Lens worthy

Sony’s best smartphone yet – Xperia Z1 – launched in India on September 18,has a 5-inch display,16 GB internal memory,and runs Android Jelly Bean (4.2). The best feature of this phone is the camera,which has a Sony lens with F2.0 aperture,which makes it great for low-light photography. It is also dust- and water-resistant provided all the flaps are closed. Sony launched two lens cameras – QX100 and QX10 – that cost Rs 24,990 and Rs 12,990. Sony also unveiled the Smartwatch 2 for Rs 14,990.

Samsung Galaxy Note 3

49,900 value for money: **

Pocket notebook

Samsung recently updated its Note series of smartphones with the launch of the Galaxy Note 3. Priced at Rs 49,900,this is among the most expensive smartphones in the market. It has a 5.7-inch display at 1920×1080 pixels. The phone runs Android Jelly Bean (4.3),with Samsung’s TouchWiz interface. It has a 13-MP camera and weighs 168 g. The phone packs a powerful processor,3 GB RAM and a 3,200 mAh battery. Note 3 buyers will get the S Pen,which lets them use the phone as a notebook. Samsung also launched a smartwatch called Galaxy Gear for Rs 22,990. It pairs with some high-end Galaxy phones and lets users control essential phone functions. But its battery life is rated at just one day.

JBL Charge

9,990 value for money: *** 1/2

Musical charger

Harman’s JBL Charge is a portable Bluetooth speaker that was recently brought to India. It looks very good and offers 12 hours of playback on a single charge. This unit is compatible with any Bluetooth-enabled phone. Its name is derived from a handy feature – you can plug your gadgets to the speaker to charge them. For those interested in the hardware,this speaker has two 41 mm drivers,2×5 watts of amplification and digital signal processing. It has a bass port,that increases bass output of any song. JBL says it takes 3.5 hours to charge this speaker. This unit is priced at Rs 9,990.

Micromax Canvas Tab

16,500 value for money: ** 1/2

Expanding portfolio

In a step up from the budget Funbook series of tablets,Micromax has brought the Canvas Tab P650 to the mid-range segment. Priced at Rs 16,500,this 3G tablet has an 8-inch IPS display and supports phone calls. It has 16 GB memory,expandable to 48 GB via a microSD card. It has a quad-core processor and 1 GB RAM,along with a 5-MP rear camera and 2-MP front camera. It runs Android Jelly Bean (4.2.1). The Canvas Tab comes with many of the extra features found on Canvas 4,such as look away to pause videos,etc. The 4,800 mAh battery is said to be able to provide five hours of browsing on a single charge.