Realme Narzo 30 series is up next, with OnePlus 9 and ROG Phone 5 set to grab headlines in the weeks ahead: Your Friday briefing

A lot happens in the world of smartphones and gadgets in a week’s time, and this week wasn’t any different. Going by the headlines from the past few days, it seems clear that Realme and Samsung are the most active brands now in terms of smartphone launches, and each week, we come across news of new models being in the pipeline. While the Realme Race aka the GT grabbed more headlines in the last few days, this week it was the turn of the upcoming Realme Narzo 30 series. As reported last week, Samsung also has a bevy of handsets lined up, and we even have info on the new gaming champ from ASUS, the ROG Phone 5. If you missed the action, worry not, as we have all the dope lined up here, presented in a bite-sized, easy-to-digest format.

First, the new launches


The week threw a fair share of new handsets at us, with Samsung launching two new handsets. The Galaxy A12 comes as a budget entrant, with reasonable specs. Most of its rivals of course, boast better specs in the same price range, but the Galaxy A12, with its starting price of Rs 12,999, should appeal to Samsung fans who covet an affordable daily driver. The Galaxy F62, which also landed this week, is a more wholesome package and seems to have a lot to offer, though it comes in at a higher price point. Closer to the end of the week, Motorola also outed a budget, sub-Rs 10k offering that comes in the form of the E7 Power. The ‘Power’ suffix in its moniker comes from its 5,000mAh battery, though I’m not sure if that’s really a differentiator anymore, even in the sub-Rs 10k segment.

Exclusives: the biggest secrets laid bare

Samsung Galaxy A52 A72 Leaked Specs

The leaksters seem to have been pretty active this week, with Samsung bearing the brunt of their activities. First, they got wind of the Galaxy A12’s price in India even before the handset was announced officially, and then they went ahead and revealed the expected launch date of the Galaxy A52 and A72 siblings. Don’t tell anyone yet, but these two devices can be expected to launch in India sometime in the middle of next month. And the rumoured specs look quite scrumptious as well, what with 120Hz displays, both 4G and 5G versions, and Qualcomm chipsets. Let’s see if these turn out to be true.

Reviewed: two new Galaxies

My colleague Kshitij seemed to teleport from one Galaxy to the next this week, reviewing not one, but two Samsung handsets. The first one was the Galaxy F62, the device that was officially announced just this week itself. It’s clear that Kshitij was mighty impressed with the phone’s capabilities. The fact that it turned out to be a battery champ didn’t come as a surprise, thanks to its 7,000mAh battery that rivals power banks. Interestingly, the phone turned out to be a bit of an all-rounder, with a gorgeous AMOLED display, capable cameras, and smooth performance. If only it had a high refresh rate screen…

Anyway, the next Samsung handset Kshitij played around with was the flagship Galaxy S21, the smallest of the S21 siblings. Again, the device left a pretty positive impression, thanks to its flagship capabilities delivered in a compact form factor. Understandably, the battery life isn’t a strong suite, but other than that, the S21 seems to be a solid option for anyone looking for a powerful, Android flagship that fits well in the hand. Remember one-handed usage? The Galaxy S21 delivers on that front as well.

Up next: the Narzo 30 series, the ASUS ROG Phone 5, the OnePlus 9 and more

Realme Narzo 30 Pro and Narzo 30A launch date

Realme has been making a lot of noise over its upcoming Narzo 30 series, and all signs point towards the smartphones being quite compelling too. This week, the Narzo 30 devices managed to grab quite a few headlines, popping up as a Flipkart teaser, a leaked poster that revealed some specs and design, another teaser showcasing the design, and finally, an official confirmation of the launch date in India. The devices are coming as soon as next week, so do expect some more headlines related to these devices in next week’s edition of this roundup as well.

Meanwhile, we’ve heard some news around BlackBerry making yet another comeback, this time with 5G-enabled QWERTY phones, no less. Let’s see how that turns out. Next, some reports around the iPhone 13 have surfaced, indicating a 120Hz display. Even the iPhone 13 mini has made a tentative appearance. Also making the rounds this week is news around the expected specs of the upcoming OPPO Find X3 and its sibling, the Find X3 Pro. Interestingly, there could be another X3 Pro heading our way, but this one carrying the POCO label. There could be lots in a name, sorry Shakespeare,

Realme GT launch date teaser

In other news, the much-hyped Realme Race has been officially labelled as the Realme GT, and finally has a confirmed launch date. It’ll be launched in China first, but at least we’d get to see the official list of specs on March 4th. Another loaded phone that can be expected soon is the gaming-focussed ASUS ROG Phone 5, due to be revealed in China on March 10th. And then there’s the OnePlus 9, the specs for which have just leaked out. There’s no official confirmation on these of course, but I won’t be surprised if OnePlus has another loaded flagship in the pipeline, and hopefully, will stick to the reasonable prices it’s known for.

March is sure looking like a busy month, but we do have a few days to go before that, and as usual, I’ll be bringing you some info on the tech happenings of the week. Don’t go anywhere.