The Chromecast with Google TV is new and refined version of the product Google first launched in 2013. But with a lot of competition in this market, is the Chromecast with Google TV price of ₹6,399 justified? 

Chromecast with Google TV review: Return of the king?

Chromecast with Google TV

The Chromecast with Google TV is new and refined version of the product Google first launched in 2013. But with a lot of competition in this market, is the Chromecast with Google TV price of ₹6,399 justified?&nbsp;

When you&rsquo;re watching something on your phone, and you&rsquo;d rather see it on your TV instead, you can &lsquo;cast&rsquo; it. The word &lsquo;cast&rsquo; in this context, which we use so freely now, was coined when Google launched the first Chromecast in 2013. Now, almost a decade later, the Chromecast with Google TV has evolved into a richer product that is much more than just a streaming stick with a remote. But now that there are multiple such products on the market, is this the best value for money streamer you can buy?
Design
The Chromecast with Google TV has a very compact and slim design that&rsquo;ll stay out of the way in your home setup. Although this will almost always be hidden behind the TV, the slim &amp; curved shape of the Chromecast, and the completely white colour, keeps the look classy.
You also get a remote with the Chromecast that I can only really describe as &lsquo;cute&rsquo;. It&rsquo;s really small, but still quite easy to use, as the curved rear makes it fit quite snugly in your palm.
The volume buttons are on the right, like a phone, which is an unusual choice that I like quite a lot. Apart from that you get your standard navigation, direct buttons for streaming services, and a dedicated Google Assistant button. The remote&rsquo;s in-built microphone will let you press that button and use Google Assistant at any time.
Utility
Through the included HDMI 2.0 port, the Chromecast can support up to 4K resolution and a 60FPS frame rate. It also supports the Dolby Vision, HDR10, and HDR10+ standards. Of course, the display you&rsquo;re using it on will need to support these things.
For connectivity you get Wi-Fi with support for both 5Ghz and 2.4Ghz bands, and bluetooth, which you can use to connect a pair of earbuds to the Chromecast, if you don&rsquo;t want to make too much noise.
The Chromecast is powered by a USB-C wall adapter, and only a wall adapter. It will not accept power from a TV&rsquo;s USB port, so make sure you have an outlet nearby. Luckily an adapter and cable are included in the box.&nbsp;
Interface
Now, the new Chromecast with Google TV&rsquo;s USP is, well, Google TV. Google&rsquo;s new interface sits on top of Android TV, and gives you a more intuitive place to access all your streaming content. It opens on the For You tab, which provides personalised recommendations from across streaming services. You also get a Continue Watching feature right from the home screen that works across apps.
Then you have the Movies and Shows tabs, which recommend you Movies and Shows respectively. The Library tab collects your watchlist from across devices, and is a great place to keep track of what shows you want to watch next.
The Chromecast with Google TV stick comes preloaded with all sorts of streaming apps, which should cover all your needs, including Apple TV +, which I was very happy to see here. If you need more, you do of course have access to the Play Store and all the apps it offers. You can access the store from the Apps tab, which has a search bar and some category filters as well.
All of this navigation is extremely fast. The Chromecast breezes through content, and I did not once face any lag while browsing the interface or starting video streams.
Of course, if you&rsquo;d rather talk to your TV, you can use Google Assistant to navigate your Chromecast instead. You can ask it any number of things, from basic Google Search terms, to asking it to show a list of all movies by Tom Cruise, in response to which it&rsquo;ll pull films from across streaming services. If you have the proper setup, you can also use Assistant to control smart home devices.
This being a Chromecast, you can of course still use your phone or tablet to cast content, and control playback from there instead, if you so wish.
Verdict
The Chromecast was an iconic device that was very important to the streaming revolution, and with the new Chromecast with Google TV, Google has brought it into the future. However, the future also brings a lot of competition, and at a price ₹6,399, this device is not cheap.
Still, for the price, you get a sleek, fast, and streamlined streaming experience and some great new features. If it falls in your budget, you&rsquo;ll be very happy with the Chromecast for Google TV.

The Oppo Reno 8's design is clearly the focus for this phone, but does it also perform well? To find out, watch our Oppo Reno 8 review.

Oppo Reno 8 review: Style with substance?

Reno 8

The Oppo Reno 8's design is clearly the focus for this phone, but does it also perform well? To find out, watch our Oppo Reno 8 review.

The stylish new Oppo Reno 8 brings Oppo&rsquo;s trademark industrial design heritage, along with decently powerful internals that promise a good mid-range smartphone experience. Is this phone as good to use as it is to look at?&nbsp;
Design
Design has always been the Reno series&rsquo; USP, and the Reno 8 honours the family name. You will immediately notice the shimmer on this Shimmer Black colour, which looks magnificent.&nbsp;
The standout design element here is the camera bump, of course, which takes inspiration from Oppo&rsquo;s Find X5 Pro flagship phone, and curves up from the back. This is an excellent look overall, and only enhanced by the little touches, like the way the camera bump curves up at the very edges, and the little green accent on the power button which has become a trademark for the Reno series. The lens cutouts are absolutely huge, which seems to be the in-vogue look for 2022.&nbsp;
This phone has rounded corners, which means that even with the flat sides it doesn&rsquo;t feel bulky to hold. In fact, with a thickness of around 7.6mm and weighing only 179kgs, this is a really easy phone to use one handed too. The sides and the back are made out of polycarbonate plastic, but it&rsquo;s a very premium-feeling finish.
The front also looks pretty good, with a slightly big chin the only detractor from the overall polished and premium look.
If you&rsquo;re the sort of person who values a good looking and well designed phone, the Reno 8 is very much made for you.
Display &amp; Sound
The Oppo Reno 8 gets a 6.43-inch FHD+ AMOLED display, which is pretty great. A 120Hz refresh rate would have been nice, but the 90Hz display still keeps things very smooth. The screen also supports HDR10+, and a peak brightness of 800 nits mean it&rsquo;s pretty usable in direct sunlight. It also has 95% DCI-P3 colour gamut coverage, and a max touch sampling rate of 180Hz.&nbsp;
The Reno 8 gets one bottom-firing speaker, and that&rsquo;s it. Now, the speaker itself is pretty great, it gets quite loud and has decent clarity, but a stereo speaker setup is expected in this sort of price range, and it would have really elevated the content watching experience.
Camera
The Oppo Reno 8 gets a triple rear camera setup, with a 50MP main camera that uses the Sony IMX766 sensor that Oppo is so familiar with by now, along with an 8MP ultra-wide and a 2MP macro camera.&nbsp;
The main camera takes good pictures in daylight that capture a lot of detail, have good dynamic range, and generally represent a scene well. Sometimes the HDR algorithm can get a little weird and make things look slightly oversaturated or give the picture a white tone, but in general you&rsquo;ll find it a reliable, good camera.
Portrait mode is also a strength, with good subject separation and skin tones. You can also change the bokeh effect after taking the picture, which is pretty neat.
Night mode has classic Oppo processing which really brightens up the scene and brings in a lot of light. It can make night-time shots look like daytime, but if that&rsquo;s your thing you will be pleased with the results. It does take some effort to find proper focus though, and you&rsquo;ll have to keep your hands very steady because the lens does not have OIS.
The 8MP ultra-wide is not as sharp, which is expected, but does a decent job capturing wider frames.&nbsp;
The main camera can also do 4K 30FPS video, which is nice, and video quality is really good for the price.&nbsp;
The 32MP front camera has the Sony IMX 709 sensor, which as we&rsquo;ve seen before takes fantastic looking selfies with great skin detail captured. As ever, by default there&rsquo;s a skin retouching setting on which makes you look really weird and smooth, but you can turn that off easily after which there are no issues.
Performance
The Oppo Reno 8 packs the new Dimensity 1300 chipset, which we have covered extensively recently in the OnePlus Nord 2T Review. In this phone too, the SoC is very fast in day-to-day usage, meaning you&rsquo;ll have no issues using social media apps, taking pictures and videos, or doing productivity tasks.&nbsp;
The gaming experience on this phone is also pretty good, where it can do Very High Graphics with Max Frame Rate on COD Mobile. It also does not heat up too much, and doesn&rsquo;t throttle at all, as seen in the 3DMark Wild Life Stress test, where it maintained a stability rating of 99.4%. Pretty impressive.
The Reno 8 comes in a single variant with 8GB LPDDR4x RAM and 128GB UFS 3.1 storage. While these are fast-performing components, it would have been nice to have a 256GB storage option at least, especially when there&rsquo;s no expandable storage.
Software &amp; Battery
This phone launches with ColorOS 12 based on Android 12 out of the box. ColorOS 12 remains very customisable, light, and easy to use. There is some pre-installed bloatware on this phone, but you can remove it easily without any worries.&nbsp;
Oppo has packed in a 4,500mAh battery into the Reno 8, which is easily enough to last a full day even with heavy usage. The charging has seen an upgrade - the new 80W SuperVOOC charger can take the battery from 0 to 50 in just 11 minutes, and 0 to 100 in around 27 minutes. These are incredible charging times which I&rsquo;m sure will be very useful when you need a quick recharge.
Verdict
The Oppo Reno 8 continues the legacy of the Reno series by putting its stylish design front and centre. Combine that with decently powerful internals and you&rsquo;ve got a really compelling mid-range smartphone package in your hands for under Rs. 30,000.

Is the OnePlus Nord 2T a worthy successor to the OnePlus Nord 2, and the best phone you can buy in the mid-range? Find out in our OnePlus Nord 2T review.

OnePlus Nord 2T Review: Still the best mid-range smartphone?

OnePlus Nord 2T

Is the OnePlus Nord 2T a worthy successor to the OnePlus Nord 2, and the best phone you can buy in the mid-range? Find out in our OnePlus Nord 2T review.

