How to improve

online privacy

In-Focus:
Apple’s iOs 12,
wAtchOs 5

Reviewed:
Honor 10,
Vivo X21
June 2018 / `50/ www.gadgetsngizmos.in

Augment
your reAlity:
DCP No. F.2(I/I) Press/2009

Augmented ReAlity
is tAking technology
woRld by stoRm
GG www.gadgetsngizmos.in

Editor-in-Chief: Aroon Purie

Senior Assistant Editor: Nidhi Singal

GADGETS
AND GIZMOS

CONTENTS
Assistant Editor: Sapna Nair Purohit

Associate Art Director: Amit Sharma

Chief Designer: Raj Verma

Production: Surinder Hastu (Chief of

Production), Harish Aggarwal,
Vijay Sharma, Naveen Gupta

Chief Executive Officer: Ashish Bagga

Group Business Head: Manoj Sharma

Associate Publisher(IMPACt): Anil Fernandes

IMPACt tEAM

Senior General ManaGerS (iMPaCT):

Cover Story
Kaustav Chatterjee (East),

10
V. Somasundaram (Chennai),
Jitendra Lad (West),
Head (North) – Dipayan Chowdhary
Better Than Real
Product Head: Jaykumar Mistry With Apple and Google focusing on Augmented
Reality, the technology is said to become big.
SALES AND OPERAtIONS
Chief General ManaGer: D.V.S. Rama Rao

Senior General ManaGer (naTional): Vinod Das

General ManaGer (SouTh): Deepak Bhatt

8
General ManaGer (WeST): Rajesh Menon
In-Focus
reGional ManaGer (eaST): V.a. Chotalia
All about Apple’s latest iOS 12 and watchOS 5
General ManaGer (oPeraTionS): Rakesh Sharma

Volume 10, Number 12;

June - July 2018 14
Reviews
Vivo X21,
x-mini SUPA
Copyright Living Media India Ltd. All rights reserved throughout the world.
Reproduction in any manner is prohibited. Printed and published by Ashish
BenQ W1700
Bagga on behalf of Living Media India Ltd. Printed at Thomson Press India
Ltd., 18-35 Milestone, Delhi Mathura Road, Faridabad-121007, (Haryana), JBL SoundBar
Published at K-9, Connaught Circus, New Delhi-110001. India Today does
not take responsibility for returning unsolicited publication material. Xiaomi Y2
Cover Design: amit sharma Honor 10
ABAJ SMART
The model runs Android
4.0 and above with pre-
installed apps like Gmail,

LED HD TVs
YouTube, Twitter,
Facebook and Netflix

ABAJ hAs Announced the launch of its latest smart TV by Quad Core A7 850MHz with
in the Indian market. It is a 55-inch full HD LED TV with an A+ Dual Core MALI450MP2 400MHz
Grade panel which the company claims has been optimised for GPU, has three HDMI ports, and
watching movies, music, sports, games, online content and more two USB ports. It uses a LINUX
with a 178-degree viewing angle. It runs Android 4.0 and above operating system and offers the
with pre-installed apps like Gmail, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook option of Mouse Cursor on
and Netflix. The TV features narrow bezel and sound output of Remote. The model, with a three-
8W x 2 speakers. It supports a five-band equalizer, is PC-com- year warranty, has been priced at
patible, and has LAN connectivity and built-in WiFi. It is powered `59,990.

2
Amazon out, and play white noise to fall
asleep. Amazon plans to further
personalise the customer experi-

introduces ence. It will introduce support for

Amazon customers to temporarily

Alexa for
connect their Amazon accounts to
their Alexa-enabled device in the
room. This will allow customers

