Latest news with #VishalMathur
Hindustan Times
20 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
Vivo X200 FE review: Flagship-esque power, when size doesn't matter
It is a positive shift that serious flagship smartphone portfolios, are no longer complete unless there is a genuinely compact option available for consumers who don't exactly like large slab phones. There's the Xiaomi 15, then came the OnePlus 13s, and now, Vivo's adding the X200 FE to its X-series flagship line-up that in India also includes the X200 Pro, the X200 and the upcoming X Fold5 foldable. Across the competition landscape, the 6.3-inch screen sizes (or thereabouts) are common, and yet, enough care taken to ensure these don't fall short in terms of the specs albeit some see slight realignments in approach, and therefore experience. If you are any more than a cursory photographer, the Zeiss Style Portraits make for some interesting photography results. (Vishal Mathur / HT Photo) The foundations of a compact phone are found in reworking the innards alongside smaller than usual (I'd say the norm now is around 6.7-inch displays) screens to allow for a more pocketable footprint. Conventional wisdom, in the not too distant past, would dictate lesser physical space for components would mean a notch lower hardware in use. That's no longer the case, a collective of improved chips for instance, denser battery tech, and slimmer display panels. Of course Vivo had to eliminate the wireless charging hardware from the X200 FE (though the Xiaomi 15 retains that), but that isn't at all a compromise in the wider scheme of things. Even before building on the specifics, it is not difficult to imagine pricing gives the Vivo X200 FE a strong footing to be on. There are two variants that go on sale, at ₹54,999 for the 12GB memory and 256GB storage config, and ₹59,999 for the 16GB + 512GB option. My belief is, it is the former that will get potential buyers interested, but a large number of that demographic will find it prudent to spend that bit extra for more memory and storage. And rightly so, for the sake of longevity. Vivo's pricing works favourably, amidst a competitive landscape that includes the impressive OnePlus 13s (this is priced ₹54,999 onwards) and for now, undercuts the Xiaomi 15's ₹64,999 price tag. Expect some pricing changes from the house of Xiaomi in the coming days, though perhaps not directly, but as payment offers or discounted bundles. It is important that the Vivo X200 FE has retained the flagship credentials with form factor not having a bearing on potential. Except wireless charging. The beating heart is the MediaTek Dimensity 9300+ chip, with either 12GB or 16GB of memory. We are firmly in an era where MediaTek's flagship chips are at par with its closest competitor, Qualcomm. The configuration of this particular chip pegs it slightly behind the Snapdragon 8 Elite that also does duties in Android flagships — that role is the Dimensity 400's, that powers the X200 Pro. There is still enough in terms of performance with the X200 FE and the Dimensity 9300+, either while gaming or multitasking, for this to stake its claim at the same table as its flagship siblings, and the competition. Reducing clock speeds ever so slightly was essential, considering the smaller innards and a balance of thermals. To that point, the X200 FE runs surprisingly cool for an equally surprisingly long duration whilst gaming, before the back panel starts to get tepid. But one could argue that Vivo could have taken Samsung's approach and held chip continuity through the flagship portfolio — Samsung uses the specially customised Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite across the Galaxy S25 squad. Cameras are where there is definitive parity though. At least for the most part. While the X200 Pro and the X200's camera troika each has a 50-megapixel wide, a 50-megapixel ultra wide and a 50-megapixel periscope telephoto, the X200 FE swaps to an 8-megapixel ultra wide. And doesn't have the V3+ imaging chip either. With continuity for the other sensors and therefore the image processing algorithms as well as Zeiss imaging optimisations, there is enough gravitas for it to compete with Leica's smartness on the Xiaomi 15. The OnePlus 13s gave the Hasselblad colour calibration a miss, for all that its worth. If you are any more than a cursory photographer, the Zeiss Style Portraits (Cinematic style bokeh and cine-flare portrait style stand out), available within the Camera app, are worth trying. As are the vintage film styles. Across lighting conditions, the X200 FE's main camera reproduces some excellent daytime photos, with balanced dynamic range and rich colours that remain well separated. Little in terms of distortion or soft frames ruining the perfect shot, though one could argue that often, the image processing is very restrained and you may need to quickly jump into edits to dial the sharpness up a notch. Hardly a drawback, in my book. A large 6500mAh lithium silicon battery in a relatively compact form factor (5850 for the Xiaomi 15 and 5240 for the OnePlus 13s in comparison) has been achieved with what Vivo calls the 3rd generation Silicon Anode composition that has higher density and the redone architecture reduces its thickness by as much as one millimetre (which inside a phone, is worth every bit of it). Stamina, also dictated by under-the-hood improvements to Vivo's Funtouch OS, returns a healthy 13 hours or thereabouts of screen time with medium usage. There is a sense that Vivo had a clear vision with its compact flagship phone, and this wasn't an afterthought. Battery has been taken care of, an otherwise long-standing gremlin that kept us away from genuinely usable compact Android phones, for years. The flagship credentials don't stop there, with Zeiss optimised cameras, a powerful chip and fantastic display making up the foundation for the experience. It feels great to hold and use, and that single hand usability aspect is more than taken care of. No longer are compact flagships, an insignificant thing.
Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Hindustan Times
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 review: By far, the most mature and refined foldable
A few generations in, the passage of time, and many a chapter of refinement written, it is easy to say that with the Galaxy Z Fold7, Samsung has finally delivered the foldable that always should have been. The idiom hindsight is always 20/20 more than applies here, to a fairly loud narrative that Samsung has somehow broken the shackles because it was forced to. It wasn't. Nevertheless, good to see the back of those narrow-er Galaxy Z Fold designs, and the seventh generation's wider one has been made possible purely because the design has been slimmed down significantly. So much so, when folded, it's easy to forget this is a foldable at all. Perhaps it was the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge that gave us a hint, unwittingly at the time, of the slimness diet Samsung was putting its phones through. It won't be long before you notice the Galaxy Z Fold7's new, wider display format, and this is as welcome a change as any. (Vishal Mathur / HT Photo) The headline changes to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 include a larger (read, wider in terms of footprint) cover display, a bigger foldable main display, the current top-of-the-line Snapdragon 8 Elite chip specifically customised for Samsung, the 200-megapixel primary wide camera that also does duties in the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra flagship and a form factor that is significantly thinner (4.2mm and 8.4mm versus 5.6mm and 12.1mm folded and unfolded thickness) and lighter (215 grams vs 239 grams) than the previous generation Galaxy Z Fold6. The competition however isn't that, or the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold, but the latest crop of flagship Android foldable, such as the Honor Magic V5 (6.7mm and 14.3mm) which hasn't been launched in India and Vivo's upcoming X Fold5. It won't be long before you notice the Galaxy Z Fold7's new, wider display format, and this is as welcome a change as any. The cover display, which gets its own titanium layer plate for support, now measures 6.5 inches with a 2520 x 1080 resolution compared to the Fold 6's 6.3-inch, 2376 x 868 pixels screen. The big change is, it is wider, and therefore a lot closer to conventional smartphone displays in terms of typing and reading. So much so, the Galaxy Z Fold7 may actually feel like a traditional candy-bar form factor phone, when folded. The foldable screen is now 8 inches, up from 7.6-inches earlier, and 2814 x 1968 pixels instead of 2160 x 1856 pixels. The tradeoff here is, the foldable no longer has support for the stylus, that is the S Pen. The layer that needed to find integration within the display for the S Pen to work for scribbling, noting, annotating and doodling jobs, has been done away with. Something had to be sacrificed in the quest for slimness, and this in my book, isn't a significant elimination. There are enough devices within Samsung's smartphone and tablet portfolio that do, and in a way helps the company push its ecosystem case. The dimension, footprint, weight and display specific changes make for a collective that can only be described as extraordinary. The Galaxy Z Fold7 may feel unremarkably understated when folded, and equally brilliant when unfolded to derive on the full strengths of that large foldable AMOLED display. More often than not, you may find yourself using the cover display itself for most tasks, including replying to an email or message, quickly checking WhatsApp messages or even the unacknowledged whiling away of time on your Instagram feed (before reality strikes, again). All of this does come at a cost. In India, prices start at ₹174999 but the value is that for a certain period of the foreseeable future, Samsung will ship upgraded 512GB storage variants instead of 256GB. 12GB RAM is consistent across variants, and there can be an argument that for this price and its perceived positioning, 16GB should have been a generational uptick. For early adopters, that may be the value proposition. But all said and done, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 is now by far and away the most expensive foldable smartphone you can buy in India, at this time. It is nevertheless a significant annual inflation, with the Galaxy Z Fold6 in the summer of last year, priced at ₹164999 onwards for the 12GB+256GB combination. That 200-megapixel upgrade for the primary camera (alongside a 12-megapixel ultrawide and 10-megapixel telephoto) finally puts the foldable on the flagship platform, something that hasn't been the case in previous generations. You begin to wonder, why wasn't that the case till now? The limitation here is, instead