10 hot sub-Rs 10,000 smartphones

Budget smartphones have been flooding the market. From Samsung to Nokia, BlackBerry-maker RIM to LG, everyone has smartphones in the sub-Rs 10,000 category. In fact, these affordable smartphones are a huge market in India. 

Here are 10 of these devices which are priced below Rs 10,000 and with features worth your money.

Samsung Galaxy Y Pro Duos B5512
Samsung Galaxy Y Pro Duos B5512 is Samsung's latest dual-SIM Android phone. The phone runs on Android v2.3 (Gingerbread) operating system and is powered by 832 MHz processor. It has a 2.6 inch capacitive touch screen with 320 x 240 pixel resolution.

Samsung Galaxy Y Pro Duos B5512

The touch and type device comes with Samsung TouchWiz user interface and has a 3 megapixel camera which supports video recording at 24 fps (frames per second). There's also a 0.3 megapixel camera on front. There's 32 GB expandable memory option and a 1350 mAh battery. Connectivity options of the phone include 3G, A-GPS, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity.


Rs. 9,500 (Approx)


Motorola Fire XT530

Motorola Fire XT530

Motorola Fire XT is among cheapest Android phones from Motorola. It features Moto Switch UI, which allows users to save different modes on the home screen with different apps. The phone is equipped with a 5 megapixel primary camera with LED Flash and 0.3 megapixel front camera for video calling. 

The 3G phone runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread and is powered by a 800 MHz processor. There's 1540 mAH battery. It supports Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and EDGE for connectivity.

Rs.9,990 (Approx)

BlackBerry Curve 9220

BlackBerry Curve 9220

BlackBerry Curve 9220 has a 2.44 inch TFT LCD display with 320 x 240 pixel resolution. There's standard 3.5 mm audio port and micro USB port. Curve 9220 is powered by BlackBerry's newest and the faster operating system BlackBerry 7.1 OS that runs on a single core processor. 

It comes with 512 MB of RAM, 512 MB ROM, and an option to expand memory up to 32 GB via a micro SD card. BlackBerry Curve 9220 has a 2 megapixel, fixed focus camera without flash. 

BlackBerry Curve 9220 is the first phone from Research In Motion to come with FM radio.

Rs.10,000 (Approx)

Nokia Asha 303

THE NOKIA ASHA 303

Nokia Asha 303 is based on S40 operating system and runs on a 1 GHz processor. It is equipped with a 2.6 inch capacitive touchscreen display with 240 x 320 pixel resolution and a proximity sensor. The phone also offers touch and type input and a full Qwerty keyboard. 

Asha 303 supports up to 32 GB expandable memory, 100 MB of internal memory, a 3.2 megapixel digital camera with zoom and video capture capability, a video player, music player and FM radio. On the connectivity front it has GPRS, Edge, 3G, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and USB. 

The phone comes with a dedicated music key for instant access to music and Shazam (a music app). Asha 303 comes in six colours - red, graphite, silver white, aqua, green, and purple.

Rs.7,700 (Approx)

Karbonn A9

THE NEW KARBONN A9

Karbonn has expanded its Android-based handsets portfolio in India with the launch of Karbonn A9. 

Karbonn A9 is powered by a 1GHz processor and runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread. It also includes dual-SIM capability (GSM + GSM) making it another contender in low-cost, dual-SIM Android market. The smartphone has the functionality to allow users to use both the number simultaneously. 

Karbonn A9 sports a 3.8-inch display with a 800x480 pixels resolution, 3G and Wi-Fi capabilities, 5 megapixel camera with LED flash and a secondary front facing camera. It supports expandable memory up to 32GB via microSD card.

Rs.9,199 (Approx)

LG Optimus NET P690

LG Optimus NET P690

LG Optimus NET P690 features Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread OS. It runs on 800 Mhz Single core Qualcomm MSM7227T processor. The smartphone has a 3.2 inch TFT capacitive touch screen with a HVGA (320x480) resolution. It has a 3.15 MP rear camera with autofocus. 

