Welcome back to our
weekly news recap. One of the highlights this week was the launch of the Redmi
5 in India .
Xiaomi has launched three variants of its latest smartphone, starting
at Rs. 7,999 for the 2GB RAM/ 16GB storage variant. The 3GB/ 32GB variant of
the Redmi 5 is priced in India
at Rs. 8,999, and the 4GB/ 64GB variant will be available at Rs. 10,999. Launch
offers include a Rs. 2,200 cashback for Reliance Jio, as well as a 5 percent
discount on Amazon India
and Mi.com for SBI credit cards holders.
The Redmi 5 has an 18:9 aspect ratio
5.7-inch HD+ display, is powered by an octa-core Snapdragon 450 SoC, and it has
a 12-megapixel rear camera, 5-megapixel front camera, and a 3300mAh battery. It
measures up well to other mid-range phones from the company on paper, although
our detailed review of the Redmi 5 will be coming soon, so stay tuned to
Gadgets 360 for that.
With the launch of the Redmi 5, the company also
announced a price cut for the Xiaomi Redmi 4. It’s not much though – the price
has only gone down by Rs. 500, and the cheapest 2GB RAM variant isn’t available
as of now. This means the Redmi 4 starts with the 3GB RAM variant at Rs. 8,499.
That’s almost the same price as the Redmi 5 3GB variant, which as mentioned
above, will sell for Rs. 8,999. The Redmi 4 has a bigger (4100mAh) battery, but
a smaller 5-inch display, and it runs on an older Snapdragon 435 chip.
Xiaomi also released a new colour option for
the Redmi 5A, it’s entry level phone, which will now also be available in
“Lake Blue ”. However, the inaugural discount
of Rs. 1,000 is now over, and the phone’s price has gone up to Rs. 5,999. The
dual-SIM Redmi 5A is still a good value buy, with its 5-inch HD display,
Snapdragon 450 SoC, 13-megapixel rear camera, 5-megapixel front camera, and
3000mAh battery, with 2GB/ 16GB and 3GB/ 32GB RAM and storage variants.
Redmi 5 v Redmi Note 5
v Redmi Note 5 Pro v Redmi 5A
Xiaomi also announced the Xiaomi Smartphone
Exchange Offer will now also be applicable on phones bought via Mi.com. Here’s
how it works. On the Mi.com website, you can visit the exchange page to get a
valuation for your handset, based on the IMEI number, and if you accept the
valuation, then this amount is presented to you as a coupon. When you are
buying a smartphone on Mi.com, entering this coupon will reduce the price by
the exchange amount. When your new Xiaomi smartphone is delivered, you only
need to hand over your old phone.
Xiaomi says that as long as the old phone is
working, and has no physical damage, it will be accepted for the exchange. At
the time of handover, the delivery executive will check the phone to make sure
there’s no damage, and that you’ve disabled all screen locks and other
passwords. Obviously, you should fully reset the phone before handing it over.
There has been a flurry of leaks on the
upcoming Vivo V9, which is going to launch in India on March 23. Early this week,
live images of the phone were leaked, revealing its design which has thin
bezels on the sides, dual rear cameras in a vertical alignment along with the
fingerprint sensor on the back, and a notch design like the iPhone X. A retail
box leak from Indonesia
gave some more details away, including the price in that market – IDR 4,999,000
(roughly Rs. 23,700).
Specifications listed in the Vivo V9 leak
mention a 6.0-inch full-HD+ display, Snapdragon 660 SoC, 4GB of RAM, 64GB
storage, and a 12-megapixel and 8-megapixel combo on the rear camera. It is
also said to have a 24-megapixel wide angle selfie camera, a 3250mAh battery
and a face unlock feature. However, another leak from Vivo’s Indian e-commerce
portal contradicts this, just a little. There, the Vivo V9 is listed as having
a 6.3-inch full-HD+ display, and a Snapdragon 626 SoC. It also mentions a
16-megapixel and 5-megapixel rear combo, although the rest appears to be the
same.
There were also teasers about the upcoming
Oppo F7, which will launch on March 26, and then the details were also
officially confirmed. At the start of the week, we knew that the phone would
bear an iPhone X-like notch design, and would have a 6.28-inch display with a
“full-screen” design. The official confirmation however reveals that it’s
actually a 6.2-inch display, although the notch is present as expected, with
the narrow 19:9 aspect ratio.
