The iQOO Z9 was released this week and was available to Amazon Prime subscribers first, but that was only a day-long exclusivity – now anyone can buy one. This mid-ranger packs a 6.67” FHD+ 120Hz AMOLED display in a plastic body (with IP54) and a Dimensity 7200 chipset.
There’s a microSD slot available, but you can get double the storage for ₹2,000 more. The 5,000mAh battery is fast to charge at 44W, but the 50MP rear camera is pretty basic (it does have OIS, though). For more details, check out our first impressions.
Also new this week is the Poco X6 Neo, this one is still on pre-order. There is a lot of overlap between this and the Z9 – things like the 6.67” FHD+ 120Hz display are similar, though this one has 10-bit colors and Gorilla Glass 5 (vs. Dragontrail Star 2 Plus glass).
Plus the rear camera here has a 108MP sensor. Also, this one has both a microSD slot and a 3.5mm headphone jack – but the iQOO has stereo speakers. The battery has the same capacity at 5,000mAh but is a bit slower with 33W charging. Finally, the Poco is cheaper, but it also has a weaker Dimensity 6080 chipset.
The Lava Blaze Curve launched on Monday, this is a premium take on a mid-ranger. It earns its name with a curved 6.67” FHD+ 120Hz display (with Dragontrail Star 2 glass) and a Dimensity 7050. There is a basic 64MP main camera on the back (not even OIS) and also an 8MP ultra wide. And the main camera can record 4K video (at 30fps), whereas the Poco tops out at 1080p (the iQOO with its more powerful chip also does 4K). The 5,000mAh/33W battery is on par with the Poco.
Meanwhile, the Samsung Galaxy A55 and A35 are both on pre-order, shipping starts this week. Both have 6.6” FHD+ 120Hz displays, 5,000mAh batteries with 25W wired-only charging and 50MP main cameras.
However, the Galaxy A55 stands out with an aluminum frame and Gorilla Glass front and back (Victus+ on the front). And it has the new Exynos 1480, the first time an AMD GPU has been in a mid-range Android. Plus, the 12MP ultra wide is slightly better.
The Samsung Galaxy A35 has a plastic chassis and back and uses the older Exynos 1380 (from the A54 last year). Note that the base model here has 6GB of RAM, you will need to get the 256GB version if you want 8GB RAM. Note that both phones have microSD slots and IP67 dust and water resistance. Neither has a headphone jack.
The Samsung Galaxy A25 is a weaker version of the A35. It has a 6.5” 120Hz FHD+ AMOLED display and the older Exynos 1280 (of A53 vintage). The 50MP camera has a smaller sensor (1/2.76” vs. 1/1.96”), though it does keep the OIS and the 8MP ultra wide companion. And the selfie camera is in a notch (and can’t record 4K).
You can go down further still with the Samsung Galaxy A15 5G, which is quite similar to the A25. It is equipped with a less powerful Dimensity 6100+ chipset (and only 6GB of RAM if you get the base model). The 50MP main camera loses the OIS and the ultra wide drops down to 5MP. No camera on board can record 4K.
A few weeks back, the Tecno Camon 20 Pro 5G was ₹20,000, now it is ₹2,000 cheaper. This buys you a 6.67” 120Hz FHD+ display and a Dimensity 8050), a 64MP main camera (1/1.7”, no OIS) without. There’s no ultra wide, but the 32MP selfie camera is pretty impressive with a 24mm lens and dual LED flash of its own. The 5,000mAh battery charges at 33W.
The iQOO Neo9 Pro has been around since February and while it is pricier than the models above, it is a lot more powerful too – it has a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip. The beefy Adreno 740 GPU is paired with a 6.78” 144Hz LTPO AMOLED display with 1,260 x 2,800px resolution. The 50MP main camera has a 1/1.49” sensor and OIS and is joined by an 8MP ultra wide. The 5,160mAh battery has a bit extra capacity and features rapid charging at 120W.
We will round things off with a couple of Samsung laptops. The Galaxy Book3 has a 15.6” IPS display and you can pick between an Intel Core i5 (1335U) and i7 (1355U). The laptop is quite light for its size at 1.58kg and comes with Windows 11 and MS Office Home & Student 2021.
The Samsung Galaxy Book3 360 is part laptop, part tablet. It has an AMOLED display with S Pen support – 13.3” or 15.6”, your choice. These weigh 1.16kg and 1.46kg, respectively. Both are powered by the Core i5 (1335U).
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