Sony (Japan)
Xperia X, X Performance and XA
To make their Xperia smartphones more user-friendly, Sony has come out with premium models at affordable prices. The company unveiled three new phones, focusing mainly on their design, sharp camera features and long battery life. The Xperia X, the X Performance and the XA all come with sleek designs and have rounded glass edges.
The X and the X Performance models come with premium metal backs, and the XA has matter plastic back. All the phones have 5-inch displays with XA featuring a 720p display. The X models have 23-megapixel shooters and XA comes with 13-megapixel camera. Both the phones have ‘Predictive Hybrid Autofocus’.
Xperia Ear
The Japanese giant has introduced a beautifully designed ear bud that fits snugly into the ear and lets the user control the smartphone wirelessly. The Ear allows the user to answer calls and read out everything from messages, notifications, weather, news or anything else that the phone supports. Weighing just five grams, it is also supposedly light enough to wear whole day and comes with its own carrying case.
Xiaomi (China)
Xiaomi Mi 5
In the last few years, this Chinese company has hit headlines for making premium phones at affordable prices. Coming 18 months after its last flagship, the Mi4, the Mi5 borrows design elements from the Note and from Samsung’s latest Galaxy line-up of phones. It has a slightly curved back, making it easy to hold in one hand. The company calls the back glass a ‘3D Ceramic’, and it is finished off by a metal chassis looping around the phone.
It also has a 5.15-inch IPS LED display. It has Snapdragon 820 processor with 3GB of RAM for 32 and 64GB of internal storage. There’s a 4GB RAM for the version with 128GB of internal storage. On the back, there is a 16-megapixel sensor while the selfies can be clicked using the 4-megapixel camera. Running on Xiaomi’s own MIUI 7 interface built around Android 6.0 Marshmallow, the model will be available in India later this year in black, white and gold colour options.
HP (USA)
Elite X3
The American tech giant has come out with its latest flagship model—Elite X3—which runs on Windows 10 and is the device that can potentially replace the PC. It has a massive 6-inch quad HD display and runs on a Snapdragon 820 processor with 4GB of RAM. The model also has 64GB of internal storage which can be expanded up to 2TB using a micro-SD card. The phone comes with enhanced
security, built not only into the software but also into the hardware in the form of an Iris scanner on the front, and a fingerprint sensor on the back. Another key feature of the phone is a special Desk Dock that plugs into a monitor, and one can take the PC anywhere, using the ‘Continuum’ option of Windows 10.
Matham is a tech geek. Follow him on Twitter @AdarshMatham