It looks like Chinese smartphone maker Gionee is planning to capture the Indian market within this year itself. We have already seen the advent of company's latest products in the market and now we have the latest Elife E7 mini available in India. Moreover, all the Gionee devices, which have been launched in India has been pretty impressive. The Elife E6 was also not a bad smartphone at all. The Elife E7 has an incredible camera and so does the mini variant of the device. Moreover, the mini variant of the device has a 13MP swivel camera very much like the Oppo N1, which is also available in India. The company recently announced its latest Elife S5.5 smartphone. 

This is the world's thinnest phone with 5.5 mm thickness. However, today GizBot has come with a number of online deals pertaining to the company's Elife E7 mini handset. But before heading on to the deals, take a look at the the specs of the device. The Elife E7 Mini comes with a 4.7-inch IPS display with IGZO technology and offers a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels. It is powered by a 1.7 GHz Octa-Core MediaTek MT6592 processor with Mali 450-MP4 GPU coupled with 1 GB RAM, and runs on Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) with Amigo UI 2.0. 
                              The 13MP auto focus swivel camera with LED flash, which is capable of shooting video at 1080p quality is one thing that will definitely impress you the most. The idea of the camera is very much identical to another Chinese smartphone called Oppo N1 as said earlier. The device houses a 16 GB in-build storage unit and regular connectivity options like 3G, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS can be found in the handset. Additionally the Elife E7 Mini is a Dual SIM phone. The latest phone which measures 8.6 mm thick and weighs 142.9 grams draws its energy from a 2100 mAh battery.

After launching its much awaited One M8, HTC now has come up with Dual-SIM Desire 310 in India. With good design, quad-core processor and average camera features, HTC has added another handset to its Desire series. The Taiwanese smartphone giant has introduced this entry level device in India for Rs. 11,700.

Talking about specs - HTC Desire 310 comes with 4.5 inch FWVGA touchscreen with 854 x 480 pixel resolution and is powered by 1.3GHz quad core processor. Platform supported by the device may not impress a buyer because unlike most newly-launched devices it runs on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean with company’s own HTC BlinkFeed. It provides 512 MB of RAM with internal storage of 4GB and it can be expanded with microSD memory card up to 32GB. The latest device packs average 5MP rear camera with fixed focus and VGA front camera. Desire 310 will provide 1080p full HD video recording and gallery with video highlights. It comes with internal GPS antenna and accelerometer and all major audio formats are supported. Video formats available are .wmv, .mp4, H.263 and H.264 whereas .avi, .mkv, .flv are not supported. Connectivity features include Bluetooth 4.0 and WiFi IEEE 802.11 b/g/n.

The battery has the capacity of 2000 mAh with talk time of up to 11 hours (3G) and standby time of up to 852 hours for 3G. Just as it suits the price tag the latest smartphone offers everything for user but the camera has no flash and if the resolution offered was a bit better it have been a wonderful deal with 1GB of RAM. In spite all of that, we feel that it could be a good deal for buyer with moderate use. What do you think? Share with us in comments below.

How much do you listen? Do you ever drift off while chatting to a loved one? Shame on you. If you have the new Motorola Moto X smartphone, it’s listening more than you are.The Moto X, even if it’s in standby mode with the screen blank, is keeping an ear out for your every word. Creepy, huh? But it’s also the killer app on the new handset.

I mean, don’t worry, it’s not waiting to hear your bank card pin code or anything. It’s just waiting, like an adoring lapdog, in case it hears the magic words that bring joy to its heart. If it does hear them, it leaps into action. The words are “Okay, Google Now.” The phone responds with a bong so you know it’s listening and it’s ready to answer your next spoken question – you don’t need to even touch the phone. And it’s a good listener. It never failed to hear me say the key phrase, even from across the room. And once I got used to the right timing (don’t speak until the bong has finished, and do NOT pause when you ask your question as it’ll think you’re done), it worked amazingly.

Google Now knows a lot of stuff that it can say, like the height of the Eiffel Tower and the time in Houston, Texas. And much more that it can’t speak, in which case the screen shows the printed answer.

It can’t, unlike Siri, handle supplementary questions, so you have to start the whole process again by speaking the phrase and asking a whole new question.