The OnePlus Nord 2 was one of my favourite phones of last year. It had a great camera, a pretty speedy processor, and provided great value for money in the mid-range segment. All of these things are still true for the OnePlus Nord 2T, because this is basically the same phone, with a few upgrades. Is this still the best mid-ranger you can buy?
Before I answer that question, let's quickly unbox the device and see everything that&rsquo;s inside. OnePlus sent us this really nice media kit, which has these really cool-looking badges and stickers. It&rsquo;s also got this very impressive plac for the new MediaTek Dimensity 1300 processor, and a message from the team.
In the retail box, along with the phone, you get all the paperwork, a nice sticker pack, and a great clear case, which is nice to get. There is also the 80W SuperVOOC fast charger, of ecourse, which we&rsquo;ll get to in a bit.
Design
Design is the one area where the Nord 2T distinguishes itself from its predecessor, the OnePlus Nord 2. You will immediately notice the new camera bump, which is much larger both in surface area and height. Taking up all that space are two ginormous lens cutouts, with the bottom one hosting two cameras.
Apart from that, the design mirrors the Nord 2 with rounded corners and curved edges that give it a very nice hand-feel, and make one-handed use quite convenient. The button placement is all identical as well, which does mean that the OnePlus slider is still here, and lets you quickly change between ring, vibrate, and silent modes. It&lsquo;s gone missing in some other phones, so I&rsquo;m glad to see it here.
The front display is also the same, with 3 symmetrical bezels flanking a slightly bigger chin. The fingerprint sensor remains on the front display, and continues to work without any issues.
We&rsquo;ve been sent this Jade Fog colour, which is a teal-ish greyiish tone that does look quite stylish, but is glossy and a proper fingerprint magnet. I am more partial to the Grey Fog colour variant, which has this shimmery matte black back. The backs are all glass, and there&rsquo;s no equivalent to the Green Woods leather back finish of the Nord 2, which I really miss. But there&rsquo;s no denying that the Nord 2T is an extremely stylish phone.
Also Watch: <a href="https://editorji.com/story/samsung-galaxy-book-2-review-the-dependable-laptop-that-s-good-at-everything-1656078995699" target="_blank">Samsung Galaxy Book 2 Review: The dependable laptop that&rsquo;s good at everything?</a>
Display/Sound
The OnePlus Nord 2T retains the 6.43-inch FHD+ AMOLED display, which continues to be pretty great. An upgrade to 120Hz for the refresh rate would have been appreciated, but things are still pretty smooth at 90hz. The screen also supports HDR10+, although it&rsquo;s not yet supported in the Netflix app. The screen also gets Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection.
The stereo speaker setup on the Nord 2T continues to impress, with great loudness, soundstage, and clarity. I found it usable enough to listen to music on it, and watching content is also a great experience.
Camera
The OnePlus Nord 2T gets a 50MP Sony IMX766 main camera, an 8MP ultra-wide camera, and a 2MP depth sensor. If that sounds familiar, that&rsquo;s because it is the exact same camera setup as the Nord 2. In fact, I tested out both cameras side-by-side, and there are really close to no differences in the images, as you can see here.
It&rsquo;s a good thing, then, that the IMX766 continues to be a flagship-grade sensor that&rsquo;s great value for this price, and produces incredibly detailed images with vivid colours, good depth of field, and nice dynamic range.
It&rsquo;s also very good at shooting portraits, where the depth sensor seems to be doing a solid job because subject separation continues to be fantastic, and you can get some very nice looking shots.
The flagship-grade sensor really shines when it comes to night photography. The main camera is able to take excellent night shots, taking in a lot of light, and this is further helped by the night mode processing which can get light from basically pitch black darkness.
The 8MP ultra-wide is less sharp and has less dynamic range than the main lens, but does an adequate job when shooting landscapes or buildings in bright daylight.
The main camera can also do 4K 30FPS video, which is pretty clear with decent smoothness during pans. If you want more stability, the ultra-stable mode will kick the resolution down to 1080P 60FPS.
The 32MP front-facing camera continues to take great pictures with accurate skin tone capture, and even portrait mode works very well here. Things can get a bit wonky when the HDR kicks in, leading to slightly weird colour palettes and oversaturation.
Also Watch: <a href="https://editorji.com/story/sony-bravia-x80k-review-the-perfect-ultra-premium-smart-tv-1655468151280" target="_blank">Sony Bravia X80K review: the perfect ultra-premium smart TV?</a>
Performance
One of the upgrades the Nord 2T gets over its predecessor is the new Dimensity 1300 chipset, over the Nord 2&rsquo;s Dimensity 1200. Or so you would think. A closer look at the spec sheets of these chipsets reveals that they are pretty much the same. Both the Dimensity 1200 and 1300 have 1 Cortex A78 core clocked at 3Ghz, Cortex A78 cores clocked at 2.6Ghz, and 4 Cortex-A55 cores clocked at 2 Ghz. They both also support LPDDR4x RAM, which the Nord 2T gets either 8 or 12GB of. The phone also has options for 128GB or 256GB of storage.
This similarity is borne out by the synthetic benchmarks, where both phones get more or less the same scores, accounting for a standard margin of error. Nerd speak aside, this basically means that the OnePlus Nord 2T will be very fast in general day-to-day usage, while taking pictures, or using social media apps, just like the OnePlus Nord 2. And the OnePlus Nord 2 has not slowed down or shown any lag at all over the past year, which bodes well for the Nord 2T&rsquo;s longevity.
There is, however, one difference between the Dimensity 1200 and 1300 chipsets. The newer Dimensity 1300 chipset gets MediaTek&rsquo;s HyperEngine 5.0 technology, as compared to HyperEngine 3.0 in the Dimensity 1200. This is a set of optimisations that MediaTek claim make the gaming experience much better.
Now, I didn&rsquo;t notice anything wildly different between the two phones, but still the Nord 2T is a great phone for gaming. On Apex Legends Mobile, for example, it can do UltraHD graphics along with Ultra framerate, and keep a steady 60 frames per second throughout the match. On Call of Duty: Mobile, it achieved Very High graphics with a Very High framerate. It also didn&rsquo;t get too hot after 30-40 minutes of gaming, which is great.
Software
The OnePlus Nord 2T launches with OxygenOS 12 based on Android 12, along with all the new features that brings like Work-Life Balance, which can quickly let you switch apps and settings, and the new OnePlus Shelf, which you can access by swiping down from the top right to get quick access to stats and shortcuts. You can also use the new OnePlus Scout search feature from here, which can search within your apps and files along with the internet.
Now the OnePlus Nord 2 also did get most of these features with the Android 12 update, which only happened quite recently, so I hope that the Nord 2T is faster with the eventual Android 13 update.
One thing I do have praise OnePlus for is the complete lack of bloatware, which makes for a very clean new phone experience, and I really, really appreciate it. When most of their competition at this price point comes chock-full with pre-loaded junk, the clean and smooth OxygenOS experience is a delight to use.
Also Watch: <a href="https://editorji.com/story/lg-qp5-eclair-soundbar-review-best-compact-audio-setup-1655736029163" target="_blank">LG QP5 Eclair Soundbar Review: best compact audio setup?</a>
Battery
OnePlus has packed in a 4,500mAh battery into the Nord 2T, and the phone maintains a pretty decent battery life. With very heavy usage, that involved a lot of gaming and picture taking, I got around 4-5 hours of screen on time, which is really good.
The one big spec upgrade this phone does receive, is that the charging rate has been boosted from the Nord 2&rsquo;s 65W to 80W, matching OnePlus&rsquo; flagship phones for this year. This means that the Nord 2T can go from 0 - 100 in an incredible 27 minutes, which remains very useful, especially while travelling.
Verdict
The OnePlus Nord 2T is an incredible value for money phone, which I think says a lot about where the smartphone market is at in 2022. Rising prices and dropping specs have meant that newer phones often haven&rsquo;t been as powerful as older ones, and buyers have had to spend more to get better specs. All of which means that the OnePlus Nord 2T, with it&rsquo;s great display, speedy processor, and fantastic camera, remains an excellent mid-range phone I can easily recommend to anyone.
&nbsp;

What are India's new VPN laws, and how do they affect the functioning of a VPN? And how exactly does the exit of these VPN companies affect Indians? Know all the answers in this video.

Explained: Why are India's VPN laws causing providers to exit the country?

What are India's new VPN laws, and how do they affect the functioning of a VPN? And how exactly does the exit of these VPN companies affect Indians? Know all the answers in this video.

