SMARTPHONE PICKS FROM 10000-15000 INR Q4 of 2017
- AlienTuhin
- Dec 21, 2017
- 7 min read
There is a ocean of smartphones present in this in this segment. This segment is considered to be the most competitive smartphone market of all. We look forward to provide you a guide if you are planning to buy a new smartphone. Now here’s the list.
Xiaomi Mi A1 (5X)
Costing 13,999 INR, This the most balanced smartphone to pick from the sub 15,000 INR segment. Coupling Dual Camera set-up with stock Android One project, Xiaomi has employed a great strategy to attract towards their Mi A1. Xiaomi has promised Android P for their Mi A1 and there making the smartphone ready for the future. The Mi A1 presently runs stock android on top of Nougat 7.1.2.
Boasting of massive 64 GB of storage and 4 GB of RAM, the smartphone is powered by the trusted Snapdragon 625 SoC which provides a great balance between Power and Battery-Life. With the fluid Stock Android experience, the Snapdragon 625 SoC provides a complete lag-free UI and is very well optimized for gamers all around.
Coming to the camera, the Mi A1 is powered by dual 12 MP + 12MP cameras one of which is a regular lens and the other is a telephoto lens with 2X optical zoom.The combination with the telephoto lens enables us to take great photos in the portrait mode. But the camera has cons too. The front is not up to the mark which is 5 MP shooter. The loss of detail is very evident while zooming in the photos with the front camera. The low-light photography is a disaster with the Mi A1 and the focusing even in broad-daylight is not that great. Overall the camera is colour accurate and provide decent shots with great portrait mode though you need to wait for a few seconds to properly focus the object while using the portrait mode.
The display is Mi A1 can’t be called vibrant but the colours are crisp. With about 400 nits of brightness, the display is fairly visible under daylight. The Mi A1 posesses a full HD (1920 X 1080) 5.5 inch IPS LCD panel. The auto-brightness also needs better calibration. The audio output via the 3.5mm jack is something praiseworthy. It can handle very heavy headphones easily, thanks to the dedicated DAC system and there is minimum distortion and is very well optimized. On the sensor part, the Mi A1 possess all the important sensors like the gyroscope and the IR blaster. The Xiaomi Mi A1 is backed by a 3080 mAh battery which doesn’t support fast charging via a USB type-C port. The Mi A1 is also protected by a 2.5D Gorilla Glass 3 on the front. The fingerprint sensor is fairly accurate and moderately fast.
Overall the Mi A1 is worth buying in the price range.
ASUS ZENFONE 3 (ZE520KL)
This is another perfectly balanced phone is the price range. With the convenience of the new Zen UI, the Zenfone 3 provides awesome user experience running on top of Nougat 7.0. There’s a lot to talk about the Zenfone 3.
Let’s start with the design. The Zenfone is protected by a contoured 2.5 D Gorilla Glass on the front as well as the back. The back-side of the Zenfone is perfectly designed with the signature concentric circle design of ASUS. It looks very pleasing to the eyes from the back when light strikes the phone. The Zenfone 3 possesses a metal body overall. It is available in 3 colours Sapphire Black, Shimmer Gold and Moonlight White. The Zenfone 3 has a vibrant Display with 550 nits of brightness and has great visibility under direct sunlight. It boasts of a full HD (1920 X 1080) 5.2 inch Super IPS+ LCD panel and produces crisp and accurate colours.
The Zenfone 3 is powered by a snapdragon 625 SoC backed by 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage. Coupling these with ASUS’s Game Genie, the gaming experience is a joy with the crisp display and awesome loudspeaker sound powered by Sonic Master. The Adreno 506 handles very heavy games with ease and there is minimum to no heating at all. The ZENFONE 3 also has all the essential sensors like the Gyroscope sensor and Pedometer. The Zenfone 3 possesses a USB Type-C port for faster data transfer. The fingerprint scanner is incredibly fast and unlocks almost instantly. The only complaint is that the hardware buttons are not backlit. All these is backed by a 2600 mAh battery which supports fast charging.
Camera is the main USP of the Zenfone 3. The rear camera is a 16 MP shooter which is a flagship grade Sony IMX298 sensor. The auto-focusing system is Hybrid and is a Tri-tech auto-focusing system, a combination of Laser-Autofocus, PDAF and continuous autofocus. The camera is stabilized by 4-axis OIS and the video is stabilized by 3-axis EIS. It is f/2.0 sensor and supports 4K recording. Dual-tone dual-LED flash is backed by a colour sensor. The low-light photography is impressive in the price range but the front-camera performance is dull which is 8 MP shooter.
Overall the Zenfone 3 is worth buying in the price range and costs about 13,000.
