LAVA IRIS X5 REVIEW: REDMI 1S KILLER ?

In 2013, if you told someone that you could get high-end features from a smartphone in the sub 10k segment, they would probably call you crazy and hit you on your head with their Nokia.! But thats exactly what has happened in 2014. The Sub-10k Rupees segment has become All-Important. 


With phones like Moto E & later Redmi 1s, companies are pushing the boundaries of what is possible in the budget Smartphone space.! This Cellular Warfare will get more intense with only one surefire winner in sight, the Consumer. The smartphone market has been dominated forever by foreign brands but we must not underestimate our Desi brands who are making a name for themselves around the world. See GSMarena for listings of indian brands. 

The Moto E was a Game-changer but Xiaomi Redmi 1s(priced at Rs 5999) was an an absolute explosion that blew up in the faces of other smartphone makers. No other brand can offer so much value at such a low price but one brave brand has certainly tried- Lava ! Can it take down the budget Monster Redmi 1s ? Find out below.

The Indian Brand has given us such "Firsts" as First Intel powered smartphone and several unique products powered by Nvidia Gpus. The Redmi 1s was made available in India in early September, around the same time, Lava launched the Lava Iris X5. Even When Moto E started tearing through the market, it was Lava that responded first with the IRIS X1.

The Lava Iris X5 is being marketed as a phone that is "Made For Selfies" owing to its 5 mp Front camera with Flash ! Other main Specs are as follows:

• 5.0 Inch HD IPS LCD screen 
• 1.2 Ghz Quadcore processor
• Broadcom Videocore IV GPU
• 8 mp rear camera & 5 mp front camera with flash
• 2100 Mah battery
• Android 4.4.2 Kitkat 
• 1 gb Ram & 4 gb Rom (around 2.49 gb available) 

Now I will examine these features in brief 

SCREEN: 

The device has a 5 inch IPS LCD OGS(One Glass Solution) display with 720x1280 pixel resolution. That is about 294 PPI density. Geek terms aside, the texts look sharp and colors look vivid. It is not a stunning display but it is more than enough for the average smartphone user. The viewing angles are Excellent and  the screen can be viewed from various angles without discoloration. It does not have Gorilla Glass protection but there are two screen protectors provided with the phone. Here is a screenshot of a video I played. 

PROCESSOR & GPU

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OPERA MINI 7 FOR FEATURE PHONES AND SYMBIAN NOW AVAILABLE

"Opera Mini 7 for feature phones Launched" this is a direct quote from
Opera and other tech sites. But the latest version of the budget
browser was also launched for Nokia's Symbian OS and the Blackberry OS. I
guess no one considers Symbian a Smartphone OS anymore.


Coming to the browser, Opera has introduced several new features in
the latest version. The most conspicuous of those is the inclusion of
Opera's Smart-Page. The Smart-page brings Social updates on your Opera
homepage itself. All you have to do is login to Facebook and Twitter
and you get all your social updates.


The Smart-Page also gives you updates from sites that you visit
regularly. Ready made links are also provided for Sports, Movies,
News, Music, Travel etc. So it is really "Smart".!


Other new additions include the ability to add a bookmark directly to
your Speed dial from your URL bar and the ability to add unlimited
entries to your Speed Dial which I find very useful.


If you dont like the Smart-Page, you can always turn it off under
Settings. Though these features are very useful, Opera Mini is far
from Perfect. Users have begged Opera for a proper Download Manager
which it still lacks. There were some features in the Opera Mini Next
Beta that I feel should have been included in the final version. The
Save tab feature in the Opera Mini Next was a Blessing and should have
been in the final version.


Head over to m.opera.com from your phone to download the new Opera
Mini 7 and m.opera.com/next to download Opera Mini Next.

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SONY ERICSSON LIVE WITH WALKMAN

The Walkman brand is one of the most well known brands associated with Sony. We have all owned Walkmans before the ipod happened to us. When Sony decided to put the walkman label on their phones it made them the number one music handset selling brand.

Earlier this year Sony said they will be putting an end to the Walkman products. Being a satisfied walkman phone user myself, I bid an emotional goodbye. But in the android age SE has again introduced an awesome little phone which is live with walkman.

They earlier launched the SE W8 walkman android but it had a very old android OS (2.1 Eclair). That made it a bad buy.

Anyway, SE has recently launched a new Walkman android LIVE WITH WALKMAN which will certaily make a splash here is what it has to offer

SPECIFICATIONS:

Screen: 3.2 inch capacitive multi-touch screen with a resolution of 320 by 480 pixels. Its also scratch resistant.

Connectivity: 3g (HSDPA) , Wifi, Edge, Bluetooth, Usb

Operating System: Android 2.3 Gingerbread (Upgradable to 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich)

Processor: 1 Ghz Snapdragon Processor with Adreno 205 GPU

Loudspeaker: Stereo Speakers with Sony's xLOUD technology for louder music.

Radio: FM Radio with RDS

GPS: yes, with Assisted GPS

Weight: 115 grams

Camera: 5 mp with 2592 by 1944 pixels. It has Geo tagging, image stabilization, Auto focus, LED flash. It can record 720p video and also has a front VGA camera for video talking.

In my opinion this is a great phone which should satisfy the needs of any audiophile and give a decent android experience. Its price in India is approximately Rs. 13,990.

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