Latest Smartphones Under 15k

LG Optimus Hub available in India, priced 13,000 INR

 

A new LG smartphone has made it to the Indian market and although there has been no official announcement this device is now available for purchase with online retailer Letsbuy. This of course is an Android-based smartphone in the affordable category which is priced at 12,990 INR.


The device was announced back in September and it runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread, sports a 3.5-inch TFT display, 5 megapixel rear camera and it is powered by a 800 MHz processor. It surely looks like a decent smartphone, but more LG smartphones are incoming as the LG Optimus Sol and the LG Optimus Net are currently available for pre-order with Letsbuy.

Nokia unveils new NFC enabled Nokia 603 smartphone

Recently, Nokia announced yet another Symbian Belle smartphone and it is called Nokia 603. The device was first unveiled in Turkey and its sports a 3.5-inch ClearBlack display along with six swappable rear covers which come in different colors.

Like the other Symbian Belle devices the Nokia 603 is powered by a 1 GHz processor, it has a 5 megapixel camera, NFC chip, WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity. Obviously it comes with all the new features included in the Symbian Belle OS. The Finnish manufacturer claims that it offers talk time of 7 hours, music playback up to 75 hours and stand-by up to 490 hours.

The device will hit the Indian stores in Q2 2011 and it is expected to be priced at 13,500 INR. The Nokia 603 will have black or white front panels and swappable back panels will come in black, white, fuchsia, green, yellow and blue.

HTC ChaCha launches in India

The much anticipated Facebook phone from the Taiwanese manufacturer has finally launched in India. Like the previously launched HTC Salsa, HTC ChaCha is designed to appeal to social network fans.

This is an Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread device which is powered by an 800MHz processor. HTC has priced ChaCha at 15,990 INR. The device features a dedicated Facebook button which allows users to instantly update their status, upload a photo or a video or simply check what their friends are doing.
HTC Salsa has a 2.6-inch touchscreen display, 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and LED flash, 3G, WiFi, A-GPS and Bluetooth 3.0 connectivity. The device supports 32GB of expandable memory via microSD card.

Tata DOCOMO users will be able to reap some extra juice from the device as the operator has announced that all its 3G customers will get 3GB of data and 3 hours of mobile TV free with this device, and it would be valid for the first three months. 2G users will also get 3GB of data but along with 300 free minutes on their network, for the same amount of time.

HTC Wildfire S

The Wildfire S is the Taiwanese smartphone manufacturers' latest affordable Android smartphone, an upgrade to the previous HTC Wildfire. While physically, the smartphone itself is not much different from its predecessor it has a few new updates which make it an interesting option for those looking for a sub-25K INR Android smartphone. Here is a hands-on review of this HTC smartphone.
HTC has priced the WildFire S at around 14,000 INR in the Indian market. Read on to find out more on this affordable Android smartphone.

Following the success of the original Wildfire, HTC released the Wildfire S, which sports a 3.2-inch HVGA Gorilla Glass display and a 600 MHz processor. The device is pretty impressive and brings the latest version of Android at a very affordable price, although it comes with a bunch of limitations.

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  HTC Explorer at Rs 11,650

HTC has announced the Android Gingerbread touting Explorer that is scheduled to launch during the last quarter of this year for Rs. 11,650. The Explorer has a 3.2-inch capacitive touch-screen with native resolution of 320 x 480 pixels and approximate pixel density of 180ppi. At the heart of the device is a 600MHz Scorpion CPU and Adreno 200 GPU on Qualcomm’s MSM7227 chipset.

The phone will have 384MB of system memory and 90MB of internal storage space that can be cranked up to 32GB via a microSD card. The Explorer can connect to GPRS, EDGE and 3G networks of wireless carriers, in addition to Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n support for connection to WLAN.

Motorola Fire XT now available in India

Once again, there has been no official announcement from the manufacturer but yet another Motorola device has made its way into the Indian market. This is the Motorola Fire XT and unlike the Motorola Fire it does not include a physical QWERTY keypad.

To be more specific, this is the Motorola Fire XT531 which is powered by an 800 MHz processor and runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread. It has a 3.5-inch HVGA display, 5 megapixel rear camera and a secondary front-facing VGA camera. With all the other features which are usually included on an entry-level Android Gingerbread smartphone this device is priced at 12,990 INR and is available with Flipkart.

Sony Ericsson announces 'Live with Walkman' smartphone, apparently that is its name!

