Top 10 Android Smartphones 2015

Top 10 Android Smartphones (UPDATED)

The world is always looking for something smarter, more intuitive and more advanced than what was available yesterday. So far, in the ever-changing world of mobile phones, the demand for something new is extremely high and the larger variety of devices is so far ruled supreme by handsets running on Google’s Android Platform. For those looking to switch from other operating systems to Android, here’s our list of the top 10 best Android phones in India today.

 The prices listed are best prices we have gathered from our market and official sources and will vary depending on your location, taxes etc. The list below is not sorted according to any specific rank.

Samsung Galaxy I9100 S II - Rs. 28,500
The Galaxy SII shot to stardom almost immediately after its launch. It’s still quite a sought after handset with features to rival some of today’s new handset models. At the time of its launch, the S  II was one of the scant few to feature a Dual Core processor (1.2GHz). Packed to the hilt with features, and toting Android’s Gingerbread OS, the SII is still one of the slimmest handsets to make it out of the Samsung camp. The S II is also capable of playing full HD video content and comes with multiple codec supports for almost all popular video files. For the Indian user, Android 4.0 aka ICS (Ice Cream Sandwich), is on its way and should be here real soon.

The once reigning champion

The SII also features -

• 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus Gorilla Glass display sporting a 480 x 800 pixel resolution
• 4G (HSPA+ 21MBPs), EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi with DLNA compliance (AllShare), Wi-Fi hotspot support and Wi-Fi Direct
• GPS with a-GPS
• Bluetooth 3.0+, USB 2.0 with MHL for media out and USB-on-the-go
• 8MP AF camera with LED flash supporting 1080p video capture @30fps
• Secondary 2MP camera
• FM radio
• 16GB and 32GB capacities with 32GB microSD card support

Samsung Galaxy Note - Rs. 32,500
The Galaxy Note is the second effort by a mobile manufacturer to try and bridge the gap between tablets and mobile handsets, the first being the Dell Streak that didn’t quite catch on. The Note however was quite a hit with the business class users as it came off as a device that managed to offer substantial speed with its 1.4GHz Dual Core and a large enough display to get work done on the fly. Like its younger brother, the Note also features plenty of video codecs built in to handle all format runs on Android Gingerbread with an ICS update on the horizon. The Samsung S-Pen or Smart Pen stylus can also be quite handy for both work and play or just jotting down notes

.

Big brother looms over the little SII

The Note also comes with -

• 5.3-inch Super AMOLED display with an 800 x 1280 pixel resolution (Corning Gorilla glass)
• 4G (HSPA+ 21MBPs), EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi with DLNA compliance (AllShare), Wi-Fi hotspot support and Wi-Fi Direct
• GPS with a-GPS
• Bluetooth 3.0+, USB 2.0 with MHL for media out and USB-on-the-go
• 8MP AF camera with LED flash supporting 1080p video capture @30fps
• Secondary 2MP camera
• FM radio
• 16GB and 32GB capacities with 32GB microSD card support
• Active noise cancellation

Samsung Galaxy Nexus - Rs. 24,500
Although this, the third edition to Google’s Nexus family, was never formally introduced to the Indian shelves, the handset is nevertheless still available via other vendors. The Galaxy Nexus is the second in this series to be made by Samsung and come preloaded with ICS. One of the main benefits of the Nexus devices is that you’re almost guaranteed to get Android updates earlier than other phones. With its 1.2GHZ Dual Core processor, this device is as fast as you need it to be to handle all kinds of functions seamlessly.

