Weekly Roundup: ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M1, Xiaomi Mi 6X, Huawei P20 Pro and more


This week ASUS launched the most-expected Zenfone Max Pro M1 in India, Xiaomi introduced the Mi 6X, Huawei launched its flagship P20 Pro smartphone as well as its mid-range P20 Lite smartphones in the country. Apple announced that its Watch Series 3 with built-in cellular connectivity will be launching in India on Airtel and Reliance Jio on May 11.

ASUS launched the Zenfone Max Pro M1. It has a 5.99-inch Full HD+ 2.5D curved glass display, is powered by Snapdragon 636 SoC with up to 6GB RAM, runs stock Android 8.1 (Oreo), has a 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash along with a secondary 5-megapixel camera to capture the depth information for portrait shots and a 8-megapixel front camera with LED flash.

It has dedicated dual SIM and microSD slots, Dual VoLTE support, unibody metal design, fingerprint sensor on the back and packs a 5000mAh battery with support for fast charging using a 10W fast charger that can charge the phone in 2 hours and 42 minutes from 0 to 100%.

It comes in Deepsea Black and Gray colors, is priced at Rs. 10,999 for the 3GB RAM with 32GB storage version and the 4GB RAM with 64GB storage version costs Rs. 12,999. It will be available exclusively from Flipkart starting from May 3rd. The 6GB RAM with 64GB storage version with 16MP primary rear and 16MP front camera at Rs. 14,999 will launch within the next 6 weeks .  Check out the first impressions and benchmarks of the phone.

Xiaomi announced the Mi 6X, successor of last year’s Mi 5X. It packs a 5.99-inch FHD+ 18:9 display, is powered by Snapdragon 660 AIE SoC with up to 6GB RAM, runs Android 8.1 (Oreo) with MIUI 9, has a 12-megapixel rear camera with f/1.75 aperture, Sony IMX486 sensor along with a 20-megapixel secondary rear camera with Sony IMX376 sensor to capture depth information for portrait shots with AI and also has intelligent scent detection that can detect 12 different scenes and also instantly retouch images of 206 different scenes in 25 different categories.

It also has the same 20-megapixel Sony IMX376 sensor for the front camera with soft LED flash and AI beautification.  The 20MP sensor on both front and back uses pixel binning technology, combining the information from four pixels to create one large 2.0µm pixel.

It has a unibody metal design, fingerprint sensor on the back, has USB Type-C audio, packs a 3010mAh battery with Quick Charge 3.0 that can charge the phone in just 30 minutes from 0 to 50% with 18W fast charger.

Itcomes in Black, Blue, Red, Gold and Rose Gold colors, is priced at 1599 yuan (US$ 253 / Rs. 16,910 approx.) for the 4GB RAM with 64GB storage version and the top-end 6GB RAM with 128GB storage version costs 1999 yuan (US$ 316 / Rs. 21,140 approx.).

Huawei launched the P20 Pro, its latest flagship smartphone. It packs a 6.1-inch Full HD+ OLED 2.5D curved glass display, is 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 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. It can capture low light photos with up to ISO 102400. It also has a 24-megapixel front-facing camera with AI beautification. 3D portrait lighting and support for face unlock.

The Huawei P20 Pro comes in Midnight Blue color, is priced at Rs. 64,999 and will be available exclusively from Amazon.in starting from 3rd May. Check out our review of the phone, if you are planning to get the phone.

It also launched the P20 Lite smartphone. It packs a 5.84-inch FHD+ 19:9 screen with a notch, is powered by Kirin 659 with 4GB RAM, runs Android 8.0 (Oreo) with EMUI 8.0 and has a 16-megapixel rear camera along with a 2-megapixel secondary camera for portrait shots.

It has a 24-megapixel front camera with face beauty, features a fingerprint sensor on the back and a 3000mAh battery with fast charging. It comes in Klein Blue and Midnight Black colors, is priced at Rs. 19,999 and will be available exclusively from Amazon.in starting from 3rd May.

Samsung launched Galaxy J2 (2018) (SM-J250F), a new smartphone in India. It was introduced back in December last year, packs a 5-inch qHD Super AMOLED display, is powered by Snapdragon 425 SoC with 2GB RAM, runs Android 7.1 (Nougat), has a 8-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 5-megapixel front camera that also comes with a flash. It packs a 2600mAh battery. The Samsung Galaxy J2 (2018) comes in Gold, Black and Pink colours, is priced at Rs. 8,190.

Gionee S11 Lite F6

Gionee launched F205 and S11 Lite, the company’s latest smartphones in India. Both these were unveiled back in November last year and have 5.45-inch and 5.7-inch HD+ FullView displays with 18:9 aspect ratio, respectively.  The S11 Lite has 82.2% screen-to-body ratio, comes with 13MP + 2MP dual rear cameras with portrait mode that blurs the background. It also has 16MP selfie camera with Bokeh Selfie mode, enhanced face beauty and more.

