tech2touch

Category: Smartphones

  • Samsung Galaxy Core Prime Starts Getting Android Lollipop Update

    Samsung is more serious on its market share. It released innovative smartphones Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge. Now, it is moving fast on upgrading its Galaxy smartphones to Android Lollipop update. Not only the high end phones, even budget Samsung smartphones started getting the latest iteration of Android. New addition to this is Samsung Galaxy Core Prime.

    Samsung Galaxy Core Prime in particular model no SM-G360F next in line to get the Android 5.0.2 update. The update is available via Over the Air(OTA) as well as through Samsung Kies.  The Android Lollipop update for Galaxy core prime brings in latest Touchwiz UI with material design and many improvements of Lollipop such as improved battery life, bug and security fixes, connectivity and performance improvements among other.

    Read: Samsung Galaxy Core Prime Review

    Currently Lollipop update for Galaxy Core prime  started rolling out in Poland. You will get auto notification about the new update when available. You can also check manually for the Android 5.0.2 update on Galaxy Core Prime. For that follow the steps given below.

    Samsung Galaxy Core Prime Dual sim

    How to check for updates on Samsung Galaxy Core Prime

    • Go to Settings > About phone
    • Tap on to  Software update

    It is always better to connect to WiFi while downloading the major Android update.

    Source: Sammobile.

  • Microsoft Lumia 640 Cons and Pros Review

    Microsoft is doing good work in providing the best value for money smartphones in the budget segment. Lumia 640 is also part of such attempt of attract more customers into Windows platform.  Windows Lumia 640 Dual sim  best buy price is Rs.9999. Microsoft has promised Windows 10 upgrade to Lumia 640.

    Microsoft Lumia 640 sports 5 inch  display panel with ClearBlack and IPS LCD capacitive touch screen technology. It has 1280×720(720p) resolution and 294 ppi pixel density. The quality of the display panel is one of the best in this price segment. The colors look vivid and viewing angles are also great. The screen has Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection.

    Microsoft Lumia 640 is powered by 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 quad-core processor with 1GB of RAM and Adreno 305 GPU. This is the same chipset used in Moto G.  This provides good day to day usage performance. The internal storage capacity of the device is 8GB and supports microSD card. Out of 8GB internal storage, only around 3GB available for the user and rest is used by the OS.

    Microsoft Lumia 640

    Microsoft Lumia 640 houses 8MP primary camera with LED flash and 0.9MP front facing camera. The quality of the images taken and video recorded came very well. The device is capable of recording full HD videos. The front facing camera is decent enough but if you are a selfie lover then you might get disappointed a bit as it has only 0.9MP camera. The connectivity features of the device includes 2G, 3G, WiFi, USB, GPS, DLNA and WiFi hotspot. It comes pre loaded with Beidou, with HERE Drive+, HERE Maps, HERE Transit out of the box.  Microsoft Lumia 640 has 2500 mAh battery which lasts more than a day on normal usage.

    Read:

    How to take screenshot on Windows Lumia 640 Smartphones

    Advantages and Disadvantages of Microsoft Lumia 640 Dual sim

    Pros of Lumia 640

    • Gorgeous Display screen: 720p HD IPS screen with ClearBlack screen is brilliant in this price segment.  The viewing angles great and colours are vivid. The text looks sharp. Sunlight legibility is decent.
    • Good camera: The primary camera performance is one of the best in this price range. Both videos and photos comes out well.
    • Decent Battery life: 2500 mAh battery provides longer power backup. For casual users, it lasts close to 2 days and for average users more than a day.
    • Call Quality and Sound Output:  Call quality is good and the speakers on the back of phone are loud enough for day to day use.
    • Free 1 year Microsoft Office 365 subscription: Lumia 640 comes with a 12-month Office 365 Personal subscription worth Rs 3299. This includes the latest desktop version of Office applications such as MS Word, MS PowerPoint, in addition to cloud storage of 1 TB space for 12 months and Skype.

    Cons of Lumia 640

    • Poor resolution front facing camera: The front facing camera has only 0.9MP sensors. It takes decent images and videos. It could have been better if it could have come with better resolution camera for selfie lovers.
    • Limited Apps: The app store for Windows platform is increasing. However, it is not comparable to Android Play store apps.
    •  Low available internal storage: Lumia 640 comes with 8GB internal storage. However, available storage space for user is only 3GB rest all used by the OS.
    • No dedicated camera button: For a such a good camera, like previous Lumia phones, it would have been great if it had dedicated camera button.
    • Old styled bundled charger:  Unlike many budget smartphone which comes with detachable USb cable charger, it comes with permanently attached cable. The charger is not very compact.

