Very few people might have heard about Artificial Intelligence (AI) in TVs, and now almost every budget smartphone has AI in it. The beauty of technology is that as time passes by they start becoming accessible to the common man. Last year LG’s ThinQ was India’s first AI TV that offered an interactive experience and enabled the user to control the different functions in their TV. However, the changes after one year aren’t that significant. We find out precisely how good these new updates are which are carried forward into this year. Are they really magnificent?
How Does It Look?
The emphasis on developing the Nano Cell technology has been huge also keeping in mind that there is no compromise on the TV’s aesthetics. For a 65-inch TV, its wide viewing angles deliver pretty accurate picture quality and the fact that it has Nano bezel further elevates its viewing experience. It also comes with a Bluetooth based Magic Motion Remote that will make you lazier than ever. You can operate it from almost all possible angles and can even speak in it to control different AI-enabled functions. This function is truly tailor-made for individuals who like to get their hands dirty in the kitchen and at the same time watch its recipe on the big TV.
How Does It Perform?
LG’s ThinQ technology enables the user to give voice commands to control your AI-enabled home appliances. LG with the 2nd Gen α (Alpha) 7 processor does a magnificent job in delivering crisp videos with the right amount of clarity and sharpness. It was really difficult to notice any sort of difference when the AI was switched on for video and sound. The difference was barely recognizable. Nevertheless, there are a lot of features like the HDMI 2.1 port which delivered superb response time while gaming along with the in-built Dolby Atmos surround sound gave us an exhilarating experience. The easy access to Netflix and Amazon Prime Video with just a click of a button on the Magic Remote made life easier if I wanted to quickly switch on streaming videos from YouTube or Cable. One more cool feature that impressed me was the TV’s ability to simultaneously show your mobile’s content with your Football match happening in the background. You will never miss a goal!
Verdict
The price is on the steep side, but when you are asking for top-notch features on a TV, you will have to break the bank! Having said that, you will not be disappointed with LG’s Nano Cell technology and the clarity it offers. This Ultra 4K OLED TV from LG will surely be a worthy add-on to your AI smart home appliances.
Specifications
65-inch Ultra HD(4K)
Resolution 3840 x 2160
α (Alpha) 7 Gen 2 Intelligent Processor
Features
2.2 Ch Speaker with 40W Speaker output
webOS Smart TV operating system
AI ThinQ™ with Built-in Google Assistant & Alexa
Cloudwalker’s smart screen has plenty of aspects that you could ask for from a leading home entertainment 4K smart screen – crystal clear visuals, an easy-to-use interface in the form of Cloud TV based on (Android Open Source Project) AOSP. The ultra-slim bezel design gives it a premium look along maximizing the display area. It comes in multiple screen sizes, from 43-inch to 65-inches. It has two mid-range ten-watt speakers on the rear that gives a total output of 20 watts which is quite adequate. For better audio, you should get a good pair of speakers. The Cloudwalker smart screen offers two USBs, and one USB port is allocated by Wireless keyboard and mouse which comes along with the smart screen. It also includes 3 x HDMI ports, an RF antenna input for cable TV, RCA input for standard setup box and an ethernet port for wired internet. As expected, the smart screen comes with a remote control that has a lot of buttons and feels a little cluttered.
How Does It Perform?
Talking about performance, the main feature the consumers look at a smart screen is the picture quality of television. Running at 4K UHD resolutions, pictures look bright, sharp and appealing. The viewing angles on the Cloudwalker smart screen is excellent, and a vast improvement from previous TV’s. The colour reproduction on this panel is great. If you’re primarily viewing high-quality HD content, like on Youtube, the smart screen runs the content smoothly without any issues. If you can get your hands on some 4K content, the smart screen can play content without any lags. In case of any non-4K video formats, the smart screen automatically upscales to match the panel providing content without getting pixelated. The interface of the smart screen is simple and based on Content Discovery Engine(CDE), which offers your favourite entertainment from popular content providers like Hotstar, Zee5 and YouTube. It also has a unique “Personal Computer mode” giving a Desktop style user interface which mimics the Windows operating system. I tried using this smart screen as my desktop replacement, to be frank, the big display stresses your eyes when working on it for a more extended period. The Cloudwalker smart screen also comes well equipped with most of the latest streaming 4K content options like Netflix, Hotstar and others. There are millions of other apps and games available at Aptoide, an alternative to Playstore explicitly designed for this TV interface.
Verdict
For Rs. 49,990, the Cloudwalker 655UA7 is a premium smart screen with a 4K HDR 10 panel, 20W speaker and based on AOSP. Moreover, the smart screen even includes a wireless keyboard and mouse, making the deal sweeter. There are a few shortcomings but can be easily overlooked considering the price tag.