of 5x optical zoom, it is limited to 3x. The ultra wide, particularly in terms of scenarios you may call upon it for, seems a big step down in terms of megapixels and therefore potentially detailing. This primary sensor absolutely delivers across lighting conditions, and the photography results do seem to suggest the Galaxy Z Fold7's image processing seems to be handling light better, and details are more consistent — I draw this based on a comparison of the initial builds of the Galaxy S25 Ultra, which leaned a little too much towards AI processing, something that was eventually balanced out with updates. Beyond the core specs and the resulting experience, little details that matter have been ticked off too. The Armor Aluminum frame lends the foldable phone an extremely premium in-hand feel. The Armor FlexHinge closes thinner, and that's visually apparent, with no gap when folded. Earlier generations had that disconcerting gap, and the risk of damage was high. That's gone now. Some of you may, as I did, notice that the unfold still isn't completely flat and there is a very slight hint of a 'V' there. Samsung, rightly so, isn't letting up on the AI integration. Google Gemini integration, Circle to Search and Samsung's own Galaxy AI suite remain as front and centre on the Galaxy Z Fold7, as they have done on the flagships this year. It may not mean much, but the Gemini Live interface as it floats across the 8-inch foldable screen, feels more intuitive here, than it has on any other device till now. For a phone that costs ₹174999 onwards, it is difficult to use the word 'value' for the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7. But then again, this book style foldable form factor isn't, at least in Samsung's scheme of things, isn't a mainstream device. This is still, if it's the right word, delivering ultimate snob value for those who flaunt it. Yet without doubt, the utility of foldable while at it, has increased manifold over the years. It is a concerted effort of the software and hardware at work. There's a lot of substance to go with that style. Speaking of which, the Blue Shadow is the colour to consider the most, amidst the troika that also has Silver Shadow and Jet Black as options.
Hindustan Times
7 days ago
- Hindustan Times
OnePlus Nord 5 review: Nothing incremental about this generational leap
It was in the midst of the year of the pandemic, 2020 if you've forgotten, when OnePlus decided it was the right time to find their true north. The OnePlus Nord series was born, a more affordable take on Android phones, reminiscent to their earlier days of the OnePlus One. Pete Lau, CEO of OnePlus, had revealed these plans in an exclusive conversation with me, a few months prior. Five years later, the Nord 5 arrives with the sort of poise that simply adds a sense of seriousness to OnePlus' already on-point smartphone portfolio. They don't launch many phones in a year, something their rivals also are beginning to replicate, which makes success all the more pivotal. This Marble Sands finish on OnePlus Nord 5 is a salute to the marble-like finish from the first Nord, years earlier. (Vishal Mathur | HT photo) The OnePlus Nord 5, at least as far as the collective of the specs, software, and experience go, is closer to an alternative flagship phone experience, than any predecessor has been at their generational points in time. A 144Hz OLED display, for instance, is being seen on this series for the first time. As is Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 mobile platform, which makes it the first time a Snapdragon 8 series chip powers a Nord phone. As is the 6,800mAh battery, which becomes the highest capacity pack among like-for-like competition. How much will this significant step forward in terms of performance, cost you? There are two memory options, that is 8GB and 12GB, along with two storage picks, those being 256GB and 512GB (both are UFS 3.1 standard for read and write). The prices start at ₹29,999. This pits it against the impressive Nothing Phone 3(a) Pro, and Xiaomi's very efficient Redmi Note 14 Pro+ phones, and both phones have enough credentials to make this anything but a cakewalk for the OnePlus Nord 5 in terms of convincing potential buyers. In that sense, OnePlus has done enough to differentiate not just the personality (there is a hint of resurrection of the first generation OnePlus Nord), but also elements that'd define longevity. Take for instance the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chip, which isn't outright sprightly with handling some serious multitasking, but also does well with a fair amount of time you may spend with some of the recent gaming titles, such as Call of Duty: Mobile. This is where it is important to point out that the chip isn't the only reason. OnePlus has some