Huawei Honor 5X, Oppo F1 and more! Six upcoming smartphone launches to watch out for

As we step into the New Year, the competition gets even fierce among smartphone manufacturers. There are numerous devices already lined up to be launched soon. Those looking for an upgrade, we got a list of devices expected to be launched in the next two months. Have a look!

Xiaomi Mi 5

 Chinese brands are slowly shedding their stereotype image in India and brands like Xiaomi and several others are quite popular here. Those waiting for the flagship from Xiaomi will be pleased to know that the company is finally expected to launch the Mi 5 this month. This is one of the most awaited devices of 2016. While several details still remain unclear, knowing how important India is to Xiaomi’s smartphone market, it will reach here eventually. Rumours suggest that Xiaomi will offer two variants. While there have been plenty of the rumours about the first model, that is expected to sport a Full HD display and curved 3D-glass back, there is a second model is said to sport a similar design but packing an all-metal contruction with a QHD (2560 x 1440 pixel) display. The premium variant of the Mi 5 is rumoured to include 4GB of RAM, which is up from the expected 3GB on the standard version and 64GB of internal storage compared to the 32GB base version onboard the standard Mi 5. The rest of hardware details including the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chipset are expected to remain the same. You can expect a 20MP camera on the back and an 8MP unit for selfies. Also set to make an appearance is a USB Type-C port at the bottom of the smartphone. Huawei Honor 5x 

Huawei, is yet another Chinese vendor, who is prepping for the launch of its latest device this month.  The company is all set to launch the Honor 5X in India on 28 January. The Honor 5X has already made its debut in China. Sporting a 5.5-inch Full HD display with 1080 x 1920 pixels of resolution, it comes powered by a 64-bit octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 SoC. The 16GB onboard storage is expandable up to 128GB via microSD card slot.

On the camera front, one can expect a 13MP rear snapper and a 5MP front-facing camera. The connectivity options include Bluetooth 4.1, USB 2.0, GPS, A-GPS, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n and 4G. It alos gets a fingerprint scanner. A 3000mAh battery completes the package and it also supports Quick Charge 3.0.

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Oppo F1

Oppo, who has ramped up efforts to make its presence felt in India, is expected to unveil the Oppo F1 on January 28. The new F series will make photography its central focus. The F1  features a 5-inch display with a 720 x 1280 pixel resolution along with a 2.5D Gorilla Glass 4 coating for protection along with a 294ppi. It is powered by a 1.7GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 616 processor paired with 3GB RAM. It offers an inbuilt storage of 16GB which can be further expanded up to 128GB via microSD card.

The Oppo F1 runs Android 5.1 Lollipop with a layer of Color 2.1 on top. On the camera front, the smartphone comes equipped with a 13MP rear camera along with a single LED flash. For selfie lovers, the device includes an 8MP camera with additional features such as Beauty 3.0, live color filters and more. A 2500mAh battery completes the package. Letv Le Max Pro   Letv has caught a great deal of attention with its Max Pro, which will sport a Qualcomm 820 chipset. Though the company will enter India on January 20, looks like everyone cannot wait to get a glimpse of the device. Letv will be the first to roll out commercial devices integrating 802.1 1ad multi-band wireless connectivity with up to 4.6 Gbps speeds and nearly uncompressed content transfer. The Le Max Pro would also include Snapdragon Sense ID fingerprint technology, which now has liveness detection feature that ensures an actual finger is being used for biometric authentication. On the specifications front, the device features a 6.33-inch IPS LCD display with a 2560 x 1440 resolution, resulting in a pixel density of 464 ppi. It will be available in 32GB, 64GB or 128GB storage variants without a microSD card slot, along with 4GB RAM. In addition, it will also come equipped with a 21MP rear camera, 2MP ‘Ultrapixel’ front-facing camera, Android 6.0 Marshmallow with LeTV’s EUI and a 3400mAh battery.

Samsung Galaxy S7

[caption id=“attachment_285633” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”]  File photo of Samsung Galaxy S6 edge+ phone[/caption]

Another anticipated as well as much talked about device is the Galaxy S7, rumoured to be unveiled in February. We’ve officially reached the seventh generation of Samsung’s Galaxy series and eager fans are really hoping that the upcoming Galaxy S7 will match their expectations. According to leaks, Samsung might surprise us with two variants. One will come with a larger 5.7-inch display with 2560 x 1440 resolution just as the S6 Edge+ and another a  5.1-inch model.

The device is also said to get a 12.2MP rear camera, but come with larger pixels than the 16MP sensor seen in the previous device. The front camera listed is 5MP, but it is highly speculated that the company will opt for an 8MP front-facing camera. The image also gives a sneak peak into the specs which include 4GB of RAM, Quad-HD display resolution, fingerprint sensor and the highlight could be the powerful Snapdragon 820 processor. The Galaxy S7 could also feature microSD slots, supporting cards up to 200GB and also brings back dust-and water-resistance capabilities. Xiaomi Redmi Note 3  After being launched in China, Xiaomi will unveil the Redmi Note 3 in India this month itself. As of now, no dates have been announced. The smartphone comes with a 5.5-inch display with 1920 x 1080 pixels of resolution, that takes the pixel density all the way up to 403 ppi. It gets a 13MP rear snapper with PDAF Autofocus and a 5MP front-facing camera. We’d recently got to spend some time with the Redmi Note 3 and in our very limited time, we found it to be a worthy upgrade over its predecessor. It has got some nifty improvements and quite capable of taking the lineage forward. Read our Redmi Note 3 first impressions .