This week OnePlus launched its much-awaited flagship OnePlus 3 smartphone globally. It is the fourth smartphone by the company and third flagship smartphone since the inception in 2013.
The OnePlus 3 has a 5.5-inch 1080 Optic AMOLED display and 0.75mm slim bezels on the sides and also has 2.5D curved Corning Gorilla Glass protection. It is powered by a 2.15GHz quad-core Snapdragon 820 SoC and runs on Android 6.0.1 (Marshmallow) with Oxygen OS 3.0.2. It has a 16-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, phase-detection auto-focus (PDAF) for quick focus in 0.2 seconds, Optical Image Stabilization (OIS), RAW image support, manual mode and a 8-megapixel front-facing camera.
It has a anodized aluminium unibody design, has a fingerprint sensor embedded into the home button that can unlock the phone in under 0.3 seconds, packs dual nano SIM slots and comes with 4G LTE.
It has the OnePlus’s signature alert slider that allows you to switch between notification profiles: All, Priority and None. It packs a 3000mAh battery that comes with a new Dash Charge technology that can charge the phone up to 60% in just 30 minutes with the 5V-4A charger.
The OnePlus 3 comes in Graphite and Soft Gold colors and is priced at Rs. 27,999 in India, US$ 399 in the US and 399 Euros in Europe. The Graphite colored version will be available in India exclusively from Amazon.in through open sale.Check our full review of OnePlus 3 below.
Hyve Mobility, a new Indian company launched two new Android smartphones – Storm and Buzz in India. The Storm has a 5-inch HD screen and is powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6735 SoC, and the Buzz comes with 5.5-inch 1080p 2.5D curved glass display and is powered by a 1.5GHz Octa-Core MediaTek MT6753 processor. Both the phones run stock Android 5.1 (Lollipop) and will be upgradable to Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) in the future.
The Hyve Buzz is also IPX4 certified for water resistance, comes with a hexagonal LED notification light on the back and also has a fingerprint sensor on the back with patented Touch2Call technology that lets quickly access your frequently dialed numbers. Check full specifications here.
The Hyve Storm comes in Snow White and Mystic Grey colors and is priced at Rs. 8,499 and the Hyve Buzz comes in Twilight Black, Midnight Blue and Sunset Wine colors and is priced at Rs. 13,999. Both the phones will be available through e-commerce portals, including Amazon, Flipkart and Gadget360 starting from June 22nd. Read hands on here.
Asus launched two new notebooks in India A540 and R558. The R558UR is an upgraded variant of the R88UF, comes with USB Type-C and packs NVIDIA GT930MX GPU The Asus A540 has premium looks and comes with a lightweight design. It also has USB type-C support. Both have powerful audio powered by SonicMaster and Bang & Olufsen ICEpower while ASUS Splendid Technology.
The Asus A540 comes in black and silver colors and is priced at Rs. 20,990 and the Asus R558 comes in brown with black color and is priced at Rs. 43,990.
Intex has launched Aqua View, the company’s latest smartphone in the Auqa series that comes with a free Eyelet VR Cardboard that is based on Google Cardboard version 2. It has 34 mm lenses and supports smartphones of screen upto 6-inches. The phone has a 5-inch HD 2.5D curved screen, has a fingerprint sensor and also comes with 4G LTE connectivity.
The Intex Aqua View comes in Grey and White and Champagne colors and is priced at Rs. 8,999.
Panasonic launched P75, the company’s latest smartphone in the P series with a 5000mAh battery. It has a 5-inch HD screen, is powered 1.3GHz quad-core processor, runs on Android 5.1 (Lollipop) with Sail UI, 8-megapixel rear camera with dual LED flash and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. It has 3G connectivity and dual SIM support, similar to most other Panasonic smartphones.
The Panasonic P75 comes in Champagne Gold and Sand Black colors and is priced at Rs. 5,990. It also comes with a free screen protector worth Rs. 399.
Portronics has launched Shell portable Bluetooth speaker that come with a speakerphone. The speaker is compact in size and has a rubberized finish.
