6. YU Yunicorn:

YU, the Micromax’s subsidiary has launched its new smartphone YU Yunicorn, which it touts as the phone ‘Redefining Flagships’, let’s see how good the phone is. If we talk about the design, it comes with a full metal unibody, a brushed aluminium back and a 2.5D curved glass on the front, it looks very beautiful and feels very premium and it is by far the best designed phone Yu or Micromax has ever built so, full marks in design. The Yunicorn sports a 5.5 inches Full HD screen with 401 ppi pixel density and the display is very good. It is powered by the 1.8 GHz MediaTek Helio P10 Octa Core Processor coupled with 4 GB RAM and MALI-T860 GPU. Well, it gives a good lag free performance with normal usage but it lags in high-end games, it would have been great if the company used more powerful processor like the Snapdragon 617 (used in the Moto G4 Plus, has better performance than Helio P10). The phone packs a 13 MP rear camera with f/2.2 aperture, EIS (Electronic Image Stabilization) and Dual-LED flash, it takes decent pictures but the colors are little washed out, better camera phones like the Moto G4 Plus are available at this price. Same is the case with the 5 MP front camera. The Yunicorn runs on Android 5.1.1 Lollipop based company’s new Android on Steroids (AOS) OS which has nearly stock Android like UI but has few added features, it also comes free of bloatwares. The phone also includes company’s Around YU platform, which allows you to book cabs, hotels, flights, order food and much more and, now it also includes a wallet so you can recharge your mobiles, DTH, etc. right from your homescreen and you can do all these without installing any apps like Ola, Uber, Foodpanda, Freecharge, PayTM, etc., just swipe left from the homescreen and the single platform does all these, it is very useful. It includes a fast fingerprint scanner situated below the screen, integrated with the home button. It is a dual sim phone with 4G support, comes with 32 GB internal storage and is expandable upto 128 GB via microSD card but, uses a hybrid slot. It includes a Non-removable Li-Po 4000 mAh battery which gives a good battery backup. Accompanying this big battery, the phone has maintained itself slim with a thickness of 8.5mm, it weighs 172 grams and feels heavy but with this big battery it is totally acceptable. Overall, the YU Yunicorn packs a great premium design and good software with useful features and can be another good choice at this price. If you want an even bigger phone, you can go with YU Yureka Note with 6 inches screen. Micromax’s new Canvas 6 is also a good phone but is lost in the competition.

PRICE	Rs 9,499 @  Rs 10,989 @
OS	Android v5.1.1 Lollipop | UI - Android on Steroids (AOS)
CPU	1.8 GHz MediaTek Helio P10 (MT6755) Octa Core Processor
RAM	4 GB RAM
SCREEN	5.5 inches, IPS LCD touchscreen
DISPLAY	Full HD (1920 x 1080 Pixels), 401 ppi pixel density
CAMERA	Rear Camera: 13 MP, Flash: Yes (dual-LED flash)| Front Camera: 5 MP, Flash: No
SIM	Dual SIM (4G+4G)
STORAGE	Internal: 32 GB, Expandable: upto 128 GB via microSD (Hybrid Slot)
BATTERY	Non-removable Li-Po 4000 mAh battery
BODY	Weight: 172 grams, Thickness: 8.5 mm
OTHERS	Fingerprint Scanner, 4G, 3G, Bluetooth, WiFi, GPS

                              

