This week was packed with launches, leaks, and some unexpected moves. The iPhone 16e sparked controversy with its stripped-down features, the Find N5 made its global debut, and Nothing’s Phone 3a series got leaked. Meanwhile, OnePlus is said to stir things up by ditching the alert slider for an ‘Action Button,’ and Apple delayed its AI plans yet again. Let’s break it all down.
Launches This Week
Apple unveiled the iPhone 16e at ₹59,900 in India for 128GB, featuring a 6.1-inch display, 3279mAh battery, 20W charging, A18 chipset, 4GB RAM, 48MP camera, Face ID, and Apple Intelligence.
OPPO Find N5 launched globally in Southeast Asia and China at 2,499 SGD, succeeding the Find N3 with a refined foldable design. Read more: Oppo Find N5 Debuts Globally As World’s Sleekest Foldable Smartphone
realme P3 Pro debuted in India with a 1.5K display, 50MP Sony IMX9896 camera, 6,000 mAh battery, 80W charging, and IP69 rating, starting at ₹23,999.
realme P3X launched in India with an LCD display, Dimensity 6300 SoC, 50MP camera, IP68/IP69 rating, 6,000 mAh battery, and 45W charging, priced at ₹13,999 for 6GB+128GB.
Huawei Mate XT, the world’s first tri-fold smartphone, launched globally at €3,499 for 16GB+128GB.
OnePlus Watch 3 hit global markets with five-day battery life, a rotating crown, ECG, and blood pressure monitoring, with a rather funny “meda in China” typo on the back.
Samsung Galaxy A06 5G launched in India with a Dimensity 6300 chipset and four promised OS upgrades, mirroring the F06 with minor tweaks.
OPPO Watch X2 debuted in Southeast Asia as a rebrand of the OnePlus Watch 3.
xAI announced Grok 3, trained with 12 million GPU hours, available for X Premium & Premium+ users, temporarily free for all. Outperforms Gemini 2 Pro, DeepSeek, Claude 3.5, & GPT-4 in benchmarks. Read more: xAI Announces Grok 3 AI Model Trained With 200 Million GPU-Hours: Check Details Here
Upcoming Launches
iQOO Neo 10R is set to launch on March 11 with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, scoring 1944 single-core and 5062 multi-core, as per leaked Geekbench score.
vivo X200 Ultra and vivo X200S are slated for a mid-April launch in China, with the Ultra featuring a new Action Button on the bottom right.
Infinix Note 50 series is scheduled for a March 3 reveal in Indonesia, boasting a 9mm thick body, 45W charging, NFC, and Deepseek R1 integration.
Announcements
OnePlus is replacing its alert slider with a customizable action button, inspired by Apple’s iPhone design.
Apple delayed its Siri AI upgrade to iOS 18.5, pushing the launch back by another month.
OPPO Find X8 sold out on the OPPO store, reflecting high demand.
Amazon terminated its Android App Store, which will cease operations in August.
Humane AI Pin has been discontinued, with HP acquiring its IP and offering no refunds to buyers.
The UK government forced Apple to remove end-to-end encryption from iCloud for UK users, citing security needs.
Updates
OnePlus 13 introduced an Instagram night mode, a rare feature among Android smartphones.
Galaxy S24 Ultra gained LOG video recording with the One UI 7 Beta 4, with a broader rollout for S24 and S24 Plus expected in One UI 8.
Google rolled out Circle to Search on Chrome and the iOS Google app.
OPPO Find N5 introduced O+ Connect for Mac, enabling seamless file sharing and remote desktop features.
iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max will soon receive the Visual Intelligence feature, accessible via the Action Button, like the iPhone 16e. Read more: Apple Could Add Visual Intelligence To iPhone 15 Pro Models With iOS 18.4
Leaks and Rumors
Nothing Phone 3a and 3a Pro specs leaked, featuring a 6.77-inch 3000 Nit FHD+ display, 5,000 mAh battery, 50W charging, 50MP main camera, 8MP ultrawide, with 3a sporting a 50MP 2x telephoto and 3a Pro a 50MP 3x periscope, plus an “essential space” button. Read more: Nothing Phone (3a) & (3a) Pro Launching on March 4: Here’s What to Expect
iPhone 17 Air and 17 Pro renders leaked, showing a camera visor design with Air having a single lens and Pro a triple array.
Galaxy Z Flip FE software build confirmed its Exynos 24100e chipset, Flip 6 screen, 12GB RAM, and 256GB storage.
Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge leaked with a 6.7-inch 120Hz display, 5.84mm thickness, Snapdragon 8 Elite, Adreno 830 GPU, 12GB RAM, 200MP main camera, 12MP ultrawide, 12MP front camera, 4,000 mAh battery, and 25W charging. Read more: Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge Hands-On Video Leaks All Key Specs
All iPhone 17 models are expected to feature Samsung OLED screens.
iPhone 17 Air will be the only titanium model, while 17 Pro and Pro Max may revert to aluminum or stainless steel, with all four supporting 35W charging.
OPPO Find X8 Mini is rumored to be 7.xx mm thin, with a 50MP triple camera (main, ultrawide, 3.5X periscope), 6.3-inch 1.5K LTPO OLED, 120Hz refresh, and Dimensity 9400 SoC.
Auto and EV
Tesla is hiring in Mumbai & Delhi, might enter India soon due to reduced import taxes. Retail stores expected by April.
Indian government’s new EV policy slashes import duty to 15%.
BYD Sealion 7 EV launched in India with an 82.5 kWh battery. Premium variant costs ₹48.9 lakh, Performance variant ₹54.9 lakh.
Audi RS Q8 Performance launched in India, does 0-100 km/h in 3.6s, starting at ₹2.49 crore.
And that’s a wrap.
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