This week Xiaomi introduced the most expected Mi 5X and also unveiled its new Mi AI Speaker. Lenovo-owned Moto introduced Moto Z2 Force, Samsung launched the Galaxy J7 Nxt, HTC launched the Sapphire Blue version of the U11, YU launched YUNIQUE 2, and more launches and announcements in our roundup.
Moto Z2 Force smartphone along with the 360 Camera Moto Mod went official this week. It has a 5.5-inch Quad HD AMOLED shatterproof display, has a 6.1 mm slim body made of 7,000 series aluminum, is powered by Snapdragon 835 Mobile Platform and runs on Android 7.1.1 (Nougat). It has 12MP dual rear cameras, one monochrome and one color that offer blur effect to the background or foreground of images using depth of field.
The Moto Z2 Force comes in Fine Gold and Super Black colors and is priced at $799.99 (Rs. 51535 approx.) in the U.S. without contract. It will be available August 10 and will roll out in Mexico, Brazil and various countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa starting later this summer.
Xiaomi announced the Mi 5X with a 5.5-inch 1080p 2.5D curved glass display, Octa-Core Snapdragon 625 Mobile platform, Android 7.1 (Nougat) based on MIUI 8 (updated to MIUI 9 update), 12-megapixel dual rear cameras, one with a wide-angle lens and other with a telephoto lens offering portrait mode. It comes in Black, Gold and Rose Gold colors, is priced at 1499 yuan (US$ 222 / Rs. 14284 approx.) and will go on sale in China from August 1st.
It also introduced Mi AI speaker, a new speaker with voice assistant from Mi lab. This offers 360-degree listening experience, thanks to six omnidirectional microphone array that senses external noise to cancel out echo. You can also use it to control smart devices such as open curtains, turn on light, adjust the air conditioning temperature, turn on the water heater and more.
It comes in White color, is priced at 299 yuan (US$ 44 / Rs. 2850 approx.) and will be available roll out for beta testing in August in China.
Meizu announced flagship PRO 7 and PRO 7 Plus smartphones, as it had promised. The PRO 7 has a 5.2-inch 1080p Super AMOLED display, while the PRO 7 Plus comes with a 5.7-inch Quad HD Super AMOLED screen. Both the phones have a 1.9-inch secondary Super AMOLED 307 PPI
display, 12-megapixel dual rear cameras with monochrome and color sensors offering portrait images with background blur along with a 16-megapixel front camera.
Meizu PRO 7 starts at 2880 yuan (US$ 426 / Rs. 27,440 approx.) and the top-end PRO 7 Plus costs 4080 yuan (US$ 604 / Rs. 38,875 approx.).Both these will go on sale in China from August 5.
Samsung launched Galaxy J7 Nxt (SM-J701F) with 5.5-inch HD Super AMOLED display, Octa-Core Exynos 7870 processor, Android 7.0 (Nougat), 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, 5-megapixel front camera that also has LED flash, 4G VoLTE and a 3000mAh removable battery. It comes in Black and Gold colors and is priced at Rs. 11,490.
YU launched YUNIQUE 2 budget VoLTE smartphone this week. It packs a 5-inch HD display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection, is powered by a Quad-Core MediaTek MT6737 SoC and has 2GB of RAM. It runs on Android 7.0 Nougat, comes with a 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera.
It comes in Coal Black and Champagne Gold colors, is priced at Rs. 5999 and is available exclusively from Flipkart.
Gionee launched A1 Plus in “A1 series’ in India. It has a 6-inch 1080p display, is powered by an Octa-Core Helio P25 SoC and runs on Android 7.0 (Nougat). It has a 20-megapixel front-facing camera along with a 13-megapixel + 5-megapixel dual rear cameras. It has a fingerprint sensor on the front, has a unibody metal design and comes with stereo speakers along with Maxx Audio. It packs a 4550mAh battery with support for fast charging.
It comes in Mocha Gold and Black colors, is priced at Rs. 26,999 and is available from retail stores.
Intex launched Aqua Power IV with a 4000mAh battery. It has a 5-inch FWVGA screen, is powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek 6737 processor and runs on Android 7.0 Nougat. It has a 5-megapixel camera on the front and back with LED flash for both. It comes in Gold and Black colors and is priced at Rs. 5499.
1More launched Triple Driver Lightning In-Ear Headphones in India. It has Two balanced armatures and a separate dynamic driver offering an extremely powerful yet intimate listening experience. The patented armatures work together to deliver sizzling highs and can withstand extremely high input power without distortion. It is priced at Rs. 10,999 and is available at Amazon.in, 1MORE INDIA webstore and stores across India.
HTC launched Sapphire Blue color variant of flagship U11 smartphone in India that joins the Brilliant Black and Amazing Silver colors. It is now available for pre-order from HTC eStore online and will ship starting from July 30th.
Xiaomi backed manufacturer, Yi launched an array of action and home cameras in India, including YI 4K action camera that was announced in May last year. These are available on Amazon India.
Sony launched its BRAVIA OLED A1 series of TVs in India in 55-inch and 65-inch versions. These are powered by 4K HDR Processor X1 Extreme, has 4K X-Reality PRO Dual database processing, support Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Pulse and have Acoustic Surface technology so sound comes from the entire screen.
Sony A1 OLED 4K HDR Smart TV 55-inch (KD-55A1) costs Rs. 3,64,900 and the 65-inch (KD-65A1) version costs Rs. 4,64,900. Both these will be available for pre-booking from August 1st and goes on sale from August 4th. All pre-bookings get a free PlayStation 4.