Weekly Roundup: Vivo NEX, Xiaomi Mi Max 3, Huawei Nova 3, Nokia 6.1 Plus, X5 and more


Vivo Nex Review -11

Vivo has launched the NEX smartphone in India finally after so much hype. It comes with a pop-up front camera that automatically rises and hides when you open and close the camera app. Huawei has launched the Nova 3, the company’s latest smartphone in the Nova series. It packs a 6.3-inch FHD+ 19:5:9 aspect ratio curved glass display with a notch and many more. 

Vivo Nex Review

The Vivo NEX packs a 6.59-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED screen with ultra narrow bezels with 91.24 screen-to-body ratio, Screen SoundCasting Technology, and 8-megapixel pop-up front camera that automatically rises and hides when you open and close the camera app. This uses extremely precise micro-stepping motors, with independent drive ICs and precision control algorithms to precisely control this process, says Vivo.

It has an in-display fingerprint sensor, and the company says that the third-generation screen fingerprint technology, is smaller, and more powerful offering 50% better accuracy and the unlocking speed is increased by 10% compared to the predecessor. The Vivo NEX comes in Black color in India, is priced at Rs. 44,990, and will be available for order  exclusively on Amazon.in as well as Vivo Shop online and ships starting from July 21st.

Huawei Nova 3

Huawei announced the Nova 3 which is the company’s latest smartphone in the Nova series is now official, after rumors and certification. It packs 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. It 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.

The Huawei Nova 3 comes in Purple, Black, Blue and Gold colors and is priced at 2999 yuan (US$ 446 / Rs. 30,620 approx.) for the 6GB RAM with 128GB storage version.

Huawei Nova 3i

Huawei has also announced the Nova 3i, a cheaper version of the Nova 3 in China. It packs a 6.3-inch FHD+ 19:5:9 aspect ratio curved glass display with a notch, runs Android 8.1 (Oreo) with EMUI 8.2 and a 24-megapixel front camera along with a 2-megapixel secondary camera, similar to the Nova 3, but this has a 16-megapixel rear camera AI scene recognition along with a 2-megapixel secondary rear camera for portrait shots. It is powered by new Kirin 710 Octa-Core 12nm SoC with support for GPU Turbo feature.

The Huawei Nova 3i comes in Black, White and Blue colors, is priced at 1999 yuan (US$ 297 / Rs. 20,400 approx.) for the 4GB RAM with 128GB storage version and the 6GB RAM with 64GB storage version costs 2199 yuan (US$ 327 / Rs. 22,440 approx.). It will be available for order in China from August 1st and will go on sale from August 8th.

Xiaomi Mi Max 3

Xiaomi just announced the Mi Max 3, the latest smartphone in the Mi Max series in China, as it had promised. It has a 6.9-inch FHD+ 18:9 aspect ratio display with 1.3mm slim bezels on the sides, is powered by Snapdragon 636 with up to 6GB of RAM, runs Android 8.1 (Oreo) with MIUI on top, has a 12-megapixel rear camera with dual PD focus along with a secondary 5-megapixel camera for AI and has AI features for the camera that can detect 206 scenes, comes with AI voice assistant, and there is an 8-megapixel front-facing camera with support for face unlock.

The Xiaomi Mi Max 3 comes in Meteorite Black, Dream Gold and Dark Blue colors, is priced at 1699 yuan (US$ 252 / Rs.17,320 approx.) for the 4GB RAM with 64GB storage version and the 6GB RAM with 128GB storage version costs 1999 yuan (US$ 296 / Rs. 20,375 approx.). It is already available in China.

Nokia 6.1 Plus

HMD Global has announced Nokia 6.1 Plus, the global version of the Nokia X6 smartphone in Hong Kong. It has similar specifications as the X6, including a 5.8-inch FHD+ display with a notch and 19:9 aspect ratio, Snapdragon 636, Android 8.1 (Oreo),  16-megapixel rear camera with RGB sensor, 5-megapixel secondary rear camera with a monochrome sensor, AI portrait and scene recognition and a 16-megapixel front camera with AI selfies with background blur, stickers and face unlock, but this comes only in 4GB RAM with 64GB storage version.