Google's got dibs on the updates

Features also include -

• 4.6-inch Super AMOLED display with an 720 x 1280 pixel resolution (Corning Gorilla glass with an Oleophobic coating)
• 3G (HSPA+ 21MBPs), EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi with DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot support
• GPS with a-GPS
• Bluetooth 3.0+, USB 2.0 with MHL for media out
• 8MP AF camera with LED flash supporting 1080p video capture @30fps
• Secondary 1.3MP camera
• 16GB capacity

Sony Xperia S - Rs. 30,500
Sony’s latest high-end Smartphone in their Xperia range was only recently launched for India and is the first device launched under the Sony branding (minus the Ericsson). It’s equipped with a 1.5GHz Dual Core processor and comes loaded with Sony’s Bravia Mobile Engine to enhance your visual experience. For some strange reason Sony is shipping the handset with Gingerbread but rest assured, an ICS update will make it to the Xperia S in time. This is also the very first Android powered device to come with a 12 megapixel camera. The camera settings include 3D panorama Sweep and geotagging amongst others. The unique transparent strip at the bottom of the handset also adds a bit of class and sex appeal to the overall look and feel of the handset that’s quite robust in design as it is.

Quite a sharp looker

Features also include -

• 4.3-inch LED Backlit LCD with an 720 x 1280 pixel resolution (Scratch resistant)
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi with DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot support
• GPS with a-GPS
• Bluetooth 3.0+, USB 2.0
• 12MP AF camera with LED flash supporting 1080p video capture @30fps
• Secondary 1.3MP camera
• FM Radio
• 32GB capacity
• HDMI out
• Active noise cancellation

Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo V - Rs. 17,200
The Neo V, with its chic oval shaped design proved to be quite a popular handset in its price range. It offers users a well balanced feature set that includes a 1GHz processor, 5MP camera, HDMI out and again Sony’s Mobile Bravia Engine to boost colors and textures on the display. Like the Xperia S the, Neo V also features Sony’s 3D camera option for a 3D Panorama Sweep and also has face and smile detection with touch focus. Sony’s Track ID is also on board along with their Timescape UI.

Well equipped and neat looking as well

The Neo V also comes with -

• 3.7-inch LED Backlit LCD with a 480 x 854 pixel resolution (Scratch resistant)
• 3G, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi with DLNA, Wi-Fi hotspot support
• GPS with a-GPS
• Bluetooth 2.1, USB 2.0 with USB-on-the-go
• 5MP AF camera with LED flash supporting 720p video capture @30fps
• Secondary VGA camera
• FM Radio
• 1GB on board memory with up to 32GB via memory card support
• HDMI out

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Monday, 16 February 2015

Micromax Canvas HD A116 vs. Karbonn Titanium S5

Micromax Canvas HD A116 vs. Karbonn Titanium S5

The Indian smartphone market is brimming with low-cost smartphones, but now the subcontinent is witnessing the launch of several cheap 5-inch smartphones with quad-core processors.

Indian smartphones makers like Micromax, Karbonn, Lava and its subsidiary Xolo (known for its Intelpowered smartphones) are flooding the market with low-cost big-screen smartphones with high-end features, giving tough competition to MNC brands Apple, Samsung, BlackBerry, HTC and others.

Micromax's Canvas HD A116 which was released a month ago created a record of sorts on the first day of its release. The first batch of Micromax's smartphones was sold out within minutes of its release online.

Rival Karbonn a few days ago took the wraps off its latest quad-core smartphone, Titanium S5, which is quite on par with Canvas HD A116 specs wise.

Brief comparison of main specs between Micromax HD A116 and Karbonn Titanium S5:

Display:

Micromax Canvas HD A116 boasts a 5.0-inch LCD display IPS (In-Plane Switching) technology with 720px1280p resolution with pixel density of 294 pixels per inch. Karbonn Titanium S5 too sports a competitive 5.0-inch qHD IPS capacitive screen, but its resolution 540x960p falls short against the Micromax device.  

Processor:

Both Micromax Canvas HD and Karbonn Titanium S5 pack quad-core processors with 1.2GHz CPU speed, but contain different chipsets made from MediaTek MT6589 and Qualcomm Snapdragon series, respectively.

Camera:

Titanium S5 sports an 8.0-megapixel main camera with Auto-focus and flash support with a 2.0-megapixel front camera. Canvas HD too sports a similar 8.0-megapixel rear-side camera with HD 1280x720p resolution video recording and a 2.0-megapixel VGA front camera.

