Redmi 5A launched in India

Xiaomi Redmi 5A has been launched in India, following its launch in China in October. Marketed as the 'Desh ka Smartphone' in the country, the Redmi 5A has an entry-level price tag as well as specifications. The biggest highlight of the smartphone is the company's boast of an '8-day battery life', referring to standby time. The Redmi 5A will also come with MIUI 9 preloaded, which should help the battery performance of the smartphone. Otherwise, the smartphone isn't too much of an upgrade over its popular budget predecessor, the Xiaomi Redmi 4A, which still retails in the country for Rs. 5,999.

The dual-SIM (Nano+Nano) Xiaomi Redmi 5A runs MIUI 9 based on Android Nougat, and sports a 5-inch HD (720x1280 pixels) display with a pixel density of 296ppi. It is powered by a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 SoC that's clocked at up to 1.4GHz, coupled with 2GB or 3GB of RAM. The smartphone bears a 13-megapixel rear camera with an f/2.2 aperture, coupled with LED flash and PDAF. On the front, the Redmi 5A has a 5-megapixel camera with an f/2.0 aperture.

The Redmi 5A comes with 16GB or 32GB of inbuilt storage that can be expanded via microSD card (up to 128GB) in a hybrid dual-SIM configuration. Connectivity options on the smartphone include 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth v4.1, GPS/ A-GPS, Infrared, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a Micro-USB port. Sensors on board include an accelerometer, ambient light sensor, and a proximity sensor. It runs on a 3000mAh battery, with 5V/1A charging, rated to deliver up to 8 days of standby time, and 7 hours of video playback. It measures 140.4x70.1x8.35mm, and weighs 137 grams.

Xiaomi Redmi 5A price in India starts at Rs. 5,999 for the 2GB RAM, 16GB storage variant, and goes up to Rs. 6,999 for the 3GB RAM, 32GB storage variant. However, the first 5 million units of the 2GB RAM, 16GB storage will be available with a Rs. 1,000 discount, bringing the price down to Rs. 4,999 - making it the cheapest Xiaomi smartphone in the country. The smartphone will be available via Flipkart and Mi.com, and Mi Home Stores on December 7 at 12pm, before being made available via Xiaomi's offline retail partners across the country. The smartphone will be available in Dark Grey, Gold, and Rose Gold colour variants. Beyond the Rs. 1,000 discount, no launch offers have been mentioned yet.

OnePlus 5T gets an impressive Lava Red color

Just a week after its official launch on November 21, the OnePlus 5T made its way to India, and now China. The twist is that China gets an exclusive Lava Red color.

The OnePlus 5T official price around the world is $499/£449/€499 for the 6 GB RAM + 64 GB storage version, but in China it is a bit cheaper at CNY2,999 or around $454.

The catch is that it arrives without Google services. OnePlus optimized the OS for the Chinese market (which doesn't play well with Google services) and instead of OxygenOS 4.7, it will ship with HydrogenOS, still based on Android 7.1.1 Nougat. The 8 GB + 128 GB option is also cheaper - CNY3,499 or $530, as opposed to the global version, which costs $560.

The phone is available in the original Black in addition to the China-exclusive Lava Red color.

New Redmi series smartphone coming to India on 30 Nov

Redmi India on twitter teased that a new smartphone is coming to India on 30 Nov. 

The tweet says "A new Redmi smartphone is coming your way on Nov 30! Aa raha hai #DeshKaSmartphone"

Nokia 2 to hit India

HMD has announced the India launch date for its entry-level Nokia 2 smartphone. The device - which was officially unveiled in the Asian country late last month - will go on sale tomorrow, November 24.

The handset will cost INR 6,999 ($108). The phone will be available through offline retailers in Pewter/Black, Pewter/White and Copper/Black color schemes. There are also some launch offers for Reliance Jio and new Kotak bank customers.

Rose Gold Xiaomi Mi A1 now available in India

Xiaomi has announced that the Mi A1 will now be available in India in the Rose Gold color. The new color will be available starting midnight today IST on Mi.com.

The Mi A1 was announced back in September was only available in India in the Black and Gold variants, even though the Rose Gold variant was announced at launch. Starting today, however, customers waiting for the Rose Gold finish will finally be able to order one for themselves.

Apart from the color there isn't anything different about the device. We wish the company would have released the Android Oreo update by now, considering the whole Android One and quick updates directly from Google thing, but so far the device is still on Nougat.

OnePlus 3 and 3T users get a taste of Oreo

OnePlus announced the 5T last week with Android Nougat 7.1.1, but one year-old OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T are already getting the new Android 8.0 Oreo. The manufacturer announced on its forums that OxygenOS 5.0 is being pushed to a small number of users, with a broader roll-out to come in the following days.

Along with Android Oreo, the upgrade adds Parallel Apps and Picture-in-Picture features to the OnePlus phones. There is also Auto-fill and Smart text selection.

Android Oreo's Notification dots make it to the OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T users. The launcher also brings new app folder design.