On June 28, the government delayed the enforcement of a new controversial VPN law by 3 months. The new directives will now come into force on September 25. However, many popular VPN providers have already shuttered their operations in India, saying that the new laws defy the very ethos of using a VPN. So, what are these new laws, and why are they so controversial? Actually, what is a VPN anyway? In this video, we&rsquo;ll answer all your questions.
But before I begin, hit that like button, and let us know in the comments any other burning questions about tech that you would like us to answer.
<h2>What is a VPN?</h2>
A Virtual Private Network or VPN encrypts your data and makes your activity across the web how to track. To understand this, first let&rsquo;s understand how you connect to the internet.
When you type in a website name on your browser, it goes as a data packet to your Internet Service Provider, or ISP, who then sends it across to the correct destination, which is a specific website. This means that your ISP gets a plethora of information about your activity on the web, including the websites you visit, the specific web pages you browse and the time you spend there, your browsing and search history, or even the files you download or upload. Other parties can also track this information, including possible malicious hackers if you&rsquo;re using Public Wi-Fi.
A VPN creates an encrypted tunnel for your data by first authenticating your client with a VPN server. The server then uses one of several encryption protocols to make sure that no one can monitor the information traveling between you and your online destination. So your ISP, or anyone trying to track you, loses the ability to monitor all your data.&nbsp;
A VPN also anonymises your location, and can be used to spoof location. So, sitting in India, you can use a VPN to make Netflix, for example, think that you&rsquo;re logging on from the US.
VPNs can be used for anonymous browsing by consumers, but are also used by office workers to access their company servers remotely, or by businesses to allow users in selected locations to access each other&rsquo;s networks securely, and safely share resources and information.
Also Read: <a href="https://www.editorji.com/story/apple-s-new-security-focused-lockdown-mode-explained-1657189922442" target="_blank">Apple&rsquo;s new security-focused Lockdown Mode explained</a>
<h2>What are India&rsquo;s new VPN laws?</h2>
The Computer Emergency Response Team, or CERT-in, has issued a new directive for VPNs. The body, which falls under India&rsquo;s IT Ministry, announced VPN providers who operate in India will have to keep records of customer names, validated physical and IP addresses, usage patterns and other forms of personally identifiable information. They have to maintain these logs for five years or more. Those who don't comply could potentially face up to a year in prison.
Many have pointed out that this goes against the very point of using a VPN, which is to keep your online activity anonymous. The government argues that VPN providers, cloud providers, and data centre operators have an obligation to know who is using their infrastructure. Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, said that &ldquo;if there is a detected cyber breach or cyber incident,&rdquo; then providers have to produce the usage logs.&nbsp;
He also said that if VPN providers do not want to comply with the new rules, they will have to pull out and cease operations in India. And many of them have done exactly that. Some of the biggest consumer VPN providers, including TunnelBear, NordVPN, SurfShark, ExpressVPN have removed their India-based servers.&nbsp;
Also Watch: <a href="https://www.editorji.com/story/samsung-galaxy-book-2-review-the-dependable-laptop-that-s-good-at-everything-1656078995699" target="_blank">Samsung Galaxy Book 2 Review: The dependable laptop that&rsquo;s good at everything?</a>
In a statement, ExpressVPN criticised the law strongly, saying that the law is so &ldquo;overreaching and broad&rdquo; that it opens up a window for potential abuse, and that they believe &ldquo;the damage done by potential misuse of this kind of law far outweighs any benefit that lawmakers claim would come from it&rdquo;. They also said that they &ldquo;refuse to participate in the Indian government&rsquo;s attempts to limit internet freedom.&rdquo;
There also concerns about the security of these logs, which contain extremely sensitive personal information. A spokesperson from NordVPN argued that small and medium sized companies may not have the proper knowledge or means to ensure the security of this data. They also said that regulations like this were normally introduced by authoritarian governments in order to gain more control over their citizens, and if a democracy follows the same path, it may have an adverse effect on privacy and freedom of speech.
Also Watch: <a href="https://www.editorji.com/story/oneplus-10r-review-is-it-worth-the-money-1654268775339" target="_blank">OnePlus 10R Review: is it worth the money?</a>
<h2>Will VPNs now stop working in India?</h2>
So, will VPNs now stop working in India? Well, it&rsquo;s not really clear. All of these service providers have removed or shut down their India exit nodes, which allowed users from abroad to access the internet as though they&rsquo;re in India. However, for now, Indian users can still access popular VPN services, which only use servers located outside of the country.&nbsp;
The IT Ministry has said that the new laws apply to any VPN provider which provides services to Indian users, even if their servers are physically located outside of the country. VPN companies see this differently. SurfShark, for example, told The Hindu that they believe by moving servers outside of the country, they are complying with all local laws. This is an evolving situation, and we are likely to get more clarity on this in the future.&nbsp;

Samsung Galaxy F13 Review: Is the Samsung Galaxy F13 just another contender in the crowded budget phone space? Or can it differentiate itself? Find out how it performed in our full review!

Samsung Galaxy F13 Review: new budget champion?

The Samsung Galaxy F13 has been launched in India. Galaxy F13 specs include an Exynos 850 processor, 4GB RAM and up to 128GB storage. Galaxy F13 display is a 6.6-inch LCD with an FHD+ resolution and 60Hz high refresh rate. On the back, the Galaxy F13 features a 50MP triple camera setup, and on the front, there's an 8MP selfie camera. The Galaxy F13 battery is 6,000mAh and it supports 15W fast charging. Galaxy F13 India price starts at ₹11,999 for the 4GB RAM, 64GB storage model, and goes up to ₹12,999 for the 4GB RAM, 128GB storage model. Watch our Samsung Galaxy F13 review on editorji to know about its performance and more.

Galaxy F13 

Can Samsung's Galaxy F13 be the best contender in the budget segment?

Samsung Galaxy F13 Review: At a starting price of Rs 12,000, the Galaxy F13 competes in a space with intense rivalry from other brands.&nbsp;
The F13 also appears to be remarkably similar to the Galaxy A13 that&rsquo;s already on sale in India. So, can it do something to set itself apart in this crowded space?
<h3>Samsung Galaxy F13 Design</h3>
The <a href="https://www.editorji.com/tech-news/samsung-galaxy-f13-launched-in-india-1655901240656" target="_blank">Samsung&nbsp;Galaxy F13</a> is unmistakably Samsung as it follows the brand&rsquo;s ongoing design language that&rsquo;s also seen on the A-series and M-series of smartphones. The rear panel of the F13, however, has a nice texture to it which does help with the grip.
It is completely made of plastic and is a pretty chunky device to hold, but that&rsquo;s due to its large battery. More on that later.
At the front, this looks like a typical budget phone with a dewdrop notch and a thick chin.
<h3>Samsung Galaxy F13 Utility</h3>
The side-mounted fingerprint scanner on this phone was pretty quick to unlock both with my right thumb as well as my left index finger. However, it will refuse to work with sweaty fingers, so you have to ensure that your fingers are completely dry.
The single bottom firing speaker on the phone is quite loud with decent audio quality. The F13 also comes with a headphone jack.&nbsp;
It's a dual sim smartphone with a dedicated micro SD card slot as well.
<h3>Samsung Galaxy F13 Display</h3>
The F13 has a 6.6-inch LCD display with full HD resolution and a 60Hz refresh rate. Its predecessor, the <a href="https://www.editorji.com/story/samsung-galaxy-f12-hands-on-first-impressions-budget-banger-at-10-999-1617713486011" target="_blank">F12</a>, had a 90Hz display but its resolution was only HD.
I believe that trading a higher refresh rate for better resolution is totally worth it at this price point as it makes consuming content a much better experience.
Also watch: <a title="Samsung Galaxy F12 Hands on &amp; First impressions: budget banger at ₹10,999!" href="https://www.editorji.com/story/samsung-galaxy-f12-hands-on-first-impressions-budget-banger-at-10-999-1617713486011">Samsung Galaxy F12 Hands on &amp; First impressions: budget banger at ₹10,999!</a>
The display itself has pretty good colours and viewing angles, but its peak brightness is rather underwhelming as I did struggle to view it on Delhi&rsquo;s bright summer afternoons.&nbsp;
Also worth mentioning is that the auto brightness sensor, at least on my test unit, was pretty slow to respond to ambient light. Hope this can be fixed with a software update
<h3>Samsung Galaxy F13 Performance &amp; Software</h3>
The device is powered by Samsung&rsquo;s octa-core Exynos 850 chipset and comes with only a 4GB RAM option and up to 128GB storage.&nbsp;
The Exynos 850 is an entry-level chipset from 2020 and it gets easily outperformed by most SoCs found on similarly priced phones.&nbsp;
For instance, the <a href="https://www.editorji.com/tech-news/gadget-review/realme-narzo-50a-review-50mp-triple-camera-helio-g85-on-a-budget-1633609244532" target="_blank">Realme Narzo 50A</a> comes with a Helio G85 chip, while the <a href="https://www.editorji.com/tech-news/mobiles/poco-m4-pro-5g-smartphone-launched-in-india-check-price-specs-1644916943985" target="_blank">Poco M4</a> has a Dimensity 700... But this doesn't mean that the Exynos 850 is a poor performer.&nbsp;
It handles occasional gaming just fine and I didn't witness any major lags, although micro stutters were prominent from time to time when interacting with the UI.
It's also worth noting that the chipset does not support 5G which means it's not as future-proof as it should be.&nbsp;
On the software front, you get Android 12 with OneUI 4.1 on top. There are a bunch of pre-installed apps but that&rsquo;s not an issue since they can be uninstalled. You also do not get any ads baked into the UI.&nbsp;
Samsung is also promising 2 major software updates and two years of security updates on this phone.
<h3>Samsung Galaxy F13 Cameras</h3>
The Galaxy&nbsp;F13 features a triple rear camera setup with a 50MP primary camera. For the price, I found nothing much to complain about when it comes to camera quality. If I must be critical, I would note that the dynamic range is rather limited.
The photos are good enough to be posted on social media. The phone does not have a dedicated night mode, but low-light photos still came out to be quite usable.
There is no form of stabilisation when it comes to videos, but then again, it is acceptable keeping the F13&rsquo;s price in mind.
What&rsquo;s impressive is that while rival brands have started to eliminate the ultra-wide angle camera from their budget phones, Samsung is still offering a 5MP ultra-wide shooter on the F13. &nbsp;As long as there is a good amount of ambient light, this camera will give you usable shots.
The third camera is a 2MP depth sensor that&rsquo;s there just to make up the numbers.
The 8MP selfie camera on the F13 produces decent results, but you have to keep your hand stable as there is no autofocus here.
Also watch: <a title="Samsung Galaxy M53 5G review: best phone under ₹27,000?" href="https://www.editorji.com/tech-news/gadget-review/samsung-galaxy-m53-5g-review-best-phone-under-27-0001652969524333" target="_blank">Samsung Galaxy M53 5G review: best phone under ₹27,000?</a>
<h3>Samsung Galaxy F13 Battery Life</h3>
The F13 comes with a large 6,000mAh battery. As a result, it is easily a two-day battery life smartphone if your usage only includes texting, taking calls and scrolling through social media.
If you consume a lot of video content, the device would still easily last you well over a day.
You get a 15W charger inside the F13&rsquo;s box. It takes well over 2 hours to fully recharge, &nbsp;which isn't exactly fast but its great battery life more than makes up for it.
<h3>Samsung Galaxy F13 Verdict</h3>
The Galaxy F13 is a good budget smartphone for those who watch a lot of videos and would like a phone with impressive battery life. Its ad-free UI is also a big plus, so is its onboard ultra-wide angle camera.
While it's not the strongest contender in this segment when it comes to raw performance, it still offers enough value, especially if you are on a tight budget.&nbsp;

LG QP5 Eclair Soundbar Review: This is the LG QP5 Soundbar, LGs latest offering for those that need a great-sounding setup, but don’t have the space for a full-size soundbar and sub-woofer.