Oppo has specified that it will use a number
of AI powered features to make the Oppo F7 stand out, and also, will support
gesture controls for navigation between apps. Oppo also said it will have an
app-in-app view, and will allow you to record and share videos of games running
on the phone.
Other hardware specifications have not been
confirmed yet, but we know that the Oppo F7 will come with a 25-megapixel
selfie camera, and it will support features like beautification and real-time
HDR, as well as AR stickers. Pricing and availability will also only be
announced at the launch that’s scheduled for Monday, March 26.
Meanwhile, Samsung’s latest flagship phones,
the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy S9+ (review), are now on sale in India . Samsung launched the two
phones at MWC 2018 in Barcelona ,
and although they are pretty similar to the previous models, new features
include faster processors, better cameras, AR emoji, and dual speakers. The
Galaxy S9 starts in India
at Rs. 57,900 for the 64GB model, while the Galaxy S9+ starts at Rs. 64,900 for
the 64GB model.
There are a number of offers available in case
you are planning on buying one of these two phones. With Airtel, you can get
the phones for Rs. 2,499 a month (Rs. 2,799 per month for the Galaxy S9+), for
two years, with a downpayment of Rs. 9,900 for the 64GB models, or Rs. 17,900
for the 256GB models. With this, you also get Airtel’s Rs. 2,499 plan, which
gives unlimited calling, one year of Amazon Prime, and 80GB 4G data (with
rollover).
On the other hand, you could pick up the
Galaxy S9+ 256GB via Jio stores if you have a Reliance Jio connection. There,
the phone is being offered with a buyback and cashback via Jio. If you cross a
total recharge value of Rs. 2,500 in the first 12 months of purchase, you can
return the phone for a 70 percent buyback; and aside from this, there is also a
Rs. 6,000 cashback on the phone.
Samsung Galaxy S9 and Galaxy
S9+ Review
Last week, popular multiplayer shooter Fortnite
Battle Royale was announced for mobile, and crossplay between the Xbox One, PC,
and mobile was announced. The first trailer came this week, showing how the
game looks on an iPhone X, and since then, Gadgets 360 has had a chance to try
out the game on iOS. It’s a surprisingly small 2GB download, that looks good,
but with crossplay between platforms, it’s going to be interesting to see how
it measures up in terms of controls.
In our time with Fortnite on iOS, we found it
looked impressive, bringing the huge map and even the detail on character
models to the small screen. It was a little cluttered on a phone, though, and
since it keeps all the traversal options such as jumping and ducking, the
screen is pretty crowded. Aiming is also a challenge with Fortnite on iOS, as
you have to use one finger to move, while dragging on the screen to aim, and
then using another finger to shoot – it was easier to use melee attacks rather
than gunning people down. Clearly, horsepower isn’t the concern anymore, though
controls remain a challenge on mobiles.
Meanwhile, WhatsApp payments continue to
evolve. One of the problems that had been pointed out with the company’s
implementation of the UPI payments platform was that it didn’t let you easily
send money to people who were using other UPI apps, such as PhonePe, or Paytm.
WhatsApp has now added a Send to UPI ID option that’s visible when you try to
send money to anyone who does not have a WhatsApp payments ID, making it easier
to use.
At the same time, WhatsApp
for Android also got new features that make groups more useful – you can now
add a group description, or search for users in groups, which can be handy if
you’re trying to find one particular person in a large group chat. The update
also allows you to easily switch between voice and video calls – something that
was first seen in the WhatsApp beta for Android in January.
Another phone that could do well in the
entry-level was also launched this week – priced at Rs. 7,999, the Micromax
Bharat 5 Pro has 3GB RAM and 32GB storage, along with a 5000mAh battery. The
phone can also be used as a powerbank to charge up other devices if you
require. It has a 5.2-inch HD display, and a 13-megapixel rear camera, along
with a 5-megapixel front camera.
The Huawei Y9 (2018) has been launched in Thailand . The
new phone has the same specifications as the previously launched Huawei Mate 10
Lite and Honor 9i. It has a 5.93-inch full-HD+ 18:9 aspect ratio display, and
is powered by the octa-core Kirin 659 SoC, with 3GB of RAM. It has a 13-megapixel
and 2-megapixel sensor combo on the back, while there’s a 16-megapixel and
2-megapixel sensor combo on the front; and it has 32GB of onboard storage along
with a 4000mAh battery. Pricing and availability were not announced.