Hospitality
to play their personal music from
services such as Amazon Music,
Spotify and Pandora, and also
listen to audiobooks with Audible.
AMAzon'S ALExA foR HoSpiTALiTy Hoteliers will also be able use Alexa
will help hotels, vacation rental for Hospitality to measure engage-
and other hospitality players give ment through analytics and adapt
a voice-first experience to guests. services based on guest feedback.
Amazon Echo smart speakers will
be placed in hotel rooms and guests
will be able to talk to Alexa for
The company will introduce support for
accessing hotel information, room
customers to temporarily connect their
service, housekeeping, controlling
Amazon accounts to their Alexa-enabled
lights/thermostats, and playing mu-
device in the room.
sic. Amazon will work with major
property management, ticketing
and guest engagement solutions
to make Alexa integration simple
for hotels. To start with, Marriott
International is introducing the ex-
perience at select properties under
Marriott Hotels, Westin Hotels &
Resorts, St. Regis Hotels & Resorts,
Aloft Hotels, and Autograph Collec-
tion Hotels starting this summer.
However, even before Amazon
optimised Alexa for the hospitality
industry, smart voice assistants
have been deployed at some of the
hotels, including Wynn Las Vegas
and Hotel Park Inn by Radisson, IP
Extension, Delhi, to name a few.
“Customers tell us they love
how easy it is to get information,
enjoy entertainment and control
connected devices by simply asking
Alexa, and we want to offer those
experiences everywhere customers
want them,” says Daniel Rausch,
Vice President, Amazon.
Other than fetching regular
information about the hotel and
controlling and adjusting in-room
devices, guests will also be able
to check airport wait times, play
games, get in a quick guided work-
 Google Adds continued
conversation to
home speakers
smArt speAkers have been the Home Speaker would be able
understanding commands and re- to understand when it is spoken to
sponding in real time. But till now, and would be able to respond to
they could process only one several requests during the conver-
command at a time and not make a sation.
conversation. As promised at For instance, you can say "Hey
Google I/O 2018 last month, the Google, what’s the weather to-
Home Speakers are now getting day?”. “Will it rain tomorrow?" “And
support for continued conversation. remind me to bring an umbrella
Jacklyn Konzelmann, Product tomorrow morning”...“Thank you!”
Manager, Google Assistant, The blog post further explains
explained in a blog post, "We’re that with 'Continued Conversation'
taking another step forward in turned on, after you ask the as-
making your interactions with the sistant a question, you can ask a
Google Assistant more natural with follow-up question, set a reminder,
Continued Conversation, available
starting today on Google Home, The Home Speaker will be
Google Home Mini and Google able to understand when
Home Max." it is spoken to and respond
So, instead of calling out 'Ok to several requests during
Google' or 'Hey Google' every time, the conversation
4
or add something to your shopping
list without having to say “Hey
Google” each time. "You can say
thank you or stop once you are
done, or we will end the conversa-
tion once we detect that you are
no longer talking to the assistant.
You will still need to activate your
assistant devices with 'Ok Google,
Hey Google', or with a physical
trigger, but with this new optional
setting turned on, the assistant will
stay active long enough to respond
to follow-up questions so you don't
have to say Hey Google as often."
The new feature has started
rolling out. Home speaker owners
can turn it on in the Google As-
sistant app by going to settings,
preferences, continued conversa-
tion and hitting the toggle.
 Amazon Now
rebranded to

AMAzon inDiA has rebranded its grocery service Amazon Now to Prime
Now, offering two-hour delivery to Prime members. Available to cus-
tomers in Bengaluru, Mumbai, New Delhi and Hyderabad, the service is
available any time between 6 am and midnight; consumers can order as
late as 10 pm for midnight delivery. Same-day and next-day delivery will
remain available for all Amazon users, in two-hour slots from 6 am to
midnight. For this, Amazon India has 15 fulfilment centres equipped with
temperature-controlled zones. The centres also store kitchen appliances,
beauty products and household supplies available on Prime Now.
“On Prime Now, customers can shop for products from our Now
store, which is fulfilled by Amazon. We have invested in customised in-
frastructure at fulfilment centres for faster deliveries and chill chains to
maintain temperature for leafy and dairy products like curd and paneer.
We are encouraged by the strong customer response. Quantities ordered
have grown by 90 per cent monthly since the launch of the Now store,”
says Siddharth Nambiar – Head of Prime Now, Amazon India.
With the rebranded app, there are over 10,000 products listed across
categories such as fruit and vegetables, grocery, staples, meats, home
and kitchen and more, fulfilled by Amazon through the Now store and
supermarkets such as Big Bazaar, Aditya Birla More and local speciality
sellers. The app will also have “Crazy Deals” on grocery products with up
to 30 per cent off; there will be Amazon Pay offers as well.

5
Blackberry Key2
With A physical
Keyboard, Dual
Camera, Unveiled
VAnnted As the world’s most
secure Android smart phone, Black-
berry’s KEY2 has just been unveiled.
A sequel to last year’s KeyOne, this
is a mid-range Android smartphone
with a physical keyboard. It is also
the first Blackberry with a dual
camera.
The KEY2 operates on Android
8.1 Oreo and includes a Speed
Key – the universal shortcut key for
instantly accessing apps, contacts,
and other repetitive use functions.
The manufacturer says the phone
offers a two-day battery backup
and a battery that supports Quick
Charging (faster than usual charg-
ing optimised for the type of voltage
available). The KEY2 is available in
both the 64 GB and 128 GB internal
storage versions with both support-
ing expandable storage of 256 GB.
The phone’s body is sturdy
6
aluminium hosting a 4.5-inch
touch display protected with 2.5 D
Corning glass. The KEY2 features
two 12-megapixel cameras – one
with an aperture of f/1.8 for faster
autofocus, and a second aperture
f/2.6 for portrait mode. There is also
8-megapixel front camera with fixed
focus and a selfie flash.
As usual, Blackberry has fo-
cussed on security, and the phone
comes with BlackBerry's proprietary
technique - establishing a hardware
root of trust adding security keys
to the processor. The KEY 2 comes
preloaded with DTEK with an ‘at a
The phone also comes
with optimised virtual
lockers that offer
greater personal
privacy
glance’ security meter to display
the device’s overall security rat-
ing. It includes a Proactive Health
Check with which users can scan
the device for instant feedback on
potential vulnerabilities and security
optimisations.
The phone also comes with
optimised virtual lockers that offer
greater personal privacy and con-
trol over content especially those
like documents and photos. Once
activated, the pre-loaded privacy ap-
plication can only be accessed using
passwords or fingerprints.
Another major feature that the
KEY2 supports – making it a big
deal for large organisations to adopt
– is the Android zero-touch enrol-
ment. This is a seamless means for
corporate owned, controlled, and
monitored phones to be provided to
employees.
 Samsung Samsung has refreshed its QLED TV offering and expanded
its UHD range. The Korean technology giant is not just focus-
launches ing on the premium category but has also introduced a new
Concert series, a 'Make for India' innovation.
Concert Focusing on the Indian consumers’ need for immersive and
quality sound, Samsung’s Concert series will have four speak-

