Lenovo Z2 Vs Asus Zenpone 3

Lenovo Z2 Plus vs ASUS ZenFone 3

Lenovo has shaken up the Indian mobile industry with the launch of the Z2 Plus, which is the cheapest Snapdragon 820 powered smartphone available out there. With a starting price of Rs 17,999, this device has already caused headaches for rival manufacturers. So how does ASUS' ZenFone 3 stack up against it? 

Design:

As with any smartphone, design is always a subjective matter. But if we were to pick one winner here, the ZenFone 3 will probably take the cake for its polished and glossy look. The speaker grill is also quite refined on the ZenFone 3, while the Z2 Plus uses a pretty standard looking speaker grill at the bottom. Speakers on both devices are located right next to the USB Type-C port.

Display:

The ZenFone 3 comes with a 5.2-inch Full HD display on board, while the Z2 Plus is slightly smaller with its 5-inch panel. The display resolution remains unchanged at Full HD or 1920x1080 pixels.

Camera:

Lenovo is using a 13MP ISOCELL camera sensor on the back, which is known to perform decently well in suitable camera conditions. The ZenFone 3, however, packs a 16MP camera with an aperture size of f/2.0, allowing more light and better pictures overall. Although we're yet to compare the two phones side-by-side, we can ascertain that the ASUS offering will have the upper hand, at least on paper.

Both phones come equipped with 8MP f/2.0 front facing camera sensors, so expect identical results from the selfie cameras.
    
Performance:

The highlight of the Z2 Plus is the quad-core Snapdragon 820 processor, making it the cheapest handset out there to feature the chipset. While this might not be enough to push sales of the device, one can expect this to have a bearing on the customers' decision to purchase the handset. The ZenFone 3 is sporting an octa-core 2 GHz Snapdragon 625 processor, which is quite good on its own, but falls behind in comparison with the Snapdragon 820.

Battery:

The ZenFone 3 is packing a 2,650mAh battery unit underneath, while the Z2 Plus is built with a significantly upgraded 3,500mAh unit. Needless to say, Lenovo's offering has the clear edge here.

Pricing and availability:

The Lenovo Z2 Plus is available in two RAM/Storage configurations. One with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, priced at Rs 17,999, and the other with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, priced at Rs 19,999. The handset is an exclusive via Amazon India and can be bought through an open sale starting 12AM on the 26th of September.

The ASUS ZenFone 3 is currently sold in just the one variant, which packs 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. This model is priced at Rs 21,999 or cheaper and can be bought from e-commerce retailers like Flipkart and Amazon. 

Why No Galaxy Note 7 In China

people plan not to buy a new Galaxy Note 7 in China!

In mainland China, 51.9 per cent people plan not to buy Samsung smartphones in light of the global recall of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones owing to exploding batteries, a media report said on Monday. 

"Samsung's turmoil from its first large-scale withdrawal of a smartphone is largely predicted to benefit rivals Huawei Technologies, Oppo Electronics, Vivo, Xiaomi and Apple on the mainland," the South China Morning Post reported, citing analysts and Chinese retailers. 

Samsung smartphone sales on the Chinese mainland "have been stagnant in the past few quarters" amid intense competition from major Chinese brands. 

"The (Galaxy Note 7) global recall will further affect Samsung's performance and reputation in China in the second half of this year," Tay Xiaohan, a senior market analyst at technology research firm IDC, was quoted as saying. 

While nearly 37 per cent said they would consider buying an iPhone to replace their Samsung smartphone, 26.3 per cent said they would purchase a Huawei handset as replacement. 

The report pointed out that Galaxy Note 7 sales were underwhelming even before the issue of exploding batteries was reported. 

"The Note 7 recall has convinced many of my clients to purchase the iPhone 7. Others preferred Huawei's P9 when choosing a domestic high-end model," a dealer was quoted as saying. 

Tarun Pathak, a senior analyst at Counterpoint Research, said the Note 7 recall will hurt Samsung's share in the premium segment, which makes up nearly a quarter of total smartphone sales in mainland China. 

"The models likely to benefit would be Apple's iPhone 7 Plus, Huawei's Mate series or Oppo's R series," Pathak was quoted as saying. 

Lenovo Z2 Vs Xiaomi Mi 5

Lenovo Z2 Plus vs Xiaomi Mi 5

                 

When it comes to design, there is no doubt that the Mi 5 is leagues ahead of the Z2 Plus. The slightly contoured back panel and the premium metal body gives it a flagship like appearance, something that's lacking from the Z2 Plus. Lenovo has stuck to a more simplistic design, deciding to let the internal hardware do the talking instead. 

