Weekly Wrap-Up #39 : Lenovo K8 Note, Mi 5X, Canvas Infinity, LG Q6, Cool Play 6, & More….

Here is the latest PhoneRadar weekly wrap up covering all the latest happenings around the smartphones and mobile technology. We have seen a few flagship launches in the last seven days, and couple more will be launching in the coming weeks. Since most of the major manufacturers unveiled their latest flagship devices, the leaks are now revealing the information about their next big launches. In case if you are interested to know more about the upcoming launches, check out our list of upcoming smartphones expected to launch in the month of August 2017.

Let’s take a look at the news from the last week:

• After launching quite a few Moto branded smartphones, Lenovo came up with a new K Note series smartphone called Lenovo K8 Note. The device comes in 3GB and 4GB RAM variants priced at Rs. 12,999 and Rs. 13,999 respectively. They will be exclusively sold through Amazon India and the first sale is on August 18th. The USP of the device is 13MP and 5MP dual cameras on the rear that offer DSLR-like bokeh effect. Lenovo is also ditching the in-house Vibe UI on favor stock Android UI. It packs powerful specifications and comes with a metal body. It sports a 5.5-inch Full HD display and is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass. Under the hood is the MediaTek Helio X23 deca-core processor clocked at 2.3GHz. The K8 Note runs on the latest Android 7.1.1 Nougat out of the box. For selfies, there is a 13MP front camera with LED flash. It is backed by a 4,000mAh non-removable battery that also supports fast charging via 15W turbo charge. The device is also splash proof, thanks to the Nano-coating technology.

• Xiaomi has skipped launching the flagship Mi 6 smartphone in the first half of 2017. Last week, Xiaomi India started teasing the launch of a new dual camera soon in the Indian market. We expect the company to bring in the recently launched dual camera smartphone – Mi 5X. It sports a unibody metal design offering premium design. Talking about the specifications, it sports a 5.5-inch Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) display. The smartphone is powered by a 64-bit Snapdragon 625 octa-core processor clocked at up to 2GHz. It will be offering 4GB of RAM 32GB/64GB of internal storage. The device runs on the latest MIUI 9 based on Android 7.0 Nougat. It features a 12MP dual-lens camera on the rear and a 5MP selfie camera on the front. Since there is no home button, the device comes with capacitive navigation buttons, and the fingerprint sensor is placed on the rear.
• LG launched the mid-range LG Q6 smartphone with FullVison display offering Full HD+ resolution and 18:9 aspect ratio. This is the same display that was used with the flagship LG G6, but it came with Quad HD+ resolution. The LG Q6 is priced at Rs. 14,990 and is exclusively available on Amazon India. It sports metal frame with plastic body. Under the hood is the Snapdragon 435 octa-core processor coupled with 3GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage. There is also a dedicated MicroSD card slot for further expansion of storage. In terms of optics, there is a 13MP rear camera with LED flash and a 5MP front camera. It lacks the fingerprint sensor but includes face unlock feature. According to our exclusive source, LG will be bringing the LG Q6 Plus next month to the Indian market. Apart from the 1gig of extra RAM and doubled internal storage, rest of the specifications remain same as on the LG Q6. It will be retailing for Rs. 17,990 and comes in Astro Black, Ice Platinum, and Marine Blue color options.

• In the last few weeks, there are several leaks about the upcoming smartphone from Micromax. It is said to be called as Canvas Infinity and sports Infinity display offering 18:9 aspect ratio. Last week, the company confirmed the launch event of the Canvas Infinity to be held on August 22nd. Though the device has bezel-less all around the display, they will be trimmed down to minimum thickness. Much like other full-screen smartphones, the Canvas Infinity will also offer on-screen navigation buttons, and the fingerprint sensor will be placed on the rear. If the rumors are to be believed, the smartphone will be costing much lower than the flagship smartphones offering full-screen displays. LG has already introduced the 18:9 full-screen display in the mid-range segment by launching the LG Q6 smartphone. It is currently retailing at Rs. 14,990 and is only limited to the online market.
• The LeEco-backed smartphone maker, Coolpad will be launching a new mid-range smartphone in India on August 20th. The company will be bringing the Cool Play 6 smartphone which was already launched in China. It comes with metal body with curved edges on the rear. The device packs dual 13MP sensors on the rear offering f/2.0 aperture, 6P lens, and dual tone LED flash. It sports a 5.5-inch Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) display and comes powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 653 octa-core processor and Adreno 510 GPU. The Cool Play 6 includes 6GB f RAM and 64GB of internal storage. For selfies, there is an 8MP front facing camera with f/2.2 aperture. It is backed by a 4,060mAh non-removable battery that is rated to last up to 252 hours on standby mode. The device runs on the latest Android 7.1.1 Nougat based LeEco’s eUI.

