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Micromax Canvas Blaze (MT500) is a dual SIM handset that supports GSM and CDMA networks. This is different from GSM+GSM handsets. The Canvas Blaze is available for Rs. 11,999.

There are very few smartphones available in India that support the CDMA + GSM networks, and for those using the CDMA network, here is some good news. The Micromax Canvas Blaze is here. It seems Micromax and MTS have partnered together for the Canvas Blaze product. Some sites have already started selling the handset online – probably not locked to a particular CDMA network, a user confirmed that the handset is locked to MTS CDMA network.

The Blaze MT500 CDMA handset runs on Android 4.1 with 768MB RAM. The internal storage is not mentioned, I guess it will be 4GB that’s the standard. There is micro SD card support of up to 32GB.

Datawind the makers of Aakash tablets have now entered the smartphone domain by launching 3 news handsets namely the Datawind PocketSurfer 5X, PocketSurfer 5C+ and PocketSurfer 3G5. The pricings start from Rs. 3,499.

Surprisingly I got a call from Datawind, yesterday asking if I got the tablet, well I did book the tablet when it was first announced (the Aakash Tablet if you may recall), it was via a simple form and was expecting Datawind to call back, well they really did. But unfortunately I could not recall when I had booked and when I had given up. They did try to convince me that the tabs has upgraded etc, etc, but I was really not interested.

And now since Datawind has entered the smartphone domain, I guess they are calling all those people showed some interest in the Aakash tablet. The Datawind PocketSurfer 5X is the cheapest of the lot with a price tag of Rs. 3,499.

The 5X, a dual SIM handset comes with 5 inch resistive screen with 400×240 pixels resolution. It is powered by 1GHz processor. Other features are front camera (VGA), Bluetooth, FM radio and runs on Linux OS. It is a way outdated technology and for the price you get better handsets running Android OS with capacitive screen.

The PocketSurfer 5C+ is (thankfully) running on Android ICS OS with a 5 inch 800×480 pixels screen. It is dual SIM and powered by 1GHz single core cortex A9 processor. There is 2MP rear camera, front VGA camera, Wi-Fi, FM radio and Bluetooth. 3G is not supported; you can use 2G networks (EDGE). The 5C+ is priced at Rs. 4,499.

PocketSurfer 3G5 is powered by 1.2GHz dual core and comes with 5 inch 800×480 pixels capacitive screen. The handset runs on Jelly Bean 4.2. Key features are 3G, Bluetooth, GPS and Wi-Fi. There is 5MP primary camera and VGA secondary camera. 3G5 is priced at Rs. 6,499.

I don’t think anyone would be interested in these handsets, the technology is outdated and there are much better options available in the market for the same price.

The Micromax Canvas 2.2 also called the Micromax A114 that made headlines a few days back, is now listed on Flipkart website for a price tag of Rs. 12,999. The A114 sports a 5 inch screen and comes powered by quad core processor clocked at 1.3GHz.

The Micromax Canvas 2.2 A114 is powered by MT6582M quad core processor that is clocked at 1.3GHz coupled with Mali 400 GPU. This is different from the MT6589 chipset. This dual SIM (GSM+GSM) handset comes with a 5 inch TFT IPS screen with 960×540 pixels resolution.

The Micromax A114 is quad band and runs on Android Jelly Bean 4.2 with 1GB RAM and 4GB internal storage. 32GB external micro SD card is also supported. The Canvas 2.2 weighs around 147 grams and is 9.7mm thick.

There is 8MP primary camera with LED flash support plus a 2MP secondary camera. The rear camera can record full HD videos (1920x1080p). Key features are 3G (21Mbps), 2G (class 12 – EDGE/GPRS), Wi-Fi (b/g/n), Bluetooth 4 and GPS with Google Maps.

There are G-Sensor, proximity and light sensors. The 2000 mAh standard Li-ion battery gives talk-time of up to 7 hours and standby time of up to 290 hours.

Micromax A114 (Canvas 2.2) with 1.3GHz quad core power is available for Rs. 12,999.

