Samsung Galaxy Note 3 vs Galaxy Note 2

The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 was launched in India for a price of Rs. 49900 (roughly translated to “more than most can afford”) and is expected to go on sale on the 25th of September. The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 features a new design over its predecessor boasting a soft-touch, leather like back, along with many hardware changes that put it right in line with many flagships out there. But, at the price at which it has launched, should you go in for the Galaxy Note 3? or should you get the Galaxy Note 2? Here is where we break it down for you.

Aesthetics

The Note 3 is actually slimmer and thinner than the Galaxy Note 2 despite getting a larger 5.7-inch full HD 1920 x 1080p display. The Note 3 also appears to be squarish from the front and has a slightly raised bezel, as opposed to the roundish bezel on the Galaxy Note 2. 

The new leather look back panel on the Note 3 definitely adds a lot more premium appeal to the previous plastic and poorly constructed look. Which however, does not change the fact that the phone is still completely plastic, now its just plastic hidden behind faux leather-appearing plastic. 

Hardware Comparison

Apart from the obvious differences in the specs, the major changes on the new Note 3 worth noting are, the aforementioned Full HD display, a new Exynos 5 chipset vs Exynos 4 on the Note 2 which offers an effective 1.9 GHz on Quad cores (with full octa-core functionality by December.). You also get 3 new temperature, humidity and gesture sensors, along with an additional gigabyte of RAM.

A 16GB bump in storage capacity makes the basic variant (and the only one available in India) a 32GB variant. A slightly larger 3200 mAh battery and 13 MP camera finish off the changes on hardware. Check out a comparative below. 

Specifications	Galaxy Note 3	Galaxy Note 2
Display	5.7 inch full HD Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 1920 × 1080 pixels (386 ppi)	5.5 inch Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels (267 ppi)
Processor	1.9 Ghz Octa-Core(Exynos)	1.6 GHz Quad-core Cortex-A9
Sensors	Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer, temperature, humidity, gesture	Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass, barometer
Primary camera	13 MP with smart stabilization and high CRI LED flash	8 MP with image stabilization and LED flash
Video	Full HD @60fps	Full HD @30fps
Secondary camera	2 MP, Full HD	1.9 MP
RAM	3 GB	2 GB
Internal Storage	32 GB	16 GB
Connectivity	Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, Infrared booster and USB 3.0	Bluetooth 4.0, NFC and USB 2.0
OS	Android 4.3 Jelly Bean	Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean
Colors	Black, White and Blush Pink	Titanium Gray, Marble White, Amber Brown, Ruby Wine, Pink, Blue
Battery	3200 mAh	3100 mAh
Dimensions	151.2 x 79.2 x 8.3 mm	151.1 x 80.5 x 9.4 mm
Weight	168 grams	183 grams
Price	49,990	30,000

Software

Despite most attempts by the company, most of the new features of the Galaxy Note 3 will be available on the Galaxy Note 2. Including the new Action command feature which can be executed from the S Pen. 

With not a lot of difference for the end user, one would consider going for the Note 2 as it would mostly achieve all the features that one would require from a smart phone with pen functionality.

The Galaxy Note 3 is the latest flagship from the company while the Galaxy Note 2 did really well in the past and offers most of the features for the Note 3 at a considerably low price. If you really need to get the  most for your money’s worth, the Galaxy Note 2 is still an impressive piece of hardware with a lot going on under the hood, it is still capable of handling every app in the Google Play store, and whatever you can throw at it. If the latest is what you must get, then consider spending a lot more for the newest Note 3.

The Galaxy Note 3 is the latest flagship from the company while the Galaxy Note 2 did really well in the past and offers most of the features for the Note 3 at a considerably low price. If you really need to get the most for your money’s worth, the Galaxy Note 2 is still an impressive piece of hardware with a lot going on under the hood, it is still capable of handling every app in the Google Play store, and whatever you can throw at it. If the latest is what you must get, then consider spending a lot more for the newest Note 3.

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LG G Flex a Curved Smartphone Revealed in Press Render

After the Samsung Galaxy Round, now its time for LG to bring up its curved Smartphone. LG has been into rumors to bring up a curved display phone, the latest press renders shows the alleged smartphone from LG known as G Flex.

Samsung has just announced its first curved display phone in Korea, the device has a 5.7 inch Full HD Flexible screen and is priced at around 1000 USD. However, the pricing and specification of the LG G Flex are not out yet, but it is believed that the device will be launched sometime next month. The LG G Flex is a curved phone just like the Galaxy Round, both of them are curved at a fixed position.

The launch of this phone might get  delayed because LG has its new Nexus just around the corner. According to rumors, the 6 inch LG G Flex will hit the market after the launch of Nexus 5 which is believed to be by the end of this month.

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Sony Z1 F Launched With 4.3 Inch HD display

Japanese carrier NTT Docomo has announced the Sony Z1F, It has a 4.3 inch(720p) Triluminos Display with X-Reality engine and a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels, the device is powered by 2.2 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor and runs on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean.

The Sony Z1 F has the same 20.7 MP rear camera along with Sony’s G lens and a 27 mm wide angle f/2.0 aperture custom 1/2.3 Sony Exmor RS image sensor, BIONZ image processing engine. The device does full HD recording at 1080p and has a 2 MP front camera. 

