This week HMD Global introduced the Nokia X7 smartphone, Huawei introduced the Mate 20 Pro, Mate 20, PORSCHE DESIGN HUAWEI Mate 20 RS, WATCH GT, Band 3 Pro, Lenovo introudced the S5 Pro and K5 Pro, launched the K9 and A5 smartphones in India, Amazon launched its waterproof Kindle Paperwhite, and lots more from this week in our weekly roundup.
HMD announced the Nokia X7, the company’s latest mid-range smartphone in the ‘X series’ in China. It has a 6.18-inch Full HD+ 18.7:9 aspect ratio Puredisplay, DCI-P3 wide color gamut and HDR video playback, 86.5% screen to body ratio, is powered by Snapdragon 710 10nm Mobile Platform with up to 6GB of RAM, runs Android 8.1 (Oreo), which is upgradable to Android 9.0 (Pie). It has a 12-megapixel rear camera rear camera with ZEISS optics, Sony IMX363 sensor, f/1.8 aperture, OIS along with a 13-megapixel secondary camera for portrait shots and zoom. The camera has AI scene detection to automatically detect 18 scenes.
There is a 20-megapixel front camera with f/2.0 aperture and pixel binding that can combine four pixels to form 1.8μm large pixel. It also has AI beauty and AI portrait Mode, 6 AI studio lights, AI expressions and new dual-view mode. It has a glass back, rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, and packs a 3500mAh battery with support for 18W fast charging.
The Nokia X7 comes in Dark Blue, Red, Silver and Midnight Black, starts at 1699 yuan (US$ 245 / Rs. 18,100 approx.) for the 4GB RAM with 64GB storage version and will go on sale in China from October 23rd. This will likely launch globally as Nokia 7.1 Plus, as rumored earlier.
Huawei announced its flagship Mate 20 and Mate 20 Pro smartphones at an event in London, as it had promised. Both these have OLED DCI-P3 HDR Displays, but the Mate 20 Pro comes with 6.39-inch QHD+ screen with 86.90 screen-to-body ratio, while the Mate 20 comes with a 6.53-inch FHD+ screen with 88.07% screen-to-body ratio. These are powered by Kirin 980 7nm SoC with Dual NPU and run Android 9.0 (Pie) with EMUI 9.0 on top.
The Mate 20 Pro has an in-display fingerprint scanner with 10-level Dynamic Pressure Sensing (DPS) technology and 3D Face Unlock as well as 3D Live Emoji and AI live model that lets you record it moving and dancing on your desk. These have triple rear Matrix camera system with OIS.
The Huawei Mate 20 comes in Midnight Blue, Black and Twilight colors, is priced at 799 Euros (US$ 925 / Rs. 67,820 approx.) for the 4GB RAM with 128GB storage version and the 6GB RAM with 128GB storage version costs 849 Euros (US$ 983 / Rs. 72,070 approx.).
The Huawei Mate 20 Pro comes in Midnight Blue, Black, Twilight and Emerald Green colors, starts at 1049 Euros (US$ 1215 / Rs. 89,050 approx.) for the 6GB RAM with 128GB storage version. Both these will go on sale in select markets such as U.K., France, Italy and United Arab Emirates starting from October 16th. The Mate 20 Pro will launch in India in November exclusively on Amazon.in.
It also introduced the Mate 20 X with a large 7.2-inch FHD+ OLED display, Kirin 980 SoC and world’s first liquid multi-dimensional cooling system with Vapour Chamber (VC) and Graphene Film to keep the device cool for smooth gaming. It has a similar triple rear Leica cameras as the Mate 20 Pro, has a rear mounted fingerprint sensor and has IP53 ratings for dust and water resistance.
The engraved glass back panel filters the colour layer to produce the unique textures glittering in the light and the finish is made to be non-slip and anti-fingerprint. It has a 5000 mAh battery with AI-driven resource allocation to handle intense gaming and long working hours. It comes with Huawei SuperCharge fast charging technology.
The Huawei Mate 20 X comes in Phantom Silver and Midnight Blue colors, is priced at 899 Euros (US$ 1041 / Rs. 76,275 approx.) and will go on sale in select markets from October 26th.
Porsche Design and Huawei partnered to introduce PORSCHE DESIGN HUAWEI Mate 20 RS Series luxury smartphone. It has similar specifications as the Mate 20 Pro, including the HDR screen, Kirin 980 SoC, in-display fingerprint sensor and 3D face unlock, but this comes with racing stripe motifs with all-natural leather and glass on the back.
It comes in Black and Red (Mainland China only) colors, is priced at 1695 Euros (US$ 1959 / Rs. 1,43,920 approx.) for the 8GB RAM with 256GB storage version and the 512GB version costs 2095 Euros (US$ 2422 / Rs. 1,77,875 approx.). It will be avaiable from November 16th in select markets.