Display: 

The Mi 5 is sporting a 5.15-inch 1080p display on board, while the Z2 Plus is equipped with a 5-inch display with the same resolution. Although the pixel density is expected to be higher on the Z2 Plus, the Mi 5 has a better screen-to-body ratio thanks to the slim bezels. This means that the width of the two phones are nearly identical even though the Mi 5 has a bigger display on board. 


Performance: 

This is an area where both phones are on level pegging. Both Xiaomi and Lenovo are using the quad-core Snapdragon 820 chipset, but with slightly different clock speeds. The Mi 5 (Standard Edition) is using two Kryo cores of 1.8 GHz and two Kryo cores 1.36 GHz. The Z2 Plus, in comparison, uses two Kryo cores of 2.15 GHz and two Kryo cores of 1.6 GHz, basically giving it a slight edge over the Xiaomi offering. 

Battery: 

The Lenovo Z2 Plus has a 3,500mAh battery while Xiaomi is settling for a standard 3,000mAh unit. Although battery performance is heavily dependent on the OS optimizations done by the OEMs, one would assume that Lenovo would have the upper hand here. 

Camera: 

Xiaomi is using a 16MP f/2.0 rear sensor with 4-axis OIS or optical image stabilization. There's a dual tone LED flash as well, which should be enough to light up any dimly lit room. On the front, Xiaomi is using a 4MP camera sensor with an aperture size of f/2.0. 

The Z2 Plus, on the other hand, is using a 13MP camera sensor on the back, with an aperture size of f/2.2. Even though it's an ISOCELL sensor, we don't think it would fare better than the Xiaomi Mi 5. The front comes equipped with an 8MP f/2.0 selfie camera. 

Other features: 

Both phones are packing a fingerprint scanner on the front as well as a USB Type-C port. This means that there's not much to differentiate between the two in terms of additional features. Both devices are running customized versions of Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow on board, with an update to Android 7.0 Nougat expected to be available over the coming months. 

Pricing and availability: 

The Xiaomi Mi 5 is available from Flipkart or mi.com without requiring any pre-registrations or flash sales. So you're free to get one right away and have it delivered in the coming days. The handset is only available in a 32GB storage + 3GB RAM variant, though, which is priced at Rs 22,999. 

The Lenovo Z2 Plus is an Amazon exclusive in the country and is available in two variants. The 32GB storage + 3GB RAM variant is priced at Rs 17,999 while the 4GB RAM + 64GB storage variant will set you back by Rs 19,999. The handset will be available through an open sale starting 12AM on the 26th of September.

Demand Of Iphone 7

iPhone 7 assembler says demand is actually beating forecasts

It wasn't long after the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus went up for sale that analysts started spelling a decline in year-over-year sales and overall growth for Apple. Well-known KGI Securities' analyst Ming Chi-Kuo was generous enough to raise his forecast from 65 million shipments to 75 million shipments in 2016, assuming that the exploding Galaxy Note 7 ordeal would steer more customers towards Apple's flagship. And market research firm GfK came to the conclusion that the new iPhones' sales were down 25% on the opening weekend (when compared to last year's 6s and 6s Plus).

Of course, Apple doesn't release official figures for the opening weekend — it just does its quarterly sales reports. However, chairman of Pegatron — one of the manufacturers responsible for iPhone assemblies — Tzu-hsien Tung has recently spoken to business media Nikkei and said that the iPhone 7 is doing pretty well – better than Apple expected, in fact.

While he didn't give away any official numbers, Mr. Tung said he is “cautiously optimistic” about demand for the new iPhones, hinting that it may be exceeding Apple's initial forecasts. According to him, the customers don't care about the lack of an innovative design as much as analysts think they do. He also went on to say that he doesn't believe that the Galaxy Note 7 fiasco had an effect on interest towards iPhones — Mr. Tung believes that the Galaxy S7 is the main competitor for Apple's smartphones, not the super-charged Note series. In an off-beat comment, he also mentioned that he himself enjoys using Samsung's S Pen-toting phablets.

According to reports, Apple's initial 2016 sales expectations for the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus were 100 million units. If demand is truly higher than expected, then it seems the lack of a headphone jack is barely an issue that's going to hold the phone back.