HMD Global this week introduced the Nokia 7.1 as well as Nokia True Wireless Earbuds and the Nokia Pro Wireless Earphones, LG introduced the V40 ThinQ and Watch W7, Microsoft introduced the Surface Pro 6, Surface Laptop 2, Surface Studio 2 and Surface Headphones, and lots more from this week in our weekly roundup.
HMD Global announced the Nokia 7.1 with a 5.84-inch Full HD+ 19:9 PureDisplay with a notch, 80% screen-to-body ratio, support for HDR and support for SD to HDR real-time conversion. It is powered by Snapdragon 636 with up to 4GB of RAM, runs on Android 8.1 (Oreo) which is upgradable to Android 9.0 (Pie), 12MP (RGB) + 5MP (Monochrome) dual rear cameras with ZEISS Optics, 8MP AI enhanced front facing camera with face unlock, 6000 series aluminium frame and a 3060mAh battery with fast charging.
The Nokia 7.1 comes in Gloss Midnight Blue and Gloss Steel colors and starts at 299 Euros (US$ 343 / Rs. 25,400 approx.) or 319 Euros (US$ 367 / Rs. 27,100 approx.) depending on the country and the average selling price of the 4GB + 64GB version is 349 Euros (US$ 401 / Rs.29,625 approx.). Check out the first impressions here.
It also introduced Nokia True Wireless Earbuds and the Nokia Pro Wireless Earphones. The True Wireless Earbuds weighs just 5 grams per earbud and promises 3.5 hours play time, and the charging case can hold three charges giving a total of up to 16 hours of talk time. The Nokia Pro Wireless Earphones has a neckband design, offers up to 10 hours of playback time from a single charge, has a built-in vibration function alerts user of incoming calls, and the smart magnetic earbuds lets you just separate them from each other to answer calls or play music. Both are sweat and splash proof.
The Nokia True Wireless Earbuds cost 129 Euros (US$ 148 / Rs. 10,960 approx.) and the Pro Wireless Earphones is priced at 69 Euros (US$ 79 / Rs.5,860 approx.).
LG announced its flagship V40 ThinQ penta camera smartphone. It has a 6.4-inch FullVision OLED display with bottom bezel that is 1.6mm thinner than the predecessor. The main highlight of the smartphone is its cameras. It has triple rear cameras, 16MP 107-degree super wide-angle, 12MP standard angle and 12MP telephoto with 2x optical zoom (or 3.2x the zoom of the wide-angle lens). The Triple Shot feature stitches together the images captured with each of the three lenses into a short video file for easy sharing.
On the front there is a 5MP wide-angle lens and 8MP standard camera for bokeh effect with an on-screen slider to adjust the amount of background blur. It still has 3.5mm audio jack with 32-bit Hi-Fi Quad DAC and Boombox Speaker that was introduced in the G7 ThinQ.
It has MIL-STD 810G military-grade durability and is IP68 rated for dust and water resistance. It has a fingerprint sensor on the back and packs a 3300mAh battery with support for fast charging and wireless charging.
It comes in New Aurora Black, New Platinum Gray, New Moroccan Blue and Carmine Red colors and is priced at around $960 (Rs. 70,940 approx.). Check out the hands on impressions here.
It also introduced LG Watch W7, its first hybrid smartwatch that combines mechanical movement with digital functionalities powered by Wear OS by Google. It features quartz movement and physical watch hands in a stainless steel body and has been developed in partnership with Soprod SA of Switzerland. It has altimeter, barometer, stopwatch, timer and compass directions.
It promises full day battery life on a single charge. It can run for up to two days with average use and an additional 3-4 days in analog-only mode. In mechanical watch-only mode with its “smart” features disabled, the watch can operate for up to 100 days, or more than three months of battery life.
The LG Watch W7 comes in Cloud Silver color, and is compatible with all standard 22mm watch bands. It is priced at $450 (Rs. 33,250 approx.) and is available in the US from October 14 with pre-orders starting from October 7th. Check out the hands on impressions here.
