Today marks the beginning of December of 2023, the last month of the year, and smartphone launches aren’t showing signs of slowing down. So here’s a Sneak Peek into the Smartphones Set to Debut this December from the likes of iQOO, Vivo, Tecno, and more.
1iQOO 12 (India launch)
Our list of smartphones that featured devices launching in November included the iQOO 12, though it specifically referred to the China launch. In December 2023, on the 12th, iQOO is all set to launch the device in India as well.
Ahead of the launch, iQOO has confirmed that the iQOO 12 will run on Android 14 based FunTouchOS 14 out of the box. This makes it the first non-Pixel smartphone in India to come with Android 14 pre-loaded. As far as FunTouch OS 14 is concerned, it is packed with new features, under the hood improvements along with some user interface changes as well.
Moreover, the OS integration in iQOO 12 will ensure the device comes with no hot apps or games. In other words, the bloatware has been omitted. Further, the company confirms that iQOO 12 will get 3 major Android OS upgrades and 4 years of security patches.
Furthermore, a report making rounds of the internet claims that iQOO is aiming to price the iQOO 12 under Rs 55,000 in India. Further, images that shows the box price of the iQOO 12 which is Rs 5X,999, were also shared by a tipster on X. The tipster claims that the Maximum Retail Price (MRP) is Rs 56,999 while the actual pricing could be around Rs 53,000 to Rs 55,000. The phone will launch in two variants: 12GB/256GB and 16GB/512GB, according to the report.
2Tecno Spark Go 2024 (India launch)
Tecno launched the Spark Go 2024 smartphone last month in the Philippines and it’s India launch is set for December 4, 2023. Reports claim that the device could carry a price tag of around Rs 6,999 in India. The device will be available in Mystery White and Gravity Black colours in India and will be sold in India via Amazon.
Tecno Spark Go 2024 sports a 6.6-inch HD+ (720 x 1612 pixels) Dot Notch display with a 90Hz refresh rate. It is powered by the Unisoc T606 SoC. The device has up to 128GB of in-built storage which is expandable and up to 4GB RAM with additional virtual RAM.
For photos and videos, the Tecno device has a dual rear camera setup that comprises of a 13-megapixel primary sensor with an f/1.8 lens, plus an AI sensor and dual LED flash. There is also a 8-megapixel selfie camera sensor at the front with a flash as well.
Connectivity options include 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, FM radio, GPS/ A-GPS, and a USB port. The device is backed by a 5000mAh battery which seems to support 10W charging. The phone has a side-mounted fingerprint sensor along with dual speakers. It runs on Android 13 Go Edition based HiOS 11.
3iQOO Neo 9 series (China launch)
iQOO hasn’t confirmed the exact launch date but the iQOO Neo 9 smartphone lineup will debut in China in December 2023. It did officially post a launch teaser containing the rear design of the iQOO Neo 9, which confirmed that an earlier leaked design was accurate. The device can be seen with a red-white dual tone panel, along two camera modules.
The iQOO Neo 9 could sport a 6.78-inch E6 AMOLED Display with a 1.5K (1260 x 2800 pixels) resolution, HDR10+ support, up to 1300 nits brightness and a 144Hz refresh rate. It is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC.
It packs up to 16GB LPDDR5 RAM and up to 512GB of UFS 3.1 inbuilt storage. There is also a vapour chamber cooling system for heat dissipation. For optics, the iQOO device packs a dual rear camera setup including a 50-megapixel f/1.88 IMX920 primary sensor, an 8MP ultra-wide angle sensor and a 2-megapixel f/2.4 bokeh sensor along with a V1+ imaging chip. For selfies and video calls, the handset may feature a 16-megapixel f/2.45 camera on the front.
The smartphone is backed by a 5000mAh battery with 120W Fast charging support. Further, it will boot Android 13-based Origin OS 3. For connectivity, you will get dual-SIM 5G, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3, GPS, NFC, and a USB-C port for charging the handset. It will also have an under-display fingerprint sensor, X-Axis linear vibration motor, and stereo speakers.
4Vivo S18 Series (China launch)
Vivo is also expected to launch the S18 series smartphone lineup in December 2023 in China. The Vivo S18 series design was first shared by Digital Chat Station on Weibo, with a schematic that showed two camera modules on the back along with a punch-hole embedded display. To follow that up, Vivo officially dropped a teaser for the smartphone in China and showed the left spine of the smartphone, confirming it to have a curved display and a camera module design that seemingly corroborates DCS’ leak.
The Vivo S18 is speculated to feature the Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 and it will be one of the first batch of smartphones to use it, considering we have only seen it in Honor 100 so far.