Mobile Operating System:

In terms of mobile OS, both smartphones stand even in this department with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS. Consumers can make use of more than 650,000 apps in the Android OS ecosystem.

Both smartphones have similar storage, RAM, battery capacity and network connectivity features with negligible differences.

In terms of price, Canvas HD costs ₹13,999 while Titanium S5 is priced ₹11,990, almost ₹2000 lower than its competitor. This price difference might play spoil sport for the Canvas HD since the Micromax is facing supply shortage, and there are speculations that the company is contemplating to increase the price to ₹14,499.

Here is a breakdown of comparison between Micromax HD Canvas HD and Karbonn Titanium S5 [Spec Wise]:

Model	Micromax Canvas HD A116	Karbonn Titanium S5
Display	5-inch IPS-LCD screen with 720px1280p HD display(pixel density: 294 pixel per inches)	5.0-inch multi-touch capacitive screen with qHD display 540x960p resolution
OS	Android v4.1 OS (Jelly Bean)	Android v4.1 OS (Jelly Bean)
Processor	Quad-core MediaTek MT6589 Cortex A7 processor with 1.2GHz clock speed	Qualcomm Snapdragon Quad-core processor with 1.2 GHz clock speed
RAM	1GB	1GB
Storage	4GB, expandable up to 32 GB	4GB ROM, and expandable up to 32GB
Camera	Rear side: 8.0-megapixel camera Front side: 2.0-megapixel VGA camera	Rear side: 8.0-megapixel camera Front side: 2.0 megapixel camera
Battery	2100 mAh	2000 mAh
Network	2G & 3G	2G & 3G
Price	₹13,999/- (expected to rise to ₹14,499)	₹11,990/-

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Thursday, 20 June 2013

Micromax A88 Canvas Music: Review

The A88 is another recent addition to the Micromax’s rapidly expanding portfolio. Called the Canvas Music, the A88 is targeted at the music aficionado as it comes bundled with JBL headphones as well as access to free downloadable music through their MLive online service. Backed up by reasonable pricing, let’s see if it’s worth the hype.  

Design and Build 
Available in white or black, the A88 isn’t a very striking phone by any means. The handset looks like a miniaturised version of the Canvas 3D, which is not saying much. The glass front is a magnet for finger prints and is a pain to keep clean. The rubberised back extends a bit onto the sides as well, offering good grip. The power and volume buttons all line up and are quite ergonomically placed. Around the back, we have the 5MP camera with dual LED flash and a speaker grill at the bottom.

Nothing much to talk about in terms of design

Beneath the rear cover, we have two regular-sized SIM slots and a microSD card slot that’s not hot swappable. Due to the smaller 4.5-inch screen, the A88 is very manageable in your hand and single-handed operation is done with ease. It’s also fairly light at 136g but a tad on the bulkier side.

The JBL headphones are pretty decent

The bundled headphones are the JBL Tempo, which are worth roughly Rs 2,000. The headphones sit on your ear but with a good amount of pressure thanks to the metal band. There’s cushioning for your head and the ear cups, which make them comfortable even for long hours. The quality is not bad either as the 40mm drivers deliver good highs and lows with slightly weak mids. You also get the regular headset in the box but there’s no comparison when it comes to quality.

Features 
The Canvas A88 runs on Jelly Bean and is powered by a dual-core MediaTek MT6577 SoC. There’s also 512MB of RAM onboard, which together makes for a relatively pain-free Android experience. The interface and customisation is just like any other Micromax handset so we won’t go into much detail here.

Similar UI as seen in their other handsets

The display is of the regular TFT variety but even with just a 480 x 854 pixel resolution, images and text are quite sharp and clear with pretty good viewing angles; at least much better than what we saw on the Canvas 3D or even the Canvas 2.
You can download songs through MLive, which is Micromax’s online store for games, videos, etc. The available songs are mostly Bollywood and from other Indian genres. You can browse through the available songs and download them directly on your phone. There isn’t any DRM here so you can keep them for as long as you want or even share it.

