Priced at just Rs 2,700, it had the potential to upset the apple cart for many people, including Google and its Google One platform and even Mozilla.
But Intex’s Aqua 4X Android phone, unfortunately, comes with a key drawback – it is fitted with Android 4.2 Jelly Bean.
The 4-inch phone is the cheapest Android phone ever to be launched in India at a price of just Rs 2,700 (after a special eBay discount). Not surprisingly, the phone is literally flying off the shelves, at an estimated 1 every three minutes or so. Out of an estimated 15,000 units on sale, eBay has already sold 500 as of Saturday morning.
The speed with which people are buying the phone has reminded observers of the Xiaomi Mi3 sales, which tended to last only a few seconds or minutes.
Yet without a similar social media campaign, the Intex Aqua 4X is selling at nearly one a minute on eBay, thanks to its status as the cheapest Android phone in India, and that too, with 3G. According to eBay statistics, around 5,000 people checked out the phone in one day.
Before this, the cheapest Android phone would cost around Rs 3,300 and would not come with 3G.
The Intex Aqua 4X is a decently speced phone. It has a 4-inch display, compared to the 4.5-inch displays on the Google One phones — Karbonn Sparkle V, Micromax Canvas A1, Spice Dream Uno.
But despite costing only about 40% of Karbonn Sparkle V, Micromax Canvas A1 and Spice Dream Uno, the Intex model tends to put up a decent fight in terms of bare specifications. We are not sure how the user experience is though.
But user feedback on eBay, which tends to be a restricted affair, has so far been positive with eBay claiming “100% positive feedback” on the listing page.
Intex is a brand that started out in computer peripherals like speakers, monitors etc, and has recently branched out into mobile phones.
The Aqua 4X comes with a dual-core 1 GHz processor, 2 megapixel camera, half a GB of RAM and a 1,300 mAh battery. Display resolution is 800×400 pixels, which, believe it or not, gives a better, or inline dpi compared to the Google One phones.
Still, don’t expect miracles from the phone for the following reasons — The Google One phones — Karbonn Sparkle V, Micromax Canvas A1, Spice Dream Uno — are designed to run smoothly on modest hardware. Google was involved in their design, and the software that runs on the phone has been tailored for a smooth performance. Google will periodically update the same too.
In comparison, Android Jelly Bean is nowhere as optimised as KitKat when it comes to performance. So, coupled with the dual-core processor, the phone may disappoint those who expect their applications to pop open the second they click on the icon.
However, the Aqua 4X also comes with a key advantage — WhatsApp would work decently on the phone despite the modest hardware.
So, if your aim is to get a phone that does the basics functions like phone calls and messaging (no video calls due to the absence of a front camera), with some occassional data usage, the Intex Aqua 4X would be tough to beat from a value for money perspective. Still, we wish eBay would allow users to give feedback – a key feature that would have enabled trust.