Huawei introduced the Band 3 Pro, the company’s latest fitness tracker. It is a has a slightly different design, but similar specifications as the Honor Band 4 including 0.95-inch AMOLED color 2.5D curved glass touch screen display as well as a home button, comes with continuous heart rate tracking and is also water resistant up to 50 meters with Swim stroke recognition.
It comes in Obsidian Black, Space Blue and Quicksand Gold colors, is priced at 99 Euros (US$ 114 / Rs. 8,400 approx.) and will go on sale in U.K., France, Italy and United Arab Emirates soon.
Huaweialso announced the WATCH GT. The company says that the new wearable device offers novel and sophisticated ways for users to track their activities and receive fitness coaching that is based on scientific research. It features classic wristwatch design, ultra-high battery life with low power consumption. It is priced at €199 ($230 or Rs.16,891 approx.), Huawei Watch Classic edition costs €249 ($287 or Rs. 21,135 approx.).
Huawei’s Honor brand just launched the Honor 8X, successor of the Honor 7X in India, as it had promised. It has a 6.5-inch Full HD+ display with a 4.25mm narrow chin and 91% screen-to-body ratio, is powered by Kirin 710 SoC with 6GB of RAM, has a 20-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, AI scene recognition that can identify up to 500 scenes, and a 2-megapixel secondary camera to capture depth information in portrait shots. It has a 16-megapixel front camera with 4-in-1 pixel binning technology, face unlock and AI beautify.
It has a fingerprint sensor on the back, comes with dedicated dual SIM and microSD card slots and packs a 3750mAh battery. It comes in Black and Blue colors, is priced at Rs. 14999 for the 4GB RAM with 64GB storage version, 6GB RAM with 64GB storage version costs Rs. 16999 and the 6GB RAM with 128GB storage version costs Rs. 18999. and will go on sale exclusively on Amazon.in starting from October 24th.
Huawei announced the Enjoy Max with a 7.12-inch Full HD+ display with narrow bezels and 90.5% screen-to-body ratio, Snapdragon 660, 16-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, AI scene recognition, 2-megapixel secondary camera to capture depth information in portrait shots, 8-megapixel front camera and a 5000mAh battery.
The company also introduced the Enjoy 9 Plus, including a 6.5-inch Full HD+ display with a 4.25mm narrow chin and 91% screen-to-body ratio and Kirin 710 SoC, but this has a 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, AI scene recognition, and a 2-megapixel secondary camera to capture depth information in portrait shots and a 16-megapixel front camera along with a 2-megapixel secondary camera for portrait selfies.
The Honor Enjoy Max comes in Midnight Black, Sapphire Blue and Aurora Violet colors, is priced at 1499 yuan (US$ 216 / Rs. 15,980 approx.) for the 4GB RAM with 64GB storage version and the 128GB version costs 1699 yuan (US$ 245 / Rs. 18,115 approx.).
The Huawei Enjoy 9 Plus comes in Black, White and Golden colors, is priced at 1699 yuan (US$ 245 / Rs. 18,115 approx.) for the 4GB RAM with 64GB storage version and the 128GB storage version costs 1999 yuan (US$ 289 / Rs. 21,315 approx.). Both these will go on sale in China from later this month.
Lenovo launched K9, the company’s latest smartphone in the ‘K series’ at an event in India. It has 5.7-inch HD+ 2.5D curved glass display, is powered by MediaTek Helio P22 12nm SoC and runs Android 8.1 (Oreo). It has a 13-megapixel front camera along with a secondary 5-megapixel camera, offers 9 levels of natural bokeh improvement from f/1.0 to f/1.6, AI features for India, face unlock that can unlock the phone in 0.3-seconds. It also has a 13-megapixel rear camera along with a 5-megapixel secondary camera for capturing depth information in AI portrait shots.
It has a glass back, comes with rear-mounted fingerprint sensor and packs a 3,000mAh battery. It comes in Black and Blue colors, is priced at Rs. 8999 and will be available exclusively from Flipkart. This was introduced in China later as K5s.
It also launched A5, the company’s latest budget smartphone in India. It was introduced in China back in June. It has a 5.45-inch HD+ display, is powered by MediaTek MT6739 SoC with up to 3GB RAM, comes with 13-megapixel rear camera, 8-megapixel front camera, rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, face unlock and packs a 4000mAh battery.
It comes in Black and Gold colors, is priced at Rs. 5,999 for the 2GB RAM with 16GB storage version and the 3GB RAM with 32GB storage version costs Rs. 6,999. It will be available exclusively from Flipkart.
