Major smartphones from Xiaomi to Vivo spin-off iQOO and Samsung are ringing into the new year 2023 with some noteworthy product launches. While Xiaomi is gearing its value-for-money Redmi Note 12 5G series, iQOO is shooting for the stars with its high-end flagship phone, the iQOO 11 5G. Samsung, meanwhile, is kicking things off with a relatively entry-level offering called the Galaxy F04 but there may be more surprises, down the line— we’ll see. On a related note, OnePlus is prepping the OnePlus 11, too, with launch in India slated for February 7 after its official China reveal on January 4.
Here’s the full list of smartphones confirmed to launch in India in January 2023, including key specs, features and everything else we know so far. (Also, this is a developing story, so we’ll keep adding more products to the list as and when there is more information.)
Samsung Galaxy F04 | India launch date: January 4, 2023
Samsung will launch its entry-level phone, aka the Galaxy F04 in India on January 4. This phone, it seems, will be exclusive to Flipkart. The product listing page has confirmed that the phone in question will come with a 6.51-inch 720p display with a waterdrop-style notch. Under the hood, it will come with MediaTek’s Helio P35 chip. It will run Android 12 software and support Samsung’s RAM Plus virtual memory expansion technology giving users access to up to 8GB of RAM.
The Galaxy F04 will be backed by a 5,000mAh battery and support USB Type-C charging. For photography, the Galaxy F04 will come with 13MP dual rear cameras. On the front, it will come with a 5MP selfie shooter.
Samsung has teased the phone will come under Rs 8,000. Speculation is rife that it would be a rebranded version of the recently launched Galaxy A04e.
Redmi Note 12 series | India launch date: January 5, 2023
The Redmi Note 12 series in China spawns as many as four models, but Xiaomi seems to be only bringing three to India at this point. These are the Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus, Redmi Note 12 Pro, and Redmi Note 12.
Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus will be the most premium of the lot with a 200MP main camera and 120W fast charging support. Redmi Note 12 Pro is virtually identical to the Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus but it comes with a relatively watered-down 50MP main camera and 67W fast charging. Redmi Note 12 is the most affordable of the lot. All the four phones support 5G connectivity.
Speaking of core specs, all the three phones have the same display, i.e., a 6.67-inch OLED with 1080p resolution and 120Hz refresh rate. Redmi Note 12 Pro and Note 12 Pro Plus are powered by MediaTek’s Dimensity 1080 chip while Redmi Note 12 has Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 4 Gen 1.
Xiaomi has announced that it is going to drop its ad-based monetisation strategy for Redmi Note 12 series after customer feedback. This means that these phones won’t be subsided like before and their India pricing would be more realistic, possibly closer to or even a bit higher than what they cost in China.
The Redmi Note 12 series is confirmed to launch in India on January 5.
iQOO 11 | India launch date: January 10, 2023
iQOO 11 has a 6.78-inch 1440p E6 AMOLED display with LTPO 4.0 technology and up to 144Hz refresh rate. Under the hood, you get Qualcomm’s brand-new Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor paired with up to 16GB of RAM and up to 512GB of UFS4.0 storage. The phone boots Android 13 out-of-the-box.
For photography, the iQOO 11 has a 50MP main (Samsung GN5), 13MP portrait, and 8MP ultrawide. On the front, the phone has a 16MP selfie shooter.
Rounding off the package is a 5,000mAh battery with 120W fast wired charging.
iQOO 11 will be launched in India on January 10.
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