Mobile Review

  HIGHLIGHTS The Pixel 4a is the only Pixel phone Google has for India this year. The Pixel 4a does everything well enough but no extra sauce. The Pixel 4a sells in India at a special price of Rs 29,999 but it has MRP of Rs 31,999. Those who have used or use a Google Pixel phone rarely like anything else. Not even the latest iPhones appeal to them. And there are many in India who are fans of Pixel phones. Unfortunately, Google has its own weird launch schedule for India. With Pixel 4 last year, the company skipped India. Then the Pixel 4a got delayed, likely because of the COVID-19 that hit the world early in 2020. At last, the wait is over. The Pixel 4a is in India now, though as this review finds, it may not appeal to all those who were waiting for a Pixel phone. This is because the Pixel 4a is a simple phone. So, simple that it seems to belong to 2014. It is like one of those Nexus phones that Google once sold, the devices that were without any frills and frivolities. Instead, they

  HIGHLIGHTS OnePlus' new flagship brings support for 65W fast charging. The new OnePlus 8T is powered by a Snapdragon 865 SoC. The OnePlus 8T also gets a quad camera set-up. It's that time of the year when we have with us a new OnePlus smartphone to review, and no matter how frequent this occurrence becomes, it still does not stop feeling special. We're in the second week of October, and in for review today is the latest upper-midrange warrior from the phone maker, the OnePlus 8T. Over the past few years, OnePlus has made a habit of launching two new smartphones during its second big launch event of the year. But this time around there is only one. OnePlus says there is not much to upgrade in OnePlus 8 Pro because that is already so good. So, only OnePlus 8T this year. As a mid-year upgrade, the OnePlus 8T improves on the OnePlus 8 in a number of ways. And since it's the only phone being launched right now, it also brings in a few features that are an upgrade on the mo

  HIGHLIGHTS Vivo V20 SE comes with a 6.44-inch Super AMOLED display. The V20 SE gets a triple camera set-up at the back. The V20 SE is powered by the Snapdragon 665 SoC. The V20 SE is Vivo's latest phone in India and was launched barely weeks after its more powerful sibling, the V20, went official in the country. The phone closely follows the blueprint set by its elder sibling as it borrows both in terms of a design and features from the V20. With the Vivo V20 SE, the company has again focused on two major aspects, design and camera, both of which have gotten a treatment that's right up there for the segment the phone has been launched in. But despite its looks, the V20 SE has been made available for purchase at a mid-range price of Rs 20,990. This ensures that the phone also houses core internals that are indicative of the same. In India, the V20 SE will be available for purchase in two colour options — Gravity Black and Aquamarine Green. Of the two, we have the former with u

  HIGHLIGHTS Skullcandy Spoke is priced at an introductory offer of Rs 2,999. The Spoke buds are truly wireless and claim to offer 14-hour battery life. In this Skullcandy Spoke review we find they perform better with an iPhone compared to Android. Earlier this month Skullcandy launched a pair of truly wireless stereo (TWS) buds called Spoke. Now, there are a number of options available in the market when it comes to TWS buds. At the high-end, you have buds from companies like Apple and Bose. On the lower-end, websites like Amazon and Flipkart are full of buds from non-descript and unknown companies. Phone makers like Realme and OnePlus too have joined the market with their offerings. At the lower end, however, quality and feature set is still a concern. Skullcandy hopes to fill in the gaps with the Spoke. The Skullcandy Spoke earbuds come with a number of appealing features. One of them is the promise of 14-hour battery life. Now, there are conditions attached here. Skullcandy counts

  HIGHLIGHTS Realme 7i comes with a large display with 90Hz refresh rate but a 720p resolution. It is powered by a Snapdragon 662 processor which has a mixed performance. Realme 7i seems like an unnecessary successor to the Realme 6i. Realme’s number series cannot be complete without the affordable ‘i’ variants, which offer almost the same features as the top-level model for much less price. Realme 7 series, too, has that variant, called the Realme 7i. This smartphone sits at the lowest rung but that does not mean it is any less in terms of specifications and design than its bigger siblings. Per its price, the Realme 7i brings several hardware and features that will appeal to you. The Realme 7i brings a 90Hz display, much like its predecessor Realme 6i but everything is either more or less in the specifications sheet when both phones are compared. The Realme 7i has a 64MP main camera while the 6i has a 48MP main sensor. It has a Snapdragon 662 processor, as opposed to the MediaTek Heli