Japanese technology giant, Panasonic has been one of the most well-recognised brands in the Indian consumer electronic space and has been known to stay ahead of the game by introducing timely innovations in their product range. The mercury levels in our country can soar upto 50 degrees during peak summer and Air conditioners are more of a necessity now than luxury. To tackle the same, air-conditioning space in the Indian market has been evolving constantly with newage additions like Inverter tech coming into play.
First Impressions
The 1.5 tonne unit came in two separate packaging- one for the indoor unit and one for the outdoor unit. The installation team reached my place within 30 minutes of the Air conditioner being delivered. The installation took around an hour and Panasonic’s trained engineer explained me the basic functionality of the AC. I asked him a couple of questions about the Inverter technology and he explained me most of it perfectly. The unit shared with me is a 1.5-ton variant( Inverter AC U18UKY) which comes with Inverter technology and a 5 star BEE rating which ensures that you get the best of cooling without consuming a lot of electricity.
What’s Interesting
The interesting bits include the new-age tech features that this split AC comes with. It gets Nanoe-G which is Panasonic patente, air purification system. What it does is basically removes the PM2.5 and other pollutants from the air using a threestage purification process: Firstly, the PM2.5 filter removes airborne particles that are smaller than 2.5 Micrometres.Then, the Catechin filter coated with tea leaf extracts deactivates bacteria up to 90% and removes bad odours. And lastly, the PM2.5 Active Filtration where Nanoe-G unit releases 3 trillion nanoe negative ions deactivate most of PM2.5 and airborne particles such as bacteria, viruses and mold. Along with removing air-borne particles, it also works on microorganisms on surfaces such as fabrics, furniture, etc.
Panasonic also claims that it’s i Auto-X feature provides 35% faster cooling at start-up and helps you save upto 65 percent of electricity along with the smart inverter. Well, the area where the air conditioner has been installed at the moment is approximately 160 sq. ft and still the entire area gets perfectly cool in about 15 minutes! Also, my house is on the top floor of 4 storey building which is very close to the sea and tends to get heated up pretty quickly due to direct sunlight and huge windows. However, all of that is of no worry for this beast as it has been working pretty effectively! Another noteworthy bit is that the AC has a Quiet mode which reduces the fan speed and you can hardly hear any noise from both-the indoor and the outdoor unit.
Price: ₹ 66,900 Rating: 90/100
What is Inverter technology?
The Inverter technology is the latest evolution of technology concerning the electro motors of the compressors. An Inverter is used to control the speed of the compressor motor, so as to continuously regulate the temperature. A microcontroller can sample each ambient air temperature and adjust accordingly the speed of the compressor. The inverter air conditioning units have increased efficiency in contraction to traditional air conditioners, extended life of their parts and the sharp fluctuations in the load are eliminated. The inverter AC units might be more expensive than the constant speed air conditioners, but this is balanced by lower energy bills.
Verdict
The Panasonic Aero Series looks good, works like a charm and will ease up on the electricity bills as well, thanks to the inverter technology! What else can you ask for?
It’s just been a few days since Apple have unveiled their new products and applications meant for their existing and upcoming devices as well. The most interesting product unveiled at the WWDC has to be the new Mac Pro, the most expensive offering starting at $5,999. Not only this, but Apple also launched the Pro Display XDR which starts at $4,999. The Mac Pro is by far the most powerful computer that Apple is offering now and it is purely meant for high-end processing and content creation for creators. For the ease of mobility, people prefer laptops as they are now smaller, thinner, lighter and more powerful. Apple has its MacBook lineup and since its inception, it has been a choice of millions of users all over the globe. Not too long ago when Apple went ahead and redesigned the MacBook Pro with an added touch bar, which also took its prices higher up. This calls for real alternatives which can be used if you are not looking to go into the Apple bandwagon or simply do not want to break a bank for the purchase of an Apple product. Any alternative to the Mac OS will definitely be Windows. And with the arrival of the Microsoft Windows 10, the overall computing experience on windows has increased several folds. We look at some of the best windows laptops which could be better alternatives than the Macbook.
Dell Xps
The Dell XPS is available in two different screen sizes, 13-inch and 15-inch. The Dell XPS is a very able MacBook alternative for those who want a powerful able laptop for their heavy usage. The Dell XPS looks amazing, is very compact and lightweight, with a long lasting battery increasing your productivity. There is an affordable entry-level XPS 13 which you can opt for and the price is something which is lower than Apple’s entry-level MacBook. You will get the latest Intel 8th generation of Intel processors and a display that looks amazing. The bezels are super thin and also have the option of a 4K display.
