The first week of January turned out to be surprisingly eventful. You could blame CES 2023 for a lot of this, sure, but there have also been a lot of new smartphone announcement generating buzz keeping tech enthusiasts and pundits on their toes, alike.

While Xiaomi launched the value-oriented Redmi Note 12 5G series in India, OnePlus launched the first flagship of the year, OnePlus 11, in China. Samsung and Poco kicked off 2023 with relatively entry-level phones in India while Lenovo unleashed the first ThinkPhone for businesses keeping pricing and availability details under the wraps for now.Redmi Note 12 5G: The most affordable phone in the Redmi Note 12 5G line-up comes with a 6.67-inch 1080p AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and 1200nits of peak brightness.

Under the hood, it has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 processor paired with up to 6GB of RAM and up to 128GB of storage. The phone runs MIUI 13 based on Android 12. Running the show is a 5,000mAh battery with 33W fast charging. For photography, the Redmi Note 12 has a triple camera setup on the rear with a 48MP main, 8MP ultra-wide, and another 2MP macro. On the front, there is an 8MP selfie camera. Redmi Note 12 5G price in India starts at Rs 17,999 for a version with 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. A version with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage will cost Rs 19,999.

Redmi Note 12 Pro 5G: The Note 12 Pro comes with a 6.67-inch 1080p AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate and support for Dolby Vision playback (900nits peak brightness). Under the hood, you get a MediaTek Dimensity 1080 processor paired with up to 12GB of RAM and up to 256GB of storage. The phone runs MIUI 13 based on Android 12. Running the show is a 5,00mAh battery with 67W fast charging. For photography, the Redmi Note 12 Pro has a triple camera setup on the rear with a 50MP main (with OIS), 8MP ultra-wide, and another 2MP macro. On the front, there is a 16MP selfie camera. The Redmi Note 12 Pro 5G has been launched in three memory configurations: 6GB/128GB for Rs 24,999, 8GB/128GB for Rs 26,999, and 8GB/256GB for Rs 27,999.

Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus 5G: The Note 12 Pro Plus has the same display as the Note 12 Pro which is a 6.67-inch 1080p AMOLED with a 120Hz refresh rate and support for Dolby Vision playback (900nits peak brightness). Under the hood, it has the same MediaTek Dimensity 1080 processor paired with up to 12GB of RAM and up to 256GB of storage. The phone runs MIUI 13 based on Android 12. Running the show is a 4,980mAh battery with 120W fast charging. For photography, the Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus has a triple camera setup on the rear with a 200MP main (with OIS), 8MP ultra-wide, and another 2MP macro. On the front, there is a 16MP selfie camera. The Redmi Note 12 Pro Plus price in India starts at Rs 29,999 for a version with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. A version with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage will cost Rs 32,999.

OnePlus 11 5G: The OnePlus 11 comes with a 6.7-inch 2K (1440p) AMOLED display with LTPO3.0 technology with a maximum refresh rate of 120Hz. The panel can peak 1300nits and supports Doby Vision playback. Under the hood, you get a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor which is paired with up to 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and up to 512GB of UFS4.0 storage. Rounding off the package is a 5,000mAh battery with 100W fast wired charging. For photography, the OnePlus 11 comes with three cameras on the back with a 50MP main (with OIS), 48MP ultrawide, and another 32MP 2x telephoto. On the front, there is a 16MP camera. The OnePlus 11 5G starts at CNY 3,999 (roughly Rs 48,000) for a version with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. It will also come with 16GB/256GB and 16GB/512GB for CNY 4,399 (roughly Rs 53,000) and CNY 4,899 (roughly Rs 59,000), respectively. OnePlus 11 5G is confirmed to launch in India on February 7, 2023.

Samsung Galaxy F04: The entry-level Galaxy F04 comes with a 6.5-inch 720p display. Under the hood, it has a MediaTek Helio P35 processor paired with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. The RAM is expandable by up to 8GB using Samsung’s RAM Plus virtual memory feature. The phone runs Android 12 software and is guaranteed to get two major OS updates. Rounding off the package is a 5,000mAh battery with USB Type-C charging. For photography, the Galaxy F04 comes with dual rear cameras with a 13MP main and 2MP depth sensor. On the front, it has a 5MP camera. Samsung has launched the Galaxy F04 in single 4GB/64GB configuration for Rs 9,499.

Poco C50: The ultra-affordable Poco C50 comes with a 6.52-inch 720p display. The phone is powered by a MediaTek Helio A22 processor paired with up to 3GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. Software is Android 12 Go Edition. Running the show is a 5,000mAh battery with 10W charging support via micro-USB. For photography, the Poco C50 comes with an 8MP camera on the rear and another 5MP camera on the front. Poco has launched the Poco C50 in India at a starting price of Rs 6,499 for a version with 2GB of RAM and 32GB of storage. A version with 3GB of RAM and 32GB storage will cost Rs 7,299.

Lenovo ThinkPhone by Motorola: The ThinkPhone is primarily a B2B product geared towards businesses, especially those who use ThinkPad laptops. The phone comes with a 6.6-inch OLED display with a 144Hz refresh rate. Under the hood, it has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 processor paired with up to 12GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage. Running the show is a 5,000mAh battery with 68W fast wired and 15W wireless charging support. For photography, the Lenovo ThinkPhone has a dual camera setup with a 50MP main and 13MP ultra-wide. On the front, it has a 32MP camera. Pricing and availability details are yet to be announced.