Next, it will sport an OLED display with 2800 nits of brightness and a 5000mAh battery. The smartphone will have three RAM configurations – 8GB, 12GB, and 16GB – and two storage versions including 256GB and 512 GB.
Vivo S18 Pro will reportedly draw power from last year’s flagship Chipset from Mediatek, the Dimensity 9200+, and offer memory configurations identical to the Vivo S18. It will also pack a 5000mAh battery. Both of these could support 80W fast wired charging. Vivo S18 Pro’s primary rear camera could be a 50MP Sony IMX920 sensor, and it could also include Wi-Fi 7 support.
5Realme GT 5 Pro (China launch)
Realme GT 5 Pro is coming up as the brand’s most powerful flagship till date, on December 7th. The company has put out a few teasers sharing the frontal design of the device along with the display specs which confirm that it will be a 6.78-inch OLED curved-edge display that offers a 1.5K resolution of 2780 x 1264 pixels, 4500 nits peak brightness, up to 144Hz refresh rate, 2160Hz PWM dimming, a 2160Hz touch sampling rate, DC dimming, and 20000 level dimming.
As for other specs, the Realme GT 5 Pro’s base variant will have 12GB RAM and 256GB storage. The GT 5 Pro will come with up to 24 GB of LPDDR5x RAM paired with 1 TB of UFS 4.0 storage. It will pack a 5,400mAh battery with 100W wired and 50W wireless charging. The device is expected to feature a 32-megapixel front camera.
On the back, it could get a 50-megapixel Sony LYT-808 sensor with OIS, 8-megapixel ultra-wide sensor, and a 50-megapixel IMX890 periscope telephoto camera unit. It will come with other features, such as a 12,000mm2 heat dissipation unit and Realme UI 5 based on Android 14.
Coming to the design, the Red Rock colour variant of the device was officially revealed by the brand. This particular variant will have a leather back panel. The handset seems to have a circular camera array with an off-centre Realme branding below it.
6Redmi 13C (India launch)
Redmi has announced that the Redmi 13C will launch in India on December 6. A recent leak claims that the variant of Redmi 13C coming to India will be the same as the one sold globally. In other words, both the variants should share the same specs.
Redmi 13C is going to sport a 6.74-inch IPS LCD with an HD+ resolution, Gorilla Glass protection, up to 90Hz refresh rate, and DC dimming support. Under the hood, the phone packs a MediaTek Helio G85 SoC, paired with up to 8GB of LPDDR4x RAM and up to 256GB of eMMC 5.1 internal storage which could be expandable up to 1TB.
There is a 5000mAh battery with 18W Fast charging support. On the rear, the phone will sport a triple camera setup, comprising a 50MP primary lens with an f/1.8 aperture, a 2MP depth lens with an f/2.4 aperture, and a 2MP macro lens with an f/2.4 aperture. For selfies, an 8MP front-facing camera will be included.
Additionally, connectivity options will include support for Bluetooth 5.1, a Dual SIM, and a 3.5mm Headphone jack. It will also have a side-mounted fingerprint sensor for security.
7OnePlus 12 (China launch)
OnePlus 12 is launching in China on December 5, 2023 as the brand’s most powerful smartphone (and one of the most powerful smartphones in general) to date. The global launch and India launch of the smartphone is expected to take place on January 24. The design and some of its specifications have already been shared by the brand.
The handset will be available in green, black and white colours. It may sport a 6.7-inch QHD+ 120Hz Fluid AMOLED LTPO 3.0 display. Furthermore, it is confirmed to have 4500 nits of peak brightness. It could also have 5000000:1 contrast ratio, 20.1:9 aspect ratio, 92.7% screen-to-body ratio, Dolby Vision support and Corning Gorilla Glass 7 protection. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC could power the device with up to 16GB of LPDDR5x RAM and up to 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage.
Additionally, the OnePlus 12 may have a triple camera setup at the rear including a 48MP Sony LYT-T808 f/1.7 primary sensor with OIS, a 48MP Sony IMX581 f/2.2 ultra-wide angle sensor, and a 64MP OmniVision f/2.6 telephoto sensor with OIS. On the front, there may be a 32MP f/2.4 sensor for selfies and video calls.
It will be backed by a 5400mAh battery that supports 100W SuperVOOC charging. It will also have 50W wireless charging support. Connectivity options would include 5G, NFC, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3 and USB-C for charging. Further, it will run on OxygenOS 14 based on Android 14 outside China and ColorOS 14 in China. Lastly, it supports stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos and has a Bionic Vibration Motor.