7. Xiaomi Mi Max (3GB RAM):

Xiaomi, which is seeing a successful run in the Indian smartphone market, has launched a new smartphone in the new emerging segment – the segment of huge screen smartphones with sizes somewhere between phablets and tablets. The Mi Max sports a massive 6.44 inches Full HD display with 342 ppi pixel density and despite the bigger screen size the display quality and viewing angles are very good. The phone has a beautiful metallic body and comes with a slim form factor with the thickness of just 7.5 mm and because of that, it becomes a lot easier to hold the phone but, it is in no manner built for one handed usage. The phone, despite the huge screen can fit into pockets of most of your normal pants and shirts. The question coming to your minds must be, isn’t the 5.5 inches screen already big? Is there any practical use of this big smartphone? The answer is, Yes, there are many good reasons to own a phone as big as the Mi Max. The obvious benefit is the big screen itself, which provides much more room for the movies, videos, games, apps, books and even your work related documents. Basically, the bigger the screen the more you will enjoy the experience but, it has to be the balance between the advantages and the loss of comfort for the sake of it and Xiaomi claims that it has found the sweet spot at 6.44 inches. And to make the most of the big screen, Xiaomi has added some software improvements like the ‘Quick Ball’ which includes 5 customizable shortcut functions and sticks on top of every screen like the Facebook ‘Chat Heads’, one of the shortcut is the back key, which doubles up the functionality of the capacitive back key so you don’t have to move your thumb much. The Mi Max is powered by the Hexa-core Snapdragon 650 Processor paired with 3 GB RAM just like the Redmi Note 3 and delivers same amazing performance and can handle everything. It runs on Android Marshmallow based MIUI. The 16 MP rear and 5 MP front cameras are also more or less the same used in Redmi Note 3, which means they are good but better cameras are available at the same price. It is dual sim phone with 4G support and includes 32 GB storage onboard which can be expanded upto 128 GB but, uses the hybrid slot. The phone packs a fast fingerprint scanner and Infrared sensor. Another good thing about the phone is its huge non-removable 4850 mAh battery which provides good battery backup. Overall, the Mi Max won’t be the right choice for most of the users but those who have fallen in love with the phone’s bigger screen and its advantages and are ready to sacrifice a bit of comfort in handling the phone will not find anything better than this, it is almost perfect for its intended user type. Also, those planning to buy a 7 inches tablet can also settle with this.

PRICE	Rs 14,999 @  Rs 14,999 @  Rs 14,999 @
OS	Android v6.0.1 Marshmallow | UI - MIUI
CPU	1.8 GHz Hexa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 Processor
RAM	3 GB RAM
SCREEN	6.44 inches, IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, protected with Corning Gorilla Glass 4
DISPLAY	Full HD (1080 x 1920 pixels), 342 ppi pixel density
CAMERA	Rear Camera: 16 MP, Flash: Yes (dual-LED flash) | Front Camera: 5 MP, Flash: No
SIM	Dual SIM (4G+4G)
STORAGE	Internal: 32 GB, Expandable: Yes, upto 128 GB via microSD card (Hybrid Slot)
BATTERY	Non-removable Li-Ion 4850 mAh battery | Fast Charging: No
BODY	Weight: 203 grams, Thickness: 7.5 mm
OTHERS	Fingerprint Scanner, Infrared, 4G, 3G, Bluetooth, WiFi, GPS

                              

8. OnePlus X:

After killing the Flagship phones & writing history, OnePlus has now entered the budget segment with its OnePlus X. The new phone comes with a beautiful design and solid build quality. The phone has got a metallic body and Corning Gorilla Glass 3 on the front and back which feels really good and premium. It comes in two build options Onyx black glass back and fire-baked Ceramic. It comes with a dedicated physical key for Notification toggle, just like the OnePlus 2. It weighs at 138 grams and has a thickness of just 6.9mm. It comes with a 5 inches Full HD AMOLED display which is very good and at the same time, due to its smaller form factor it feels comfortable to use, even with one hand. The OnePlus X runs on the old flagship Quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 Processor clocked at 2.3 GHz and coupled with 3 GB RAM. It has good performance and you can use it for everything. It comes with Android v5.1.1 Lollipop out of the box with OnePlus’s own Oxygen OS running on top. The Oxygen OS which was designed after the company’s breakup with Cyanogen has near stock Android UI but comes with added features and customization options. It features a 13 MP rear camera with f/2.2 aperture and clicks good images, it can record Full HD videos. It has got an 8 MP front facing camera with f/2.4 aperture which also clicks good selfies. Great thing is, the phone clicks images very quickly without shutter lags, the built-in camera app comes with necessary features and is easy to use. The phone supports Dual Sim and 4G and comes with 16 GB internal storage which is expandable upto 128 GB with the help of a microSD card but sadly, it eats up the second sim slot. It is backed by a non-removable 2525 mAh battery. The phone is great but a fingerprint sensor would have made it an irresistible deal. Overall, with great design, display and power, the OnePlus X is one hard phone to ignore. Specially, after the price cut, it is now available under 15000 Rs. and can be a good buy.

