditions for the price segment. There is a 5MP front facing camera as well. The Moto G4 Plus comes with 3000mAh battery with fast charging.

Moto G4 Plus Review Summary: It is good mid range budget smartphone with decent specification. It offers good camera performance, decent display panel and good performance with stock android. Main cons of Moto G4 Plus are lack of compass sensor and NFC and heating issues. Overall it is a good phone but not a worthy upgrade over Moto G3.

Moto G4 Plus Review based on advantages and Disadvantages

Moto G4 Plus Pros
- Good display screen.
- Decent battery life.
- Stock Android experience.
- Improved camera performance.
Cons of Moto G4 Plus
- No Compass sensor and NFC.
- Limited functionality of fingerprint scanner: It can be used only for unlocking the device and nothing else.
- No physical LED notification light.
- Lacks water and dust resistance which its predecessor had.
- Display is prone to fingerprint smudges and attracts scratches.
May 31, 2016
Asus Zenfone 3 Variants and Features
Asus at its Zenvolution event on Monday at the Humble House Taipei, unveiled third generation Zenfone series smartphones. The newly launched devices are Asus ZenFone 3, ZenFone 3 Deluxe, and ZenFone 3 Ultra. Here is the quick summary of newly launched smartphone features and specifications.

Asus Zenfone 3 Deluxe

This is the flagship model of Zenfone 3 series smartphones. Asus claims that, it is the world’s first full metal smartphone with invisible antenna design. It sports strong and light aluminum alloy unibody design.

Asus Zenfone 3 Deluxe sports 5.7-inch Super AMOLED display with full HD( 1080×1920 pixel) resolution. It is powered by Snapdragon 820 SoC with 6B of RAM and Adreno 530 GPU. It has 64GB of inbuilt storage and support for microSD card upto 256GB. The connectivity features of the device includes WiFi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.2, Cat 6 LTE, and USB 3.0 Type-C connector.

Asus Zenfone 3 Deluxe(ZS570KL) houses 23MP rear primary camera which features Sony IMX318 sensor, f/2.0 aperture lens, and 4-axis optical image stabilization. It also has 3-axis electronic image stabilization for steady 4K UHD videos. This smartphone will be available in Grey, Silver, and Pink colour options.

Asus Zenfone 3 Deluxe(ZS570KL) packs 3000 mAh battery which supports Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0. There is a fingerprint scanner which is placed in the rear side of the smartphone. Zenfone 3 Deluxe price starts from $499. Asus Zenfone Deluxe Price in India is INR 49,999.

Key specification of Asus Zenfone 3 Deluxe
- All metal aluminum unibody design.
- 5.7 inch Full HD Super AMOLED display screen.
- Snapdragon 820 SoC with Adreno 530 GPU.
- 6GB RAM and 64GB of internal storage.
- Support for microSD card upto 256GB.
- 23MP primary camera which features Sony IMX318 sensor.
- 4K video recording with 3 axis electronic image stabilisation.
- 3000 mAh battery with Qualcomm Quick charge 3.0 support.
Asus Zenfone 3 Ultra

Asus Zenfone 3 Ultra features 6.8 inch full HD(1920×1080 pixels) IPS display screen. It is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 octa-core processor with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of built in storage. It supports microSD card upto 128GB. Like Zenfone 3 Deluxe, it also features 23-megapixel rear camera with Sony IMX318 sensor. The connectivity features of Zenfone 3 ultra includes WiFi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.2, Cat 6 LTE, and USB 3.0 Type-C connector. The device will be available in Grey, Silver, and Pink colour options. It houses 4600 mAh battery with Quick Charge technology. Asus Zenfone 3 Ultra price starts from $479(Approximately Rs.32,200).

Key Specifications of Asus Zenfone 3 Ultra
- 6.8 inch full HD(1920×1080 pixels) IPS display screen.
- Snapdragon 652 octa-core processor with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage.
- 23 MP primary camera with Sony IMX318 sensor.
- 4600 mAh battery with Quick Charge technology.
Asus Zenfone 3

This is the base model of 3rd generation Zenfone smartphones. The Zenfone 3 sports 5.5-inch full-HD (1080×1920 pixels) Super IPS LCD display. It has Corning Gorilla glass 3 on the front and back. The Zenfone 3 is powered by Snapdragon 625 Soc. There will be two variants. One is with 3GB RAM and 32GB of storage and another one which has 4GB RAM and 64GB of internal storage. It houses 16MP rear camera with Sony IMX298 sensor. Zenfone 3 comes with 3000 mAh battery. The connectivity features of the device are Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.2, Cat 6 LTE, and USB 2.0 Type-C connector.

Key Specifications of Asus Zenfone 3
- 5.5-inch full-HD (1080×1920 pixels) Super IPS LCD display.
- Snapdragon 625 Soc with 3GB/4GB RAM.
- 32GB/64GB internal storage.
- 16MP primary camera with Sony IMX298 sensor.
- 3000 mAh battery.
- Fingerprint scanner.
- Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.2, Cat 6 LTE, and USB 2.0 Type-C connector.
May 31, 2016
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