Articles by Harish Jonnalagadda

Stuffcool’s 65W GaN charger is built for India, works over USB PD, and has dual charging ports.

India is the proving ground for battery and charging tech. A majority of India’s populace uses phones not just for communication and staying connected but also for entertainment. That’s why most phones sold in India feature large batteries, and over the last 18 months we’ve seen significant gains in fast charging — particularly in the budget segment.

The Realme 7 Pro, for instance, offers 65W fast charging for just ₹19,999 ($270). Charging tech comes under heavy scrutiny in India because most parts of the country don’t have a stable power connection, so brands have to build overcharging and surge protection into their chargers.

There are plenty of aftermarket brands catering to charging accessories, and today I’m taking a look at a particularly interesting option from Stuffcool. The brand sells cables, chargers, power banks, and other accessories, and it has the distinction of launc…

The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is a fantastic phone — but it isn’t without its share of issues.

The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra sets a new standard for flagships in 2020 and is one of the best Android phones you can buy today. Samsung introduced a gorgeous new design, better cameras, upgraded internals, and a new S Pen. The design now sees a more prominent camera housing that protrudes a fair bit from the chassis, and the phone itself is massive thanks to a 6.9-inch screen and 4500mAh battery.

But like all phones in the market today, the Note 20 Ultra isn’t without its flaws. Early adopters have run into issues with the display, and there are several complaints online relating to condensation within the camera housing, fogging up the cameras.

Note 20 Ultra’s display has green tint issues

The Galaxy S20 Ultra’s AMOLED screen suffered from green tint issues, and Samsung rolled out a fix for the same earlier this year. It now looks like the Note 20 Ultra has the same problem, with several us…

Link to Windows is an incredibly useful service that’s baked into most recent Samsung phones. It lets you mirror notifications and texts from your phone to your Windows PC, and the best part is that you don’t have to do much to pair your phone with y…

OnePlus’ first smartwatch could be launching later this year.

What you need to know

A new listing at Indonesia’s IMDA certification suggests OnePlus is working on a wearable.
The listing reveals that the smartwatch will be dubbed the OnePlus Watch, and we also got the model number (W301GB).
Additional reports indicate OnePlus has been working on a smartwatch for over a year.

OnePlus is ready to launch its first smartwatch. As spotted by the folks at 91Mobiles, a wearable by the name of OnePlus Watch showed up at Indonesia’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) certification site, and we got the model number as well, W301GB.

There’s no shortage of smartwatches for Android, and OnePlus itself has been linked with a smartwatch for several years. A report from TechRadar suggests OnePlus has “actively been looking into a smartwatch for the last year.” That quote comes from a former OnePlus employee speaking to the publication, and it adds further weight to the IMDA listin…

Galaxy Note 20 Ultra

The obvious upgrade

$1,300 at Amazon

Pros

Stunning 120Hz AMOLED display
Gorgeous design
S Pen with lower latency than before
Snapdragon 865+ with 5G connectivity
Exciting new cameras with 108MP main lens

Cons

Expensive
Ultrasonic fingerprint sensor isn’t good enough

The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra has everything you could want in a 2020 flagship. The phone has a gorgeous new design and comes with a sublime 120Hz AMOLED display, the latest Snapdragon 865+ chipset with 5G connectivity, a new S Pen with reduced latency, and all-day battery life. The cameras have also been overhauled, with the 108MP primary lens delivering outstanding photos.

Galaxy Note 8

Outmatched

$339 at Amazon

Pros

Great AMOLED panel
S Pen with useful software features
Reliable in day-to-day use
Battery life is still decent

Cons

Still on Android 9.0 Pie
Ageing internals
No 5G connectivity

The Galaxy Note 8 fared well over the years, but it is clearly showing its age. While…

This is your last chance to pick up the OnePlus 7T.

What you need to know

The T-Mobile version of the OnePlus 7T is now available for $399, $200 off its launch price.
The unlocked model was sold out months ago, and it is unlikely the T-Mobile 7T will be restocked once units run out.
At $399, the OnePlus 7T is one of the best bargains you’ll find in 2020.