LG QP5 Eclair Soundbar Review: best compact audio setup?

The LG QP5 Eclair soundbar provides a soundbar and a subwoofer in one powerful, compact package. LG QP5 Eclair specs include five speakers in the soundbar for a 100W sound output, and two bi-directional drivers in the subwoofer for a 220W sound output. LG QP5 Eclair accepts all kinds of input, including USB-A, Optical Audio In, HDMI ARC/eARC, and Bluetooth 4.0. The LG QP5 Eclair price in India is set at ₹59,990. Watch how it performed in our LG QP5 Eclair soundbar review.

If you need high-quality sound in a compact form factor, the LG QP5 Eclair might be your best bet

This is the LG QP5 Soundbar, LGs latest offering for those that need a great-sounding setup, but don&rsquo;t have the space for a full-size soundbar and sub-woofer. The QP5 Eclair comes with a lot of premium technology for a price of ₹59,990, and today we&rsquo;re going to tell you whether it&rsquo;s worth going for if you&rsquo;re in the market for the compact cinema experience.
<h3>LG QP5 Eclair Soundbar Design</h3>
Design is one of the most important aspects of the QP5, both in terms of form and function. The main speaker is quite compact, measuring less than 30cm, so if you need a soundbar setup with, let&rsquo;s say, a monitor rather than a big TV, the Eclair fits in quite neatly.
The subwoofer is obviously larger, but at around 39cm in length and around 29cm in height, it&rsquo;s not exceptionally large, and should easily fit underneath a reasonably sized desk setup, or even on the table itself.
Weight-wise, the main speaker is just over 1.5kg, while the subwoofer is 7.7kg, so if you&rsquo;re thinking of mounting the entire setup on a table, you may want to keep that in mind.
Moreover, in the interest of being a compact, fuss-free setup, the subwoofer connects to the soundbar wirelessly, but they both do require power individually.
Moving on to the form of the QP5 Eclair, which is actually quite a step away from your usual soundbars. For one, both the main speaker and subwoofer are encased in Jersey fabric and while LG calls this colour variant Black, it looks more of a deep navy blue in person.
The main speaker gets a metal speaker grille on top, underneath which lie the drivers themselves, while the subwoofer&rsquo;s inner structure is made of wood.
Also watch: <a href="https://www.editorji.com/tech-news/gadget-review/lg-tone-free-fp9-review-clean-sound-clean-ears-1648207621449" target="_blank">LG Tone Free FP9 Review: clean sound, clean ears!</a>
<h3>LG QP5 Eclair Soundbar Utility and Connectivity</h3>
For utility, the QP5 comes with a good selection of ports. On the back of the main speaker, you&rsquo;ll see two HDMI ports a USB port, an Optical Audio In and a power input. It&rsquo;s worth mentioning that there&rsquo;s ARC/eARC compatibility for the first HDMI out port, which makes connecting the soundbar to a TV a very seamless process. However, there&rsquo;s only Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity here, and it would have been nice to see a more recent version since this is a new product.
Along with the ports, you&rsquo;ll also notice five buttons on the back. These control Bluetooth pairing, volume up and down, changing input and turning the soundbar on or off.
There&rsquo;s also a couple of LED lights on the front of the main speaker to indicate things like the Bluetooth status and volume level.
However, the buttons aren&rsquo;t the only way to change basic settings, because the QP5 also gets this nice and simple remote. Using it, you can change the volume level, control bluetooth settings, control playback and even access sound presets for certain types of content.
If you&rsquo;d like to ditch the remote altogether though, or access even more functions, you can download the LG Soundbar app. It&rsquo;s available on both iOS and Android, and it offers all of the remote&rsquo;s functionality and then some more. For instance, it allows you to tune the equaliser for both the main speaker and the subwoofer, to tweak them to your preference. It also allows you to run diagnostics to make sure you&rsquo;ve got the QP5 set up just right, for the best possible experience.
<h3>LG QP5 Eclair Soundbar Sound Quality</h3>
In terms of technology, the QP5 is quite well-equipped. There&rsquo;s support for Dolby Atoms, DTS:X, and the AI Sound Pro algorithm which identifies content and tweaks the sound to enhance your listening experience. Moreover, if you use the QP5 soundbar with a compatible LG TV, AI Sound Pro works with the Alpha 9 AI Processor to deliver a clear, consistent viewing experience.
Power-wise, the QP5 is rated for a total 320W of power output, and it delivers that via a 3.1.2 channel setup. The main speaker outputs a total 100W, using 5 driver units, while the subwoofer outputs the rest of the 220W.
Now, in terms of sound fidelity, the QP5 is pretty good, and that main speaker is deceptively loud for its size. It gets almost obnoxiously loud at full chat, and if you&rsquo;re going to use this setup in a reasonably-sized bedroom, the sound output should suffice.
Sound reproduction is quite clear, and both mids and highs are well-balanced on the whole. The subwoofer didn&rsquo;t produce a very impressive show, especially when it came to cinematic content, but I realised it was mostly due to how neutral the default sound profile is. Once I tweaked the equaliser to my liking using the LG Soundbar app, the subwoofer produced more than enough thump, even from some pretty demanding, bass-heavy tracks.
Moreover, since the subwoofer gets bi-directional units, there&rsquo;s very little vibration, so you should be able to mount it on a lower shelf underneath a desk or even on top of it without any issues.
It&rsquo;s also worth mentioning that the entire setup is tuned by Meridian, who also tuned the <a href="https://www.editorji.com/tech-news/gadget-review/lg-tone-free-fp9-review-clean-sound-clean-ears-1648207621449" target="_blank">LG Tone Free FP9</a> earbuds we reviewed earlier this year, so sound quality is certainly quite good thanks to that partnership.
<h3>LG QP5 Eclair Soundbar Verdict</h3>
So, at ₹59,990, the LG QP5 Eclair Soundbar doesn&rsquo;t come cheap. It&rsquo;s a premium price tag for a product that does come with a lot of handy features and good sound quality, but also faces a lot of competition from more powerful options in this segment. That being said, the QP5 Eclair is more geared towards someone that needs a powerful, fuss-free audio setup in a compact environment, and in that particular case, it&rsquo;s possibly the best in the business.

Sony Bravia X80K review: The Bravia X80K is a 4K HDR Smart TV from Sony that promises a premium experience and excellent picture quality. Does it deliver? Find out in our review.

Sony Bravia X80K review: the perfect ultra-premium smart TV?

The Bravia X80K is a 4K HDR Smart TV from Sony that promises a premium experience and excellent picture quality. Does it deliver? Find out in our review.

The Bravia X80K is a 4K HDR Smart TV from Sony that promises a premium experience and excellent picture quality. Does it deliver? Find out in our review.

The <a href="https://www.editorji.com/story/sony-bravia-xr-a80j-oled-television-series-introduced-to-india-with-4k-120hz-panels-1624021176658">Sony Bravia</a> X80K TV has been launched in India. The Bravia X80K is available in sizes from 43 inches to 75 inches. The Sony Bravia X80K specifications include a 4K panel with HDR10, HLG, and Dolby Vision support.
<h3>Sony Bravia X80K features</h3>
Sony Bravia X80K speakers are 2 X-Balanced 10W units with Dolby Atmos support. Sony Bravia X80K software is Android TV 10 with the Google TV interface. It supports Google&rsquo;s Chromecast and Apple&rsquo;s AirPlay standards as well.
Also Watch: <a href="https://www.editorji.com/story/samsung-galaxy-book2-360-review-the-best-premium-ultrabook-1654866430417" target="_blank">Samsung Galaxy Book2 360 Review: the best premium ultrabook?</a>
<h3>Sony Bravia X80K price in India&nbsp;</h3>
The Sony Bravia X80K price in India starts at ₹99,900 for the 43-inch model, while the 55-inch model costs ₹1,29,900. Is this the perfect premium smart TV for your home? Watch our Sony Bravia X80K review on editorji to find out.
Watch our <a href="https://www.editorji.com/tech-news/gadget-review/sony-bravia-x80k-review-the-perfect-ultra-premium-smart-tv-1655468151280">Sony Bravia X80K review</a> on <a href="https://www.editorji.com/">editorji</a> to know about its performance and more.

Samsung Galaxy Book2 360 Review: The Samsung Galaxy Book2 360 is a 2-in-1 that is thin, light, and fast. Does it offer the best premium ultrabook experience? Watch our review on editorji to find out.

Samsung Galaxy Book2 360 Review: the best premium ultrabook?

The Samsung Galaxy Book2 360 is a 2-in-1 that is thin, light, and fast. Does it offer the best premium ultrabook experience? Watch our review on editorji to find out.

The Samsung Galaxy Book2 360 is a 2-in-1 that is thin, light, and fast. Does it&nbsp;offer the best premium ultrabook experience? Watch our review on editorji to find out.

