Xolo Q700S launched: Q700 follow-up brings improved internals, but significantly smaller battery

Count one more phone in the long list of mid-rangers launched by Indian companies.  Xolo has quietly launched a new Q-series smartphone, the Q700S, at Rs. 9,999. This one is a refresh to the much-loved Q700 , which was launched last May, but quiet frankly we are baffled by some of Xolo’s specs choices.   As a Q-series phone, the 700S gets a quad-core processor. MediaTek’s MT6582M processor powers the device, with a clock speed of 1.3GHz. There’s a gigabyte of RAM and a PowerVR SGX544MP GPU in tow and runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean out-of-the-box. It’s not in the vein of the Q3000 phablet and gets a smallish 4.5-inch IPS display with a 480x854 (FWVGA) pixel resolution. All well and good so far.   The Xolo Q700S handset comes with a 4GB in-built storage, and can be expanded up to 32GB via microSD card. The Xolo Q700S supports 3G and 2G cellular connectivity, with Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0, Micro-USB, and GPS rounding out the specs in this regard. Also getting an overhaul is the camera, which is bumped up to an 8-megapixel shooter with LED flash and BSI sensor, while there is a 0.3 megapixel front-facing camera.   Most of these changes make a great difference over the Q700, but the one area where Xolo actually skimmed is the one that will likely make the most difference for the user. The Q700 had a capacious 2400 mAh battery, but the 700S only gets an 1800mAh battery.   This will significantly impact battery life on the phone and could be its biggest drawback. While an updated design and internals are all well and good, Xolo should really have considered retaining the large battery pack, which we believe was one of the main reasons many people chose the Q700 last year.