The SmartQ Z Smartwatch comes powered by 1GHz JZ4775 CPU with 512MB RAM and 4GB internal storage. This Smartwatch can easily sync with any smartphone running Android 4.0 and above. The SmartQ Z is available for $99.

Box Pack

It is a small box that houses the Smartwatch, USB to 3.5mm cable that can be used to transfer data as well as for charging and a user guide.

Smart Q Z design

The body is made of plastic – available in Black, Red and Blue colors. The watch strap is black color made of rubber. The build quality and the finishing is very good. They have used a standard watch strap and in case you want to change it you can easily do that from any local watch store.

The SmartQ Z weighs about 43 grams with battery. It is 12.46mm thick, breadth is 30.70 and the length is 49.79mm. There are 4 screws on the back in case you want to remove the back cover, though really not needed. On the rear it is clearly mentioned that the watch is water resistant up to 3ATM that is up to 30 feet, but on a safer side avoid any watery encounters.

There are two buttons on the right side – the power and the back button and on the left there is 3.5mm audio jack and built in Mic. There is no built in speaker so you need to either use the earphone connected to the 3.5mm jack or set the watch to vibration mode.

Hardware specifications

Powered by 1GHz Ingenic JZ4775 CPU. RAM is 512MB and internal storage is 4GB of which 2GB is available for user. The SmartQ Z comes with built in music player app and you can store a lot of MP3 files on the 2GB storage (your portable music player watch).

The touch screen is 1.54 inches, is very smooth though it will take some time getting used to it. The TFT LCD screen resolution is 240×240 pixels. The fonts and the icons are clear and the viewing angles are good enough.

Other features are built in Wi-Fi (b/g/n), Bluetooth 4.0 and UBS 2.0. There is a pedometer and motion sensor. This watch supports 4 languages and comes with 300 mAh battery that gives standby time of up to 12 days.

Performance

The performance is good and at times it does lag a bit but that shouldn’t be an issue.

What can you do with this Smartwatch?

You need to download the ZWatch Sync app on your smartphone. The link to the ZWatch app is mentioned in the user guide. Once you install the app you need to pair the handset + watch using Bluetooth and bond it. Once the process is done the time, calendar, contact etc will be synced between the two devices.

You can view contact / details on the Smartwatch however you cannot dial the number from the watch. You can view SMS’s on the watch and reply to the SMS using pre-defined text messages or even call the number.

Incoming call notification along with the contact photo (if any) and number / name will be displayed on the watch with 3 options, mute, call and cancel. If you accept the call you need to use your smartphone or a Bluetooth earphone.

I connected my Bluetooth earphone with (Samsung Note 2) smartphone and the SmartQ Z watch with the same smartphone. So when I got a call I could view the caller details on the watch and when I pressed the answer button (on the watch) the call got connected and I was in conversation using the Bluetooth earphone.

There is built in 2GB space available you can use that to store MP3 and use it as a portable player. Other interesting apps that comes pre-installed are Gofit (pedometer), remote camera (that can be used to control the camera on the smartphone – you need to keep the smartphone on for it to work – it should not be in the sleep mode.), Notify, file explorer, music player, timer, wechat, weather, SMS, phone log, contacts and sleep analysis. The phone (call log) does not work with Samsung smartphones.

Firmware upgrade

Though there is no option to install apps on the Smartwatch using Google play, but the good news is that there are a lot of software development activities happening. The SmartQ developers are coming up with upgraded versions. This watch came with 1.7 versions (based on Android 4.3 – though it seems like 4.1). There is a new 1.8 version available on the smartdevices English website whereas on the Chinese page you can find the 2.3 version. In the 2.3 version the notification support has been added i.e. you can get Gmail, Facebook, Twitter and many more notifications on the Smartwatch.

Gmail / What’sapp and other: You get notification.

Facebook: You can read the text.

