GADGET GIZMO SPECIAL .........BEST NEW PHONES UNDER Rs 15,000

GADGET GIZMO SPECIAL BEST NEW PHONES UNDER Rs 15,000   Mobile phone technology is moving at an amazing pace. Similarly-priced devices that came out tops in our last review--less than two months ago--are middling performers when compared to the handsets in this time's roundup. In pure processing terms, these new budget handsets push the benchmarks further than before. Needless to say, all of these new devices can handle almost all productivity tasks; can play back Full HD videos without a stutter, and can run most 3D games without a whimper. So without much ado, here's a quick lowdown.. YU YUPHORIA | Rs 6,999 After the success of its Yureka handset, Yu has followed it up with the Yuphoria. What you get is a phone that's fronted by scratch-proof Corning Gorilla Glass with anti-fingerprint coating, a stainless steel rim around its sides, and a plastic back cover with a rubbery finish. The handset feels good to hold,  its display is crisp and bright, and its build aesthetic belies its budget pricing. Its 16GB storage (11.8GB available to users), along with a microSD slot, is quite adequate to store apps, music and even the odd Full HD movie. Noticeably missing is support for USB OTG that lets you connect compatible pen drives directly to the phone via its microUSB port. When it comes to photos, the Yuphoria's rear camera over compensates for low-light photography by overexposing the output; also, details are considerably softened. Still, this is not a deal breaker. Use its macro options in focus settings and you get sharp foregrounds with surprising depth of field. Its front shooter allows for wide-angled images with punched-up colours. For sound, it boasts of digital amplification from Cirrus Logic Wolfson Stereo ­ and this makes all the difference. Its speakers are capable of the loudest output when watching movies and playing games.Add clear voice calls, a battery that gives you a full day on a single charge, and you have a tidy package worth considering. That said, the Yuphoria is not exactly a beast when it comes to pure processing muscle, but what you get is a device that comes with a call recorder; runs on the highlycustomizable Cyanogen mod (based on Android Lollipop), complete with TrueCaller built into its dialler, as well as a “Privacy Guard“ that lets you manage which apps have access to your personal data. SPECS: 5-inch (1280x720px) Corning Gorilla Glass 3 IPS display | 1.2GHz Snapdragon 410 quad-core processor | 2GB RAM | 16GB storage, microSD | 8MP with LED flash, 5MP front camera | Dual SIM (4G) | 2230mAh battery ALSO WORTH BUYING... The Honor 4x for its superb battery life and Xiaomi Redmi 2 for all-round performance stood out in our reviews in April this year. They still offer great value for money and are worth considering even today. XIAOMI MI 4I | `12,999 The Mi 4i is the affordable variant of Xi aomi's Mi 4 handset. It sports a slim unibody design that conceals a magnesium alloy frame for added strength and a nonremovable plastic back. The handset boasts of a Full HD display that  renders punchy colours and crisp text; is sweatand smudge-resistant. It comes with 16GB internal memory (13GB available for the user), but without any provision for adding more storage by way of a microSD card. However, it does support USB OTG. On the imaging front, the Mi 4i's cameras are able to adjust exposure quickly and capture quite a bit of detail without any visible colour enhancements. The front camera also records neutral colours, but with some smoothening for blemish-free selfies. Also, multimedia and games on the Mi 4i do not pose a problem: everything  plays smoothly . The handset runs MIUI, a customized version of Android Lollipop that's loaded with features including a voice and call recorder, call blocker, the ability to allow certain apps data access while roaming, built in security and a clean-up tool. Plus, you can expect to extract a full day's work on a single charge of its battery. SPECS: 5-inch (1920x1080px) Corning OGS IPS display | 1.7GHz Snapdragon 615 octa-core processor | 2GB RAM | 16GB storage, USB OTG | 13MP with LED flash, 5MP front camera | Dual SIM (4G) | Android 5.0.2 (Lollipop) | 3120mAh battery LENOVO A7000 | `8,999 The Lenovo A7000 has a 5.5-inch HD screen that's capable of a bright and crisp display. Although its glass is not scratch-resistant, its solid all-plastic build makes  it sturdy to hold. With just 8GB of internal storage, users who are in the habit of installing