Nokia 2: Cheapest Android from Nokia

The Nokia 2 became official at the end of October as Nokia's cheapest Android smartphone model yet. The device has already landed in Russia and South Africa, and the pre-orders are started in the US. Today the Nokia 2 has gone up for pre-order at online retailers such as Amazon, B&H, and Best Buy. Regardless of where you buy from, the phone is priced at $99.

It makes a decent back-up smartphone, especially when you factor in battery life - the Nokia 2 comes with a huge 4,100 mAh cell. Otherwise it's understandably low-end given the price, sporting a 5-inch 720p display, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of expandable storage, and the Snapdragon 212 chipset. The main camera is an 8 MP unit with LED flash, while for selfies you get a 5 MP sensor.
The release date for the Nokia 2 isn't yet mentioned by any of the retailers taking pre-orders, so we're left guessing on that front. Hopefully this will be made clear soon.

OnePlus 5T: Better and Beautiful

The OnePlus 5T is a hardware improvement based on community feedback over the OnePlus 5. The company cares a lot about things like the 3.5mm jack and super fast charging and that's a very good think in our opinion. The OnePlus 5T rocks the same software but changes are very visible in the hardware department.

The most visible change is the 6” Optic AMOLED display with 18:9 aspect ratio and 2160 x 1080 pixel resolution. The wider screen gobbles up the bezels, making for a more modern look – and more room for apps. The fingerprint reader has been relocated to the back and positioned very well.

You also get a new exciting Face unlock feature that is way faster when compared to the FaceID on the iPhone X but is less secure as it uses 100 facial features in comparison to 1000 facial features used on the iPhone X. It works in the dark too.

The dual camera configuration is changed - the zoom lens is dropped in favor of improved low-light performance and portrait mode. Both cameras have the same field of view, but the second cam has a new 20MP sensor and it matches the main cam with a bright f/1.7 aperture.

The same aperture allows the software to run Portrait mode without the need for cropping the images. And in the dark lighting conditions under 10 lux, the OnePlus 5T will switch over to the secondary camera and uses a technology OnePlus calls 'Intelligent Pixel tech' which combines 4 pixels into one to reduce noise.

The 5T is a bit taller than the 5 to accommodate the screen. It has the same battery capacity - 3,300mAh - along with the Dash Charge.

The internal hardware is kept same as the OnePlus 5. The phone is powered by the good ol' Snapdragon 835 chipset coupled with 6/8GB of ram with 64/128GB internal storage.  The storage is dual-lane UFS 2.1 for increased read/write performance.

Talking about the pricing, the device is priced same as the OnePlus 5! The 6GB/64GB variant is priced at INR32,999($499) while the 8GB/128GB variant is priced at INR37,999($559).

Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 rumors

Today, the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 smartphone has been listed on Chinese retailer JD.com, it is believed that the launch of the smartphone should be imminent. Do note that the listing suggests 8,888 Yuan as the phone’s pricing but that is just a place holder and doesn’t reflect the smartphone’s actual cost.

A couple of weeks ago, two smartphones, Redmi MET7 and Redmi MEE7 appeared through TENAA which are believed to be the variants of the Redmi Note 5 smartphone. Both devices differ in terms of memory and storage capacity only.

The Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 will be featuring a 5.9-inch Full HD IPS LCD display with a screen resolution 2160 x 1080 pixels and 18:9 aspect ratio. It will come with a full-screen design with thin bezels around the display.

Under the hood, it is powered by a 2.0GHz octa-core processor, but the chipset version is not yet known. We are expecting the device to be powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 processor.

The smartphone will be available in two variants — 3GB RAM with 32GB internal storage and 4GB RAM with 64GB of internal storage. It also has a microSD card slot, allowing users to expand the storage capacity.

In terms of software, the phone will run on Android 7.1.1 Nougat-based MIUI 9. It will be fuelled by a 4,000mAh battery. According to the earlier TENAA leak, the smartphone will be available in Black, Rose Gold, White, Blue, Gold, Pink, Red, Grey and Silver colour options.

While the pricing details on the JD.com listing of the device is symbolic, previous leaks related to the Redmi Note 5 suggests that the smartphone could be priced around 1,599 Yuan (~ INR16000).

Moto X4 launched in India

Motorola launched the Moto X4 in India yesterday. The device has an aluminum and glass body with IP68 dust and water resistance. It has a 5.2-inch, 1920x1080 IPS LCD screen with Corning Gorilla Glass. Running the whole mill is the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 processor with 3/4GB of RAM and 32/64GB of expandable storage.

On the back, the Moto X4 has a dual camera system, with a 12MP, f/2.0 main camera with dual pixel autofocus and a second 8MP f/2.2 wide-angle camera. Only the main camera is capable of capturing 4K 30fps video. On the front is a 16MP f/2.0 camera with flash. The device has a 3,000mAh internal battery and comes with 15W TurboPower charger.

The Moto X4 is priced at INR 20,999 ($322) for the 3+32GB variant and INR 22,999 ($353) for the 4+64GB variant. It will be available in Super Black and Sterling Blue colors.