Weekly Roundup: Honor 9N, Xiaomi Mi A2, A2 Lite, Amazfit BIP, Stratos and more


This week Xiaomi introduced the Mi A2 and Mi A2 Lite Android One smartphones at an event in Spain globally, Honor launched the Honor 9N smartphone in India, Huami launched the Amazfit BIP and Stratos smartwatches in India, Huawei launched the Nova 3 and Nova 3i smartphones in India, and lots more.

Xiaomi this week announced Mi A2 and Mi A2 Lite smartphones. These are the global variants of the Mi 6X and Redmi 6 Pro, respectively and pack FHD+ displays, dual rear cameras and run Android 8.1 (Oreo). The Mi A2 is powered by Snapdragon 660 with up to 6GB RAM, has 12MP + 20MP dual rear cameras, 20MP front camera and a 3010mAh battery.

The Mi A2 Lite is powered by Snapdragon 625 with up to 4GB RAM , has 12MP + 5MP dual rear cameras, dedicated dual SIM and microSD slots and a 4000mAh battery. The Xiaomi Mi A2 will launch in India on August 8th, but the Mi A2 Lite is not expected to come to India.

Huawei’s Honor brand launched the Honor 9N, the global version of the  Honor 9i (2018). It has a 5.84-inch FHD+ 19:9 display with a notch, is powered by Kirin 659 SoC with 4GB RAM and runs Android 8.0 (Oreo) with EMUI 8.0, similar to the Huawei P20 Lite, but this has a 13-megapixel rear camera along with a 2-megapixel secondary camera for portrait shots and a 16-megapixel camera on the front with support for smart face unlock.

It comes in Lavender Purple, Robin Egg Blue, Sapphire Blue and Midnight Black colors, is priced at Rs. 11,999 for the 3GB RAM with 32GB storage version, Rs. 13,999 for the 4GB RAM with 64GB version and the 128GB version of it costs Rs. 17,999. It will be available exclusively on Flipkart starting from 31st July. Check out the review here.

Huawei launched Nova 3 and Nova 3i smartphones in India. Both these have a 6.3-inch FHD+ 19:5:9 aspect ratio curved glass display with a notch,  come with dual front and rear cameras and run Android 8.1 (Oreo) with EMUI 8.2. The Nova 3  is powered by Kirin 970 SoC with 6GB of RAM and support for GPU Turbo that promises 60% increase in performance, 30% battery saving and comes with 4D gaming experience, thanks to AI real-time image & sound recognition, intelligent game vibration, it can detect 10 different vibrations for 30 different scenarios.

The Nova 3i  is powered by new Kirin 710 Octa-Core 12nm SoC with support for GPU Turbo feature and has 4GB of RAM. Both the have 3D Qmoji, which is similar to Apple’s Animoji.

The Huawei Nova 3 and 3i come in Black and Iris Purple color. The Nova 3 comes is priced at Rs.  34,999 and will be available exclusively from Amazon.in and the the Nova 3i is priced at Rs. 20,990, and will be available exclusively from Amazon.in. Both these will be available from August 7th, and pre-bookings have begun already.

Huami launched its Amazfit BIP and Stratos smartwatches in India, as it had promised. Both these have multi-sport tracking, heart rate sensor and have built-in GPS. The  Amazfit BIP promises up to 45 days of battery life, thanks to its 1.28-inch ( 176 x 176 pixels) Always-on display, while the Stratos promises up to 5 days of battery life since it has bigger 1.34-inch (320 X 300 pixels) color Always-on LCD touch screen.

The Xiaomi Amazfit BIP comes in Onyx Black, Cinnabar Red, White Cloud and Kokoda Green colors and costs Rs. 5,499 and the Amazfit Stratos comes in Black color and is priced at Rs. 15,999. Both these are available exclusively from Flipkart.

