| The Moto clan has set out some cut-throat competition in the mobile space, especially India. When we just thought how difficult it could be to dethrone the Moto devices, two companies are already in line to show they can offer more. The new Chinese entrant Xiaomi along with Asus has set the budget market on fire, while LG has finally launched its flagship in the country. Here’s a quick look at the hot launches for July.
LG G3
Following all the other leading phone makers, LG has finally launched its flagship smartphone G3 in India. At Rs 47,990, the LG G3 is a good pick as far as flagship Androids go. It has a rock-solid feature set backed up by very good design and build quality which makes it highly recommendable. The 2K display appears to be over-hyped, but the premium-looking device gets an excellent camera and 4G support. Read the complete LG G3 review. The 16GB variant of G3 is priced at Rs 47,990 while the 32GB model costs Rs 50,990. However, you can get it online for a price lesser by Rs 1,000. The G3 India launch offer also includes Rs 5,000 discount on the company’s all-new Android Wear-based G Watch.
LG G3 now in India
LG G3 now in India
Xiaomi Mi 3
Xiaomi made a grand entry into the Indian market with the Mi 3 earlier this month. In fact, its first batch of devices sold within an hour. The Mi 3 could be the company’s bestselling device yet and will go head-to-head with the high-end Android clan. At just Rs 13,999, it packs a Snapdragon 800, which is by far the cheapest high-end phone available in the market. It will compete with the likes of the Nexus 5, Galaxy S4, Xperia Z at nearly half the price. The quad-core processor has been being clocked at 2.3GHz and the chipset also has an Adreno 330 GPU. It includes 2GB of RAM, which is good enough to handle all those apps and services, running on the custom MiUI OS.
The hardware buttons on the right edge stick out far from the body
The hardware buttons on the right edge stick out far from the body
Xiaomi has released some benchmarks claiming that the Mi 3 is faster than some devices from big brands such as the Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One. It comes with a 13-megapixel rear snapper and a 2-megapixel front shooter for selfies. Besides, it features some other standard features such as dual LED flash, f/2.2 aperture and 28mm wide angle lens. The Mi-3 comes with a pretty impressive 3,050mAh battery. Read our complete Xiaomi Mi 3 review.
Xiaomi Redmi 1S, Redmi Note
Along with the Mi 3, Xiaomi has also launched the Redmi 1S, a low-end entry level model priced at Rs 6,999, and the slightly expensive Redmi Note phablet priced at Rs 9,999. The Redmi 1S sports a 4.7-inch 720p IPS display, and the other features include 1.6GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 quad-core processor coupled with 1GB RAM, 16GB onboard storage, microSD card slotand a 2000mAh battery. It runs Android 4.3 Jelly Bean with Xiaomi’s MIUI layer on top. One can also expect an 8MP rear shooter and a 1.6MP front camera.
Xiaomi's hot-seller RedMi Note comes to India
Xiaomi’s hot-seller RedMi Note comes to India
The Note has a larger 5.5-inch 720p IPS display and boasts of 1.7GHz MediaTek MT6592 octa-core processor. Other specs include 8GB onboard storage, microSD card slot up to 32GB, 3MP rear camera, 5MP front shooter for selfies and 3100mAh battery.
Asus Zenfone series
Earlier this month, Asus launched a series of new smartphones with varying screen sizes of 4, 4.5, 5 and 6 inches. The frontrunner in Asus’ latest smartphone range is a 6-inch phablet. It runs on a 2GHz Intel Atom dual-core processor, which Asus claims is faster than quad-core Cortex A7 class ARM processors. It features a decent 1280×720 pixel IPS display, 13MP rear camera with f/2.0 aperture and a 2MP front camera for video calls and self shots. It is available in 8GB, 16GB and 32GB variants, expandable up to 64GB.
Sitting in between the higher-end Zenfone 6 and low-end Zenfone 4 is the dual-SIM Zenfone 5, which features a 5-inch screen. The Zenfone 5 also has a 1280 x 720 pixel IPS display, but sports a 8MP rear camera. It also lacks the f/2.0 aperture for low light shots. There’s the standard 2MP camera for selfies and video calls. It runs on the same 2GHz Intel Atom dual-core processor as on the Zenfone 6, so it should be just as speedy. It’s available in both 8GB and 16GB versions and you can add up to 64GB with an microSD card. Read our Zenfone 5 review, to know more about the device.
Zenfone 4.5
Zenfone is available in varying screen sizes. The above image shows Zenfone 4.5
The youngest in the Zenfone family is the 4-inch and 4.5-inch Zenfone 4. The former has a screen resolution of 800×480 pixels, while the 4.5-inch model has a slightly higher 854×480 pixel resolution. It runs on a low-powered 1.2GHz Intel Atom dual-core processor, though it should be able to handle light web browsing and gaming with little effort. Both come with 1GB of RAM, and while the larger model has a 1750 mAh battery, the 4-inch model sports a 1600 mAh battery. It has a 5MP main camera and a 0.3MP front camera, and is available with 8GB storage.The larger phone has a 8MP front camera. Both are dual SIM phones and have 1 year’s warranty from Asus.
The 4-inch Zenfone 4 has been priced from Rs 5,999, while the 4.5-inch model has a price tag of Rs 7,499. The Zenfone 5 will come in two variants – 8 GB and 16 GB models, with prices starting from Rs 9,999. Finally, the Zenfone 6 has been priced at Rs 16,999. | | |
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