This year is expected to be a big year for the smartphone company as flagship-category smartphones like the Google Pixel 8a and Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra are being launched. The Indian market has proved to be a big market for smartphones. Samsung has also set up its manufacturing plant in India, and Apple has also opened its stores. Also, Apple has now opened its manufacturing plant in India, which is expected to ease the manufacturing of Apple phones and provide phones at affordable prices to Indians. Let us know which phones are going to be launched in both mid-range and flagship categories in this month of February.
Honor X9B
Launching: 15 February 2024
Hindustan Tech has made an official announcement saying that the Honor X9B is going to be launched in India on February 15, 2024. This time, the emphasis has been placed on the display in the Honor X9B arriving on February 15. The phone is going to come with a large 6.78-inch display with a resolution of 2652×1200 (FHD) pixels. The aspect ratio of the display will be 19.9:9, which will further improve the viewing angle.
The Honor 9Xb will launch with Android 13 and Honor’s Magic UI 7.2. The phone has a Snapdragon 6 Gen 1, which will give a decent performance. For gaming, Adreno 710 processor is provided in the phone. It is fine for heavy gaming, but it will be a bit difficult to do heavy gaming.
Talking about space or memory, the Honor 9XB has the option of 8GB or 12GB of RAM, and for storage, only a 256GB option is given. Apart from this, a a a memory card slot is also not provided in the phone. Due to this, the limit of 256 GB has been reached, and the memory will not be expanded.
If we look at the camera, it has a 108MP wide, 5MP ultra-wide and 2MP macro lens. Looking at the specs of the camera, it seems that this is not a camera-centric phone at all. It has not been made from a photographic point of view. Talking about the selfie camera, it has a 16MP camera, which is good for taking decent photos. But for professionals or people who are fond of photography, this is completely disappointing. Honor 9XB has only two options for video recording. Video recording can be done with resolutions of 4K @30fps and 1080p @30fps.
Highlights (Expected)
- Display: 6.78-inch FHD+ AMOLED 120Hz display with up to 1200 nits peak brightness
- Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 6 Gen 1
- Rear shooter: 108MP main camera + 5MP ultra-wide-angle sensor + 2MP macro lens
- Selfie camera: 16MP on the front
- Storage: up to 12GB RAM + 256GB storage
- OS: MagicOS 7.2 custom skin based on Android 13
- Battery, Charging: 5,800mAh with 35W fast charging tech
Expected Price: The Honor X9b is rumoured to be priced between Rs 25,000 and Rs 30,000.
iQOO Neo 9 Pro
Launch: February 22nd, 2024
IQOO is proving successful in gaining hold in the Indian smartphone market. The upcoming iQOO Neo 9 Pro is going to be an upgraded version of last year’s iQOO Neo 7 Pro, which will be launched after making many changes. This phone has already been launched in China, and now preparations are going on to launch it in India. Now it remains to be seen whether the same features are provided in the variants to be launched in India or not.
iQOO Neo 9 Pro has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC processor. Whereas in China, this model has Mediatech Dimensity 9300 (4nm) SoC. For Android, the phone has Android 14, and iQOO has OriginOS 4.
For space, the phone has options of 256, 512 and 1 TB, and 12 and 16 GB of RAM, so there will be no shortage of storage in the phone. But at the same time, the phone has not provided a slot for external memory.
For photography, the phone has a setup of two cameras with a 50MP wide angle and a 50MP ultra-wide angle. OIS is also provided in the primary camera, which will maintain stability in photos and videos, and better photos can be taken. Talking about video graphics, the phone supports 8K, 4K, and 1080p with EIS, which is a good thing.
The phone has a 16MP wide-angle camera for selfies, whose aperture is F/2.5. Which is capable of taking good selfies in low light and day light. For video recording, 1080p @ 30fps is supported, which is decent.
