Oppo F9 Pro price in India, Poco F1 specifications, and the Nokia 6.1 Plus release date were revealed this week.
Oppo F9 Pro, Xiaomi’s Poco F1, and the Nokia 6.1 Plus India launches were arguably the biggest pieces of news this week, with each of these targeting a different price point, demographic, and feature set. Starting with Oppo, the company has launched two models in its F9 series in India — the Oppo F9 and Oppo F9 Pro. While the former is priced at Rs. 19,990, the price in India of the latter is Rs. 23,990. The Oppo F9 Pro will go on sale from August 31 across online and offline retailers, while the Oppo F9 will become available to buy ‘soon’.
The only difference between the Oppo F9 and Oppo F9 Pro is the amount of RAM on board — the former has 4GB of RAM, while the latter has 6GB of RAM — both come with 64GB of inbuilt storage, expandable via microSD card (up to 256GB). The rest of the specifications of the smartphones are identical. The dual-SIM smartphones run Android 8.1 Oreo-based ColorOS 5.2, and bear 6.3-inch full-HD+ (1080×2340 pixels) displays with a 19.5:9 aspect ratio.
Powered by an octa-core MediaTek Helio P60 SoC, the Oppo F9 and Oppo F9 Pro feature a dual rear camera setup with a 16-megapixel primary sensor and a 2-megapixel secondary sensor, as well as a 25-megapixel front facing camera. They are powered by 3,500mAh batteries and support VOOC fast charging tech. Both smartphones will be available in Starry Purple, Sunrise Red, and Twilight Blue.
Oppo F9 Pro and Oppo F9 First Impressions
Xiaomi’s new Poco sub-brand, focused on ‘speed’, was launched in India this week, ahead of global launches in Hong Kong, Jakarta, and Paris next week. The highlights of the brand’s first offering, the Poco F1, are the fact it bears the top-end Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 SoC, while also sporting the dual rear camera design of the company’s other flagships, at a staggeringly low starting price of Rs. 20,999. It has been launched in 3 RAM/ storage capacities, with the 6GB RAM/ 64GB storage version being the base model, while the 6GB RAM/ 128GB storage model is priced at Rs. 23,999, and the 8GB/ 256GB storage variant priced at Rs. 28,999. These three Poco F1 models are available in three colour options — Graphite Black, Rosso Red, and Steel Blue.
There’s also a fourth option for the top-model — an Armoured Edition — featuring ‘real Kevlar’ on the back panel and priced at Rs. 29,999. The other models use a polycarbonate back. The Poco F1 will go on sale for the first time on Wednesday, 12pm IST on Flipkart and Mi.com. We’ve already described the innards and SKUs, but as for other specifications, let’s note that the Poco F1 runs a speed-optimised version of Xiaomi’s custom Android ROM called MIUI for Poco. Currently based on Android 8.1 Oreo, the company says an Android 9.0 Pie-based build will also make its way to the handset. Besides this, Poco has also released a launcher that can be used for other MIUI-based phones, and it’s currently available as an APK file.
Other Poco F1 specifications include a 6.18-inch (1080×2246) display with 2.5D curved Gorilla Glass 3 protection; a dual camera setup with a primary 12-megapixel Sony IMX363 sensor and a 5-megapixel secondary depth sensor from Samsung; there’s a 20-megapixel camera at the front with HDR and AI Beautify features; storage is expandable via microSD card (up to 256GB), and a 4,000mAh battery.
Xiaomi Poco F1 First Impressions
As we mentioned, this week, Nokia mobile brand licensee HMD Global also launched the Nokia 6.1 Plus smartphone in India. The smartphone is the global variant of the Nokia X6, that was launched exclusively in China back in May. It arrived in its present avatar in Hong Kong for the first time last month. At the New Delhi launch event, HMD Global also announced the Nokia 5.1 Plus, which similarly is the global variant of the Nokia X5, for India, saying it would become available to buy sometime in September.
The Nokia 6.1 Plus has been launched in a single RAM/ inbuilt storage variant in India — 4GB/ 64GB — and it has been priced at Rs. 15,999. It will be available in Gloss Black, Gloss Midnight Blue, and Gloss White colour variants from Flipkart and the Nokia online store from August 31, with pre-orders currently ongoing. The smartphone’s highlights include the fact that it is part of the Android One programme, giving it a Google-certified stock Android experience, complete with the promise of timely version and security updates.