The Samsung Galaxy Book2 360 is a 2-in-1 that is thin, light, and fast.
<h3>Samsung Galaxy Book2 360 specifications</h3>
The Samsung Galaxy Book2 360 CPU is the Intel Core i7-1255U, with Intel Iris Xe graphics. The Samsung Galaxy Book2 360 specifications include 16GB of DDR4x RAM and 512GB of NVMe SSD storage. The Samsung Galaxy Book2 360 display is a 13.3-inch FHD+ AMOLED unit with HDR+ support and a peak brightness of 500 nits.
Also Watch: <a href="https://www.editorji.com/story/iqoo-neo-6-review-new-mid-range-champ-1654779848442" target="_blank">iQOO NEO 6 Review: New mid-range champ?</a>
<h3>Samsung Galaxy Book2 360 battery &amp; price</h3>
The Samsung Galaxy Book2 360 battery is 61.1Whr unit with 65W fast charging support. The Samsung Galaxy Book2 360 price in India starts at ₹99,990.
Does the S<a href="https://www.editorji.com/tech-news/gadget-review/samsung-galaxy-book2-360-review-the-best-premium-ultrabook-1654866430417">amsung Galaxy Book2 360</a> offer the best premium ultrabook experience? Watch our <a href="https://www.editorji.com/tech-news/gadget-review">review</a> on editorji to find out.

OnePlus 10R gets a Mediatek Dimensity 8100-Max processor, up to 12GB RAM and 256GB storage. It gets a 6.7-inch FHD+ 120Hz AMOLED display, 50MP triple camera setup, and 150W charging speeds. Prices start at ₹38,999 for the 8GB RAM+128GB storage model.

OnePlus 10R Review: is it worth the money?

OnePlus 10R has been launched in India. OnePlus 10R specs include a Mediatek Dimensity 8100-Max processor, 12GB RAM and 256GB storage. OnePlus 10R display is a 6.7-inch AMOLED panel with an FHD+ resolution and 120Hz high refresh rate. On the back, the OnePlus 10R features a 50MP triple camera setup, and on the front, there's a 16MP selfie camera. The OnePlus 10R battery is 4,500mAh for the 150W SUPERVOOC Endurance Edition model, and 5,000mAh for the 80W SUPERVOOC charging model. OnePlus 10R India price starts at ₹38,999 for the 8GB RAM, 128GB storage model, and goes up to ₹43,999 for the 12GB RAM, 256GB storage model with 150W fast charging. Watch our OnePlus 10R review on editorji to know about its performance and more.

With the mid-range smartphone market chock-full of options, is the new OnePlus&nbsp;10R a worthy contender?

The mid-range market is really hot right now, with every brand launching their competitor at aggressive price points. We&rsquo;ve seen the likes of the <a href="https://www.editorji.com/tech-news/gadget-review/realme-gt-2-review-it-doesn-t-get-much-better-than-this-1651665587327" target="_blank">Realme GT 2</a>, <a href="https://www.editorji.com/tech-news/gadget-review/realme-gt-neo-3-review-fast-and-furious-1651244547020" target="_blank">GT Neo 3</a>, <a href="https://www.editorji.com/tech-news/gadget-review/iqoo-9-se-review-best-performance-under-35-000-1647598299328" target="_blank">iQOO 9 SE</a> and so many more, and now we&rsquo;ve got the latest fighter from OnePlus as well, the <a href="https://www.editorji.com/tech-news/oneplus-10r-oneplus-nord-ce-2-lite-and-oneplus-nord-buds-launched-in-india-check-price-specs-1651159480209" target="_blank">OnePlus 10R</a>, priced at ₹43,999 for the 12GB RAM, 256GB storage model with 150W SuperVooc&nbsp;charging.
<h3>Design &amp; Utility</h3>
Let&rsquo;s start with the basics&mdash;the looks. Now, the 10R is a clear departure from everything OnePlus has designed in the past, and especially if you look at their devices in just this last year. There&rsquo;s no curved back design or glass-back, it&rsquo;s a very flat phone from all angles, with a plastic frame and back. It gets this striped design on one half of the rear, and the logo has been moved to the bottom right corner. This is the design you&rsquo;ll get, whether you choose the Forest Green variant, or this Sierra Black option.
I&rsquo;ll be honest, it almost seems like this phone shares its chassis with the <a href="https://www.editorji.com/tech-news/gadget-review/oppo-f21-pro-review-microscope-camera-on-a-budget-1649764768298" target="_blank">Oppo F21 Pro</a>, and considering OnePlus and Oppo&rsquo;s merger, it wouldn&rsquo;t be out of the ordinary to assume that.
The back of the phone also holds the triple camera array, which has a high enough bump to cause the phone to wobble on a flat surface. It wobbles even if you use the included high-quality silicone case, so that&rsquo;s something to keep in mind if you tend to use your phone laid flat on a table.
Still, the phone is pretty lightweight at 186g, and fairly slim at 8.2mm thickness.
At the bottom of the phone you&rsquo;ll see a USB Type-C port and the speaker grille, which coupled with the earpiece offers a pretty decent stereo sound experience. On the left side are the volume buttons and on the right is the power button, but worth noting is the lack of the signature OnePlus slider. Also missing is expandable storage and a headphone jack, which to be fair, have become much less common at this price point.
That aside, there&rsquo;s a fingerprint scanner under the screen that worked quick and well during my usage, and while there&rsquo;s no official IP rating, there is a rubber gasket around the SIM card tray.
Also watch: <a href="https://www.editorji.com/tech-news/gadget-review/oneplus-10-pro-review-the-likeable-flagship-1650793514415" target="_blank">OnePlus 10 Pro Review: The Likeable Flagship</a>
<h3>Performance &amp; Software</h3>
In terms of performance, the OnePlus 10R packs in the Mediatek Dimensity 8100-MAX processor, which for all intents and purposes is the same as the Dimensity 8100 on the <a href="https://www.editorji.com/tech-news/gadget-review/realme-gt-2-vs-realme-gt-neo-3-battle-of-the-value-flagships-1652696352660" target="_blank">Realme GT Neo 3</a>.
It&rsquo;s the latest from Mediatek to take on the Snapdragon 888, and whether it&rsquo;s day-to-day usage or graphic intensive gaming, the 8100-MAX is a good performer.
I played more than a few rounds on Apex Legends and saw experienced no dropped frames or lag, but the phone did get a bit warm to the touch. It was a similar story with Call of Duty Mobile&mdash;smooth and fast gameplay with no stutter.
Apart from this, there&rsquo;s some happy news for BGMI fans. Unlike the <a href="https://www.editorji.com/tech-news/gadget-review/realme-gt-neo-3-review-fast-and-furious-1651244547020" target="_blank">GT Neo 3</a>, which only supported HD graphics and High frame rate, the 10R supports up to HDR graphics and Ultra frame rate, with support for Ultra HD graphics promised, so it&rsquo;s definitely good to see optimisation for this chip coming in quickly for popular games.
For everyday app usage and multi-tasking, the 10R has more than enough grunt, and that&rsquo;s also in part due to the 12GB LPDDR5 RAM loaded on this phone, which never needed to reload apps sitting in the background.
Now, a lot of what I&rsquo;ve said so far almost makes it sound like the OnePlus 10R is less of a OnePlus phone and more of something that was put together at the Oppo base. However, one major way in which this phone sets itself apart is it&rsquo;s operating system. Sure, OxygenOS has started borrowing elements from ColorOS but it&rsquo;s still offers an extremely slick and clean user experience. It&rsquo;s got barely any bloatware, unlike some other phones that have little else, and it&rsquo;s still one of the best looking Android skins out there. Speaking of Android, this of course has Android 12, but with OnePlus&rsquo; recent track record of slow updates, I just hope they&rsquo;re able to keep up with Samsung and the rest.
<h3>Display</h3>
On the front of the OnePlus 10R you&rsquo;ll find a really nice 6.7-inch AMOLED display with a full-HD+ resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. The display supports HDR10+ and 10-bit colour, and while there is support for Widevine L1 on Netflix, there&rsquo;s no support for HDR content on the streaming platform.
Colours on the screen are punchy, with good contrast levels. Content-watching is really good with this display, and the stereo speakers add to that experience.
The 120Hz refresh rate makes everything super smooth, and it can be toggled down to 60Hz to save battery.
<h3>Battery</h3>
Now, one of the most compelling reasons to buy the OnePlus 10R is its battery, and more specifically, its battery charging speeds. That&rsquo;s because it can charge at a super-fast 150W, which in my testing, got me from flat to full in around 17 minutes.
Do keep in mind that this insane charging speed is available only on the top-spec variant, and it also means you get a smaller 4,500mAh battery unit than you get on the 80W charging model, which gets a 5,000mAh unit.
If you ask me, I&rsquo;d go for the faster charging any day, because the 4,500mAh unit gave me more than a day&rsquo;s battery life without breaking a sweat, even with heavy usage, and being able to charge your phone fully in less than 20 minutes is a pretty nice flex. Unfortunately, there's no wireless charging support here and it would have been a welcome addition at this price point.&nbsp;
Also watch:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.editorji.com/tech-news/gadget-review/oneplus-9rt-review-pretty-much-as-good-as-it-gets-1645174977117" target="_blank">OnePlus 9RT Review: pretty much as good as it gets!</a>
<h3>Cameras</h3>
The OnePlus 10R has a pretty decent camera setup, that&rsquo;s been seen on other phones as well. It&rsquo;s got a 50MP primary shooter with the Sony IMX766 sensor, an 8MP sensor for ultra-wide images and a 2MP macro sensor.
In outdoor lighting, the primary sensor produced pretty good results, with lots of vibrant colours and strong contrast levels. There&rsquo;s a fair amount of natural depth of field without the portrait mode, but even when you turn it on, you can get some really nice images with accurate edge detection.
In indoor/mixed lighting conditions, HDR works well, and shots taken with the primary sensor look quite natural.
When it comes to low-light/night shots, the 10R produced some impressive results, and whether I had the Night Mode on or off, pictures were well exposed and preserved accurate colours.
The ultra-wide sensor adds a fair bit of extra width in the frame, but it does come at the cost of detail. At times, there&rsquo;s also a visible difference in the colour profile processed in ultra-wide images compared to those taken with the primary sensor.
The lack of consistency carries into the 2MP macro sensor as well, which really struggled to bring out accurate colours and correctly expose shots. Pictures taken at 2X digital zoom with the main sensor were far better in terms of depth of field and colour, so I&rsquo;d suggest using that for close up shots.
When it comes to videos with the rear camera, the 10R shoots at a maximum 4K at 30fps, but sadly there&rsquo;s no option for 60fps. There is OIS on the main sensor though, but there&rsquo;s no setting to turn on any additional electrical image stabilisation.
The front camera on the OnePlus 10R is a 16MP unit, and in outdoor lighting, it produced decent enough results. HDR was quite aggressive, but pictures did come out sharp and with crisp details. In indoor lighting, the selfie camera did at times mess up the highlights, and in low-light images, the camera tended to produce odd skin tones.
Videos with the front camera are supported by EIS, and you can shoot at a maximum of 1080p at 30fps, but a 4K option would have been a nice touch to see at this price point.
<h3>Verdict</h3>
So, is the OnePlus 10R the smartphone for you? Well, there's other options out there for sure and the phone's new design language may seem a bit strange to OnePlus loyalists. That being said, however, the10R does fit a certain niche, and it's a reasonable purchase if you're after good performance, a super clean interface and hyper-fast charging.

