This week, as promised, Xiaomi launched its flagship Mi 5 smartphone in India.The smartphone was announced at an event in China and at the MWC 2016 last month.
The Xiaomi Mi 5 smartphone packs a 5.15-inch 1080p display, is powered by a quad-core top-of-the-line Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor with Adreno 530 GPU and 3GB of RAM. It runs on Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) based with MIUI 7 skinned on top, and has a fingerprint sensor, a 16-megapixel camera on the back with dual-tone LED flash, Sony IMX298 sensor, f/2.0 aperture, PDAF, 4-axis OIS and a 4-megapixel front-facing camera.
It also has dual SIM support, comes with 4G LTE and has a 3,000mAh battery with Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0.
The Xiaomi Mi 5 comes in Black, White and Gold colors and is priced at Rs. 24,999 for the 3GB RAM with 32GB storage variant. It will be available from mi.com through flash sale starting from April 6th. Mi protect for the phone costs Rs. 499. Check out our Mi 5 Unboxing, benchmarks and camera samples.
httpv://youtu.be/y8cLnWA1vr0
The firm also officially introduced the Redmi 3 Pro this week, but in China. It comes with 3GB of RAM, 32GB of storage and a fingerprint sensor on the back. Other specifications are same as the the Redmi 3 which includes a 5-inch HD screen, Octa-Core Snapdragon 616 SoC, MIUI 7 based on Android Lollipop, 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.
It has full metal magnesium alloy unibody design, packs a huge 4100mAh battery in its compact body and has hybrid SIM slot that lets you use the secondary nano SIM slot as a microSD slot when required. The Xiaomi Redmi 3 Pro comes in Gray, Silver and Gold colors and is priced at 899 yuan (US$ 138 / Rs. 9190 approx.). It will go on sale in China starting from April 6th. No details about the global roll out yet.
Another big announcement from Xiaomi this week was its new sub-brand called the Mi Ecosystem which is also known as MIJIA, which literally means Xiaomi Smart Home. The Chinese company has announced an array of products under this brand – a rice pressure cooker, second generation Mi Water Purifier, an affordable Bluetooth Speaker and the Mi Router 3.
The Xiaomi rice cooker in the Mi Ecosystem comes with support for cloud connectivity since the cooker has built-in WiFi 802.11n. This lets you adjust the condition the rice needs to be cooked and control several features using the mobile app, which also comes with recipes.
The Mi Induction Heating Pressure Rice Cooker is priced at 999 yuan (US$ 153 / Rs. 10200 approx.) and will go on sale during Mi Fan Festival on April 6th. Xiaomi said that the cooker is 40% the price of comparable high-end Japanese induction heating pressure rice cookers.
The Bluetooth Speaker comes with a 1200mAh battery which offers 7 hours of continuous playback. It measures 60.0mm x 60.0mm x 93.3mm and the maximum output power is 5W. It also has a small LED indicator at the front. Finally, the speaker has built-in microphone for hands-free calls and has support for 10 meter connection distance.
The Mi Water Purifier 2 uses RO reverse osmosis technology that removes heavy metals, antibiotics, organic filtration technology, with four layers purification filtration system. This also helps you remove home tap water rust, scale, bacteria, antibiotics and unpleasant odors. The advanced filtration technology can intercept more than 0.0001 microns substance, ultrafiltration water purifier precision 100 times.
The Mi Router 3 with four antenna design which helps it offer stronger signal strength. It supports 802.11ac Wi-Fi connectivity which is three times faster and comes with 128MB Super Flash inbuilt.
The Xiaomi Bluetooth speaker is priced at 129 yuan ($20 approx./ Rs. 1320 approx.), Mi Water Purifier 2 is priced at 1999 yuan ($308 approx. / Rs 20,430 approx.) and finally the Mi Router 3 is priced at 149 yuan ($23 approx. / Rs 1524 approx.)
Samsung launched Galaxy J3 (2016), the company’s latest 4G smartphone in the J series and the successor of last year’sGalaxy J3. The main highlight of the smartphone is the new S bike mode for bikers that lets them activate pre-recorded message for all callers, motion lock feature to ensure rider comes to a halt before answering, urgent calls filter and more just by activate the mode by tapping on the NFC tag. It also has Ultra data saving (UDS) mode powered by Opera Max that compresses cellular data across all contents.
It packs a 5-inch HD Super AMOLED display, is powered by a 1.5GHz quad-core Spreadtrum SC9830 processor, runs on Android 5.1 (Lollipop) OS with Samsung’s own UI on top, comes with a 8-megapixel auto focus rear camera and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. The Samsung Galaxy J3 (2016) comes in Black, White and Gold colors, is priced at Rs. 8,990 and is exclusively available through Snapdeal. Check out our unboxing here.
httpv://youtu.be/ZwJkT4gEp10
In China, the company also announced its latest top-end smartphone in the ‘Galaxy A’ series dubbed the Samsung Galaxy A9 Pro (SM-A9100). It packs a 6-inch 1080p Super AMOLED display with 2.5D curved glass, is powered by an Octa-Core Snapdragon 652 (Previously 620) processor and runs on Android 5.1 (Lollipop) and a 8-megapixel front-facing camera, similar to the A9, but this a 16-megapixel rear camera with optical image stabilization (OIS), 4GB of RAM and a 5000mAh battery.