While the OnePlus 8 series gets all the attention these days, the OnePlus 7T is still a fantastic phone in 2020. It shares a lot of the same hardware as the OnePlus 8, and other than 5G connectivity, you’re not missing out on much.

That’s why it’s particularly interesting to see that the OnePlus 7T is now available for $399. That’s for the T-Mobile version of the phone, with OnePlus running out of units of the unlocked model several months ago.

At this point, it’s clear that OnePlus is looking to sell off remaining inventory of the 7T, and at $399, you’re getting one of the best bargains of the year here. While the OnePlus N…

Epic Games’ lawsuit alleges Google blocked OnePlus and LG from pre-loading the Epic Games app.

What you need to know

Court documents from Epic Games’ lawsuit against Google claim the search giant blocked a pre-install deal between Epic and phone manufacturers.
The deal would have seen the Epic Games app installed out of the box on OnePlus and LG devices.
With the deals nixed, Epic Games introduced Fortnite on the Play Store earlier this year.

Epic Games rolled out an update to Fortnite that allowed players to buy in-game currency directly from Epic, in contradiction to Play Store’s guidelines. As a result, Google removed Fortnite from the Play Store, leading to Epic suing the search giant.

Interestingly, the court documents claim that Google blocked a deal between OnePlus and Epic that would have seen the Epic Games app — the conduit for installing Fortnite — pre-installed on OnePlus phones. The filing alleges Google was worried about the app “bypassing the Google Play St…

OnePlus commits the cardinal sin of fixing something that wasn’t broken in the first place.

The first OxygenOS 11 preview is now available, and there’s a lot to take in. Recent updates to OxygenOS have focused on feature additions, with the core UI remaining unchanged for a few generations. But with OxygenOS 11, OnePlus is introducing a new design that’s similar to Samsung’s One UI, with the brand signaling a shift away from the stock Android UI that set OxygenOS apart over the last four years.

Without burying the lede, I don’t like the changes one bit. I’m not bashing OnePlus just for the sake of it; I choose to use OnePlus devices for a majority of the year because of the clean software. OnePlus did a magnificent job of offering a clutter-free interface that had its roots in stock Android, and that’s what attracted a lot of enthusiasts to the brand. When Google ditched the Nexus program, OnePlus devices became the de facto alternative because of the software and value on offer.

…

OxygenOS 11 is here, and it includes a smorgasbord of exciting features.

OnePlus just rolled out the Android 11 beta 3 update, and along with the new beta release, the company is giving us a first look at its next version of OxygenOS. The update includes the first preview of OxygenOS 11, and it comes with an exhaustive list of features.

The last major feature addition to OxygenOS was 15 months ago with OxygenOS 9.5, which saw the introduction of the native screen recorder, Zen Mode, Fnatic mode, screenshot editor, and more.

With OxygenOS 11, OnePlus is making visual changes to its skin for the first time in a few generations, and we finally get Always-on Display. Although OnePlus phones have used AMOLED panels from the beginning, the company didn’t offer an AOD mode; that’s changing now. There’s also a simlified settings page that’s akin to Samsung’s One UI, new system font with better readability, more customization options, new themes for Zen Mode, and a whole lot more.

The Oxy…

Samsung Galaxy A71

Super-sized

$600 at Amazon

Pros

Vibrant AMOLED panel
Robust internals with 5G
Modern design
Outstanding battery life
25W fast charging

Cons

60Hz panel
No wireless charging
Costly for what you get

The Galaxy A71 has an attractive design and updated internals, making it one of the best mid-range phones Samsung has to offer in 2020. One of the defining features of the phone is the battery life, with the 4,500mAh battery easily delivering over a day’s worth of use. You also get a 64MP camera at the back, 25W wired charging, and a massive 6.7-inch AMOLED display.

Samsung Galaxy A51

Best on a budget

$389 at Amazon

Pros

Modern design
Large AMOLED screen
Excellent battery life
32MP front camera

Cons

Laggy in everyday use
Poor macro lens

The Galaxy A51 has the same design as the A71 in a smaller chassis. You get a 6.5-inch AMOLED screen, 48MP camera, 4,000mAh battery with 15W fast charging, and One UI 2.0 out of the box. The Exynos 9611 chipset is…