series TV for ers embedded, instead of the regular two. Each channel is said
to deliver 10W sound output to pack a total output of 40W

the Indian surround sound experience. The Concert TV series will be

available in Smart Concert (smart TVs) and Joy Concert (non-

market, to smart TVs). Smart Concert will feature Bluetooth capability

to pair with smartphones or speakers and a customisable

focus on advanced user interface. There will be a Smart Hub feature

which will allow users to access Live TV and browse content

the sound across a host of apps such as Jio Cinema, Netflix, Amazon
Prime and Big Flix. The range will be available in 32-inch, 43-

experience
inch and 49-inch sizes, with the starting price of `27,500.
The company has added an Ambient Mode in Samsung
QLED TV in which the TV seamlessly blends with the home
interiors. It can mimic the pattern on the wall behind the TV
to create a visual effect that blends the TV into the wall. “Con-
sumers in India are upsizing and are moving to bigger and bet-
Samsung’s Concert ter televisions. We intend to fuel this trend by increasing our
series will have four UHD line-up by 60 per cent and launching new products with
speakers; each channel innovative features such as Ambient Mode and superior sound
is said to deliver 10W quality,” says Piyush Kunnapallil, General Manager, Consumer
sound output Electronics Business, Samsung India.
Focus

apple
annOunceS
iOS 12:
improves
performance
and brings new
features

F
By Nidhi SiNgal

So the iOS 12 is here. The key

changes this time round (in addi-
tion to the usual claims of per-
formance improvement and de-
bugging) include group
FaceTime, time-controlled Do
Not Disturb settings, a digital
health monitor to track how
much screen time an individual
uses, Measure – a way to con-
vert the phone into a handy tape
measure, and of course fun ef-
fects too.
Apple’s proprietary video
calling feature FaceTime that
has been a blessing for families
spread across different conti-
nents will now allow group call-
ing. The feature will work on al-
most all Apple devices – iP-
hones, iPad, iMacs and even
Apple Watches.
The official announcement of
iOS 12 mentions Siri Shortcuts
have been improved; this after its
first move advance when it an-
nounced Siri voice assistant with
iPhone 4S but was overtaken by
Google's Assistant and Amazon's
Alexa. The big change in this ver-
sion is that Siri can be custom-
ised in tandem with a new
Shortcuts app.
The upgraded Do Not Disturb
will incorporate the previous ver-
sions’ bedtime display dimming
and can be time controlled. That
is, a user can customise DND on
and off based on time or location
or action.
Focussing on privacy, Safari
will now incorporate an
Intelligent Tracking Prevention
feature to block social media
“Like” or “Share” buttons. It will
also prevent comment widgets
from tracking users without per-
mission.
Similar to the Google
Dashboard feature on Android P,
Apple has brought in Screen
Time, a digital health monitor to
help users understand how
much screen time is used and on
what. It will also serve as a
watchdog for parents to monitor
and manage how and for how
long their child uses the device.
The Measure App converts
the phone camera to a tape
measure of sorts while iBooks is
being rebranded to Apple Books
with a redesign.

