Weekly Roundup: ZUK Edge, Xiaomi Mi Notebook Air 4G, LG Stylus 3, Acer Spin 7 and more


zuk-edge

This week Lenovo’s ZUK introduced its ZUK Edge smartphone with ultra narrow bezels, Xiaomi unveiled its Mi Notebook Air 4G in China, LG said that it will unveil new K-series smartphones and Stylus 3 at the CES 2017 next month, Amkette launched EVO TV2 4K and Asus launched ZenWatch 3 in India. Check out everything that happened this week in our weekly roundup.

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ZUK announced ZUK Edge, the company’s latest flagship smartphone with a 5.5-inch 1080p display with 86.4% screen-to-body ratio and 1.63mm narrow frame, Snapdragon 821 SoC, 6GB RAM, Android 7.0 (Nougat) with ZUI 2.5, 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and PDAF + CAF dual focus modes for quick 0.1 second focus, 8-megapixel front-facing camera, 4G VoLTE and a 3100mAh battery with Quick Charge 3.0.

It comes in Ceramic White and Titanium Black colors and is priced at 2299 yuan (US$ 330 / Rs. 22460 approx.) for the 4GB RAM version and the 6GB RAM version costs 2499 yuan (US$ 360 / Rs.24,420 approx.).

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Xiaomi announced Mi Notebook Air 4G in partnership with China Mobile. It has Cat.4 4G LTE support built-in without any SIM card that offers download speed of up to 150Mbps. It has the same all-metal design and comes in 12.5-inch and 13.3-inch models with 1080p displays with 5.71mm and 5.59mm ultra-narrow borders, respectively. The 13.3-inch model in the 4G version has a faster Intel Core i7 processor compared to Core i5 in the standard version.

It comes in Gold and Silver colors. The 12.5-inch version is priced at 4699 yuan (US$ 676 / Rs. 45,850 approx.) and the 13.3-inch version costs 6999 yuan (US$ 1005 / Rs. 68,335 approx.).

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LG unveiled new K-series smartphones K3, K4, K8, K10 and the Stylus 3, The LG K8, K10 and Stylus 3 run Android 7.0 (Nougat) and the other two budget phones K3 and K4 run Android 6.0 (Marshmallow). The main highlight of the K10 is its 120-degree wide angle selfie lens, fingerprint scanner, a metallic U-frame and a slim 7.9mm profile along with 5.3-inch HD In-cell Touch display with 2.5D Arc Glass design.

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The Stylus 3 (Stylo in the United States) has a 1.8mm diameter fiber-tip stylus that promises feel and feedback of an actual pen when writing on the screen. It also has a fingerprint scanner and enhanced UX with Pen Pop 2.0 as well as the popular Pen Keeper and Screen-off Memo.

The LG K3 comes in Black color, K4 comes in  Titan and Black colors, K8 comes in Silver, Titan, Dark Blue and Gold, K10 comes in Black, Titan and Gold, and the Stylus 3 comes in Metallic Titan and Pink Gold colors. LG will show off these phones at the CES 2017.

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LG also introduced G Pad III 10.1 LTE, but this is for the Korean market. It has a 10.1-inch (1920 x 1200) WUXGA display, is powered by an 1.5GHz Octa-Core processor, runs on Android 6.0 (Marshmallow), has a 5-megapixel rear and front-facing cameras and also has a built-in kick stand that can be adjusted up to 70-degrees in 4 modes. It comes in Black color, is priced at 429,000 South Korean Won (US$ 360 / Rs. 24,535 approx.) and is available only in Korea currently.

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Samsung upgraded its Notebook 9 laptops with a additional features such as built-in fingerprint sensor as well as support for Windows Hello, which enables secure sign in with a single touch, so users can log into the Windows 10 device without typing in a password. Other features are almost similar to the original Notebook 9 laptops. There is no word on the pricing and availability of these two notebooks.

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Garmin launched Forerunner 35, its latest GPS-enabled running watch with built-in Elevate wrist-based heart rate sensor that monitors heart rate 24×7. It tracks distance, pace and counts steps, calories and intensity minutes. It also includes smartwatch functionality including smart notifications and music controls right from the device. It is priced at Rs. 15,990 and is available exclusively from Paytm.

Spin 7_02

Acer launched Spin 7 world’s thinnest convertible notebook in India. It packs a 14-inch Full HD touchscreen display with Corning Gorilla Glass 4 protection, is just 10.98mm thin and weighs just 1.2 kilograms. It comes with polished silver hinges and diamond cut edges around the touchpad. It is powered by 7th Generation Intel Core i7 processor and comes with 8GB LPDDR3 RAM and 256GB SSD.  It has two USB 3.1 Type C ports and promises battery life of up to 8 hours. It comes in matte black color, is priced at Rs 1,09,000, and is available across key retail stores in India.

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Asus launched ZenWatch 3, it’s third generation Android Wear smartwatch with a round dial. It is crafted from jewelry-grade 316L stainless steel and is just 9.95mm thick, has interchangeable straps, including Italian leather strap and comes with a three-button system, that would offer quick access to frequently used functions, including opening the ZenFit activity tracking app and changing the display modes.

It has a 340mAh battery with HyperCharge technology that promises to charge it up to 60% in just 15 minutes. The ZenWatch 3 with Rubber strap is priced at Rs. 17,599 and the version with leather strap is priced at Rs. 18,999. It is available for pre-order exclusively on Flipkart.

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Zen Mobiles launched Cinemax Click, a budget smartphone with 4G VoLTE support. It has a 5.5-inch HD IPS on-cell touch screen, is powered by a quad-core 64-bit processor, packs 1GB DDR3 RAM, 8GB internal storage with expansion slot, runs on Android 6.0 (Marshmallow), has an 8-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, 5-megapixel front-facing camera and a 2700mAh battery.

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Sony launched α6500 (model ILCE-6500), its latest mirrorless camera with CMOS sensor and fast Hybrid AF with speed of 0.05-second, employing 425 phase-detection AF points. It has 5-axis optical image stabilisation, making it the first Sony APS-C sensor camera to offer all of the benefits of advanced in-body stabilisation, including a shutter speed advantage of approximately 5 steps . It also offers touchscreen AF capabilities for focus point selection and adjustment. It is priced at Rs. 119,990 for body only and is available starting across India.

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Amkette launched EVO TV2 4K, streaming Android Media Player running customized version of Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) and with support for Ultra High Definition 4K videos. It has 8GB of internal storage, which is expandable up to 128GB that lets you install more apps and store movies and TV shows. It has 4 USB ports so you can connect hard disks, keyboards, or even cameras. It is priced at Rs. 7499 (MRP) and is exclusively available from Snapdeal at an offer price of Rs. 6499 for a limited period.

jabra-halo-free

Jabra launched Halo Free Stereo wireless headphones with three versatile fitting styles that ensure that the headphones stay in place whatever you are doing. It also has wind and water resistance and lets you activate Siri and Google Now with one touch. It has 8mm speakers that offer rich bass and crisp tones whether you’re on a call or listening to music, Readouts for Android users (calendar, emails, texts, etc.) and promises up to 5 hours talk time. It is is priced at an MRP of Rs. 3,499, but you can get it from online retail stores such as Amazon.in for as low as Rs. 2,899.

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BPL this week launched a 43-inch 4K Ultra HD Smart LED TV. It has four HDMI ports and three USB ports. It also comes pre-loaded with Netflix, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook. It is priced at an MRP of Rs. 49,000, but it is available at an offer price of Rs. 39,990 exclusively on Flipkart.


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