    Microsoft Lumia 640 Specification

    • Dual sim with Dual standby
    • Windows Phone v8.1 with Lumia Denim Upgradeable to Windows v10 OS
    • 8GB internal storage & microSD card support upto 128 GB
    • 1.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 Quad Core Processor with 1 GB RAM and Adreno 305 GPU
    • 5 inch 720p HD IPS LCD Capacitive Touchscreen with ClearBlack technology
    • 8MP primary camera and 0.9MP front facing camera.
    • 2500 mAh battery
    • 2G, 3G, WiFi, USB, GPS, DLNA and WiFi hotspot.

  • ASUS ZenFone 2 ZE551ML Pros and Cons Review

    Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML is a Dual sim  4G enabled 5.5 inch phablet. It is very much improved phablet compared to its predecessor. High end specifications and affordable price are key attractions of this phablet.  Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML price is $259.29 after a discount of 17% on MRP in Gearbest.com online store.  For our reader there is a additional $15 discount. While you are buying ASUS ZenFone 2 ZE551ML use the coupon code ASUSZ2GB for avail the additional discount.

    Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML is powered by 64-bit Intel Atom Z3580 2.3GHz quad-core processor with 2GB of RAM and PowerVR G6430 GPU. This is the same GPU used in Apple A7 Soc. The internal storage capacity of the device 16GB and supports microSD card upto further expansion of the storage.

    One more major upgrade on Asus Zenfone 2 is its design. Now it measures 152.5 x 77.2 x 10.9 mm and weighs 170 grams. Asus has trimmed the bezels to get the screen to body ratio of 72%. One more change is volume rocker is moved to the back of the device and power button moved to top. It has curved back which feels good to hold on hands.

    Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML sports 5.5 inch IPS capacitive touch screen with a screen resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels  which translates to 403 ppi pixel density. The screen has Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. The display screen looks vibrant and viewing angles are also good. The device runs on Android Lollipop along with Asus ZenUI.

    Asus ZenFone 2

    Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML has 13MP primary camera with dual-color Real Tone LED flash. The features of the camera includes PixelMaster options (Low-light mode/Backlight HDR mode/ Enhanced Beautification mode/Manual mode/Zero Shutter lag). The 13MP camera unit consist of 5 element, f/2.0 aperture lens. There is also a 5 MP selfie snapper with wide angle (85 degree) lens. The camera does a decent job. But it is not great.  Front facing camera panorama shot is a welcome addition. Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML houses 3000 mAh battery which fast charging option called Boost master.

    Advantages and Disadvantages of Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML

    Pros of Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML

    • Good performance: There is no lag while using the device. While playing the games also there is no much problems seen.
    • Great display screen: Asus has added a very good quality display screen. The colors look vivid and viewing angles as well as the sunlight legibility are decent.
    •  Decent build quality: The build quality of the  Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML is good in the segment.
    • Customisable UI: The current ZenUI with Zenmotion like features really feels innovative. It is welcome move from the Asus.
    • Fast charging: With boost master technology,  Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML comes with fast charging feature. This works great.

    Cons of Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML

    • No 2160p video recording: Despite having the great specification, missing the 2160p video recording is a bit surprising as there are many devices coming with this in this price segment.
    • Rather large and hefty: Though Asus has tried to trim the bezels to make the device compact, it is still a phablet. All will not be happy to carry such big smartphone. It also weighs 170 grams which bit heavy for a smartphone.
    • Average camera performance: Both primary as well as front facing camera has many features. But overall, the camera performance is not that great compared to the competitors.
    • Weak Speaker: The inbuilt speaker of this device is not great.
    • Confusing naming conventions: Asus Zenfone 2 has many variants. It is very difficult remember the naming conventions of the variant.

    Asus Zenfone 2 Tips and Tricks

    How to take screenshot on Asus Zenfone 2

    Asus ZenUI provides an easy way to take screenshots apart from the default android way of taking print screen. I have written a details instructions on this. For more details read my post how to take screenshot on Asus Zenfone.

    How to download Asus Zenfone 2 PC Link PC suite

    You can download the latest Asus PC suite from the official support page.  You refer my earlier post on How to download Asus PC suite for more information.

    Asus Zenfone 2 ZE551ML Specification

    • Android 5.0 Lollipop out of the box with Asus ZenUI
    • 5.5-inch IPS capacity touch screen with 1080p resolution and 403ppi density and Gorilla Glass 3 protection
    • Intel Atom Z3560 chipset with a 1.8GHz quad-core processor, PowerVR G6430 GPU with 2GB of RAM
    • 16GB of storage and a microSD slot
    • Dual-SIM, Dual Standby capability
    • LTE Cat.4, NFC, Bluetooth; GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS
    • Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi hotspot; microUSB 2.0 port, MHL, USB host
    • 13MP main camera with dual-tone LED flash, 1080p@30fps video recording; 5MP front camera with wide angle lens
    • 3,000mAh battery with fast charging feature.

     

  • Lenovo A5000 With 4000 mAh Battery 5 inch HD Display Launched

    Lenovo A5000 officially launched in India.  Unlike previous A series smartphone, this device available on Lenovo official store. Lenovo A5000 price in India is Rs.9,999.