With Google Now, the Motorola X is able to answer basic questions - but conversations with your computer are still a way off.

But it’s unquestionably an impressive and delightful feature that augurs well for a future where smartphones and tablets can benignly listen in to answer questions before we even realise we’ve wondered about them.

It’s the standout feature on this handset, though it’s not the only headline-grabber.

For a start, this is a handsomely designed phone which takes style tips from earlier Motorola models: a display that goes to the very edges of the front of the device, a curved back, complete with dimpled circular Moto logo and two more circles directly above for the camera lens and flash.

The 4.7in display is decent but not outstanding, not least because its 720x1280 pixel screen is no match for the full HD displays of the Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One – both phones heading for their first birthdays. Still, the 312 pixels per inch mean it’s screen resolution is just behind that of the iPhone’s Retina display, and it struggles in bright sunlight unlike, say, the Nokia Lumia 1020.

The camera is a 10-megapixel model and though that beats rivals like the iPhone 5s and HTC One, it’s way behind the 20.7-megapixel sensor on the Sony Xperia Z1 (and Z1 Compact), not to mention the 41-megapixel Nokia Lumia 1020. And image quality is not as pristine or effective as the iPhone 5s manages.

Still, it has another very cool interface feature – the phone launches faster than on any other smartphone I’ve tried. That’s because instead of waking the screen and then launching the camera, as on many phones, or long-pressing the trigger on Windows Phone handsets, here it’s all in the wrist action. Pick the phone up and with a double flick of the wrist the phone wakes up, launches the camera (with a pleasant vibration effect) and is ready to shoot. You can even zoom one-handed by swiping your thumb up or down on the display. There are extra features like burst mode and HDR which improve things. Even so, this camera delivers good, but not the very best results.

Different colored examples of Motorola's new Moto X phones rest on a table at a launch event in New York

Special interface features also include the notifications that show when the screen is sleeping. When an email comes in, the phone pings and shows an email icon. Touch the screen, without waking it and it’ll show you the sender and subject line so you don’t have to wake the phone unless you really want to read the missive. Neat.

Performance is strong throughout this phone, including its full-day battery life which seems unaffected by all that listening the phone does and its processor which was consistently efficient and nippy.

There’s one other thing: nestling on the home screen is an icon marked Windy Day. It’s amazing. It’s just a cartoon about a mouse and red hat being blown relentlessly around. But as you move the phone, your view of the landscape changes. There’s a full 360-degree cartoon world to explore, though the action is where the mouse is. Turn away and the music and sound effects fade, though you may see characters secondary to the main story. It’s beautifully done, and utterly captivating. I’m not saying it’s worth buying the phone for Windy Day alone, but if you have the handset, it’s unmissable.

Overall, some may feel the similarly priced but slightly more powerful Google Nexus 5 is a better choice, though the Moto X’s styling is pretty convincing. And this is an effective and pretty cool phone that’s definitely worth checking out, if only to test the wrist-flicking camera action and the response when you say “Okay Google Now”.

Lenovo, which had entered the Indian smartphone market in 2012, earlier this week launched its costliest smartphone in the Indian market - the Vibe Z. The smartphone is priced at Rs 35,999. During its launch event in New Delhi yesterday we used the phone for a brief time and here is our first hand experience of Lenovo Vibe Z.

Design and Display

The moment people hear about a 5.5 inch phablet, they get panicked about its size and weight. But the Lenovo Vibe Z is extremely light and weighs just 145 grams, despite having a metallic body.. It is also just 7.9 mm thickness. The handset is easily operable via one hand. Also, Lenovo Vibe Z has certain user interface elements that makes single handed operation easier which we will discuss in the user interface segment. The very thin bezel surrounding the display is also a prime factor in its thin and light weight profile.

The noticeable part of the Lenovo Vibe Z is its gorgeous 5.5 inch display which comes with full high definition resolution that translates to astounding 400 ppi pixel density. This IPS display also promises 180 degree viewing. The display has Corning Gorilla Glass 3 covering that protects it from scratches but it does not prevents finger prints. But the finger-print issue is not that acute though.