Huawei P20 Lite Hands-On Videos Surface
Online Ahead of March 27 Launch
In Poland , Huawei listed the P20 Lite
on its official website, with a pre-order price of PLN 1,599, or roughly Rs.
30,300. This phone has a 5.84-inch full-HD+ 19:9 aspect ratio display, with a
vertical dual camera setup on the rear, with a 16-megapixel and 2-megapixel
sensor combination, and there’s 4GB RAM, 64GB storage, and a 3000mAh battery.
It also launched the Huawei Nova 2 Lite in the Philippines . It’s a 5.99-inch phone
with an 18:9 aspect ratio display, a Snapdragon 320, and 3GB RAM, 32GB storage.
Huawei brand Honor on Monday announced the launch of its latest budget
smartphone in China
– the Honor 7C. The phone starts at CNY 899, roughly Rs. 9,200, and has a
5.99-inch HD+ display, a Snapdragon 450 SoC, and 3GB RAM.
There were also some other interesting leaks.
For one thing, we’re getting close to the launch of both the Moto G6 and the
Moto E5. A report claims the two phones have been listed on certification
sites, and so far, the listings suggest that the Moto G6 Plus will have a
Snapdragon 630 SoC, 4GB/ 6GB RAM variants with a 5.93-inch full-HD+ display.
The Moto 6 Play is expected to have a 3GB RAM/ 32GB storage, and a 4GB/ 64GB
variant, according to reports.
There were also a couple of leaks about the OnePlus
6 – according to one report, it’s umoured to deliver blazingly fast data speeds
using Cat. 16 Gigabit LTE connectivity. It’s likely to come through the X20 LTE
modem in the Snapdragon 845 SoC, which will deliver a much faster experience
than earlier OnePlus handsets were capable of. The Cat. 12 LTE in the OnePlus 5
and the OnePlus 5T were capable of speeds up to 600Mbps, while the OnePlus 6
will be able to support 1Gbps LTE transfer speeds.
Meanwhile, the latest OnePlus OxygenOS
firmware update also revealed some developments about the OnePlus 6 – for one,
it’s codename, ‘enchilada’ – and for another, confirmation of the iPhone X-like
notch in the display. The latest findings emerge days after the AnTuTu score of
the OnePlus 6 spotted online, revealing its 19:9 display and Snapdragon 845
SoC. OnePlus is expected to launch the OnePlus 6 in the second quarter of 2018,
sometime before June end.
There were some other leaks too. For one, we
got a look at HTC’s next, as the HTC U12+ design renders were leaked. The phone
is expected in May this year, and will likely have a 5.99-inch QHD+ display.
It’s also likely to have a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC, 6GB RAM, 64GB/ 128GB of
storage, and a 3240mAh battery, with a 16-megapixel and 12-megapixel rear
camera setup, and an 8-megapixel front camera. Meanwhile the Vivo X21, which
has an under-display fingerprint sensor, is expected to launch in China on
Monday, March 19. Not much else is known about the phone right now, but we’re
expecting a mid-range Qualcomm Snapdragon SoC.
There’s also the Xiaomi Blackshark, a gaming
phone from the Chinese company, which was spotted on Geekbench. The phone
allegedly has a Snapdragon 845 SoC, and 8GB RAM, along with 32GB storage, and a
full-HD+ display. There’s not much else to mark it out as a gaming phone, but
it definitely has top-end specifications. Also spotted on Geekbench, there’s a
listing of the Asus ZenFone 5 Max, with a Snapdragon 660 SoC. According to the
listing, the phone will also have 4GB of RAM. Other reports suggest that the
phone will have a 57-inch bezel-less 18:9 aspect ratio display, and that it
will have a dual-rear camera setup.
Finally, some interesting
news from Google – in India ,
the Google Assistant is now available in Hindi, which follows after Google
launched a special version of Assistant with Hindi support for the Jio Phone.
With the latest development, Google Assistant has once again made the
competition difficult for Amazon Alexa and Apple’s Siri that both are yet to
add Hindi support. The arrival of Hindi Google Assistant also make the space
for the launch of Google Home smart speaker range. Users speaking Hindi can
access the new support to send text messages, set reminders, or get directions
directly through Google Assistant. For instance, you can instruct Google
Assistant “Kal subah mujhe saat baje jagaao” to set an alarm for 7am. You can also
similarly ask “Cricket ka score kya hain?” to get cricket score updates.
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