Tech in review: Top 5 budget smartphones launched in 2017

Business Standard picks the top five sub-Rs 10,000 smartphones launched in 2017

In the price-conscious Indian smartphone market, the demand for feature-rich budget devices hit at an all-time high during the year 2017. The affordable mobile phone segment -- devices priced below Rs 10,000 -- was abuzz with smartphones featuring large screens, ample RAM and storage, clearer selfie cameras and mammoth battery.

This year, the affordable smartphone segment saw some great launches with different propositions. Business Standard lists the five best sub-Rs 10,000 smartphones launched in 2017:

Xiaomi Redmi 4

Xiaomi is one of the fastest-growing brands in India. The China-based smartphone manufacturer owes a major chunk of its success to its budget offerings, especially in the price-conscious Indian mobile phone market.

The Xiaomi Redmi 4, launched in May, brought the best of technology enclosed in a small form factor. In terms of specifications, the dual-SIM smartphone features a 5-inch HD screen enclosed in a metal body. The screen is covered with a 2.5D curved glass and the device is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 processor, which is an octa-core SoC, coupled with an Adreno 505 GPU. The Redmi 4 supports 4G LTE and VoLTE out of the box, covering all-India LTE bands. The phone houses a mammoth 4,100 mAh battery.
 

All the above features at a price starting at Rs 6,999 for the base model makes the device the top budget smartphone launched in 2017.

Micromax Yu Yureka Black

Home-grown smartphone manufacturer Micromax launched the Yu Yureka Black to revive its market base, which the company lost to Chinese players due to lack of devices to rival competition. Even with a few downsides, the Yu Yureka Black marked its presence, and it was soon followed by the wide screen and selfie-centric Canvas Infinity-series.

In terms of design, the Yu Yureka Black sports an all-black theme with an option of glossy black and matte black variants. Specifications wise, the smartphone has a 5-inch fullHD screen protected with 2.5D Gorilla Glass 3. It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor, which is an octa-core SoC, coupled with Adreno 505 graphic processing unit (GPU) and X6 LTE modem.
 

The smartphone features a 13-megapixel (MP) 5-lens rear camera and an 8 MP front-facing camera. There is LED flash with both rear and front cameras for superior photography during low-light conditions.

Priced at Rs 8,999, the Yu Yureka Black hits the sweet spot that ticks almost all the right boxes.

InFocus Turbo 5 Plus

The InFocus Turbo 5 Plus marked the beginning of dual-camera set-up in budget smartphones. For a sub-Rs 10,000 device, the Turbo 5 Plus fulfils the propositions of a camera-centric and battery-centric smartphone.

In terms of specifications, the device sports 5.5-inch HD screen with a 2.5D curved glass on top. The phone is powered by a MediaTek MT6750, octa-core processor ticking at 1.5Ghz frequency. The phone boots Android Nougat 7.0 and features 32 GB internal storage, expandable via microSD, and 3 GB RAM. Imaging is taken care by 13MP rear camera and 5 MP front camera. The phone houses mammoth 4,850 mAh battery that keeps the show running for almost two days.

Priced at Rs 8,999, the phone has a lot in store for budget smartphone users.

Asus Zenfone 4 Selfie

The Zenfone 4 Selfie raised the bar for selfie-centric budget smartphones. The phone is a part of Asus Zenfone 4 Selfie-series, which is designed specifically for millennials obsessed with selfie craze.

In terms of specifications, the device sports 5.5-inch HD screen with a 2.5D curved glass on top. The phone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 SoC. It boots Android Nougat 7.0 and features 32 GB internal storage, expandable via microSD, and 3 GB RAM. Imaging is taken care by 13MP rear and selfie camera. The phone houses 3,000 mAh battery that keeps the show running for one full day.

Priced at Rs 9,999, the Zenfone 4 Selfie is one of the best selfie-centric smartphone in the budget segment.

Nokia 2

After launching the initial trio of Android-based smartphone, HMD Global – official licensee of Nokia brand – introduced Nokia 2 specifically designed for the masses in India. The phone sports a 5-inch LTPS HD screen protected with Gorilla Glass. It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 212 processor coupled with 1 GB RAM and 8GB internal storage, expandable via microSD card. The phone houses an 8-megapixel camera on the back and a 5 MP selfie camera. The 4G LTE phone runs Android Nougat out of the box and supports Google Assistant, an artificial assistant from Google.

The key feature of the smartphone is its 4,100 mAh battery, which the company promises to deliver 2 days of battery life.

Priced at Rs 7,500, the smartphone is a delight for Nokia fans.

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