It introduced K5 Pro that packs a 5.99-inch Full HD+ display with 18:9 aspect ratio, is powered by Snapdragon 636 with up to 6GB of RAM, runs Android 8.1 (Oreo) with ZUI on top, has a 16-megapixel front and rear cameras along with a 5-megapixel secondary front and rear cameras, both with LED flash and AI portraits. It has a fingerprint sensor on the back and packs a 4050mAh battery with support for 18W fast charging.
It comes in Black and Gold colors, starts at 998 yuan (US$ 143 / Rs. 10,580 approx.) for the 4GB RAM with 64GB storage version and will go on sale in China from October 25th.
It also announced S5 Pro, the company’s latest mid-range smartphone in China, as it had promised. It has a 6.18-inch Full HD+ display with 18.7:9 aspect ratio, is powered by Snapdragon 636 with 6GB of RAM, runs Android 8.1 (Oreo) with ZUI 5.0, has a 20-megapixel rear camera along with a secondary 12-megapixel camera with AI portraits and 2x loss-less zoom. There is a 20-megapixel front camera with Sony IMX476 sensor, 4-in-1 pixel binning tech combining the information from four pixels to create one large 2.0µm, as well as a 8-megapixel secondary camera for AI portraits, 3D lighting and also features Infrared face unlock.
It has a unibody metal design, rear-mounted fingerprint sensor and packs a 3500mAh battery with fast charging. It comes in Black, Blue and Gold colors, starts at 1298 yuan (US$ 187 / Rs. 13,755 approx.) for the 6GB RAM with 64GB storage version and will go on sale in China from October 23rd.
Asus launched Zenfone Live L1 (ZA550KL) and Zenfone Max (M1) India. Both these come with 5.45-inch HD+ display with 18:9 aspect ratio and 82% screen-to-body ratio, powered by Snapdragon 430 SoC, run Android 8.0 (Oreo) with ZenUI 5, have 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and dedicated dual SIM slots. The Max M1 also comes with a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor.
The Asus Zenfone Max (M1) comes in Black and Gold colors, is priced at Rs. 7499 (As a part of festive offer compared to Rs. 8999) and will be available exclusively from Flipkart during Festival Dhamaka Days sale later this month. The Asus Zenfone Lite L1 comes in Black and Gold colors, is priced at Rs. 5999 (As a part of festive offer compared to Rs. 6999) and will be available exclusively from Flipkart during Festival Dhamaka Days sale later this month.
Panasonic has launched Eluga Ray 530, the company’s latest smartphone in the Eluga series. It has a 5.7-inch HD+ 18:9 aspect ratio display, is powered by quad-core MediaTek SoC with 3GB of RAM, runs Android 8.1 (Oreo), has a 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 5-megapixel front camera that also has an LED flash. It also comes with face unlock.
It has a fingerprint sensor on the back, features dedicated dual SIM and microSD slots and packs a 3000mAh battery. It comes with Arbo Hub -AI-powered app with self-learning technology. It comes in Blue and Black colors, is priced at Rs. 8999 and is available from offline retailers.
Samsung launched the Galaxy Tab S4, successor of last year’s Galaxy Tab S3, after it was introduced in August. It has a 10.5-inch Super AMOLED WQXGA screen, is powered by a Octa-Core Snapdragon 835 SoC and runs on Android 8.1 (Oreo). It has quad-stereo speakers tuned by AKG by HARMAN, similar to the predecessor and comes with an an enhanced S Pen. It has got rid of the fingerprint scanner and the home button on the front for Iris scanner.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S4 comes in Black and Gray colors, is priced at 57,900 and is available from Samsung Online Shop and Amazon.
Alcatel has launched 3T 8, the company’s latest tablet in India. It packs a 8-inch (1280 x 800 Pixels) display, is powered by a quad-core MediaTek MT8765 processor, runs on Android 8.1 (Oreo), has an 8-megapixel rear camera and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. It has 4G VoLTE connectivity via SIM and support for voice calling through headset or speaker.
It comes in Metallic Black and Suede Blue colors, is priced at Rs. 9999 and is available exclusively from Flipkart.
Coolpad has launched Note 8, the company’s latest smartphone in the ‘Note’ series in India. It has a 5.99-inch Full HD+ 18:9 aspect ratio display, is powered by an Octa-Core MT6750 SoC, runs Android 8.0 (Oreo), has a 16-megapixel rear camera along with a secondary 0.3-megapixel camera for portrait shots. It has an 8-megapixel camera on the front, face unlock, fingerprint sensor on the back and a 4000mAh battery.
It comes in Black color, is priced at Rs. 9999 and is on sale exclusively on Paytm Mall . It is also offering Rs. 2000 cashback, so the effective price of the phone is Rs. 7999.
Amazon launched New Kindle Paperwhite e-reader with a waterproof body with IPX8 ratings to protect against immersion in up to two metres of fresh water for up to 60 minutes, similar to the Kindle Oasis (2017). It has the same 6-inch touch screen at 300 PPI pixel density, but this has a 8.18mm slim body and weighs 182 grams, making it the thinnest and lightest Kindle Paperwhite yet.
