Nubia Technology has released a number of interesting handsets in the past including the Nubia X dual-screen smartphone. Now, the Chinese manufacturer has turned its focus on mobile games, launching the Red Magic 3S handset in India. Introduced in China last month, the smartphone comes with the top-of-the-line hardware to keep up with the latest games. The device comes with LED lights that are common in gaming hardware.

The Red Magic 3S features a 6.6-inch FHD+ (1080×2340 pixels) AMOLED display with a wide aspect ratio of 19:5:9 and 2.5D Corning Gorilla Glass protection. The screen has a 90Hz refresh rate and a touch response rate of 240Hz to keep the input lag at bay. Being an AMOLED display the colors are vibrant and there is HD support to enhance the contrast further. 

Under the hood, this gaming smartphone is powered by the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Plus chipset made with 7nm technology. It comes with Adreno 640 GPU for handling graphics in games. Nubia has embedded a ‘turbofan’ along with vapor cooling pipe and air vents. The Indian variant will come in an 8GB RAM + 128GB storage and 12GB RAM + 256GB configurations.

In the optics department, the smartphone sports a single 48MP camera at the back that is claimed to be capable of capturing 8k quality videos. The company has included Sony’s IMX586 sensor with f/1.79 aperture. On the front, it offers a 16MP front-facing shooter with f.2.0.

For gamers, there is gaming-specific hardware such as capacitive shoulder buttons, directional haptic feedback and dual speakers. The phone comes with all the essential connectivity features such as 4G VoLTE, dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS/A-GPS and USB Type-C port. There is a 3.5mm headphone jack and a fingerprint sensor at the rear. The company is also touting stereo speakers, DTS:X audio support, 3D sound tech, south sensitive shoulder triggers, and a game boost button.

Coming to the OS, it runs almost stock version of Android (Pie) along with Game Space 2.1 to manage all the games and the phone’s performance. Here, users can customize RGB lights, block notifications during gaming sessions and also record gameplay clips. The handset is backed by a 5,000 mAh battery with 27W quick charge support. The battery is claimed to provide 6 hours of gameplay.

The Nubia Red Magic 3S pricing starts at Rs 35,999 for the 8GB/12GB variant while the 12GB/256GB costs Rs 47,999 and will compete against gaming smartphones in India such as the ASUS ROG 2. It will be available in Cyber Shade (Red and Blue) color options. The smartphone is listed as “coming soon” on Flipkart. As per the company, the sales will start from October 21 during the Flipkart Big Diwali sale. Launch offers include no-cost EMIs and Flipkart Complete Mobile Protection that will be available at a discounted rate of Rs 499.

Nubia Red Magic 3S specifications

• 6.6-inch FHD AMOLED display
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Plus
• 8GB, 12GB RAM
• 128GB, 256GB internal storage
• 48MP rear
• 16MP front
• Android 9 Pie
• 5,000 mAh battery with 27W quick charge 

Xiaomi has finally launched it’s Redmi Note 8 series phones in India, the Redmi Note 8 Pro & Redmi Note 8.

Let’s talk first about Redmi Note 8 Pro.

So the Redmi Note 8 Pro was launched earlier this year in China.

The Redmi Note 8 Pro comes with a 6.53 inch FHD+ IPS LCD display. And it is having a claimed screen to body ratio of 90.1%.

The phone is powered by Mediatek’s latest gaming SoC, Mediatek Helio G90T. And Note 8 Pro is the first phone to come with the chipset. The phone comes in two variants, one is the base variant, which comes with 6GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. And the next one is having 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage.

Coming to cameras, this phone is coming with a primary 64MP Samsung ISOCELL GW1 sensor. And there are three more auxiliary cameras, which make up the quad camera setup of the phone. The second camera is an 8MP wide angle camera, which is having a field of vision of 120°. The third one is a 2MP macro camera, and finally the fourth camera is a normal depth sensor which just aids portrait mode.

Coming to the battery, Xiaomi has increased the battery capacity of the Redmi Note series from 4,000mAh to 4,500mAh battery. Also, this time around Xiaomi is bundling an 18W charger in the box with the phone.

Now let’s talk about Redmi Note 8.

Redmi Note 8, the younger sibling in the Redmi Note 8 series is looking radically different from the elder Pro variant.

The phone comes with a 6.3 inch FHD+ display, with an aspect ratio of 19.5:9.

The phone is powered by Snapdragon 665 SoC, and comes in two different variants, a 4GB RAM 64GB internal storage variant and a 6GB RAM 128GB internal storage variant.

Coming to the cameras, the phone comes with a quad camera setup similar to the Redmi Note 8 Pro, but with a small change in the primary sensor. The Redmi Note 8 carries over the same 48MP Samsung ISOCELL GM1 sensor from Redmi Note 7s. The rest of the triple cameras remains the same in this phone.

Now, talking about the battery, the Note 8 comes with a 4000mAh battery itself and it also comes with 18W fast charger in the box.

Now, for the pricing. The Redmi Note 8 Pro is priced at Rs.14,999 for the 6/64GB variant and the 8/128GB variant is priced at Rs.17,999!

And the Redmi Note 8 is priced at Rs.9,999 for the 4/64GB variant and the 6/128GB variant is priced at Rs.12,999!