Highlights (Expected)
- Display: 6.78-inch 1.5K AMOLED 144Hz display with up to 1,400 nits of peak brightness
- Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
- Rear shooter: 50MP IMX920 VCS bionic OIS camera + 50MP ultra-wide-angle sensor
- Selfie camera: 16MP front shooter
- Storage: up to 16GB RAM and 1TB storage
- OS: Android 14-based OriginOS custom skin out of the box
- Battery, Charging: 5,160mAh with 120W fast charging tech
Expected price: The expected price of the Neo 9 Pro in India is around Rs 40,000 as the phone will compete with the OnePlus 12R.
Samsung Galaxy A55
Launch: 15-25 February
Samsung had created a stir in January of this year itself when it launched its most premium smartphone, the Galaxy S24 Ultra. SH24 Ultra has received a good response in the Indian market as well as globally. Samsung is now going to make a comeback with another mid-range phone in the month of February. Samsung will come out with the Galaxy A55 in February. This is a budget-friendly mid-range phone.
The Samsung Galaxy A55 is expected to come with an Exynos 1480 chipset with an eight-core processor (four at up to 2.75GHz, four up to 2.0GHz), and an AMD RDNA2-based Xclipse 530 GPU. Samsung wants to give its best performance in the midrange.
If we look at the display, no official information has come yet but according to rumors, Samsung Galaxy A55 is going to have a 6.5 inch FHD+ 120 Hz OLED display. Which is going to be a good phone for gaming purposes.
For photography, the phone will have a primary camera setup of 50MP and two more cameras of 12MP + 5MP. In which there is a possibility of wide-angle, ultra-wide, and macro lense. A 32MP camera can be provided in the phone for selfies. A good camera and phone can be used for selfies.
Highlights (Expected)
- Display: 6.5 inch FHD+ 120 Hz OLED
- Processor: Exynos 1480 chipset with an eight-core processor (four at up to 2.75GHz, four up to 2.0GHz), and an AMD RDNA2-based Xclipse 530 GPU
- Rear shooter: 50MP Primary, 12MP + 5MP Wide & Ultra-Wide
- Selfie camera: 32MP front shooter
- Storage: 8 GB RAM, 128 GB inbuilt
- OS: Android 14-based OriginOS custom skin out of the box
Expected price: The expected price of the Samsung Galaxy A55 in India is around Rs 39,999.
Google Pixel 8a
Launch: Not known
Google launched its flagship phone, the Pixel 8 Pro in October last year and also started selling it. In February of this year, Google is going to launch a budget-friendly Pixel 8a phone in the mid-range. As it happens every year, the launch event the Pixel 8a will be held in the same way. If we look at the leaks of Google Pixel 8a, we are getting to see the box of Pixel 8a in which the look of Pixel 8a is visible. Someone has shared this photo on Twitter.
The Google Pixel 8a is likely to feature a 6.1-inch AMOLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate. The screen resolution will be 1080×2400 pixels. The quality of the display is likely to be excellent, and the display of Google brand phones is considered top-notch.
Talking about the operating system and processor, Google’s own processor will be used in Pixel 8a. Google Tensor G3 and CPU will be Nona Core 3 GHz Single Core Cortex X3+ 2.45 GHz Quad Core Cortex A715+ 2.15 GHz Quad Core Cortex A510 processor.
For photography, a 64MP Sony IMX787 sensor camera can be provided in Google Pixel 8a, which will be based on the same sensor of the previous Pixel 7a. Some changes will definitely be made in the camera, but Google never seems to be playing much with its camera. Google relies on camera, gaming and high performance. Which gives in its complete package. For selfies, it may come with a 13MP ultra-wide angle with a larger FoV sensor. Best for taking great photos in low light and day light.
Highlights (Expected)
- Display: 6.1-inch AMOLED display, 90Hz refresh, 1080×2400 pixels
- Processor: Google Tensor G3, Nona Core 3 GHz Single Core Cortex X3+ 2.45 GHz Quad Core Cortex A715+ 2.15 GHz Quad Core Cortex A510 processor
- Rear shooter: 64MP Sony IMX787
- Selfie camera: 13MP FoV sensor
- Storage: 8 GB RAM, 128 GB inbuilt
- OS: Android 14
Expected price: The expected price of the Neo 9 Pro in India is around Rs 49,990.
