Weekly Roundup: Sony Xperia Z5, Z5 Premium, Lenovo P1, P1m, Apple iPad mini 4, HTC One A9 and more


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This week Sony launched its flagship Xperia Z5 Dual and Xperia Z5 Premium Dual smartphones in India. Both smartphones were announced at the IFA last month in Berlin last month.

The Xperia Z5 Dual packs a 5.2-inch 1080p display, is powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor and runs on Android 5.1 (Lollipop). It has a 23-megapixel rear camera with 1/2.3″ Sony Exmor RS image sensor, f/2.0 aperture, Sony G lens, Hybrid AF speed of 0.03s, 4K video recording and a 5-megapixel 1080p front-facing camera with EXMOR R sensor. It also has IPX5 / IPX8 ratings for dust and water resistance with cap-less USB.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdARsXrQhPE

The Xperia Z5 Premium  Dual packs a 5.5-inch (3840×2160 pixels) Triluminos Display at 806 PPI, is powered by an Octa-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor and runs on Android 5.1 (Lollipop). It has a 23-megapixel rear camera with 1/2.3″ Sony Exmor RS image sensor, f/2.0 aperture, Sony G lens, Hybrid AF speed of 0.03s, 4K video recording and a 5-megapixel 1080p front-facing camera with EXMOR R sensor. It also has IPX5 / IPX8 ratings for dust and water resistance with cap-less USB.

httpv://youtu.be/-r00g6yWjEk

The Sony Xperia Z5 Dual comes in Graphite Black, Gold and Green colors, is priced at Rs. 52,990 in India and will be available from October 23rd. The Z5 Premium Dual comes in Gold and Chrome colors, is priced at Rs. 62,990 in India and will be available from November 7th.

Lenovo finally brought its big battery smartphones Vibe P1 and Vibe P1m in India. The P1 and P1m packs a massive 5000mAh and 4000mAh batteries in India. These two smartphones were first announced at the IFA last month. Both smartphones run Android 5.1 (Lollipop), have dual-SIM support and come with 4G connectivity with support for LTE bands for India.

Lenovo Vibe P1 _fonearena-09

The Lenovo Vibe P1 has aluminum frame, comes with 5.5-inch 1080p display, is powered by an octa-core Snapdragon 615 SoC, 2GB of RAM, has a fingerprint scanner embedded on the Home button and the P1m has a polycarbonate body with splash-proof nano coating, comes with a 5-inch HD display, is powered by a Quad-core MediaTek MT6735P and 2GB of RAM.

The Vibe P1m packs a smaller comes with 5-inch 720p display, is powered by 1.0GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6735P processor with Mali-T720 GPU, 2GB of RAM, 16GB internal memory which is expandable up to 32GB with microSD card.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29Rpyx5CYVc

The Lenovo Vibe P1 comes in Platinum and Graphite Grey colors, is priced at Rs. 15,999 in India and will go on sale from October 27th. The Vibe P1m comes in Onyx Black and Pearl White colors, is priced at Rs. 7,999 and will go on sale from October 28th. Both these smartphones will be available exclusively from Flipkart.

The firm earlier in the week also launched two new smartphones in the A series, a new budget smartphone called the A1000 with 3G support, an improved version of the A6000 Plus called the A6000 Shot with a better 13-megapixel rear camera and a 5-megapixel front-facing, and the K3 Note Music smartphone, which is the same K3 Note smartphone that comes with a ceramic speakers on the back that has Smart PA audio chip and Waves MaxxAudio technology that amplifies the sound and improves the audio.

Lenovo K3 Note Music

The Lenovo A1000 comes in Onyx Black and Pearl White colors and is priced at Rs. 4,999, the Lenovo A6000 Shot comes in Onyx Black, Pearl White and Carmine Red colors and the Lenovo K3 Note Music comes in Pearl White, Onyx Black and Laser Yellow colors and is priced at Rs. 12,999. All these smartphones will be available for sale offline from the last week of October. Checkout full specifications here.

Alcatel launched its latest camera-centric Flash 2 smartphone in India, as it promised. It packs a 5-inch HD screen, is powered by an Octa-Core 64-bit MediaTek processor and runs on Android 5.1 (Lollipop) OS. It has a 13-megapixel gSight rear camera with dual-tone LED flash and Phase Detection Auto Focus (PDAF) that would let you focus a subject in just 0.3 seconds. It also has a 5-megapixel front-facing camera with soft LED flash for capturing better selfies. Alcatel Flash 2 Hands On Impressions and Photo Gallery.

