This week Microsoft launched its all new Windows 10 flagship smartphones – the Lumia 950 Dual SIM and Lumia 950 XL Dual SIM – in India. Both these smartphones were announced at an event in New York last month.
The Microsoft Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL pack QHD AMOLED ClearBlack displays, run Windows 10, come with USB Type-C port, 20-megapixel autofocus rear camera with ZEISS optics, with 5th Optical Image Stabilization (OIS), triple LED flash and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. Microsoft has only launched the dual-SIM variants of these smartphones in India.
Both these smartphones were announced at an event in New York City last month and pack QHD AMOLED ClearBlack displays, run Windows 10, come with USB Type-C port, 20-megapixel autofocus rear camera with ZEISS optics, with 5th Optical Image Stabilization (OIS), triple LED flash and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. Microsoft is launching the dual SIM variants of these smartphones in India.
The Microsoft Lumia 950 Dual SIM and Lumia 950 XL Dual SIM come in Black and White colors and are priced at Rs. 43,699 and Rs. 49,399 respectively. These phones also come with double data offer for Airtel 4G customers. Microsoft is also offering the Display Dock HD-500 worth Rs. 5999 with these smartphones as a limited period offer till December 11th. The Display Dock will offer PC-like experience using Continuum for Phones when connected to an external monitor. Both the phones are already available for pre-order through Amazon.in and retail stores such as Croma, Reliance and Sangeetha.
Motorola launched the Moto 360 (2nd Gen.) Android Wear Smartwatch in India this week. It is the successor of the original Moto 360 Android Wear smartwatch from last year and was first unveiled couple of months back at the IFA Berlin in September. But company has only launched the 42mm gold, silver or black with leather band variants and a 46mm black metal band version in India.
The 46mm body (same as original Moto 360) variant has a 1.56-inch (360×230 pixels) display and the 42mm variant has 1.37-inch (360×225 pixels) display. The new variants are more compact with minimalistic bezels and also fit in a 300mAh battery (in 42mm) and a 400mAh battery (in 46mm), respectively. We went hands-on with the new Moto 360 at the IFA in September, check out the video below.
httpv://youtu.be/P6Jnn6ZY2k0
The Motorola Moto 360 (2nd Gen.) is priced at Rs. 19,999 for the 42mm gold, silver or black with leather band, while the silver with metal band version is priced at Rs. 22,999. The 46mm black metal band version is priced at Rs. 23,999. All these variants are available exclusively from Flipkart and Myntra.
Asus launched the Zenfone 2 Laser in India at the ZenFestival. The Zenfone 2 Laser 5.5 (ZE550KL) went on sale in September, and the Zenfone 2 Laser 5.5 (ZE550KL-1B122IN) went on sale in October. This week Asus launched the Zenfone 2 Laser 6 (ZE601KL) with a 6-inch 1080p display in India. This phone is powered by an octa-core Snapdragon 616 SoC, runs on Android 5.0 (Lollipop) with Zen UI 2.0 on top. It also has dual-SIM support and 4G LTE connectivity.
The Asus Zenfone 2 Laser 6 comes in Glacier Gray, Sheer Gold and Glamour Red colors and is priced at Rs. 17,999. It is already available though Flipkart, Snapdeal, and Amazon. It will also be available through offline channels from the second week of December.
OnePlus launched the OnePlus Icons, it’s latest in-ear earphones in India on Amazon this week. These earphones were introduced last month and boasts of an aluminum enclosure and metallic finish. The in-ear design with 51 degrees angle offers proper noise-isolation to enjoy immersive sound quality, according to OnePlus.
The OnePlus Icons comes in Graphite, is priced at Rs. 2999 and is available exclusively through Amazon.in.
Company also launched its signature sandstone textured case for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6S. The Chinese handset maker has rolled out Sandstone case in black for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s.
These cases will be available without any invite and OnePlus will offer a OnePlus X invite with the purchase of it. The company says that the invite for the OnePlus X could be a for the limited edition Ceramic variant. The sandstone case measures 138.7 x 70.2 x 10.5mm and weighs 20g.
The Sandstone iPhone Case is available through OnePlus online store for $19.99 in the US, UK and Europe. It will also be available for Rs. 1,199 exclusively on Amazon.in in the second half of this month.
OnePlus also released the Hard Graft luxury case for the OnePlus 2 in India at a price of Rs 7,499. The case was originally launched internationally in September at a price of $100.
