Panasonic launches Jelly Bean-running T31 for Rs 7,990

In a bid to strengthen its smartphone portfolio for India, Panasonic has launched Jelly Bean-running T31 smartphone. The entry-level phone is priced at Rs 7,990 and the specs are nothing to write home about.

The T31 has a ubiquitous look as far as low-end Android phones are concerned. The rounded edges are accompanied by a glossy plastic construction. For the price, you get a phone that runs Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean and consequently brings lockscreen widgets, Google Now and of course, some Project Butter smoothness.

T31 is Panasonic’s entry-level phone for India

The T31 has a 4-inch WVGA (800x480) display, that’s pretty common among phones in its price range. Performance should be adequate but don’t expect the dual-core processor to set benchmarking records. The CPU is clocked at 1.3GHz and there’s 512MB of RAM to add to the processing power. Internal memory is capped at 4GB, but there’s a microSD card for further expansion.

The camera on the T31 is a 3.2-megapixel unit and it’s accompanied by a VGA front-faching shooter. The camera specs don’t fill us with confidence about the resultant pictures and the lack of a flash won’t help matters either. Battery life will be limited too with just a 1300 mAh pack inside the phone.

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Panasonic has preloaded apps such as the Hungama music, Panasonic VIERA remote utility application, WeChat, and Gameloft titles such as Assassins Creed, GT Racing 2, and Mortal Combat 4. The phone is available this week onwards in bluish-black and white colours.

Here’s a quick look at the key specs:

• 4-inch WVGA display
• Dual-SIM (2G + 3G), HSPA+, GPRS/EDGE
• Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n
• GPS with A-GPS support
• 3.2-megapixel primary camera and VGA front-facing camera
• 4GB internal storage with micro SD card slot for expansion up to 32GB

The company is targettting consumers across Tier-II/III cities with the launch of the T31. But more phones will be launched for other market segments as well. Making clear the company’s intention to launch more phones in the near future, Manish Sharma, the MD of Panasonic India said, “We have strong belief in the tremendous potential of the Indian smartphone market and our recent smartphones are evidence of our commitment towards this market. We will continue to offer a wide range of phones in India.”