The F205 has uni-body design, 2.5D Arc edge screen with Corning Gorilla Glass protection and triple card slot that can accommodate two Nano SIM card and 1 Micro SD card, which is expandable up to 256GB. The Gionee F205 and S11 Lite are priced at Rs. 8,999 and Rs. 13,999, respectively and will be available from offline stores.

OPPO launched OPPO A83 (2018), an upgraded version of the A83 with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage. Other specifications are same. It comes in Red, Blue and Golden colors, is priced at 15,990, is available from Amazon.inFlipkart and Paytm online as well as offline stores across the country.

In China OPPO introduced  A3, at mid-range smartphone. This has a similar 6.23-inch Full HD+19:9 aspect ratio display with 88% screen-to-body ratio, is powered by MediaTek Helio P60 with up to 6GB RAM, runs on ColorOS 5.0 based on Android 8.1 (Oreo) and has a 16-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, as the F7, but this has an 8-megapixel front camera instead of 25-megapixel front camera on the F7.

It has multi-layered metallic and glass back cover that replicates a diamond-like glow and light refractions, with triangular-cut patterns that shimmer bright and dark shades when seen from different angles. It doesn’t have a fingerprint sensor, but has face unlock that can unlock the phone in just 0.08 seconds. It comes in Black, Silver, Red and Rose Gold colors, is priced at 1999 yuan (US$ 315 / Rs. 21,020 approx.) for limited period, after that it will cost 2,099 yuan.

Apple announced the Apple Watch Series 3 (GPS + Cellular) in India, which will be available on May 11th. Airtel said that it will start pre-registrations for the new Apple Watch on May 4, 2018 on Airtel website. It will also be available from Reliance Jio, and the pre-orders begins on jio.com starting May 4. It will also be available on Reliance Digital and Jio Stores starting May 11.

Apple launched the special edition (Product) Red iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus  smartphones that are available from through Apple Authorised Resellers in the the country starting at Rs. 67,940. These are also available for pre-order from Flipkart that ships from April 30th.

Snap Inc. unveiled second-generation Spectacles, which is now water-resistant, so you can use them in the rain — or even take a photo or video in shallow water. It also comes in a smaller profile, since the temple area of the frame is 30% smaller compared to the predecessor.

It also has improved audio with dual microphone, and now, you can press and hold to take a photo. Snaps you capture will transfer to Snapchat up to four times faster with the new WiFi-only import mode, and always in HD since the video resolution is now 1,216 x 1,216 compared to  1,088 x 1,088.

New Spectacles will be available in Ruby, Onyx and Sapphire at $149.99 (Rs. 10,010 approx.) in the U.S. and is available for purchase from  spectacles.com. It will cost £149.99 (US$ 209 / Rs. 13,990 approx.) in UK and 174.99 Euros (US$ 213 / Rs. 14,225 approx.)  in Europe.

Amazon launched Echo Spot,  a small Echo device with 2.5 inch circular display that can be used on your desk or a nightstand so you can view your calendar, see the weather update, check the time, wake up to music alarms, turn your lights on and off, see shopping and to do lists, and more.

It comes in Black and White colosr, is priced at Rs 12,999 and is available from Amazon.in. You can get it at an introductory price of Rs. 10,499 for limited period or buy 2 Echo Spot units for Rs. 19,999. It is also available at the Amazon devices kiosk in Bangalore and Mumbai, and over 350 offline retail outlets including Croma, Reliance and Vijay Sales across 20 cities in India.

Lenovo launched two new smart bands – HX03 Cardio and HX03F Spectra. Both these have heart rates sensor, are water-resistant and come with OLED Monochrome and TFT-LCD color screens, respectively that shows activity, time, date, heart rate and more.

The Lenovo HX03 Cardio comes in Black color, is priced at Rs. 1,999 and is available exclusively from Flipkart. The Lenovo HX03F Spectra comes with a Black strap with interchangeable wrist straps in different colors, is priced at Rs. 2,299 and will be exclusively available from Flipkart starting from May 3rd. The company will also launch Body Fat Scale HS11 at Rs 1,999 in May.

JBL Free

Samsung-owned HARMAN International has launched JBL Free earbuds wireless in-ear headphones in India. These were introduced at the IFA last year, has built-in microphone to take calls at the touch of a button, comfort-stay secure fit ergonomics and is sweat and water-resistant. It promises 4 hours of battery life and additional 20 hours with the charging case. It also offers an entire hour of music playback in just 15-minutes.

The JBL Free earbuds comes in black and white colors, is priced at Rs. 9,999 and is available from HarmanAudio.in, on various online and retail channels and at 350 key Samsung brand stores across the country.

Samsung launched the flagship 970 PRO and 970 EVO SSDs, both these are designed based on the M.2 form factor standard and with the latest PCIe Gen 3×4 lane interface. The 970 series maximizes the potential of NVMe bandwidth.  The 970 PRO and EVO will be available for purchase starting from May 2018, priced at Rs. 29,000 and Rs. 10,500, respectively.


Author: Srivatsan Sridhar

Srivatsan Sridhar is a Mobile Technology Enthusiast who is passionate about Mobile phones and Mobile apps. He uses the phones he reviews as his main phone. You can follow him on Twitter and Instagram