The case is made of signature ash grey coloured tanned leather and has woolen padding on the inside. There is an opening for the speaker, microphone and USB Type-C port along with a cutout for the headphone jack. But the screen remains inaccessible as it is more of a pouch for your phone than a case. There is also space for 4 cards as well as folded bank notes.
Panasonic launched a new Eluga smartphones with fingerprint sensor dubbed the Panasonic Eluga Mark. It is just 8.2 mm thick and has fingerprint sensor that allows single touch access where users can configure up to 8 different finger prints at a single point of time. The phone comes in Royal Gold and Metallic Grey colors and is priced at Rs. 11,990.
The Panasonic Eluga Mark has a 5.5-inch (1280 x 720 pixels) HD IPS display, is powered by a 1.5 GHz Octa-Core 64-bit Snapdragon 615 processor and runs on Android 5.1 (Lollipop). It has a 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. It has dual SIM support and 4G LTE connectivity with support for TDD-LTE 2300MHz (Band 40) and FDD-LTE 1800MHz (Band 3) for India.
Lava officially launched the Iris X10, its top-end Iris series smartphone, after it surfaced online last week. It has a 5-inch HD screen with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection, is powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core processor and runs on Android 5.1 (Lollipop), which upgradable to Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) in future. It has a 13-megapixel rear camera with dual LED flash and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera.
It has dual SIM support and 4G connectivity, including support for FDD-LTE 1800 MHz (Band 3) and TDD-LTE 2300 MHz (Band 40) for India. The Lava Iris X10 comes in Icy White and Royal Black colors and is priced at Rs. 11,500. It will be available through retail stores, multi-brand outlets, and across e-commerce portals in India.
TCL launched its latest 4G smartphone in India – the TCL Pride T500L, exclusively on Snapdeal. It packs a 5-inch 1080p OGS display, is powered by an Octa-Core Snapdragon 615 SoC, runs on Android 5.1 (Lollipop), has a 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 8-megapixel front-facing camera. It has IRIS Retina scanner, which is a Eyeprint identification method for password-free eye-based biometric unlocking solution. It works by imaging unique vein patterns in the human eye using the smartphone’s front facing camera. It also has 4G LTE connectivity, dual SIM support and packs a 3050mAh battery.
The TCL Pride T500L comes in White and Slate Grey colors and is priced at Rs. 10,499. It is available exclusively from Snapdeal.
Videocon launched three new affordable Android smartphones – the Infinium Z45 Dazzle, Infinium Z45 Amaze and Z55 Delite. All the three Android smartphones come with dual-SIM capabilities.
Videocon Infinium Z45 Dazzle, Videocon Infinium Z45 Amaze and Z55 Delite are priced at Rs 4,899, Rs 4,599 and Rs Rs 6,999 respectively. Checkout full specifications here.
Celkon launched its latest Intel Atom SoC powered CT722 tablet this week. It has a 7-inch (1024 x 600 pixels) display, is powered by a Quad Core Intel Atom X3 C3230RK processor and runs on Android 5.1 (Lollipop). It comes with a 3.2-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and has a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera. It has single SIM support, 3G connectivity and has voice calling capabilities.
The Celkon CT722 comes in Blue color and is priced at Rs. 4,999. It is available online exclusively from Snapdeal and from offline stores.
TP-LINK launched M7350 LTE-Advanced Mobile Wi-Fi router that lets you instantly establish a LTE hotspot. It offers download speeds of up to 150Mbps, supports LTE cat.4 connectivity, Dual Band (2.4G/5GHz) WiFi channels and has a built-in SD card slot that can be shared either via standard USB connection to a laptop or PC, or shared wirelessly between other devices connected to the network.
It has a TFT display to find the status of their devices such as signal strength, network type (4G/3G/2G) Wi-Fi Status, messages, battery meter and traffic statistics. The TP-LINK M7350 4G LTE Mobile Wi-Fi router is priced at Rs. 7999.
Weekly Announcements
This week Samsung officially announced the Galaxy 2016 edition of the Galaxy A series that comprises of Galaxy A7, Galaxy A5 and Galaxy A3. The second generation A series comes with premium design, easy mobile payment technology, and enhanced camera features – said Samsung.
All the three phones incorporates the same metal and glass build design as the design similar to the A series 2015 edition. New phones in the A series also get an improved camera with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) to prevent image blurring, as comes with a front and rear F1.9 lens that allows users to take the optimum photos in dark conditions. OIS, Fingerprint Scanner and Samsung Pay only support A5, A7.