The Asus BR1100C is a new affordable laptop aimed at young students. Is this the perfect laptop for kids? Find out in our review.

Asus BR1100C laptop review: the perfect laptop for kids?

Asus BR1100C review: the perfect laptop for kids?

The Asus&nbsp;BR1100C is a new affordable laptop aimed at young students. Is this the perfect laptop for kids? Find out in our review.

The Asus BR1100C laptop has been launched in India. This new, affordable laptop is aimed at younger students.
<h3>Asus BR1100C&nbsp;laptop features</h3>
The Asus BR1100C processor is the Intel Celeron N4500. The Asus BR1100C specifications include 4GB RAM and 64GB storage. The Asus BR1100C display is an 11.6-inch IPS LCD panel with a 1366x768 resolution. The Asus BR110C battery is a 42Whr unit. The Asus BR1100C price in India starts from ₹24,999.
Is this the perfect laptop for students and kids? Watch our <a href="https://www.editorji.com/tech-news/gadget-review/asus-br1100c-review-the-perfect-laptop-for-kids-1654170194471">Asus BR1100C review</a> on editorji to find out.
Also Watch: <a href="https://www.editorji.com/story/vivo-x80-pro-review-best-phone-for-content-creation-1653569770730" target="_blank">Vivo X80 Pro Review: best phone for content creation?</a>

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Delhi-NCR gets a portal for tracking lost/stolen phone

IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad&nbsp;has launched an online portal that will facilitate blocking and tracing of stolen or lost mobile phones in Delhi-NCR. The initiative was launched in Mumbai in September 2019, and will be extended to other parts of the country in 2020. Citizens can register their request on ceir.gov.in along with a copy of the registered FIR to block the IMEI number of their lost/stolen devices. The request ID can be used to track the status of the request and unblock the IMEI number in the future.

IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad&nbsp;has launched an online portal that will facilitate blocking and tracing of stolen or lost mobile phones in Delhi-NCR. The initiative was first launched in Mumbai in September 2019, and will be extended to other parts of the country in 2020. Citizens can register their request on https://ceir.gov.in along with a copy of the registered FIR to block the IMEI number of their lost/stolen devices. The request ID can be used to track the status of the request and unblock the IMEI number in the future.

The iQOO 9T has been launched in India, and comes with a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset under the hood, up to 12GB LPDDR5 RAM and up to 256GB storage. It also sports a 50MP triple rear camera setup with OIS and prices start at  ₹49,999.

iQOO 9T Review: the power of Snapdragon!

iQOO 9T has been launched in India. iQOO 9T  specs include a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor, up to 12GB LPDDR5 RAM and up to 256GB storage. iQOO 9T display is a 6.78-inch E5 AMOLED panel with an FHD+ resolution and 120Hz refresh rate. On the back, the iQOO 9T features a 50MP triple camera setup, and on the front, there’s a 16MP selfie camera. The iQOO 9T battery is 4,700mAh, and it gets 120W fast charging with a 120W adaptor included in the box. iQOO 9T India price starts at ₹49,999 for the 8GB RAM, 128GB storage model, while the 12GB RAM, 256GB storage model costs ₹54,999. Watch our iQOO 9T review on editorji to know about its performance and more.

The iQOO 9T comes in hot with that new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset, along with some pretty neat features to sweeten the deal

Picture this. You&rsquo;re in the market for a new flagship smartphone that costs under ₹60,000. You want a set of good cameras, excellent performance, and a design that turns heads. If that&rsquo;s your dream scenario, then it&rsquo;s time for me to tell you to wake up because this is my review of the iQOO 9T.
<h3>Performance</h3>
Let's start with performance, which is one of the biggest highlights of the iQoo 9T, mostly thanks to the new Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset under the hood. It&rsquo;s the latest and greatest from Qualcomm, and it seems that all the problems with the previous generation have been addressed on this new processor. I also had 12GB LPDDR5 RAM on this variant, but you can also get it with 8GB RAM.&nbsp; In my short testing period with the iQoo 9T, I experienced no heating or throttling issues, whether I was taking loads of videos, playing graphic intensive titles like COD Mobile or Apex Legends, or just doing day-to-day multi-tasking. &nbsp; It&rsquo;s not all the chipset though, because the 9T also gets a large vapor chamber liquid cooling system to help with heat management on the device.&nbsp; I ran the phone through some synthetic benchmarks, and here&rsquo;s how the iQoo 9T performed: &nbsp; In a single run of Geekbench, the 9T scored a single-core score of 1318 and a multi-core score of 4114. In the Geekbench compute test, it scored 6449.&nbsp; In 3D Mark&rsquo;s Wild Life test, the 9T maxed out, delivering stellar performance. Even in the longer Wild Life Stress Test, it scored 91.9% stability, which is very good for a chipset at this level.&nbsp; Now, these were just preliminary results from a few popular benchmarking apps, but if you want to see an in-depth gaming performance test, let us know in the comments below.
Also watch: <a href="https://www.editorji.com/tech-news/gadget-review/iqoo-9-se-review-best-performance-under-35-000-1647598299328">iQoo 9 SE Review: Best performance under ₹35,000?</a>
<h3>Design &amp; Utility</h3>
In terms of aesthetics, iQoo has always set itself apart, and with the 9T, it&rsquo;s more of the same. I received the &lsquo;Legend&rsquo; variant, which is made in partnership with BMW, so it gets this red, black and blue stripe down the white back. The camera section is housed in the giant black rectangle that gets a sort of carbon-fibre pattern and the branding for the V1+ chip.&nbsp; The side rails are metal and finished in matte, and while this isn&rsquo;t exactly a unibody design, iQoo has done a great job of making it look very premium. There&rsquo;s also some nice attention to detail, like the blue power button that sits in a recess along with the volume rocker.&nbsp; Despite being quite large, the 9T doesn&rsquo;t feel extremely heavy in the hand, but it does have a nice weight to it. There&rsquo;s a USB Type-C port at the bottom along with the SIM card tray and the stereo speakers which get adequately loud, but seemed to be tuned to offer more output from the bottom speaker rather than the earpiece.&nbsp; You also get an Infrared blaster at the top of the phone to control compatible house-hold appliances which is a nice feature to see at this price point. The 9T is also IP 52 rated, which isn&rsquo;t the best in terms of protection from water, but it is still good to see IP certification in a segment where many rivals exclude it.
<h3>Display</h3>
Now, the iQoo 9T gets a fantastic display, it&rsquo;s a 6.78-inch E5 AMOLED panel, with a full-HD+ resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. Colour reproduction is fairly accurate, while still offering a vibrant experience while watching content. Speaking of content, not only is the display HDR 10+ compatible, it also gets HDR 10 &ndash; HEVC certification for Netflix, which is a big plus. Thanks to this, you get great contrast levels on HDR content, offering an enhanced viewing experience.&nbsp; Another big plus is the almost uniform bezels&mdash;they'd be perfect if it wasn&rsquo;t for a slightly bigger chin at the bottom. That being said, this display is a joy to use, and even though it doesn&rsquo;t get LTPO technology to ramp down the 120Hz refresh rate, iQoo says the E5 AMOLED panel will consume 25% less battery than an E4 AMOLED panel. &nbsp; The iQoo 9T also houses a fingerprint scanner inside the display that&rsquo;s placed lower down and was both quick and consistent in unlocking the phone.
Also watch: <a href="https://www.editorji.com/tech-news/gadget-review/iqoo-neo-6-review-new-mid-range-champ-1654779848442">iQOO NEO 6 Review: New mid-range champ?</a>
<h3>Cameras</h3>
Let&rsquo;s move on to cameras because the iQoo 9T has a pretty interesting setup that isn&rsquo;t often seen at this price point. It gets a 50MP Samsung GN5 primary sensor with optical image stabilisation, along with a 13MP Ultra-wide camera and a 12MP sensor dedicated to portrait images.&nbsp; Pictures taken with that primary sensor in well-lit outdoor situations are fairly decent, with a good amount of vibrancy and sharpness. HDR is strong, but well-controlled, and it never looks overdone. &nbsp; The 13MP ultrawide also offers pretty great pictures with not a lot of distortion, but there is quite a bit of difference in colour reproduction compared to the main sensor.&nbsp; Get close-enough to a subject and the 9T will automatically turn on the super macro mode using that ultrawide sensor, and honestly, it produced some pretty detailed, close-up shots.&nbsp; The 12MP sensor offers good results when it comes to portrait images, and can even be used to extend the camera's reach digitally to 20x. Edge detection is pretty good, skin tones and colour accuracy also come out well, and overall, I like this camera setup.&nbsp; However, being an iQoo device, there are some quirks. For instance, some portrait images taken in mixed lighting conditions create this weird whitish effect on the subject&rsquo;s face.&nbsp; Then, there&rsquo;s the issue of no OIS on the 2x sensor. Now, normally, this wouldn&rsquo;t be a huge issue, most smartphone makers just substitute it with EIS, but iQoo has done something different.&nbsp; Let&rsquo;s say you&rsquo;re using the 2x sensor and the camera detects a subject. If at this point you shake your hands a bit too much, the iQoo 9T will immediately switch over to the main sensor and crop in. It&rsquo;s not a big issue, in my opinion, but it does feel a bit odd that there&rsquo;s no way of accurately knowing whether an image is being taken using the dedicated 2x sensor or the primary sensor zoomed in.&nbsp; Anyway, let&rsquo;s move on to night photography, where the iQoo 9T performs fairly well. Low-light images taken with the dedicated Night Mode retain a good amount of colour, pictures come out looking sharp, and there&rsquo;s barely any grain or noise. &nbsp; In terms of video, the 9T&rsquo;s V1+ chip comes handy, because there&rsquo;s excellent colour reproduction, details are clear, and since there&rsquo;s support for 4K 60fps, videos come out looking quite smooth. However, the auto-exposure works quite aggressively, and can end up blowing out highlights in well-lit situations.
<h3>Battery &amp; Software</h3>
Battery life on this phone did not disappoint me at all, because its 4,700mAh unit lasted me a full-days usage, even with the 120Hz refresh rate turned on. If you bump it down, you can probably get it to last longer, but honestly, you won&rsquo;t need to, because of the 9T&rsquo;s party trick. It gets a 120W fast charging adapter in the box, that takes the phone from flat to full in around 20 minutes, which is close to being as good as it gets. Also worth mentioning is the charging cable, which is quite a bit longer than most bundled charging cables I&rsquo;ve seen, but it does tend to plug out of the adapter quite easily if it gets caught in anything.&nbsp; Anyway, let&rsquo;s now move on to the software experience on the iQoo 9T, which does seem to be getting better year on year. Funtouch OS with Android 12 is quite slick to use on this phone, but it does get a fair bit of bloatware, including some which can&rsquo;t be deleted or disabled. Still, you get iQoo's ultra-game mode here that enhances the mobile gaming experience and lets you monitor various parameters at any given point of time.
Also watch: <a href="https://www.editorji.com/tech-news/gadget-review/iqoo-9-pro-review-killer-flagship-1646030364315">iQOO 9 Pro Review: Killer Flagship!</a>
<h3>Verdict</h3>
Good cameras, excellent performance, and a design that turns heads. The iQoo 9T delivers on all fronts, and its extra features make it even more compelling. At a starting price of ₹49,999, this might just be the best phone in the segment, and if you&rsquo;re looking for outright power, nothing else comes close.&nbsp;