Both the phones will be available from 21st October on Amazon, Mi.com and Mi Homes.

Redmi Note 8 Pro Specifications

• 6.53 inch FHD+ LTPS LCD display
• Mediatek Helio G90T SoC
• 6/8GB RAM
• 64/128GB internal storage
• 64MP+8MP ultra wide+2MP Macro +2MP depth
• 20MP front camera
• 4,500mAh battery

Redmi Note 8 Specifications

• 6.3 inch FHD+ LTPS LCD display
• Snapdragon 665
• 4/6GB RAM
• 64/128GB internal storage
• 48MP+8MP ultra wide+2MP Macro +2MP depth
• 20MP front camera
• 4,000mAh battery

Google has been teasing the Pixel 4 for months and thanks to all the leaks, we already knew a few things about the new Pixel lineup. But today, Google has officially revealed the all-new Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL. These 4th Generation Pixel phones come with some of the latest and best features, developed by Google.

The new Pixel 4 devices get a few new features while lacking on a few that are essential to many. The Pixel 4 devices have a display this time without a huge bathtub notch, which seems great but on top, there are sensors and front-facing camera. The display corners are rounder, the volume rockers along with the power button are placed on the right edge. The Pixel 4 has a 5.7-inch display while the bigger Pixel 4 XL has a 6.3-inch display. The Pixel 4 gets a full HD+ OLED panel while its bigger brother has got a Quad HD+ OLED display. Interestingly, both the phones have a display with a high refresh rate of 90Hz this time. There is also HDR 10 support for playing HDR supported video content from popular streaming services.

On the back, there is no fingerprint scanner this time as Google has moved to facial recognition. There is the square camera module, which protrudes a bit and houses the main camera, a telephoto camera, an LED flash, and the flicker sensor. This time, there is no dual-tone back. Users get to pick from three color variants- White, Black, and Orange. There is no headphone jack, instead, the bottom has only the USB-C port along with a bottom-firing speaker. On the front, above the display, there is the front-facing camera. There are a lot of sensors as well for facial recognition and a Soli radar chip for Motion Sense Gestures. Pixel 4 still has stereo speakers, thanks to that bezel on top where there is another speaker.

In terms of processor, again Google has gone for the best chipset available right now- The Qualcomm Snapdragon 855. This time, we get 6GB of RAM, finally, along with 64GB or 128GB storage onboard the new Pixel 4 devices. In terms of camera, both the Pixel 4 devices come with a pretty ‘not-so-interesting’ setup. Despite having a huge square bumpy camera module, there is just a dual-camera setup that houses the main 12MP Dual-Pixel Sony IMX363 sensor along with a 16MP Telephoto Sony IMX481 lens that offers two times optical zoom. This is pretty underwhelming, to be honest. On the front as well, there is an 8MP Sony IMX520 sensor. In terms of camera hardware, the Pixel 4 seems pretty underwhelming, but Google has got some tricks under the sleeves that we will talk about later.

The Pixel 4 packs a 2800mAh battery and the Pixel 4 XL comes with a 3700mAh battery. Both the phones, however, support wired 18W USB Power Delivery and 10W Qi Wireless Charging. The phones run Android 10 out of the box and are guaranteed to receive three years of OS and security updates. The phones come with IPX8 which means that the devices can withstand more than 1 meter of immersion in water, so basically Pixel 4 owners need not worry about water splashes and all, but taking the phone into the swimming pool might not be a good idea.

The Pixel 4 devices come with a Titan M security chip, which verifies that the device isn’t running tampered or outdated software. It also protects the device against unwanted attempts of data decryption, and secure transactions in third-party apps. The new Pixel 4 features Motion Sense, which is powered by the Soli radar on the front. Motion Sense gestures let users control music, silence alerts, or even check notifications.

Though the new Pixel 4 devices seem pretty plain, at least as per the specs, Google has a lot of software tricks, computational photography features and more, thanks to the unique software crafted by Google. Google Pixel 4 comes with an Astrophotography mode that lets users take shots with up to 15 seconds long exposure. Live HDR+ is something very helpful which will show how the photo will look with HDR+, right in the viewfinder. There are dual exposure controls, quick video, and social share. Portrait mode has been improved and now users can take photos of large objects, pets too using the portrait mode. Dual Exposure Controls let users independently adjust the brightness and shadows of their compositions as per their taste to achieve the best lighting.

New and improved Google Assistant is also here on Pixel 4, and Google claims that the Assistant can process speech with nearly zero latency, transcribe speech in real-time and operate without network connectivity. The new Google Assistant can integrate with other apps like Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Maps, YouTube, and Google Photos. The Pixel 4 gets Live Captions as well which lets you see captions from an audio or video playing, in real-time.

As of now, the Pixel 4 devices have been announced only in the US. Pixel 4 starts at $799 for the 64GB variant while the 128GB variant is priced at $899. The Pixel 4 XL starts the same price as that of a 128GB Pixel 4, i.e. $899 with 64GB storage. The Pixel 4 XL with 128GB storage is priced at $999. Pre-orders have already started and the phones will be available starting from October 24. This time, there is no news regarding the availability of the devices in India, because it has been confirmed that Google won’t be launching the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL in India.