Microsoft Surface Laptop 2
The Microsoft Surface Laptop 2 is one of the best offerings from Microsoft. This is the reason it becomes a great alternative for a MacBook. The Surface Laptop is in its second generation and it has been very well received by users from its initial days. The Microsoft Surface 2 laptop is a well-designed piece of technology with very sharp looks. It comes in a few colour options as well and is affordable when you compare it with the latest generations of the MacBook It’s a well designed, sharp-looking laptop that’s available in a lot of colours and it’s incredibly affordable compared to a MacBook Pro. Not only this Microsoft also offers several discounts, especially for students which makes it one affordable option for students, but especially those who create content and media. You get the latest 8th generation of Intel processors and RAM up to 16GB and up to 1TB of SSD storage. Additionally, the display looks great and the laptop has a whopping 14.5 hours of battery life. Asus Zenbook Pro 15 The Asus Zenbook Pro is what we can call very close to the MacBook and its most interesting piece of hardware is actually the screen which is a 100 per cent Adobe RGB 4K display with amazing colour accuracy. The screen also has a higher pixel density than the Retina display on the MacBook and also gets dedicated graphics support. The performance of the Zenbook Pro 15 is nothing short of amazing, it is better not to compare it directly with a MacBook. However, the battery life on the Zenbook Pro 15 is a bit of concern. The touchpad is replaced with a working screen which also allows several functions.
Lenovo Thinkpad X1
Carbon Lenovo has had the Thinkpad series for a few years now but if there is one Thinkpad which could be one of the best alternates for a MacBook. The Thinkpad X1 Carbon comes with a very tactile and amazing keyboard and is designed to be loaded work. The laptop is very thin and light and comes in a stealth black colour. The screen is great and there is plenty of power for all the tasks most users would need. Along with a 13-inch form factor, the screen supports HDR adding to the viewing experience. Lenovo has included all necessary ports for connectivity and also comes with Alexa controls built-in.
Hp Spectre X360
The HP Spectre X360 comes with a screen which swivels 360 degrees and also supports a stylus. There is an option of a 4K touchscreen display too. It is offered with both Core i5 and i7 8thprocessors. Its design is something unique with chamfered edges which look neat and add to the overall appeal. The Spectre X360 comes with an assurance of 13.5 hours of battery life. What makes this laptop even more desirable is the attractive entry-level price point considering you do not want to invest buying a MacBook. Furthermore, you get a lot of customisation options if you need to extract more out of the X360. The X360 is accompanied by a stylus.
The Smartphone industry in India is booming, especially in the budget segment, specifically in the sub Rs. 20,000/- price bracket. This space has been constantly witnessing a lot of contenders and Realme with its competitive products and pricing is making a huge mark in the Indian smartphone market.
The Realme 5-Series are very worthy successors to the Realme 3 Pro and the Realme 3. They offer better hardware and Quad camera setup. I have been using the Realme 5 Pro for a significant amount of time now and in fact, I took it along with me to use it as a primary snapper during my recent motorcycle ride to Ladakh. So how is the Realme 5 Pro in real life and is it worth it to place your money on it? Read on to find out.
First things first, the Realme 5 Pro is aimed truly at the budget buyers who do not wish to spend more than Rs. 20,000/- on buying a smartphone It comes in three variants and prices start from Rs. 13,999 to up to Rs. Rs. 16,999.
Looks, Design and Hardware
Crack the box open and it is all the regular things inside. Of course, you get the Realme 5 Pro smartphone, a TPU case, sim ejector tool, manuals, a 20W VOOC charger and USB Type-C cable. Coming to the phone, it looks very good and the Sparkling Blue colour theme with patterns on the back of the phone makes it look quite premium. Realme calls the back as Holographic Gradient back and whatever the name could be, I am pretty impressed by the design in the back.
The phone is made out of polycarbonate and has a smooth glass finish. The overall footprint of the phone isn’t too large which makes it easy to hold in the hands. The side of the Realme 5 Pro is made of plastic and you can see the ride side which has the power button and the left side houses the volume rocker buttons and the sim-card tray. The buttons are firm and offer good tactile feedback.
The four-camera setup at the back has a slight bump but nothing to worry about as you can use a case which will not allow the camera hump to rub against any surface when placed on its back. The capacitive fingerprint scanner is placed right beside the camera setup making it easier to operate when holding the phone. On the bottom, you get a Type-C charging port, the headphone jack and the single speaker grille. The phone pretty solid in hands and the front is protected by Gorilla Glass 3. There is no IP certification for the Realme 5 Pro but Realme claims splash resistivity.
