INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The past week had its fair share of news
We saw some major smartphone launches across the world, and a couple of those were launched simultaneously in India, including the OnePlus 6
The Chinese company's latest flagship smartphone was unveiled globally and in India earlier this week, with sales beginning from Monday,
The OnePlus 6 is an effort to capitalise on the market's most followed trends, sporting an iPhone X-style notch on its bezel-less display,
dual cameras, and an all-glass body.The OnePlus 6 has been launched in three different RAM/ storage options - 6GB/ 64GB, 8GB/ 128GB, and
The smartphone will also be available in three colour options in the country - Midnight Black, Mirror Black, and Silk White Limited Edition
The OnePlus 6 price in India starts at Rs
34,999 for the 6GB/ 64GB model (available only in Mirror Black), going up to Rs
39,999 for the 8GB/ 128GB model (available in Midnight Black, Mirror Black, and Silk White Limited Edition)
The company has only brought a special edition model for its 8GB/ 256GB variant in India - the OnePlus 6 Marvel Avengers Limited edition -
which has been priced at Rs
pop-up stores in 8 cities across the country, apart from the OnePlus site
Open sales will begin from May 22, on Amazon India, Croma, the OnePlus site, as well as pop-up stores
Launch offers include a Rs
2,000 discount for buyers using SBI credit and debit cards (available only during the first week of the sale), as well as no cost EMI
OnePlus 6 buyers also get complimentary 12-month accidental damage insurance by Servify, an Amazon Prime Video gift card worth Rs
500 discount on Amazon Kindle ebooks, apart from a Rs
2,000 cashback and dedicated device insurance from Idea
Buyers will also get ClearTrip flight and hotel bookings benefits worth up to Rs
25,000.The OnePlus 6 bears some similarities with the OnePlus 5T, last year's flagship
It has a bezel-less display, albeit larger and taller at 6.28 inches with a 19:9 aspect ratio, sports this year's top-of-the-line mobile
SoC - the Snapdragon 845 - and offers up to 8GB of RAM
It also has a dual rear camera setup, but with newer 16-megapixel and 20-megapixel sensors compared to last time, also offering up to 480fps
slow motion video recording
A similar refresh is seen on the 16-megapixel front camera
There's a brand new 256GB storage option, while the company has decided to retain the 3300mAh battery.OnePlus 6 vs OnePlus 5T: What's
new X-Series since it took over the brand 1.5 years ago
The Nokia X6 - which has been launched in China only as of now - sports a dual rear camera setup with AI and HDR features, a bezel-less
display with a 19:9 ratio and an iPhone X-like notch, up to 6GB of RAM, apart from the popular new Snapdragon 636 SoC.The Nokia X6 price
starts at CNY 1,299 (roughly Rs
13,800) for the 4GB RAM, 32GB storage variant, with the 4GB RAM, 64GB storage variant priced at CNY 1,499 (roughly Rs
16,000), and the 6GB RAM, 64GB storage variant priced at CNY 1,699 (roughly Rs
While no plans for bringing the smartphone to global markets were announced at the China launch, HMD Chief Product Officer Juho Sarvikas
revealed the company was evaluating the feasibility of such a move with a Twitter poll asking users their opinion.OnePlus 6 First
Do Not Disturb mode for gaming
The smartphone may make its way to India in the foreseeable future, and when it does, at its price range and with the same SoC, it looks set
to compete with the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro and the Asus ZenFone Max Pro M1
It goes on sale on Monday, May 21 in China.Next up, is the launch of a new brand by Oppo in India - Realme
The company is aiming at the Indian youth with this e-commerce only brand that will have offerings in the Rs
20,000 segment, though some more premium models have also been planned
The first smartphone in this series - Realme 1 - was launched exclusively via Amazon India
The Realme 1 price in India starts at Rs
8,990 for the 3GB RAM/ 32GB storage variant, with the 4GB RAM/ 64GB storage variant priced at Rs
10,990, and the 6GB RAM/ 128GB storage variant priced at Rs
13,990.The Realme 1 runs ColorOS 5.0 based on Android 8.1 Oreo, sports a 6-inch full-HD+ (1080x2160 pixels) display in an 18:9 ratio, a
MediaTek Helio P60 SoC, a 13-megapixel rear camera, an 8-megapixel front camera, a dedicated microSD card slot, and a 3410mAh battery
It also offers Oppo's AI Beauty 2.0 feature, face recognition and Face Unlock (said to unlock the smartphone in 0.1 seconds), and notably,
Previously, prepaid users with a pack value of less than Rs
995 stopped receiving mobile data once their FUP limit expired
Now, users can enjoy speeds of up to 128Kbps until they next recharge
The move brings it in line with BSNL, which offers 128Kbps speeds to users whose plans run out, while Reliance Jio recently dropped its
post-FUP speeds to 64Kbps
