Asus launches ZenPad 7.0, ZenPad 8.0, and ZenPad C 7.0 in India, starting at Rs. 8,999

At the ZenFestival that was held in India in August, Asus showcased two ZenPads on the occasion. Today, the company launched three ZenPads — the ZenPad 8.0, ZenPad 7.0, and ZenPad C 7.0 in India. Asus has revealed that all these devices will go on sale before the end of this month, exclusively on Flipkart.

The Asus ZenPad 7.0 has been priced at Rs. 11,999; it can also be paired with an audio cover at a cumulative price of Rs. 14,999. The Asus ZenPad C 7.0 will be retailing at Rs. 8,999, while the ZenPad 8.0 is priced at Rs. 14,999 (with audio cover at Rs. 17,999).

Coming on to the specifications, the Asus ZenPad 7.0 (Z370CG) features a 7-inch HD IPS display with a resolution of 1280×800 pixels. It is powered by an Intel Atom x3-C3230 quad-core 64-bit chipset coupled with 2GB of RAM. The tablet runs Android 5.0 Lollipop with Zen UI on top, and has 16GB of expandable internal storage. It sports an 8-megapixel primary camera and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera. In the connectivity department, it supports 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, and is backed by a 3,450 mAh battery.

Asus ZenPad 7.0 (Z370CG) specifications:

• 7-inch HD IPS display with a resolution of 1280×800 pixels
• Intel Atom x3-C3230 quad-core 64-bit chipset coupled with 2GB of RAM
• 16GB expandable internal storage
• Android 5.0 Lollipop with Zen UI on top
• 8MP primary camera and 2MP front-facing camera
• 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS
• 3,450 mAh battery

The Asus ZenPad 8.0 (Z380KL) comes with an 8-inch HD IPS display with a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels. The tablet is powered by an octa-core Snapdragon 615 (MSM8929) clocked at ( 4 X 1.36 Hz + 4 X 1.0GHz ) paired with 2GB of RAM. It runs Android 5.0 Lollipop with Zen UI on top, and sports an 8-megapixel primary camera, along with a 2-megapixel front-facing camera. There is 16GB of expandable storage onboard. In terms of connectivity, it supports 4G LTE, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, and is backed by a 4,000 mAh battery.

Asus ZenPad 8.0 (Z380KL) specifications:

• 8-inch HD IPS display with a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels
• octa-core Snapdragon 615 (MSM8929) paired with 2GB of RAM
• 16GB expandable internal storage
• Android 5.0 Lollipop with Zen UI on top
• 8MP primary camera and 2MP front-facing camera
• 4G LTE, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS
• 4,000 mAh battery

The Asus ZenPad C 7.0, which comes with a 7-inch IPS display at a resolution of 1024×600 pixels. It is powered by an Intel Atom x3-C3230 quad-core 64-bit processor coupled with 1GB of RAM. The tablet runs Android 5.0 Lollipop with Zen UI on top, and sports a 5-megapixel primary camera, along with a VGA front-facing camera. It has 8GB of expandable internal storage onboard, and in the connectivity department, the device supports dual-SIM, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, and GPS. It is backed by a 3,450 mAh battery.

Asus ZenPad C 7.0 (Z170CG) specifications:

• 7-inch HD IPS display with a resolution of 1024×600 pixels
• Intel Atom x3-C3230 quad-core 64-bit chipset coupled with 1GB of RAM
• 8GB expandable internal storage
• Android 5.0 Lollipop with Zen UI on top
• 5MP primary camera and a VGA front-facing camera
• dual-SIM, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS
• 3,450 mAh battery

Meizu M2 launched in India for Rs. 6,999, exclusive to Snapdeal

After launching the M2 note, Meizu has launched its smaller sibling in India, the Meizu M2. Priced at Rs. 6,999, the device is available from Snapdeal exclusively, and the registrations to purchase the smartphone have begun today. The device is available in blue, grey, pink, and white colours.

The Meizu M2 runs Android 5.1 Lollipop-based Flyme 4.5 UI, and is equipped by a quad-core 64-bit processor, 2GB RAM, 16GB internal storage, a microSD card slot, and a 2,500 mAh battery. In the imaging department, it has a 13-megapixel primary camera with f/2.0 autofocus lens and 1080p video recording, and a 5-megapixel secondary camera.

In terms of connectivity, the Meizu M2 has 4G LTE connectivity with a dual-SIM card slot, Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth v4.0, and GPS. Please note that you can either use a second SIM or a microSD card, but not both at once. It has a 2,500 mAh battery that the company claims to last upto 23 hours of talk-time. At this price, the device competes with the likes of the Xiaomi Redmi 2, the YU Yuphoria, and the Lenovo A6000 Plus.

