BlackBerry licensee Optiemus Infracom earlier this week launched two new BlackBerry-branded handsets in India - the BlackBerry Evolve and Evolve X. The cheaper of the two, the BlackBerry Evolve, competes with several smartphones in the Indian market on price, such as the Huawei Nova 3i and Nokia 7 Plus. It also competes with the recently launched Android One smartphone - the Xiaomi Mi A2 - which will be launched in India next week. The Mi A2 has already been priced in Europe - giving us a fair idea of which segment it will be placed within in India. Here, we compare the BlackBerry Evolve price in India as well as its specifications with the above-mentioned competitors in India, with the hope to give you a better idea about which smartphone to purchase. Do note however, that we recommend users wait for our final verdict after our comprehensive review of the BlackBerry Evolve. The Nokia 7 Plus is also an Android One smartphone, implying an optimised stock Android experience and timely updates.
The BlackBerry Evolve price in India is set at Rs. 24,990 in India for its sole 4GB RAM/ 64GB inbuilt storage variant. The smartphone will go on sale in India by end-August. It will initially be made available via Amazon.in, before being made available via offline retailers. BlackBerry Evolve launch offers include a 5 percent cashback when buyers use ICICI Bank credit cards for no-cost EMI plans. Benefits worth Rs. 3,950 are available for Jio SIM card users.
In comparison, the Xiaomi Mi A2 price starts at EUR 249 (roughly Rs. 20,100) for the 4GB RAM/ 32GB storage model, going up to EUR 279 (roughly Rs. 22,500) for the 4GB RAM/ 64GB storage model, and EUR 349 (roughly Rs. 28,100) for the 6GB RAM/ 128GB storage model. The smartphone is already on sale in France, and will go on sale in Italy on August 8, and in Spain on August 10. The Mi A2's India launch is set for August 8, and the smartphone is expected to be an Amazon India exclusive if a listing on the e-commerce site is to be believed. Xiaomi has confirmed that Mi A2's 4GB RAM/ 32GB storage variant will not be launched in India.
Meanwhile, the Huawei Nova 3i price in India has been set at Rs. 20,990 for the lone 4GB RAM/ 128GB inbuilt storage variant. The smartphone - which was launched lasted week in India - has gone up for pre-orders on Amazon India, and will go on sale from August 7. Launch offers include an additional Rs. 2,000 exchange discount, no-cost EMIs, and Rs. 1,200 cashback from Jio, as well as 100GB additional data. Pre-booking offer for the Huawei Nova 3i include a Rs. 1,000 cashback.
The oldest smartphone of the lot, the Nokia 7 Plus price in India is set at Rs. 25,999 (best buy price). The smartphone, made by Nokia licensee HMD Global, was launched back in April this year. It is available via Amazon India, the Nokia Mobile Shop, as well as offline retail partners.
The dual-SIM (Nano) BlackBerry Evolve runs Android 8.1 Oreo out-of-the-box with some BlackBerry customisations, and sports a 5.99-inch full-HD+ (1080x2160 pixels) FullView IPS display with an 18:9 aspect ratio. It is powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 SoC, coupled with 4GB of RAM. The BlackBerry Evolve has a dual rear camera setup with two 13-megapixel sensors that come with f/2.0 aperture, RGB+Mono mode, and dual tone LED flash. It sports a 16-megapixel fixed focus front camera with an f/2.0 aperture, 78-degree FoV, Tetra Pixel technology, real-time Bokeh mode, and LED flash. It features 64GB of inbuilt storage, expandable via microSD card. Connectivity options include 4G VoLTE, FM radio, USB Type-C with OTG, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. It features a fingerprint sensor on the rear panel. The smartphone gets its juice from a 4,000mAh battery that supports Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0.
On the other hand, the dual-SIM (Nano) Xiaomi Mi A2 runs Android 8.1 Oreo - the stock version, not based on the company's own MIUI custom ROM - and sports a 5.99-inch full-HD+ (1080x2160 pixels) display with 18:9 aspect ratio. It is powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 SoC, coupled with either 4GB or 6GB of RAM, depending on the variant purchased. It sports a dual rear camera setup with a 12-megapixel primary sensor with an f/1.75 aperture and 1.25-micron pixels, and a secondary 20-megapixel sensor with a 2-micron 4-in-1 Super Pixel size, apart from dual-LED flash. On the front, the Mi A2 bears a 20-megapixel sensor with an f/1.75 aperture and soft-LED flash. There is a fingerprint sensor on the back panel, while the smartphone also supports Face Unlock. Connectivity options on the Mi A2 include 4G VoLTE, dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0, IR emitter, and USB Type-C port. The battery has a capacity of 3010mAh, with support for QuickCharge 4.0 in India. Sensors on board include accelerometer, ambient light sensor, gyroscope, and a proximity sensor, while there is a fingerprint sensor on the rear panel.
The dual-SIM (Nano) Huawei Nova 3i runs EMUI 8.2 based on Android 8.1 Oreo out-of-the-box. It sports a 6.3-inch full-HD+ (1080x2340 pixels) LTPS panel with a 19.5:9 aspect ratio. It is powered by the Huawei HiSilicon Kirin 710 SoC, paired with 4GB of RAM. The Nova 3i features a dual rear camera setup with a 16-megapixel primary sensor and a 2-megapixel secondary sensor. It sports a dual front camera setup as well, with a 24-megapixel primary sensor and a 2-megapixel secondary sensor. The smartphone is equipped with 128GB of inbuilt storage, expandable via microSD card (up to 256GB). Connectivity options in the Huawei Nova 3i include 4G VoLTE, dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth v4.2 LE, USB 2.0, GLONASS, and GPS/ A-GPS. Sensors onboard the Huawei Nova 3i include an accelerometer, ambient light sensor, digital compass, gyroscope, and proximity sensor. There is a 3340mAh battery under the hood.
The dual-SIM (Nano) Nokia 7 Plus runs stock Android 8.1 Oreo out-of-the-box, and sports a 6-inch full-HD+ (1080x2160) IPS LCD display with an 18:9 aspect ratio and Corning Gorilla Glass. It is powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 SoC paired with 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM. It features a dual rear camera setup with a primary 12-megapixel wide-angle sensor has an aperture of f/1.75 and a pixel size of 1.4 microns, and a secondary 13-megapixel sensor has an aperture of f/2.6 and a pixel size of 1 microns. On the front, the Nokia 7 Plus has a 16-megapixel fixed focus camera with an f/2.0 aperture, 1-micron pixels and Zeiss optics. It features 64GB of inbuilt storage that can be expanded via microSD card (up to 256GB). It offers 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth v5.0, GPS/ A-GPS, NFC, USB Type-C (2.0), and a 3.5mm audio jack as connectivity options. Sensors on board include an accelerometer, ambient light sensor, digital compass, gyroscope, proximity sensor, and a rear-facing fingerprint sensor. It has a 3,800mAh battery with fast charging.
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