Now coming to the display, it is a 6.3-inch FHD+ screen with 19:9 screen ratio and over 90 per cent of the screen to body ratio. The phone does have bezels but they are thinner on the sides and slightly bigger at the chin area. The screen is an IPS LCD panel which might seem a bit dull. Turning it on to full brightness shows its vivid nature and warm colours. Reading the screen outdoors is a bit of an issue but Realme had to cut some corners and the display is one of them.
To back the nice physical appearance, the heart of the matter for the Realme 5 Pro is the Snapdragon 712 which is clocked at higher core speed. Paired with it, you get the option of 4GB, 6GB and 8GB of RAM and 64GB or 128 GB of internal storage. What makes the LPDDR4X RAM better is the pairing with the UFS 2.1 storage for faster read-write.
Performance and Camera Quality
During the time I have used the Realme 5 Pro, it was a very good performer with most of the applications and multitasking. It did not face any lags or stutters as it is the case with some budget-oriented smartphones. The ample amount of RAM on the 8GB 128 GB variant made it easy to multitask with most of the things thrown at it. Gaming was a breeze on the Realme 5 Pro and the Game Boost is present to optimize the performance. Titles like PUBG and Asphalt 9 – Legends had no issues or frame drops while playing.
On the OS front, it runs ColorOS 6 which comes with several features just like any other Android-based operating system. However, I would prefer a much cleaner user experience with minimal changes to the original android. I hope smartphone makers think about giving a true android experience or at least optimize their OS to the finest levels to allow a much better experience of using their phones.
Now the most important of the bit is the Quad camera setup. The combination consists of a 48 MP Sony IMX56 sensor, 8-MP ultra-wide, 2 MP Macro camera and 2 MP portrait sensor. On the front is a 16 MP selfie snapper housed within the display notch. The 48 MP primary sensor comes with f/1.8 aperture and uses Pixel binning to produce sharp and vivid 12MP images. The colours seem to be quite accurate and the camera attains focus in very less time. HDR will sort of boost the images, especially the ones in tricky lighting situation. The images are slightly warm and have plenty of details and the quality is up to the mark. The edge detection of the portrait mode is quite accurate as it is able to mask out the background from the subject quite effectively. The 16 Mp front camera does the job it has been hired for and the selfie images and videos seem quite nice out of the camera.
Finally, it is time to look into the power source of the Realme 5 Pro which is a 4035 mAh battery. It is able to deliver a day’s worth of power with all the regular multimedia and app browsing. The cherry on the top is actually the bundled 20W VOOC 3.0 fast charger which charges the phone from zero to full in little more than an hour. At this price point, you have nothing much to nitpick.
Verdict
So, here comes the final question of whether you should buy the Realme 5 Pro or not? Well for this price, it is a good buy, especially the 8 GB RAM variant which is quite snappy with the performance bit. Gaming too is a charm on the Realme 5 Pro but I wish, Realme would have chosen a better display for this one. In case you think you are not convinced, you can always spend some more and get the Realme X or the even better Realme XT.
EXHIBIT:What’s the story behind the name “Zomato”? Deepinder: When we started out in 2008 we were called Foodiebay. One of the reasons why we decided to change the name in late 2010 from Foodiebay to Zomato was that we wanted a powerful brand name. After endless debate over several cups of coffee, we came up with the name Zomato. We decided to keep the idea of food at the center and choose a name that is short, easy to remember and makes people think of food. Zomato’s got a zing to it and is originally a play on the word ‘Tomato’. We also wanted to avoid any confusion with “ebay”; we wanted to be sure that we weren’t taking any chances when creating a brand we wanted to take international at the time. Focusing on brand recall and communicating what we stand for is of primary importance to any consumer internet company, and I think we have got most of it right with Zomato.
EXHIBIT: When did you get your first funding? Was it tough to raise fund or a cake walk for Zomato? DG: Raising funds for a consumer facing product was far from easy back in 2008-10. When we started out, we had initially raised a small sum of money from our family and a couple of friends to ensure we could hit the ground running. However raising the seed round was difficult; we were struggling at the time to find investors who’d write us our first cheque.
We worked at Bain for a year and a half while dedicating weekends to Foodiebay when we started out. By the time we left Bain, we had already launched in 4 cities (NCR, Kolkata, Mumbai& Pune) and had a handful of clients on board. It was getting difficult to manage both and before one could affect the other, we decided to quit and work full-time on Foodiebay; luckily, by then, we had we also had Gunjan on board to work on the tech side of things.In 2010, Sanjeev and his team saw the potential in what we were building and gave us our first cheque of a Million dollars. InfoEdge has been an investor in Zomato ever since, and still owns majority stake in the company.