The Z1 F can be considered as the mini version of the Sony’s flagship Z1, but if you consider other same smartphones like the HTC One mini and the Samsung galaxy S4 mini, all these phones have been compromised when it comes to hardware. But, in this case this device has the same of the features that his brig brother introduced to the market, like the phone itself being waterproof, same camera, same processor and alot more. The device weighs 140 grams.  

Sony Xperia Z1 f  specifications:

• 4.3 inch TRILUMINOS HD (720×1280) display 
• 2.2 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800
• 2 GB of RAM
• Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean
• 20.7 MP Exmor RS sensor with BIONZ image processor engine 
• 2 MP megapixel front facing camera
• 16 GB inbuilt storage
• 2300 mAh battery

The Sony Xperia Z1 is available in Lime, Black, White and Pink. colors. It would be available from NTT Docomo from late December 2013. No word on pricing and availability in India yet.

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HTC One Mini Now Available Online for 37299 INR

HTC One did well in the market, considering that HTC brought up the HTC One Mini in the market. The device was announced back in July  and was available to some markets by then as well, whereas in India the device is now available online.

The HTC One mini is pretty much same in looks if compared to the HTC One, though the size and hardware are different. The HTC One mini sports a 4.3 inch HD display with a resolution of  1280 x 720 Pixels(341ppi), the HTC One Mini is powered by a 1.4 GHz dual-core CPU along with the Snapdragon 400 Chipset. The device comes up with 1 GB RAM and 16 GB of inbuilt storage, it also comes up with Dual frontal stereo speakers with built-in amplifiers. HTC One Mini has HTC’s UltraPixel Camera with BSI sensor, Pixel size 2.0 µm, Sensor size 1/3″ (0.85 cm) a dedicated HTC ImageChip 2 F2.0 aperture and 28 mm lens along with Smart Flash. The Front Camera is 1.6 MP with BSI sensor, the main camera does Full HD video(1080p) whereas the front camera does HD videos(720p). 

HTC One Mini has a 1800 mAh battery and runs on Android 4.2.2 along with HTC Sense 5. The device weighs 122 grams and the dimensions are 132 x 63.2 x 9.25 mm. The device is available on Flipkart but the company’s Indian website still says Coming Soon:

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Report : LG G Flex To Come With A Flexible Display, Will Launch In November

LG is reportedly planning to launch the LG G Flex, a smartphone with a curved display.

According to CNET, which has got its hands on the design sketch seen below, the LG G Flex is set for a November launch and will feature a 6in curved plastic OLED display.

The LG G Flex seems to be the commercial name of the LG Z device that ZDNet Korea reported on yesterday. LG Z could be just an internal codename for the project, though the final name is allegedly still on the table. 

LG touted this technology in a press release in May and introduced a curved 55-inch OLED TV panel and 5-inch plastic OLED panel as a demonstration at a trade show.

As AndroidAuthority reports, a Japanese blog identified a device codenamed LG-F340L that fits the description of LG G Flex/LG Z in the GFXBench benchmark database. Here are the possible specs:

• Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 MSM8974 @ 2.3GHz
• HD resolution ( 1280 x 720)
• Model info: lge / z_lgu_kr / zee: 4.2.2/JDQ39B/F340L_LAP8974JMR1R130820.1376962998: userdebug / test-keys
• LTE-Advanced/W-CDMA/GSM
• Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean

Other specifics remain unknown, but with Samsung and LG now both racing to be the first to bring a smartphone with a flexible display to market, it shouldn’t be too long before we actually start to see some in the flesh.

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Gionee Elife E6 Launched in India For 22,999 INR

SPECIFICATIONS

Company/Brand         Gionee Type                          Smartphone OS                             Android 4.2 Price                         22,999 Price Range              20,000 - 25,000 Announced                July 2013 Released                   October 2013 Chipset                      ARM Cortex A7 Processor                 1.5 GHz quad-core GPU                           PowerVR SGX544MP RAM                          2  GB Battery                       2020 mAh Primary Camera        13 MP with LED flash Secondary Camera    5 MP Video Capabilities     Full HD from both cameras Auto Focus                 Yes Dimensions                144 x 69 x 7.7 mm Main Display              5 inch Full HD Screen In-Built Storage          32 GB

Gionee has launched its flagship smartphone today, the Gionee Elife E6 which was announced earlier in the month of July and since then it was one of the much awaited smartphone The device is officially launched in india today with a price tag of 22,999 INR.

Gionee Elife E6 is powered by a 1.5GHz quad-core ARM Cortex A7 CPU and a PowerVR SGX544MP GPU. The device has a 5 inch AMOLED display with full HD screen along with a resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels. The screen has a 441 ppi with the OGS technology.

The Gionee Elife E6 comes with a 13 MP rear camera with a second generation BSI sensor and a 5 MP front-facing camera with a 28 mm lens. Both cameras support full HD recording. The device is powered by a 2020 mAh battery and runs on android 4.2 Jelly Bean. The device sports 2 GB of RAM along with 32 GB of inbuilt storage which is not expandable as the device has a unibody construction.

The device also features gesture controls, which allow users to answer phones by directly raising the device up to their ears, answer calls by sweeping a hand over the screen, change the pictures in the gallery by a sweeping motion, and automatically play/pause videos when the user looks away from the screen.

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