August 2026 is shaping up to be one of the busiest launch months of the year in India, with dates already locked in for most of the phones below and solid leak support behind the rest. If you've been holding off on an upgrade, it's worth knowing what's landing before you buy — Samsung, Xiaomi, POCO, Vivo, Google and iQOO all have something dropping this month, per 91mobiles.
Here's everything confirmed or strongly tipped so far, in order of launch date.
1. Samsung Galaxy F70 Pro 5G — August 3
Samsung is first out of the gate. The Galaxy F70 Pro 5G launches in India on August 3 via Flipkart and Samsung's own online store, per Beebom. It's essentially a rebadged Galaxy M47 5G, running a Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 chip with a 6.7-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED display at 120Hz, protected by Gorilla Glass Victus+. The camera setup is unusually strong for the price — a 50MP main sensor with OIS, paired with a 5MP ultrawide and 2MP macro — backed by a 6,000mAh battery, 45W charging, and a promised six generations of Android upgrades, per AndroidPure.
Samsung has already published pricing: ₹25,999 for 6GB+128GB, ₹29,999 for 8GB+128GB, and ₹34,999 for 8GB+256GB, as confirmed by GSMArena.
Best for: buyers who want a reliable, balanced mid-ranger with a genuinely premium display and long software support.
2. POCO M8 Power — August 4
POCO has confirmed the M8 Power for August 4 at 12 PM IST, sold exclusively through Flipkart. The pitch is almost entirely about battery: an 8,000mAh silicon-carbon cell that POCO claims is good for up to three days of typical use, paired with a 7-inch AMOLED display and a 50MP primary camera. Several outlets, including 91mobiles, report that the M8 Power is essentially a rebadged Redmi Note 17 - right down to matching firmware model numbers, per Memeburn - so the two are worth comparing side by side.
Pricing is genuinely unsettled in the leaks: estimates range from as low as ₹18,000 to as high as ₹34,999 depending on the source, per Beebom and TechTimes - treat any specific number as a guess until POCO confirms it on launch day.
Best for: heavy users and anyone who hates charging their phone every day, on the tightest possible budget.
3. Redmi Note 17 — August 6
Xiaomi has confirmed the Redmi Note 17 for an August 6 India launch, with sales via Amazon and Xiaomi's own store, per 91mobiles. The headline spec is the same 8,000mAh battery it ships with in China, paired with a large 7-inch OLED display (120Hz, up to 1,800 nits) and a Snapdragon 4 Gen 4 chipset. Other confirmed and leaked details include Gorilla Glass 7i, a 50MP rear camera, an 8MP front camera, and HyperOS 3 on Android 16.
Leaks point to a starting price around ₹30,000 for 6GB+128GB and ₹33,000 for 8GB+128GB — roughly ₹7,000 more than the Redmi Note 15 launched at, largely blamed on the memory-chip price hikes hitting the whole industry.
Best for: buyers who want maximum battery life and a big screen without paying flagship money.
4. Vivo S2 — expected August 6
Unlike the phones above, Vivo hasn't officially confirmed a date - only teased the design and confirmed the phone is coming. Leaks consistently point to an August 6 announcement with sales opening August 11, per GSMArena, but treat the exact date as unconfirmed until Vivo says otherwise. It marks the return of Vivo's S-series after nearly seven years, and it's clearly the design-focused option of the month: a 6.83-inch curved 1.5K AMOLED display at 120Hz, a MediaTek Dimensity 7360-Turbo chipset, a 7,050mAh battery with 44W FlashCharge, and IP68/IP69 durability. The camera setup is more modest - a 50MP primary paired with a 2MP secondary sensor and a 32MP selfie camera.
Pricing leaks vary a lot by source, landing anywhere between ₹40,000 and ₹56,000 depending on the variant, so hold off on treating any single figure as final.
Best for: buyers who want a stylish, curved-display phone with strong battery life, without going full flagship price.
5. Google Pixel 11 series — August 12
Google's Made by Google event is confirmed for August 12 in New York (6 PM ET, which is 3:30 AM IST on August 13) - and it's the biggest launch of the month by a wide margin. The lineup is expected to include the Pixel 11, Pixel 11 Pro, and Pixel 11 Pro XL, all built around the new Tensor G6 chip - reportedly the first smartphone chip on TSMC's 2nm process, per 91mobiles. Base storage is expected to move from 128GB to 256GB across the board, though that comes with a price hike globally.
In India, pre-orders open August 12 alongside the global event, but actual shipping is expected to start about a week later, on August 20, 2026, per Fonearena - not the day after the keynote, as some coverage has implied.
The Pixel 11 Pro Fold is widely expected to join the lineup on stage too, even if it doesn't reach Indian shelves until closer to September going by last year's pattern - we've covered what to expect from the Fold in India in more detail here.
Best for: buyers who want the best camera, AI features, and software support money can buy, and don't mind paying flagship prices for it.
6. iQOO Z11 — later in August, date unconfirmed
iQOO is the only brand on this list yet to confirm a launch date - the Z11 is only "expected" sometime in August, following the budget-focused Z11 Lite that already launched in July. Leaks point to a 6.83-inch curved AMOLED display at up to 144Hz, an India-specific MediaTek Dimensity 7500 Turbo chipset (the Chinese version uses the more powerful Dimensity 8500), a 9,020mAh battery with 90W fast charging, a 50MP OIS main camera, and IP68/IP69 ratings, per 91mobiles. Early price chatter points to around ₹29,990-35,000, though nothing is official yet.
Best for: gamers and performance-focused buyers who want a big battery and fast charging without flagship pricing.
Quick Comparison
| Phone |
Launch Date |
Standout Feature |
Best For |
| Samsung Galaxy F70 Pro 5G |
Aug 3 (confirmed) |
Balanced specs + 6 years of updates |
Reliable all-rounder |
| POCO M8 Power |
Aug 4 (confirmed) |
8,000mAh battery |
Long battery life on a budget |
| Redmi Note 17 |
Aug 6 (confirmed) |
8,000mAh battery + big screen |
Battery life |
| Vivo S2 |
Aug 6 (leaked, unconfirmed) |
Curved display + design |
Style + endurance |
| Pixel 11 series |
Aug 12 (confirmed) |
AI + camera + software |
Premium experience |
| iQOO Z11 |
Later in Aug (unconfirmed) |
Performance + big battery |
Gaming & power users |
Which One Should You Wait For?
It depends on what you're optimizing for. If battery life is your main complaint with your current phone, the Redmi Note 17 and POCO M8 Power are both built almost entirely around that - and given they reportedly share hardware, it may come down to price and after-sales support rather than specs. The Galaxy F70 Pro 5G is the more balanced all-rounder in the mid-range, with a display and camera setup that punch above its price. The Vivo S2 leans into design and a big battery for buyers who want something that looks and feels premium without flagship pricing, and the iQOO Z11 is shaping up as the performance pick in the upper mid-range. For anyone shopping at the top of the market, the Pixel 11 series is the one to wait for - particularly if Google's 2nm Tensor G6 delivers the efficiency gains it's promising.