Coming back to the design aspect, the Lenovo Vibe Z does not have a unibody design, which used to be the fad of last year. It has infact several parts that are craftily joined together to create a beautiful device. Chief among them is its metallic rear panel but this laser-etched rear cover feels extremely good in hands and does provides a good grip. But since it is a metal panel, all those who have sweaty palms will definitely face some issues.

The laser-etched cover does not cover the whole back panel - there is a aluminium plate just below it which is extremely shiny and holds the speaker grill. A similar but much thinner aluminium plate is also below the display. The front and rear panel is separated by a faded metallic thread which holds all the ports - SIM slot, volume rocker, power button, micro USB port, and the 3.5 mm jack.

User interface

As I said earlier, Lenovo has taken time to develop a user interface that suits the Vibe Z which is just huge. Called as Smart UI, it makes one handed operation in Vibe Z quite easier. For instance, in Lenovo Vibe Z you can even use the volume rocker to switch on the phone which comes extremely handy as normally in such big phones reaching out to the power button is quite a tedious task.

Like in the Emotion UI of Huawei, in Lenovo Vibe Z too there is no app drawer; all the apps are on the home screen itself. You could create up to 18 home screens and even create folders. For instance, you could keep all the games in one folder in the home screen to keep the display clutter free.

Also, Lenovo has borrowed the multi window feature from Samsung; the multi-window appears on its right hand side and does not interfere in other tasks as the Samsung version does.

Like a majority of Android smartphones, it has got three capacitive touch buttons just below the display - Menu, Home, Return.

Camera

The Lenovo Vibe Z has a 13 megapixel auto focus rear camera. There are two LED flash lights in the back panel as well. In the front, it has a 5 megapixel fixed focus camera. The rear camera has the backing of a BSI sensor and it claims to be capable of capturing full HD videos.

The front camera though is a fixed focus one but it is said to have 84 degree wide lens which will certainly come handy while clicking selfies.

Hardware and Performance

The Lenovo Vibe Z has the 2.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad core processor. It has also the powerful Adreno 330 graphics processing unit and huge 2 GB RAM. However, a bit of dampener is that the Vibe Z comes with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean operating system and not Android KitKat.

The absence of an expandable storage slot too may pinch the buyers as the phone has only 16 GB internal storage. Also, though it is a 4G compatible smartphone, it is only compatible with FDD-LTE version of 4G on which only Videocon is launching its 4G network in India.

All other telecos in India have opted for the TD-LTE version. Also, it has only a single SIM slot; the importance of dual SIM phones are palpable from the fact that HTC had in the past stopped making single SIM variant of HTC One model and instead offered a dual SIM version of the same.

Conclusion

The Lenovo Vibe Z is definitely a refreshing new model in the Rs 30,000-40,000 price bracket. It has got good design and display. As far as our initial experience is concerned, it also seems to have a good camera and a powerful processor. However, lack of expandable storage slot and a second SIM slot may go against it.

We will explore its other features and shortcomings (if any) in the coming days. So keep checking The Mobile Indian for a thorough review of the Lenovo Vibe Z which we may publish in a couple of days.

Nokia X, the rumoured budget Android smartphone also known as Nokia Normandy, has been again spotted under a benchmark which tests the camera section of the handset.

Nokia X has been spotted under the CamSpeed test database, the benchmark test for Sophica with a nearly zero focusing time, hinting the rumoured Android device will come with a fixed focus camera. The device was identified with model name RM-980 once again.

The Nokia X handset, handset was previously said to sport a 5-megapixel rear camera, however the CamSpeed benchmark hints the handset will arrive with a lower 3-megapixel shooter.

Similarly, contradicting the previous rumours of running a highly customized version of Android 4.4 Kitkat OS, the Nokia X will be running Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean OS, according to Sofica's Twitter post.

Also last week, a new leak via Browsermark 2 benchmark's database purportedly revealed the alleged Nokia X phone to come with model number RM-980. Unfortunately, the listing did not reveal any details about the device, but includes an image that purportedly showed Nokia X wearing Nexus 5's wallpaper and home screen icons.

