Samsung launches Note 7 for Rs 59,900; partners RJio

The Note 7 features 5.7-inch display, 12MP rear and 5MP front camera, 64GB onboard memory and 3,500 mAh battery

Samsung, on Thursday, launched its new flagship Galaxy Note 7 in India with a price tag of Rs 59,900 and has partnered Reliance Jio for offering three months of free voice and data usage to customers.

The Galaxy Note 7, which will compete with the likes of Apple's iPhone, BlackBerry Priv and HTC 10, will be available for pre-bookings from August 22 till August 30.

"We believe Note series will help us consolidate our share in the premium segment. We have pioneered a new category when the first Galaxy Note was launched in 2011. The Note 7 packs in some new features like iris scanner and improved S Pen, which will delight new customers as well as Note loyalists," Samsung India vice president mobile business Manu Sharma said.

The device is being manufactured in India.

The Note 7 features 5.7-inch display, 12MP rear and 5MP front camera, 64GB onboard memory and 3,500 mAh battery.

"We expect the next quarter to be a good one for sales as the monsoon has been good this year, there is this aspect of Pay Commission as well, so its overall a positive note," he added.

Samsung is also launching a portfolio of wearables – Gear Fit 2 (smartwatch), IconX (wireless earphones) and Gear VR (VR glasses) to cater to consumers' fitness and lifestyle needs, he said.

Talking about wearables, Sharma said the category has been doing phenomenally well and Samsung is working on expanding the market for these products.

"The task is to grow the market. We will continue to offer wearables with our phones to expand the ecosystem. The market is still in nascent stages," he said.

Wearable devices shipments in India clocked over 400,000 units in the January-March 2016 quarter, largely driven by fitness bands that accounted for 87.7 per cent share of the category, as per research firm IDC.

Sales of Note 7 will begin from September 2 in online and offline markets, within a month of its launch in the US.

The phablet, which was launched in the US last week, will come bundled with Gear VR headset priced at Rs 1,990.

Individually, the VR glasses will be sold from first week of September for Rs 7,290.

The GearFit2 has been priced at Rs 13,990, while IconX will be available for Rs 13,490.