Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini Review

Introduction:
Samsung has released quite a few models that are derived from the top of the line device at that moment in time. With the launch of the company’s flagship phone in the S4, the S4 mini, we find out is a worthy sibling capable of much more than what meets the eye.

Features:
What make the device great are its impressive set of features, especially considering the class the phone is in. It has a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED display qHD (960 x 540) resolution, 8MP camera with a 2MP front facing one and a dual-core 1.7GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor coupled with 1.5GB of RAM.

One advantage for the Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini is that the camera has a full suite of adjustable settings, such as white balance, ISO, exposure, HDR and a large number of filter and modes. Overall, The Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini has the look and feel of an S4, except with a smaller size.

Usage – Camera:
One of the most important features on mobile phones these days is the kind of camera they possess. The 8MP main camera is a delight to use. We found images to be very clear, sharp and vivid. There was none of the colour loss or bluish tinge that mobile cameras normally have. Also, the Full HD 1080p video recording is stunning! We were pleased to see that the phone captures sound in a fantastic manner.

The front camera is 2MP and it’s great for selfies and more importantly video calls. It serves its purpose as a much-needed accessory in today’s market.

Performance:
When we review a mobile phone, we rigorously test how well the phone performs in real-world conditions. That means testing games, work related applications, camera features, battery life, phone endurance and the ability to multitask. The hardware is a big reason why we could get so much out of this phone. 

We ran various benchmarking tools and the inference was simple – this phone packs a lot of punch. With regards to the connectivity, it has all the latest Wi-Fi support as well as 4G/LTE support. The battery life isn’t the longest of all phones out there, but it’s more than just acceptable – we got a day’s usage from this phone. Also, the phone’s light weight means that we didn’t really notice a big phone hanging in our trousers.

Verdict:
The Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini is a really great phone. It packs the best features of its older sibling in a compact package. We feel this is a great device and if you don’t feel like getting the S4, this is the next best thing you can get.

Summary:
Samsung’s S4 is its flagship model. The company has launched the S4 Mini which incorporates the best features from the S4 in a convenient package that’s sure to appeal to a host of consumers.

Samsung Galaxy Grand 2

Dual-SIM phones have been extremely popular in India. At the same time, the smartphone revolution has resulted in most people owning one. The only people missing out were the dual-SIM crowd. Samsung has released some models that aim to correct that, but they’re reserved the best for now. We finally got our hands on the Galaxy Grand 2 – the latest offering that caters to two SIM cards from Samsung and boy, we’re pleased with what we’ve seen. 

Design:

The phone’s dimensions are 146.8 mm x 75.3 mm x 8.9 mm. The screen is 5.2 inches and the bezels around it are quite slim. What this translates to is a phone that’s comfortable to hold in the hand. The faux leather covering adds a touch of class not seen in a phone in this segment.

 Display:

The first thing to notice about the display is that it’s great in every way. The 5.2 inch screen offers great clarity and viewing angles. The resolution of 1280 x 720 pixel means that Samsung has taken care to ensure that the display is compromised in no way. The colours are vivid and the images sharp. 

Camera:

The 8MP camera takes high resolution photos and videos at 720p. We found the camera to be superb for a mid-range device and the responsiveness and focus of the lens to be nothing short of stunning. It does a great job of capturing the colours and lighting. Also, the noise levels were low and distortion was the least of the phones we’ve found in phones in this range.

The front camera is 1.9MP and does an effective job in fulfilling its functions as a front facing camera. It takes decent photos and shoots some good quality video.

The Technical Stuff:

The device has 1.5GB of RAM running the Android 4.3 Jelly Bean operating system straight out of the box, and this version of the smartphone offers dual SIM support. There is 8GB of onboard storage that is expandable up to 64GB via microSD card. Connectivity comes in the form of Wi-Fi, GPS/A-GPS, 3G, micro USB, and Bluetooth. 

Performance:

Like all Samsung devices these days, the phone seems to have everything well in place. The architecture of the interface and the usability of the phone is nothing to complain about. For people who’d use two SIM cards, Samsung has made sure that you can receive data on both simultaneously. The ease of use is great and we found no problem multitasking and running all of our favorite apps. 