Media
The music player gets a slight facelift but underneath, it’s the same Jelly Bean music player. The quality of audio is strictly average even with a good pair of earphones. The rear speaker is quite loud so you won’t miss any of the alerts even in a noisy place. Video playback leaves a lot to be desired. MP4 files play well in the stock player but AVI, MKV, etc. have trouble playing back even in MX Player. On a slightly more positive note, the colour reproduction is pretty decent compared to Micromax’s other handsets in this same price range.

Music player is just a slightly skinned stock player

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Micromax Canvas 3D A115 With 5" Screen Announced

Micromax Canvas 3D A115 With 5" Screen Announced

The Jelly Bean handset offers glasses-free 3D, 5 megapixel camera, and 1 GHz dual-core CPU.

Micromax seems to have taken a cue from Samsung by steadily launching a stream of new phones for different market segments and prices. One of the recent additions to their rapidly growing portfolio is the Canvas 3D. Micromax is not the first company to dabble in 3D smartphones. HTC and LG have already tried their hands at it but the high price and the lack of 3D content was what killed them. The Canvas 3D on the other hand aims to offer similar features but at less than half the price. Will the A115 manage to popularise 3D phones or has Micromax compromised too much for a bargain basement price tag? Let’s find out. 

Design and Build 
The Canvas 3D looks and feels ginormous and not in a good way. The handset reminds us of the Canvas 2 A110, which had shoddy aesthetics and the A115 feels similar. The handset is quite thick at 11mm and heavy too at 188g. The only positive remark about the design is the matt finish for the back and new chrome logo, which looks a lot more presentable compared to their older handsets. The buttons fall in place along either side of the phone but lack a very good fit. The tactile feel could have been better too. Upfront, we have a 5-inch TFT display with Naked Eye 3D technology. Basically, it functions using the parallax barrier method for creating an effect of depth without the need for special glasses. The problem is that the clarity of neither the display nor the viewing angles are very good, for both 2D and 3D viewing. The HTC Evo 3D for instance had a 4.3-inch display with a 540 x 960 resolution (256ppi) so 3D content still appeared crisp and relatively pixel-free. The A115 has a measly 480 x 800 (188ppi) resolution on an even larger display so you can imagine the reduction in sharpness.

Very bulky in size

The A115 is a dual-SIM phone along with a microSD card slot for expansion. The card slot does not support hot-swap however. Despite the gigantic proportions of the phone, we only have a 2000mAh battery, which feels too little. 

Features 
The Canvas 3D is powered by a MediaTek MT6577 SoC, the same chipset used in the Canvas 2 A110. The CPU runs at 1GHz and is accompanied by 512MB of RAM. The OS of choice is Android Jelly Bean 4.1.2, which runs smoothly without any hiccups. You get the same light skinning we’ve seen on all Micromax handsets along with some of their own apps like M!Live, MZone+, etc. Onboard storage is very less. Despite having a 4GB ROM, the actual usable memory is only 930MB.

Familiar interface

Micromax has a special gallery app called 3D Space which lets you access photos, games, YouTube and videos in 3D. The gallery is heavily ‘inspired’ by LG’s implementation on the Optimus 3D. Native 3D content looks good but the sweet-spot for viewing it properly without ruining your eyesight is very limited so two people cannot comfortably watch a 3D video together. The screen also darkens quite a bit when the parallax barrier kicks in to create a 3D effect.  Unlike active shutter glasses, where both eyes see a complete frame, here one eye only sees half the horizontal pixel count which cause loss in detail. The chipset can easily handle a 3D 1080p movie though and with very minor stutter, the video plays just fine. You also have the option of converting existing images to 3D with the press of a button. The depth can be adjusted too. The display is unable to produce a crisp 3D image due to the low pixel count, which is a shame; given this is the main selling point for the A115.   