Some of the other rumoured features of the Nokia X smartphone include a dual-core Snapdragon processor clocking at 1GHz, a 4-inch TFT display with a resolution of 480x854 (FWVGA) pixels, 4GB storage with microSD card, 1500mAh battery, 512MB RAM, and dual-SIM support.

Besides the often appearing leaks online, one can almost confirm the existence of the handset through various other sources. Recently enough, Nokia X was reported to get certified in Indonesia and Malaysia. The handset is said to fall under Nokia's Asha line-up and will be unveiled officially in March, according to a report claiming to quote an unnamed senior Nokia India executive.

Love it or hate it, there’s no denying the fact that the Galaxy Grand Duos was a huge success for Samsung and is one of the phones that cemented the company’s place as the top player in the Indian market. The Grand 2 launched at a time when the sub-Rs 20,000 price segment wasn’t a terribly exciting place and offered features such as dual-band WI-Fi, GLONASS, Full HD video recording and a large display, which no one else did. The display panel was the Achilles heel of the Grand Duos, which created two factions of users – some who despised it and others who saw past this little flaw. Honestly, we didn’t think it was that terrible like most made it out to be but then that’s just us.

Exactly a year later, we have a follow up called the Galaxy Grand 2. The successor comes with the mandatory cosmetic facelift and few tweaks under the hood to keep all the right boxes ticked. Trouble is though, this segment isn’t what it was a year back. It’s extremely cut-throat and features like Full HD displays and 13MP cameras can be easily found. So, with a higher launch price than the Grand Duos and a few changes under the hood, does the Grand 2 have a place in this segment? Can it recreate the magic of its predecessor when you have tough competition from Lenovo, Nokia, Sony and Gionee?

Design and Build
If the Grand Duos looked a lot like the Galaxy S3, the Grand 2 (SM-G7102) is modelled around the Galaxy S4 and the Mega. It still weighs the same at 163g but is a tiny bit slimmer at 8.9mm. The phone is made predominantly of plastic and Samsung has shaved down the bezel quite a bit so the larger 5.2-inch display fits in a slightly smaller chassis.

The build quality is very good and the phone feels sturdy without any creaking plastic bits. The bezel also has a mosaic-like pattern on it, which is visible when light catches it. The back cover is treated with the same faux-leather texture and faux-stitching like the Note 3. The buttons and the edges have a heavy chrome trim, which is prone to scratches and wearing off easily.

Samsung can’t seem to get enough of faux-leather

The back cover snaps off easily, revealing the two SIM slots and a microSD card slot. We even have a chunkier 2600mAh battery which should give us better backup time. The rear speaker is decently loud for incoming calls but is quite muted when it comes to alert tones. Even after maxing out the notification volume, the most alert tones weren’t as loud as you’d expect them to be. Another issue is the lack of a notification light. This is a real problem since if you don’t hear you phone, there’s no way of knowing if you have a pending alert.

The chrome trim adds to the bling-factor, but also wears off easily

The ambient light sensor also seems to have just two settings – dim and bright. It doesn’t change as quickly as well so at times; you’re just waiting for the brightness to kick up a notch when you’re outdoors. The latter seems more like a firmware issue however.

Features
Speaking of which, there’s definitely some major bugs in the current firmware as we experienced very inconveniencing, sporadic slow-downs. This was a brand newretail unit that we unboxed so it’s not like it had been through a lot of wear and tear. When it works, it’s very smooth without any hitches. Every now and then though, the phone will just lock up and no amount of hitting the home or power key would make things right. It seems like a RAM management issue which is causing this. We hope Samsung fixes this in their future firmware update.

The familiar TouchWiz UI

The display is a lot better than the Grand Duos thanks to the bumped up resolution. It’s a shame we have to deal with just a TFT panel but we’ve seen worse. Colours are fairly punchy and text and icons aren’t pixelated. Screen sensitivity is also good and we didn’t have any issues here.

Almost twice as fast as the old one

The phone is powered by a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 SoC and there’s 1.5GB of RAM accompanying it. In benchmarks, the SoC is a lot faster compared to the dual-core Broadcom chip in the Grand Duos. Both, AnTuTu and Quadrant posted some good numbers compared to its predecessor.