Jelly Bean update for Galaxy Note in India goes live

Jelly Bean update for the first Galaxy Note is now available to download via Samsung KIES, did not check the exact download size of the firmware, the entire download process took close to an hour and no back up was required during this upgrade process. All call logs, SMS and other essential data was intact after the upgrade completed.

Observed initial lag while using the phone right after the firmware was installed, normalised in some time. Galaxy Note gets Jelly Bean version 4.1.2 with Nature UX and it does feel smooth to operate, Icons look slightly up sized and crisp. Camera seems to have improved on center focus capture mode which gives a tilt shift effect while capturing pictures. Animated collapse view visible while accessing apps grouped into folder, S Memo is now merged into S Note app.

Notable features that make an appearance are:

• Google Now
• Multi view and side panel 
• Page buddy
• Customizing notification panel 
• Smart rotation 
• Samsung cloud sync service
• Features like Direct Call, Smart Stay and Pop-up Play
• Updated Music Player with Sound Alive

This upgrade has limited features from the premium suite available on GS3 and Note II. You do not get features like video and other content preview with S-Pen hovering over, pop up note for S-Pen, Burst mode for camera etc.

Interesting part is that Group Play and AllShare play also arrive on Galaxy Note which were announced during Galaxy S4 launch, Galaxy Grand is also due to get both of these soon in India. More screenshots from the upgrade below, share your feedback on any performance improvements, battery life as you upgrade your Galaxy Note via KIES as OTA upgrade currently does not seem to be available.

By the way, Galaxy Note along with some older crop of Galaxy series phones like S2 are due to get their last upgrade up to Jelly Bean version 4.2.2, so hopes for a Key Lime Pie update (Android 5.0) look very bleak as per a recent news published on sam mobile website, Nevertheless finally Jellybean made it to the original note after almost like 9 months Google released this OS code for Android manufacturers.

HTC J Butterfly: Creating quiet a flutter

From Smartphone’s two tablets and then phablets, there has been no dearth of innovation in the mobile device sphere. Every brand rolls out a new model that is different from others and its own preceding version. HTC ups the ante by rolling out the first Smartphone in the world with a full HD display- HTC J Butterfly. Launched in Japan last year in the month of December, HTC tweaks the hardware to introduce this international version.

Display:

As its name suggests, the Butterfly is slim and beautiful. The Smartphone turns the tide by featuring a 5-inch display with a spectacular resolution of 1920x1080. Drawing parallels with Apple iPhone and Samsung Galaxy note that sports a pixel density of 326 ppi and 267 ppi, this device offers an extraordinary resolution of 440ppi. The screen quality is definitely among the finest, at present.

Build quality and design:

Sporting a unibody design and bearing resemblance to HTC One X, the phone is thinner at the edges and has flat sides making it easy to hold. Irrespective of the body being made of plastic veering away from its typical aluminum body, the handset has a decent built quality. Adding to the sophistication is the metal like gloss white finish on the back, thin edges and it’s lightweight.

Camera:

With an 8MP rear camera and the 2MP camera in the back, the Butterfly does not disappoint the photo lovers. Apart from the quality of the camera, a multitude of features makes your clicking convenient and easy. This includes the inclusion of imagechip that makes your picture taking process quicker (less than seconds) and HDR mode that churns out the finest vibrant solution especially, when you click contrasting objects. In addition, it is possible to click 99 continuous images by turning on the explosive shot mode allowing you to capture anything and everything. With a host of editing options, there is no bad shot.

Interface and Functionality:

Running on 4.1 Jellybean out of the box, the device offers a number of customizable options. The user – interface is amazing, considering the1080p screen. With the device soon to receive an update to 4.2 Jelly Bean, you are ensured about not being left behind. Sense UI 4+, Jellybean and the full HD screen in tandem, paves the way for a smooth experience.

Internet and Connectivity:

The connectivity options include GSM 850/900/1800/1900; HSDPA 850/210, LTE , Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n ,Wi-Fi direct and DLNA,  microUSB 2.0 and Bluetooth 4.0 and NFC. Browsing is easy on the Sense browser where you can easily scroll in, scroll out, and zoom in and out.

