This week Xiaomi launched the new Redmi Y1 and Redmi Y1 Lite smartphones in a new series, HTC introduced new U11+ and U11 Life phones, Razer introduced the Razer Phone, OPPO launched the F5 selfie-focused smartphone and more that happened this week in the weekly roundup.
Xiaomi this week launched the Redmi Y1 and Redmi Y1 Lite smartphones in India. Both the phones have a 5.5-inch HD screen and come with a 13-megapixel rear camera, but the Y1 Lite is powered by a Snapdragon 425 and has 2GB RAM, while the Redmi Y1 comes with Snapdragon 435 with 3GB or 4GB RAM, also has a 16-megapixel front-facing camera with LED flash and a fingerprint sensor on the back.
Both these have a dedicated dual SIM and microSD slots and pack a 3080mAh battery.
The Xiaomi Redmi Y1 and Y1 Lite come in Gold and Dark Gray colors The Redmi Y1 is priced at Rs. 8,999 for the 3GB RAM with 32GB storage version and the 4GB RAM with 64GB storage version is priced at Rs. 10,999 and will be available exclusively on Amazon.in. The Redmi Y1 Lite is priced at Rs. 6999 and will be available exclusively on Amazon.in. Both these will also be available on Mi.com as well as Mi Home and offline stores starting from November 8th.
HMD Global this week announced Nokia 2, the company’s latest budget smartphone at an event in India. It has a 5-inch HD display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection and packs a 4100mAh battery that promises up to 2 days of battery life on a single charge. It runs on Android 7.1.1 (Nougat) with support for Google Assistant and the company has promised Android 8.0 (Oreo) update for the phone.
It has a 6000 series aluminum frame and a polycarbonate back. It is also splash proof with IP52 ratings. It comes with dual SIM support with dedicated dual SIM and microSD slots and is also available in single SIM variant in some markets. It comes in Pewter Black, Pewter White and Copper Black colors and will go on sale from mid-November for 99 Euros (US$ 115 / Rs. 7465 approx.). Check out the hands-on impressions of the phone here.
OPPO this week launched F5, the company’s latest selfie-focused smartphone in India. It has a 6-inch full HD+ 18:9 full-screen display and 20-megapixel front-facing camera with A.I. beauty recognition technology that scan 200 facial recognition spots to beautify a selfie shot perfectly and also offers bokeh effect. It also has face unlock feature to quickly unlock the phone.
It has a unibody metal design, comes with dedicated dual SIM and microSD card slots and packs a 3200mAh built-in battery. It comes in Black and Gold and is priced at Rs. 19,990 for the 4GB RAM with 32GB storage version. It available for pre-order on Flipkart till November 8th and goes on sale from November 9th. The 6GB RAM with 64GB storage version comes in Black and Red colors, costs Rs. 24,999 and will be available starting from December 2nd.
HTC this week introduced U11+ smartphone. It comes with a 6-inch Quad HD+ 18:9 Full Screen display with 82% screen-to-body ratio and is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 coupled with 6GB of RAM. Like the original U11, the U11 Plus also feature Edge Sense technology.
It runs on Android 8.0 Oreo with Sense U.I on top with both Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant support. It is also rated at IP68 for water and dust resistance. Unlike most flagships, the U11 Plus still rocks a single 12MP camera on the rear. It comes in Ceramic Black and Amazing Silver
colors and is priced at £699 (US$ 925 / Rs. 59,860 approx.) for the 6GB with 128GB storage model. In Europe, the HTC U11 Plus costs €799 (US$ 930 / Rs. 60,140 approx.).
HTC also announced the U11 Life. The U11 Life is part of the Google’s Android One program and runs on Android 8.0 Oreo, but HTC is also launching the U11 Life with HTC’s Sense software in North America.
It is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 SoC coupled with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage on the base variant and 4GB RAM with 64GB internal storage. The U11 Life with HTCs Sense U.I runs on Android 7.1 Nougat with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant pre-installed. It has IP67 ratings for water and dust resistance.
It comes in Sapphire Blue and Brilliant Black colors and is priced at $349 (Rs. 22,560 approx.) for the base 3GB RAM with 32GB storage model. The Android One model costs €395 (US$ 462 / Rs. 29,880 approx.) / £349 (US$ 460 / Rs. 29,740 approx.) for the 4GB RAM with 64GB storage model in Europe and UK.