Media
The music player gets a slight facelift but underneath, it’s the same Jelly Bean music player. The quality of audio is strictly average even with a good pair of earphones. The rear speaker is quite loud so you won’t miss any of the alerts even in a noisy place. Video playback leaves a lot to be desired. First of all, the Canvas 3D can only handle up to 720p video playback smoothly. MP4 files play well in the stock player but AVI, MKV, etc. have trouble playing back even in MX Player. The colours aren’t too vibrant even in 2D mode and the viewing angles are not great either.

Media playback is strictly average

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Sunday, 9 June 2013

Micromax Launches New Canvas 2 Plus A110Q For 12, 100

Bangalore: Micromax is again all over the news, with the launch of its new Canvas 2 Plus A110Q, this time adding another Smartphone to its Canvas series in India. The device was unveiled on Wednesday, with a price tag of  12,100.

Coming to the specs, Micromax has housed a MediaTek Quad core processor clocked at 1.2 GHz along with 1GB of RAM. Flaunting with its 5 inch IPS display that offers visuals in 480 x 854p resolution, the device runs Android’s Jelly Bean 4.2 OS. There is an 8MP front camera with dual LED flash and a front-mounted webcam of 2MP.

The Smartphone has an internal storage capacity of 4GB which can be expanded up to 32GB and packs a 2000 mAh battery.

Just a few days ago, the company launched another Canvas series Smartphone called Music A88 with free JBL Tempo headset. Prior to this we’ve even heard of the media leaking specifications of Canvas series A-120 and even the launch of Canvas 3D A115.

With frequent new releases, Micromax is showing its way ahead of Samsung and Nokia in India reports Telecom Tiger.

Share your minds with comments and likes.....!!!

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Top 5 smartphones below Rs 10,000 (UPDATED)

Top 5 smartphones below Rs 10,000

The low cost smartphone option is very limited if you intend to buy anything other than Android, but we have tried to give the widest choice here in terms of best Smartphone.

The low cost smartphone market is full of Android phones, but if you look beyond Android and Indian brands you will find that there is very little in terms of options. We have tried to tell you the best phones that you can buy for less than Rs 10,000 from all the possible smartphone platforms.

However, in this story for the first time we have not taken MNC brands like Samsung, LG and Sony, as Indian brands are coming of age and bringing products that are not just feature rich (in fact they are so feature rich that MNC brand products look outdated,) but also offer good quality in terms of both build and performance.

Micromax Canvas 2 A110 (Price Rs 9,990)

Micromax Canvas 2 is the most popular phone from Micromax and has sold more than 3 lakh units ever since its launch around three months ago. And there are plenty of reasons why it's so popular. Micromax Canvas 2 comes with a 5 inch display featuring 854 x 480 pixel resolution and built using the In Plane Switching fabrication process that offers better viewing angles and a much higher contrast ratio as compared to older LCD displays. The Canvas A110 comes with a faster dual core processor running at 1 GHz, coupled with 512 MB of RAM for high operation speed.

The Superfone A110 flaunts an 8 megapixel rear camera with dual flash, along with a front facing camera for video conferencing. The rest of the specifications of the phone include a 2000 mAh battery, 3G, dual SIM connectivity, GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth, Android 4.0.4, gravity and proximity sensors, and 32 GB expandable memory.

So strong is the demand that some retailers have managed to sell the phone at its MRP, which is close to Rs 12,000. However, some people have put off their purchase in anticipation of Micromax Canvas HD A116, which will come with a quad core processor and HD display, but will be costlier. You can read a comparison of the two phones here.

Nokia Lumia 510 (Rs 9,500)

If you are a Nokia fan, and want a smartphone, then there are not many options, and the ones that there are are based on the dying Symbion operating system. However, Nokia Lumia 510, which is the cheapest Windows Phone smartphone, does provide a reliable and fast option. The phone is also expected to get updated to Windows Phone 7.8 operating system. It is currently selling for Rs 9,500 which is great value considering it's a product from Nokia. The new Nokia Lumia 510 smartphone comes with an 800 MHz mobile processor and runs Windows Phone 7.5 Refresh. This smartphone is intended to be Nokia's most affordable Windows Phone device for the masses.