The Nokia 6.1 Plus comes in Blue and White colors, is priced at HK$ 2,288 (US$ 290 / Rs. 20,110 approx.) and will go on sale in Hong Kong from July 24th.

Nokia X5

HMD Global has also announced Nokia X5. It comes with a 5.86-inch HD+ 19:9 aspect ratio 2.5D curved glass display with 84% screen-to-body ratio, is powered by MediaTek Helio P60 12nm  processor with up to 6GB of RAM, runs Android 8.1 (Oreo) OS, which is upgradable to Android P. It features a 13-megapixel rear camera along with a secondary 5-megapixel camera for AI portrait shots.

The Nokia X5 comes in Black, White and Blue colors, is priced at 999 yuan (US$ 148 approx. / Rs. 10,200 approx.) for the 3GB RAM with 32GB storage version, and the 4GB RAM with 64GB storage version costs 1399 yuan (US$ 208 approx. / Rs. 14,300 approx.). It will be available for order in China starting from July 19th through online retailers Suning, JD.com, Lynx and official Nokia website.

Nokia 3.1

HMD Global has launched Nokia 3.1, the successor of last year’s Nokia 3 in India. The Android One smartphone was introduced at an event in Russia back in May, and packs a 5.2-inch HD+ 2.5D curved glass display with 18:9 aspect  ratio, is powered by MediaTek MT6750 SoC with 2GB RAM, runs Android 8.0 (Oreo), which is upgradable to Android P in future, has a 13-megapixel rear camera and an 8-megapixel camera on the front.

The Nokia 3.1 comes in Blue/Copper, Black/Chrome and White/Iron colors, is priced at Rs. 10,499 and will be available from retail stores offline as well as Nokia website and Paytm mall online from 21st July.

Huawei TalkBand B5

Huawei has introduced TalkBand B5, the successor of TalkBand B3 which was introduced back in 2016. It has a 1.13-inch AMOLED 2.5D curved glass touchscreen display, which is 2.4 times bigger than the predecessor. The pop-up Bluetooth headset has a trip-core audio chip with high-definition voice, thanks to the dual microphone with noise reduction. It has caller ID support, call muting as well as speed dial option to quickly call a person.

The Huawei TalkBand B5 is priced at 999 yuan (US$ 149 / Rs. 10,195 approx.) for the standard version with silicone band, version with leather band costs 1199 yuan (US$ 178 / Rs. 12,235 approx.) and the business edition with a metal strap costs 1499 yuan (US$ 223 / Rs. 15,300 approx.).

Fastrack Reflex 2.0

Fastrack has launched its Reflex 2.0 fitness tracker, the successor of last year’s Reflex. It has an OLED display, which enables users to be notified of incoming calls, SMS, WhatsApp messages and shows physical activities as well as calories consumed. It has IPX6 ratings for dust and water resistance and promises up to 10 days of battery life.  The Fastrack Reflex 2.0 comes in Electric Blue, Neon Green and Charcoal Black colors, is priced at Rs. 1995 and is available from Amazon.in and Fastrack website.

Intex Indie 5

Intex has launched Indie 5. It sports a 5-inch HD screen with  Dragontrail Glass protection and a 4000mAh battery. It is powered by a quad-core MediaTek SoC with 2GB of RAM, runs Android 7.0 (Nougat) and has an 8-megapixel on the front and back, both with LED flash. It comes with dedicated dual SIM slots and comes with a built-in app like SwiftKey, QR Code scanner, Gaana and more. The Intex Indie 5 comes in Black and Champagne colors, is priced at Rs. 4,999 and is available exclusively from Flipkart.

