This week Xiaomi introduced the most expected Mi MIX 2S smartphone as well as several Mi Gaming Laptop, Mi AI Speaker Mini and Mi TV 4S. Huawei introduced the P20, P20 Pro and Porsche Design Huawei Mate RS . OPPO launched the F7, SHARP introduced the AQUOS S3, Garmin launched the Vivomove HR, and lots more from this week in our weekly roundup.
Xiaomi announced Mi MIX 2S It has a 5.99-inch Full HD+ display, is powered by Snapdragon 845 with up to 8GB RAM, support for Google ARCore and runs Android 8.1 (Oreo) with support for AI voice assistant. It has a 12-megapixel rear camera with Sony IMX363 sensor, 1.4µm pixel size, OIS, Dual Pixel auto focus and a secondary 12-megapixel rear camera for AI portraits and has AI scene recognition that can detect 25 categories and 206 kinds of scenes.
It has support for AI portrait selfies with real-time background blur and the phone also has face unlock. It has a ceramic body with an aluminium frame, has a fingerprint sensor on the back and packs a 3400mAh battery with support for Quick Charge 3.0 fast charging as well as wireless charging. It has support for 43 global bands and has network support in 226 regions.
It comes in Ceramic White and Ceramic Black colors, is priced at 3299 yuan (US$ 527 / Rs. 34,170 approx.) for the 6GB RAM with 64GB storage version, 3599 yuan (US$ 575 / Rs. 37,280 approx.) for the 128GB version and the top-end 8GB RAM with 256GB storage version costs 3999 yuan (US$ 639 / Rs. 41,420 approx.). It will go on sale in China from April 3rd. Check out the hands-on impressions here.
Xiaomi also introduced its first Mi Gaming Laptop with up to 6GB GeForce GTX 1060 GPU, up to 16GB RAM and it also has large heat pipes, a 12V cooling fan and four fan outlets for effective heat dissipation when gaming. It has a 15.6-inch full HD screen with 9.9mm slim bezels around it and 81% screen-to-body ratio. It is powered by 7th Gen Intel Core i5 or i7 processors.
It comes in Space Grey color and will go on sale in China starting from April 13th starting at 5999 yuan (US$ 955 / Rs. 61,980 approx.).
It also introduced the Mi AI Speaker Mini with voice controlled lifestyle assistant and smart home integration from Mi lab. It smaller version of the Mi AI Speaker that was introduced last year. It has voice control so that you can use voice commands to play music, live radio, audio books, children’s stories, including 35 million books and songs.
It is priced at 169 yuan (US$ 27 / Rs. 1,745 approx.) and will be available in China starting 3rd April.
Xiaomi silently introduced new Mi TV 4S 55-inch 4K HDR Smart TV in China. It has the same PatchWall, a UI layer on top of the Android OS that’s based on deep learning AI technology that can curate content based on recommendations and also has Dolby and DTS Audio. It is priced at 2999 yuan (US$ 476 / Rs. 31,080 approx.) and will be available on mi.com in China from April 3rd.
Huawei unveiled P20 and P20 Pro smartphones at its Paris event. The P20 packs a 5.8-inch Full HD+ 2.5D curved glass display with a notch and has Leica dual-lens camera with 12-megapixel RGB sensor, 20-megapixel monochrome sensor and 2x Hybrid Zoom. The P20 Pro has a 6.1-inch Full HD+ OLED 2.5D curved glass display and has has Leica triple-lens camera with 40-megapixel RGB sensor, a 20-megapixel monochrome sensor and an 8-megapixel sensor with telephoto lens with f/1.8, f/1.6 and f/2.4 wide aperture, dual-tone LED flash and new Leica 3x telephoto (VARIO-SUMMILUX-H 1:1.6-2.4/27-80ASPH) lens for long-range photography of up to 5x Hybrid Zoom.
Thesea are powered by an Octa-Core HiSilicon Kirin 970 10nm SoC with i7 co-processor, dedicated neural network processing unit and runs on Android 8.1 (Oreo) with Emotion UI 8.1 on top as well as support for Google AR Core.
It also introduced Porsche Design Mate RS with a 6-inches QHD+ OLED FullView display, is powered by the Kirin 970 with 6GB RAM and up to 512GB storage.
The P20 and P20 Pro come in Black, Champagne Gold, Twilight, Pink Gold and Midnight Blue colors. The P20 is priced at 649 Euros (US$ 804 / Rs. 52,241 approx.) and the P20 Pro is priced at 899 Euros (US$ 1,114 / Rs. 72,350 approx.). The Porsche Design Mate RS comes in Black color and is priced at 1695 Euros ($2,100 / Rs. 1,36,270 approx.) for 6GB RAM + 256GB storage and 2095 Euros ($2,597 / Rs. 1,68,590 approx.) for 6GB RAM + 512GB storage.