Memory and Processor:

Powered by 1.5GHz double core Snapdragon S4 with Adreno 225 graphics, the performance is impressive.  The phone offers 16 GB of memory where 11 GB is available for use along with the option to expand it up to 32 GB.

Music and Sound Quality:

Apart from supporting basic formats like MP3, eAAC+, WMA and WAVs, there are four basic options that you will be greeted with including music transferred to your phone, Soundhound, 7 Digital and Tuneln Radio. The fact that the device enables Beats Audio speaks for itself.

Battery:

The 2020 mAh Lithium power battery gives the Smartphone enough juice to run for more than 14.5 hours, despite the applications running on the backdrop. However, many may be disappointed to know that the battery is a non- removable one.

Final Verdict:

The HTC Butterfly J scores on all aspects be it its looks, performance, features, camera, application, software, or user- interface. However, the huge price tag of the phone may make many feel wary. In a nutshell, the device is definitely one of the finest and best- performing phones, we have ever seen.

This review is penned by experts @ Reliance Digital.

Nexus 7 review: The 7″ tablet segment performer has arrived

Nexus 7 proved to be a huge success for Google which was important for them make a headway in the tablet market which is still ruled by iPad and a lot of android tablet manufacturers could not even challenge the supremacy of iPad due to challenges around fragmentation issues which exist within the android ecosystem and previous versions of android OS simply lacked the ease of use factor which iOS has always being proud of.

With Microsoft ready to launch Surface tablet along with Windows 8 and recently released Amazon Kindle Fire HD, does Nexus 7 still stand a chance to grow it's presence in the 7 inch tablet segment until iPad mini arrives? and how does Nexus 7 stack up to these expectations that previous android tablets have not being able to achieve?

My iPad 2 was gathering dust by now as my fascination for iOS experience had faded away after I started using android OS first via Samsung Galaxy SII and then Galaxy Note. When I decided to switch over to Nexus 7 from iPad 2 (you may probably think of this as a downgrade) I did consider Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 for once, however I wanted skip Sammy on this one as they are very slow in releasing android OS upgrades even on their flagship devices while they keep tuning it for their proprietary TouchWiz interface compatibility and SGT 2 7.0 scores came out well below Galaxy Note while I was running some benchmark tests on my phone.

I got rid of my iPad 2 and Nexus 7 is officially not available in India yet, so by the time I planned to order via a relative in USA, it was sold out online and in stores, so I chose to order via a seller on E Bay, my shipment was delivered within 15-20 days in good condition, hassle free. Luckily I did not have too may issues unboxing Nexus 7 with the kind of videos I watched on YouTube showing how difficult it was to get the tablet out of the packaging material used by Asus.

Here's my review of this tablet after using it for more than a month now.

Form Factor and Design

Nexus 7 tablet measures at 198.5 x 120 x 10.45mm (lhw) and weighs 340 gm. It surely packs a premium feel to the build quality and a rubberized back which feels like thick textured plastic allows better grip while holding the tablet it also does away with the worry of your tablet picking up scratches or dirt smudges on the rear section with frequent use.

Overall look of the tablet is very minimal, no physical buttons below the lower bezel with the one similar to home screen button on the iPad. There is a power button with volume rocker on the top right hand side of the tablet, has decent bezel space. Nexus 7 does not have a rear camera however there is a front facing 1.2 mp camera with light sensor which can be used for video calls/conferencing, surprisingly the placement of 3.5 mm headphone connector is towards the lower section of the tablet and not on the top, which is slightly intrusive while using tablet in portrait mode.

Nexus 7 scores high on portability, it cannot fit in your regular day to day apparel however it is easy to carry around in a sleeve case and would probably fit well in your suit or rear pocket in your jeans.

Display

Nexus 7 comes with a backlit LED IPS display that has resolution of 1280x800 pixels at 216 dots per inch (dpi) which is 48 dpi short of iPad's retina display at 264 dpi. Watching HD videos, scrolling through pictures in the gallery and accessing other multimedia content looks good however while accessing apps like Facebook, Twitter I noticed that the screen looks slightly washed out on colour and contrast reproduction, maybe it could be something related to poor colour calibration.

