This week was all about world’s leading trade show IFA in Berlin. Some of the companies made announcements before the main event kicked off on September 2. Here are some of highlights of what launched on or before the IFA 2016.
Lenovo-owned Motorola announced its latest mid-range Moto Z series smartphone. The Moto Z Play has a 5.5-inch 1080p Super AMOLED display, is powered by an Octa-Core Snapdragon 625 SoC and runs on Android 6.0.1 (Marshmallow).
It has a 16-megapixel rear camera with dual-tone LED flash, laser autofocus, phase-detection auto-focus (PDAF) and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera that also has LED flash. Checkout full details here and watch our Hands On video from IFA floor and Photo Gallery here.
Moto Z also got a new Hasselblad True Zoom Moto Mod from the Swedish camera maker Hasselblad. This can be attached to the Moto Z, Z Force or the new Moto Z Play smartphone so that you can convert it to a zoom camera. This has a 12MP 1/2.3-inch sensor with 1.55 um size, has f3.5-6.5 aperture and 10x optical zoom.
It has two microphones, can shoot RAW images, comes with Xenon flash and also has physical shutter and zoom controls, for a better handling experience.
Lenovo Announcements at IFA
The company also showcased P2, successor of the Vibe P1 and a entry-level A Plus smartphone at the IFA in Berlin along with the K6, K6 Power and K6 Note. The P2 that had surfaced in benchmarks back in July packs a 5.5-inch 1080p AMOLED screen, is powered by a Octa-Core Snapdragon 625 processor and packs a huge 5100mAh battery with support for 24W quick charge function that can rapidly charge the battery. It has a metal body and a fingerprint sensor on the front.
Lenovo’s new Yoga Book 2-in- 1 tablet that comes in Android 6.0 and Windows 10 versions. It has a 10.1-inch Full HD (1920 x 1200 pixels) IPS display, is powered by Intel Atom X5 processor with 4GB of RAM and has magnesium aluminium alloy body. It has two panels that open up like an ultrathin notebook. It is just 9.6mm closed, tapering to 4.05mm at its slimmest edge and weighs just 690 grams.
Checkout other Lenovo announcements
Lenovo Yoga 910 13.9-inch Windows 10 convertible with edgeless 4K display
Lenovo Miix 510 12.2-inch Windows 10 2-in-1
Lenovo Yoga Tab 3 Plus 10.1-inch 2K splash-proof display, 4G LTE, 9300 mAh battery
Asus announced ZenWatch 3, it’s third generation Android Wear smartwatch and the first in the series to feature a round design at the IFA. It has been crafted from jewelry-grade 316L stainless steel and is just 9.95mm thick.
It has 1.39-inch (400×400 pixels) 287ppi AMOLED display and packs a Snapdragon Wear 2100 processor with 512MB RAM. It gets interchangeable straps, including Italian leather strap and comes with a three-button system, that would offer quick access to frequently used functions, including opening the ZenFit activity tracking app and changing the display modes. Check our Asus ZenWatch 3 Hands On from IFA Berlin.
The Asus ZenWatch 3 comes in Gunmetal, Silver and Rose Gold colors and starts at 229 Euros (US$ 254 / Rs. 17070 approx.). It will roll out from October.
Asus also introduced a portable 15.6-inch monitor dubbed Asus ZenScreen at IFA. It is claimed to be the world’s lightest and slimmest Full HD portable monitor till date.
Sony Announcements at IFA
Sony announced two new Xperia X series smartphones – Xperia X Compact and Xperia XZ.
The Sony Xperia X compact features a 4.6-inch HD screen, is powered by an hexa-core Snapdragon 650 SoC and runs on Android 6.0 (Marshmallow). The Sony Xperia XZ has a 5.2-inch 1080p screen, is powered by a Snapdragon 820 processor and runs on Android 6.0 (Marshmallow).
Both smartphones features a fingerprint sensor on the power button and packs a 23-megapixel rear camera with Predictive Hybrid Autofocus.
Sony Xperia X Compact Hands On and Photo Gallery
Sony Xperia XZ Hands On and Photo Gallery
Sony also announced the update to its first FES Watch U with e-ink display smartwatch that features both an e-ink display and e-ink bands.