The Samsung Galaxy A (2016) series smartphones will be available in China in mid-December 2015 and will be expanded to global markets. There is no word on the pricing yet. Check full specifications here.
LG introduced Class, its latest smartphone with metal body back in September in Korea. This week it announced that the smartphone will launch as Zero in some global markets. It has a 5-inch HD display with a curved glass offering a 3D effect, is powered by a quad-core Snapdragon 410 64-bit processor, runs Android 5.1 (Lollipop), has a 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and an 8-megapixel front-facing camera (same sensor used in the LG G4), similar to the Class, but the Zero has 1.5GB of RAM instead of 2GB of RAM.
The smartphone is just 7.4mm thick, has full metal body and weighs 147 grams. It has powerful loudspeaker with 1W (watt) output that promises a clear sound. The LG Zero comes in Silver and Gold and will roll out globally starting from this week in Taiwan followed by other key markets in Asia, Europe and Latin America.
Vivo announced the Vivo X6 and the X6Plus, the company’s latest flagship smartphones at an event in China, as it promised. The X6 has a 5.2-inch 1080p Super AMOLED display, has 32GB of internal storage and 2400mAh battery. The X6Plus has a 5.7-inch 1080p Super AMOLED screen, has 64GB of internal storage and a 3000mAh battery.
Both the smartphones have 4GB of RAM, are powered by an Octa-Core MediaTek MT6752 processor, run on Android 5.1 (Lollipop) with Funtouch OS on top, have a 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and phase-detection auto-focus (PDAF) that can focus in just 0.2 seconds and a 8-megapixel front-facing camera. Checkout the prices here.
ZTE announced an affordable smartphone with fingerprint sensor – the ZTE Blade A1 this week. It seems that this is by far the cheapest Android smartphone with Fingerprint scanner, beating the UMi Fair that was released in September. ZTE claims that fingerprint sensor can unlock the phone in just 0.3 seconds.
The ZTE Blade A1 has a 5-inch HD display, is powered by a quad-core MediaTek MT6735 processor, runs on Android 5.1 (Lollipop), has a 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 8-megapixel front-facing camera. It has hybrid dual-SIM support that lets you use second SIM slot as a microSD slot when required and has 4G LTE connectivity. The ZTE Blade A1 comes in White color is priced at just 599 Yuan ( $94 / Rs. 6,255 approx.). It is up for pre-order in China through jd.com and will go on sale from December 11th.
Huawei introduced Enjoy 5S, an enhanced version of the Enjoy 5 that was introduced in October in China. It has a 5-inch HD display, runs on Android 5.1 (Lollipop) with Emotion UI 3.1 Lite, has a 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera, similar to the Enjoy 5, but this is powered by a faster 1.5 octa-core 64-bit MediaTek MT6753T processor, has 7.6mm slim full metal unibody design and also comes with a fingerprint sensor.
The Huawei Enjoy 5S comes in Silver and Golden colors and is priced at 1199 Yuan ($187 / Rs. 12,500 approx.). It is now available for order from vmall and will go on sale in China starting from December 10th. No word on the global roll out yet.
Oppo A53 finally went official this week in China, few weeks after it got certified by TENAA. It packs a 5.5-inch HD IPS 2.5D curved screen, is powered by an Octa-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 616 SoC and runs on Android 5.1 (Lollipop) with Color OS 2.1 on top. It has a 7.4mm slim magnesium alloy body.
The Oppo A53 comes in Golden color and will go on sale in China soon. No word on the pricing or the global roll out yet. Check our detailed coverage here.
Lastly, Lenovo launched its new 2-in-1 convertible notebook the ThinkPad P40 Yoga. Similar to the Yoga line, the P40 Yoga can be used as stand, tent and tablet modes.
The P40 Yoga features a 14-inch screen (at 2560 x 1440 or 1920 x 1080) and is powered by a sixth-gen Intel Core i7 CPU. It comes with up to 16GB of RAM, 512GB SSD, and an NVIDIA Quadro M500M GPU with 2GB VRAM. Lenovo is claiming “a first-class digital sketching experience” that will enable creative types to consolidate systems. It includes a ThinkPad Pen Pro stylus with Wacom Active ES input tech. It promises both 2,048 levels of pressure and specially-tuned software that reportedly gets closer to the “pen to paper” feel.
Lenovo alongside also launched the ThinkPad P50s workstation and the ThinkStation P310. All three machines will be available in the first quarter. The ThinkPad P40 Yoga starts at $1,399, while the ThinkPad P50s starts at $1,299 and the ThinkStation P310 starts at $729.