Weekly Roundup: Xiaomi Mi TV 4A, Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ and more


This week Samsung launched its flagship Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ smartphones in India, Xiaomi launched its new Mi TV 4A series, LG introduces new OLED and SUPER UHD HDR TV line-up and Samsung introduced its QLED TV and Premium UHD TV line-up, and more in this week’s roundup.

Samsung  launched the  Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+, the company’s latest flagship smartphones at an event in India. These were introduced at the MWC last week and have variable aperture cameras. The S9 has a 12-megapixel rear camera with variable aperture tech that uses f/1.5 aperture for night shots for a brighter picture and f/2.4 aperture for normal shots in daytime. The S9+ has a secondary 12MP Telephoto lens for live focus for bokeh effect with background blur.

The Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ will be available in Midnight Black, Coral Blue and Lilac Purple colors in India and are available for pre-order exclusively on Flipkart as well as Samsung Shop online and offline starting at Rs. 57,900. It will start shipping from March 16th.

Samsung_QLED_TV

Samsung at its New York event has introduced array of QLED, UHD and Premium UHD TVs. The company says that the TVs come with groundbreaking design elements, enhanced picture quality, and smart, intuitive capabilities. The new QLED TV features Direct Full Array, Bixby and Ambient Mode for an immersive viewing experience. Samsung’s 2018 new TV and audio line-up will be available in stores beginning March 2018.

Samsung_Galaxy_S9_and_A8_Enterprise_Edition

Samsung also introduced the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy A8 Enterprise Edition smartphones in Germany. The company is promoting the enterprise edition as truly “business-first” offering for the product line. The Galaxy S9 Enterprise Edition will receive three years of monthly security updates and quarterly updates for the fourth year. On the other hand, the Galaxy A8 Enterprise Edition will only get monthly security updates for three years. However, both phones will come with two years of manufacturer warranty.

The Samsung Galaxy S9 Enterprise Edition will be available in Germany from April 2018 and is priced at 849 euros ($1,045 or Rs. 68,080 approx.) While the Samsung Galaxy A8 Enterprise Edition is now available for corporate customers in Germany at a price of 499 euros ($614 or Rs. 40,000 approx).

As expected, Xiaomi this week launched its new Mi TV 4A series in India. It comes in 32-inch HD ready and 43-inch Full HD models. Both are smart TVs and come with Patch Wall, a UI layer on top of the Android OS that’s based on deep learning AI technology that can curate content based on recommendations. It brings all the content from the STB and seamlessly integrates right on your homepage.

The Xiaomi Mi TV 4A 32-inch and 43-inch are priced at Rs. 13999 and Rs. 22999, respectively and will be available from Flipkart, Mi.com and Mi Home Stores starting from March 13th and 16th, respectively. It will sell the TVs on both Tuesdays and Fridays every week and will have enough stock. It also comes with Rs. 2200 cashback for Jio users with JioFi connection.

ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) this week launched Strix GL702ZC, world’s first gaming laptop powered by the AMD Ryzen eight-core processor with multithreading technology, in India. It has a 17.3-inch Full HD display and features AMD’s FreeSync display technology for ultra-smooth visuals on the laptop as well as on compatible monitors via DisplayPort or HDMI.

It comes in Metal Myst Black color, is priced at Rs. 1,34,990, available for pre-order from Flipkart and ships starting March 20th.

LG introduced X4 (LM-X410S) smartphone in the ‘X series’ in Korea. It packs a similar 5.3-inch HD screen, is powered by Snapdragon 425, but this runs Android 7.1 (Nougat), has an 8-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 5-megapixel front camera.

It comes with LG Pay, the company’s own payment solution and has a fingerprint sensor below the camera that also lets you quickly capture selfies. It also has HD DMB support for mobile TV experience and packs a 3000mAh battery. It comes in Black and Gold colors, is priced at 297,000 won (US$ 273 / Rs. 17,780 approx.) and is already available from all the three major carriers – SKT, KT and LGU + in Korea.

LG also introduced a range of OLED and SUPER UHD TVs with ThinQ AI and advanced α (Alpha) processor. The large OLED display TVs with AI include W8, G8, E8, C8, and B8 with features like Picture-on-Wall, One Glass Screen, Picture-on-Glass, and Cinema Screen design.

LG’s 2018 OLED and SUPER UHD TVs lineup feature Cinema HDR with support for major HDR formats from Dolby Vision to HDR10 and HLG (hybrid log-gamma). The LG’s NLP will be available in 14 countries including Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Korea, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Spain, the UK, the US, and Turkey.

ZTE’s Nubia brand introduced new Nubia N3 smartphone, successor of last year’s Nubia N2 in China. It packs the same 5000mAh battery, but this has a larger 6.01-inch FHD+ full-screen display, is powered by Snapdragon 625 with 4GB of RAM. It has dual rear cameras, but the rear camera specifications are not available yet.

It has a 16-megapixel front camera with AI Portrait 2.0 and several new features. It has a metal finish and a fingerprint sensor on the back. The 5000mAh battery promises 2 days of battery life and up to 23 days standby. It comes in Obsidian Black, Space Gold and Nebula Red colors and will go on sale in China from March 24th. We should know the price of the phone closer to the launch.

Swipe launched Elite Dual, which the company claims to be the most affordable dual rear camera smartphone in India. It has a 5-inch HD display with scratch-resistant glass for protection, is powered a quad-core MediaTek processor, runs Android 7.0 (Nougat) and has a 8-megapixel rear camera along with a 2-megapixel secondary camera to capture the depth information.

It also has a 5-megapixel front-facing camera with LED flash. It has dual SIM support, 4G VoLTE and packs a 3000mAh battery. It comes in Black, White and Gold colors, is priced at Rs. 3999 and is available exclusively from ShopClues. The company has also tied up with Reliance Jio so users can get up to Rs. 2200 instant cashback in the form of vouchers with the Jio Football offer.

TRANSSION’s accessory brand Oraimo launched a range of products including Power banks, wireless devices that connect through Bluetooth, smartwatches, mobile phone batteries, memory banks, chargers, data cables, selfie sticks, and smartwatches.

Pricing of the Bluetooth Speakers ranges between Rs. 1,499 and 1,999, Bluetooth earphones are priced between Rs. 799 and 1,999, the Smartwatches cost between Rs. 2,999 and Rs. 6,999. The power Banks will be available starting at Rs. 899 to 2,299, and finally, the charging cables are priced from Rs. 199 to Rs. 599. Some of these are available from Amazon.in and these accessories will also be available from offline stores.


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