Best 4G LTE Enabled Android Smartphones below Rs 10000

2015 will be the year when India might see 4G LTE roll out across multiple locations. Indian mobile market is slowing getting into the 4G LTE with networking rolling out in few cities. Taking this into consideration, lot of mobile OEMs are not focusing on 4G LTE supported handsets as India supports TD LTE.

In the last couple of months, we have seen new 4G supported phones coming to India in the mid range and also the budget category. The Redmi Note and Yu Yureka initially set the benchmark in the sub 10k price point and now we have other great devices in the budget category with 4G support.

So here is a list of 4G LTE supported phone below Rs 10000 in India. We will be updating the list when new devices launch in India.

1. Honor 4X

The Huawei Honor 4X comes with 5.5-Inch HD IPS display. It is powered by 1.2 GHz Snapdragon 410 MSM8916 Quad Core Processor and runs Android 4.4 KitKat on top of EMUI 3.0. On the camera end it features, 13MP Rear Camera With LED Flash and 5MP front-facing Camera. It comes with 2GB RAM and 8GB Internal Storage which is expandable upto 32 GB using microSD. The connectivity features include Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot, Bluetooth v4.0. The device supports dual micro SIM and packs 3000mAh Battery. The Huawei Honor 4X is available in Black, White, Gold and is priced at Rs 10499. 

Buy Honor 4X

2. Xiaomi Redmi Note 4G:

The device comes with a 5.5 inch HP display with IPS technology and is powered by a 1.6 Ghz Snapdragon 400 processor. The device has 2GB of RAM and also comes with 8GB internal storage which is expandable to 64GB via microSD card. The phone also comes with a 13MP rear camera with LED flash and 1080p recording. The phone also features a 5MP camera for video calls and Selfie. It runs on Android 4.4 KitKat with MIUI which is a custom UI from the company. The phone is powered by a 3200mAh battery. The device is priced Rs 9999 in India. 

Buy Redmi Note 4G

3. Yu Yureka

The device sports 5.5-inch HD display and is powered by Snapdragon 615 Octa Core processor  and runs Android 4.4.2 Kitkat. On the camera end it comes with 13MP rear camera and 5MP front-facing camera. It also features 2 GB RAM and 16 GB of internal storage with expansion slot and also packs 2500mAh battery. The device is priced Rs 8999 and we feel this is a great pricing from the company considering the specs. 

4. Lenovo A7000

The Lenovo A7000 is more mid range phone and comes with 5.5-inch HD (1280 x 720) IPS display and is powered by MediaTek MT6752m 1.5GHz True8Core processor with 2GB RAM and 8GB internal storage and is expandable via microSD card. On the camera front, there is 8MP auto-focus rear camera w/ LED flash and 5MP fixed-focus front camera. There is Android 5.0 and 2900mAh battery. It also has dual SIM card support along with 4G LTE. The Lenovo A7000 is also the world’s first Android smartphone to feature Dolby Atmos technology for an amazing headphone experience. Expected price of the device is around Rs 10000 (launch happening on April 7th).

5. Lenovo A6000

Lenovo announced this new A6000 at the CES 2015, which is a budget phone and comes with 4G LTE support and launching in India pretty soon to compete Xiaomi Redmi Note 4G and Yu YUREKA. Lenovo A6000 comes with 5 inch HD IPS Display (1280 X 20P) and is powered by 1.2 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor with Adreno 306 GPU. The phone has 1GB RAM and 8GB internal storage which is expandable via micro SD card. On the imaging front the device sports a 8MP rear camera and 2MP front camera. It supports 4G LTE in India. Lenovo A6000 runs on Android 4.4 (KitKat) with Vibe UI. It also features dual SIM card support. There is 2300mAh battery powering the device and it is priced at Rs. 6,999.