OPPO launched the F7, selfie-focused smartphone tthis week. It has a 6.23-inch Full HD+19:9 aspect ratio display with a notch and 88% screen-to-body ratio, which it calls Super Full Screen and has a 25-megapixel front camera with support for real-time High Dynamic Range (HDR) sensor and AI Beauty 2.0 for an improved age and gender beautification effects and facial recognition capability by scanning 296 facial recognition points, a 20% improvement from the first-generation technology.
It is powered by MediaTek Helio P60 12nm SoC with up to 6GB RAM, runs new ColorOS 5.0 based on Android 8.1 (Oreo). It has a 16-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, AI Scene recognition and comes with dedicated dual SIM and microSD slots, and the company also says that both the SIM slots support VoLTE.
It comes in Solar Red, Moonlight Silver colors, is priced at Rs. 21,990 and there is also a Sunrise Red 6GB RAM with 128GB storage version for Rs. 26,990. It will be available through all online retailers such as Flipkart as well as offline stores starting April 9th. The Special Diamond Black edition with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage is priced at Rs. 26,990 and will be exclusively available at selected OPPO stores. Check out the hands-on impressions of the phone here.
HMD global launched the Nokia 1 Android Oreo (Go Edition) smartphone in India. It was introduced at the MWC last month and packs a 4.5-inch screen, is powered by a quad-core MediaTek SoC, runs Android 8.1 (Oreo), has 5MP rear camera with LED flash, 2MP front-facing shooter and supports 4G VoLTE. Since it is an Android Oreo (Go Edition) phone, it has all the Go Edition apps that are slowing making their way offering smooth experience.
It comes in Warm Red and Dark Blue colors, is priced at Rs. 5,499 and will go on sale starting March 28th. The Xpress On covers in packs of Azure and Grey or Yellow and Pink will be available separately starting April at an MRP of Rs. 450. Check out the hands-on impressions from MWC here.
Sharp introduced AQUOS S3 smartphone in Taiwan . It pack a 6-inch FHD+ display with a notch and has 91% screen-to-body ratio, and the company says that it is the most compact smartphone with a 6-inch screen. It is powered by Snapdragon 630 with 4GB RAM, runs Android 8.0 (Oreo) with Smile UX, has a 12-megapixel primary rear camera with f/1.75 aperture, 1.4um pixel size, dual-tone LED flash, similar to the S2, but has have a 13-megapixel secondary camera for portrait shots, instead of 8-megapixel in the predecessor. It also offers 2x loss-less zoom.
It comes in Black color, is priced at NT$ 11,990 (US$ 412 / Rs. 26,710 approx.) and will go on sale from April 1st in Taiwan.
Garmin launched the Vivomove HR Analog Digital Smartwatch in India. It features a crystal touchscreen with a discreet display, meaning the precision hands show the time and dynamically move away when you swipe through your messages, heart rate, and other features.
It comes in black color and large size and is priced at Rs. 15,999. It is available at select Helios stores and will soon be available in all the leading e-commerce portals such as Amazon.in.
Samsung launched the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+, its latest flagship smartphones at an event in India earlier this month in 64GB and 256GB variants starting at Rs. 57,900 and Rs. 64,900, respectively. The phones went on sale with several offers a couple of weeks back. Now the company has started selling the 128GB variants of the phones in the country.
The Galaxy S9 128GB variant is priced at Rs. 61,900 and the 128GB Galaxy S9+ costs Rs. 68900. These are available for purchase from Samsung Online Shop as well as select retail stores offline across the country, but they are not available on Flipkart yet.
Huawei introduced Enjoy 8, Enjoy 8 Plus and Enjoy 8e smartphones in the ‘Enjoy series’ in China. The Enjoy 8 and Enjoy 8e have HD+ 18:9 screens, are powered by Snapdragon 430 SoCs, have a 13-megapixel rear camera along with a 2-megapixel secondary camera. The Enjoy 8 Plus has a 5.93-inch Full HD+ display, is powered by Kirin 659 SoC, features dual front and rear cameras and pack a 4000mAh battery.
Amazon India has partnered with Leica Camera to launch the camera in India exclusively on Amazon.in. Three camera models D-lux 18136 Typ 109 Camera, V-lux 18197 Typ 114 Camera, and Sofort 19106, 19107, 19108 range in orange, mint, white colors will be available. All the three cameras are priced in the range of Rs. 25,000 to Rs. 90,000. You can purchase the Leica cameras directly on Amazon.in.
Razer Basilisk gaming-mouse was launched in India. It comes with 5G true 16,000 DPI optical sensor to excel under the demanding accuracy and precision needs of FPS gamers. The Basilisk features Razer Mechanical Mouse Switches with an industry-best 50 million click lifespan. It is priced at Rs. 5,499 and is available across the country.
Logitech introduced the Crayon digital pencil and Rugged Combo 2 for the new 6th-generation iPad. The company says that these are specifically designed for the classroom and the Crayon digital pencil leverages the new technology in iPad so students can do even more including handwritten notes, illustrate projects and draw diagrams.
The Logitech Crayon digital pencil and Rugged Combo 2 for iPad are priced at $49.99 (Rs. 3,250 approx.) and $99.99 (Rs. 6,500 approx.) respectively. Both products will be available later this summer.