The watch that pairs with your phone for a watch face to control its can now also control and change the band’s style. The next gen FES U Watch sports a steel bezel. There will be 12 base designs available for the smartwatch, but that catalog will be increased over time, delivered through a companion smartwatch app.
The FES Watch U is a crowdfunded project that is only available to those in Japan. The watch starts at ¥ 44,710 which is roughly around $438 USD, and can go as high as ¥ 98,650 or $967 USD.
Other than that, Sony unveiled four new high resolution personal audio products in an all new ‘Signature Series’ of audio range that includes the MDR-Z1R headphones, the NW-WM1Z and NW-WM1A Walkman players, and the TA-ZH1ES headphone amplifier, alongside Sony MDR-1000X noise cancelling Bluetooth headphones.
It introduced two ultra-wide 34-inch monitors of which one is a flat model with built-in Google Cast support while the other one is a curved device with a refresh rate of 144Hz. The third monitor is a 38-inch ultrawide curved monitor that comes with an advanced IPS UltraWide QHD+ (3840 x 1600) resolution. Checkout details from our IFA coverage here.
Other LG announcement
LG Tone Active+ HBS-A100 Durable Bluetooth headset, HBS-A80 and more announced
The other South Korean giant Samsung announced Gear S3 at the IFA 2016 in Berlin. This includes the Gear S3 classic and Gear S3 frontier models. Both these have a 1.3-inch (360×360 pixels) Circular Super AMOLED Always On Display with the latest Corning Gorilla Glass SR+ protection and has rotating bezel. These run Tizen- Based Wearable Platform 2.3.2. The Gear S3 frontier includes LTE connectivity and offers a rugged outdoor look, while the Gear S3 classic offers minimalist, elegant look.
Both these have IP68 ratings for water resistance, NFC and Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) support for mobile payments using Samsung Pay, built-in speaker for activate voice messaging and music listening, and GPS.
The Samsung Gear S3 classic and Gear S3 frontier will roll out from October. The Gear S3 classic is priced at $299 (Rs. 20015 approx.).
Also as expected, HTC announced One A9s, the company’s latest mid-range smartphone in the ‘A series’ at IFA. 2016. It has a 5-inch HD Super LCD display, is powered by an Octa-Core MediaTek Helio P10 processor and runs on Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) with HTC Sense UI on top. It has a 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera.
It also has a fingerprint sensor below the home button and comes with unibody metal design. The HTC One A9s comes in Black, Gold and Silver colors. No word on the pricing or availability yet.
ZTE announced Axon 7 mini, a smaller version of the Axon 7 at the IFA Berlin. It has a 5.2-inch 1080p AMOLED display, is powered by an Octa-Core Snapdragon 617 processor, runs on Android 6.0 (Marshmallow), has a 16-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 8-megapixel front-facing camera.
The ZTE Axon 7 mini comes in Ion Gold and Platinum Grey, is priced at 299 Euros (US$ 334 / Rs. 22370 approx.) and will roll out U.S., Russia, Germany, Spain, Poland, Japan, Australia, India and Saudi Arabia soon.
Other big IFA 2016 Announcements at a glance
Huawei Nova and Nova Plus with Snapdragon 625, metal body, fingerprint sensor announced
Huawei MediaPad M3 with 8.4-inch 2K display, metal body, 4G LTE announced
Acer announces a range of Spin convertible Windows 10 laptops
Acer Swift 7 notebook is 9.98 mm thin and comes with 7th gen Intel processor
HP Pavilion Wave and Elite Slice Windows 10 desktop PCs announced
Garmin Forerunner 35 smartwatch with built-in heart rate sensor and GPS announced for $199.99
Garmin VIRB Ultra 30 action camera with voice control, 4K video announced
Turing Phone Cadenza with dual Snapdragon 830s, 12GB RAM, 60MP rear camera announced
ARCHOS 50f Helium, 50f Helium Lite with fingerprint sensor and 55 Helium Ultra announced
Logitech M720 Triathlon multi-device mouse announced
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Checkout our full IFA 2o16 coverage here and stay tuned for more