EXHIBIT: Zomato has travelled a long way since its inception in 2008. What made you come up with the idea? What’s biggest leap of Zomato since then? DG: At Zomato, we started out will collecting menus for restaurants around Gurgaon and put up these scanned menus on the office intranet. When we starting see a lot of traction there, Pankaj and I then went on to build this database and soon we had gone live with menus for 1,200 restaurants in Delhi NCR in July 2008, which expanded to 2,000 restaurants by the end of that year. We have now grown our footprint from having presence in 4 cities in India in 2008, to listing over I million restaurants in over 10,000 cities, across 23 countries.
We have come a long way since we started out 8 years ago and as a technology company we need to constantly build further from where we started. We started out primarily as a restaurant search and discovery service on web, and what we’re building today is 100x more complex. Over the past few years, we’ve been extremely focused on building products for our users, and restaurant partners – to help make dining experiences unthinkably easy.
We have diversified our product offering beyond just search and discovery to adding a social layer, then expanding into adjacencies such as online food delivery, table reservations, white label apps for restaurants, Zomato for business – a marketing tool for restaurant owners, and now our own point of sales system for restaurants.On the business front – we have had a very successful launch of our food delivery business in India and the UAE over the last year. We operationally broke-even in our businesses in India, the Middle East (UAE, Lebanon and Qatar) and Southeast Asia (Philippines and Indonesia) earlier this Feb. If the revenue growth continues as we expect it to, we aim to operationally break-even as a global business by Dec 2016.
EXHIBIT: What is your opinion about the future of the Food-tech industry in India? DG: For the past two years, the food tech space has seen a lot of activity from both entrepreneurs and investors. We’ve seen a conscious effort and the biggest strides along three fronts.One – rising digital adoption amongst restaurants to help them create great dining experiences. From cloud based POS systems which help restaurants with inventory and menu management, better customer insights to using digital platforms to communicate and reach out to their potential customers, the most successful restaurateurs are able use a suite of tools available to them to enhance customer experience around great food. We’ve also seen dark/cloud kitchens grow in the recent past and the sector today has the capability and infrastructure to see more of such scalable concepts grow.
Two – building stronger communication channels between restaurants and users. Convenience services such as online ordering and table reservation have made the whole ordering in or dining out experience as seamless as possible for both – the users, as well as the restaurants.While we’ve seen a lot of food-tech start-ups mushroom and help grow the market overall over the last couple of years, it is now also great to see an increasing effort on getting the business fundamentals right with more companies and investors largely focused on building the food-tech space in India for the longer term.
The focus on digitisation of discovery, communication, delivery, reservation and restaurant operations overall will help in creating greater dining experiences for users. We will also see convergence of these business models in different forms to provide greater value to both merchants as well as the users in the near future.With more and more players entering the market, what will set one apart from the other is the overall customer experience and unit economics. All metrics of customer adoption of a product, the frequency of use and the end conversion will be driven by the quality of service a product offers. In any business, you are only as good as your customers think you are.
EXHIBIT: What’s the most common trend among Zomato users? DG: We get most of our traffic when users are looking to make a decision about ordering food or eating out, i.e. just before lunch and dinner hours. I think a common trend among most Zomato users is that they are extremely passionate about food, and they like the discovery aspect the product allows for by providing them all the information they need to be able to make an educated choice on where to eat or what to order.
EXHIBIT: Blend of technology and food – that’s Zomato in a single phrase. How do you justify this? DG: Well, that’s rather self-explanatory, isn’t it?
EXHIBIT: Tell us some unknown facts about yourself. DG: My first startup back in 2005, was an online food delivery website called Foodlet. It was probably the first online food delivery business in India.
EXHIBIT: Tell us about some inspirational books that you have read and would recommend. DG: The last book that I read and was inspired by was Leading by Sir Alex Ferguson. The other two books that stuck a chord with me at different points of my entrepreneurial journey were Peter Thiel’s Zero to One and The Hard Thing About Hard Things, by Ben Horowitz. On a personal note though, I enjoy collecting the Classics for my home library.
EXHIBIT: Inspirational tips to the startup founders who are trying to come up with innovative ideas like yours. DG: I think when you start building something for the right reasons – you have identified a gap that you want to bridge, or have identified an even more efficient way of doing something that already exists; if you can do this with focus, on the right foundation, and can build a good team around your idea that shares your vision – that’s half the battle won.
The modern customers and businesses rely heavily on the internet to find products and services they need, and people will love a service if it makes their lives simpler. Multiple players will definitely continue to emerge because of the massive potential and reach of the internet. However, what’s going to set a particular player apart is not just a unique product and service offering, but also a real and sustainable business model built around sound unit economics.
