OnePlus 5T launch on Nov 16: Details of design, features & specs revealed

The upcoming flagship from OnePlus is going to cost more than predecessor OnePlus 5, CEO and co-founder Pete Lau hinted in a tweet. The smartphone will be unveiled on Nov 16 in New York

Chinese smartphone manufacturer OnePlus is gearing up to launch the next iteration of its flagship OnePlus 5T on November 16. The smartphone design, features and specifications, however, have been leaked by various sources, attributing the review unit shared by OnePlus.

In terms of design, the upcoming smartphone is reported to sport a 6-inch Optic AMOLED screen in the 18:9 aspect ratio, with FHD+ resolution. Like other smartphones with ultra-wide screens, the OnePlus 5T is also reported to have a fingerprint scanner on the back to allow the phone to accommodate a big screen on the front with small bezels. The device is also reported to have a software-based face unlock feature.

The OnePlus 5T is reported to boast the same innards as the OnePlus 5. The smartphone would use Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC, in 64 GB and 128 GB storage options. It would come in 6 GB and 8 GB RAM variants. Built on the same chassis of OnePlus 5, the upcoming flagship would feature 3.5mm audio jack at the bottom, along with a USB type-C charging and data transfer port and speaker grill.

The smartphone is reported to boot OnePlus proprietary Oxygen operating system, based on Android Nougat 7.1.1.

The upcoming flagship from the stable of OnePlus is going to cost more than predecessor OnePlus 5, CEO and co-founder Pete Lau had hinted in a tweet a few days ago. The smartphone will be unveiled on November 16 in New York.

Motorola's newest instalment in the premium segment, the Moto X Force, boasts of a screen so strong that it just won't shatter no matter how much you drop it. A challenge, I gladly accepted.

At first glance, the Force seemed very chunky but to my surprise it was pretty lightweight. Motorola has not given beauty a preference as the phone looks quite ordinary. It has a 5.4-inch AMOLED screen with a resolution of 1,440 x 2,560p, which provides for sharp and vibrant colours. The display is akin to other premium smartphones.

Under the hood, it houses a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor along with 3GB of RAM which is sufficient. Playing games on the Force was a breeze. Surprisingly, it didn't heat up much even when used at a stretch. It comes with a 3,760-mAh battery and it lasted me a good two days on heavy usage. The device runs Android 5.1.1 Lollipop but an upgrade to Marshmallow is likely in the foreseeable future.

At Rs 49,999, the Moto X Force delivers more than enough. Most people are very careful with their premium phones - one of my colleagues wraps her iPhone 6 in a soft pillow-like case. With the Force, one has the option to roughhouse the phone as much as they like.

The Force comes with a Moto app that registers gestures such as a twist to launch the camera. The camera app, however, is slow to load which is quite frustrating. It has a 21-megapixel (MP) primary camera which delivers good-quality images but only in conditions with good lighting. If you try to click a picture in low light, the resultant output is disappointing. The 5MP secondary camera is good enough for selfies.

The star of the show is the Force's screen. It has two touchscreen layers beneath the scratch-resistant layer. I was a bit apprehensive while undertaking drop tests. I feared the worst when I dropped it the first time.

Oppo F1: A surprise package

Oppo phones, such as the R7, have always offered good specifications for a low price. The newest instalment, the F1, is being advertised as a "selfie expert" and houses decent hardware under the hood.

The phone has a metal back and a curved-edge front and many might mistake it for an iPhone 6s. The F1 is slimmer than its counterparts in the mid-segment range and also pretty lightweight.

4G phones to drive smart devices market in India: Samsung

Mobile handset maker Samsung India said on Tuesday that 4G phones will drive the smartphone market in the country on the back of increasing data speed.

Samsung, one of the largest smartphone makers in the country, also claimed 60% share in total shipments of 4G phones in the country last year.

"With data speed, evolution of network happening, the adoption of smartphones will accelerate and 4G will be one of the key factors," Samsung India General Manager (Mobile Business) Vishal Kaul, said.

Samsung Gear VR: Reality if you have the right phone

I've always wondered what it felt like to be Iron Man. Now, not only was I able to experience his suit boot up, I also got to meet JARVIS and play around with a few of Tony Stark's toys. I wasn't dreaming. This was reality, of the virtual kind - also called VR. Yes sir, I did all this sitting on my couch, using Samsung's Gear VR headset, attached to a Galaxy Note 5.

At the time of writing, the Gear VR supported only four phones from Samsung - the Galaxy S6, S6 edge, S6 edge+ and the Galaxy Note 5.

Regulator chains Free Basics

The telecom regulator on Monday struck down differential pricing for internet services offered by telecom players to mobile users, in a bid to uphold the principles of net neutrality.

This will be a big blow to Facebook’s Free Basics — and other zero-rated platforms such as Airtel Zero — for which the social media giant had launched an aggressive campaign in December last year.