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The Alcatel Flash 2 comes in Volcanic Grey color and is priced at Rs. 9,299 in India. It will be exclusively available through flash sale from Flipkart starting October 27.

Apple iPad mini 4 went on sale in India this week, starting at Rs. 28,900. It was introduced alongside iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus and iPad Air Pro last month. Now the tablet is available for purchase from online retailer Infibeam at the same price of last year’s iPad mini 3. The iPad mini 4 has the same 7.9 inch Retina Display with 2048×1536 resolution seen on last year’s iPad mini 3 with Retina Display, but this has Apple A8 chip with M8 motion co-processor. Touch ID fingerprint sensor and other internals similar to the iPad Air 2.

Apple iPad Mini 4

The Apple iPad mini 4 comes in Silver, Gold and Space Grey colors and starts at Rs. 28,900 for the Wi-Fi version and Rs. 38,900 for the Wi-Fi + Cellular version for the 16GB variant.

Asus this week launched a new budget laptop A553 and two performance notebooks – A555LF and A555LA in the A series. All these devices have 15.6-inch (1366 x 768 pixels) HD displays with Asus Splendid Technology and automatic colour adjustment, are powered by Intel processors and have 4GB of RAM. These also offer SonicMaster optimized audio performance. Check full details here.

Asus A553

The Asus A553 comes in Purple, Pink, White and Black colors and starts at Rs. 23,990. The Asus A555LA – XX1560D comes in Dark Brown, Red, Yellow, Blue, Black and White colors and starts at Rs. 28,990. The Asus A555LF comes in Purple, Pink, White and Black colors and starts at Rs. 34,190.

Harman India this week announced an updated lineup for its portable speakers as well which includes the JBL Xtreme, Pulse 2, Flip 3 and Charge 2+. All the speakers have noise and echo reduction technology built into them. These also boasts of a feature called JBL Connect which allows you to daisy chain your JBL speakers wireless just like Bose is allowing in their new SoundTouch speakers.

JBL Pulse 2

The products are priced at Rs. 24,990, Rs. 17,990, Rs. 12,990 and Rs. 9,990 for the Xtreme, Pulse 2, Charge 2+ and Flip 3 respectively. JBL is aiming to get these products out into the market before Diwali and will be replacing their predecessors.

Creative also launched its latest portable Bluetooth speaker dubbed Sound Blaster FRee in India at Rs. 7,999. The main highlight of the speaker is that it has IPX4-certified splash proof design. When placed the speaker upright, it offers 360-degree sound, even though it is compact. It uses Bluetooth 4.0 to connect to devices, has Multi-point Bluetooth that allows up to two connections at once.

Creative Sound Blaster FRee

It has AUX In to connect other devices that have only 3.5mm jack, including PC so that it can double up as a digital PC speaker when connected via USB. It also has integrated microSD slot that lets you play music files directly from a microSD. It also has a built-in microphone that lets you take calls directly from the phone and has noise cancelling condenser for a clear audio experience. It has a built-in rechargeable battery that promises up to 10 hours of battery life on a single charge.

Canon unveiled the EOS C300 Mark II Digital Cinema camera. The second generation Cinema EOS 4K camera system for cinema, documentary, event and commercial videography packs in a wide range of new and improved features including 4K/2K/Full HD internal and external recording (including 4K RAW output) and a new 10-bit Canon Log 2 Gamma. It is priced at Rs. 12,99,000.

cannon cinema camera

Weekly Announcements

After a series of leaks, HTC One A9 went official this week. The phone is very similar to the Apple iPhone 6 in terms of appearance. It has a 5-inch full HD AMOLED, is powered by an Octa-Core Snapdragon 617 processor and runs on Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) with HTC Sense UI on top. HTC says that the unlocked version will get Android updates within 15 days once Google pushes out the update for the Nexus devices. It has a 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, phase-detection auto-focus (PDAF) that improves camera’s focus, Optical Image Stabilization (OIS).

HTC One A9

The HTC One A9 comes in Carbon Gray, Opal Silver, Topaz Gold and Deep Garnet colors and will roll out globally starting from the first week of November. The 3GB RAM with 32GB storage unlocked version is now available for pre-order in the US at a limited time promotional pre-order price of $399.99 (Rs. 26,000 approx.).

