Weekly Roundup: OPPO Find X, Microsoft Surface Go, Sony Xperia XA2 Plus, Huawei Nova 3, 2018 MacBook Pros and more

This week OPPO finally launched its flagship Find X smartphone in India, and also launched the mid-range A3s. Microsoft introduced Surface Go, its most-affordable Surface 2-in-1, Sony introduced the Xperia XA2, a bigger version of the Xperia A2 which was introduced earlier this year, and Apple announced the most-expected Macbook Pro refresh for this year. Check out all the new launches and announcements from this week.

OPPO  launched its flagship Find X smartphone. It has a 6.42-inch Full HD+ AMOLED Panoramic Arc Screen with 19:5:9 aspect ratio and 93.8% screen-to-body ratio, is powered by Snapdragon 845 with 8GB of RAM and runs Android 8.1 (Oreo) with ColorOS 5.1 on top. It has a motorized sliding dual rear cameras with a 16-megapixel primary and a 20-megapixel secondary camera set up with LED flash, OIS, AI portraits and AI Scene Recognition.

It has 3D face unlock that uses 3D Structured Light Technology which scans 15,000 facial points. It has a 25-megapixel front camera with AI.  It has a 3D glass body with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection both on the front and the back. It packs a 3730mAh battery with support for VOOC flash charge fast charging technology that promises 2 hours of talk time with 5 minutes of charge.

The OPPO Find X comes in Bordeaux Red and Glacier Blue colors, is priced at Rs. 59,990 and will be available exclusively from Flipkart online as well as offline retailers starting from August 3rd with pre-orders starting from July 25th.

Microsoft announced the Surface Go 2-in-1 with a 10-inch display. It comes with an integrated kickstand with unlimited positions, runs on Windows 10, sports a 10-inch display (1800 x 1200 pixel resolution) with a 3:2 aspect ratio, is powered by the 7th Generation Intel Pentium Gold Processor 4415Y and packs up to 8GB RAM and 128 GB SSD.

The Microsoft Surface Go basic model with 4GB RAM and 64GB SSD and Wi-Fi model costs $399 (Rs. 27,440 approx.), while the 8GB RAM model with 128GB SSD costs $549 (Rs. 37,760 approx.).

Huawei introduced Nova 3 in the Nova series. It comes with a 6.3-inch FHD+ 19:5:9 aspect ratio curved glass display with a notch, is powered by Kirin 970 SoC with support for GPU Turbo, packs 6GB of RAM and runs Android 8.1 (Oreo) with EMUI 8.2, similar to the Honor Play, but this has a 16-megapixel rear camera AI scene recognition that can detect over 500 scenes and the 24-megapixel secondary rear camera for portrait shots.

It has a 24-megapixel front camera along with a 2-megapixel secondary camera. It has face unlocking that uses infrared light to gather face information even in dark conditions. There is also 3D Qmoji, which is similar to Apple’s Animoji. It features a glass back, fingerprint sensor on the back and packs a 3750mAh battery with support for fast charging.

It comes in Purple, Black, Blue and Gold colors and is available for pre-order in China. Pricing will be announced on July 18th.

Huawei also introduced TalkBand B5 with a 1.13-inch AMOLED 2.5D curved glass touch screen display, pop-up Bluetooth headset with trip-core audio chip with high-definition voice, dual microphone with noise reduction, caller ID support, call muting as well as speed dial option to quickly call a person.

The Huawei TalkBand B5 comes in Sports Edition with strap in Ash, Black and Brown color, and Business Edition with metal strap, and  is available for pre-order in China. Pricing will be announced on July 18th.

Apple launched new 2018 editions of MacBook Pro 13-inch and 15-inch models with Touch Bar. These get new 8th-generation Intel Core processors, with 6-core on the 15-inch model that promises 70% faster performance and quad-core on the 13-inch model that promises two times faster performance compared to the previous generation. These also include support for up to 32GB of memory,  True Tone display for a more natural viewing experience and an improved third-generation keyboard for quieter typing.

These are also first MacBook Pro models with Apple T2 chip, first introduced in iMac Pro. This delivers enhanced system security with support for secure boot and on-the-fly encrypted storage, and also brings “Hey Siri” to the Mac for the first time.

The new  13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro (2018) models are priced starting at Rs. 1,49,900 ($1,799 (Rs. 1,23,150 approx.) in the U.S.) and Rs. 1,99,900 ($2,399 (Rs. 1,64,220 approx.) in the U.S.) respectively, and will be available in select Apple Authorised Resellers later this month.

Sony Mobile announced Xperia XA2 Plus, a larger version of the Xperia XA2, which was announced at the CES 2018. It has a 6-inch 1080p screen with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection, is powered by Snapdragon 630 with up to 6GB of RAM, runs Android 8.0 (Oreo), comes with a 23-megapixel rear camera with 1/2.3″ Exmor RS sensor, Hybrid Autofocus and LED flash and an 8-megapixel front camera with 120-degree wide-angle lens. It also has support for Hi-Res Audio and Smart Amplifier, making it the first mid-range Sony smartphone to get the feature.

It has a fingerprint sensor on the back, comes in single and dual SIM versions and packs slightly bigger 3,580mAh battery with Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 and Qnovo Adaptive Charging. It comes in Silver, Black, Gold and Green colors and will roll out from late August 2018.

Motorola launched the Moto E5 and Moto E5 Plus smartphones in the Moto E series in India, as it had promised. The Moto E5 and E5 Plus pack 5.7-inch and 6-inch HD+ screens and 4000mAh and 5000mAh battery, respectively. Both these run Android 8.0 (Oreo) with Moto Display and Moto Action and feature a fingerprint sensor on the back on the Motorola logo.