Optiemus Infracom Limited launched the Blackerry KEY2 in India. It was introduced last month and packs a 4.5-inch (1620 x 1080 pixels) display with 3:2 aspect ratio and has a 4-row QWERTY physical backlit keyboard with keys that respond to touch gestures. It is powered by Snapdragon 660 SoC with 6GB of RAM, runs Android 8.1 (Oreo)  with Blackberry Security features, comes with a 12-megapixel dual rear cameras with 1.28 micrometer primary camera with Dual PDAF and an 8-megapixel front camera.

It features a series 7 aluminum frame, diamond patterned back with soft touch and packs a 3360mAh battery with Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 fast charging that promises 25 hours of battery life with mixed use.  It comes in Black color, is priced at Rs. 42,990 and will be available exclusively from Amazon.in starting 31st July.

Sony Mobile launched the Xperia XZ2, the company’s  flagship smartphone in India. It was introduced at the MWC 2018 in Barcelona earlier this year, packs a  5.7-inch Full HD+ 18:9 HDR screen with Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection, is powered by an Octa-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 Mobile Platform and runs Android 8.0 (Oreo). It has a 3D glass body and features the same Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection on the back. It also has front facing stereo speakers with S-Force Front Surround.

It comes in  Liquid Black color in India, is priced at Rs. 72,990 and will be available from August 1 through Sony Centre and select mobile stores in India.

Comio launched X1, the company’s latest smartphone in the ‘X series’ in India, after the launch of X1 Note. It has a 5.5-inch HD+ 18:9 display, is powered by a quad-core MediaTek processor with 2GB of RAM, runs Android 8.0 (Oreo), has a 13-megapixel rear camera with LED flash and a 8-megapixel front camera with LED flash, face unlock and portrait mode for both the front and rear cameras.

It comes in Red Hot, Sunrise Gold and Royal Black colors, is priced at Rs. 7499, and is available exclusively on Flipkart.

Lava launched Android Oreo (Go edition) smartphone Z61. It has a 5.45-inch HD+ Full View Full-lamination 2.5D curved glass display with Corning Gorilla Glass protection, is powered by a 1.5GHz Quad-Core processor with 1GB of RAM, has an 8-megapixel autofocus rear camera and a 5-megapixel front camera with screen and LED flash and Bokeh Mode.

It comes in Black and Gold colors, is priced at Rs. 5750 and will be available in more than 80,000 retail outlets. The Lava Z61 variant with 2GB RAM, Android 8.1 (Oreo) will be launched in August, 2018, but the pricing for it has not been announced yet.

Tecno launched the company’s latest mid-range Camon i Twin smartphone in India. It has a 6-inch HD+ 18:9 FullView display with 87.48% screen-to-body ratio, is powered by Snapdragon 425 with 3GB of RAM and runs on Android 8.1 (Oreo) with the company’s own HiOS on top. It has a 13-megapixel rear camera with Quad LED flash along with a secondary 2-megapixel camera for AI portrait shots and a 13-megapixel front camera with LED flash and AI beauty.  It comes in Midnight black and Champagne gold colors, is priced at Rs. 11,499 and is available from offline stores.

Samsung launched the new Gear IconX wireless earbuds in India. It has a lightweight, ergonomic design, offers  comfortable yet secure fit to last through the most intense activity. It features Bixby voice command support  which can be enabled by tapping and holding the earbud to use your voice to control your music or your phone as well.

It comes in Black colour, is priced at Rs. 13,990 at major retail outlets, Samsung Online Shop and Flipkart.

Panasonic TV

Panasonic India launched its new OLED TVs along with 11 models in the 4K segment. The new OLED line-up comes in 55-inch “FZ950” and 65-inch “FZ1000” series. The company says that both these series are equipped with features like “Hexa Chroma Drive PRO” color management system.

The OLED line-up comes in 55-inch and 65-inch and they starts at Rs 2,99,000. While the 4K series starts at Rs 65,000 in India.


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