Here comes another Sony Ericsson Android smartphone under its Walkman line-up. The company previously released the W8 Walkman and now they have announced the upcoming, ‘Live with Walkman’ series. Yes, we do feel the name is extremely unpleasant.

Live with Walkman, is an Android Gingerbread smartphone featuring a dedicated Walkman hardware button that takes you to the music player. In the customized music player there is an Infinite button which enables you to access new content from your favorite artists including music videos, artist information and lyrics.

In regards to its specifications, the device sports a 3.2-inch capacitive touchscreen display, has a 5 megapixel rear camera with autofocus, VGA front-facing camera and it is powered by a 1 GHz processor. The smartphone also includes the Sony xLOUD engine audio filter technology, which delivers improved sound output. The pricing is unknown, but the smartphone will be available across the world in Q4 2011.

Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini Pro SK17i

Pros:

Slide out QWERTY keyboard.
Fast 1Ghz processor.
Great 5 MP camera and LED Flash.
720p HD video recording.
Android 2.3 Gingerbread.
Sony Ericsson Timescape UI.
Display with Mobile Bravia Engine.
Fairly loud and clear loud speaker.
Fair amount of internal storage - 400MB.
Aggressively priced.

Cons:

Small screen size - 3-inch.

The Bottom Line

Fantastic device for the price. Completely kills any competition in the 15k price bracket. If you're looking for a mid-range smartphone, this is your sole perfect choice!

Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini ST15i available for Rs. 13,000

The latest new affordable Android from Sony Ericsson is available in the Indian market at a price of Rs. 13,000. Originally announced back in May, it is powered by a 1GHz Qualcomm processor and runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread.

The Sony Ericsson Xperia Mini ST15i sports a 3-inch display, 5 megapixel camera with autofocus, LED flash and 720p HD video recording. Connectivity includes 3D, WiFi, DLNA, aGPS and Bluetooth with A2DP. It includes a 1200 mAh battery which the company claims provides 4 hours of talktime and 340 hours of standby.

Samsung Galaxy Ace/S5830: Froyo, Android 2.2, HVGA screen

For now, LG Optimus P500 rests comfortably as the best mid-range Froyo phone, but will soon get competition from a recently leaked device that's shaping up to be a scaled down version of the Galaxy S.
According to distant reports, the S5830 has an 800 MHz processor, 5-megapixel camera with LED flash, a 3.5-inch HVGA (480 x 320 pixels) screen, and runs Android 2.2, Froyo. The Galaxy Ace is expected to debut at MWC in February this year.

The phone doesn't have a front-facing camera, a feature that seems to be absent on all Android phones. Hopefully the Samsung Galaxy S2, rumoured to be running a dual-core processor and Android 2.3 Gingerbread has one. We'll know by MWC next month. Specs and Pics after the break.

Specs sheet, via a leak from a Thai website.

Update: The Galaxy Ace is on Flipkart at Rs. 14,990. Via Techknots

Samsung Galaxy Cooper S5830
•     Network
 - HSDPA 7.2Mbps 900/2100
 - EDGE/GPRS 850/ 900/1800/1900
 - Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, BT 2.1, DLNA

•     Dimension
-  59.9x112.4x11.5mm (113g)

•     Display
- 3.5” 320x480 HVGA 16M TFT

•     OS
- Android 2.2 (Froyo)

•    Android Market / Samsung Apps
- Various Applications Downloadable

•    Social Hub
- Integrates SNS, Email, IM and Calendar Accounts
- Integrated Calendar (Google/Facebook/Outlook)

•     TouchWiz 3.0 UX
- Horizontal UI, Lock Screen
- Preview/Edit, Camera Preview
- Screen Rotation Lock, Search in Browser

•    Processor
- 800MHz Processor (MSM7227-1 Turbo)

•    Battery (Standard) Li-ion, 1,350mAh

•     Camera
- 5.0 MP AF / LED Flash

•    Video
- MPEG4, H.263, H.264
-Recording/ Playback : QVGA@20fps / WVGA@30fps

•     Music
- 3.5mm Ear Jack & Speaker
- MP3, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA, RA

•     FM Radio (RDS)

•      Memory
- 150MB + 2GB microSD (up to 32GB)

•     Android Browser
- RSS reader
•     Multi-touch zoom

•    Integrated E-mail
 - Gmail
 - MS Exchange ActiveSync

•    GPS
- A-GPS

•    LBS
 - Google MapsTM, Latitude, Places
 - Google MapsTM Navigation(Beta)

•    Additional Features
 - Swype
 - ThinkFree(Document viewing & editing)
 - AllShare