EXHIBIT: Talking of India, and adjacencies – how big do you think is the food delivery market? DG: While the food delivery market in India is huge (between the organized and unorganized segment it has been pegged between $1.4B – $2B), the online food delivery segment still has a lot of room to grow. The normal human behaviour for ordering food is still to pick up the phone and call. So our largest competitor in this segment is still the phone.
As of now, our online food delivery business is growing at a healthy 30% month-on-month, we recently crossed 33,000 orders a day across India and UAE – and this is with only 2.5% of our active user base searching for restaurants having placed orders online.
Are you planning to buy a new smartphone within a specific budget? Lenovo has recently launched three new smartphones which cover a wide spectrum of the price. The Z6 Pro, K10 Note and the A6 Note. However, the K10 Note is placed in a mid-range budget segment. But how does the K10 Note perform in the real world? We have used the K10 Note for more than 10 days now and this is the review of the Lenovo K10 Note.
Look, Design and Hardware
The Lenovo K10 Note comes with a simple and minimalistic design. But do not be fooled as it looks quite elegant and has a great build quality. The body has been constructed from plastic which makes it even more lightweight. Even with a lot of usage, it never felt heavy to hold. The plastic back is prone to getting fingerprints which I personally feel is a tradeoff all smartphone makers so to use the back area for incorporating designs and patterns. You can wipe the back clean with a soft cloth and it should not be a problem. The rear is also the home for the triple camera setup and an LED flash. The fingerprint scanner is placed at the back as we have seen with most of the phones. On the right side, you have the power and the volume rocker keys while the left side houses the sim-card try. The bottom houses the USB Type-C port and the speaker grille and the still beloved 3.5mm headphone port. On the top, you can notice the small port for the secondary microphone. The overall design is simple and it looks quite stylish, especially if you consider its budget tag.
Now turn over the phone to the front, you will come to see the 6.3-inch Full-HD+ LCD display which gets a water drop-shaped notch on the top. It has an aspect ratio of 19.5:9. The bezels are quite thin except for the chin area at the bottom. Lenovo has skipped on Corning’s Gorilla Glass to use Panda Class for protection. The screen is quite bright and vibrant and is quite consistent at different viewing angles. Not only this, but the legibility of the screen in bright sunlight was also very good as I had no difficulty in reading whatever was on the screen.
Hardware specifications of the K10 Note include a Qualcomm Snapdragon 710 SoC which is paired with up to 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal storage. The phone draws its power from a 4050mAh battery which also has support for 18W fast charging. The camera trio consists of a 16 MP primary camera, an 8MP secondary lens which gets 2X optical zoom and a 5 MP depth sensor. The front-facing camera is a 16 MP unit for selfies and video calling.
Now coming to the software of the smartphone, it runs Android 9.0 Pie out of the box. One noticeable factor is that you only have a very little level of customisation leaving with you a pure Android experience. Even with a high amount of multitasking, the phone did not face too many lags or stutters. You can enable gestures on this K10 Note via the 4D U-Touch in the settings menu. The K10 comes with a few additional applications installed but not all of them can be removed.
Performance and Camera Quality
Now moving towards the performance department of the Lenovo K10 Note, it appeared to run very smoothly for the entire duration of use. There was no lag observed while launching multiple applications or while switching between tabs. If you like playing games, you might encounter a bit of heating on continuous gameplay. However games like Asphalt 9: Legends on long session got the phone warm only slightly. The beautiful surprise is the battery life. The 4050mAh battery easily lasts a day of usage including a lot of multimedia content consumption and browsing social media applications, maps etc. The fast charger in the box means the phone could be fully charged in around two hours. Talking about multimedia, the sound output on the K10 Note is pretty impressive considering the fact it features Dolby Atmos and even with a single speaker, the sound output felt adequate. The fingerprint scanner of the K10 is fast and sometimes even faster than the facial recognition.
Now it is time we talk about the camera. The images from the K10 Note produced accurate colours and were evenly exposed with good amount of details. Focusing is not an issue when pointing at faraway objects but when going too close to the subject, it takes a moment to lock focus. In low lighting conditions, the images were decent. Turning the night mode on slightly enhances the images taken in dimly lit situations. The shots taken in the portrait mode worked well however, you cannot adjust adjust the level of blur like you can in some of the other smartphone portraits. The 16 MP selfie camera does a good job of taking selfies.
Final Verdict
For a price of Rs. 13,999/- the Lenovo K10 Note ticks all the boxes for a budget smartphone user. It comes with a bright display, smooth performance and a good battery life. The cameras could have been better but that is me, nitpicking on a budget device. If you are looking to not spend more than 15 thousand on a smartphone and a good software experience, then the Lenovo K10 Note is a very good contender waiting to be picked up.