apps, might run out of space quickly . But you get a microSD card slot, and support for OTG microUSB pen drives. The cameras on this handset are under par. Photographs lack detail, appear blotchy and there is a lot of visible grain in low-light shots. Colours look faded and under-saturated on the front camera. But this smartphone makes up for lost ground with its blistering performance. It outpaced all the handsets here in the synthetic benchmarks, and its processing muscle is evident when working with resource heavy apps. You also get some useful features like “secure zones“ which lets you separate work from personal apps, a Dolby audio enhancement; call recording, gestures and more. Moreover, you can get almost a day's worth of service after enabling its power saving mode. SPECS: 5.5-inch (1280x720px) IPS display | 1.5GHz MT6752m octa-core processor | 2GB RAM | 8GB storage, microSD, USB OTG | 8MP with LED flash, 5MP front camera | Dual SIM (4G) | 2900mAh battery HONOR 4C | `8,999 The Honor 4C comes with a fully-laminated screen that protects it from most scratches, but it lacks the reassurance of a Gorilla Glass front. Still, the device with its textured back cover is solid to hold. Its screen leaves little to be desired; text is displayed crisply while colours are rendered accurately . Its biggest drawback is that it comes with just 8GB storage (only 3.7GB is available to the user). This is supplemented by a microSD slot and USB  OTG support.The lack of internal space might be a deal breaker for those who install a whole bunch of apps. Now, if you are seeking a device for its camera, you would be well-served by the Honor 4C, which lets you shoot with Instagram-like filters. Its front snapper has a beauty mode for better selfies, while its rear camera comes with an All-Focus mode that lets you shoot a picture first and later decide on the area of focus.Captures in daylight are clear and detailed. For night-time captures, besides burst flash, you also get a bulb mode that illuminates dark environments. The 4C handles productivity tasks, games and Full HD movies without a stutter, though you would need to use headphones to compensate for its low speaker output. Huawei is known for its network support, and this translates into clear calls with mini mal drops. On the downside, this device supports only 3G SIMs, so those looking to up grade to a 4G network might find the Honor wanting in this area. It runs Huawei's EMUI interface over the slightly outdated Android KitKat, but this does not affect its d a i ly f u n c t i o n i n g where it gave us over a day's use on a single charge of its non removable battery . SPECS: 5-inch (1280x720px) IPS display | 1.2GHz Kirin 620 octacore processor | 2GB RAM | 8GB storage, microSD, USB OTG | 13MP with LED, 5MP front camera | Dual SIM (3G) | 2550mAh battery PHICOMM PASSION 660 | `10,999 The Passion 660 is Phicomm's (a Shanghai-based, six-yearold company) flagship phone and also its debut device for India.Apart from the Mi 4i, this is the only other phone in this review with a Full HD, scratch-resistant display . It sports a sharp, but sleek unibody metal design that also makes it extremely lightweight.Its display is bright, and text appears crisp. In fact, if the lack of a microSD card on the Mi 4i is a deal breaker, then the Passion 660 might interest you.This 4G phone's second SIM slot can alternate as a microSD card holder ­ a welcome feature because the device does not support USB OTG. Performance-wise, the Passion 660 turned out to be very similar to the Mi 4i. It works smoothly as long as there aren't too many background tasks bogging it down. On the audio front, calls are clear; the speaker sounds flat, but loud enough for mildly noisy environs. Its high-megapixel cameras, however, are not as good as the Mi 4i. At best, results have muted colours and man age to capture some de tail, but it still lacks over all sharpness. Oddly, Phicomm's flagship runs Android KitKat instead of Lolli pop. It uses a custom ized user inteface to offer features like call recording and gesture recognition. The phone also comes with a ped ometer and barometer. This should be useful while using a fitness trekking app. Additionally, you get slightly under a day's worth of work on a single charge of its battery. SPECS: 5-inch (1920x1080px) Corning Gorilla Glass 3 IPS display | Snapdragon 615 octa-core processor | 2GB RAM | 16GB storage, microSD | 13MP with LED flash, 5MP front camera | Dual SIM (4G) | 2300mAh battery

Savio D'Souza & Ashutosh Desai TOI13JUN15