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Tuesday 28 May 2013

Budget Smartphones are becoming too good to resist !

The phrase 'Budget Smartphone', to some extent, may be thought of an example of an oxymoron. How come a device can be 'Smart' if the budget for the under-hood hardware is under a budget ! Despite all, the budget-segment brands are building quite a hype if you talk about specification on paper. Especially, the way these brands like Micromax, LAVA, Karbonn are launching their own flagship models, it feels very confusing to choose even between the budget mobiles and devices belonging to premium fraternity.
Today I'll discuss about a few recently launched budget segment handsets. The specification under the hood is quite overwhelming if you consider the price-point of these Budget Smartphones.

#1
This device tore apart all the spec-pages of other budget segment mobiles. Not only that, it's very competitively priced too. It's a flagship device from a Chinese company UMI, the UMI X2. According to the company, the device is set to be released in India for Rs. 14,000 in mid-march this year.Here is a quick brief of the specifications of the UMI X2.


UMI X2
UMI X2
  • General: Optional 2G/3G connectivity, Dual SIM
  • Dimensions: 135 x 68 x 8.9 mm, 155 g
  • Display: 5.0 Inch, IPS Retina Screen, Gorilla Glass 2 Display, PPI 441, 1080p full HD screen
  • CPU: MTK6589 Quad Core 1.2GHz
  • RAM: 2GB
  • OS: Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean)Upgradable to 4.2 in April
  • Memory: 32GB internal storage, 32 GB microSD card slot
  • Camera: 13 megapixel auto-focus camera with flashlight; 3MP front facing camera
  • Connectivity: Wi-Fi b/g, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS built in, FM support
  • Battery: 2500 mAh 
  • Color: White/Grey
  • Miscellaneous: Gravity Sensor, Proximity Sensor, Light Sensor, Magnetic sensor

#2
Powered by a quad core 1.2 GHz processor , 4.5 inch qHD IPS display panel and packed with latest Android Jelly Bean OS, LAVA Xolo Q800 is next in the budget device race. This beauty with a promising hardware is Priced at around Rs. 12k. Let's have a sneak peak into the under-hood hardware.

XOLO Q800
XOLO Q800
  • General: Optional 2G/3G connectivity, Dual SIM
  • Dimensions: 67x135.5x9.6 mm
  • Display: 4.5 Inch, IPS Display, 5 Finger Touch Display, 540 x 960 Pixels Resolution
  • CPU: 1.2 GHz, Quad Core
  • GPU:  PowerVR SGX544
  • RAM: 1GB
  • OS: Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean)
  • Memory: 4 GB ROM, up to 32 GB microSD card slot
  • Camera: 8 megapixel auto-focus camera with flashlight; 1MP front facing camera, BSI Sensor, CMOS Sensor
  • Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n , Bluetooth 4.0, 21 Mbps HSDPA; 5.7 Mbps HSUPA
  • Battery: 2100 mAh 
  • Miscellaneous: 3-Axis Accelerometer or G-Sensor, Gyroscope, 3-Axis Magnetometer or compass, Ambient light sensor, Proximity sensor
Despite having the option of XOLO q800, we have XOLO B700, a dual core smartphone packed with 3450 mah battery; which will quite surely give you 2 days of moderate usage with a single recharge.

 
#3
Next in line would be the Micromax Canvas series smartphones. So far we've seen MMX A100 (Micromax Canvas) and MMX A110(Micromax Canvas 2). Canvas 2 was a huge success in terms of company sales figure. Recently Canvas2 got its successor called Micromax Canvas HD aka MMX A116. Priced at Rs. 13,990, the device is very snappy in terms of specifications. Sources say that Canvas HD was sold-out within hours of its launch on 14 th Feb, midnight. Well, its hard to believe, isn't it? Let's check out the specs-sheet; that might help you to understand the drama.

Micromax Canvas HD
Micromax Canvas HD

  • General: Optional 2G/3G connectivity, Dual SIM
  • Dimensions: 144 x 74 x 10.7 mm, 156 g
  • Display: 5.0 Inch, IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors, 1280*720 Resolution, 294 PPI
  • CPU: MTK MT6589 Quad Core 1.2GHz Cortex-A7
  • GPU: PowerVR SGX544
  • RAM: 1GB
  • OS: Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean)
  • Memory: 4 GB internal storage (1.77 GB user available), up to 32 GB microSD card slot
  • Camera: 8 megapixel auto-focus camera with flashlight; 2MP front facing camera
  • Connectivity: Wi-Fi b/g, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS built in, FM support
  • Battery: 2000 mAh 
  • Miscellaneous: Gravity Sensor, Proximity Sensor 

#4
Karbonn Titanium S1 is the next budget device in the list. Its powered by a quad-core 1.2GHz  processor and bestowed by a 4.4 inch display panel having a resolution of 960 pixels. It manages to to render a mere 480*800 pixels with WVGA technology. Despite that, in the budget segment with a price tag of Rs. 10,999 it is difficult to find a device with such a huge display panel. In touch based UI, the bigger screen has always an edge; so does the Karbonn A30. The specifications provided by Karbonn is also remarkable in the price segment. Lets have a quick look.

Karbonn S1 Titanium
Karbonn S1 Titanium

  • General: Optional 2G/3G connectivity, Dual SIM
  • Dimensions: 91x166x10.7 mm, 280 g
  • Display: 5.9 Inches, WVGA, 480 x 800 Pixels
  • CPU: 1 GHz, Dual Core
  • RAM: 512 MB RAM
  • OS: Android v4.0.4 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
  • Memory: 4 GB Internal (2.56 GB User Memory), up to 32 GB microSD card slot
  • Camera: 8 megapixel auto-focus camera with LED flash; 1.3MP front facing camera
  • Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n , Bluetooth 4.0, FM support
  • Battery: 2500 mAh
  • Miscellaneous: Proximity Sensor, Light Sensor, 3D G-Sensor, Voice Assisted GPS Navigation
As the days pass, more and more flagship budget gadgets are emerging. So, there remains handful of other budget smartphones which are not being covered in this post, but do have a look into them as well. Few names would be : Karbonn Titanium S5,  Karbonn Titanium S2, Micromax Canvas 3D, Micromax Canvas Doodle, Xolo Q700.
My recommendation is that, you should always check the review of a gadget before buying. Trust me, don't just go for a name or brand.