Battery

After 8 hours the battery dropped from 89 to 84 percent this was with Bluetooth switched off, and when it reached 84 percent I switched on the Bluetooth and battery dropped from 84% to 20% in just over 24 hours. For normal usage with Bluetooth on the battery should last for 1 ½ to 2 days and with heavy to moderate usage it should be about 24 hours.

Verdict

It is a very good smartwatch with good features and water resistant too. There has been a lot of firmware upgrades and you can expect many more to come with new features / apps. The SmartQ Z is priced at $99 (Rs. 6,200) + $17.74 for Fedex HK express shipping, a total of $117.73 (Rs. 7,300 @ 62Rs.).

The Smartwatch is available online in Black | Blue | Red.

The Nokia Lumia 1520 can be pre-ordered for Rs. 45,999. The handset is expected to hit the Indian stores next week. Lumia 1520 runs on WP8 OS and sports a 6 inch screen with full HD resolution.

The Lumia 1520 phablet is powered by 2.2 GHz quad core processor (Qualcomm Snapdragon 800) MSM8974 coupled with Adreno 330 GPU. This is a single SIM (GSM) handset with a NANO SIM slot. This handset sails on Windows Phone 8 OS with Touch user interface.

The IPS LCD screen is 6 inches supporting 1920×1080 pixels with 16M colors. The screen can easily be read under direct sunlight and comes with Corning Gorilla Glass 2 protection. Another interesting feature is the 20 megapixel primary camera with dual LED flash. The rear camera with ZEISS Optics can record full HD videos. There is a front camera too of 1.2 megapixel resolution.

Nokia Lumia 1520 is 8.7mm thick and bit heavy with a weight of about 210 grams. The handset comes with 2GB RAM, 32GB internal storage and 64GB micro SD card support. Other features are 3G (42Mbps), Wi-Fi (a/b/g/n/ac), GPS with GLONASS / A-GPS, Bluetooth 4.0 and NFC.

A 3400 mAh non-removable battery gives talk-time of up to 25 hours on 3G, 27 hours on 2G and about 760 hours of standby time over the 2G networks.

The Nokia Lumia 1520 is listed on Flipkart (for preorder) for Rs. 45,999.

The XOLO Play Tegra Note got listed on Flipkart a few days back and now it has been officially launched for a price tag of Rs. 17,999. The Tegra Note also claims to be the world’s fastest (7 inch) tablet running on the Android 4.2 OS.

This 7 inch tablet is powered by quad core cortex A15 Nvidia Tegra 4 processor clocked at 1.8GHz with GeForce GPU (72 core). The XOLO Play Tegra houses a 7 inch IPS screen with HD display of 1280×800 pixels resolution.

Android 4.2 runs on Tegra Note, entitled for the 4.3 upgrade via OTA updates. The software updates will directly come from NVIDIA. There is 1GB RAM, 16GB storage and 64GB external card support. Other connectivity options are micro HDMI port, 3.5mm audio jack, micro USB port, Bluetooth 4.0 and Wi-Fi (b/g/n).

This tab also comes with 5MP rear camera without flash support and 0.3MP front camera. There is built in GPS receiver that works with Google maps and supports GLONASS. In addition there are stereo speakers placed on the front with bass reflex port and pure audio (NVIDIA) processing.

The battery mAh is 4100 with video playback time is up to 10 hours. The tablet also incorporates the NVIDIA DirectStylus technology for impressive stylus experience for broader and finer strokes.

The XOLO Play Tegra Note is priced at Rs. 17,999 – silver cover and the DirectStylus pro pack will cost extra.

The Nokia Asha 502 was leaked in September by Evleaks and now this handset is officially available in India for a price tag of Rs. 5,739. The 502 handset is available in 6 different colors.

502 is upgrade Nokia Asha 501. The 501 is available for Rs. 4,599. There are not much of a difference between these two handsets. The 502 comes with 5MP rear camera with flash (LED) and 1010 mAh battery as compared with Asha 501 that comes with 3.2MP rear camera without flash and 1200 mAh battery. The front camera is missing on both these handsets.

Rest of the features are the same. The 502 is a bit slimmer with 11.1mm thickness as compared to 501 that is 12.1 mm thick, however the 501 is a little lighter.

