Year 2015 in Review: How smartphone brands fared in India this year

This year (2015), the smartphone industry with unprecedented growth, especially in the emerging markets like China, India, Russia, and Brazil. As a part of our ‘Year 2015 in Review‘ series of stories, we wanted to summarise how various smartphone brands fared this year in India.

This includes not only well-established international brands like Apple, Samsung, LG, and HTC, but also Indian brands like Micromax, Intex, Lava, and Xolo. We also take a look at how new smartphone brands like OnePlus, Xiaomi, and YU have performed in the country.

The Winners

• Apple – The iPhone 6s and the iPhone 6s Plus are considered as one of the best smartphones in the high-end category. However, they were sold with very high price tags in India. On the brighter side of things, the company sold tonnes of previous generations of its smartphones such as the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 6 in India. It seems true that most consumers just want to buy an iPhone, no matter how old it is.
• ASUS – Remember the first smartphone in India with 4GB RAM? Well, ASUS successfully managed to make a mark in buyers’ minds by launching the Zenfone 2 with 4GB of RAM, especially by pricing it attractively. A lot of consumers who wanted to buy a mid-range smartphone had the Zenfone 2 in their shortlists.
• Lenovo – The Chinese PC maker went aggressive in India this year. The Lenovo K3 Note and the Lenovo A6000 were in the list of top five smartphones in India in terms of sales according to an annual report from MySmartPrice for 2015. The company is off to a good start in India and hopes that it can continue to do the same.
• LG – Looking at how most smartphone brands started offering non-removable batteries and non-expandable storage, LG decided to target consumers who want those features. It did well in the high-end category with the LG G4. It offered a microSD card slot, a removable battery, a great camera, and a dual-SIM card slot. LG definitely is doing a good job in the high-end smartphone category, but its efforts in the mid-range or entry-level price categories seem lacklustre though.
• YU – The Micromax-backed smartphone brand tied up with Cyanogen to offer optimised smartphones. The company launched four smartphones in India this year and whether or not their products are good, they at least managed to attract a lot of attention from consumers.
• Motorola – After the company’s entry in the Indian market with the Moto G, which was a game changer, Motorola has launched some really good devices like the Moto X Play and recently the Moto G Turbo Edition. Even though not spec-heavy, they actually perform quite well, have good build quality, ergonomics, cellular performance, and loudspeakers.
• OnePlus – After the immense success of OnePlus One, the company took forward its initiative of releasing ‘Flagship Killer’ smartphones with the OnePlus 2. Even though it added many new-age features like a USB Type-C port, a fingerprint sensor, and a much improved camera, there were some cut corners as well. However, when you look at the company’s OxygenOS, you can understand that it’s going in the right direction.
• Samsung – Remember how Samsung got bashed by consumers for releasing a high-end smartphone with badly done software and cheap-feeling exterior design? Well, Samsung completely changed its path with the Galaxy S6. Its new products beautiful, well-built, and the software has improved immensely. Even mid-range devices like the Galaxy J and the Galaxy On series offer good battery life and reliability. The definitely appears that it has set out on a correct path.
• Xiaomi – The Chinese smartphone brand kept its game strong in the entry-level and mid-range price category by launching well-specced devices like the Redmi 2 Prime and the Mi 4i. However, it needs to work on software and improve its after-sales support.

The Losers

• Gionee – The smartphone brand lost its sheen to brands like OnePlus, YU, Xiaomi, and Lenovo. Once known for offering value-for-money smartphones, Gionee has failed to entice a similar feeling among consumers this year. We feel that the company should focus more on improving the software quality on its devices and reduce the bloatware.
• HTC – The company continued its age old habit of releasing pathetic cameras in its smartphones this year. HTC needs to understand that it cannot succeed in the high-end market without offering a competing camera.
• Microsoft (formerly Nokia) – Too late to the smartphone party, Microsoft’s attempt at making Windows as the alternative to iOS and Android has failed terribly. Not only it released Windows 10 Mobile too late, its latest smartphones – the Lumia 950 and the Lumia 950 XL – offered below par design and build quality.
• Sony – Good on paper, but not so impressive in real life usage. That’s the story with Sony as always. The Sony Xperia Z5 and the Xperia Z5 Compact couldn’t compete with the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S6/S6 edge/Note 5, the LG G4 and the Apple iPhone 6s Plus even though it is the strongest in terms of on-paper specs.