Separately, Airtel's Telenor merger deal received approval from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), which said it had transferred
all licences and liabilities of Telenor India to Bharti Airtel.The Airtel-Telenor merger had received approval from the Securities and
Exchange Board of India (SEBI), BSE, National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE), and Competition Commission of India (CCI) in June last
The telco earlier this week also unveiled a new Rs
149 prepaid recharge pack that offers 28GB of 3G/ 4G data for 28 days - with a daily cap of 1GB data
The pack also offers unlimited local, STD, and roaming calls, apart from 100 free SMS messages per day
Another piece of Airtel related news was Reliance Jio's complaint to the DoT, saying Airtel had violated Access Services Licence norms by
placing some part of its eSIM network infrastructure, used to facilitate Apple Watch Cellular services, outside of the country
announcements to make this week, with a new Rs
118 prepaid pack that gives 1GB of data with unlimited calls and a free PRBT tune, as well as a new Rs
98 recharge pack that offers 1.5GB data a day for 26 days
Idea had two new add-on Internet packs for prepaid users, with a Rs
92 plan offering 6GB of 3G/ 2G data for a day, and a Rs
53 pack offering 3GB of 3G/ 2G data.Amongst the other smartphone launches this week, the Honor 10 stands out
The latest flagship smartphone from the Huawei sub-brand, the Honor 10 was simultaneously launched in Europe and India with an unveiling in
To recall, the smartphone had first been unveiled in China earlier this year
Featuring a dual rear camera setup, a stylish finish, and an AI-based UI and processor, the Honor 10 price in India is set at Rs
32,999 - and only a single 6GB RAM/ 128GB storage variant has been launched
launched this week is the Honor Play 7
The Huawei sub-brand unveiled the smartphone in China, a budget smartphone with an 18:9 display and a 24-megapixel selfie camera
It is priced at CNY 599 (roughly Rs
6,400) and already on sale in the country
In related news, the Honor 7A and Honor 7C are set to launch in the Indian market at an event on Tuesday, and they will be exclusive to
Flipkart, Gadgets 360 has learnt
Both smartphones will also be priced below Rs
10,000.Other smartphones launched this week include the Asus ZenFone Live L1's regular variant, not running Android Go like the ZenFone
Live L1 launched earlier this month
The Moto 1s was also launched in China, and is essentially a rebranded version of the Moto G6 that runs Lenovo's ZUI 3.5 skin on top of
Android 8.0 Oreo instead of stock Android.Alongside, Motorola India teased that the Moto G6 and Moto G6 Play would soon make their way to
Another smartphone launch of mention is the Kult Impulse, which sports a 5.99-inch 18:9 display and a pair of 13-megapixel cameras at the
Google revamped its YouTube Red service, and announced the launch of its YouTube Music service, which will be set for May 22 in the US
YouTube Red's ad-free version will be called YouTube Premium
Airtel and Amazon India entered a partnership where the telco offered cashbacks on a range of Amazon exclusive 4G smartphones
Samsung stopped, and then resumed, its Android 8.0 Oreo update rollout for the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge due to unexpected reboot issues
being faced by a small number of users.Valve, the company behind behemoth PC game distribution service Steam, also was also learnt to be
informing Steam game developers who do not censor sexual content from their games will have the titles removed from the platform - a major
move that has the developer and gamer community up in arms.An IDC report also claimed that Xiaomi led smartphone shipments in India in Q1
2018, with a 30.3 percent market share, ahead of Samsung's 25.1 share
The same report said the Jio Phone helped the 4G feature phone market in the country grow, with the phone taking a 38.4 percent share of the
Xiaomi separately, in what appears to be a response to the launch of the OnePlus 6 in India, announced another price cut for its Mi Mix 2
smartphone in the country - its current top-end offering for India - it is now available for Rs
29,999, down from its launch price of Rs
The most interesting of these leaks spoke about new handsets like the Redmi S1, Redmi S3, Mi Mix 3s, Mi S1, Mi S2, Mi S3, Redmi A1, Redmi
A2, Redmi Note 6, Redmi Note 6A, and Redmi 6 Plus, but didn't provide many details beyond tipping that they were indeed upcoming.Another
Xiaomi leak saw the Xiaomi E6 and Xiaomi Strakz phones being spotted on Geekbench, revealing a few specifications
Finally, a report claims Xiaomi is planning on launching the anniversary edition Mi smartphone, the Mi 8, at an event in Shenzhen, China on
No official details about this launch have yet been released by the company, so its best to take this news with a pinch of salt
A retail box, front panel, and also a hands-on video of the in-display fingerprint sensor of the Xiaomi Mi 8 were also leaked over the