PRICE	Rs 14,999 @
OS	Android v5.1.1 Lollipop | UI - Oxygen OS
CPU	Quad-core 2.3 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 Processor
RAM	3 GB RAM
SCREEN	5.0 inches, AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, protected with Corning Gorilla Glass 3
DISPLAY	Full HD (1080 x 1920 pixels), 441 ppi pixel density
SIM	Dual Sim (Nano-Sim)
CAMERA	Rear Camera: 13 MP, Flash: Yes | Front Camera: 8 MP, Flash: No
STORAGE	Internal: 16 GB | Expandable: upto 128 GB via microSD (Hybrid slot)
BATTERY	Non-removable Li-Po 2525 mAh battery
BODY	Weight: 138 grams, Thickness: 6.9 mm
OTHERS	4G, 3G, Bluetooth, WiFi, GPS

9. Lenovo Vibe S1:

Surprised to see another Lenovo phone in this list? The other Lenovo phones in this list are offered around the same price but they are completely different from each other and are targeted towards different types of users. So, listing all the phones separately was necessary. There are two USP’s in the Vibe S1 – Design & Front camera. Starting with the design of the Lenovo Vibe S1, it looks really beautiful and feels premium, it has got metallic body and curved glass on the back (which attracts fingerprints easily though!) and with its 5 inches screen and 7.8mm thickness it feels compact and comfortable in hands. It is offered in Dark Blue & White color variants, in Dark Blue it looks more premium & different. Design wise, it is one of the finest phone around this price and feels much better than a typical 15-16k phone. The Vibe S1 features a 13 MP rear camera with PDAF, dual-LED flash and has decent picture quality but when it comes to the front, it boasts of Dual Selfie cameras, one of 8 MP and other of 2 MP and both work together. The 8 MP front camera comes with f/2.2 aperture & BSI sensor and captures the selfies as usual whereas, the 2 MP front camera captures the DOF (Dept of Field). Basically, it can differentiate between the subject and background and once you click a selfie, you can blur the background (with many creative effects) and it also allows you to cut out the subject and change the background. Overall, it will be a great fun experience for selfie lovers. A 1.7 GHz Mediatek MT6752 Octa Core Processor paired with 3 GB RAM gives a good performance to the phone. The 5 inches Full HD display with 441 ppi pixel density is very good. Corning Gorilla Glass 3 covers front and rear glasses. A 2420 mAh battery powers the phone, it doesn’t provide a great battery life but will run throughout the day. Overall, the Lenovo Vibe S1 is a premium compact phone with good performance & great features for selfies lovers, can be another good choice at this price.

PRICE	Rs. 12,999 @
OS	Android v5.0 Lollipop| UI - Vibe UI
CPU	1.7 GHz Mediatek MT6752 Octa Core Processor
RAM	3 GB RAM
SCREEN	5.0 inches, IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen, protected with Corning Gorilla Glass 3
DISPLAY	Full HD (1080 x 1920 pixels), 441 ppi pixel density
CAMERA	Rear Camera: 13 MP, Flash: Yes (dual-LED flash) | Front Camera: 8MP + 2MP (Dual selfie camera), Flash: No
SIM	Dual Sim
STORAGE	Internal: 32 GB | Expandable: upto 128 GB via microSD (uses second sim slot)
BATTERY	Non-removable Li-Po 2420 mAh battery
BODY	Weight: 132 grams, Thickness: 7.8 mm
OTHERS	4G, 3G, Bluetooth, WiFi, GPS

10. Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016):

Samsung has updated its Galaxy J7 with the new Galaxy J7 (2016). In the very highly competitive market, let’s see where this phone stands and if it is worth buying. Starting with the design, the Galaxy J7 (2016) features metallic sides but on the back there is textured plastic. It looks good but not the best and it feels decent to hold but doesn’t feel premium. It sports a 5.5 inches Super AMOLED HD display, it is decent but at this price today, a Full HD screen is a must. The phone runs on Samsung’s own 1.6 GHz Exynos 7870 (S5E7870) Octa Core Processor coupled with 2 GB RAM, it delivers very good lag free performance for everyday usage and can handle gaming also. In the camera department, the Galaxy J7 (2016) packs a 13 MP rear camera and a 5 MP front camera, both with f/1.9 aperture. The phone includes a LED flash for both the rear and the selfie camera. Talking about the picture quality, the cameras click decent images but we had expected better. The phone runs on Android v6.0 Marshmallow based company’s own TouchWiz UI which looks dull and boring although, Samsung has added theme support but currently it includes only few themes. Samsung is aggressively marketing the ‘S Bike Mode’ for the new J series, well it is a very good and useful feature and works exactly like it is expected, it can be a very helpful tool for frequent riders. Sadly, the phone doesn’t include a fingerprint scanner, which is the trend in even under 10k phones these days. It is a dual sim phone with 4G support and packs 16 GB of internal storage which is expandable upto 128 GB via a dedicated microSD slot. The pone packs a Removable Li-Ion 3300 mAh battery which gives a good battery backup. It weighs around 170 grams and feels heavy. Overall, the Samsung Galaxy J7 (2016), in the current scenario feels a much overpriced phone and it will feel the same even if it is priced at Rs. 10,000. It’s not like that it is a bad phone and those who specifically want the brand name of Samsung for its reliability and are ready to pay a higher price can go with it. Those looking for a little smaller phone can go with the Samsung Galaxy J5 (2016).

PRICE	Rs 15,990 @
OS	Android v6.0 Marshmallow | UI - TouchWiz
CPU	1.6 GHz Exynos 7870 (S5E7870) Octa Core Processor
RAM	2 GB RAM
SCREEN	5.5 inches, Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen
DISPLAY	HD (720 x 1280 pixels), 267 ppi pixel density
CAMERA	Rear Camera: 13 MP, Flash: Yes | Front Camera: 5 MP, Flash: Yes
SIM	Dual SIM
STORAGE	Internal: 16 GB, Expandable: upto 128 GB via microSD
BATTERY	Removable Li-Ion 3300 mAh battery
BODY	Weight: 169 grams, Thickness: 7.8 mm
OTHERS	4G, 3G, Bluetooth, WiFi, GPS

The LG X Screen, Asus Zenfone 2 (4GB RAM), Asus Zenfone Selfie,  HTC Desire 630, Huawei Honor 5X, Vivo V3, Oppo F1, InFocus M535+, LYF Water 1, Gionee F103 Pro, Panasonic Eluga Note, iBerry Auxus 4X and Alcatel X1 are some of the other phones under 15,000 Rs. which are also good but couldn’t make into the Top 10, you can consider these phones also but, going with the top phones will be always better.[/signoff] [section label=”<< First 5 Phones”]

(Go to Page 1)

5 Best Power Banks under 1,500 Rs in India (2016)

List of Service Centres of all Smartphone Companies In India

3 Best Mobile Insurance Companies in India

[/alert]

Please like and share this post with your friends and help them in choosing their next smartphone and like always, feel free to ask your questions related to buying smartphones. A prompt reply awaits you.

[signoff predefined=”Smartphone Buying Guide”][/signoff]