The Dark Horses

• BlackBerry – Although it did not launch its first ever full-fledged Android smartphone in India yet, people are pretty excited about the Priv. The company managed to sell more units of BlackBerry Priv this quarter than it sold BBOS 10-powered devices in Q3 2015.
• Huawei – It is the biggest smartphone brand in China, and it made a Nexus smartphone this year to show the world that it can make a class-leading smartphone for the international audience. The Huawei Nexus 6P is considered to be one of the best smartphone this year. It also did a fairly decent job with the Honor brand in India as it released some interesting and well-performing devices.
• Intex – The company claimed that it became the second largest smartphone vendor in India after Samsung. The numbers were trashed by Micromax, but it seems that Intex has managed to sell a lot of smartphones in India with the help of aggressive marketing.

Everybody Else

Other brands like Lava, Meizu, Micromax, Oppo, Vivo, and Xolo failed to gather as much attention this year as they would have wanted. Micromax is still stuck with bad software and pathetic customer support. Oppo hasn’t understood the importance of pricing its devices correctly. Consumers couldn’t get used to Meizu’s software because it behaves different from Android that people are familiar with.

Xolo tried its hand at online-only ‘Black’ series of smartphones, but failed. None of its devices received the amount of hype that is associated with online-only products nor did they were awarded with favourable ratings from experts. The other smartphone brands that aren’t mentioned in this article definitely didn’t do anything interesting in India.

YU Yutopia: Shine on, YU Crazy Diamond!

Comparisons are dangerous….”
As we have mentioned in the past.
It is one thing to take pride in standing up on your own feet.
Quite another to say that you stand taller than someone else.
One thing to prove you are good.
Quite another to claim you are better.

No, this is not a spiritual saga – it is still a gadget review. A review of a device that is very good on its own, but perhaps bit off a little more than it could chew when it compared itself with the biggest names in cell town. We are talking, of course, of theYutopia, the latest and – yes, we might as well say it – greatest device from Micromax’s sister YU brand, which completed a year of an extremely eventful existence. As a brand, YU seemed a more geeky version of Micromax, sticking to the latter’s “good phones at surprising prices” strategy, but adding better processors and Cyanogen or stock Android to the mix. Until the Yutopia came along, the most expensive phone in the YU stable had been the Yureka Plus, priced at Rs 8,999. In fact, even the most expensive phone from the better known Micromax brand had been the first Canvas Knight, which had been priced in the range of about Rs 21,000. However, by and large both Micromax and YU have operated in the sub-Rs 15,000 price margin, never really challenging for the high-end segment of the market, be it in terms of price or specs.

The Yutopia changes that. Thoroughly.

Specs, style…and software too!

At Rs 24,999, it costs more than the other three YU devices in the market taken together (the Yunique, the Yureka Plus and the Yuphoria). And more significantly, it comes with a spec sheet that is right up there with the best in the business – a 5.2 inch quad HD display with a 565 ppi pixel density, a 2.0 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor, 4 GB RAM, 32 GB storage (expandable if you give up one of the dual SIM slots to a memory card), a 21-megapixel camera (with optical image stabilization), an 8.0-megapixel front facing camera, stereo speakers, House of Marley earphones, and 4G, GPS, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth connectivity, with a 3000 mAh battery to keep things ticking. That’s a spec sheet that any Android device in the world would be proud of, and most would envy. It is easily the most powerful phone to have come from an Indian brand – and perhaps the first from the country to take on flagships from better-known brands in ALL departments.

