Midrange Smartphones: Which One is the Best?
- Posted By Amritesh
- On October 17th, 2014
- Comments: 2 responses
Smartphone market is getting really competitive with entry of some new brands that are providing phones with great specification at a very reasonable price and are giving the established brands a stiff competition. Here we would look at some of the midrange devices which you can possibly buy.
Mid range phones are considered to be the bridge phones between the Low end phones and high end phones. From 2013 we have seen that Mid range phones have undergone a lot of change and now we see pretty good specifications in this segment as well. In fact the hardware used in the flagship devices can now be seen in some of the Mid range devices as well. The entry of economical phones from Chinese brand has also made this segment very exciting.
We do have a lot of phones in this segment but I have chosen to review only 5 of them and most of them from established brands. These phones are available in Indian market within the Rs10,000/- to Rs15,000/- price range. ($ 170-250)
Asus Zenfone 5 A501 (8gb Variant) Rs 10,000/- ($ 168)
Please Use the Link below if you want to buy this Phone.
Asus has entered the smartphone market with series of Zenfones and they seem to be pretty decent devices. Zenfone 5 is pretty decent at the given price and we see an Intel chipset after a very long time. The 1.6 ghz Intel Dual Core processor with hyper threading enabled performs very well and the 2 gb Ram just makes the user experience even more enjoyable. It has got a decent front and rear camera and build looks similar to HTC’s flagship devices. The device is able to handle multitasking without any issue. The GPU used in this device is VRSGX544MP2 which is able to handle most of the games and you don’t see any lag on the device. It also supports the micro SD card so expanding the storage won’t be much of an issue.
Despite all the good things said, there are some cons with the device too. The battery life on this device is pretty average and does get heated if you use it for long. Asus has confirmed Android L updates for the device but it remains to be seen when they roll out. Lastly, check out the service center in your area before buying as they have limited number of service centers as of now.
Key Specifications are given below:-
Processor | 1.6 Ghz Dual Core(Intel Atom Z2560 with HyperThread) |
Storage | 8GB (SD card upto 64gb) |
Operating System | Android Jellybean 4.3 (Upgrade to Kitkat assured) |
Rear Camera | 8 megapixel (With Led Flash) |
Front Camera | 2 mp |
Ram | 2 GB |
Battery | 2110 Mah |
Display | 5’ inch (Corning Gorilla Glass) |
Type Sim | Mini Sim/Dual Sim/GSM 3G Support |
GPU | Power VRSGX544MP2 |
Resolution | 1280*720(294 ppi) |
Touchscreen Type | Capacitive |
Dimension(mm)/Weight(gms) | 144.8*72.8*10.3 /145 |
Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime @ `15,000/-.($ 250)
Please Use the Link below if you want to buy this Phone.
Buy Samsung Grand Prime SM
Please Use the Link below if you want to buy this Phone.
Buy Samsung Grand Prime SM
Samsung has finally been able to manage impressive specification for a Mid range device which would attract customers after a lull period in which we did not see any major launches apart from few upgraded version which did not do too well.
This phone is a successor to the Samsung Galaxy Grand 2 and packs a strong punch with the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 chipset with processor clocked at 1.2ghz along with Adreno 306 and 1 gb of Ram. The specifications look pretty amazing considering the price quoted for the product. This phone definitely is an upgrade as it uses an advanced chipset and gpu is sure to give a good performance. The battery is 2600 mah which theoretically should be enough to survive a full day of usage. Camera is able to click decent images and front camera is also good for clicking selfies. People who love brands and want to enjoy hassle free after sales service should have no problems in opting for this device. A pretty good phone for the price some minor cons are mentioned below.
It runs on Android Kitkat 4.4.2 with the custom Samsung TouchWiz UI on top. It remains to be seen whether it gets an Android L update if at all. It has a qHD display and not a HD display which might not be liked by a few. The phone also does not come with an auto brightness sensor which again may turn off few people.
Key Specifications are given below:-
Processor | 1.2 Ghz Quad Core(Qualcomm Snapdragon 410) |
Storage | 8GB (Micro SD card upto 64gb) |
Operating System | Android Kitkat 4.4.4 |
Rear Camera | 8 megapixel (With Led Flash) |
Front Camera | 5 mp |
Ram | 1 GB |
Battery | 2600 Mah |
Display | 5’ inch (Seems Corning Gorilla Glass) |
Type Sim | Micro Sim/Dual Sim/GSM 3G Support |
GPU | Adreno 306 |
Resolution | 960*540(220 ppi) |
Touchscreen Type | Capacitive |
Dimension(mm)/Weight(gms) | 144.8*72.1*8.6 /156 |
SONY XPERIA E3 SS (Single Sim) @ `10,500/-.($ 175)
Please Use the Link below if you want to buy this Phone.
Buy Sony Xperia C3 from Flipkart.com
Please Use the Link below if you want to buy this Phone.
Buy Sony Xperia C3 from Flipkart.com
Sony has launched E3 SS which on the specification sheet does seem decent but I guess they would have done a great job had this device been launched last year as compared to now. In the year 2013 it would have given a tough competition to Moto G and Sony would have been able to capture some of the lost ground. In late 2014 this phone seems to be good but nothing spectacular. Moreover you have better devices at slightly high price namely Xiaomi Mi3, Moto G2 and the new Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime. However if you are on a very tight budget and want to go after a renowned brand then Xperia E3 is for you. It has got the basic features right apart from just 4 gb storage and FWVGA screen which are now hard to find even on low range devices. However you do get Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor along with 1gb of ram and Adreno 305 GPU which is pretty decent for this price. Further, they have many more Service Centers as compared to some other brands.
Key Specifications are given below:-
Processor | 1.2 Ghz Quad Core(Qualcomm Snapdragon 400) |
Storage | 4GB (Micro SD card upto 32gb) |
Operating System | Android Kitkat 4.4.2 |
Rear Camera | 5 megapixel (With Led Flash) |
Front Camera | 0.3 mp |
Ram | 1 GB |
Battery | 2330 Mah |
Display | 4.5’ inch (Scratch Resistant Glass) |
Type Sim | Micro Sim/GSM 3G Support |
GPU | Adreno 305 |
Resolution | 854*480(220 ppi) |
Touchscreen Type | Capacitive |
Dimension(mm)/Weight(gms) | 137.1*69.4*8.5 /143.8 |
Moto G2 2014 @ `12,999/-. ($215)
Please follow the Link below. I have published a review of the phone earlier.
Xiaomi Mi3 @ `13,999/-. ($ 230)
This is another phone which has a very impressive performance but I don’t think it is possible to get one now as Xiaomi have stopped producing it.
However you can find the link to the review below.
Overall Impression
Most of the devices are pretty decently priced in this price bracket but out of the 5 if I have to offer my preference then it would be in this order.
1.) Xiaomi Mi3
2.) Samsung Galaxy Grand Prime
3.) Moto G2 2014
4.) Asus Zenfone 5
5.) Sony Xperia E3 SS
I will post a full review of Samasung Galaxy Prime in next few days.
www.amritfinaa.blogspot.com
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