Microsoft announced Surface Pro 6, Surface Laptop 2, Surface Studio 2, as well as new Surface Headphones at an event, as it had promised. The Surface Pro 6 is powered by Intel 8th Gen Quad Core processors and comes in new Black color option. Other specs are similar to the Surface Pro 5.
The Surface Laptop 2 is now powered by Intel 8th Gen Quad Core Processors and comes in rich tone-on-tone color combinations of Platinum, Burgundy and Cobalt Blue in addition to Black, promises up to 14.5 hours of video playback and faster and quieter typing.
The Surface Studio 2 All-in-one PC offers 50% more graphics performance, has the same 28″ PixelSense Display and now comes with USB-C support and Xbox Wireless built in gaming-class performance. It comes with latest Surface Pen with tilt sensibility and 4096 levels of pressure.
The new Surface Headphones is Microsoft’s first premium and smart headphones that offer rich audio with 40 mm Free Edge driver and hands-free calling. It has adjustable noise cancellation (Up to 30 dB for active noise cancellation or Up to 40 dB for passive noise cancellation), features automatic pause and play, and will even pause the movie or video you are watching when you remove them from your ears.
It has built-in Cortana digital assistant to offer proactive guidance, read emails and more. It has USB-C connector for charging and also has 3.5 mm audio connector. It promises Up to 15 hours of battery life (with music playback over Bluetooth, ANC on, hands-free Cortana1 enabled).
The Microsoft Surface Pro 6 starts at $899 (Rs. 65,800 approx.) and the Surface Laptop 2 starts at $999 (Rs. 73,110 approx.), are available for pre-order and will ship from October 16th. The Surface Studio 2 starts at $3,499 (Rs. 2,56,075 approx.) and ships from November 15th. The Surface Headphones cost $349 (Rs. 25,540 approx.) and will be available later this year.
Panasonic launched the Eluga X1 and Eluga X1 Pro and is entering the much-awaited high-end smartphone segment. These come with AI Sense’ infrared face unlock that can unlock even in dark, pack stainless body and 2.5D curved glass on the front.
Panasonic Eluga X1 and X1 Pro feature a 6.18-inch full-HD+ (1080×2246 pixels) display with notch and have Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. Both the smartphones pack dual-rear cameras with 16+5MP setup along with LED flash and traditional features like a bokeh mode. The smartphones come with a 16MP front camera with Bokeh mode, Face Emoji, and Face Beauty modes.
The Panasonic Eluga X1 and X1 Pro will come in Silver and Dark Grey colour options and are priced at Rs. 22,990 and Rs. 26,990 respectively. Both smartphones will be available across all major retail stores in India starting October 10.
TECNO Mobile has launched the CAMON iCLICK2 smartphone, its latest budget smartphone with dual rear cameras. It sports a 6.2” HD+ screen, 19:9 Super Full View notch display, 24MP AI selfie camera, and AI Face Unlock. It comes in Aqua Blue, Hawaii Blue (Gradient) and Midnight black color options and is priced at Rs. 13,499.
Hathway unveiled a new OTT set-top box and a cable hybrid box and the newly introduced boxes will be available to the local cable operators from 15 October and consumer registrations will start by November 1st. The OTT set-top box is based on Google’s Android TV and the remote carries a dedicated YouTube, Netflix and Google Play button. It also features voice-enabled Google assistant and inbuilt Chromecast.
The hybrid cable box named- Hathway Ultra Smart HUB combines linear TV with Play services in HDR quality along with easy navigation. It will enable users to download apps from the Google Play store. The cable hybrid boxes will be available in areas where Hathway cable is functional. However, the OTT box can reach areas where there’s no cable but Hathway’s broadband service is offered.
Both the new OTT set-top box and a cable hybrid box are priced at Rs.2,999 and as mentioned, it will be available to the local cable operators from 15th October and consumer registrations will start by November 1st.
Huawei announced the Y9 2019 smartphone. It has a 6.5-inch Full HD+ display with a narrow chin and high screen-to-body ratio, is powered by Kirin 710 SoC with 6GB of RAM, and runs Android 8.1 (Oreo) with EMUI 8.2, similar to the Honor 8X but this has a 16-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, and a 2-megapixel secondary camera to capture depth information in portrait shots and a 13-megapixel front camera along with a 2-megapixel front camera for portrait selfies, and both have AI photography features.