Unlike its predecessors which focused more on substance than on style, the Yutopia cuts a smart figure too (check our first impressions). The spherical, slightly raised, camera unit on the back gives it a distinct look (YU refers to it as the Saturn Rings design and says all cameras in the YU range will have it, although not all of them will jut out), and the smooth metal body of the phone is definitely classy. It is a very curve-y phone with no sharp edges and with its length of 146.6 mm width of 72.7 mm and 7.2 mm thickness, will fit most hands. And for a phone with a 5.2 inch inch display and a full metal body, it is remarkably lightweight at 159 grammes. There is a fingerprint scanner at the back, just below the camera, and YU assures us that the raised camera on the back will not pick up scratches when the phone is resting on its back, as the frame around it is very slightly raised. The volume buttons have the power/display button right in between them, which is again a YU characteristic – a trifle eccentric but something one gets used to, and the dual SIM tray is on the left. This is a unibody device. And it definitely is a looker.

Running above all these is Cyanogen 12.1 based on Android 5.1.1 with a few of YU’s own tweaks to it. In an attempt to address the heating issues that have been the bane of the Snapdragon 810 processor, the company has come out with five performance levels, which can be tweaked as per your usage patterns – power saver, efficiency, balanced, quick and performance. And well, if you stick mostly to “balanced,” your phone will work at a pretty decent clip without reaching uncomfortable temperature levels. The default music player on the phone is the Gaana app, which comes with six months of unlimited access to the app’s library comprising millions of songs.

Then there is the Around YU feature, which is accessible with a swipe to the left from the Yutopia’s home screen (no Google Now by that method on this device – you have to access it through the Google app, and whether this is a plus or a minus really depends on how much you use Google Now). The idea of the app is simple – to allow you to access different services without having to download apps for each of them. So for instance, you can find out about shopping, food, cabs, flight timings, buses and train timings by simply swiping to the left from the home screen and entering a search term. And it is not just about seeing options – in many cases, you can actually order a cab, or food or buy something right from the service, without having to go to an app (you will have to open the browser, though). Providing this information are a number of content aggregators that Micromax has invested in. And well, honestly, we found the results to be very impressive, at least in our part of Delhi.

It is this combination of specs, software and style that led YU to be adopting a very aggressive stance in positioning the phone, which it unabashedly called the most powerful in the world. In a high profile social networking campaign leading up to the launch, the company poked fun at the iPhone’s battery, the lack of customization options on the Galaxy S6 and the display of the OnePlus 2. It was a very bold strategy to adopt, as it positioned the device alongside those worthies, and thus also drove up user expectations.

And that is where our reference to comparisons at the very beginning comes in.

And we will be blunt: at its best, the Yutopia is a terrific device. The display and camera are its strongest suits – the display is easily the best we have seen at this price point and is great for viewing videos and even reading text (none of the oversaturation that we have seen in some others) and the camera is terrific when it comes to capturing detail (check the sample pictures below). And Cyanogen runs very smoothly on the powerful hardware within. Throw pretty much any task at it – be it a high definition game or run twenty apps at the same time – and it is a fair chance that the phone will handle them with ease, with zero lags. Sound quality was very good on call and loudspeaker, and well, we can see music fans liking the House of Marley Little Birds earbuds. Battery life is decent too – you will see off a day of normal use with ease.

Note, however, that we prefixed “at its best,” when we started the previous paragraph. For alas, the Yutopia can be a tad inconsistent. And when it is in these moods that chinks start to appear in its armour. Perhaps the biggest is the fingerprint sensor at the back, which seems to be significantly slower than the one we saw on the Qiku Q Terra and even the Coolpad Note 3 and is also prone to being erratic unless you place your finger at the exact right spot. Yes, once you get the “hang” of it, it works well enough but we can see many people losing their tempers when the phone simply refuses to recognize the very fingerprint they had input into it.

Purists will also be quick to point out that the camera is more prone to inconsistency than its competitors in the same price range – yes, it scores in terms of detail but colors at times seem flat and it definitely does not handle glare too well. Around YU is a great idea but still needs polishing and needs to include more vendors – for instance, if I search for a book, I do not get an option to purchase it from Amazon, although Flipkart and Infibeam do pop up. Google Now fans might find it odd that in the Cyanogen world that prides itself on openness, there was no way to replace Around YU with Google Now, or to even customize it – the app has no settings button, so one is pretty much at its mercy, and while it does seem to learn what we like, it would have been nice to be able to tweak it to show only those options we are really interested in. It would have also been helpful if the performance levels for the battery had been easier to access (say, through a special widget) or even better if the phone itself could advise you about them when you accessed apps that would stretch the current performance level- when you want to get into a session of FIFA, you often forget to head over to the settings and tweak performance levels.