8
watchOS 5
to focus on
fitness and
connectivity
A
Along with the iOS 12, Apple
previewed some new features of
the watchOS5. watchOS is
Apple’s proprietary operating
system for Apple Watch. The
new OS brings powerful activity
and communication features to
Apple Watch. It brings in quick
access to information with a host
of new features.
Activity Competitions
From motivating users to meet
daily targets, this new feature al-
low Apple Watch owners to in-
vite another Apple Watch user to
compete in a seven-day Activity
competition, earning points for
closing Activity Rings, while re-
ceiving coaching notifications to
help stay engaged.
Auto-Workout Detection
For the most popular workouts
on Apple Watch, auto-workout
detection provides an alert to
start the correct workout and
gives retroactive credit.
New Workouts
Apple had over 12 dedicated
workout types and Apple Watch
was able to track calorie burned
and exercise minutes accurately.
Apple has also introduced sup-
port for Yoga and Hiking.
New Running Features
This new update includes a new
cadence (steps per minute) met-
ric for indoor and outdoor runs
and walks, as well as a new pace
alarm for outdoor runs that
alerts users when they are be-
hind or ahead of their target
pace.
Walkie-Talkie
This feature allows Apple Watch
user to quickly get in touch with
friends and family, using the new
watch-to-watch connection,
which is fast, personal and can
be activated between any com-
patible Apple Watch users
around the world over Wi-Fi or
cellular. There isn’t any update
on whether this feature will be
available in India or not.
Siri Updates
The updated Siri watch face for
Apple Watch is said to be a bet-
ter personal assistant. It will of-
fer more predictive and proactive
shortcuts throughout the day
based on routines, locations and
information such as heart rate
after a workout, commute time
with Maps at the appropriate
time of day or sports scores for a
favourite team.
Enhanced Notifications
Notifications from third-party
apps can now have interactive
controls and be used without
needing to open the app.
The watchOS will be availa-
ble for a free update for Apple
Watch Series 1 and later models
and requires iPhone 5s or later
versions on iOS 12.
9
 Cover Story

Better
than real
AUGMENTED REALITY IS SET TO TAKE THE
TECH WORLD BY STORM IN THE WAKE
OF NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS FROM APPLE
AND GOOGLE.
By Nidhi Singal

elping the younger generation understand

the effects of climate change and the impor-
tance of water bodies can be challenging, not
to mention tedious. But what if a life-like 3D
model could show how the smallest of hu-
man actions can impact the environment?
WWF Free River, an augmented reality (AR)
app does just that. When you point the iPad’s camera on a
flat surface, the app overlays a realistic 3D model on the
screen offering a spectacular landscape view – showing riv-
AR oveRlAys
ers, rain and dams and how they affect habitation, and helps
digital explore more sustainable ways for energy development.
information on As is sufficiently evident, AR technology, by overlaying
top of the real
environment digital information on top of the real environment, can render

10
a truly immersive experience across
industries. Just pointing the camera on
the subject can make things come
alive. Take for instance the IKEA Place
app that makes shopping for furniture
easy. The app helps visualise what
furniture would blend well with your
home decor. The Human Anatomy app
is another example that helps visualise
and understand the intricacies of the
nervous system in 3D.
AR is not a new technology but has
been overshadowed for long by virtual
reality (VR) that finds significance in
the gaming industry. VR technology
disconnects you from the real world
and involves the use of specialised
headsets (priced as low as `220 for a
cardboard VR), whereas AR offers a
more life-like experience and involves
placing a computer-generated graph-
ics in the real world environment. For
developers, the lure of creating virtual
content instead of placing it over the
real environment was a big one. But
Apple’s CEO Tim Cook has been a big
fan of AR. “AR has the ability to am-
plify human performance instead of
isolating humans,” said Apple’s CEO
Tim Cook during one of the company’s
earnings call.
Apple’s ARKit helped developers
design apps for a seamless AR experi-
ence on iPhones and iPads. ARKit 2,
the latest one, will be helpful in de-
signing advanced AR apps that can
track 3D objects and support improved
face tracking. Google, too, has been
FRoggipediA
enables
students to
dissect a frog
virtually
working on this technology for quite
some time. It has now replaced its
Project Tango with ARCore, a platform
to build AR experiences. It supports
vertical plane detection, which means
that instead of pointing at a flat sur-
face, one can place AR objects on dif-
ferent surfaces, like a textured wall;
and Augmented Images that can bring
images to life by merely pointing the
phone at a poster or see what’s inside
a box without opening it.
Both ARKit 2 and ARCore are en-
couraging developers to build shared
AR experiences – apps and games in
which multiple users can participate
and view the same virtual environment
from a different angle.
Be it the world of education, medi-
cine, gaming, tourism or automobile,
AR is finding takers everywhere. There
are AR apps that can tell you the di-
mensions of a door or a box without
you having to look for a measurement
tape. In fact, Apple is launching a
Measure app with iOS 12. The
Froggipedia AR app for Apple, from an
Indian developer, enables students to
see and dissect a frog virtually; instead
of the scalpel, the student uses the
Apple Pencil. Art lovers can see and
analyse the smallest details in an art
piece using AR. The Boulevard AR app
is a fine example of that.
Although most of these apps can
be used on smartphones, AR gadgets
such as AR glasses and headgear are
on the cards for special uses. In its
paper An Augmented Realit y
Microscope for Real-time Automated
Detection of Cancer, Google describes
a prototype Augmented Reality
Microscope (ARM) platform that could
possibly help accelerate and democra-
tise the adoption of deep learning tools
for pathologists around the world. The
platform consists of a modified light
microscope that enables real-time im-
age analysis and presentation of the
results of machine learning algorithms
directly into the field of view.
A new market intelligence report
by BIS Research states that the AR
market is estimated to reach $198.17
billion by 2025, growing at a CAGR of
65.1 per cent. Mixed Reality, a mix of
AR and VR, is also set to grow to $3.68
billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 72 per
cent. Mixed Reality requires high-end
glasses like Microsoft HoloLens and
Meta 2 and has great uses in the man-
ufacturing and medical industries.
HoloLens is actually helping doctors
achieve more accuracy, shorter sur-
gery times and risk reduction.
@nidhisingal
11
Feature

Boosting
online
privacy
A host of browser
extensions cAn help
you keep AwAy sites
trAcking you.