Meta has previously stated that it has been hesitant to make end-to-end encryption default on all of its chat platforms due to the challenges of integrating such technology into billions of installed apps.

Meta introduces default end-to-end encryption on Instagram & Messenger

Meta has previously stated that it has been hesitant to make end-to-end encryption default on all of its chat platforms due to the challenges of integrating such technology into billions of installed apps.

Meta is introducing end-to-end encryption on Instagram and Messenger by default. The company's famous instant messaging app WhatsApp has offered end-to-end encryption for quite some time now.
End-to-end encryption prevents Meta from viewing the contents of its users' communications. This makes it considerably more difficult for third parties, such as hackers or law enforcement, to keep tabs on digital communications.
Meta is also developing a new tool called Secure Storage, which encrypts cloud backups of Messenger users' chat history. No one, not even Meta, will be able to view the contents of chats. Secure storage will be the default method for protecting users' backup histories, and users will be able to use a PIN to restore their conversation backup.
Meta has said in the past that it has been sluggish to make end-to-end encryption default on all of its chat platforms due to the difficulties of integrating such technology into billions of installed apps and the necessity to balance user privacy and safety.
However, in the new update, Meta reaffirmed that it is on schedule to make end-to-end encryption default for all Messenger conversations and calls "by 2023."
Also watch: <a href="https://www.editorji.com/tech-news/instagram-testing-new-features-for-photo-posts-1659940334287">Instagram testing new features for photo posts</a>

Samsung's new Galaxy Z Flip 4 has been launched with some minor but meaningful updates. Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 price starts at $999. Details about India pricing and availability of Galaxy Z Flip 4 are yet to be announced.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 launched: check price, specs & features

Samsung's new Galaxy Z Flip 4 has been launched with some minor but meaningful updates. Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 price starts at $999. Details about India pricing and availability of Galaxy Z Flip 4 are yet to be announced.

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 has been officially launched.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 specs include a Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor, up to 8GB RAM and 256GB storage.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 display is a 6.7-inch AMOLED foldable screen with an FHD+ resolution and 120Hz variable refresh rate, while the cover display gets a 1.9-inch Super AMOLED display. The cover display has been made more useful thanks to additional customisation options.
Also Watch: <a href="https://www.editorji.com/tech-news/gadget-review/samsung-galaxy-m13-5g-review-1659705364503" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Samsung Galaxy M13 5G Review</a>
The hinge of the device is now slimmer by 1.2mm. On the back, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 features a 12MP dual camera setup, and on the front, there's a 10MP selfie camera.
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 battery is 3,700mAh, and it gets 25W fast charging support.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 price starts at $999. Details about India pricing and availability of Galaxy Z Flip 4 are yet to be announced.

The Phone 1 is the first smartphone from  startup Nothing, and it brings a dash of excitement in an otherwise generic smartphone market with its semi transparent design and unique “glyphs” lights. The Nothing Phone 1 price in India starts at ₹32,999.

Nothing Phone 1 Review: A Glowing Debut!

The Phone 1 is the first smartphone from  startup Nothing, and it brings a dash of excitement in an otherwise generic smartphone market with its semi transparent design and unique light-up “glyphs”. The Nothing Phone 1 price in India starts at ₹32,999 and goes up to ₹38,999. Watch our Nothing Phone 1 review on editorji to know about its performance and more. 

Nothing Phone 1

The Phone 1 is the first smartphone from&nbsp; startup Nothing, and it brings a dash of excitement in an otherwise generic smartphone market at a starting price of ₹32,999. Watch our Nothing Phone 1 review on editorji to know about its performance and more.&nbsp;

The Phone 1 is the first smartphone from startup Nothing, and it brings a dash of excitement in an otherwise generic smartphone market with its semi-transparent design and unique light-up &ldquo;glyphs&rdquo;. &nbsp;
NOTHING PHONE 1 SPECS
Nothing Phone 1 specs include a Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G+ processor, up to 12GB RAM and up to 256GB storage.
NOTHING PHONE 1 DISPLAY
Nothing Phone 1 display is a 6.55-inch flexible OLED screen with 120Hz adaptive refresh rate.
Also watch: <a href="https://www.editorji.com/story/nothing-ear-1-review-you-ain-t-seen-nothing-like-this-before-1627564407442" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Nothing Ear 1 Review</a>
NOTHING PHONE 1 CAMERAS
On the back, the OnePlus 10 Pro features only two cameras that includes a 50MP main shooter, and a 50MP ultra-wide-angle lens. There's also a 16MP sensor on the front.
NOTHING PHONE 1 BATTERY
The Noting Phone 1 battery is 4,500Ah, and it supports 33W wired fast charging. However, there's no charging adaptor included in the box so you&rsquo;ll have to supply your own. The Phone 1 also supports wireless charging and reverse charging capabilities.
NOTHING PHONE 1 SOFTWARE
As for software, the Phone 1 runs Nothing OS based on Android 12 out of the box and it feels refreshingly clean with no bloatware or duplicate apps. Nothing promises three Android OS updates and four years of security patches for the Phone 1.
NOTHING PHONE 1 PRICE
The Nothing Phone 1 price in India starts at ₹32,999 and goes up to ₹38,999. Watch our Nothing Phone 1 review on editorji to know about its performance and more.

Google Pixel 6a has been launched in India, priced at ₹43,999 for the sole 6GB RAM, 128GB storage model. It features a 6.1-inch OLED display, a 12.2MP dual camera system and a Google Tensor processor under the hood.

Google Pixel 6a Review: buy this phone if you love photography!

Google Pixel 6a has been launched in India. Google Pixel 6a specs include a Google Tensor processor, 6GB RAM and 128GB storage. Google Pixel 6a display is a 6.1-inch OLED panel with an FHD+ resolution and 60Hz refresh rate. On the back, the Google Pixel 6a features a 12.2MP dual camera setup, and on the front, there's an 8MP selfie camera. The Google Pixel 6a battery is 4,410mAh, and it gets 18W fast charging. Google Pixel 6a India price is ₹43,999 for the sole 6GB RAM, 128GB storage model. Watch our Google Pixel 6a review on editorji to know about its performance and more. 