The Shell Bluetooth speaker allows you to take phone calls using a built-in microphone. It also comes with an AUX port. Portronics claims that the speaker offers 5-6 hours of playtime on a single recharge. The Portronics Shell portable Bluetooth speaker is priced at (MRP) Rs. 1299 and comes in black color. It is available on Amazon.in for Rs. 899.
Reliance Retail has launched Lyf Water 7, the company’s first top-end smartphone with a fingerprint sensor and unibody design. It has also launched the Lyf Wind 1 smartphone. Both these have 4G connectivity with support for VoLTE and run Android 5.1 (Lollipop).
The Reliance Lyf Water 7 comes in Gold and Silver colors and is priced at Rs. 12,999 and the Lyf Wind 1 comes in Black and White colors and is priced at Rs. 6899. Both the phones will be available through retail stores.
Lenovo launched Vibe K5, the company’s latest 4G smartphone in the Vibe series in India, as it had promised last week. The company launched the Vibe K5 Plus smartphone in the country at at price of Rs. 8,499 back in March. The Vibe K5 has the similar design as the K5 Plus, but this has a 5-inch HD screen and is powered by an Octa-Core Snapdragon 415 SoC, instead of 5-inch 1080p display and Snapdragon 616 SoC on the Vibe K5 Plus.
The Lenovo Vibe K5 comes in Platinum Silver, Champagne Gold and Graphite Gray colors and is priced at Rs. 6999. It will be available through flash sale exclusively from Amazon.in starting June 22nd.
The company also launched Yoga Tab 3 Pro, with built-in 70-inch projector and four front-facing JBL speakers with Dolby Atmos surround sound technology. The project is present on the 180-degree rotatable edge that can beam life-sized images up to 70-inches onto a wall or ceiling. The Indian variant also has 4G LTE support, 32GB of internal storage along with a microSD expansion slot.
The Lenovo Yoga Tab 3 Pro comes in Black color, is priced at Rs. 39,990 and is exclusively available from Flipkart.
Kingston launched its affordable UV400 Solid State Drive in India. It is powered by a four-channel Marvell controller that promises read speeds of up to 550MB/s and write speeds of up to 500MB/s, and is 10x faster than a 7200RPM hard-disk drive (HDD).
It is available in a bundle kit that includes everything needed to install the SSD in your existing system, including a USB enclosure to transfer data, a 2″–3.5″ adapter to mount in a desktop environment, a SATA data cable and a coupon for an Acronis data migration software download. The Kingston UV400 SSD is priced at an MRP of Rs. 5,999 for 120GB capacity and Rs.10,000 for 240GB capacity.
Weekly Announcements
Xiaomi introduced two new smartphones in China – the Redmi 3X and the Redmi 3s. The Redmi 3X phone has a 5-inch HD screen, is powered by an Octa-Core Snapdragon 430 SoC, has a 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, phase-detection auto-focus (PDAF) and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera.
The Redmi 3s has a 5-inch HD screen, has a 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, phase-detection auto-focus (PDAF), resulting in a quick focus of just 0.1 second and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera, similar to the Redmi 3, but this has is powered by an Octa-Core Snapdragon 430 SoC and comes in 2GB of RAM with 16GB storage or 3GB of RAM with 32GB storage variants.
Both smartphone has full metal magnesium alloy unibody design, fingerprint sensor on the back and packs a 4100mAh battery.
The Xiaomi Redmi 3X comes in silver and gold colors and is priced at 899 yuan (US$ 136 / Rs. 9165 approx.). The Xiaomi Redmi 3s comes in Dark grey, silver and gold colors and is priced at 699 yuan (US$ 106 / Rs. 7120 approx.) for the 2GB RAM with 16GB storage version and the 3GB RAM with 32GB storage version costs 899 yuan (US$ 136 / Rs. 9165 approx.) . Both the variants will go on sale starting in Chine from June 16th through mi.com. No details about the global roll out yet.