The budget friendly Nokia Lumia 510 smartphone comes with a 4 inch touchscreen display with 480 x 800 pixel native resolution. Nokia has packed a low power 800 MHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S1 MSM7227A mobile processor with 256 MB RAM to make the phone run smoothly. At its rear, the phone has a 5 megapixel camera with f/2.4 aperture, LED flash, and it can be expected to deliver modest imaging quality. There is no secondary camera in the front but this phone has a dedicated camera key on the right side. The surprising fact of this smartphone is that there is no micro SD card slot and the phone arrives with just 4 GB on board storage.

Although Microsoft does offer SkyDrive cloud storage, not many Indians will be interested in using it. Other features of the Lumia 510 include FM radio, Bluetooth 2.1, WiFi, micro USB port, accelerometer, ambient light sensor and 3.5 mm audio port. One surprise for Indian consumers is the micro SIM card. Nokia has packed a 1300 mAh battery offering 8.4 hours on 2G and 6.2 hours on 3G, which is great for a smartphone.

BlackBerry Curve 9220 (Rs 9,990)

The BlackBerry Curve 9220 is the last phone that was launched in India, and it is a good product for budget conscious business users. You get all the BlackBerry goodies like secure email, BBM etc. The only drawback is that it does not have 3G connectivity. The handset comes with the BlackBerry OS 7 and is priced at Rs 9,990, making it the cheapest BlackBerry Curve smartphone to have the latest operating system (BB10 was just announced so it's not going to be latest for long).

Like other BlackBerry smartphones, the Curve 9220 also comes with a Qwerty keypad that aids easier typing. Besides, the 2.4 inch VGA">QVGA display bearing handset has a 2 megapixel camera, FM radio (first time in a BlackBerry), WiFi connectivity, and expandable memory up to 32 GB through a micro SD card. You can read the review of the phone here.

Lava Iris 501 (Rs 9,000)

If you are not getting Micromax Canvas 2 or the asking price is high, you can safely go for Lava Iris 501. We have recently used the phone and it matches the performance and build quality of the Canvas 2 very well, even though in terms of specification it looks less appealing. The phone is Rs 1,000 cheaper than Micromax Canvas 2 and offers the same display size with very good viewing angle, a processor that's fast and a camera that does justice to its mentioned specification, and it also has a bigger 2300 mAh battery.

The handset comes with a 5 inch WVGA (800 x 480 pixel) screen, a 1 GHz dual core processor, a 5 megapixel rear camera and a VGA camera in the front. Lava Iris 501 is based on Android 4.0 (ICS) operating system and comes with a free 4 GB micro SD card. The phone gets all the normal features like GPS, 3G, Bluetooth, WiFi etc. You can read our review of the phone here.

Xolo X500 (Rs 9,000)

We have used the Xolo X900, first Intel based smartphone, and we loved the robust build quality and super smooth performance. Now Intel and Xolo have launched their second phone in the market-it is the Xolo X500, a dual SIM Android ICS (upgradable to Jelly Bean) touchscreen handset. It looks promising with a very well thought out specification sheet for an entry level handset. Xolo X500 comes with a 1.2 GHz Intel Atom processor, and 512 MB RAM. The 3.5 inch IPS screen of the handset is quite capable of playing 720p HD videos.

In the camera section there is a 5 megapixel camera on the rear, though the front camera is missing, which is sad. For internet there is GPRS, Edge, 3G, and WiFi. For data transfer the handset has USB and Bluetooth connectivity. The 1500 mAh battery of the device should provide very good battery back up. Other features include 4 GB internal and 32 GB expandable memory and 400 MHz GPU. Xolo X500 is priced at Rs 9,000, but if you want similar specifications at a cheaper price then you can go for A500, which has almost the same specs, but with a Qualcomm processor.

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Friday, 5 April 2013