Year after year, we wait for IFA to reveal the hottest news of the consumer tech industry, and what major companies have to offer for the year ahead. IFA 2015 was no exception. Here’s a roundup of the top announcements from the last few days. Be sure to check out pages 2-4 from the bottom for Phones, Tablets and Laptops.
Smartwatches
With the sudden boom of smart wearables last year, companies are now focusing more on offering new smartwatches, and the IFA 2015 seems to be more about them than any other product.
Samsung Gear S2
While Samsung does have a deep loyalty towards the Android platform, they seem to have stopped depending on the Android Wear OS platform, which was very much evident with the launch of the awesome Tizen-powered Samsung Gear S2. Sure, it can record your heart beat, track your steps and activity levels, check your mails and messages, and control your smartphone music, and so on.
But what makes it unique is a new control bezel that lets you scroll through your mails, zoom into a map, and go through menus. It’s a new intuitive way to interact with your smartwatch instead of using the small 1.2-inch circular AMOLED touchscreen.
The watch is IP68 water resistant, has an Exynos 3250/MSM8x26 processor with 512MB RAM, 4GB storage, and a 250/300 mAh battery for Bluetooth/3G variant, respectively. The watch also features WiFi and NFC.
Huawei Watch
If you are a die-hard fan of the Android platform, and want the classiest looking Android wearable, then look no further beyond the Huawei Watch. The Huawei Watch was initially announced at the Mobile World Congress 2015 early this year. There will be a stainless steel version with a leather band that will set you back for about 1280 AED. Metal bracelet versions will cost about 1649 AED, and a rose-gold steel variant with metal bands will have a heavy 2934 AED price tag.
The watch features a 1.4-inch size AMOLED display protected by sapphire glass, a dual-core processor, 512MB RAM, a 300 mAh battery, a heart rate sensor and step tracking.
Motorola Moto 360 2nd Generation
Motorola is back with not just one, but with three variants of their popular Android Wear devices- Moto 360 in two sizes and the Moto 360 Sport for all those fitness freaks. The Moto 360 will come in 46mm, and 42mm sizes. So now consumers can choose the device that fits their wrists. There will be leather and metal band strap versions as well.
The Moto 360 Sport on the other hand comes in a durable design factor with silicone material and a special UV coating to ripple away the sweat. The design also helps in proper ventilation for the skin. Other features of the Moto 360 Sport include GPS for accurate measurement of distance travelled, location and so on. Its hybrid screen called the AnyLight adjusts automatically to the surrounding level of light intensity.
The 46mm models sport a 1.56-inch LCD screen, and the 42mm ones with a 1.37-inch LCD screen. Batteries are 400 mAh, and 300 mAh, respectively. All the variants are powered by a quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor, 512MB RAM, and 4GB storage. WiFi and Bluetooth 4.1 is supported. Oddly, it seems that the watch does not support WiFi “n” as per the official spec page.
Asus ZenWatch 2
As expected, ASUS has unveiled its second iteration of smartwatch series called the ZenWatch 2 in two sizes- the 1.63-inch variant considered for males, and the other smaller 1.45-inch for females. Both are made out of stainless steel. There is also an Android app called the FaceDesigner that allows you to choose over 50 watch faces, or create your own.
Other features include Smart Assist, health apps, and ZenWatch messenger. The device sports 400 mAh battery, Snapdragon 400 processor, 512MB RAM and 4GB storage. ASUS claims that the ZenWatch 2 can obtain 50% charge in 36 minutes.
Smartphones
Sony Xperia Z5 Series
Perhaps one of the most interesting parts of IFA 2015 is the unveiling of the new Sony Xperia Z5 series smartphones, which now comprises of the Xperia Z5, the Xperia Z5 Compact, and the Xperia Z5 Premium. These devices now come with a new 23MP main camera with flash, and a 5MP selfie camera on the front. These new optics are claimed to offer better quality imagery, with the world’s fastest 0.03 second AF speed.