Some of Samsung’s own apps

Android 4.3 gets a smattering of TouchWiz apps. The new Multi-window is also present and its nice to see support for more third party apps as well. There’s also S Voice, Group Play, Story Album, S Translator and a Voice Recorder.

Media
The music and video player are quite competent so you won’t need to look elsewhere for a better experience. The music player supports lyrics and you also get cool enhancements like Tube amp effect, Adapt sound, EQ presets and more. The video player supports most formats, including MKV.

The music player is among the best from other OEMs

There’s 8GB of onboard storage and you can further expand this by up to 64GB.

Connectivity
The Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 is a 3G and quad-band GSM phone. Other features from the Duos also make a comeback like dual-band Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, Bluetooth v4.0 and GLONASS. NFC is still missing and we’d really like to see an IR blaster as well, which I don’t think is asking for much. The new display definitely makes web browsing a more pleasant experience and web sites can be read more easily without having to zoom in too much. Call quality was also good although the speakerphone volume was rather weak.

Good for surfing the web

Camera
It seems like the Grand 2 inherits the same 8MP snapper of the Grand Duos. This isn’t a bad thing considering the Grand did have a very good camera. The Grand 2 really excels when it comes to macro shots and we were surprised at the level of detail we were able to capture. That insect you see in the first image is no bigger than a small pea. We wished we had some sort of image stabilisation though, as it’s not easy capturing macros if your hands aren’t steady.

We managed to get some crazy macros

Very good for outdoor shots

Plenty of modes to choose from

The UI is similar to the one found on the S4 and Note 3. You even get most of the same features. Dual shot was missing though.

Battery Life
The 2600mAh battery easily sailed through our 8-hour loop test with about 30 per cent to spare. With regular use, we easily managed to get by two days before having to charge it.

Verdict and Price in India
The Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 is officially available for Rs 24,890 but you can find it for it little lesser online and in most stores. Samsung is charging a Rs 4,000 premium over Grand Duos’s launch price and we feel this is too much for what’s on offer. If this was mid-2013 and the Grand 2 launched for this price, it would have been acceptable. But a year later, the Grand Duos has almost reached its EOL (End of Life) period, which is typically when we expect a refresh of sorts with mildly bumped up specifications for the same price. And the Grand 2 ticks all those boxes perfectly, except for the pricing. Samsung has also missed out on little details like putting a notification light or NFC even.

It’s an ever tougher sell when you consider the Lenovo Vibe X, which is superior in almost every respect, retailing for the same price. To sum up, the Grand 2 is a worthy upgrade to the Grand Duos but poor pricing, tough competition and lack of some crucial features might hurt its sales. At its current market price, you’re better off with the Lenovo Vibe X.

Display

Form Factor	Bar
Screen Type	TFT Capacitive TouchScreen
Screen Size	5.25 inches
Screen Resolution	720 x 1280
Number of Colours	16M

Processor

Processor	Quad-core
Speed	1.2 GHz

Memory

Internal Memory	8GB, 1.5GB RAM
Extendable Memory	microSD, up to 64 GB

Camera Features

Sensor Resolution	8MP, 3264 x 2448 pixels
Video Recording	Yes
Front facing camera	1.9MP

General Features

OS	Android
Bluetooth Features	Yes
Dual Sim Support	Yes
Messaging	SMS, MMS, E-mail
GPS	Yes
USB Connector	Yes
Available Colours	Black, White, Pink

Carrier Networks

2G	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
3G	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900

Data

GPRS	Yes
EGPRS or EDGE	EDGE
WiFi	802.11 a/b/g/n

Body

Dimensions	146.8 x 75.3 x 8.9 mm
Weight(grams)	163

Sound

Media Player	Music formats: MP3, M4A, 3GA, AAC, OGG, OGA, WAV, WMA, AMR, AWB, FLAC, MIDI, MID, XMF, MXMF, IMY, RTTTL, RTX, OTA - Video formats: MP4, M4V, 3GP, 3G2, WMV, ASF, AVI, FLV, MKV, WEBM

Battery

Type	Li-ion
Capacity(mAh)	2600
Talk Time with Standard Battery (Minutes)	Up to 17 hrs
Standby Time with Standard Battery (Hours)	Up to 370 hrs