behind-the-scenes smarts very much in play, that help with overall performance. The Adreno Frame Motion Engine 2.0 is specific for recreating details in gaming visuals and making full use of the high refresh rate display that the Nord 5 has. For most of us, the new Cryo-velocity VC cooling system will deliver everyday value, by keeping the Nord 5 perceptibly cooler than quite a few Android phones in similar workloads. Except when using the camera for clicking photos for a significant amount of time, or recording even a couple of minutes of a 4K 60fps video. It is overall something not easily achieved, with so much power packed in ultra-slim designs. Heating has been a persistent fixture with flagship and mid-range Android phones over the past couple of generations, partly because of ever more powerful chips designed for AI processing too, as well as slimmer designs. There is also less space due to wider footprints cornered by battery and camera modules. Space is at a premium, and is being packed like sardines. Well, almost. I do have an observation about the OxygenOS and its evolution, because with every iteration, choices of fonts, interface colour palette, use of white space and iconography, feel less premium. The long-time OnePlus users reading this review may agree with me, that OnePlus' software design language was more refined a couple of OxygenOS generations prior, than today. The idea never should have been to unify the visual elements of OxygenOS with the software that sibling Oppo's phones use. Yet, this is something you'd have to make do with. OnePlus, with the 6,800mAh battery capacity, outdoes Xiaomi's 6,600mAh battery pack in the competing Redmi Note phone, and is much more than the 5,000mAh battery that Nothing has deployed. Results in terms of real-world usage are impressive. This high density battery, without compromising on thickness and weight, does deliver almost two days worth of usage on a single charge. The OnePlus Nord 5 keeping cool, helps make a case for strong and consistent battery stamina as well. Yet, you'll need to be sure to use the Bypass Charging methodology when gaming, because that'll not charge the battery whilst gaming, and thereby reduce chances of faster degradation due to additional innards heating. There is that much-expected dose of AI as well, led by the Plus Key that has replaced the Alert Slider that found its fans over generations. OnePlus is trying to simplify access to the suite of tools that's now integrated. Relevance and utility will depend on what you're using it for, and much like a few other elements of any tech we use, this is firmly classified as subjective. AI Plus Mind, for instance, wants to be akin to your trusty diary — everything from calendar events to notes to a screenshot you'd saved for context later, all in one place for search later. This may not always work best for everyone, but this is very much work in progress. One could argue that the OnePlus Nord 5 needed a troika of cameras at the back, and not the dual setup this gets (with the context of the Nord CE5 also looming in the shadows). Nevertheless, the primary 50-megapixel wide and the 8-megapixel ultra wide more than deliver across photography scenarios and lighting conditions. Better than one may have initially expected, with slight improvements in the first major firmware update that arrived during the review window. While OnePlus has used a Samsung JN5 sensor for the wide primary camera, its image processing takes a significantly different approach to how photos emerge on Samsung's own A series phones. Or indeed even the Nothing Phone 3(a) Pro, with its impressive camera. Skin tones seem most accurately replicated with the Nord 5, whole overall colours are at par with the Phone 3(a) Pro. Where the Nord 5 gets a significant advantage is with background detailing, with a notch more crispness than competition. One of the reasons why OnePlus phones have delivered value a notch higher than many a competition, is due to the layering of utility. That hasn't changed with the Nord 5. Case in point, Open Canvas for multitasking with more than one app sharing the screen size, or 'Share with iPhone' feature in O+Connect alongside compatibility with Mac and Windows computing devices. The walls between ecosystems stand tall, but instances like the OnePlus Nord 5, do their bit to tear them down. All things considered, the OnePlus Nord 5 is a significant upgrade not just for anyone still holding on to an older generation Nord phone (or any affordable Android phone for that matter), but also last year's OnePlus Nord 4 which was impressive in its own right. OnePlus has largely made the right changes to make the Nord 5 a generational lap, instead of an incremental update. And that defines longevity, which underlines the perception of value.
