GADGET GIZMO SPECIAL Ringing in
The new
It’s not easy to make your cellphone stand out
in a crowded market. But three phones are getting a lot of buzz
MORE THAN 50 new mobile
phone brands opened shop in India in the last one year. More than 95 per cent
of them have had a terrible run and will wind up operations pretty soon. In our
oversaturated and brutal market, where a new device is announced every day,
it’s almost impossible for a company to be noticed. So, a lot of companies
would pay top dollar for the advice I’m giving away for free. Here’s my guide
on successfully launching a mobile brand in India.
A BIG ADVANTAGE The Lenovo K4 Note offers a microSD card slot,
which is missing in the other phones
START HERE
Build hype early. Hire a
good PR agency that can communicate your brand’s success abroad, and how your
phone sold millions in 1.3 seconds in some country (any country). Leak
everything about your phone and its specs relentlessly to any person willing to
listen, but ‘officially’, keep it all under a cloud of secrecy and deny
everything. Have a grand launch event with bloggers/fans/media/a free lunch for
anyone who comes/anyone willing to sit still through a two-hour presentation.
Launch your phone in online-flashsale-mode only. Send out PR mails about your
phone setting a new record in pre registrations, and on the actual sale date,
announce that your phone sold out in 1.3 seconds – but don’t tell anyone how
many pieces of the phone were sold (it’s usually a ridiculously low number to
guarantee the sold-out tag).
THE ALTERNATIVE PLAN
If you follow this guide,
I guarantee that your brand will be off to a great start. But you could do
something different, launch a killer product with genuinely good features at a
price that was previously impossible. Three companies chose to do that recently
and have ignited a new brand war. I have had more queries about these three
phones in the last few weeks than for any others in all of last year.
Here’s a head-to-head shoot-out to
see which one can win India.
THE CONTENDERS
The Lenovo K4 Note
follows the unbelievable success of the K3 Note. The LeEco Le 1s comes from the
house of LeTV and has entered India with a deafening bang. And, the Redmi Note
3 is the comeback device from Xiaomi M which seems to have faltered recently.
FORM FACTOR
Lenovo K4 Note is mostly
plastic and reminiscent of the K3 Note but for a metal frame and a removable
back cover (a rarity now). LeEco Le 1s is a perfectly crafted all-metal unibody
phone with great engineering and fit. The Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 is also all-metal
but is more curvy. The LeEco and Redmi easily lead here.
SCREEN
All three smartphones
have a 5.5-inch display with a full HD 1080p. Ignore any claims of one display
being better than the other. It’s negligible. The display in each is sharp and
breathtakingly clear, setting new standards.
THE BORING STUFF
The K4 Note is powered by
a 64-bit MediaTek MT6753 octacore processor, 3GB RAM, 16GB onboard memory but
critically comes with a microSD card slot. Both Xiaomi Redmi Note and Le 1s
have the superior 2.2GHz 64-bit octa-core MediaTek Helio X10 processor (Xiaomi
also has a Snapdragon variant), 3GB RAM, 32GB storage but no slot. LeEco and
Redmi lead but Lenovo scores with the microSD slot.
OPTICS
Lenovo K4 Note has a
13-MP rear camera with dual LED flash and a 5-MP front camera. LeEco Le 1s has
a 13-MP 5P lens rear camera and LED flash with a similar 5-MP front camera.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 rounds it off with a 13-MP back camera with dual LED flash
and once again, a 5-MP in front. LeEco pulls forward with 4K video recording
and better images in the dark.
BATTERY
The Xiaomi Redmi Note 3
takes a huge lead, with a 4,000mAh battery. Lenovo has a 3,300mAh battery and
the LeEco Le 1s has a 3,000mAh battery but compensates with fast-charging
technology and a USB Type-C port (unusual at this price).
OTHER FRILLS
All three phones come
with a fingerprint scanner. The LeEco’s mirrored surface claims to make it fast
and scratch-proof. But it’s the media streaming eco-system that makes it stand
out. LeTV’s content tie-ups brings to India free movies and TV shows from
around the world.
AND ONE LAST THING
Price. Lenovo K4 Note: `
11,999. LeEco Le 1s: ` 10,999 and Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 may be ` 11,900 for a
3GB/32GB version.
WINNER
It’s a tough one to call.
All three are amazing phones at the price point and have made the Indian mobile
phone market even more brutal than before. But with its better form factor,
all-metal body, slightly better optics, free content streaming built-in and
pricing, the LeEco leads for now.
·
Rajiv Makhni Rajiv Makhni is managing editor,
Technology, NDTV, and the anchor of Gadget Guru, Cell Guru and Newsnet 3
No comments:
Post a Comment