Meizu just announced m3s, an upgraded version of m3 smartphone at an event in China this week. It packs a 5-inch HD screen with 2.5D curved glass display, is powered by a 1.5 GHz octa-core 64-bit MediaTek MT6750 processor and runs on Android 5.1 (Lollipop) with FlyMe OS 5.1 on the top. It has a 13-megapixel rear camera with dual-tone LED flash, phase-detection auto-focus (PDAF) that lets you focus in just 0.2 seconds and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera and a mTouch 2.1 fingerprint sensor embedded into the home button.
The Meizu m3s comes in Gold, Silver, Grey and Pink colors and is priced at 699 yuan (US$ 106 / Rs. 7,115) for the 2GB RAM with 16GB storage version and 899 yuan (US$ 136 / 9,145 approx.) for the 3GB RAM with 32GB RAM variant.
Microsoft at E3 announced its next generation Xbox which is dubbed as Xbox One S. The latest gaming console from Microsoft sports a refreshed design and is 40 percent smaller than the original Xbox One. It comes with a built-in power supply and can be placed horizontally or vertically with an optional stand. It supports 4K video streaming and Microsoft has partnered with content from partners like Netflix and Amazon Video. Xbox One S also offers High Dynamic Range (HDR) support for video and gaming for richer and more luminous colors in games. Check full details here.
The Microsoft Xbox One S starts at $299 and comes in 500GB, 1TB and special launch edition 2TB options. The limited quantity 2TB launch edition Xbox One S will be available in select markets starting early August for $399, with the 1TB Xbox One S for $349 and the 500GB Xbox One S for $299 arriving thereafter.
LG announced four new smartphones – X Power, X Mach, X Style and X Max in its ‘X series’. It introduced X cam and X screen smartphones at the MWC 2016 earlier this year. The X Power and X Style was introduced in Ukraine a few weeks back. LG said that the X Power with a 4,100mAh battery also comes with a fast charging (PE+) technology that would let you charge at twice the normal speed.
The LG X mach has a Quad HD IPS Quantum display, is powered by a 1.8GHz processor, supports LTE Cat. 9 3CA data transfer speed, features a camera with large 1.55μm sensor and has a gently curved form factor for a perfect grip. The LG X max sports a large display for an enhanced viewing experience and for consuming multimedia content. Check full specifications here.
Roll out details and pricing of the LG X Power, X Mach, X Style and X Max will be announced locally in each market.
Pebble announced Pebble Time Round Kickstarter Edition finishes in polished gold and silver. It has that same round color e-paper display as before, along with a marine-grade stainless steel chassis. Both the watches sports black bezel and a polished metal frame in gold and silver hues. They come with a matching clasp and a 20mm genuine ebony leather sports band.
The Pebble Time Round with either the silver or gold polished finish are priced at $199 on Kickstarter. You can get one bundled with the new Pebble 2 watch for $298.
Asus announced ZenPad Z8 (ZT581KL), the company’s latest tablet for US operator Verizon Wireless. It has a 7.9-inch QXGA display, is powered an hexa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 SoC and runs on Android 6.0.1 (Marshmallow) with ZenUI on top. It has a 8-megapixel rear camera and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera.
The Asus ZenPad Z8 comes in Black color, is priced at $249.99 (Rs. 16,825 approx.) and will be available through Verizon retail stores starting June 23rd.
Lastly, Gionee announced S6 Pro, it’s latest smartphone in the ‘S series’ in China. It packs a 5.5-inch 1080p IPS 2.5D curved glass display, is powered by an Octa-Core MediaTek Helio P10 (MT6755M) processor and runs on Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) wit Amigo OS 3.2 on top. It has a 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, phase-detection auto-focus (PDAF) that can focus in just 0.1 seconds and a 8-megapixel front-facing camera.
The Gionee S6 Pro comes in Rose Gold, Silver and Gold colors and is priced at 1999 yuan (US$ 300 / Rs. 20380 approx.). It is now available from tmall and official Gionee Shop in China.