Smartphones of November 2013
With the number of smartphone launches and announcements these days, it can be hard to keep track of what’s in the market and what’s coming soon. Thankfully, that’s where we come in. Here are the smartphones that saw the light of day in November.
Google Nexus 5
Google’s flagship smartphone, built in association with LG, is easily the smartphone of the month. With an attractive price tag of Rs 28,999 for the 16GB version, the Nexus 5 doesn’t scrimp on specs either. Battery life is a sore point and the camera is awaiting an update that will reportedly eliminate the shutter lag and slow autofocus. Check out our preview of the Nexus 5.
Moto G
Motorola’s budget champion is one to watch out for. It will be launched in India in January 2014 and the combination of midrange specs and basement bargain price have could make it a darling of the masses. Check out what the first reviews of the Moto G have to say about the colourful phone.
Xolo A600
The Xolo A600 is yet another mid-ranger from the Indian company. It’s powered by a dual-core MediaTek 6572W processor that clocks at 1.3GHz, coupled with 512MB RAM. The dual-SIM smartphone runs on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean and also packs in a 1900 mAh battery.
Nokia Lumia 525
The successor to the world’s most popular Windows Phone smartphone brings double the amount of RAM and an updated take on the tried and tested Nokia design. It’s set to grab some market share from the Lumia 520, if Nokia manages to get the price right.
Xolo Q2000
Xolo unveiled its new flagship last month. The Q2000 sports a 5.5-inch HD IPS display with a resolution of 1280x720 pixels and pixel density of 267ppi. Under the hood, there’s a quad-core MT6589M-W processor clocked at 1.2GHz coupled with 1GB of RAM as well as a 357MHz PowerVR SGX544 GPU. This thing runs nearly stock Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean; expect some preloaded Xolo apps in the build.
Karbonn Titanium S7
Karbonn’s first full HD smartphone comes with a 5-inch OGS IPS display. It also offers dual-SIM support and runs on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean out-of-the-box. Under the hood, the S7 is powered by a quad-core processor clocked at 1.5GHz, although the chipset has not been specified. The S7 comes with a 13-megapixel camera with LED flash as well as a 2-megapixel front-facing shooter for those occasional selfies. It offers users 16GB of internal memory, expandable up to 32GB via a microSD card.
Samsung Galaxy S Duos 2
The S Duos 2 replaces the Galaxy S Duos, launched late last year. The only real difference the clock speed of the processor; the S Duos has a slower 1GHz CPU. The new S Duos also sports a 4-inch display, but is powered by a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor. In terms of specifications, not much else has changed from its predecessor.
Gionee Elife E7
Gionee has announced a new flagship smartphone and successor to its Elife E6—the Elife E7. Sporting a large 5.5-inch full HD display, it has a 16-megapixel snapper on the back and an 8 megapixel front-facing camera. The smartphone runs on Android Jelly Bean 4.2 with a layer of Gionee’s Amigo 2.0 UI.
HTC One Max
The HTC One Max has finally arrived in India. The 16GB variant of One Max is marked at a hefty MRP of Rs 61,490, but is selling for a best buy price of Rs 56,490 as reported earlier. It offers additional 50GB free cloud storage on Google Drive. The One Max runs on Android 4.3, and is powered by a quad-core Snapdragon 600 processor that clocks at 1.7GHz coupled with 2GB of RAM.
Samsung Galaxy Grand 2
The Galaxy Grand 2 features a 16:9 720p display with a resolution of 1280x720 pixels. It comes with support for Samsung's Multi Window feature that allows multitasking on the device’s large screen. The processing speed has been stepped up as the Galaxy Grand 2 is powered by a quad-core processor clocked at 1.2GHz and there's a healthy 1.5GB of RAM on board. It runs on Android 4.3, and there is no word on whether it will get Android KitKat.
HTC Desire 700
Seen as a cost-effective alternative to the company’s flagship One, it has a 5-inch display with qHD resolution. Just like the One, the Desire 700 packs stereo BoomSound speakers on the front. Under the hood, it is powered by a quad-core Snapdragon 400 SoC. Coupled with the processor is 1GB of RAM. It has a similar design to the HTC One, but doesn’t have the same build materials.
Micromax Canvas HD A116i
A dual-SIM phone that runs on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean out of the box, the new Canvas HD sports a 5-inch 720p display, giving it a pixel density of 294ppi. Under the hood, it is powered by the ever-popular MediaTek MT6589 quad-core processor clocked at 1.2GHz alongside a PowerVR SGX 544 GPU to handle the graphics. It also has 1GB of RAM, which seems to be the standard for mid-range smartphones these days. Connectivity options include 3G, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. All of this is kept alive by a 2,000mAh battery.
Micromax Canvas Juice A77
The Canvas A77, dubbed Juice, comes with a 5-inch display with a screen resolution of 854 x 480. It comes with a 1.3GHz dual-core processor and 1GB RAM. Juice will run Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean out of the box. The USP of the phone is a massive 3,000mAh battery that Micromax says can deliver talk time of up to 10 hours and standby time of up to 250 hours. That perhaps explains the odd choice for the name.
