What do you do when your rival Amazon is holding its big holiday sale two days ahead of you? If you’re Flipkart, you make sure that your customers know what’s in store for them if they wait.
According to clues we’ve picked up from the social media and other promotions, Flipkart will offer some hefty discounts on its biggest selling category — mobile phones, as part of its Diwali sale.
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HIGH END SMARTPHONES
The most interesting of the offers is likely to be the Rs 5,000 off on Xiaomi’s Mi5 smartphone. The device, which is selling for Rs 22,999, will be available at Rs 17,999 as part of the festive sale.
The Mi5 comes with a 5.2 inch full-HD display, the latest Snapdragon 820 processor, 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal memory. Camera is 16 MP at the back and 4 MP on the front. The device, which was launched in India in April, has managed a 4.2 rating on the website despite getting negative feedback from customers initially for the ‘low’ RAM and higher-than-expected Rs 25k-price tag.
The price of the Mi5 was cut by Rs 2,000 recently, and with the Diwali discount, the total reduction comes to a substantial Rs 7,000, or 28% in a matter of five months.
The second high-end phone that will see discounted sale is the Samsung Galaxy A8.
Launched a year ago at Rs 32,500, the phone did quite well in India despite coming up against some really strong, and value-for-money competitors like the Redmi Note 3 and Le 2. It was last retailing at Rs 28,999, and is likely to get a price cut of Rs 10,000 on Monday, taking the final number to Rs 18,999.
Is it worth Rs 18,999? That’s tough to say, because it is built on old technology. However, if you’re a fan of Samsung and its Amoled panels, you may consider the A8 for its FHD display and brand factor. Do keep in mind that its successor, the A9 Pro, is available at Rs 32,490.
Unlike the A8, which comes with just 2 GB of RAM and the rather power-hungry Snapdragon 615 chipset, the A9 Pro comes with the much more powerful Snapdragon 652 (also found in LeEco Le 2) and has a generous 4 GB of RAM.
The third high-end device likely to get a steep price cut for Diwali is the Moto X Style. Launched in October last year, the X Style got its timing wrong as far its entry was concerned and was forced to compete with new models from Xiaomi and LeEco.
The phone was priced at Rs 29,999 at launch and comes with a 5.7-inch quad-HD display. It has not seen many price cuts since launch and was being quoted at Rs 28,999 on Flipkart. Again, the question of whether one should go for it at its new price of Rs 18,999 depends on whether you really want a big display with very high resolution, or whether you want a phone that has a beast of a processor. The 5.7-inch display of the Moto X Style is 22.5% bigger than the Xiaomi Mi5.
It should be kept in mind that the Mi5 will be available at Rs 17,999 under the Diwali sale — Rs 1,000 less than the expected price of the A8 and Style. Being built on the newer 14 nm technology, the Xiaomi model will also offer better battery life and power compared to the other two. The only two ‘drawbacks’ for the Mi5 were its relatively small display and high price. With the Diwali sale, at least the second aspect has been taken care of.
Another phone that one must consider in this price rage is the Le Max 2, which offers both a Quad-HD, 5.7-inch display as well as the new Snapdragon 820 chipset at the same price as the Mi5 — Rs 17,999. The phone too is going on sale across websites at a reduced price of Rs 17,999 till Oct 6.
In terms of customer feedback, the Max2 has trailed the Mi5 (3.8 vs 4.2), but in terms of sheer specifications and value for money, the device is hard to beat in the current Indian market.
In case you don’t mind going back further in time, then can also look at the Moto Turbo, which will be available at Rs 13,999.
The phone was launched in early 2015 at an eye-watering Rs 41,999 and comes with a 5.2-inch quad-HD super AMOLED display. It comes with the 32-bit Snapdragon 805 chipset and 3 GB of RAM. Though the specifications of the phone was that of a flagship at the time, it should be kept in mind that in terms of power, it would trail the LeEco Le2.
However, the model can be an alternative for those looking for a super cheap quad-HD AMOLED display model. That said, we’ll still sugges tht you should consider spending an extra Rs 4,000 to buy the LeMax 2, though it doesn’t come with an AMOLED panel.
Another interesting phone in this price range — one that is easily preferable to the A8, is the Samsung Galaxy On8. The phone will be put on sale at just Rs 14,900 and comes with 3 GB of RAM and a 5.5-inch full-HD AMOLED display.
Not only is the On8 a new model, but it is definitely the ‘belle of the ball’ as far as this year’s Diwali sale is concerned. The phone comes with a 3.3 Ah battery, VoLTE support and 16 GB of internal memory.
The On8 is powered by the Exynos 7580 — Samsung’s equivalent to Snapdragon 617 and MT6753.
MID RANGE MOBILE PHONES
In addition to these high-end smartphones, Flipkart’s Big Billion Day sale will also offer something for those on the lookout for mid-range devices as well.
Most notably, the LeEco Le2 will get a Rs 1,500-price cut to Rs 10,499 while its predecessor model, the Le 1s Eco, will get Rs 2,000 off and be available at just Rs 7,999.
Though not as successful as Xiaomi Redmi Note 3, the Le 2 has done splendidly well in the Indian market, selling in the millions. The phone has a rating of 4 stars on Flipkart. The Redmi Note 3 is rated 4.2 stars, but is unlikely to come with any offers during this festival season and is coming with a discount of Rs 1,000 at a price of Rs 10,999 on Amazon.
Another model that will see a steep correction on its pricetag is the Moto X Play, which is currently available at Rs 15,499 for the 16 GB version and Rs 17,499 for the 32 GB variant. Both come with a full-HD display and 2 GB of RAM and are powered by the same chipset as the Galaxy A8 — Snapdragon 615.
The 32-GB variant is likely to be available at Rs 12,999 and the 16 GB at 11,499, bringing them solidly into competition with models such as the Redmi Note 3 and the LeEco Le2.
Another interesting mid-range model will be the Asus Zenfone 2, which was launched at Rs 18,999 in May last year and came with a whopping 4 GB of RAM and the modestly powerful Intel Atom Z3560 processor. The model, which comes with a 5.5-inch full-HD display and 4G connectivity, will be made available at just Rs 9,999.
Like the other older models discussed here, this one too does not come with Band 5 4G support, which is required for getting the best voice coverage on Reliance Jio network. In addition, some Android apps may not run on Intel processors, which are built on a different technology compared to the usual phone chips.
Finally, Flipkart will also offer what is slated to be the cheapest full-HD phone in India at Rs 5,499. The make and model of the device, however, has not be revealed so far.
The online retailer will be putting up these discount schemes on mobiles only on Oct 3 (Monday). Under the Big Billion Day scheme, Oct 4 (Tuesday) is dedicated to electronics and Oct 2 for appliances, fashion and TV.
To see Diwali mobile offers on Amazon, see our story on Amazon’s offers.