Category: Opinions

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OnePlus might have become a victim of its own success, courtesy of the OnePlus 8

After numerous leaks and endless hyping, OnePlus unveiled the OnePlus 8 and the OnePlus 8 Pro. And as their monikers suggest, these are the latest sequels to last year’s OnePlus 7T and OnePlus 7T Pro. While most people have been heaping praise on the latter, the OnePlus 8 has been nothing short of divisive. Sure, both phones share the burden of convincing the user base to spend $200 more on their yearly upgrade. But, in my not-so-humble opinion, the OnePlus 8 can’t even come close.

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The Pixel 5 might not be a flagship, and that’s a good thing

Despite newer generations of mid-range smartphones proving to suit the needs of more people, some people still find the urge to shell out some extra cash on flagship hardware inexcusable. In the past, there was a gulf between both tiers in terms of some crucial aspects, most notably in terms of performance. Fortunately, this difference started to diminish gradually over the years, with mid-range processors becoming more and more capable every generation, and manufacturers bringing more premium features to its mid-range phones lineup. Curiously, Google and LG seem to have recognized how capable newer mid-range processors have become. And if the latest rumors are to be believed, it looks like Google’s upcoming Pixel 5 will be a “premium mid-tier” smartphone instead of being a fully-fledged flagship. While that might upset the tech enthusiasts or the so-called power users a bit, I think this might have just made the Pixel 5 a more appealing offer to the overwhelming majority of average consumers. 

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Opinion: Android 10’s new gestural navigation is far from ideal

Back in 2017, Apple kickstarted a new trend of UI navigation on our phones via dedicated navigation gestures instead of using on-screen buttons (or a dedicated button tucked in the bottom bezel in the case of the iPhones). There’s no denying the fact that there was a somewhat steep learning curve to go through before getting used to the new navigation gestures on the iPhone X. But ultimately, this became the new trend going forwards that all OEMs sought to join. Google had a go at it the following year, though Android Pie’s navigation gestures looked like a hasty attempt to announce Android as a native supporter of gestural navigation. This year though, Google went back to the drawing board and gave it a more serious thought.

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Why the Pixel 3a is the best mid-range phone you can buy in the US

Ever since the launch of the original OnePlus One, the recipe for a killer mid-range smartphone was very simple: flagship specs coupled with a modest camera hardware setup for nearly half the price of a fully fledged flagship. Things like decent software support and build quality were the icing on the cake, but they were never a guarantee. Over time, as prices kept creeping up, these two factors started to become a bigger part of the picture, even putting some of the bigger names to the sword—OnePlus is talking about updating the OnePlus 5/5T to Android Q while Samsung is yet to roll out the Android Pie update to the Galaxy S8 and S8+. Of course, this incredibly saturated segment of the market features a lot of the endeavors of other companies. But ultimately, they all share the same recipe. Google, on the other hand, had the guts to stray away from that route and create their own recipe for a worthy mid-range smartphone. In this article, we will discuss why Google’s new recipe will pay huge dividends to the Mountain View tech giant.

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Opinion: The Poco F1 is an excellent phone for the price but not a “OnePlus killer”

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you must have heard of the cheapest phone with a Snapdragon 845, the Poco F1. Launched in India for only ₹21,000 ($300 USD), it’s generated a lot of hype and has been dubbed a “OnePlus killer.” While it is a pretty good phone for the price, I think calling it a “OnePlus killer” is inaccurate.

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Should you be worried about sharing your data with Google?

Ever since the Cambridge Analytica scandal hit the news, a lot of people have been deleting their Facebook or at least making an effort to use it less. But for a lot of people, this has been a complete awakening to the whole internet privacy controversy and consequently, there’s been a growing trend to boycott all internet services known to be collecting user data. The one other company talked about most in this regard is Google. There have been complete guides going around the internet on how to stop using Google services completely and instead use alternatives for each of its services. That means no Google search, no Google Maps, Photos, Drive, or YouTube, and there are people actually trying this. Believe it or not, there have actually been people attempting to replace their YouTube usage with Dailymotion! As a Google-centric news blog, we are obligated to address this madness. Continue reading “Should you be worried about sharing your data with Google?”