Below is a list of new smartphones being launched in India.
Huawei Honor 3C, Price 14,000-15,000
Features 2.5/5
Value 1.5/5
The Huawei Honor 3C is available on Flipkart at present from two marketplace sellers. The current price of the 5-inch, 720p phone is Rs 15,000.
The phone launch is a bit of an oddity, as Huawei phones are usually launched by WS Retail, the main seller on Flipkart, and priced competitively.
The Honor 3C is far from reasonably priced, at least given Huawei trackrecord. At Rs 15,000, the phone offers virtually no value for money compared to others like ZTE Grand S 2 – which is priced at Rs 13,999 and support 3G, EVDO Rev B and has a full HD display to boot.
The Honor 3C, as you might guess, does not come with LTE, and has a 1.2 GHz quad-core processor and comes with the old Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. It does, however, have 2 GB of RAM.
Back Camera is 8 MP and front camera is 5 MP.
Micromax Canvas Selfie, Price ~13,000
Features: 3/5
Value: 2.5/5
HTC started it with its M8 Eye, and Micromax has dutifully followed the selfie monster with its Canvas Selfie phone. The key selling point of the Canvas Selfie is its 13 megapixel camera at the front.
Other than that, the Micromax Canvas Selfie is a pretty ordinary mid-range phone. It has a 720p, 4.7-inch LCD display with Gorilla Glass protection, a 1.7 GHz octa-core processor (we’re guessing MediaTek), 2 GB of RAM, a 2300 mAh battery and 16 GB of internal memory.
The back camera of the Canvas Selfie is also 13 MP.
Among the key misses are LTE support, and a full HD display. That said, the Selfie is primarily aimed at those who want a good looking, compact device and are not worried about having the latest and the greatest hardware under the hoods.
The front camera has nifty features like mascara, eye-shadow, skin smoothening, teeth whitening, oil removal, lip gloss and blush. As such, the phone is likely to appeal to women more than men.
In terms of looks, the phone has a faux-leather back, though the lens at the back looks a little oversized. The Micromax Canvas Selfie is powered by Android 4.4 and will be available in stores and online starting around Feb 21.
Lenovo Sisley, Price ~18,000
Features: 3/5
Value: 1.5/5
Imagine the Yu Yureka, priced Rs 8,999. Now add a super Amoled display to it, and you have the new Lenovo Sisley 5-inch smartphone. The phone is also called the iPhone 6 copy, because of its looks. So if you don’t want to spend Rs 50,000 on an iPhone, you can spend Rs 18,000 on the Sisley.
The phone is already starting to be available in stores in India, and will be more widely available starting by around Feb 20.
The Lenovo Sisley, which comes with Android 4.4 and 16 GB of internal storage, is available on eBay at Rs 21,000.
Notable specifications include the 720p 5 inch display, a low-power Snapdragon 410 chipset and very slim looks.