Panasonic launches Eluga Ray Max and Ray X with Arbo AI Assistant

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is something which every tech company is looking forward for, especially an assistant inside smartphones. Started with Apple's Siri, followed by Microsoft's Cortana and newly available Google's Assistant, we literally have an AI assistant stalking us on nearly every platform — right from location to behavior of app usage, frequently contacted people, WiFi, Bluetooth routine and more.

Following the same legacy of never ending AI assistant race, Panasonic India forayed into the world of AI with its in-house developed virtual assistance called ‘Arbo’. According to Panasonic, Arbo is derived from Esperanto, which means - a framework that supports climbing plants.

Along with the announcement of Arbo, Panasonic unveiled two new smartphones equipped with Arbo named Eluga Ray Max and Eluga Ray X. Both the smartphones will be available in three different color options including Rose Gold, Space Grey, and Gold. The smartphones will be exclusively available on Flipkart starting April 17th.

The Panasonic Eluga Ray Max comes in two different storage options – the 32GB version priced at Rs. 11,499 and the 64GB version priced at Rs. 12,499. On the other hand, the Eluga Ray X will be available for Rs. 8,999.

Arbo

Panasonic has developed Arbo with easy (single-hand) and quick (up to 3 actions) operation as the concept. Arbo will analyze user's behavior based on time and location using AI. Based on the time or location, Arbo will automatically display and make suggestions on screen such as

• Frequently contacted phone numbers and SNS users
• Applications
• Wi-Fi, volume, etc. settings
• Connection with IoT devices (Bluetooth devices, etc.)

Arbo also takes care of all the daily tasks and activities like calls and messages that need to be framed and sent out on a regular basis. It also keeps a detailed list of all the applications functioning on the smartphone, gathers detailed information on their habits and informs them about it accordingly.

In addition, it features a user interface that displays icons in a circular, radial fashion, enabling single-handed, intuitive operation. Panasonic notes that it will continue to update Arbo, to expand the scope of automatic displays and suggestions, to further evolve the user interface, and to enhance usability.

Talking of hands-on experience, Arbo inside Eluga Ray Max was not polished and felt unfinished. It was quite difficult to understand how to use and setup Arbo initially. We hope Panasonic improve the UI of Arbo and make it more consumer friendly.

Panasonic Eluga Ray Max

Features	Description
Screen Size	5.2-inch Full HD display with 2.5D curved Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection
Processor	1.4GHz 64bit Octa-Core, Adreno 505 GPU
Chipset	Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor
RAM	4GB RAM
Android Version	Android 6.0 Marshmallow with Panasonic Proprietary UI on top
Rear Camera	16MP rear camera with LED flash, F-stop 2.4, 5P Lens, 1.0µ Pixel Size, 1/3.1" Sensor Size
Front Camera	8MP front-facing camera with Selfie-flash, F-stop 2.0, 4P Lens, 1.12µ Pixel Size, 1/4" Sensor Size
Storage Variant	32GB / 64GB internal storage, up to 128GB microSD card support
Battery	3000mAh battery with Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0
Sim	Dual SIM, 4G VoLTE
Wifi	WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth	Bluetooth 4.1
Extra	A-GPS, FM with RDS, USB OTG
Dimension	Dimensions: 148 x 73 x 9.5mm, Weight: 165 grams

Panasonic Eluga Ray Max has a metal uni-body design. The device felt sturdy during our hands-on at the event and was quite comfortable too. On the front, you will find an earpiece, front-facing camera and a LED flash above the display with a fingerprint scanner (embedded inside the home button) below it.

Primary camera, LED flash, antenna bands, secondary microphone, and Panasonic and Eluga branding is what you will find on the back of the device. Volume rockers and power/lock button are placed on the left side with 3.5mm headphone jack on the top. Speakers and primary microphone along with microUSB charging port are placed at the bottom.

The UI of Eluga Ray Max was running smooth with no lag whatsoever. The biggest downside of the device is that it still runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Considering the specifications and the pricing, Panasonic's Ray Max will surely give tough competition to other smartphones available in the market at similar price bracket.

Panasonic Eluga Ray X

Features	Description
Screen Size	5.5-inch Full HD display with 2.5D curved Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection
Processor	1.3GHz 64bit Octa-Core, Mali-T720 GPU
Chipset	MediaTek MT6737 processor
RAM	3GB RAM
Android Version	Android 6.0 Marshmallow
Rear Camera	13MP rear camera with LED Flash, F-stop 2.2, 5P Lens, 1/3.2" Sensor Size
Front Camera	5MP front-facing camera with LED Flash, F-stop 2.2, 4P Lens, 1/5" Sensor Size
Storage Variant	32GB / 64GB internal storage microSD card support
Battery	4000mAh built-in battery
Sim	Dual SIM, 4G VoLTE
Wifi	WiFi 802.11 b/g/n
Bluetooth	Bluetooth 4.1
Extra	A-GPS, FM with RDS, USB OTG
Dimension	Dimensions: 153.4 x 77.0 x 10.5mm, Weight: 165 grams

Talking of Panasonic Eluga Ray X, the smartphone looks exactly similar to the Eluga Ray Max. Like the Ray Max, on the front, there's an earpiece, Selfie-flash and front-facing camera on the top of the display with fingerprint scanner below the same, embedded inside the capacitive home button.

The placement of speaker has been moved from bottom to the back of the device. On the bottom, we have microUSB port with a primary microphone with 3.5mm headphone jack on the top. Volume rockers and power/lock button (oval shaped) are still placed on the left side of the device.

Panasonic Eluga Ray X also comes with Panasonic's latest Arbo AI assistant in-built. The smartphone is priced competitively. The UI was smooth and the build of Ray X was at par, considering the price tag. Similar to the Eluga Ray Max, the Ray X also comes with Android 6.0 Marshmallow out-of-the-box.

Both, the Panasonic Eluga Ray Max and Ray X will be available from Flipkart starting April 17th.