LG Optimus NET P690 features has 512 MB RAM alongwith 512 MB ROM and has an Accelerometer, Proximity sensor and compass. As for connectivity, LG Optimus NET P690 has Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Wi-Fi hotspot and Bluetooth. LG Optimus NET P690 has a 1500 mAh battery.

Rs.8,999 (Approx)

Micromax A50 Ninja

THE NEW MICROMAX A50 NINJA

Micromax Informatics recently expanded its Superfone smartphones portfolio in the country with the addition of dual-SIM A50 Ninja. A50 runs on Android version 2.3.6 (Gingerbread) with a processor speed of 650 MHz .The phone features a 7.9 cm multi-touch capacitive screen. The dual-SIM Micromax A50 sports a 2 MP camera. The smartphone's memory is expandable up to 32GB with microSD card. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi, GPRS and Bluetooth. 

Micromax A50 Ninja comes with an Artificial Intelligence Speech Handset Assistant (AISHA). AISHA is a voice recognition tool through which users can search on Google, view stock market details, know phone status, movie reviews, make calls, read news of desired locations, know horoscopes etc.

Rs.4,900 (Approx)

Spice Mi-350n

SPICE Mi-350n

Spice Mi-350n is successor to the company's earlier-launched Mi-350. The dual-SIM phone comes with a 3.5-inch capacitive touch screen display, 3.2MP auto focus camera and VGA secondary camera. 

It is powered by 650 MHz processor and runs on Android 2.3 (Gingerbread). It has an expandable memory up to 32GB by microSD card. Connecitivity options include 3G HSDPA 7.2 Mbps, WiFi, Bluetooth V2.1 and aGPS. The battery is 1400 mAh.

Rs.7,700 (Approx)

Sony Txt CK13i

SONY TXT CK13i

Sony Ericsson CK13i is a QWERTY phone. The smartphone has a 2.6-inch QVGA TFT scratch resistant with a resolution of 320 x 240 pixels. 

Sony Ericsson CK13i has a 3.15 megapixel camera with fixed focus and digital zoom. The phone has dedicated home, option and back keys along with call and end keys to make navigation of easy. There is 3.5 mm audio jack and a micro USB port. 

It supports GPRS, EDGE and Wi-Fi for connectivity.

Rs.6,000 (Approx)

HTC Explorer

HTC EXPLORER

HTC is a 3G smartphone launched during end of 2011. Running on Android Gingerbread, HTC Explorer features 3.2-inch WVGA display and a 600 MHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. 

HTC Explorer supports Wi-Fi Bluetooth 3.0 and GPS. There's 1230 mAh battery, microSD card slot and 3 megapixel camera. The device also sports HTC Sense UI.

Rs.8,999 (Approx)

ViewSonic 3

ViewSonic 3

ViewSonic recently launched its first Android-based dual-Sim 3G smartphone, ViewPhone 3, in India. The device features a 3.5-inches touchscreen with 320 X 480 resolution and runs on Android 2.3 operating system. The phone has 512MB RAM and is powered by Qualcomm 800 MHz processor. The phone sports a 5 megapixel rear autofocus camera. 

For connectivity, the device offers HSDPA, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS. The phone's memory is expandable upto 32GB with microSD card. Some other features include ViewScene 3D technology, 3.5mm audio jack, G-sensor, E-compass and 1500 mAh battery.

Rs.9,000 (Approx)

Courtesy: The Times Of India

Samsung Galaxy Y Pro Duos Review

Samsung Galaxy Y Pro Duos is the latest budget Android smartphone offering from Samsung's basket. It is very similar to the Galaxy Y Duos except that now there's room for a front camera as well. With dual-SIM Android phones buzzing around already, can this one hold its ground? We take a look.

Design & Build
The Galaxy Y Pro Duos in its candy bar form factor feels incredibly light at 112 grams. The phone fits comfortably in your palm. We received a metallic black unit which was well designed with curved edges on the top and bottom. The back panel is plastic-made and comes off easily. It is a touch-cum-QWERTY phone so it makes life easier. The screen dimensions seemed to have been reduced as a result. But this being a QWERTY smartphone, you can't really expect a big display.