It has dual SIM support with dedicated nano SIM slots and a microSD expansion slot. It has 4G LTE connectivity, fingerprint sensor under the home button and has metal frame and glass back similar to the Galaxy S6 series smartphones. The Samsung Galaxy A9 Pro comes in White, Gold and Rose Gold colors and is priced at 3499 yuan ($539 / Rs. 35765 approx.) in China. No word on the global roll out yet.
Smartron this week launched its first Windows 10 2-in-1 device with a keyboard called the Smartron t-book. It has a 12.2-inch WQXGA display, is powered by Intel Core M processor, has 4GB of RAM, 128GB of built-in SSD storage and microSD expansion slot.
The Smartron t.book comes in Grey with Orange color and is priced at Rs. 39,999. It will go on sale exclusively through Gadgets360 starting April 8th.
Garmin India launched its luxury Fenix 3 GPS watch in rose gold-tone with brown genuine leather band. It has new EXO GPS antenna that support a full range of multisport activities, from advanced fitness training, to cross-country and alpine skiing, snowboarding, as well as hiking, climbing and trail running. It is Water rated to 100 meters and can withstand swimming and other water activities.
The Smart Notification feature allows users to pair smartphone with the watch to receive call, text and email alerts easily. It promises 20 hours of battery life in GPS mode, 50 hours in UltraTrac mode and six weeks in watch mode. The Garmin Fenix 3 Sapphire Rose Gold edition is priced at Rs. 84,999 and is available in select stores.
Micromax launched its all new Canvas Spark 3 Q385 this week and the successor of last year’sCanvas Spark 2. It packs a 5.5-inch HD display, is powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core processor and runs on Android 5.1 (Lollipop). It has a 8-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera.
It come with dual-SIM (only 3G) support similar to most other Micromax smartphones and has powerful loudspeaker on the back. The Micromax Canvas Spark 3 Q385 comes in Black and color and Champagne Gold colors and is priced at Rs. 4,999. It will be available from Snapdeal through flash sale starting from April 7th. Registrations for the sale has started already.
Intex also launched its latest budget 4G smartphone exclusively on Snapdeal dubbed the Intex Cloud Jewel. It packs a 5-inch HD display, is powered by 1 GHz quad-core MediaTek processor, runs on Android 5.1 (Lollipop), has a 8-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera.
The Intex Cloud Jewel comes in Grey and Champagne colors, is priced at Rs. 5,999 and is exclusively available from Snapdeal.
Vivo announced X6S and the X6S Plus, the company’s latest flagship smartphones. The X6S has a 5.2-inch 1080p Super AMOLED display and the X6S Plus has a 5.7-inch 1080p Super AMOLED screen and both have 4GB of RAM, rear camera with phase-detection auto-focus (PDAF) that can focus in just 0.2 seconds and a 8-megapixel front-facing camera, similar to the predecessors, but the main change is the processor. This has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 652 processor, instead of MediaTek MT6752 SoC. Check full specifications here.
MAIT, Intel, and Datamini this week launched TPOS7 Janunnati Pad, to support the government’s ongoing flagship programs such as Digital India and Make in India. It is India’s first touch-enabled mobile device with integrated STQC-certified fingerprint scanner for Aadhaar authentication and can be used to help in the implementation of key e-Governance initiatives such as DBT (Direct Benefits Transfer) via Aadhaar-linked savings bank accounts of scheme beneficiaries, through its in-built fingerprint scanner, payments card reader and barcode scanner.
It has a 7-inch (1024 x 600 pixels) multi-touch display, is powered by an Intel Atom x5-Z8300 processor, has 2GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage with expansion slot, runs Windows 10 Home / Windows 10 Professional, has a 5MP auto focus rear camera, 2MP front-facing camera, 3G (Via SIM) / 4G (Optional), WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 and a 5000mAh battery.
It will be priced between Rs. 12,000 and Rs. 20,000 depending upon the configuration and will be available later this month.
The vivo X6S and X6S Plus come in Champagne Gold and Rose Gold colors, are priced at 2598 yuan and 2998 yuan, respectively and are available for purchase in China from the official vivo online store.
Lastly, the popular US electric car maker – Tesla – unveiled its upcoming Tesla Model 3 electric sedan and company announced that the car will also come to India.
The Model 3 pre-order page lets you book a Tesla by paying a $1,000 (Rs. 66,400 approx.) via a credit card and this is a refundable deposit in case you decide not to buy. The vehicle will go into production in late 2017 and is expected to cost around $35,000 ( Rs. 23,24,450 approx.) before tax breaks.