The most sought-after gadgets to be launched in 2020 in India

The year 2019 raised the bar for tech gadgets that provided ease of living. But 2020 is slated to be even better as far as gadget choices are concerned. Giants like Apple, Samsung, Sony and Microsoft will vie to capture the Indian market with the launch of smart phones, gaming consoles and smart watches. Here are the top gadgets that will be rolled out this year in India.

Apple iPhone 12
Launch date: September, 2020

The iPhone is expected to feature a 5.5-inch screen LCD display, along with Apple A13 Bionic chipset and iOS 14. According to a report by Digitimes (via Apple Insider), the 5G variant of the Apple iPhone 12 will come with advanced image stabalisation technology - sensor shift image stabilisation technology - that will ensure that the phone clicks stable images without distortion when when there is excessive motion. This technology will ensure that the image sensor shift with the motion of the device to in order to click steady images.

Apple is expected to launch a total of four iPhone 12 models in September this year. This includes a 5.4-inch iPhone 12 with an OLED display, a dual-rear camera setup and 5G connectivity; a 6.1-inch iPhone 12 with OLED display, a dual-rear camera setup and 5G connectivity; a 6.1-inch iPhone 12 Pro with OLED display, a time of flight sensor, a triple-rear camera setup and 5G connectivity; and a 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro Max with OLED display, a triple-rear camera setup, a time of flight sensor and 5G support.

Samsung Galaxy S11
Launch date: February 2020

The Galaxy S11 series could be launched in as many as three different sizes each of which would feature multiple RAM and storage variants. This could include the S11, S11 Plus and S11 Pro. The Galaxy S11 could bring with it a 6.2-inch display, while the Galaxy S11 Plus could get a 6.7-inch panel. The S11 Pro may end up being for those only with big hands as the device is rumoured to bring with it a massive 6.9-inch display making it the biggest display on a Galaxy S series device to date.

Reports suggest for the Galaxy S11, Samsung will use the Snapdragon 865 chipset that is claimed to be 20 per cent faster at rendering graphics than the Snapdragon 855 in the Galaxy S10. It is expected that the Pro variant of the Galaxy S11 could come with a battery with a maximum capacity of 5000mAh. For camera, all three phones should get a three lens set-up with a custom 108-megapixel sensor as its primary. The phone is expected to launch in February 2020.

One Plus 8 Pro
Launch date: February or March, 2020

One Plus 8 could bring with itself 12GB of RAM and come with Android 10 out of the box. It is said to be  codenamed Kona and will be equipped with Qualcomm's flagship SoC, the Snapdragon 865. The smartphone is expected to sport a punch-hole display and bring with itself a 6.65-inch AMOLED screen with 90Hz refresh rate. The rear of the display would see a vertically aligned camera module and also feature a 3D ToF sensor. The phone is expected to also give up on 3.5mm jack, and instead, just bring with it a Type-C port for both charging the phone and transferring wired audio. It is suggested that the OnePlus 8 series will debut either in February or March, possibly to challenge Samsung's Galaxy S11 series slated to launch at the same time. It would bring with itself three devices, including the OnePlus 8, OnePlus 8 Pro and the OnePlus 8 Lite.

Sony PS5
Launch date: Between October and December, 2020

The PlayStation 5 will come seven years after the debut of the PlayStation 4 and is expected to bring with it substantial upgrades under the hood as well as a brand new controller. The new PS5 controller will come with a brand new haptic technology to replace the "rumble" technology found in previous controllers. "So crashing into a wall in a race car will feel much different than making a tackle on the football field". Another new feature coming to the controller is what the company calls adaptive triggers that have been incorporated into the L2/R2 trigger buttons, so that users feel a different tactile sensation when "drawing a bow" or the varying levels of resistance between a machine gun and a shotgun.

The controller will come with an improved speaker and a USB Type-C connector for charging. Moreover, game installation on the PS5 will be different than in the PS4. Instead of having to install the entire game at once, it could be possible to install a part of the game such as the multiplayer campaign while the single-player campaign can be installed at a later time. The PlayStation 5 will be released during the holiday season in 2020.