• Back in 2016, Xiaomi launched the Mi Note 2 flagship smartphone alongside the bezel-less Mi MIX. Now, the company is getting ready to unveil the Mi Note 3 and Mi MIX 2 as the successors to Mi Note 2 and Mi MIX. The Mi MIX has been leaked in several images revealing the full-screen display. Talking about the Mi Note 3, it is mentioned to be unveiled in the next few weeks. It might feature a Samsung-made OLED display offering Quad HD (2560 x 1440 pixels) resolution. Under the hood, it comes packed with the 64-bit Snapdragon 835 octa-core processor and 6GB of RAM. As seen with its predecessor, there will be at least a couple of different storage options. On the rear, we will be seeing dual 12MP cameras along with a fingerprint sensor.
• The long-rumored Moto X4 has been leaked in all-new images showing the external design of the device. It is expected to be officially unveiled on August 24th in Brasil. The Moto X4 sports the dual camera setup on the rear. Recently, Motorola also launched the Moto G5S Plus with the dual-lens rear camera. On the front is a Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) display along with a physical home button that comes with an integrated fingerprint sensor. Under the hood is the Snapdragon 630 octa-core processor coupled with 3GB/4GB of RAM and 16GB/32GB of internal storage. It will be running on the latest Android 7.1.1 Nougat out of the box with the stock UI laid on top. Both the front and rear cameras features LED flash. It also includes a USB Type-C port and a 3.5mm audio jack on the bottom edge. The device will be IP68 certified making it both water and dust resistant. It comes with a metal frame and features 3D glass on the rear.
• LG has officially confirmed to launch the all-new flagship smartphone LG V30 at the IFA 2017 on August 31st. The device was accidentally shown in the company’s promotional videos. Looking at the videos, we can confirm the LG V30 to look exactly same as shown in the earlier leaked images. After experimenting with the LG V10 and V20, LG is finally ditching the secondary ticker display with the LG V30. It still continues to offer dual camera setup on the rear along with power button that features the fingerprint sensor. The company also confirmed the LG V30 to feature a 6-inch FullVision P-OLED display offering Quad HD+ resolution. As seen on the LG G6, it also comes with the 18:9 aspect ratio and supports HDR10. The LG V30 will also be the first LG smartphone to feature Snapdragon 835 SoC built using the 10nm architecture. It will be backed by a 3,200mAh non-removable battery and comes with IP certification making water and dust resistant.

• Last week, we saw a few high-end smartphone launches from the popular smartphone manufacturers. Samsung has launched the Galaxy S8 Active exclusively through AT&T in the U.S, but there is no AT&T branding as seen on its predecessors. It comes with a 5.8-inch Infinity display but lacks the dual edge support. The smartphone will be available in Meteor Grey and Titanium Gold color variants. Samsung claims the Infinity display to be shatterproof that can withstand a drop from up to 5 feet onto a flat surface. It is also MIL-STD-810G certified after been tested against 21 specific environmental conditions. On the other hand, OnePlus introduced OnePlus 5 in all-new Mint Gold color. It will be available only in 6GB RAM variant that offers 64GB of onboard storage. BlackBerry launched the KEYone Limited Edition Black smartphone in India for Rs. 39,999. It comes in all-black color and features few upgraded specification. The device supports dual SIM dual standby packs 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage. Rest of the specifications remain as same as on the global variant.

For more information related to any single topic, you can take the help of our search box placed on the top. Also post your questions/queries in the comments section below or tweet us @PhoneRadarBlog.