MSI GF63

MSI today has launched the GF63 and PS42 laptops in India. The PS42 is the first laptop in the professionals series and it comes with a fingerprint sensor for security, NVIDIA GeForce discrete graphics. On the other hand, the GF63 is powered by the 8th Gen Intel Core i7 processor and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti graphics. The MSI GF63 starts at Rs. 79,990 and PS42 starts at Rs.77,990.

iBall Baton 1200M

iBall has launched Baton 1200M Smart Dual Band Wireless AC Router offering with a transmission speed of up to 1200Mbps. It has Wi-Fi standard 802.11ac, supports both DSL and Broadband connections, sports 4 omnidirectional antennas, with MU-MIMO Technology that shares the available bandwidth into separate individual streams equally to the connected wireless devices to improve Wi-Fi experience. The iBall Baton 1200M router comes in Black color, is priced at an MRP of Rs. 3,195, but you can get it from Amazon.in for as low as Rs. 1,999.

Sony MP-CD1

Sony today has launched the MP-CD1 ultra-portable Mobile Projector in India. This was previously announced at the CES 2018 earlier this year. The company says that it can fit in your palm and can project up to 120 inches in size from a short distance of 3.5m and weighs just 281 grams and measures 83.0 mm x 16.0 mm x 150.0 mm. The Sony MP-CD1 projector is priced at Rs 29,990, and it will be available in India from August 3.

Emporio Armani

Emporio Armani today has announced the latest-generation connected Wear OS smartwatch with touchscreens. It packs a 1.19-inch AMOLED display and is powered by the aging Snapdragon 2100. They come with smart features like Google Assistant and Google Pay. Furthermore, Emporio Armani connected Wear OS smartwatch packs heart rate tracking, water resistance, and a built-in GPS sensor for fitness tracking.

The Smartwatch will use the Tic Health app and Mobvoi’s app store in China, though it is made by Fossil group. It packs a new ‘Swimproof Technology’ which allows the user to take shower, swim, and dive up to 3 ATM. The Emporio Armani pricing starts at $295 (Rs. 20,160 approx.) and goes up to $395(Rs. 27,000 approx.). The watch is already available to pre-order on the Armani website.

EUME Massager Backpack

EUME has announced the launch of world’s first built-in massager backpack. The company says that the technology is currently patented in India and patent pending in the United States. The backpack helps by massaging the upper back near the trapezoid and the lower back and helps stimulate greater blood flow in areas where heavy backpacks cause a lot of stress.

The EUME backpack comes in green, grey, and yellow colors and is priced at Rs. 3,999. There is also a special 26 Grey Genx Hardik Pandya Edition which costs Rs. 4,999. The backpack is now available from Amazon.in.

CloudWalker Cloud TV X2

CloudWalker Streaming Technologies, a tech start-up has launched Cloud X2 TVs 40 and 43-inch sizes, that join 32, 50 and 55-inch models.  Powered by Android 7.0 Nougat OS with Quad-core ARM Cortex processor, 1GB RAM, and 8 GB ROM, the TVs have Made-In-India Content Discovery Engine that is intelligent enough to automatically curate thousands of hours of trending digital content & apps on TV. The CloudWalker Cloud TV X2 40-inch and 43-inch Full HD TVs will be available starting from Rs. 24,990 exclusively on Amazon.in.

Sound One SP-40

Sound One has launched SP-40 sports Bluetooth headset. It has Bluetooth 4.1 connectivity that lets the stereo earphones pair with iPhone, iOS, Android, tablet or laptop. It has Noise Suppression technology that blocks outside noise and it is water-resistant, thanks to nano-coating that efficiently protects sports earphones from sweat making it perfect for running, exercises, gym, and traveling. The Sound One SP-40 comes in Black color and is priced at Rs. 2190, but you can get it at Rs. 1590 on Amazon.in as a part of launch offer.