Weekly Wrap-Up #15 : Moto G4 Plus, Zenfone 3, Smartron tPhone, LG G5, Canvas Evok & More….

The weekly wrap-up covering all the latest developments in the smartphone industry is here. This week, we have some interesting launches from Indian manufacturers as well as from Chinese manufacturers. We also got some information about the upcoming devices, and there are official confirmations from few brands about the launch of their upcoming devices in the next few days.

 

• Xiaomi had launched the Redmi Note 3 on March 3rd this year in India. It came in two variants with 2GB and 3GB of RAM and are priced at Rs. 9,999 and Rs. 11,999 respectively. The device was made available through flash sales via Mi.com and Amazon India. Though the company also mentioned that the device will be available through other popular online stores as well, nothing happened till date. Hugo Barra, Global VP, Xiaomi’s claims to sold more than 6,00,000 handsets in just two months of weekly sales.

• Project Ara, which was announced by Google a couple of years, is back in the news. At the final day of I/O 2016, Google confirmed the device to be available for public starting from 2017. The company showcased the first prototype device at the MWC 2015 held in Barcelona. Last year, Google announced that the basic device will be costing only $50 and can be customized by adding modules on the rear. The magnetic effect firmly attaches the module to the device.

• After announcing the flagship LG G5 at the MWC, the company has officially launched the device in India. Though the exact availability date is still unknown but is now available for pre-order exclusively on Flipkart. It is priced at Rs. 52,990 and LG is offering Cam Plus, one of the friends of LG G5 for free. The pre-booking period ends on May 30th which hints the device may be available starting from May 31st. As of there is no information about the pricing of the modules such as  LG Rolling Bot, 360 VR, 360 CAM, Hi-Fi Plus with B&O Play, and few others.

• YU Televentures announced the new launch date of YU Yunicorn as May 31st. Earlier the company sent the media invites for May 19th but was later postponed due to elections. Since the exclusive deal with Cyanogen is said to be ended, the company might also unveil its own OS on the same stage. The device with the model number YU5530 which was spotted on online is rumored to be Yunicorn. It comes powered by Helio P10 octa-core processor clocked at 1.8GHz and includes 4GB of RAM.

• ASUS will be launching its upcoming flagship devices Zenfone 3, Zenfone 3 Deluxe, and Zenfone 3 Max on May 30th in Taiwan. The teaser suggests all the three devices come with a fingerprint sensor on the back. As announced earlier, these devices feature USB Type-C While the Zenfone 2 series devices are powered by Intel processors, the latest Zenfone 3 devices come with Snapdragon and MediaTek processor. The Zenfone 3 Deluxe and Zenfone 3 Max also comes with laser autofocus assisted rear cameras.

• OnePlus 3 is expected to be launched in the next couple of weeks but last week we got the glimpse of the design of it. The OnePlus 3 is highly inspired from HTC 10 and even the recently leaked images of Galaxy C5 and Galaxy C7 also suggest the same design. The physical home button and the alert slider that are introduced with the OnePlus 2 can also be found on this device. The USB Type-C port on OnePlus 3 is said to support fast charging. It comes powered by Snapdragon 820 SoC and might include 4GB and 6GB of RAM.

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• Micromax Canvas Evok – Rs. 8,499

Micromax Canvas Evok is the compnay’s most affordable smartphone with a Full HD resolution display. It is priced at Rs. 8,499 and is exlcusively sold online through Flipkart. It sports a 5.5-inch IPS with Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) resolution and comes protected by Gorilla Glass 3. Under the hood is the Snapdragon 415 quad-core processor coupled with Adreno 405 GPU and 3GB of RAM. It has 16GB internal storage that can be further expanded upto 64GB via MicroSD card slot.

The device comes several bloatware apps like Amazon, Cleam Master, Hike, Swift Key and many more. It features a 13MP rear camera with autofocus and LED flash, and a 5MP front camera which can record videos at 1080p resolution. The device is kept powered on by a 3,000mAh battery that can last upto 337 hours on standby. It supports dual SIM dual Standby and offers connectivity options like VoLTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and a MicroUSB 2.0 port.

• Lenovo Moto G4 & Moto G4 Plus – Rs. 13,499

Lenovo has officially launched the 2016 Moto G devices – Moto G4 and Moto G4 Plus in India last week. There is also an affordable Moto G4 Play, but the availability of the device in India is unknown. Both the Moto G4 and G4 Plus comes with the similar design, but the differences lie in the specifications part. Both the device comes with 5.5-inch Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) display with Gorilla Glass protection. The device runs on Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow out-of-the-box with no major customizations.

Under the hood, the devices are powered by Snapdragon 617 octa-core processor. Both the devices includes 2GB RAM and 16GB of storage and Mot G4 Plus additionally comes with 3GB/4GB RAM with 32GB/64GB of internal storage. The 3,000mAh battery is what keeps the device powered on. On Moto G4 Plus, there is a 16MP rear camera while the Moto G4 comes with 13MP sensor. On the front, both the devices feature 5MP sensor. The nano coating on the devices at least makes them splash proof.

• Coolpad Max – Rs. 24,999

After launching the three popular Note 3 series device under Rs. 10,000 price range, Coolpad now came up with a Rs.24,999 priced Coolpad Max. The device comes with an all metal build and feels slim in hand by measures just 7.6mm thickness. It will be available from May 30th exclusively on Amazon India in Royal Gold and Rose Gold colors. It runs on Android 5.1 Lollipop with highly customized CoolUI 8.0 laid on top. The device offers dual SIM dual Standby with 4G LTE connectivity.

The device features a 5.5-inch Full HD display along with 2.5D Gorilla Glass 4 protection. It is backed by Snapdragon 617 octa-core processor clocked at 1.5GHz along with 4GB of RAM. There is 64GB of internal storage that can be expanded additionally upto another 128GB. It comes with 13MP primary camera and a 5MP front camera. The Coolpad Max is powered by 2,800mAh battery along with Quick Charge 3.0 supported 9V/2A power adapter.

• Smartron tPhone – Rs. 22,999

After launching the Windows 10 powered Smartron tBook tablet last month, last week it has launched its first ever smartphone Smartron tPhone. It comes with a Gorilla Glass 3 protected 5.5-inch Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) AMOLED display. The device is powered by the last years Snapdragon 810 octa-core processor. It has 4GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard storage. The device offers dual SIM dual standby and runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow out-of-the-box.

Talking about the camera, the tPhone includes 13MP rear camera with dual tone LED flash and a 5MP selfie camera on the front.  It comes with USB Type-C port which supports Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 2.0. The 3,000mAh battery on this device might give at least a day of usage. It will be available in Orange, Grey, Blue and Pink colors. Coming to the pricing, it is priced at Rs. 22,999 which seems to be slightly overpriced.

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