    This smartphone first launched in Russia last week. It is also listed on Lenovo’s official UAE page but there is no mention of the price. In India, Lenovo’s TheDoStore is started taking the pre-order  for Lenovo A5000 and it is mentioned that April 30th as the shipping date.

    Lenovo A5000 with 4000 mAh battery

    Lenovo A5000 key highlight is its 4000mAh battery which is rated to provide upto 17 hours of talk time and upto 792 hours of standby time. Unlike Lenovo A6000 and Lenovo A7000, Lenovo A5000 does not supports 4G network. It supports only 3G connectivity. The company also said that, A5000 has Quick charge feature which allows battery to get fully charged in 3 hours while a 15 minutes charge will offer 4 hours of talk time.

    Read: How to Take screenshot on Lenovo A5000

    Lenovo A5000 is a dual sim(Micro-SIM and regular sim)  running on Android 4.4.4 Kitkat out of the box.  The device sports 5 inch IPS display screen with a screen resolution of 720×1280 and 300 ppi pixel density. The device also comes with rain and splash-proof screen protection according to the company.

    The Lenovo A5000 is powered by 1.3GHz quad core MediaTek(MT6582) processor with 1GB of RAM and Mali T760-MP2 GPU. The internal storage capacity is 8GB and supports microSD card upto 32GB.  The device houses 8MP auto focus primary rear camera and LED flash. There is also a 2MP front facing camera for video calling and taking selfies.

    The connectivity features of Lenovo A5000 includes GPRS/ EDGE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, GPS/ A-GPS, Micro-USB, and Bluetooth. It has sensors such as accelerometer, ambient light sensor, and a proximity sensor. The device measures 140×71.4×9.98mm, weighs 160 grams. The available colors are Black and White.

    The pricing of Lenovo A5000 is confusing. The much better spec smartphones such as Lenovo A6000 Plus or Lenovo 7000 price is lesser than A5000. The extra money for just 4000 mAh battery with compromise on the other specification does not look good. Any way, once we do the complete Lenovo A5000 review, we will come to know whether it is worth or not.

  • Top 5 Reasons to Buy Asus Zenfone 2

    Asus Zenfone 2 is yet to launch in India. However, I got an opportunity to attend Asus Pre-Launch Showcase  event in Bangalore. It is not a complete review. This is based on the short period of time I spent on Zenfone 2 in the event. You can read more about the specification in the Asus Zenfone 2 official page.

    Top 5 Reasons to Buy Asus Zenfone 2

    Asus Zenfone 2 with 4GB RAM

     

    Image courtesy: Asus India.

    Read: Different variants of Asus Zenfone 2

    1. 64-bit Dual-Channel 4GB RAM: Asus claims that, Zenfone 2 is the first smartphone in India to feature 4GB of RAM. The device is powered by 64-bit Intel Atom 2.3G CPU with 6430 PowerVR 533MHz GPU. In my experience in the event, device worked without any lag even while playing a high end racing game.
    2. 5MP selfie camera with Panorama shots: Zenfone 2 comes with 13MP primary camera with Toshiba sensor and Dual LED realtone Flash. The 5MP front facing camera has F/2.0 apertures  and wide angle lens. You can also take panorama images using the front facing primary camera. There is also a night mode which is quit useful. Overall camera section is one of the segment truly competes with rest in this price segment.
    3. ZenUI and Android 5.0 Lollipop:  We have already seen the ZenUI with last years Zenfone. However, with Android Lollipop, Zenfone 2 comes with much more refined and user friendly ZenUI. The ZenMotion is also works without any issue. Switching users based on the lock screen swipe lock is really innovative.
    4. Asus BoostMaster:  Asus is incorporating the fast charging features with Zenfone 2.  Company claims that, you can charge 60% of your battery in just 39 minutes. According to this 10 mins of fast charging will provide 4 hours of 2G talk time and 2.7hours of 3G talk time. This feature is available only for the 4GB ram model. I will do a detailed review on this once I get the review unit.
    5. Display screen: Zenfone 5 comes with 5.5 inch full HD display screen. Asus has reduced the bezel width compared to previous years Zenfone. Now Zenfone 2 screen-to-body ratio is 72% which is a welcome upgrade. In my short time with Zenfone 2, I felt the quality of the display is good. The viewing angles are good and colors look vivid.

    As I mentioned earlier, this is not the complete review. I will be doing a detailed pros and cons review on Zenfone 2 once I get the review unit. The initial impressions on Asus Zenfone 2 looks very impressive. Though there is no information on the price, we can expect it to be very competitive.   The refreshed design and build quality coupled with powerful CPU and 4GB RAM, 13MP primary camera and 5MP front facing camera are very good as per the spec sheet. However, for real time performance, we need to wait for some more time.