First of all, the Galaxy A50s looks similar to the existing Samsung’s mid-range design lineup. The Galaxy A50s also features a glossy and reflective coating that produce hues of different colours. It is even tweaked to include a prism-like design which only accentuates the reflective colours. But due to the glass back, it also attracts fingerprint and we recommend a back case as the phone is a bit slippery. Holding it in hands, the 166 grams Galaxy A50s doesn’t feel heavy and you can easily get used to it. On the front, the 6.4-inch full HD+ display is just amazing, thanks to Samsung’s Super AMOLED panel which produce crisp images. The display is visible under direct sunlight and sAMOLED display are good for power management. There is a tiny notch which Samsung calls it Infinity-U that where the front camera is placed.
HOW DOES IT PERFORM?
The Galaxy A50s is powered by Exynos 9611 processor along with 6GB of RAM and 128GB internal storage. Using this device for a few weeks, we didn’t notice any lag and stutters even for a single time, but it does get warm while playing games like Asphalt 9 and PUBG at high-graphic settings. Samsung runs it’s own One UI based on Android 9 Pie operating system. The One UI features a lot of additional functionalities like themes, UI customization and many more. The Galaxy A50s also comes with an on-screen optical fingerprint sensor. However, the Galaxy A50s fingerprint sensor was the slowest smartphones I ever encountered.
HOW IS THE CAMERA?
The Galaxy A50s feature triple camera setup. The main camera sensor is a 48-megapixel that comes along with an 8-megapixel ultra-wide sensor and 5-megapixel depth sensor. The main sensor captures in 12-megapixel mode, where four adjoining pixels are clubbed as one, but you may also shoot in full 48-megapixel resolution using the pro mode or changing camera settings. The 48MP shots aren’t as crisp though, so you’d be better off with 12MP images. There is a depth sensor which helps in capturing pro mode. The ultra-wide camera offers wide coverage of the 120-degree field of view. It does capture some good shots, but the lens doesn’t support tap to focus. On the front, it features 32-megapixel camera sensor. It takes decent pictures in a bright environment but struggles in low light.
VERDICT
Samsung Galaxy A50s is a fairly good effort by smartphone manufacturer in a segment that is highly competitive. The performance is flawless including gaming. However, we weren’t impressed with the slow fingerprint sensor. Those who love shooting pictures, they are likely to find the device valuable.
I am a big fan of motorcycles, especially multi-cylinder engines. A parallel-twin with a 270-degree crank, Oh yes. But then I had the chance to try out an inline four-cylinder engine and it was Japanese. Well, this motorcycles I am talking about seems to have no clear introduction, let me begin with one.Suzuki launched its first middle-weight motorcycle in India in 2018 and they had planned it well as it was the second motorcycle to follow the CKD route after the legendary Hayabusa, which is now assembled in India. Yes, I am talking about the Suzuki GSX S750 which is a street naked middle-weight offering from Suzuki in India. Also known as the ‘Apex Predator’ I am sure for those who have ridden it on a track, can swear by its performance. But how is it to live with it and bring it home and ride it like my daily motorcycle?
Interestingly, Suzuki was quick enough to launch the 2019 edition of the GSX S750 which now gets two more colour scheme options. It was a very brief meeting with the guys in the dealership and I was soon handed the keys of the S750. The blue-black paint job looks stunning I must admit and now, I was about to ride this beauty home. It borrows its looks from its elder sibling the GSX S1000 albeit in a bit more compact manner. Do not be mistaken as it still is a mean-looking big muscular motorcycle with a well-defined front leading up to the tank.
As soon as I swing my leg over it, I immediately felt the 215 kg of kerb weight and feels quite heavy for a naked style motorcycle. Press the starter button and the 749cc inline-four mill comes alive with a hum and I bet I could not get enough of the engine singing. A slight twist of the throttle and I could not believe how smooth the engine is. It has been at the heart of the GSX R750 and makes 114 PS at 10,500rpm and 81 Nm of torque at 9,500rpm and is mated to a slick-shifting 6-speed gearbox. What amazed me is the very linear power delivery and the which is welcome for new riders or those who have upgraded. So I began riding the S750 on a regular basis, 50 percent of city riding and 50 percent of the highway. It allowed me to have a better perspective of what this motorcycle is all about.
What comes into my mind now is the perfectly smooth engine which sings as it idles, pushes it upwards and see the hum turning into a loud wail. What adds to this is the intake howl which certainly makes riding the S750 a more pleasurable thing to do. On highways, you can twist the throttle and the three-level traction control will watch your back if you do not choose to turn it off. ABS will make braking at high speeds a safer deal with the 310mm twin-disc rotors on the front and the single rotor in the rear with Nissin callipers. The console is a small all-digital unit which gives you all the information you need and is clearly readable in all scenarios. The front brake lever is adjustable but the clutch-lever is not, which again brings me to the fact that the clutch pull is slightly heavy, the slipper clutch is missing and you feel it when riding in traffic.