And yes, the phone does heat up even in routine tasks – extensive photography or even a long session of Temple Run will push temperatures up. We also encountered some UI issues with the camera in our initial unit, although these were attributed to an earlier build by the company and the second unit we received functioned smoothly. Round that off with the odd lag and crash, and suddenly the Yutopia starts looking a lot more human.

Yes, it is still very good when you factor what you are getting for the price, but it looks well off the pace when compared with some of the very worthies it cocked a snook at. Comparisons are dangerous, remember?

All of which makes us conclude that the Yutopia is more of a rough diamond than a finished product. To be fair, this is not the first time we have seen a high-profile product come with some eccentricities, be it unresponsive touch screens, heating issues, moody cameras or eccentric fingerprint sensors. No, the Yutopia’s sin is not to have erred (heavens, that is human), but to have claimed to be divine.

For, while there is no doubt that the device has its flaws, there can be no denying its strengths too. For Rs 24,999, it plonks some of the best hardware around in the palm of your hand, and that too in a rather svelte design. Only the OnePlus 2 comes close to what it offers, and hey, remember how many software issues it too had? To its credit,Carl Pei and Co stuck to their task in spite of some early criticism and have steadily been ironing out the rough spots in what was otherwise a wonderful device. And that we think is the challenge that lies ahead of YU – the Yutopia is a very good device but we suspect is an update or two away from greatness. And it is delivering these updates in a timely and effective manner that is going to be the next challenge for the young brand, just as it was for OnePlus.

Should you buy it in its present form, though? Or wait for the seemingly-inevitable updates? Well, with cricket being YU founder Rahul Sharma’s favorite sport, it is only fair that we draw a cricketing simile to make matters easy. In the period from 1995 to 2005, Pakistan had a fearsome pace bowler named Shoaib Akhtar. He was easily the fastest bowler in the world, and capable of winning matches on his own. Batsmen quaked at the sight of him running in to bowl. He had just one problem – of being rather temperamental. As a result, one never really knew which Shoaib Akhtar would turn up in a match – the devastating one or the disinterested one.

The Yutopia in its first cut (we are SO sure a big update is around the corner) is like Shoaib Akhtar – at its best, it is phenomenally good, but when the errors creep in, it definitely does not do its specs justice (just as the Pakistani paceman did not do his God-given talent justice).

Which brings us back to the question: should you buy it? Well, it really depends on your patience levels. If you want something that works like clockwork right out of the box and seldom errs, then perhaps it would make sense to bide your time a little and for the Yutopia to get the updates that will help it make that grade. But if what you are looking for is a powerful phone with top of the line hardware that, barring the odd lapse into eccentricity, can mix it with the best, then go right ahead and grab the Yutopia. It is a bit like having Shoaib Akhtar in your team – well worth it if you have the patience, infuriating if you do not. Given the right attention, Akhtar could have been a much greater player. The same applies to the Yutopia.

YU has delivered a diamond, albeit a rough one. Now, it is up to them to shine it and shape it.

Lenovo Vibe K4 Note with Dolby Atmos Audio, FingerPrint Sensor and 3GB RAM Launched for Rs 11,999

After tasting major success with the K3 Note, Lenovo has launched its successor, the Vibe K4 Note at an event in India. The new Note has been teased from quite some time and it does seem to live up to its hype. The K4 Note comes clad in a Metal rim and it will boast of other novelties including a Fingerprint sensor and a NFC Chip.

The Lenovo Vibe K4 Note comes powered by the good old octa-core MediaTek 6753paired with 3GB of RAM as opposed to the 2GB on the K3 Note. On the storage front, the memory is still 16GB along with an microSD card that can further accommodate another 128GB. The Lenovo Vibe K4 Note is fitted with a 5.5-inch FHD display which offers a pixel density of 401ppi, a contrast ratio of 1000:1 and 450 nits brightness.