You would need to tweak the brightness settings for Nexus 7 as I noticed that screen display scores the highest as a battery hogger. No hassles experienced while reading e-books, minor lag noticed while rendering PDF pages with image content. Display glass is made up of corning scratch resistant material, however catches smudges very easily so a screen guard is a must.

Hardware and Battery Performance

Nexus 7 runs on NVIDIA's Tegra 3 quad core chipset (SoC) with ARM Cortex A-9 processor that clocks at 1.3 GHz, has 1 GB memory and also houses 12 core ULP GeForce @ 416MHz graphical processing unit (GPU) which works great on this tablet to provide a lag free and smooth gaming experience. Takes around 30 seconds to boot, multi tasking between apps works efficiently on this tablet, screen transitions are extremely smooth, I did notice that it took few milliseconds to normalise text display while zooming in and out of web content in Dolphin browser.

There is a definite plus of playing games on Nexus 7 in comparison to those I have played on my Galaxy Note. I noticed less time lag duration in game loading process for titles like Real Football 2012 and Asphalt 7, however the visual quality does not differ in such games even with all the extra juice Nexus 7 posses on GPU front. Rendering overall game environment, colour and contrast reproduction difference is noticeable while playing the game titles which are Tegra HD versions of popular games on Google Play store like Samurai II Vengeance, Dead Trigger, Shadowgun, Galaxy on Fire 2, Max Payne Mobile, Shine Runner which I have installed on my tablet.

If you compare this device's performance to iPad on the gaming front, It would fall a notch behind when it would come to rendering textures, anti-aliasing feature that helps in reducing jagged edges, however Tegra 3 optimized games give you additional eye candy effects within the game environment, like a water splash on screen, improved gun flare and bullet path effects in some FPS games.

With a 4,326mAh battery, Nexus 7 lasted between 6-7 hours on a test I ran with Wi-Fi on throughout, 30% gaming, 50% web browsing(inclusive of uploading and downloading content), 20% watching HD videos on tablet and YouTube. I tried doing a standby test with 30% battery left once which lasted 1 day 12 hours and still 7% battery left. Time taken to complete full charge is around 3 hours, No complaints here in this section. I am posting few tests run on benchmarking tools like NenaMark 2, SmartBench 2012 and AnTuTu with battery test screens as well, link here

Nexus 7 tends to get a little warm on the lower left side of the screen during extended usage, luckily it does not overheat like an oven which I experienced with Samsung Galaxy SII.Speaker performance is not so good, Stereo effect is hardly audible with the external speakers, while listening to videos and music with a headset quality is slightly better.

Connectivity

This tablet has standard Bluetooth and 802.11n WiFi connectivity, Nexus 7 would probably be my first NFC device, yet to use it for any practical purpose. This technology is still at a nascent stage and catching up with mobile and gadget users globally, Samsung and Nokia also have already launched some NFC enabled mobiles in India.

There are two mics provided for noise canceling action on the tablet, which works well for voice based Google Now search service, You can modify settings on this app with English(India) as language and it works! though it has trouble understanding few difficult Indian names and words so you would have to fiddle around with your dialect a little.

Google has recently introduced turn by turn navigation for Google Maps in India, you can take advantage of the live traffic updates allowing you to take a look at estimated travel time from home - work - home, as it covers major cities in India, also check out display cards of places nearby, which makes it worth putting it on the car dashboard for using navigation features on this tablet.

Absence of 3G connectivity is going to hurt Asus in the long run as they are planning to bring this tablet in India this year around Diwali, Samsung is providing calling feature on a 10 inch Galaxy Note 800 tab and Galaxy tab 2 7.0, personally it does not make sense to me for having a camera, calling feature and 3G connectivity on a tablet.

I have used 3G dongle for my laptop, 3G service on my phone connection while travelling and frankly speaking these services are completely dependent on network infrastructure of a mobile service provider, when you leave the safe zone of your home Wi-Fi connection, there is no guarantee you would get seamless connectivity outside and with new radiation norms for cellular towers implemented from 1st September, be ready to notice a drop on quality of service and connectivity related to 3G services, unless you want to show off rarely used features of your gadget do not fall for a "value for money" concept of getting a phone and 3G device in a tablet, however all I can say this is how the taste of Indian consumers has evolved for gadgets and hence the demand exists.