The Moto E5 comes in Flash gray and Fine Gold colors, is priced at Rs. 9999, and is  available from Moto Hub stores offline. The Moto E5 Plus comes in Fine Gold and Black colors, is priced at Rs. 11,999 and is  available exclusively from Amazon.in online as well as Moto Hub stores.

Motorola introduced new Moto E5 Play Android Oreo (Go Edition) version. It has a 5.34-inch  FWVGA+ 18:9 aspect ratio display compared to the 5.2-inch HD screen on the standard E5 Play model. It is powered by the same Snapdragon 425 SoC, but this has 1GB of RAM. Cameras, front-ported loudspeaker and the fingerprint sensor on the back, on the Moto logo are similar, but this has a slightly smaller 2100mAh battery.

It comes in Black, Dark lake and Flash gray colors, is priced at €109 (US$ 127 / Rs. 8,730 approx.) in Europe and £99.95 (US$ 132 / Rs. 9,060 approx.) in the UK and will go on sale in UK, Europe and Latin America from this month.

OPPO launched A3s in India, which is a re-branded version of the  A5 smartphone that was introduced in China last week. It has a 6.2-inch HD+ 19:9 aspect ratio display with a notch and  87.8% screen-to-body ratio, is powered by Snapdragon 450 with 2GB of RAM and runs ColorOS 5.1 based on Android 8.1 (Oreo).

It has a 13-megapixel rear camera along with a secondary 2-megapixel camera for portrait shots and an 8-megapixel front camera with AI beautify features that intelligently recognizes 296 facial features.  It has dedicated dual SIM and microSD card slots and packs a huge 4230mAh battery.

It comes in Red and Dark Purple colors, is priced at Rs. 10,990 and will be available through Flipkart, Amazon and Paytm online as well as offline stores starting from July 15.

Intex launched INFIE 3, the company’s first Android Oreo (Go edition) smartphone and INFIE 33 smartphone. Both these have a 18:9 aspect ratio 2.5D curved glass displays and support for Face unlock as well as face beauty. Both the have a 5-megapixel rear camera as well as a front camera with LED flash. These come with SwiftKey, Gaana and other apps.

The Intex INFIE 3 Android Oreo (Go Edition) smartphone comes in Grey, Gold and Light Blue colors and is priced at Rs. 4,649. The Intex INFIE 33 comes in Black, Blue and Champagne colours and is priced at Rs. 5,049.

Infinix launched Hot 6 Pro, the company’s latest smartphone in its ‘Hot series’ in India. It has a 5.99-inch HD+ 18:9 aspect ratio display, is powered by Snapdragon 425 with 3GB of RAM, runs Android 8.0 (Oreo) with XOS 3.2 on top, has a 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash along with a secondary 2-megapixel camera for portrait shots. It has a 5-megapixel front camera with soft LED flash, Bokeh Selfies and Beauty Mode .

It has a fingerprint sensor on the back, features dedicated dual SIM slots and a microSD card slot and packs a 4000mAh battery. It comes in Bordeaux Red, Sandstone Black and Magic Gold colors, is priced at Rs. 7999 and is available exclusively from Flipkart.

Tambo, a new company forayed into Indian market with 3 new smartphones – TA 2TA 3 and TA 4 and six feature phones – S2440S2430A2400P1850A1810 and A1800 back in April. This week it launched the TA4 and also revealed the complete specifications of the smartphone. It comes in Jet Black, Champagne and Sapphire Blue colors, is priced at Rs. 6,999 and will be available in across distributor channels in India. 

 

Tronx Motors, a Smartron company launched India’s 1st smart crossover electric bike; TRONX ONE. It is Smartron’s first step towards building the Tronx Motors vertical coupled with the company’s own tronX ecosystem. It offers a powerful ride experience of 25 km/h. It also comes with multiple ride modes and Virtual Gears coupled with 3 Electric Gears and 6 speed Shimano Shifters.

It comes in magma red and pacific blue and is priced at Rs.49,999 on an introductory offer for limited units and is open for pre-orders on tstore. It will start shipping from 16th of July for the first batch of consumers who have pre-booked the bike.

FUJIFILM launched X-T100 mirrorless digital camera in the X Series with a sleek, retro and stylish design, a horizontal tilting rear LCD screen, and an extended battery life of up to 430 frames. It weighs just 448g with an anodized coated aluminum top cover. It features 24.2 megapixel APS-C size sensor and built-in Bluetooth technology makes image transfer quick and easy for sharing with friends.

It comes in Dark Silver, Black and Champagne Gold colors, is priced at an MRP of Rs. 47,999 for Body only, XT100 Kit with XC15-45mm F3.5-5.6 OIS PZ costs Rs. 54,999 and the XT100 Dual Kit with XC15-45mm F3.5-5.6 OIS PZ & XC50-230mmF4.5-6.7 OIS II costs Rs. 70,999.

Nikon introduced COOLPIX P1000, the company’s latest digital camera with world’s highest 125x optical zoom lens that covers range of focal lengths, beginning at the wide-angle 24mm equivalent, and extending to the super-telephoto 3000mm (up to 250x when Dynamic Fine Zoom is enabled). It is priced at $999.95 (Rs. 68,750 approx.) and will be available in September.

Digitek, an Indian company popular for its photographic and smartphone accessories launched DSG 005, a 3 Axis Smartphone Gimbal Stabilizer. It has a in-use charging functionality, allows the device to be used, even when it may be running low on charge. The smartphone being used for photography and video making can be charged while in use.

It is priced at an MRP of Rs. 10995, but you can get it on Amazon.in for as low as Rs. 7,499.

 


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
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