Five Touchscreen Handsets Under Rs. 10,000

Although there are still a few of us who still prefer the tactile feedback of actual keys QWERTY or otherwise, the touchscreen generation is still dominating the market. The prices of a handset’s employing technology that at one time was strictly for the affluent has drastically dropped. So if you’re in the market for a touchscreen handset that won’t have your wallet screaming in agony, here are a few choices under Rs. 10,000.

Do keep in mind that all prices quoted are MOP (Market Operating Price).

Samsung Corby S3650 – Rs. 6,300
At the very top of the list is the very popular Samsung Corby S3650. This was the one that got the ball rolling on the whole Corby generation of affordable social networking touchscreen handsets for Samsung. It’s a lightweight easy to manage device designed to offer fluid net connectivity to stay in tune with our ever so active online lifestyle. From Facebook to Twitter and even the lesser used Orkut, the S3650 has it all that can be accessed quickly right from the TouchWiz desktop widgets. Samsung’s DNSe is also on board to help enhance your audio experience.

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The handset also features -

• a 2.8-inch touchscreen with a 240 x 320 pixel resolution
• EDGE/GPRS connectivity
• Bluetooth with A2DP, USB 2.0
• 2 Megapixel camera with Smile Detection
• FM radio
• microSD card support
• Interchangeable rear panels

Nokia 5233 – Rs. 6,900
Next up is the Nokia 5233 that is designed to be the lower end model to the 5800 XpressMusic. Retaining the same design, if you couldn’t afford the 5800, the 5233 has almost everything that its big brother did and is quite affordable. The large touchscreen display makes it easy to access features. Nokia’s Media Bar also allows for quick access to the ‘media functionality and the internet. The S60 touchscreen edition also allows you to customize the desktop with your most used features and Favorites from your contact sheet with their enhanced Contacts Bar. You can also use the Ovi Store to download any apps that you might consider useful for social networking, media, gaming etc. A Facebook app is preloaded though.

Other features include -

• a 3.2-inch touchscreen sporting a 360 x 640 pixel resolution
• EDGE/GPRS connectivity
• Bluetooth with A2DP, USB 2.0
• 2 Megapixel camera
• FM radio
• microSD card support
• 3.5mm handsfree socket

Intex 4495 – Rs. 4,500
The 4495 is a Dual SIM handset which Intex has incorporated with two funky sets of colors. It’s a very youth oriented handset that comes with a quite a few features to offer. It comes with a UI similar to Samsung’s TouchWiz that allows you to drag and drop widgets for various features onto the desktop. If you’re not into using the touchscreen, you can simply choose to use the regular navigation system and standard mobile phone keypad.

Other features include -

• a 2.4-inch touchscreen that has a 240 x 320 pixel resolution
• GPRS/WAP connectivity
• Bluetooth with A2DP, USB
• VGA camera
• FM radio
• microSD card support
• 3.5mm handsfree socket

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Cookie Pep – Rs. 7,449
LG’s Cookie series is in quite a tough battle with Samsung’s Corby’s. The Pep is the latest edition to the range and promises to be as good as the original, if not better. Like TouchWiz, LG’s S-Class UI also features multiple desktops and plenty of handy widgets to place for quick access. The Pep also comes with LG’s social networking application that allows you to connect to your Facebook, MySpace and Twitter accounts. It’s also a slim, light weight handset that comes with all the multimedia capabilities one could expect from a handset in this range.

The Pep also features –

• a 3-inch touchscreen sporting a 240 x 400 pixel resolution
• EDGE/GPRS connectivity
• Bluetooth with A2DP, USB 2.0
• 3 Megapixel camera
• FM radio
• microSD card support

Videocon V1655 – Rs. 5,800
Videocon’s making big waves in budget mobile handset market these days. They managed to successfully cover all aspects of the consumer market from refrigerators to mobile handsets. The V1655 is a slim handset with a large touchscreen and quite a large UI to go with it. It’s equipped with codecs to read RMVB video formats. It’s also Dual SIM handset for those with two GSM SIM cards.

The handset also features -

• a 2.8-inch touchscreen that has a 240 x 320 pixel resolution
• GPRS/WAP connectivity
• Bluetooth with A2DP, USB
• 2 Megapixel camera
• FM radio
• microSD card support
• 3.5mm handsfree socket