Spice has launched its Smart Flo 503 and Karbonn has unveiled its Titanium S2 Plus, making them the cheapest 5-inch Android KitKat smartphones in India right now.
While the Android One phones, launched a month ago, are supposed to provide the most affordable and complete Android experience for entry-level smartphone users, the launch of these models, along with that of the Micromax A069, has raised the bar further by increasing the screen-size to 5 inches.
KARBONN TITANIUM S2 PLUS
The Karbonn Titanium S2 Plus is arguably the cheapest 5-inch smartphone with Android KitKat and 3G in India, and is priced at Rs 4,999.
It has WiFi, a 1.3 GHz quad-core processor, and is better value than the Android One phones which are priced at Rs 6,400 range and come with a 4.5 inch display.
The phone’s 3G speed is 21 Mbps, and not 384 Kbps as some low end phones tend to have.
HUAWEI HONOR HOLLY
If you can spare Rs 7,000, then this is the phone you should buy. For the extra Rs 1,800 that you spend, you get an HD display, a prominent brand, better service levels, better battery backup and an overall premium feel. Downside is that the phone is currently out of stock on Flipkart, the only seller.
It is selling out like the Xiaomi phones and you will have to keep a watch to buy it.
SPICE SMART FLO 503 & MICROMAX A069
Priced at just Rs 5,299, the Spice model comes at an almost 20% discount to the 4.5-inch Android One range of phones.
The Spice Smart Flo 503, available on Spice’s Saholic website, is likely to appeal to those who want a large display phone for reading, browsing and WhatsApp, and NOT for gaming or for watching Youtube over the cellular network.
The phone has decent specifications, including an 8 MP camera at the back, a 2 Ah battery, WiFi, a 2 MP camera at the front and 4 GB of internal memory.
Missing in the specifications are 3G and quad-core processor. The Smart Flo 503 is powered by a dual-core 1.3 GHz processor.
The display resolution is the same as that of Android One phones – 854 x 480 px. The 503 will replace the Mi 504, which is priced at Rs 5,200 and comes with Android 4.2.
The Micromax A069, pictured here and priced around Rs 5,350, has almost the same specifications as the Spice model. It too does not have 3G and has half a GB of RAM and the same FWVGA display.
NOTABLE EXCEPTIONS
While on the subject of finding the cheapest 5-inch Android phones, three models have to mentioned even though they don’t come with the latest Android KitKat operating system.
These are the enormously popular Micromax Canvas Juice A177 and the slightly less popular, but notable Lenovo A680 White and the Karbonn A19.
Let us first explain the reason for the including the above three phones – they come with 1 GB of RAM to compensate for the higher requirements of Android Jelly Bean, and in case of the Karbonn A19, the manufacturer claims that the phone can be upgraded to Android 4.4.
The best of the lot is the lot is the Karbonn A19, which is upgradeable to Android KitKat and comes with 3G. The phone, priced Rs 5,350, shares nearly all its other specifications with other phones in this range, including 512 MB of RAM. While 3G sets it apart from others, one factor to watch out for will be battery life.
Lenovo A680 and Micromax Canvas Juice A177 have been included due to their low prices (Micromax – Rs 5250, Lenovo – Rs 6,450) and the 1 GB of RAM present to cater to the demands of Jelly Bean. Unlike KitKat, Jelly Bean tends to get sluggish with 512 MB of RAM. The Lenovo A680 also comes with 3G.
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