Buy Lenovo A6000

6. Xiaomi Redmi 2

The new Redmi 2 comes with 4.7 inch (1280 X 720P) IPS HD display and is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 Quad Core processor with 64-bit support and Adreno 305 GPU. The phone comes with 1GB RAM and 8GB internal storage which is similar to Redmi 1S. There is dual SIM card support and runs MIUI v6 on top of Android 4.4 KitKat. The internal storage can be expanded via micro SD card upto 32GB. On the imaging front the phone has 8MP rear camera with LED Flash, BSI sensor and 1080p video recording support and a 2MP front-facing camera, 720P HD video recording which is again similar to the Redmi 1S. The camera also is improved with new filters and also features. The phone also has 2200mAh battery. Redmi 2 is priced Rs 6999 and will be exclusive to Flipkart similar to other Xiaomi devices. 

Buy Redmi 2

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Redmi 2 vs Moto E 2nd Gen vs Lenovo A6000 – The entry level battle!

With the release of Xiaomi Redmi 2 in India, the battle ground for entry-level phones in India has now heated up! And boy we do love when this happens. So the closest contenders to Redmi 2 are the all new Moto E and the Lenovo A6000. Just going by the spec sheet, looks and price; Redmi 2 comes off as a better phone with stunning camera, 4G support on both SIMs and other features not to be found on either Moto E or Lenovo A6000. But it all boils down to one’s preferences and requirements about the OS and the design. We will hold off until we get to use the devices for a while before we comment on which device is good for what use cases and patterns. So lets put all the three in one chart to see how the phones pitch against each other!

Specifications Comparison -

	Redmi 2	Moto E (2015) 3G	Lenovo A6000
Display	4.7 inches IPS 720 x 1280 pixels (~312 ppi) AGC Dragontrail	4.5 inches IPS 540 x 960 pixels (~245 ppi) Gorilla Glass 3	5.0 inches IPS 720 x 1280 pixels (~294 ppi)
Form Factor	9.4 mm thick, 133 gms in weight	12.3 mm thick, 145 gms in weight	8.2 mm thick, 128gms in weight
Processor	1.2 GHz Quad-core 64-bit Snapdragon 410 Cortex-A53	1.2 GHz Quad-core Snapdragon 200 Cortex-A7	1.2 GHz Quad-core Snapdragon 410 Cortex-A53
OS	MIUI v6 on Android 4.4.4 Kitkat	Vanilla Android 5.0.2 Lollipop	Vibe UI Kitkat
RAM	1 GB	1GB	1GB
Memory	8GB + 32GB micro SD	8GB + 32GB micro SD	8GB + 32GB micro SD
Camera	8MP AF + 2MP	5MP AF + VGA	8MP AF + 2MP
Battery	2200mAh	2390mAh	2300mAh
Connectivity	4G LTE Cat4, 3G, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot	3G, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, hotspot	4G LTE, 3G, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, hotspot
USB	microUSB v2.0, USB Host, USB OTG	microUSB v2.0	microUSB v2.0
FM Radio	Yes	Yes	Yes
Sensors	Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass	Accelerometer, proximity	Accelerometer, proximity
Colors	Black Gray, White, Yellow, Pink, Green	Black, White with color bands	Black
Price	Rs. 6,999	Rs. 6,999	Rs. 6,999

Advantages

Redmi 2:

• 4G supported on BOTH the SIMs
• AGC Dragontrail Glass for the display
• Stunning 8MP auto focus, wide-angle camera
• Quick Charge 1.0 for the Battery
• MIUI v6 though based on KitKat is one of the coolest OS we’ve seen
• Maximum sensors among the three phones
• OTG support
• Highest Pixel Density among the three

Moto E (2015):

• Vanilla Android
• Color Bands options
• Very good battery life (based on our Moto E usage and now stated to be better than that)
• Gorilla Glass 3 protection
• 2 years of Android updates
• Motorola’s ‘Quality’ Promise

Lenovo A6000:

• Highly improved Vibe UI
• Good battery life (based on our tests)
• Lightest among the three
• Bigger screen @ 5″

So is the Redmi 2 smoking out the other two? Before concluding we will wait for us to get a hands-on on the device. I have personally used the Moto E(2014) for a long time and since the last 2 months, been using the Lenovo A6000 fairly regular and I was pleasantly surprised as to how good the phone is. We would also like to ring your bell on the following infamous issues we all faced on the Redmi 1S which we will keep a look out for when we test the Redmi 2:

• Heating up - the 1s heated up like crazy even with normal usage
• Software issues – random boots and lags
• Software updates – 1s is yet to receive the MIUI v6. This being archived and also the entry level phone, Xiaomi which is always slow in software updates and poor in execution and more often than not failing to keep up promises our skepticism is high and justified
• Overall build quality is low when compared to the other phones – more plastiky
• Xiaomi service post sales – its still not where we all want to be

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LG launches the LG G FLEX 2 in India at 55,000 INR

Img src : android central

LG held a special event today and made some special announcements like 105 5k TV, Smart Invertor 2.0 Refrigerator, 77 4k OLED TV and such that will be released in India during the span of 2015. But there was one that was much anticipated – the LG G Flex 2 which was seen in the MWC 2015 event as well. LG claims to have made improvements and updates to all aspects of the LG G Flex in bringing out the G Flex 2. To bring you upto speed about the new device, it boasts of a sleeker, slimmer and more curvier profile and is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 SoC with Octa Core 64 bit, with an integrated X10 LTE.

The screen comes in the form of a gorgeous 5.5 inch Full HD one, and the software within boasts of new entrants like Gesture View and Gesture Glance. What more, the Android on this phone is the latest 5.0 Lollipop, specially optimized and also the Adreno 430 GPU ensures brilliant gaming performance. We have seen the Laser Auto Focus feature on the camera for the LG G3 and the same will be available on the G Flex 2 as well, ensuring better pictures in low light and quick locking of focus.

Following are some of the features that the G Flex 2 has introduced which makes sense during a day to day practical usage:

Gesture Shot – shooting those selfies will be easier even from 1.5 metres away
Gesture View – making it easier for reviewing the last shot once a picure is taken
Glance View – similar to the Adaptive View on the Nexus phones, displays the notifications and such on the lock screen
Fast Charge – charges up the 3000 mAh battery upto 50% in 40 minutes

The phone will go on sale in the next 30 days, at a price of Rs. 55,000 and here is the spec sheet

Key Features

• Curved design build around a curved display, self-healing coating on the back panel
• 5.5” 16M-color 1080p curved P-OLED capacitive touchscreen with Dura Guard Glass (Gorilla Glass 3 enhanced in-house by LG)
• Android OS v5.0.1 Lollipop with Optimus UI
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 chipset with a 64-bit octa-core processor – 2.0GHz quad-core Cortex-A57GHz and 1.5GHz quad-core Cortex-A53; Adreno 430 GPU;
• 2 or 3 GB of RAM depending on storage configuration
• 13MP rear camera, laser-assisted auto-focus, optical image stabilization, two-tone LED flash
• 2160p/1080p video recording @ 30fps, 720p@120fps
• 2.1MP front-facing camera, 1080p video recording
• LTE Cat. 6; Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac; GPS/GLONASS receiver; Bluetooth v4.1; NFC; IR port; FM Radio; SlimPort
• 16 or 32GB of built-in storage; microSD card slot up to 128GB
• microUSB 2.0 port with USB host and MHL 2.0, Fast Charging
• 3,000 mAh battery – non removable
• Colors - Platinum Silver, Flamenco Red
• 152 gms in weight and 7.1-9.4mm in thickness

The G Flex 2 is a brilliant piece of work from LG who has been making wicked awesome phones and coming from off form the MWC 2015 with the Best Smartphone Award for their LG G3, the Indian release was a much awaited one. Yes, it is a very niche crowd that will pick up these phones and it will take some time for more and more people to start wanting these kinda curved phones and actually start appreciating them, just like those Edge screens we’ve started seeing on the Samsung phones. For the moment, these are steps in the right direction from LG but only time and fate will decide the success of these special category phones! Coming at 55,000 INR it does sound a tad high priced but blame us for it, spoiled by the likes of Xiaomi et all who are bringing in tons of good specs at such low prices. But the curved screens take in a lot of time for design and production and quite rightly justifies the price. We will try to get our hands on the G Flex 2 and see how it compares with it’s predecessor. The G Flex 2 will be made available in the next 30 days.

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