Lenovo K4 Note sports a curved design which the company claims is aimed at making a greater ergonomic sense when it comes to media consumption. Unlike its predecessor, the K4 Note comes clad in a polycarbonate back surrounded by metal rims and this instils a premium look for the device. The front dual speaker setup is yet another measure from Lenovo to appease the audiophiles and bring about a better media experience on the phablet. This is actually the first instance wherein the Dolby Atmos has designed speakers for a smartphone. Lenovo has not just stopped at that and has also incorporated the TheatreMax technology for better sound propagation and a theatre like experience.

On the imaging front, the Vibe K4 Note features a 13-Megapixel primary sensor (with f/2.2 aperture) along with a 5-Megapixel secondary sensor. The primary camera comes with PDAF and ISOCELL technology which will help you to focus better and click clearer pictures respectively. The Lenovo Vibe K4 Note will be running on Android 5.1 Lollipop flavored with Vibe UI. The device is backed up by a 3,300 mAh battery and supports fast charging.

Lenovo will now also allow customers to choose between premium back panels including the Leather and wood finished ones and these panels would not just add to the aesthetics but also provide an additional layer of protection for the phone. The deal is further sweetened with the Lenovo Skullcandy Ando Headphones which are bundled with the device and would otherwise cost Rs 1,299.

At Rs 11,999, we must say that the Vibe K4 Note is priced competitively, in fact this is the sort of final call for Xiaomi to bring in their Redmi Note 3 to India and LeTV to launch the Le 1S as well. The Lenovo Vibe K4 Note seems to have all the right ingredients to make it a Killer Note, the looks, hardware, accessories and of course the pricing. Lenovo dropped a bombshell when they said that at Rs 12,499 they would bundle a AntVR Kit along with the smartphone. The Vibe K4 Note will be available exclusively on Amazon and the registrations will begin at 3PM today with the sale set to happen on 19th of January.

Android 6.0 Marshmallow beta update now available for Huawei Honor 7 in India, limited to ‘registered’ users

Here is a good news for all the Huawei Honor 7 smartphone users. Huawei has released the beta version of Android 6.0 Marshmallow update in India. The OTA (over the air) update is limited to only those users who register through this link. Users will be asked to register their current software version along with their device’s IMEI number.

After the form submission through the above given link, the next step will be the verification of submitted information by Huawei.  The company will then start pushing the OTA update after 24 to 48 hours of form submission and verification. The update will bring along a variety of new features to the EMUI 4.0. We would like to inform our readers that this update is merely a “beta version” of Android 6.0 Marshmallow. The final version of the update for the Honor 7 smartphone is expected to be rolled out sometime in January or early February.

For other Honor smartphones users, Huawei had already promised to roll out the Marshmallow update for the Honor 6, Honor 6 Plus, Honor 4X and Honor 4C smartphones by February 2016.

Meanwhile, here is the change log for Android 6.0 Marshmallow update for the Honor 7 smartphone:

Camera

• New added professional mode. Under this mode, you can use professional parameters in any combination to achieve the desired effect
• New Added document readjustment function. When enabled, you can clearly capture the text content appearing the lens.

Gallery

• New added Paint filter, Feminine filter, and Photo filter. You can get more amazing images now.
• New added various labels, you can change the font size, color and location now.
• New added creating a memo on images supports you customize the unique memo for every image, and then set it as unique lock screen wallpaper.
• New added sports watermark element. Now you can add altitude data and your note on your travel photos.
• Optimized album functions. Now you can bulk add photos for the new album. This greatly simplifies the process of creating an album and then adding photos to it.
• Support you to print multiple images one time. It can save all selected images for printing as PDF and print them together.

Contacts

• New added Smart group function will help you to group your contacts according to company or organization names. If you want to group your contacts by this way, you just need to add company or organization names in contacts’ information. Your contacts will be automatically grouped.

Messages

• New added quickly reclaiming sending message, within 4 seconds after sending a message, you can reclaim it if you regret.

Application

• New added a compass application, it integrated the functions of level gauge and compass.
• New added alarm ring duration selections, now how long the alarm will ring all depends on you!