By Nidhi Singal
Illustration by Raj Verma

e
very time you visit a website, you
leave behind a digital footprint. These
traces of information might include
search history, social media account
information, and much more. Some of
this is stored in the form of cookies,
text files that contain two pieces of in-
formation — the name of the site and
a unique user ID. Some of these cook-
ies help you remain signed into your e-
mail accounts, some remember your
site preferences and some even pre-
sent you with locally relevant content,
improving the browsing experience.
These are first-party cookies created
by the websites you visit.
However, there is a flip side too. A
big chunk of cookies is created to
track your profile or surfing habits.
Often, these are third-party cookies,
added on to the various websites you
visit. While it is difficult to identify
these third-party cookies, you can get
rid of all cookies while deleting
browser history, or change cookie set-
tings in your browser to eliminate
them altogether. But there is a catch.
If all cookies are turned off, you may
face trouble signing into your Gmail
account or visiting many websites. Let
us look at ways to safeguard oneself
from unwanted third-party cookies.
Built-in Browser settings
All leading web browsers have these
settings built into them. You can block
all cookies or just restrict third-party
cookies. Under the ‘Privacy and
Security’ tab on Chrome’s ‘Settings’ is
the Cookie tab, which allows you to
block third-party cookies and even
grant permission to specific sites to
save and read cookie data.
Firefox users will have to navigate
a little more. The can click on the
‘Privacy & Security’ panel under
‘Preferences’, go to the ‘History’ sec-
tion and use ‘Custom Settings for
History’ to choose ‘accept third-party
cookies’ or 'reject third-party cookies'.
Similarly, in Safari, ‘cookies and
website data’ option can be accessed
through the ‘Privacy’ option in
‘Preferences’. With Opera, one has to
visit the browser settings, followed by
‘Preferences’, ‘Advanced’ and
‘Cookies’, whereas on Microsoft Edge,
one can go to ‘Privacy and Services’
under ‘View Advanced Settings’.
To be on the safer side, you can
also turn on auto-delete cookies every
time you close the browser. Within the
a large numBer of cook-
ies are created to track
your profile or surfing
haBits. often, these are
third-party cookies
cookies setting on Google Chrome, for
instance, you can select the option to
‘keep local data only until you quit
your browser’. With Firefox, select
‘keep cookies until I close Firefox.’
Extensions and Apps
There are some web-browser ex-
tensions to protect privacy. Ghostery,
available for almost all popular
browsers, improves your browsing ex-
perience by giving you control over
ads and tracking technologies to
speed up page loads, eliminate clutter
and protect data. It allows you to go
with default settings or customise
settings. The latter lets you block ad-
trackers or choose the list of analytics
options you want to allow. Ghostery
also allows you to enable enhanced
anti-tracking, smart blocking and even
create a Ghostery account for syncing
settings across browsers and devices.
Once set up, the Ghostery icon ap-
pears next to the address bar that
shows a report card of the number of
trackers blocked, page load time and
even the details of the blocked track-
ers for you to identify if they are harm-
less or intrusive.
Another popular extension is
Adblock Plus. It blocks banners, pop-
ups, tracking, malware and more.
Clicking on the Adblock Plus icon next
to the search bar gives you a report
which shows the number of ads
blocked on the particular page and in
total. With just one click, you can turn
on/off the blocker for a particular site.
Adblock Plus can be customised from
the Settings — this allows you to
block social media icons tracking,
block additional tracking, and allow/
block acceptable ads that are non-in-
trusive. It also gives quick access to
Whitelisted websites for which you
have turned off ad blocking and more.
The advanced option is for customis-
ing Adblock Plus, add or remove filter
lists, and create and maintain own fil-
ter lists. It can also be used for disa-
bling third-party tracking cookies and
scripts.
Disconnect finds companies that
track people and then blocks their
tracking requests. Available for
Chrome and Firefox, this is a user-
supported software that allows users
to pay as much as they want annually.
Another popular extension is
uBlock Origin. With advanced settings,
this one isn’t for beginners. It shows
the number of requests blocked and
gives a quick access to the list. Even
the settings have a wide list of options
to choose from, which includes auto-
update filters, parse and enforce cos-
metic filters, malware domains, an-
noyances, and more.
@nidhisingal
13
 Price
`35,990

top
notch
By Nidhi SiNgal

What’s the next big thing for

smartphones? An in-display fin-
gerprint sensor, and Vivo X21 is
one of the first devices to come out dual
with it. Unlike traditional sensors camera
at the back for
mostly placed on the bottom bezel depth images;
of a phone’s front or pushed to the features
beautification
rear, the sensor here is embedded mode
underneath the display and there
is an illuminated fingerprint icon,
making it easy to identify where
the scanner is. Placing the finger
on that spot instantly registers the
fingerprint. However, setting up the
scan or unlocking the phone for
the first time took a little longer
than expected. Initially, the sensor
would fail to register the scan, but
in less than a day, one would get
the hang of how much pressure to
apply.
Another USP of Vivo X21 is the
dual-camera set-up at the back –
a 12 MP primary lens and a 5 MP
secondary shooter – easily captur-
ing images in the bokeh mode.
glass rear
But there is no dedicated portrait with soft
mode setting and the same can be finish