Meizu M2 Specifications:

• 5-inch IPS LCD display, 720 x 1,280 pixels (294 ppi), Dragon Trail Glass
• Android 5.1 Lollipop-based Flyme 4.5
• MediaTek MT6735, 1.3GHz quad-core Cortex-A53 CPU, Mali-T720MP2 GPU
• 2GB RAM, 16GB internal storage, and microSD card slot (uses SIM 2 slot)
• 13MP primary camera, autofocus, LED flash, 1080p video recording, and 5MP secondary camera
• 4G LTE, 3G HSPA+, dual-band Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth v4.0 (with LE), and GPS (with A-GPS and GLONASS)
• microUSB v2.0 port, and 3.5 mm headphone jack
• Ambient Light Sensor, Digital Compass, Gravity sensor, Hall Effect Sensor, and Proximity Sensor
• 2500 mAh battery; 140.1 x 68.9 x 8.7 mm; 113 g

Microsoft Lumia 550 is the cheapest Windows 10 Mobile smartphone, but it’s not dual-SIM

During Microsoft’s event last night, the company’s focus was on its flagship Windows 10 Mobile-powered devices as well as Windows 10-powered Surface devices. So, it was only natural that the company didn’t spend much time in announcing a new affordable smartphone, the Microsoft Lumia 550.So, here’s everything that you want to know about the Microsoft Lumia 550 smartphone.

Microsoft Lumia 550 Specifications:

• 4.7-inch IPS LCD display, 720 x 1,280 pixels (~315 ppi), capacitive multitouch screen
• Windows 10 Mobile operating system, Cortana, Microsoft Office, Skype, OneDrive, and OneNote
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 210 (MSM8909), 1.1GHz quad-core Cortex-A7 CPU, Adreno 304 GPU
• 1GB RAM, 8GB internal storage, and microSD card slot (upto 200GB)
• 5MP primary camera (1/4-inch sensor), autofocus lens, F2.4 aperture, single-LED flash, and 720p HD video recording
• 2MP secondary camera, fixed-focus lens, F2.8 aperture, and VGA video recording
• Single-SIM (nano-SIM card slot), 4G LTE, HSPA+, Wi-Fi b.g.n, Wi-Fi Hotspot, Bluetooth v4.1, and GPS (with A-GPS, GLONASS, and A-BeiDou)
• Accelerometer, Ambient light sensor, and Proximity sensor
• 2,100 mAh battery; 136.1 x 67.8 x 9.9 mm; 141.9 g

The Microsoft Lumia 550 is an affordable smartphone from the company, and one of the first Windows 10 Mobile-based devices. However, unlike the Lumia 950 and the Lumia 950 XL, this smartphone isn’t as well-equipped as its competitors. Priced at around $139 (~ Rs. 9,077), the device features a 4.7-inch HD IPS LCD display, a quad-core Snapdragon 210 processor, 1GB RAM, 8GB of internal storage space, and a microSD card slot. In terms of imaging, the device has been equipped with a 5-megapixel primary camera with autofocus, LED flash, and 720p HD video recording. There’s a 2-megapixel secondary camera as well for video calling and clicking self-portraits.

In terms of connectivity, the Lumia 550 is a single-SIM smartphone with 4G LTE connectivity, and it is also equipped with regular features like Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth v4.1, and GPS. There are three basic sensors – an accelerometer, an ambient-light sensor, and a proximity sensor – and it packs in a 2,100 mAh battery. If you can notice, Microsoft has definitely missed out on equipping this device with a dual-SIM card slot, and the device doesn’t support 4G LTE on TDD-LTE 2300 MHz channel, which is used in India.

Microsoft hasn’t announced the specific date as to when the Lumia 550 will be available in India, and the company’s India-centric website hasn’t listed the device yet. However, we expect the device to be available in India sometime in December 2015 priced under the Rs. 10,000 mark. It will compete with much better equipped Android smartphones such as the YU Yureka Plus, the Lenovo K3 Note, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4G, and the Samsung Galaxy J5. All these devices have better specifications than the Lumia 550, and that will definitely be a problem for Microsoft.

Meizu M2 will be launched in India next week, will compete with Xiaomi Redmi 2

Soon after launching the smartphones such as M1 Note, M2 Note and MX5 in India, Meizu is all set to launch the M2 in India next week. The M2 was first launched in China three months back at a price tag of 599 CNY (Rs. 6,160 approx).

The Meizu M2 Note comes with a 5-inch HD display with a resolution of 720×1280 pixels, and is powered by a 1.3GHz 64-bit quad-core MediaTek MT6735 processor chipset paired with 2GB of RAM. The phone runs Android 5.1 Lollipop with Meizu’s in-house Flyme 4.5 OS on top. It has 16GB internal storage, which can be further expanded up to 128GB via microSD card. The device sports a 13-megapixel primary camera with LED flash, along with a 5-megapixel front-facing camera.

In the connectivity department, the phone supports dual-SIM, 4G (FDD-LTE, TD-LTE networks), 3G, Wi-Fi, GPS, A-GPS, Micro-USB, and Bluetooth 4.0. It is backed by a 2,500 mAh battery, which is touted by Meizu to deliver up to 23 hours of talk time on 2G, and 10 hours of Internet using 4G. In China, the smartphone was launched in Blue, Pink, Grey, and White color options. There is not much information regarding the pricing and availability of the Meizu M2 yet. Stay tuned with us to know more about the launch on next week.

Meizu M2 specifications:

• 5-inch HD display with a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels
• 1.3 GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6735 64-bit chipset paired with 2GB of RAM
• 16GB internal storage, expandable up to 128GB via microSD card
• Android 5.1 Lollipop with FlyMe OS 4.5 on top
• 13MP primary camera with LED Flash, and 5MP front-facing camera
• dual-SIM, 4G, 3G, Wi-Fi, GPS, A-GPS, Micro-USB, and Bluetooth 4.0
• 2,500 mAh battery