In our weekly roundup of major announcements and launches, we have the list of devices that you should be looking forward to get your hands on.
Starting with the launches, Motorola finally brought its 4G variant of the Moto E (2nd Gen) to India. Priced at Rs. 1,000 extra from the last month launched Moto E (2nd Gen) 3G, the new Moto E (2nd Gen) 4G is up for pre-order from Flipkart and is expected to ship between April 23 and April 27.
Next in line is the new Lenovo A6000 plus smartphone. Priced at Rs. 7,499, the A6000 plus is a variant to the Lenovo’s popular budget offering the A6000. The smartphone has got bumped 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage compared to 1GB and 8GB on the A6000 smartphone. Other specifications are similar to the A6000 that include 4G support, 5-inch HD display, 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 410 processor with Adreno 306 GPU and Android 4.4 (KitKat) with Vibe UI.
The Lenovo A6000 plus will be available through flash sale on Flipkart starting from April 28. Registrations for the sale have begun already.
This week, the Japanese giant Sony also launched the Sony Xperia E4g Dual in India at Rs. 13,290 (MOP). The dual-SIM 4G-smartphone was first announced back in February ahead of MWC. Do check out the Sony Xperia E4g hands-on from the MWC.
The Xperia E4g Dual packs a 4.7-inch qHD IPS display, and is powered by a 1.5 GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6732 64-bit SoC. It has a 5-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera.
iberry launched the mid-range Auxus BEAST this week as well at Rs. 13,990. The smartphone will go on sale exclusively on Snapdeal starting Monday, April 20. The dual-SIM Auxus BEAST has a 5.5-inch HD display with Corning Gorilla Glass protection, is powered by a 1.7 GHz Octa-Core 64bit MediaTek MT6752 processor and runs on Android 5.0 (Lollipop) OS out-of-the-box. It has a 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and an 8-megapixel front-facing camera. It also supports 4G connectivity with support for TD-LTE 2300MHz (Band 40) and FDD-LTE 1800MHz (Band 3) Indian LTE bands.
Indian smartphone maker Lava launched its latest budget smartphone dubbed the Lava Iris X1 Atom at Rs. 4,444. Company says that the Iris X1 Atom will be available across retail stores, multi-brand outlets across India and e-commerce portals from next week.
Upfront, the Lava Iris X1 Atom has the same design as other Iris X1 series smartphones, comes with dual SIM support and 3G connectivity. It has a 4-inch WVGA screen, is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core processor and runs on Android 4.4 (KitKat), which is upgradable to Android 5.0 (Lollipop) in future. It has a 5-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, PureCel sensor and a VGA (0.3-megapixel) front-facing camera.
Lastly, the list of launches this week has got a rugged Bluetooth speaker from boAt. Priced at Rs. 2,919, the boAt Rugged Bluetooth Speaker is available via Amazon India.
The portable, splash proof speaker from boAt also has a built-in 1800mAh battery that lets you charge other devices through a USB port.
Features of boAt Rugged Bluetooth Speaker
- Stereo speakers with powerful passive bass
- Embedded microphone for conference calls
- Shock proof Silicon enclosure for drop protection
- Connects to devices through Bluetooth 4.0
- Signal-To-Noise: >85dB, Distortion: <1.0%.
- Dimensions: 164x50x73mm; Weight: 446 grams
- Lets up to two people use their own mobiles together to play the same speaker taking turns
- 1800 mAh Power Bank inbuilt for charging mobiles through a USB port
- Upto 12-15 hours of non- stop playback with inbuilt battery back up
Weekly Announcements
This week, the three major HTC devices announcement for India included HTC One M9+, HTC One E9+, and the HTC Desire 326G dual-SIM.
The HTC One M9+ comes in Gold, Gunmetal Grey and Silver colors and is priced at Rs.52,500. It will go on sale from 3rd May. Prices of the other two – the HTC One E9+ and HTC Desire 326 dual-SIM – is not yet disclosed by the company. HTC at the launch event in Delhi said that the prices will be announced closer to the launch which is expected sometime in the second-half of May.
Specifically, the HTC One E9+ according to the company should be available by the end of May and three colours – Meteor Grey, Gold Sopia and Rose Gold.
The HTC Desire 326G dual sim comes in White Birch and Black Onyx colors and will be available in the second half of May.
Coming to the Microsoft Lumia 540 Dual SIM, the Redmond giant priced the device at $149 (approximately Rs. 9,299) saying that it will roll out in India, the Middle East and Africa, Asia Pacific, and Italy starting in early May 2015.
The new Lumia 540 Dual SIM, is the successor of last year’s Lumia 535 Dual SIM. It has a 5-inch HD display, is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 200 processor and runs on Windows Phone 8.1 OS with Lumia Denim update. It has an 8-megapixel auto focus rear camera with LED flash and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera with wide angle lens.
This week, LG announced a variant of the curved LG Spirit for Korean market dubbed the LG Volt. Priced at 200,000 Korean Won (KRW), the LG Volt is likely to sell in Koreas region only. It is identical to the LG Spirit smartphone, except that it packs a quad-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon 410 processor. The LG Spirit was first announced ahead of MWC in February, and was launched with 1.3GHz processor in India last month at Rs. 14,250.
Xiaomi, the popular Chinese smartphone maker, this week introduced special Black Edition of Mi Note smartphone in China. The Xiaomi Mi Note Black Edition is priced at 2,499 Chinese Yuan (US$ 403 / Rs. 25,141 approx.). Only 30,000 units of the smartphone will go on sale in China on Tuesday, April 21.
To remind you, Xiaomi recently introduced Cherry Pink Mi Note for Women for its 5th anniversary and Special Bamboo Edition of Mi Note last month.
Lastly, the two smartphones from Huawei launched this week include the Huawei P8 and Huawei P8max. The Huawei P8 comes in Mystic Champagne, Prestige Gold and Titanium Grey and Carbon Black colors and is priced 499 Euros (US$534 / Rs. 33,297 approx.) for the standard version and the premium version will cost 599 Euros (US$641 / Rs. 39,970 approx.). It will be available in 30 countries in a month.
The Huawei P8max comes in Luxurious Gold, Mystic Champagne, Titanium Grey colors and is priced at 549 Euros (US$587 / Rs. 36,608 approx.) for the 16GB version and the 64GB variant costs 649 Euros (US$694 / Rs. 43,270 approx.). It will be available in 30 countries by May, 2015.