14
 12 mP front
camera
captures great
bokeh selfies

accessed by tapping on the portrait

icon within the default photo mode.
Next, the device suggests placing
the subject within 2m for better
portrait bokeh and I was able to
adjust the depth effect in real time.
There is also an option to switch
focus and background depth after
capturing bokeh images using the
rear camera set-up. The 12 MP
front camera does an excellent job
of selfie shooting in portrait mode
but does not support refocussing
while editing. It also offers face
unlocking.
Overall, it is a sleek, good-
looking device with possibly the
highest screen-to-body ratio, giving
a bezel-less feel. The 6.28 inch full
HD plus AMOLED display has a
notch on the top. The SIM tray is
on the bottom panel along with the
speaker grill and the micro USB
charging port.
The device runs FunTouch OS4,
built on Android 8.1 Oreo. The
notification bar can be accessed
from the top, but one has to slide
up from the bottom of the screen
to access shortcuts. It is powered
by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660
processor, comes with 6 GB of
RAM and packs in a 3,200 mAh
battery that managed to last a day
with average usage. The phone
comes with a fast charger that can
top up 50 per cent of the battery in
30 minutes.
As for browsing, streaming
videos or capturing images, the
X21 turns out to be a decent per-
former. There is no sign of lag or
in-disPlay loss of frame while playing games.
fingerPrint
sensor It is priced at `35,990, but then,
for unlocking OnePlus 6 has the same price tag
the phone
and comes with a Qualcomm Snap-
dragon 845 processor, which feels
snappier while gaming or switching
between running apps.

15
 TesT Bench

Price multifunctional
`8,990 swivel dial

stylish
but feels overweight
at 960g

16
 Power
button
used to switch
between preset

Big On
modes

Bass By Nidhi SiNgal

Compared to the at the rear turns the control as I have

new breed of Blue- speaker on/off while a been able to control
tooth speakers, the simple press switch- the volume from a
X-mini SUPA at 960g es between the two distance. However,
weighs on the higher audio modes – voice the sound distorted at
side. But the design and bass. higher volumes.
and the sound output It can be con- In all, the 20W
easily make up for nected via Bluetooth sound output was
that. SUPA comes or by using an aux- good enough for a
with an elegant, iliary cable. There small house party
straight-line design is a memory card or even an outdoor
that blends well with slot at the rear and picnic.
any interior, be it SUPA can play songs Using the dial but-
home or office. straight from the mi- ton, I was able to an-
It has a solid front croSD card. I tested it swer incoming calls,
grill, a swivel dial with a few tracks and which were loud and
on top and a power the audio output was clear on both the
button at the rear. In impressive. sides.
fact, X-mini has man- Along with clear SUPA has a 2,200
aged to do away with vocals, SUPA of- mAh battery that
all unnecessary but- fered deep bass takes close to three
tons as the swivel dial and balanced highs. hours to charge but
does it all. Although the speaker lasts over seven
You can press it has only two preset hours of music play-
to pause or play mu- options, I was able to back at 70 per cent
sic, rotate it to jump adjust the bass and volume over Blue-
to the next track or the treble using the tooth connectivity.
rotate it and hold it a X-mini mobile appli- Sold at `8,990, it is
bit longer to control cation. The app is still one of the best-look-
volume. Long press- in beta (unreleased) ing speakers offering
ing the power button but acts as a remote superb sound.

17
 TesT Bench

Physical
controls

A theatre-like set-up at home is

incomplete without a good projec-
tor, powerful audio system and,

CinematiC
of course, a tub of popcorn. The
market is teeming with projectors
and soundbars in a range of shapes,
sizes and price points. Among them,

thrills
the BenQ W1700 stands out as a
notable and affordable 4K projector.
Bringing home the enthralling
cinematic experience using a 4K
projector and a large flat panel
TV is a tempting and, at the same
By Nidhi SiNgal time, an expensive proposition – 4K
projectors from brands such as
Sony and JVC are priced upwards
of `3 lakh. But BenQ’s W1700