System

• New added screen recording function, with it enabled, you can easily record your screen operating steps, then make it to a small course and share with others.

Settings

• New added eyesight protection mode in Display settings when enabled, the backlight will be soft. It’s very helpful to relax your eye muscles keeping your eyes healthy.

Samsung Pay Will Launch Online Payments In the U.S.

Samsung Pay plans a major expansion in the United States next year. Users will be able to make purchases on websites with Samsung Pay, which puts it into more direct competition with services like Paypal, Reuters reports. The mobile wallet platform will be also available on lower-end Samsung smartphones, not just flagship models like the Galaxy S6 Edge.

In an interview with Reuters, Samsung global co-general manager Thomas Ko said Samsung Pay will roll out to more smartphone models next year. The payment platform launched in the U.S. in September and has an advantage over competitors because it can emulate magnetic stripe cards thanks to Samsung’s acquisition of LoopPay, in addition to using NFC technology like Apple Pay and Android Pay.

This means Samsung Pay works with a wider assortment of existing point-of-sale equipment than Apple Pay or Android Pay does.

Ko claims that Samsung Pay is already the most widely accepted mobile payments system in the U.S. because it is compatible with most credit card terminals. Mobile wallets haven’t quite taken off in the U.S. yet, but getting people accustomed to using their stored financial information in Samsung Pay for online purchases may convince them to pull out their smartphones at cashier stands, too.

64GB Xiaomi Mi Pad 2 sells out in under a minute

Last month, the Xiaomi Mi Pad 2 was unveiled. The 7.9-inch slate was originally offered with 16GB of native storage, powered by Android. This model is priced at 999 Chinese Yuan, or $156 USD. This morning, at 10 am sharp in China, Xiaomi released the 64GB variant of the tablet which is offered with Android, or Windows 10 inside. Both models are priced at 1299 Chinese Yuan, or $203 USD.

If you weren't quick enough to score a 64GB Mi Pad 2, the bad news is that the tablet is now sold out in that configuration. It took less than a minute for all of the inventory to be sold in a flash sale. There were a few complaints made to the company's Tablet page on Weibo, but there isn't much that can be done except to wait for the company to churn out more units.

In case you haven't had time to study the specs, the Xiaomi Mi Pad 2 keeps the 7.9-inch screen employed on the original Mi Pad, and even the 1536 x 2048 resolution is the same. Instead of the Tegra K1, which powered the OG model, the sequel has the Intel Atom X5-Z8500 chipset under the hood, with a quad-core 2.2GHz CPU. 2GB of RAM is inside along with 64GB of native storage. An 8MP camera is on back featuring an f/2.0 aperture, and the 5MP front-facing camera handles selfies and video chats. A 6190mAh battery powers the unit, and the slate features a Type-C USB port. Fast charging allows you to top off the battery quickly.

The quick sellout of the 64GB Mi Pad 2 will surely lead to the old glass half full/half empty game. Some will say that exceptional demand led to the quick sell out, while others will say that Xiaomi didn't produce enough units. Regardless of the reason behind it, the headlines say that the 64GB version of the Mi Pad 2 is sold out and that will look good for the company, which has uncharacteristically stumbled around a bit this year.

The 64GB Xiaomi Mi Pad 2 launched today, and sold out in less than a minute

Sony extends Marshmallow Concept trial into New Year, releases 6.0.1

Sony had been planning to bring its Sony Concept Android Marshmallow beta to a close later this week. However, the company has decided to continue the program into the New Year, following a very positive experience with testers.

The additional time is certainly good news for the tens of thousands of program participants and also means that Sony will have some additional time to collect more feedback and tweak its Marshmallow experience. There is a drawback here though, as the company doesn’t seem to know exactly when it plans to release an official Marshmallow build to its broader consumers. An update for the Z5 range had been expected in January.

                                          

However, the final release may be based on the slightly newer Android 6.0.1 version, as Sony has also just begun rollout out this software to its Concept beta testers. The new MMB29M.Z1.3021-somc version includes the 200 new emojis and “do not disturb until” tweaks, and also seems to have removed app drawer customization from Sony’s build. The OTA update should be hitting those in the trial sometime this week.