MOTOROLA MOTO G5 PLUS
Costing about 10,999 The Moto G5 is the most exciting choice. Durability combined with stock android, the G5 Plus provides you a rich user experience. The Moto G5 Plus runs stock android Nougat 7.0 and receives regular security patches from google. The Moto G5 Plus is powered by a Snapdragon 625 SoC backed by 4 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage. Gaming is a joy on the G5 Plus coz the Adreno 506 handles very heavy games with ease. There is a bit of heating issue in case of extended gaming but that is not much prominent.
The G5 Plus has a 5.2 inch full HD (1920 X 1080) LTPS LCD screen which is fairly good and accurate. This is not the best screen available in the price range and we won’t recommend it to users who enjoy a lot of multimedia. The audio output both via the headphone jack and the loudspeaker are moderate.The earpiece does a decent job though. The battery on the Moto G5 Plus is a 3300 mAh cell though the battery life is a complete disaster. There is fast charging support. In our testing, the battery drained from 100 to 0 % within 45 minutes of gameplay with Real Racing 3. (THE PHONE WAS 4 MONTHS OLD). The front glass is protected by Gorilla Glass 3 but we won’t recommend too many drops as the G5 Plus doesn’t handle them well. The Moto G5 Plus has also has all the essential sensors including the Gyroscope.
Coming to the camera, the Moto G5 plus is equipped with a 12 MP shooter with Dual-Pixel autofocus though the autofocus is not as fast and accurate as the Zenfone 3. The Camera quality is great in daylight and does a decent job in low lighting conditions, thanks to its f/1.7 aperture lens. There is a colour balancing Dual LED flash under the hood. The front camera is a 5 MP wide angle sensor and does a decent job but struggles in low-light.Overall, the camera is great and praiseworthy.
The G5 Plus provides a metal design with a water-repellent Nano-coating. The fingerprint sensor, to be honest, is not that good. Overall the G5 Plus is a worthy perchance in the price range.
LENOVO Z2 PLUS
A beast in terms of performance. The Lenovo Z2 Plus is priced at about 10,500. The main highlight of this phone is its processor. The Lenovo Z2 Plus is powered by a Snapdragon 820 SoC with 2.15 Ghz Kryo cores build at 14 nm FinFET process. Its is a quad-core CPU. The Lenovo Z2 Plus is packed with 4GB DDR4 RAM and 64 GB iNAND flash drive, the best in its class. The Gaming Exoerience is deadly on the Lenovo Z2 Plus and we are overwhelmed with the smooth stock android experience. The Z2 Plus runs Android 6.0 out of the box but is upgradeable to Nougat 7.0.
The Z2 Plus has front and back glass and an aluminium mid-frame. None of the glass is protected by Gorilla Glass rather the front glass has Dragontrail Glass Protection. We would recommend a case if you plan to buy it. The design is quite good and feels premium. The fingerprint scanner is responsive and accurate. The home button has a lot of gestures.
Coming to the camera, the rear one is a 13 MP shooter with samsung’s ISOCELL sensor. The auto-focussing system is PDAF and is fairly fast. The front camera is a 5 MP shooter though the camera performance is not that great.
All these are backed by a 3500 mAh battery and provides the juice for a full working day. There is fast charging support too. The Z2 Plus has all the essential sensors including Gyroscope and Pedometer. The display is 5 inch full HD (1920 x 1080) LTPS IPS LCD screen which is very good and bright. Colours are accurate and punchy. The Z2 Plus is great for one hand usage. Overall the Z2 Plus is worthy of a purchse.
FOR SELFIE LOVERS
ASUS ZENFONE 4 SELFIE
Not among the best choice for balance seekers, the Zenfone 4 Selfie excels in its own class. Selfie has been an indispensable part of the smartphone community and the Zenfone 4 Selfie in the best in the price segment. The Zenfone 4 selfie is powered by a Snapdragon 430 SoC backed by 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage. The fingerprint scanner is incredibly fast and is very accurate. The Zenfone 4 Selfie has a aluminium metal design and 2.5D contoured Gorilla Glass protection on the front. It has all the essential sensors including the Gyroscope. It possess a 5.5 inch HD (1280 x 720) IPS LCD screen and is backed by a 3000 mAh battery. The Zenfone 4 Selfie has a dedicated micro SD card slot too.
Coming to the camera, the Zenfone 4 Selfie has a16 MP rear shooter with PDAF and f/2.0 aperture. The Rear shooter has Gyro EIS while recording videos at 1080P. The rear camera performance is decent and satisfactory. The front has a dual camera set-up with a softlight LED flash. The main shooter is a high resolution 20 MP shooter and the other is a ultra-wide angle 8 MP shooter and provides a hugely wide field of view. The front set-up has an evident portait mode and does exceedingly well. The main sensor is f/2.0 shooter which provides great performance in low-light. Overall the Zenfone 4 selfie priced at about 12,000 INR is worth it for selfie lovers.
So these were our smartphone picks from the budget mid-range segment and we would also pick great phones from the premium mid-range segment in the next article.
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