18

home cinema projector, priced at
`2,25,000, panders to your whim
without leaving you feeling guilty for
the indulgence.
A compact conventional-looking
projector, BenQ W1700 can be
mounted on the ceiling or placed on
a table. It houses a lens in the front,
grills on the right, connectivity ports
at the rear and physical controls,
zoom and manual focus controls at
the top.
BenQ has added a host of con-
nectivity options – two HDMI ports,
PC and VGA port and USB port for
power along with audio in and out
– as well as a backlit remote that is
handy when operating the projector
in the dark. BenQ packs in a 0.47
inch single-DMD DLP technology
with 3,840x2,160 native resolution
and 2200 ANSI lumens lamp, and
creates a 200-inch screen easily.
This projector is ready for use
right out of the box. All one has to
do is plug in the power cable and
connect to the source. When turned
on, it automatically searches for the
source; it can be swapped manually,
too. When the projector is tilted/off-
centre, rendering a trapezoid effect,
the auto keystone setting comes in
handy; it re-aligns the projection for
comfortable viewing.
Price
`2,25,000
4K dlP
projector
The projected content was sharp
and the colours produced were
brilliant. The preset modes – bright,
vivid TV, cinema and sports – let
you customise settings as per your
liking. To adjust the focus, one has
to use the controls on top of the
projector. The sound output of the
5W speaker is good, but does not
quite fit in with the cinema set-up.
Plugging in a solid soundbar is a
good idea. The lifespan of a projec-
tor lamp is crucial. BenQ W1700
claims it is close to 4,000 hours
on normal usage, can stretch up to
8,000 hours on SmartEco mode and
10,000 hours on economic mode.
19
 TesT Bench wireless
subwoofer
offers deep bass

connectivity
Ports at the rear

soundbar
has four 2.25-
inch drivers and
two 1.25-inch
tweeters

Price
`23,499

20
Big On
O
The simpleim design of the all-black
JBL Bar 2.1 2 soundbar makes it blend
perfectly
f y with h home interiors, whether
it is placed e flat or mounted on the wall.
What it i will
wi also do is enhance your
entertainment
in nt experience by several

sO
sOund
sOun
notches.
h .
The JBL
J Soundbar has a front
display,
i physical
p sical controls on top, con con-
nectivityy options ions at the rear (including
HDMI ARC, C Bluetooth, auxiliary, SPDIF
and USB), B) four ur 2.25-inch drivers and
two 1.25-inch
25 h tweeters. It also comes
with 6.5-inch wireless subwoofer and a
B Nidhi SiNgal
By S Ng l remote. It was ready to plug and play,
when connected with the TV using the
HDMI ARC, C or with the BenQ W1700
projector
j using
ing the auxiliary cable or my
phone
h over Bluetooth. It also supports
SPDIF
S connectivity
ectivity and a cable is duly
bundled iin the he box.
The JBL soundbar offers impeccably
clear sound in the standard mode. One
can choose from audio modes to go
with the genre re of content watched –
movies,i sports, rts, voice and music. In the
movie i mode,, the dialogue delivery was
crisp
i without
i t the highs being compro
compro-
mised. The music mode was ideal when
streaming i music over YouTube on TV or
h smartphone
the hone as well.
The wireless ess subwoofer offered deep
bass and that at is adjustable. The night
mode on the remote was a blessing;
when turned on it automatically bal bal-
anced the h loud
l ud sounds, but works only
i Dolby Audio. Multiple remotes to
with
ff rent gadgets can be a nui
control different nui-
night mode on kfully, the option to control
sance; thankfully,
remote the soundbarr using the TV’s remote is a
balances loud
sounds big
i plus..
Iff an immersive
mersive audio experience is
what you seek, ek, the JBL Bar 2.1 wireless
soundbar will ill be a sound addition to
h
your home heatre set-up.
theatre

