Smartphones to look forward to in January 2014

A slew of announcements last month have ensured that there will be no dearth of smartphones as the year 2014 flags off. From Moto G to Lumia 525, some highly anticipated smartphones are all set to enter the Indian market. Let’s take a quick look at the upcoming smartphones of January 2014.

Moto G
Finally, the Moto G is expected to hit Indian stores anytime next week. While we always knew that the Moto G will be launched in India by early January, Motorola has further confirmed it through a tweet. The Moto G is highly acclaimed device that has earned rave reviews, owing to its build, features and price. The company has already started rolling out Android KitKat update to Moto G users in select regions. This could possibly mean that the smartphone could come with Android 4.4 KitKat, right out of the box, making it the second such phone in India after the Nexus 5. It is powered by a quad-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor coupled with 1GB of RAM. Those who can’t wait until next week, can head to e-retailer Shopyourworld that is already selling the device for s starting price of Rs 15,137.

The colourful Moto G is Motorola’s comeback in India

Here’s a quick look at the specifications of the Moto G:

• 4.5-inch HD “edge-to-edge” display, 720x1280 pixels, 329ppi
• Bluetooth, Wi-Fi
• 8GB, 16GB internal memory variants
• 5-megapixel rear camera, LED flash; 1.3-megapixel front camera

Samsung Galaxy Grand 2
Samsung’s mid-range Grand 2 will finally hit store shelves this month. The smartphone was announced last month and the company said it would be priced somewhere between Rs 22,990 and Rs 24,990, instead of an exact price. The Grand 2 is a significant improvement over the Galaxy Grand and company has rectified all the criticism it had faced for the latter. The device sports a 5.25-inch display with 720 x 1280 pixel resolution, and pixel density of up to 280 ppi. The internals have also been beefed up as the Galaxy Grand 2 is powered by a Qualcomm chipset (most likely the Snapdragon 400) with a quad-core processor clocked at 1.2GHz and there’s a healthy 1.5GB of RAM on board. It runs on Android 4.3, and there is no word on whether it will get Android KitKat. Users can now pre-order (http://tech2.in.com/news/smartphones/samsung-starts-galaxy-grand-2-preorders-for-rs-2000/924284) the Grand 2 by paying Rs 2,000. Check out our first impressions and specifications review of the Galaxy Grand 2.

More from News & Analysis

What is the US HIRE Bill and why is India’s $250-billion IT sector worried? Is the internet dead? What's this theory that OpenAI's Sam Altman says might be true?

Grand 2 is coming soon to the market

Here’s a quick look at its key specifications:

• 5.25-inch HD display with 1280x720 pixel resolution
• 3G, Wi-Fi
• Bluetooth 4.0, GPS with A-GPS support and GLONASS
• 8 megapixel rear camera with auto-focus and LED flash, 1.9 megapixel front-facing camera
• 8GB onboard storage, expandable upto 64GB via microSD card slot

Nokia Lumia 1320
Last month we saw the Lumia 1520 and now the Lumia 1320 is all set to enter the Indian market. The 1320 is expected to carry a midrange price tag, but will slot in with the Lumia 1520 as the second Nokia phablet. The smartphone sports a 6-inch 720p display, and not 1080p like the 1520. The Windows 8-based smartphone is powered by a 1.7GHz dual-core Snapdragon 400 processor with 1GB of RAM, and a pretty basic 5-megapixel camera. 

Nokia’s budget phablet, the Lumia 1320

Here’s a quick look at its specifications:

• 6-inch 720p IPS display
• 3G, Wi-Fi
• Bluetooth, GPS with A-GPS, GLONAAS
• 5-megapixel rear camera, VGA front-facing camera
• 8GB onboard storage, expandable up to 64GB via microSD card slot

Nokia Lumia 525
The Lumia 525  – the successor to the popular Lumia 520 – is all set to enter the Indian market this month. The features which endeared the masses towards the Lumia 520 have been retained. So you will find the same 4-inch display with WVGA resolution and Nokia’s super touch sensitivity software. It will also get the same dual-core Qualcomm S4 chipset that performed really well on Lumia 520. In a nutshell, the Lumia 525 improves the internals in the one area where it could have been called lacking, with 1GB of RAM.

Lumia 525 will replace the Lumia 520

Here’s a quick look at its specifications:

• 4-inch IPS display with 480 x 800 pixels of resolution
• 3G, Wi-Fi
• Bluetooth, GPS with A-GPS, GLONAAS
• 5-megapixel rear camera
• 8GB onboard storage, expandable up to 64GB via microSD card slot

Gionee Elife E7
Gionee officially unveiled the Elife E7 for Indian markets on Christmas Eve priced at Rs 26,999 for the 16GB model and Rs 29,999 for the 32GB model. But it will be made available only starting January 15. The single-SIM phone is powered by a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 that clocks in at 2.2GHz for the 16GB variant. It’s also coupled with 2GB of RAM. The 32GB model comes with slightly better specs. It features a 3GB RAM and a 2.5GHz processor. The storage on the phones is not expandable. The phone is powered by Android 4.2 Jelly Bean and features Gionee’s custom Amigo 2.0 user interface layer to go with it. Check out our hands-on video with the Gionee Elife E7.

Elife E7, sporting a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 SoC

Take a quick look at the Elife E7’s salient features:

• 5.5-inch 1080 x 1920p screen with a pixel density of 401ppi
• Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPRS, EDGE
• GPS/AGPS, NFC, 3G, 4G (for 32GB model)
• 16MP primary camera, 8MP front-facing camera
• 16GB/32GB storage, not expandable

 
Intex Aqua Octa
India’s first octa-core phablet is here and it comes from Intex’s quarters. The Aqua Octa is now exclusively available at Snapdeal and will be available through offline and online retailers across the nation from January 15. The Aqua Octa is powered by an octa-core processor clocked at 1.7GHz coupled with 2GB RAM. With all 8 cores running simultaneously it will definitely provide a boost when it comes to performance, although we don’t think there are many use case where you will require all eight cores simultaneously. It’s a dual-SIM phablet and runs Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, with minor customisations.

Aqua Octa runs on true octa-core processor

Here’s a quick look at some of its specifications:

• 6-inch OGS 720p HD display
• Dual SIM, 3G, Wi-Fi
• Bluetooth, GPS
• 13MP rear camera, 5MP front-facing camera
• 16GB onboard storage, microSD card support up to 32GB

We are sure more phones will be coming to the Indian market, possibly soon after CES. So keep your eyes peeled for new launches on tech2.