Nokia Asha 502 supports dual SIM and weighs about 100 grams. The 3 inch LCD capacitive touch screen supports 320×240 pixels resolution. There are accelerometer and proximity sensors. Other features are 2G (EDGE / GPRS), Wi-Fi (b/g/n), Bluetooth 3.0 and USB 2.0 port. Design wise the Asha 502 looks more appealing.

502 runs on Nokia Asha software platform 1.1 (the 501 runs on 1.0) with FOTA support, 64MB memory and 32GB external card support. There is a rear camera of 5MP resolution with LED support. This is a fixed focus camera.

The BL-5A battery is of 1010 mAh capacity that gives a talk-time of up to 13 hours and video playback time of up to 12 hours.

Nokia Asha 502 is now available online for Rs. 5,739.

Lenovo will soon roll out the Lenovo Vibe X a 1.5GHz quad core android smartphone in India for Rs. 25,999. The handset sports a 5 inch screen, supports FHD resolution and comes with Curved Gorilla Glass 3.

Lenovo Vibe X weighs around 121 grams and is 6.9mm thick. It runs on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean OS and comes powered by 1.5GHz quad core (MediaTek 6589 with powerVR SGX 544 GPU) chipset. There is 2GB RAM and on board 16GB storage (no external SD card support).

Vibe X sports a 5 inch IPS multi touch capacitive screen with full HD (1920×1080 pixels) resolution and with curved Gorilla Glass 3 protection. This handset comes with a single micro SIM slot.

A 13 megapixel auto focus camera is placed on the rear with LED flash support and the front fixed focus camera is of 5 megapixel resolution. FHD video recording and playback is supported. Other features are 3G (HSPA+ 21Mbps), Wi-Fi (b/g/n) + hotspot, Bluetooth 4.0, FM radio and GPS with A-GPS support.

There is light, gravity, proximity and magnetic sensors. The Li-po battery is of 2000 mAh capacity, battery is non-removable.

iBall recently launched the Andi 5-E7, Andi Uddaan and the Andi 5-M8. The iBall Andi 5-M8 handset is listed on iBall website for a price tag of Rs. 8,999. The M8 will be available soon.

Andi 5-M8 an upcoming phone comes with a 5 inch capacitive touch screen supporting resolution of 854×480 pixels. The full specifications are not yet mentioned on the iBall website. M8 runs on Android 4.2.2 probably with 512MB RAM and 4GB storage + micro SD card support.

The rear camera is 8MP as seen in the image with LED flash + front VGA camera. The handset is powered by 1.3GHz dual core processor (cortex A7) possibly using the MediaTek MT6572 chipset with Mali 400 GPU. Other features are 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS. The battery capacity could be around 2000 mAh or less.

Micromax next smartphone could be the thinnest Canvas, MMXNewscaster have unveiled on twitter. The handset will be 6.9mm thick making it the slimmest canvas so far. No official word from Micromax yet.

Most of the Micromax products are re-branded Blu handsets. The next handset with 6.9 mm thickness points out to the Blu Life Pro handset that incidentally is also 6.9mm thick. In fact the XOLO Q1000S also looks exactly similar. Most probably (from previous experiences) it will be the same. We are not sure yet what Micromax will name it.

Blu Life Pro specifications are already known and we can comfortably assume the next MMX handset to be the same. The handset weighs 165 grams and is 6.98mm thick, and made of aluminum body. It runs on Android 4.2 and powered by 1.5GHz quad core processor (probably MT6589T) with PowerVR SGX 544 GPU.

The 5 inch IPS OGS screen supports 1280×720 pixels resolution. There is 1GB RAM and 16GB storage. A 12 MP camera is placed on the rear with FHD video recording and a 5MP camera on the front with bright+ feature. Battery is of 2500 mAh capacity. Other features are 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS.

Well let’s wait and see if Micromax indeed comes up with this handset (though seems highly unlikely that they would) and let’s see what they price it at.