21
 TesT Bench
16-mP
AI front camera
dual camera
for bokeh images

selfie
master
By Nidhi SiNgal

Price
`9,999

sPeaKer grill,
microUSB port at
bottom panel

22

The Redmi Y2 is Xi-
aomi’s second attempt
at a selfie smartphone
and aims to compete
against the the offerings
from Honor, Vivo and
Oppo. With its good looks,
portrait selfies and dual
camera setup at the rear,
the Redmi Y2 does not
disappoint.
Portrait Selfie: The
Redmi Y2 captures some
great bokeh selfies. Even
though equipped with
a single 16-megapixel
camera, it uses artificial
intelligence to identify the
face and blurs the back-
ground. But there isn’t a
dedicated Portrait Mode
for selfies.
Rear camera: Not just
5.99inch the selfie camera but
18:9 display
even the rear camera
setup of the smartphone
is impressive. Redmi Y2
houses a dual camera
setup (5-megapixel and
12-megapixel camera)
that can also capture
depth images. Accessible
through the Portrait
mode, the camera was
quick to focus on the
subject and blurred the
background in the real
time. But there isn’t any
option to adjust the depth
effect. However, the addi-
tion of filters resulted in
some nice, creative bokeh
images.
Gesture Navigation:
With phone's display
getting taller, gesture
navigation is a welcome
addition. Instead of
stretching the hand to
access navigation but-
tons placed towards the
bottom of the screen,
swiping finger across the
screen felt intuitive. The
navigation buttons were
turned on by default.
IR sensor & Mi Remote:
One of my favourite
features on the Redmi
smartphones is the IR
blaster and Mi Remote.
The Y2 also has one. Us-
ing this app, I was able
to configure remotes
for various gadgets and
home appliances within
the app and save short-
cuts on the homescreen.
Display: The Redmi Y2
is a tall device featuring a
5.99-inch 18:9 full-screen
display with 1440 x 720p
resolution. Display set-
tings included options to
choose the colour (warm,
standard, cool), contrast
(automatic contrast, in-
creased contrast, stand-
ard) and readingmode.
Offering decent viewing
angles, the screen is leg-
ible in bright sunlight too.
Design: The smartphone
has a plastic body with
metallic finish and not a
metallic unibody as on
the elder sibling Redmi
Note 5. The distinct lines
towards the top and the
bottom of the rear look
good. There is a vertical
camera setup towards the
top left rear and a circular
fingerprint sensor at the
rear. Power key, volume
button are on the right
edge, 3.5mm port on the
top, SIM tray on the left
and speaker grills along
with micro USB port at
the bottom. The curved
sides on the rear make it
comfortable to hold.
Performance: Just like
it's elder sibling Redmi
Note 5, Y2 is powered by
Qualcomm Snapdragon
625 processor and paired
with 3GB RAM. Yes, the
processor is a bit old but
does the job perfectly.
Navigating through multi-
ple social media accounts,
capturing videos and post-
ing them on social media
accounts, streaming vid-
eos on YouTube and even
basic gaming (not meant
for heavy graphics games
though) – it handled eve-
rything smoothly. Not even
a single app crashed while
testing.
Battery: With an average
use, including a couple of
hours of camera usage
along with calls, push
notifications for two email
accounts along with con-
stant access to Facebook,
Twitter and Instagram,
the 3080mAh battery
lasted me a day with ease.
Verdict: If you are looking
for a budget selfie smart-
phone, look no further.
For the price (`9,999),
Redmi Y2 does an impres-
sive job.
23
 TesT Bench notch houses
24mP
front camera

5.99inch
super bright
display

aPerture
mode allows
background blurr
adjustment

ultrasonic
underclass
fingerprint scanner

24
 With the recent launches of OnePlus
6 and Vivo X21, the mid-segment
smartphone space (`30,000 to
`40,000) have witnessed some worthy
flagship killer devices. Joining the
bandwagon is the 10 from Honor, a
company that gave some impressive
devices in the past (my favourite being
the Honor 8 Pro). Can the Honor 10
continue the success story created by
the predecessors?
On
a ten
By Nidhi SiNgal
Design: Even with a display that is
almost six inches, the Honor 10 feels
compact and allows for one-hand use
if only the rear wasn’t so slippery. At
153 grams, the phone feels light and
has a premium hand-feel.
Display: With 2280 x 1080-pixel
resolution, the screen offers crisp text
and great colour reproduction, making
it ideal for reading, watching videos,
gaming and more. The display is leg-
ible in both – bright daylight and even
under direct office lights.
Ultrasonic Underglass Fingerprint
sensor: Having a fingerprint sensor
below the display isn’t new but this
one has been so seamlessly merged
into the bottom bezel that I almost
thought it didn’t have one. It works
with wet and oily hands too, but did
need more pressure than other
scanners.
Camera: Honor’s cameras have
been outstanding and improving with
each successive phone. This one for
instance has an Artificial Intelligence
setting within the default photo mode,
which detects the subject and adjusts
settings automatically. There is also a
separate aperture mode for capturing
depth images. In addition to the usual
modes such as night or panorama,
Honor offers a Pro mode with manual
settings for those who prefer fine-
tuning their own settings. For selfies,
there is a 24-megapixel sensor and
the Portrait mode gives access to the
same options including turning on/off
bokeh, beautification, and 3D modes.
UI and Performance: Honor 10 with
its 128 GB internal storage brings
AI to the fore by reducing in-call
background noise. It also displayed
no frame loss or lag while playing
heavy load games like Battle Warship
for prolonged times. It handled heavy
usage loads well but the rear top of
the phone (near camera module) does
begin to get warm after a few minutes
of camera usage.
The Honor 10 supports knuckle
gestures - for instance, drawing
the line across the screen using the
knuckle entered into split-screen and
captured a smart screenshot when
I drew a circle. There is also an IR
remote app - Smart Controller - for
controlling appliances with the phone
but it failed to work with the Lloyd and
LG ACs I tried using it with.
Battery: Honor 10 packs in a 3400
mAh battery and supports fast charg-
ing. A full charge with extensive use
easily lasted me a day with brightness
tuned to auto and vibration turned off.
Verdict: Not just good-looking, the
Honor 10 scores in camera as well
as the performance department. Giv-
ing tough competition to the OnePlus
6, the Honor 10 for `32,999 is a
stellar device.
25