Hindustan Times
01-07-2025
- Hindustan Times
Xiaomi Redmi Pad 2 review: A new blueprint as budget Android tabs keep improving
There is definitive momentum to Android tablets getting better, over time. Xiaomi's role in sustaining this trajectory is often under-realised, but recent efforts explain as much. It all started with the Xiaomi Pad 6 but then there was a serious step forward with the Xiaomi Pad 7 that also had a nano-texture display option, alongside the likes of the Redmi Pad Pro suggesting the improvement is percolating down the price bands. The Xiaomi Redmi Pad 2 may well be a culmination of those chapters, particularly from the pricing perspective. The Redmi Pad 2 will cost ₹ 13,999 for the Wi-Fi only variant that has 4GB memory and 128GB storage. (Vishal Mathur | HT Photo) The Redmi Pad 2 will cost ₹ 13,999 for the Wi-Fi only variant that has 4GB memory and 128GB storage, and ₹ 15,999 onwards for the Wi-Fi + Cellular alternative that may be a better bet since it gets two more powerful configurations — 6GB + 128GB and 8GB + 256GB (and another 2TB capacity, via memory card). Of course there is a broader accessory ecosystem play which sees the optional cover being priced at ₹ 1,299 and a Redmi Smart Pen (this is the stylus) that costs ₹ 3,999. The cellular option certainly delivers more in terms of longevity and variance of usage, and while this is 4G, it may just be the ticket for a tablet that remains connected even when away from a Wi-Fi envelope. Immediately impressive is the display, and even though it could have done with a bit more crispness, still delivers enough brightness to make this usable in most differing lighting conditions and colours that look good overall. Xiaomi has played the balance rather well with the 11-inch screen size, which in the current state of play, fits best for media consumption, web browsing, reading, and some workflows too. I don't believe the Redmi Pad 2 has a keyboard accessory for now, and that in a way streamlines the demographic this is largely appealing to. And its a wide scope anyway, including the ideal first tablet for a user, a tablet that can be shared between more than one family member, or even a secondary screen for catching up on emails and reading as you run shuffle meetings. The MediaTek Helio G-100 Ultra, and we tested this with the 8GB memory plus another 8GB set as RAM extension via the software settings, is par for course as far as performance is concerned. This will be able to handle most apps with ease, and get through some bit of multitasking without slowing perceptibly, but do not expect this to get you through any more. This is an entry spec tablet, and the limits to performance will begin to show if there isn't enough free memory or the processor has a lot to do. I am not entirely sure if this is a factor of the hardware that powers the Redmi Pad 2, but there are instances when the interface requires a second stab of a gesture to get it to respond. An optimisation that can be delivered via a HyperOS 2 update? We would hope so. Where the Redmi Pad 2 does really well is with battery stamina. This 9,000mAh capacity battery, which depending on how you use it, will last you anywhere between a day and three days. This is by far the most capacity that any Android tablet this side of ₹ 20,000 has delivered thus far. The 18-watt charging speed isn't by any means fast, but hardly a shortcoming. That isn't all. Xiaomi has done well to integrate Google Gemini powered Circle to Search, and the responsiveness is impressively smooth. Gemini assistant is very much available too. There's an AI suite beyond that as well — Live subtitles for conversations and meetings, for instance. As far as affordable Android tablets go, there's little to nitpick with the Xiaomi Redmi Pad 2. It isn't rewriting the approach, but has its finger very much on the pulse. Cellular connectivity, a thin and light (7.36mm and 510 grams) design as well as an 11-inch screen that's the perfect balance between an immersive experience and portability, give this tablet just the substance it needs. This is meant for a very specific set of audiences and use-cases, and within that paradigm, it really leaves no cards on the table.