OTG connectivity issue has being resolved with a workaround of installing a paid app Nexus Media Importer available on Google Play store, allowing you to mount flash drives and SD cards from a card reader to transfer content on the go, connecting game pads, keyboards and mouse. (Requires compatible OTG cable)

Storage

Storage is another area of concern for Asus when it comes to lack of expandable memory slot supporting SD cards, even with the 16GB version, actual available memory space you would get would be around 13.2 GB and I would not recommend this tablet in case you want to carry lot of multimedia content on your tablet and downloading few graphic heavy games would clog your tablet memory in no time. I was able to manage my storage needs with the 16GB WiFi version I had of iPad 2, so it does not make much difference to me.

Jellybean experience 

Thankfully Nexus 7 does not come with too much of  bloatware pre-installed and my tablet was immediately updated to version 4.1 after the initial set up process was completed, over and above the smoothness and lag free navigation and usability on Nexus 7, there are features like smart widgets which resize according to the space available on a home screen, you can expand a specific widget which may occupy larger screen space, other widgets would adjust in size accordingly. Push Notifications have also improved on Jellybean OS, you get content preview in the drop down menu while accessing notifications and Smart update feature is a god send, In my opinion it is not possible always to update apps and games over 300 MB in size for a small tweak or improvement patch released by the publisher.

Most popular apps are compatible for Nexus 7 on Google Play store, however there is still work to do for Google to match up to the vast library of apps available for iPad, issues around OS fragmentation and slow adoption rate of new OS releases from Google by manufacturers need to be sorted out in time, even today Gingerbread remains the most installed OS version of Android globally, ICS was just settling in and Jellybean has arrived on the scene and going to be rolled out on major flagship devices of various companies, which allows very little time for developers to adapt themselves to the changing requirement of the OS framework on which apps are developed.

Verdict

Nexus 7 has the ability to shine as a strong performer for Google and without any doubt is the best 7 inch tablet to go for today, A slightly expensive variant offering 3G connectivity and expandable memory would be a big plus for Asus in augmenting sales figures for this tablet.

This tablet works best as an e-book reader, portable gaming device and for watching multimedia content. Even with iPad I could never use it as an extension to my laptop for creating content, which is where Windows Surface would play an important role once launched. Gaming on a 7 inch tablet is much better than getting your fingers sore juggling with touch screen controls on a 10 inch screen,

You may also think aren't budget tablets from Micromax and Karbonn and other Indian manufacturers not worthy enough in case they need to be used just as consumption devices? I have used Micromax Funbook and checked a demo piece of Karbonn Smartab in a store, Indian manufactures are not conscious on building a credible product in this lucrative 7 inch tablet category.

A low cost tablet would comes with performance and lag issues, touch screens are not so responsive in these tablets and overall product build quality from these manufactures leaves a lot to be desired, add after sales service which is again a concern. Micromax Funbook has battery calibration issues also, It loses charge at 50-60% battery levels and the cost of replacing cracked glass on a Rs 6,400 Funbook is Rs 3000, what point does it make to buy a low cost tablet then?

I already mentioned the reason why I skipped the thought of purchasing Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 at the beginning of this review, and being a device promoted by Google you can be rest assured that you would receive OS updates much earlier to tablets made by other vendors. Currently Nexus 7 8GB version is available for around Rs 15,000 and 16GB version for Rs 20,000 on EBay India site.

You can wait for Asus to officially release this tablet in India and the pricing range is going to stay in the similar bracket of current online pricing on e-commerce portals for Nexus 7, it is a true value for money product in the 7 inch tablet category, Amazon's Kindle Fire HD is a noteworthy competitive product and luckily Apple did not reveal iPad mini during their September 12 iPhone 5 announcement event, which gives Asus a chance to expand sales in additional countries where Nexus 7 is yet to be launched and it would continue getting a first mover advantage in those markets.

Please feel free to leave your comments, video review to follow with more updates and tips for Nexus 7

Link to unboxing pics here

My review got featured on Rediff.com, and also the top emailed article on 29th Sep 2012, many thanks to all the readers.