Looks like Panasonic, the Japanese electronics giant, is getting serious about cornering a chunk of the Indian market.
Just days after launching India’s cheapest Android KitKat smartphone from an international brand, the company has launched Panasonic P55, India’s cheapest 5.5-inch HD Android phone from an international brand.
Of course, the ‘from an international brand’ part is especially important here as there is one phone, the Spice Mi-550, which has largely the same features as the Panasonic P55, but costs about 35% less. Otherwise, there are no recent 5.5-inch HD phones that are priced below the P55.
The Panasonic P55 has been priced at Rs 10,290, and is therefore cheaper than a similarly speced, but JellyBean powered Micromax Canvas Doodle 2 A240, which is priced around Rs 12,000. Like the new LG phones, Panasonic P55 users too can double tap to wake-up the phablet instead of reaching the power button every time.
P55 also features “Gesture Play”, a gesture based feature to launch apps directly from home screen; “Pop-i Player” which lets users multi-task while playing videos & a single hand operable music player named “Music café”.
Similarly, the newly launched 5.5-inch Gionee G5 is priced at Rs 13,400, and comes with similar specifications except for a Hexa Core processor instead of a quad core one.
In comparison, the Panasonic P55 offers a 5.5 IPS HD display, and a 1.2 GHz quad core processor, Android 4.4 KitKat, an 8MP Autofocus camera and a decent 2500 mAh battery.
The HTC Desire 820q, a 5.5-inch phablet which also has the privilege of supporting LTE, is priced at Rs 22,500.
With the P55 launch, Panasonic has again proved its ability to compete in the price-sensitive market. It had launched one of the cheapest KitKat phones in India – the Panasonic T9, priced at just Rs 3,990 a week ago.