Xiaomi has introducedMi TV 3, its new 60-inch smart TV with a 4K  (3840 x 2160 pixels) display from LG with 178-degree viewing angle and MEMC motion compensation. The TV has 11.6mm thick diamond patterned aluminum alloy frame and it is 36.7mm at its thickest. It comes with speaker that has aluminum build and 6 speakers Soundbar with two dome tweeters and four 2.5-inch woofers. It uses a single Mi Cable to connect to the soundbar that has all the ports and also the motherboard.

Xiaomi Mi TV 3

The Xiaomi Mi TV 3 is priced at 4999 Chinese Yuan (US$ 786 / Rs. 50,900 approx.). It also comes with a separate 6.5-inch Mi Subwoofer with aluminium body, wired and Bluetooth connectivity for 599 yuan( US$ 94 / Rs. 6100 approx.) and Bluetooth voice remote control with 6-axis sensor for 99 yuan ( US$ 16 / Rs. 1000 approx.). There is also a Mi TV main board available separately for 999 Yuan ( US$ 157 / Rs. 10180 approx.) that can transform standard TVs or displays into a smart TV. The Mi TV 3 will be available in China from November 3rd.

Xiaomi has announced a self balancing scooter called as Ninebot mini. The Chinese company has collaborated with Ninebot and Segwey to launch this scooter. The Ninebot mini which is a battery powered scooter is portable and can travel at speeds up to 16km/h. It can even climb up 15 degree easily and is said to travel up to 22km on a single charge. Xiaomi claims that the Ninebot mini is flexible and easy to use due to the high end sensors that continuously captures small movements of your body. It offers 200 times per second speed dynamic vehicle attitude adjustment in order to maintain balance.

Xiaomi ninebot mini

Another important feature of the Ninebot mini is that it can be controlled via Bluetooth of your smartphone. You can lock the scooter with the phone and you will get the alerts and notifications. The phone will display the current speed of the scooter and you can also upgrade to speed limit and other personalized settings. Ninebot mini is weighs only 12.8kg and is portable and is priced at RMB 1,999 which translates to around $315.

Samsung’s two new smartphones went official in China this week. The Samsung Galaxy On5 (SM-G550F) briefly appeared on the Samsung India website too.

Samsung Galaxy On7 and Galaxy On5

In China, the firm listed the Samsung Galaxy On7 (SM-G600) and the Galaxy On5. The Galaxy On5 and Galaxy On7 smartphones have 5-inch and 5.5-inch HD displays, respectively. The Galaxy On5 is powered by a quad-core Exynos 3475 processor and has a 8-megapixel rear camera, but the Galaxy On7’s quad-core processor is clocked at 1.2GHz (could be Snapdragon 410) and it has a 13-megapixel rear camera. Both the smartphones have a 5-megapixel front-facing camera, run on Android 5.1.1 (Lollipop) and 1.5GB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage with expansion slot. These have 4G LTE connectivity and dual SIM support. Find full details here.

ZTE had introducedAxon Pro, the company’s flagship smartphone with a 5.5-inch Quad HD screen, Snapdragon 810 and 4GB of RAM for the U.S. market back in July. This week, it launched a cheaper Axon smartphone with a 5.5-inch 1080p screen, Snapdragon 801 SoC and 2GB of RAM. Most of the specifications of the Axon are different from the Chinese variant . In addition to the Axon, the company also introduced a 64GB storage variant of the Axon Pro. Read full article here.

ZTE Axon Pro

The ZTE Axon and Axon Pro come in Ion Gold, Chromium Silver and Phthalo Blue colors. The ZTE Axon is priced at $329.98 (Rs. 21,490 approx.), the Axon Pro 32GB and 64GB variants are priced at $399.98 (Rs. 26,040 approx.) and $449.98 (Rs. 29,300 approx.) respectively.These are available from ZTEUSA.com, Amazon, eBay, and Newegg.


Author: Hitesh Arora

From making Gadget and Auto videos for TV and online media, this guy landed up in Tech Writing. He has his heart at the right place when it comes to finding deals online. You will always find him suggesting people which device to buy. Hitesh calls himself a TV buff, who loves cooking, eating, dancing, and sleeping. You can follow him on Twitter @hitesharoraa