The smartphone houses a 3.2MP rear camera and a front facing VGA camera for video calling as well. The power button is placed on the right while the volume rocker finds room on the left. The bottom houses the charging/USB port, while the 3.5mm audio jack is located on the top.

Once the back panel comes off, you see the battery, below which are the dual-SIM slots. The microSD slot is located on the top-right.

The QWERTY keypad is neatly laid out and feels very comfortable to use for typing. The standard Menu, Home, Back and Search buttons are distributed on either side of an Optical trackpad that also make navigation easier.

The Galaxy Y Pro Duos came with a charger, a USB cable, a pair of headphones, 3 pairs of earplugs, a warranty card and a quick start guide in the box.

Display
The Y Pro Duos sports a 2.6-inch capacitive TFT LCD display with a resolution of 320x240 pixels. The colours look decent enough even in broad daylight, although the text seemed a little blurry.

What's interesting is that the screen orientation is available in both portrait and landscape modes. The latter doesn't make sense at all with the screen size being so small and feels really weird.

Camera Quality
At 3.2MP, you can't expect wonders but even so, the camera is decent enough for a budget smartphone. There is no flash, so pictures taken in the dark won't impress you much, while images taken in day-light are just OK.

Samsung Galaxy Y Pro Duos camera supports video recording upto a resolution of 320x240 pixels and once you shoot a video, you also have the option to trim them. Basic settings include white balance adjustments, resolution selection, self-timer and scene modes.

OS & Interface
The Galaxy Y Pro Duos comes with Android Gingerbread (v2.3.6) which seems outdated nowadays with Ice cream Sandwich Android phones already available in the market. Samsung's traditional TouchWiz interface allows for a satisfactory operability experience. There are 3 customisable homescreens and the menu isn't cluttered with too many pre-loaded apps.

The 832 MHz single core processor performs well enough to allow multi-tasking without too much lag. The device also comes with 384MB of RAM that feels very less and the memory can be expanded upto 32GB via microSD card slot.

Pre-loaded software
As we mentioned earlier, there aren't many pre-installed apps apart from the standard Google ones like Gtalk, YouTube, Maps and Gmail. Even must haves like Facebook and Twitter were missing. We however downloaded them from the Play Store and they worked just fine. Polaris Office is useful for accessing and reading your documents.

You can also access Samsung's stock app store, Samsung Apps to download free or paid apps after you've signed-up.

Performance
The phone is an average performer and there's no wow moment involved. Dual SIM functionality is limited in the sense that while you can keep personal and official numbers separate, you can use only one SIM at a time for calls. You can also choose your SIM preference from the notifications menu.

The standard Li-ion 1350mAh battery lasts for a full day without you having to reach for the charger . Both the 3G and Wi-Fi experience were good and the battery didn't give up on us while surfing the web, watching videos, making calls or running multiple applications.


The audio quality of the phone again, isn't very great on both, the speaker phone and the headphones that came along with it. A disappointing fact with regard to the FM Radio is that you can set only four radio stations at a time and not more.

When playing YouTube videos, they seemed a bit pixelated, though they played fine without lags.

We fired up a game of Angry Birds Space and the multi-touch experience wasn't smooth enough. You can't really see the target and have to guess your aim in most scenarios.

The stock browser supports Adobe flash and the surfing experience was decent without too many hiccups while using both 3G and Wi-Fi.

Verdict
With many budget dual-SIM phones flooding the market, the Galaxy Y Pro Duos doesn't put something extraordinary on the table. It is a decent performer that just about gets the work done. All features are pretty basic that you'd get with any budget Android phone. The introduction of an optical trackpad, though makes navigation easier can be confusing since it takes a while to getting used to with the touch screen in place. We're sure you've heard the phrase, 'out of sight, out of mind'. This one is sure to be in that list.


Pros
Optical trackpad makes navigation easy
Touch and type at an affordable price

Cons
Poor camera
No Multi-touch

Price: Rs. 9,500

Ratings
Performance: 3
Features: 3.5
Ease of setup: 3.5
Ergonomics: 4
Wow factor: 3
Value for money: 3.5
Overall: 3.5


Courtesy: Gadgets @ NDTV