The new Kindle Paperwhite comes in Black color, is priced at Rs. 12999 for the 8GB WiFi version and the 32GB WiFi + 4G version costs Rs. 17,999. It is now available for pre-order from Amazon.in and goes on sale from November 14th.
Vivo announced Z3, the company’s latest smartphone in the ‘Z series’ in China. It has a 6.3-inch Full HD+ display with slim bezels on the sides, 90% screen-to-body ratio. It is powered by Snapdragon 670 AIE / Snapdragon 710, depending on the model with 6GB of RAM, has a 12-megapixel rear camera with f/1.8 aperture along with a 2-megapixel secondary camera for AI portrait shots. It has IR face unlock that scans 1024 points in your face to unlock the phone quickly.
It packs a 12-megapixel front camera with AI beautify feature. It has Jovi AI, rear-mounted fingerprint sensor and packs a 3315mAh battery. It comes in Aurora Blue, Midnight Black and Pink colors, and starts at 1598 yuan (US$ 230 / Rs. 16,980 approx.) for the 4GB RAM with 64GB storage, Snapdragon 670 version and will go on sale in China from November 1st.
Palm, a California company that purchased the rights to the Palm brand from TCL, launched the Palm Phone with a 3.3-inch HD screen, aluminum chassis, Gorilla Glass protection on the front and back and a water and dust-resistant body with IP68 ratings. It runs Android 8.1 (Oreo), is powered by Snapdragon 435 with 3GB of RAM, has a 12-megapixel rear camera with flash and an 8-megapixel camera on the front.
It comes with an embedded SIM card and an 800mAh battery. The phone has a custom UI without a home screen, instead it shows all the on-board apps. The gesture pad at the bottom of the screen can be accessed by swiping up, can be used to search for apps based on scrawling the first letter of the app, and shortcuts to the phone, messages, camera, and music apps.
It comes in Titanium and Gold colors, costs $349 (Rs. 25,740 approx.) unlocked, $299 with a two-year contract, or $14.58/month for 24 months and will go on sale in November exclusively from Verizon.
Samsung announced the Galaxy Book2 its new always-connected PC that comes with Gigabit LTE, keyboard, S Pen. It is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 850 mobile compute platform and runs on Windows. Itsports a 12-inch sAMOLED FHD+ (2160×1440) display and is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 850SoC clocked at 2.96GHZ Octa-Core processor. It also has support for Snapdragon X20 LTE Modem Cat.18 5CA, up to 4X4 MIMO. There is 4GB RAM and 128GB storage. It also has support for Dolby Atmos and speakers tuned by AKG for true-to-life audio quality.
It will be available online from November 2nd, 2018 and will go on sale in stores at AT&T, Sprint and Verizon later this month at $999.99 (Rs. 73,504.26 approx.)
Vertu came back with a smartphone launch; Aster P, two years after announcing is shutting down its operations in the UK. This time it has introduced the new phone in China. It is built out of titanium alloy frame, sapphire glass screen and back panels from real leather. The device comes with a traditional concierge button on the side that allows for a customized personalized service that helps you travel plans, book you a table for dinner and much more.
It sports a 4.97-inch Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) display, and is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 Octa-Core processor. It packs 6GB of RAM and 128 GB storage that is not expandable. It runs on Android 8.1 (Oreo) out of the box. In terms of optics, there is a 12MP rear camera and a 20MP front-facing camera for selfies and video chats. The SIM card tray is present on the rear side, below the camera module.
It comes in at least seven different variants and the Baroque series arrives in Black, Gentleman Blue, Caramel Brown, and Twilight Orange. It starts at 29,800 yuan ($4,200 / Rs. 3,08,550 approx.) and goes up to 98,000 yuan (US$14,120 / 10,37,385 approx.).
HP launched the HP ENVY x360 convertible that is powered by the AMD Ryzen Processor in India. It is built specifically for the millennial prosumers who want a device that can do it all. The HP ENVY x360 is a thin and light device that features the all-new HP Command Center which enables users to optimize system performance, fan noise and temperature with CoolSense technology.
The company has also launched other products including the HP Pavilion Tower 590 desktop with the latest Quad-Core AMD Ryzen 5 processor and advanced AMD Radeon RX 550 dedicated graphics. HP Pavilion 15 ultra-thin 15-inch laptop has a narrow bezel and is the thinnest & most powerful Pavilion by HP. It also launched the HP 15 Notebook with palm rest. The laptop has an impressive battery life of 13 hours and supports fast charging-50% in 45 minutes. Other products include HP ENVY Urban Sleeve- Carry, Urban Backpack, Urban Top-load, and Urban Tote.