Sony has featured the Xperia Z5 with the same 5.2-inch 1080p display, and the Xperia Z5 Compact with a 4.6-inch 720p display. However, the 5.5-inch Sony Xperia Z5 Premium is the world’s first smartphone to come with a 4K display. All these devices sport the same Snapdragon 810 processor found in the previous Xperia Z3+. While all the three devices run on Android 5.1.1 Lollipop OS, the Z5, and the Z5 Premium holds over 3GB RAM. However, the Xperia Z5 Compact has only 2GB RAM.
Sony has included a new power button design that houses a new fingerprint scanner on the right side. Batteries include 2900 mAh for the Xperia Z5, 2700 mAh for the Xperia Z5 Compact, and 3420 mAh for the bigger Xperia Z5 Premium.
Asus ZenPhone 2 Series
ASUS has officially expanded their ZenFone2 smartphone portfolio with the ZenPhone 2 Deluxe, ZenFone 2 Laser, ZenFone 2 Selfie, and the ZenFone 2 Zoom.
As the name suggests, the ZenFone 2 Zoom comes with a total of 12x zoom, in which the 3x soon is optical. Other features include 13MP rear camera, and dual tone LED flash. The ZenFone2 Selfie sports a 13MP rear camera on both the front and rear. The ZenFone 2 Deluxe comes with a maximum of 128GB internal storage. ZenFone 2 Laser comes with a 5MP front camera, and a 13MP rear sensor.
The ZenFone 2 Zoom, and Deluxe powered by an Intel Atom processor running Android Lollipop OS with 4GB RAM. However, the ZenFone 2 Laser sports a Snapdragon 410 chip and 2GB RAM, and the ZenFone 2 Selfie run on an octa-core Snapdragon CPU and 3GB RAM.
Tablets
Lenovo Miix 700
The Microsoft Surface 3 Pro now has a true rival. Its called the Lenovo Miix 700, and it looks like a carbon copy of the Surface design, with a kick stand that can enable users for different angles. The Miix 700 holds a 12-inch screen with 2160 x 1440 resolution, and has dual Dolby Atmos enhanced speakers on the front.
The tablet is powered by the next generation Intel Core M processor, 8GB RAM, and Windows 10 OS that runs out of the box. The device also sports magnetic hinges to connect a keyboard accessory. There are also a MicroSD card slot, and a MicroUSB connector as well.
The Microsoft Surface 3 Pro now has a true rival. Its called the Lenovo Miix 700, and it looks like a carbon copy of the Surface design, with a kickstand that can enable users for different angles. The Miix 700 holds a 12-inch screen with 2160 x 1440 resolution, and has dual Dolby Atmos enhanced speakers on the front.
The tablet is powered by the next generation Intel Core M processor, 8GB RAM, and Windows 10 OS that runs out of the box. The device also sports magnetic hinges to connect a keyboard accessory. There is also a MicroSD card slot and a MicroUSB connector.
Lenovo Yoga Tab 3 Pro
Lenovo has showcased a new multimedia Android table tcalled the Yoga Tab 3 pro, with a Pico-projector that can fire up a projection that’s 70-inch big. Users can make use of the built-in stand to hold the tablet, a stand mode for watching movies, or use it on a surface. The tablet sports a 10-inch screen that displays an impressive QuadHD resolution.
The Yoga Tab 3 Pro is powered by an Intel Atom X5 processor, 2 GB RAM, and Android 5.0 Lollipop. Other features include a 10,200 mAh batter that’s claimed to last over 18 hours of use.
Laptops
Lenovo Ideapad Y700
Lenovo has now upped their gaming segment with their all new Ideapad Y700 that also comes in 15-inches, and 17-inches display sizes. Along with the new Intel Skylake processors, users get to choose from the GTX 960M, all the way to the fast GTX 980M GPUs. The laptops can be equipped with optional Intel RealSense 3D camera.