OPPO this week announced the R11s and R11s Plus smartphones. The R11s has a 6.01-inch FHD+ full-screen AMOLED screen, 85.8% screen-to-body ratio and the R11s Plus has a slightly larger 6.43-inch FHD+ full-screen AMOLED screen with 85.95% screen-to-body ratio. Both the phones are powered by Snapdragon 660, come with a 16-megapixel + 20-megapixel dual rear cameras with f/1.7 aperture.
These phones have a 20-megapixel front-facing camera with A.I. Beauty Recognition technology for intelligent analysis of sex, age, skin color, skin texture and more and the collects 254 feature points for capturing the best selfie. Both these have VOOC flash charge that promise that will offer 2 hours of talk time with 5 minutes of charging and pack 3205mAh and 4000mAh battery, respectively.
The R11s comes in Black, Champagne Gold and Red colors and is priced at 2999 yuan (US$ 454 / Rs. 29,350 approx.) and will go on sale from November 10. The R11s Plus comes in Black and Champagne Gold colors, is priced at 3699 yuan (US$ 560 / Rs. 36,190 approx.) and will go on sale from November 24th in China.
Razer this week announced the most expected Razer Phone. It packs a 5.72-inch Quad HD 120 Hz UltraMotion display delivering fastest refresh rates and smooth graphics suitable for gaming. It is powered by Snapdragon 835 Mobile Platform with 8GB of RAM and runs on Android 7.1.1 (Nougat), which will be upgraded to Android Oreo in spring 2018. It has dual rear cameras, one with 12-megapixel wide-angle (f/1.75 aperture) lens and the other with 13-megapixel telephoto lens (f/2.6 aperture) for 2x zoom.
It has stereo front-facing speakers and Dolby Atmos. It doesn’t have a 3.5mm audio jack, but comes with THX-certified USB-C audio adapter with a 24-bit DAC. It has a 8mm slim aluminum body and packs a 4000mAh battery with support for Qualcomm Quick Charge 4+.
It is priced at US$699.99 (Rs. 45,160 approx.) / €749.99 (Rs. 56,350 approx.) / £699.99 (Rs. 59,940 approx.) and will go on sale in North America and Europe from November 17th.
Huawei’s Honor brand this week launched the Honor Holly 4 Plus smartphone in India. It packs a 5.5-inch HD 2.5D curved glass display, is powered by an Octa-Core Snapdragon 435 Mobile Platform, runs on Android 7.0 (Nougat) with EMUI 5.1 top, has a 12-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and an 8-megapixel front-facing camera.
It has a metal design, has a fingerprint sensor on the back that can unlock the phone in 0.3 seconds and packs a 4000mAh battery. It comes in Grey, Gold and Silver colors and is priced at Rs. 13,999.
Bose launched Quiet Comfort 35 (QC35) II noise-cancelling headphones with support for Google Assistant in India. The second-generation QC35 headset comes with settings to control the noise around you. It promises the same 20 hours of battery life and the same controls remain on the right earcup – audio volume, and the multi-function button for incoming calls and accessing Siri.
It comes in Black and Silver colors, is priced at Rs. 29,363 and is available from Amazon.in, Bose retail stores, Boseindia.com and authorized Bose dealers.
1MORE launched iBFree Bluetooth In-Ear Headphones in India. 1MORE has collaborated with Grammy Award Winning producer, mixer, and sound engineer Luca Bignardi to perfect the final tuning. It comes with 14 grams light-weight ergonomic Sports Design.
It comes in Red, Black, Green & Blue at a price of Rs. 3,999 through Amazon.in, 1MORE India website and many leading stores across India.
Karbonn Mobiles this week launched K9 Smart Selfie, a selfie smartphone with 8-megapixel front camera with Night shot mode and Beauty mode and 4G VoLTE support. It has a 5-inch FWVGA 2.5D curved glass display, is powered by a quad-core processor, runs on Android 7.0 Nougat and has an 8-megapixel rear camera with LED flash. It comes in Black and Blue colors and is priced at Rs. 4,890.