It has a fingerprint sensor on the back that can unlock in 0.3 seconds, fingerprint navigation, which helps users manage all the notifications with one key and packs a 4000mAh battery with support for fast charging.
It comes in Midnight Black, Blue Swarovski and Aurora Purple colors and will go on sale mid-October.
SHARP introduced the Aquos Zero which features the company’s first OLED panel that is designed and manufactured in-house. It sports a 6.22-inch WQHD+ (1440×2992) display with support for the DCI-P3 color space and Dolby Vision. It also has a huge notch above the display and is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845.
It comes with heat dissipation technology, additionally, it features AQUOS first parallel charging that distributes heat sources with two charging ICs to suppress heat generation during charging. The back has an aramid fiber and magnesium alloy for the side frame.
The SHARP Aquos Zero will be available in Japan by the end of the year. But there are no details regarding the exact launch date, pricing, and availability in other markets.
Amazon announced the Fire TV Stick 4K and all-new Alexa Voice Remote in India. The Fire TV Stick 4K is powered by the 1.7GHz quad-core with fast streaming experience, quicker load times, and brilliant picture quality. It also brings you access to 4K Ultra HD, Dolby Vision, and HDR10+ titles.
The Fire TV Stick 4K and Alexa Voice Remote are now available for pre-order now on Amazon.in for Rs. 5999 and Rs. 1999 respectively. Both these will start shipping in India on November 14.
Ahead of Google Pixel 3 launch, the company introduced Home Mini speaker in Aqua Blue colour. This is the first new colour, Google added since the launch of Home Mini speaker. The Aqua colour will start shipping on October 29 from the Google Store and Walmart. It should eventually come to India.
Aisen launched the A55UDS972 LED TV to provide ultimate Theatre experience for Homes. It comes with 4K UHD edge IPS Panel, hot Keys Remote Control for seamless operation and an E-Share App to Interact with the TV. The E-Share option lets you cast your smart device’s screen on the TV. Connectivity options include 3 HDMI inputs and 4USB Ports. You can also connect the Smart TV to the internet and watch the various shows, Movies etc with a simple click on the remote.
The Aisen A55UDS972 LED TV is priced at Rs. 55,950 and is available across leading retail stores across various cities in India.
Samsung India launched its new Air Purifier; the AX5500 that can rapidly purify your living spaces with aerodynamic airflow technology. The Samsung AX5500 comes with the capability of drawing air inside from the front side, covering a wider area that removes ultrafine dust, harmful viruses, and gases with its 4-step purification system.
The Samsung AX5500 is priced at Rs.34,990 and it will be available across leading offline and online stores from 3rd October 2018. As a part of the launch offer, the company is offering a free Samsung Galaxy J6 (32GB) smartphone worth Rs. 12,990 with Samsung Air Purifier AX5500 and Samsung premium Air Purifier AX7000, till 31st October 2018.
LG launched a new range of speakers in the PK series and the LG XBOOM AI ThinQ WK7 to bring every music enthusiast to experience a musical extravaganza. The LG XBOOM AI ThinQ WK7 comes with Meridian Technology to deliver high fidelity sound and supports Google Assistant. The LG PK3, PK5, and PK7 are priced at Rs.10,990, Rs.14,990, Rs..22,990 respectively, while the LG W7ThinQ costs Rs. 27,990 in India.
Sony launched the new EXTRA BASS wireless speaker SRS-XB01 in India. It has a compact, rounded design, full range speaker unit on the front and passive radiator on the rear for a deep and punchy sound. It has a water-resistant body supported with IPX5 rating.
It has a light-weight body at just 160 grams, and is easy to carry with strap in matching color that also lets you hang anywhere. It has a built-in microphone for hands-free calling, features playback through the audio input . It promises up to 6 hours of battery life on a single charge.
It comes in Blue, Red, White, Black, Green, Yellow, is priced at an MRP of Rs. 2,990, but you can get it for Rs. 2,590 across all Sony Centers and major electronic stores as well as online retailer Flipkart.