Moving on, the motorcycle is very flickable and all that weight and heft seems to disappear when it gets going. You might feel the weight while moving side to side when around corners but the S750 is sure-footed and very quick to change direction as well. It is very clever of Suzuki to include this ‘Low RPM Assist’ feature which makes the clutch operation smooth, especially in city traffic where the clutch operation is maximum and also avoids stalling of the engine. You can cruise around the speeds of 120-130 and the engine would not be even bothered. Twisting the throttle will soon take you north of 150 km/hr and the lines soon begin to blur. If you switch the traction control off, you can pull off wheelies pretty easily, but on public roads? Not a good idea.
The engine sits between a twin-spar frame and everything is suspended off the ground with 41mm USD KYB forks and a link-type mono-shock at the rear, all of which come with preload adjustability. The build quality on this motorcycle is very good and the fit and finish levels are impressive. The switchgear on both sides feels very premium and sturdy. Coming to the point of efficiency, it gets a 16-litre fuel tank and in the time I was riding it, I got a consistent mileage of 16 km/l in the city and around 18km/l on the highway rides. It does heat in the traffic but the heat didn’t bother me much. Overall, the Apex Predator is a good motorcycle to live with on a daily basis and those weekend highway blasts.
Now ask me if this an affordable deal? Yes, I believe it is. It has an ex-showroom price starting at Rs. 7.45 lakhs. Sure you do not get a host of electronics, LED lighting and more of those bells and whistles. What it gives you though is a very agile motorcycle, a super-refined engine and pure riding pleasure without much intervention. Overall, it is a well-balanced naked motorcycle which follows Suzuki’s GSX line and keeps the agile DNA intact. I cannot wait to ride it again.
Flat Track racing is one of the most popular racing formats in America. Indian Motorcycles, who also claim to be the first motorcycle manufacturers of America, have been tearing up the flat tracks with their FTR 750 flat tracker, a purpose-built championship-winning motorcycle. Indian, decided to get an FTR for the street, as the Indian FTR 1200 and here is our experience of riding it on the streets.
The Indian 1200 FTR has the looks that could kill, especially for people who love naked and raw styling. While the riding experience has been amazing, here are the ride impressions put together for this beast of a motorcycle.
It looks very raw and edgy, clearly replicates the Flat Track racing motorcycles with its aggressive-looking stance, a short tail section and Flat-Track tyres. The overall design is elegant but minimal. A bare trellis frame, fat rubber, golden shocks on both ends. LED lighting shows the way while a fully 4.3-inch digital touchscreen instrument cluster with Bluetooth connectivity makes it very modern.
The engine is a 1203cc, 60-degree V-Twin engine which is liquid-cooled. It makes 120 BHP of power and 120 Nm of torque and is mated to a 6-speed gearbox. The burble from the engine is quite muffled at low revs but throaty when revved hard and the bike feels very lively after around 5000 rpm. Drop the clutch and it very patiently crawls which helps you make it through the city traffic. The engine tends to get very hot in crawling traffic. The suspension setup comes to form SACHS, USD forks on the front and the rear is mounted with a mono-shock, both of which are fully adjustable. Braking power is courtesy of Brembo M4.32 callipers and dual discs on the front and a rear single pot calliper from Brembo shaving speeds instantly when needed.
Three rider modes viz Rain, Road and Sport can be selected via the touchscreen. In the track mode, one can choose to disable the Traction Control and ABS. Cruising on the highway was not an issue as the engine can hold high speeds upwards of 120 km/hr with ease. The safety net includes ABS, Traction Control and an IMU that aids the cornering ABS. The Pro Taper handlebars are wide enough to make you feel like sitting on a flat tracker while the short rear fender with integrated grab rails accentuates the overall appeal. The switchgear quality is very premium and the overall fit and finish of the FTR are superb.
Handling is amazing on the FTR 1200 and it is very nimble even with its 230 kgs of kerb weight. The seat height of 840mm could be a challenge for some shorter riders. The gearshifts are on point with the neutral being the easiest to find. The 12.9-litre tank under the seat actually is small for this gas guzzler that could make long-distance ride have frequent fuel stops. The slipper clutch makes the clutch-pull almost feel like a 150cc commuter.
Well, this Indian, is what not the other Indians are. It gets out of the typical Indian cruiser silhouette and makes a new identity for itself. You will end up spending Rs. 15.99 lakhs (ex-showroom) for this Flat Tracker for the street, but be wary, you will have a wide smile each and every time you ride it.