Pixel 6a

Google&rsquo;s Pixel 6a is the latest phone to get exceptional mobile photography at an affordable price point

One of the main attractions of Google&rsquo;s Pixel A-series has always been the flagship smartphone camera system, offered at a more attractive price point. We&rsquo;ve reviewed the <a href="https://www.editorji.com/story/google-pixel-3a-xl-review-1560256995784" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Pixel 3a XL</a> and the <a href="https://www.editorji.com/story/google-pixel-4a-review-simple-but-effective-1603442833786" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Pixel 4a</a> in the past, and in our experience, A-series devices have always had great photography chops. However, that camera performance usually came at the cost of battery life, or processing power. This time, though, with this new <a href="https://www.editorji.com/tech-news/google-pixel-6a-launched-in-india-1658382725870" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Google Pixel 6a</a>, that recipe seems to be flipped.
<h3>Design &amp; Utility </h3>
Pixel A-series devices always tend to mirror the flagship Pixel phones in terms of looks, and with the 6a, it&rsquo;s no different. You get the same two-tone back that&rsquo;s divided by this horizontal strip for the camera system and flash, and in this Charcoal colour variant, it looks really subtle and classy. Materials are different, though, so while you still get rounded metal rails that feel really nice to hold in the hand, the back is glossy plastic, or as Google says, it&rsquo;s a 3D Thermoformed Composite back panel. While it does mimic the glass effect pretty well, it does pick up fingerprints and scratches quite easily, and despite me being quite careful, this review unit picked up some pretty nasty scratches. The screen on the front is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3, which is a few generations old, but it should still hold up to a decent amount of abuse.
Also, like I said, that in-hand feel is superb, and with a weight of 178g, it&rsquo;s really easy to use with even one hand. What doesn&rsquo;t make it easy to use with one hand, though, is that power button placement, which no matter how much I used the 6a, I couldn&rsquo;t get used to. Almost every time I reached for the power button, I&rsquo;d inevitably end up triggering the volume control, which was quite irritating.
In terms of utility, you don&rsquo;t get a headphone jack like you did on the previous <a href="https://www.editorji.com/story/google-pixel-5a-5g-launched-can-you-buy-the-pixel-5a-in-india-1629280049219" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Pixel 5a</a>, but you do get an IP67 rating for dust and water-resistance, some well-tuned stereo speakers and arguably the best haptic feedback in this price segment. You also get a dual SIM-card slot, but no expandable storage, which is a shame since the phone is only offered with 128GB of storage.
<h3>Display</h3>
The Pixel 6a features a 6.1-inch OLED display with a full-HD+ resolution, a centrally-aligned hole-punch for the front camera and an in-display fingerprint scanner. Colours are quite punchy, contrast is good and there&rsquo;s HDR-compatibility, even for apps like Netflix.
But more crucially, ever since the Pixel 6a launched and made its way into the hands of tech reviewers, the Internet has been having heated arguments about screen refresh rates. This is because despite its price tag, the 6a&rsquo;s screen only refreshes at 60Hz, as compared to other Android phones in the segment that all provide a much smoother 120Hz.
Without getting into it too much, I&rsquo;ll say this&mdash;should Google have provided a higher refresh rate at this price point? Yes.
Did I notice the 60Hz refresh rate enough for it to be a jarring user experience? No.
Whether it was interface operations, app switching, app opening, scrolling, or really, anything else that involved interacting with the screen, I felt it was a smooth enough experience.
That being said, the screen is surrounded by rather chunky bezels that aren&rsquo;t uniform, and that fingerprint scanner is a both a bit slow to unlock and placed rather high up on the screen. Still, you get a nice always-on-display that wakes up and goes to sleep really nicely, even if it does end up draining the battery a little more than usual.
<h3>Cameras</h3>
Now, perhaps one of the best reasons to buy a Pixel device is for its camera performance, and with the new Pixel 6a, it&rsquo;s..well, a bit confusing.
Let me explain. So the Pixel 6a has a dual camera setup, with a 12.2MP primary sensor and a 12MP ultrawide sensor. Now the ultrawide sensor is a new one, in fact, it&rsquo;s the same as the one on the flagship <a href="https://www.editorji.com/tech-news/mobiles/google-launches-pixel-6-pixel-6-pro-smartphones-with-tensor-chip-1634667045845" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro</a>, but that primary sensor is one we&rsquo;ve seen before on Pixel phones in the past. Ordinarily, that wouldn&rsquo;t be a problem, but with the flagship Pixel 6s, Google used a new 50MP primary sensor this time, so unlike every other previous A-series phone, the 6a doesn&rsquo;t get the &lsquo;flagship&rsquo; camera experience on a budget.
The reason I said this is confusing is because, well, this is still a great camera system.
In terms of image quality, the Pixel 6a is second to none, with beautifully handled exposure, well-balanced HDR, accurate colour reproduction and honestly, more sharpness than I expected from a 12.2MP sensor.&nbsp; Whether it&rsquo;s indoors or outdoors, top sun or low-light, person or object, the Pixel 6a has one of the best shoot-and-forget-it smartphone cameras I&rsquo;ve ever seen. It&rsquo;s such a reliable and consistent camera system, that no matter what the situation, I was sure that as long as I had my frame set, I would get a very pretty picture.&nbsp; Speaking of consistency, the ultrawide sensor took images that were spot on in terms of colour reproduction and exposure control when compared to the primary sensor. There was also very little distortion in the edges of the frame, which is great.
Also great is Google&rsquo;s Night Sight, which still produces some of the best low-light images I&rsquo;ve ever seen on a smartphone. Google&rsquo;s well-known processing prowess really shines here, with incredible noise-reduction and detail in images shot in near-pitch darkness.
However, despite all the wonderful images this camera system produced, it is still plagued by the Pixel&rsquo;s well-known Achilles&rsquo; Heel&mdash;video quality.
Don&rsquo;t get me wrong, the 6a shoots 4K 60fps video with no trouble, well-stabilised too, thanks to OIS, but the results aren&rsquo;t on the same level as the images. Colour reproduction is still quite good, but it&rsquo;s nowhere close to the processing Google manages to do on photos, and whether it&rsquo;s daylight or low-light, videos tend to lack in the sharpness department.
Another camera feature I felt could have been tuned better was the Portrait mode, that tended to mess up the edge-detection on subjects in quite a few instances.
Then there&rsquo;s the front camera, which is the same 8MP sensor as the Pixel 6, but not the 6 Pro. It&rsquo;s a good performer, capturing skin tones accurately, not blowing out highlights, while also being able to manage low-light situations quite well. Still, I&rsquo;m slightly disappointed about the lack of 4K video recording with the front camera on a phone that you&rsquo;re likely going to buy mostly for its camera performance.
Also watch: <a href="https://www.editorji.com/story/google-pixel-4a-review-simple-but-effective-1603442833786" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Google Pixel 4a Review: simple but effective!</a>
<h3>Performance &amp; Software</h3>
Let&rsquo;s now move on to another part of the Pixel 6a that&rsquo;s been flipped this year. Unlike previous A-series phones that usually had mid-range or budget chipsets, the 6a gets the latest and greatest from Google&mdash;Tensor. It&rsquo;s the brand&rsquo;s first homegrown processor for mobile devices and it runs under the hood of the entire Pixel 6 line-up.
At first glance, it seems pretty good, with the 6a holding up quite well under day-to-day workloads and Multi-tasking. Even playing graphic-intensive titles like COD mobile didn&rsquo;t seem to bother it much, and ran without lag or stutter at very high graphics and max frame rate.
However, once you run the phone through a few popular benchmarks, it tells a slightly different story. For instance, a 15-minute, 20-thread CPU throttle test saw it drop to 75% of its maximum performance at a pretty steady rate. My first run of the 3D Mark Wild Life Stress Test saw only 56.6% stability, and even when I ran it again at a later date, it improved only marginally to 57%.
Now it&rsquo;s worth pointing out that these are benchmark scores, that don&rsquo;t really reflect real-world usage patterns very accurately. If you&rsquo;re looking to do a lot of mobile gaming on this device for extended periods of time, then you may want to look at a more powerful device, but for pretty much all sorts of daily smartphone tasks and Multi-tasking, the Pixel 6a is an adequate performer.
Anyway, even if that chipset performance doesn&rsquo;t please you, the software experience certainly will, because this phone offers arguably the best Android experience out there. It gets all the great Android 12 features from the flagship phones, like Material You, all the cool Google Pixel widgets and that great Live Transcribe feature which is honestly a complete game-changer for note-taking.
Personally, I&rsquo;m quite the fan of the Pixel-Android experience, it&rsquo;s so clean and simple to use, and a much easier experience to switch to if you&rsquo;re coming from an iPhone. I don&rsquo;t like that the brightness toggle in the notification shade stays on top, it means that it&rsquo;s always two swipes away and harder to reach when I&rsquo;m in a hurry. But, one feature that I absolutely love is Magic Eraser in the Photos app. It can detect and remove artefacts or objects in the frame that you may not want there and it honestly lives up to its name because it really does work like magic. I tried it both with the automatic suggestions and with the manual brush, and in both cases, it was so satisfying to see a cleaner image than reality allowed.
Apart from this, it&rsquo;s also worth mentioning that being a Pixel device, the 6a gets a promised 3 years of major Android OS updates and 5 years of security updates, which always spells good things for longevity.
Also watch: <a href="https://www.editorji.com/tech-news/gadget-review/vivo-x80-pro-review-best-phone-for-content-creation-1653569770730" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Vivo X80 Pro Review: best phone for content creation?</a>
<h3>Battery Life</h3>
Yet another area of the Pixel 6a that&rsquo;s been upgraded compared to previous generations is the battery, which is now a 4,410mAh unit. Now before you run to the comments with pitchforks, I know that it&rsquo;s not larger than the Pixel 5a, but I&rsquo;m comparing it to the Pixel 4a, which is the last Pixel we received in India, at least officially.&nbsp; Anyway, that battery unit, coupled with the 60Hz refresh rate offers great battery life. I always managed to get over a day&rsquo;s worth even with heavy usage, and if you&rsquo;re a light user, you can expect it to last even longer.
Unfortunately, it&rsquo;s not all good in the charging department, because while most Android rivals are offering 25, 80, and in some cases, even 160W fast charging, the Pixel 6a only supports 18W fast charging. Zero to full took just under 2 hours, which is borderline respectable, and it really would have been nice to see faster charging in this day and age. Plus, there&rsquo;s no charging adapter in the box, a trend that&rsquo;s catching on quite annoyingly. There&rsquo;s also no wireless charging, which isn&rsquo;t a massive loss in my opinion, especially at this price point, but that&rsquo;s yet another feature the 6a doesn&rsquo;t share with its flagship siblings.
<h3>Verdict</h3>
So, I said in the beginning of this video that with the Pixel 6a, Google has flipped the script. Instead of the &lsquo;flagship&rsquo; camera experience on a budget, you get more well-rounded device, that makes it a sort of default Android phone, something that&rsquo;s pretty easy to recommend. A price tag of ₹43,999 in a market as competitive as India is quite risky, sure, but Google, I think, is betting big on that camera performance, which is what I feel will draw photography purists to the Pixel 6a.

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