Other specifications of the Nokia 6.1 Plus include dual-SIM (Nano) support; a 5.8-inch full-HD+ (1080×2280 pixels) display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection; an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 SoC; a dual rear camera setup with a 16-megapixel primary sensor and a 5-megapixel secondary monochrome sensor; a 16-megapixel front camera sensor; inbuilt storage expandable via microSD card (up to 400GB), and a 3,060mAh battery. HMD Global did not detail the Nokia 5.1 Plus price in India, but did reveal it will sport an EUR 199 (roughly Rs. 15,000) price tag.
Nokia 6.1 Plus and Nokia 5.1 Plus First Impressions
Apart from the above three highlights, major smartphone launches this week included the arrival of the Samsung Galaxy A8 Star. Without any fanfare, the South Korean consumer electronics giant on Friday launched the smartphone in the country via Amazon India. A premium Galaxy A-series smartphone, the Galaxy A8 Star is priced at Rs. 34,990, and its biggest highlights are its Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 SoC, massive 6.3-inch Super AMOLED Infinity Display, 6GB of RAM, a dual rear camera setup, and a massive 24-megapixel front camera. It will go on sale from Monday, August 27 in the country. To recall, it was originally launched as the Galaxy A9 Star in China, before being rebranded as the Galaxy A8 Star in other regions.
Samsung this week also officially launched the Galaxy Note 9 in India, though it had revealed its prices when putting it up for pre-orders right after its global launch. Online, the smartphone is available via Amazon India, Flipkart, Paytm Mall, and the Samsung Mobile Store. It is also available via Airtel, which is offering it with a downpayment of Rs. 7,900. Offline, it is available via retail partners.
This week also saw the launch of the first Android Go smartphone from Samsung. Featuring some amount of customisation over Android 8.1 Oreo (Go edition), the Samsung Galaxy J2 Core’s price has yet to be revealed by the South Korean company. It features low-end specifications, such as a 5-inch qHD display, an Exynos 7570 SoC, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of inbuilt storage, an 8-megapixel rear camera and a 5-megapixel front camera.
Chinese smartphone brand Homtom entered the Indian market this week, with three budget smartphones — the H1, H3, and H5 — priced at Rs. 7,490, Rs. 9,990, and Rs. 10,990 respectively. The company says it plans to start manufacturing in India under the Make in India initiative. Speaking of Chinese smartphone manufacturers, Oppo had another announcement to make this week — the launch of the Oppo A5 in India. The smartphone, which features a dual rear camera setup and a display notch, is priced at Rs. 14,990 (MOP) and it went on sale in the country on Saturday. It was launched in China in July.
Xiaomi Poco F1 vs Oppo F9 Pro: Price in India, Specifications, Features Compared
Oppo this week also launched the Oppo R17 Pro and Oppo R17 in China, its latest flagship models. The former is priced at CNY 4,299 (roughly Rs. 43,800), while the latter is priced starting CNY 3,199 (roughly Rs. 32,600). To recall, Oppo had detailed the specifications of the Oppo R17 earlier this month, but only just launched both the smartphones.
Lava this week launched a new budget smartphone in India, an Android Go offering called Lava Z60s. Priced at Rs. 4,949, it will be available in Black and Gold colour options. It offers low-end specifications, such as a 5-inch HD display, a quad-core SoC, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of inbuilt storage, and 5-megapixel cameras at both the front and back.
Transsion Holdings-owned smartphone brand Infinix on Thursday launched the Note 5 in India, priced at Rs. 9,999 (MOP) for the 3GB RAM/ 32GB storage option, and Rs. 11,999 for the 4GB RAM/ 64GB storage option. It will go on sale via Flipkart from Friday, August 31. Unlike most other offerings from the company, the Infinix Note 5 is an Android One smartphone, and comes with Google offerings such as Google Assistant, Google Lens, and Google Photos pre-installed.
Another brand from Transsion Holdings made a splash in India this week — Itel — which launched three budget smartphones. The Itel A45, Itel A22, and Itel A22 Pro are priced at Rs. 5,999, Rs. 5,499, and Rs. 6,499 respectively.
Amazon’s private label brand, 10.or (pronounced tenor) launched a new budget smartphone in the country this week — the 10.