Microsoft Xbox Series X
Launch date: Between October and December, 2020

The highlights of the Series X include 8K gameplay, up to 120fps frame rates, variable refresh rate and support for ray tracing. It is said that the hardware will be on par with what Sony will offer with its PS5. The Series X will use a custom design processor that is based on AMD's Zen 2 and Radeon RDNA architecture. As per Microsoft, the GPU performance has gone up to 12 teraflops, which is double than the 6 teraflops of the Xbox One X. The console will also use an NVMe SSD storage that will help with faster load times. The new Xbox will feature low latency tech that Microsoft claims will make it the most responsive console for this year.

As for the external hardware, Microsoft has changed the design of the console and it now looks more akin to an air purifier or a custom-built gaming PC. The Series X console is taller like a desktop CPU box and is rectangular, with a massive air vent on the top. The design is minimalist and it only has one USB port at the front. The Xbox controller looks similar to the One X controller, it is slightly smaller than the existing controller and will feature a Share button to share screenshots and game clips more easily. The rumble triggers will stay on the controller. The new controller will ship with Series X for free and will also be compatible with older Xbox models as well as Windows 10 PCs. The Xbox Series X will launch in Holiday 2020.

Samsung Galaxy Fold 2
Launch date: February 2020

The original Galaxy Fold was launched in a rather unique form factor with a smaller 4.6-inch display on the outside and a primary 7.3-inch foldable panel inside the phone. And it is believed that the Galaxy Fold 2 will also follow a similar form factor. However, the biggest change that the Galaxy Fold 2 is expected to see is a smaller crease running through the middle of the display of the phone. This would not only make the phone more durable but also more impressive to use.

The company is tipped to achieve this by employing "an ultra-thin glass cover" instead of plastic, on the panel. Interestingly, in doing so, the Galaxy Fold 2 will also become the first phone in the world to do so. The "ultra-thin glass cover", which has previously been called UTG (Ultra-Thin Glass) solution in a separate report, will make the foldable display look flatter and also reduce the wrinkle. The Galaxy Fold 2 could bring with it a Galaxy 865 SoC at the heart of it and pair it to upwards of 8GB of RAM and at least 128GB of storage in its entry variant. The reports suggest that the Galaxy Fold 2 could get only three lenses, with a single camera placed outside and a dual-camera set-up used inside the phone.

The phone is reported to miss out on the headphone jack and instead bring only a Type-C port for charging, as well as, playing music through the phone. It is also expected to get Samsung's Android 10 based One UI 2 operating system to boot out of the box. The reports suggest the phone could come closer to the $2000 mark, with the Foldable flip phone from Samsung retailing as the more affordable fordable device in the line-up at around the $1500 mark. For now, it appears that the device will be unveiled alongside the Galaxy S11 at its unpacked event in February 2020 and then launched in important markets around the globe at later dates in the year.

Microsoft's Surface Neo
Launch date: Second half of 2020

The Surface Neo runs on Windows 10X, which is based on Windows 10. It is a bigger version of the Surface Duo and looks to be the "real" version of the Microsoft Courier tablet concept from 10 years ago. It comes with two 9-inch displays with a 360-degree hinge design, which is made specifically for dual screen devices. The Neo is powered by an Intel Lakefield processor and also gets a new Surface Pen that magnetically attached to the back of the device. The Surface Neo is expected to be released in the latter half of 2020.

Microsoft's Surface Duo
Launch date: Second half of 2020

The Surface Duo is a miniaturised version of the Surface Neo. The design philosophy is largely the same - it gets two screens attached with a hinge design, allowing you to fold the device like a book. On unfolding the Duo, you get two 5.6-inch screens with thick bezels on the top and bottom. The two screens can run a single app or two different apps at the same time. You can even use the Duo in landscape mode, turning one screen into a keyboard, as seen previously on the LG Dual Screen. The Surface Duo is powered by a new version of Android that resembles with the Windows 10X OS. The device will be released in the second half of this year.

Apple Watch Series 6
Launch date: September 2020

The next-gen smartwatch from Apple is expected to offer fast performance, improved water resistance and wireless transmission that could increase Wi-Fi and cellular speeds. These improvements would be made possible by switching to liquid crystal polymer or LCP material for the flexible circuit boards. Apple will likely introduce a new S6 chips for the Apple Watch Series 6. This is expected to see a major bump in performance compared to the S5 SoC that powers Series 5.

The next iteration could come with improvements that could let be certified for extreme water activities like scuba diving or water skiing. Apple Watch Series 6 could include a built-in sleep tracking and microLED displays. The company is expected to launch Series 6 this year in September along with the next set of iPhones.