HTC's Desire 310 is the first budget Android phone coming from these makers and it looks like the HTC has finally decided to cater to the low end segment of consumers as well with a few more devices of budget friendly prices to be coming out soon. In fact the HTC Desire 210 is expected to be priced even lower when it shall hit the markets. For now we have to see if the 310 makes a good entry level phone or for some it may be belong to the mid-range tier.
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| HTC Desire 310 |
HTC lovers will get the opportunity to own an HTC phone at a pocket-friendly price but a detailed review makes it clear that the Desire 310 may not exactly be the best choice even for the price at which it is available.
Ergonomics
The designing of the Desire 310 is much like what its costs: cheap and low cost. There is nothing much to note about and it weighs around 140g which is pretty overweight with a cookie-cutter rounded slab appearance. It measures about 0.44" in width which makes it quite chubby for its size. The polycarbonated matte finish back is a plus point as it prevents fingerprints to quite an extent.
The volume and power button are placed at the right side which is more or less ergonomical but tactile feedback is quite poor in performance. The volume button is too soft and must be handled with care because it looks prone to damage very easily.
The overall size makes it easy for single handed use. It is available in hues of white and dark blue. The removable rear cover reveals a 2000mAh battery with slots for two SIM cards and a regular slot for the microSD card. The micro-USB port and the 3.5mm headset jack are located at the top edge of the phone.
It has a front facing VGA camera and front-firing speaker, plus points for the phone. There are no physical buttons and one has to use the onscreen buttons for navigation which poses to be a bit of hindrance when using the onscreen keyboard considering the small display size.
Display
The HTC Desire 310 has a display glass size of 4.5 inches with a resolution of 480 x 854 pixels which is not much and you can't expect any higher. The IPS panel offers a pixel density of 218 ppiwhich is very average and not that impressive at all but considering its class, one can't complain much.
Colour temperature of the screen is very cold resulting in images of bluish white and greyish colours and the colour reproduction is completely off. Even the primary and secondary colours show major discrepancies which can be particularly distinguished in colours of green, magenta and cyan.
Display is absolutely poor for outdoor use even in overcast weathers. Its brightness peaks at 288 nits and even though we understand it’s a budget friendly phone, one expects certain minimal standards.
Tech Specs
The HTC Desire 310 features a Mediatekquad-core processor MT6582 that clocked at 1.3GHz and a very meagre RAM of 512MB. It also features Mali graphics of 200MP2. The European edition of the Desire 310 features a 1GB worth of RAM. Internal storage provided is of 4GB but users have access to only 1GB which is pretty useless. One is compelled for storage expansion via microSD which is limited to 32GB. The micro SIM cards work in active stand-by mode. The battery is of 2000mAh that claims to offer up to 852 hours of standby time and 11 hours of talk time.
Use of the older Android version for the Desire 310 takes up further screen space apart from the navigation buttons occupying sufficient space as already mentioned earlier. Similar to its other version phones, the app launcher has app icons arranged vertically and offers Sense integration. There is no customisation feature available for users.
Camera
The front facing camera of the HTC Desire shoots on VGA mode while the 5MP rear camera performs below standards with no flash or autofocus feature. The rear camera however is capable of capturing 1080p videos.
Overall camera performance is very bad, producing a lot of noise even in photos captured in daylight. Since the camera is of such poor quality, even footage captured in videos turn out to be very bad and pointless. The front camera is also a let-down with a maximum resolution of 640 x 480.
The camera app offers panorama and HD modes but one can't really expect much out of them either considering the poor camera performance.
Overall performance
With Google's launch of Android's Ice Cream Sandwich version 4.0, gadgets could be optimised to its full potential. However, this also depends to some extent on the capabilities of the phone and how it is able to perform in use. The 512 RAM which is obviously insufficient for the phone causes the phone to stutter and lag even in the smallest of daily application use. Casual gaming will perform just about average on the HTC Desire 310.
The battery lasts for an average of 6hours 23 minutes when used for continuous video loop; moreover the 720p video quality is average while the 1080p video has a problem thereby skipping frames while recording and playing.
The only good and standard feature that one can find in the HTC Desire 310 is the clarity of sound and its speakers and how well it performs even in areas of low signal.
Verdict
Priced at Rs. 11,358, it is not really advisable to go for such an averagely performing phone because considering the market availability of Android phones these days, there is no dearth of better quality phones assuring quality performance and features even at slightly lower or similar prices.
The HTC Desire 310 is pretty much comparable to the Moto G but considering the mid-budget market, HTC has to offer better features if it has to survive the tough market competition. Pricing is not that friendly either if one tallies it with what he gets in return.
In one of the most exciting and surprising developments in recent times, the premium Blackberry Z10 smartphone can now be bought at only INR 17, 990 in India. This is a limited period offer and has already got potential customers and mobile phone enthusiasts coming out in droves to snap up this premium end smartphone at a substantially lower price!
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| Blackberry Z10 |
Blackberry is commemorating its 10th anniversary with regard to venturing into the Indian mobile phone market and the price reduction is the direct effect of the same. According to the Canadian mobile phone giant, the Blackberry Z10 will be available at this reduced price for a period of only 60 days which should be enough for all Blackberry fans to take advantage of this mind boggling offer! The new price point makes the Z10 a very attractive and popular option in the Indian smartphone market. This means that customers can now snap up a premium device with optimum performance levels and brand value, at below INR 20, 000. This is a startling development in the Indian mobile phone market, as far as Blackberry’s rivals are concerned.
The Blackberry Z10, the first ever BB10 smartphone from the mobile phone manufacturer, was formally launched in February 2013 in Indian mobile phone markets. The starting price was a steep INR 43, 490, which was deemed ultra-expensive and unaffordable by a large section of prospective buyers. However, prices were brought down hugely and stood at INR 29, 990 under a special offer for the festive season. In another similar development, Blackberry had also reduced prices of its pioneering Q5 smartphone by a whopping 20 percent in another offer which was also valid for a limited period. The Q5 price was scaled down to an astonishingly low INR 19, 990 under this scheme. Alongside, the affordable version of the BB10 phone was priced somewhat competitively at INR 24, 990, considering the top performance and QWERTY keypad on offer.
The smartphone maker seems to have been on a gifting spree for its customers as it also reduced prices of the Q10 handset by more than 13 percent, pricing this high end smartphone at just INR 38, 990 with a December special scheme for Indian customers. Blackberry had earlier taken loads of flak for the high prices of the Z10 in India after its February launch. However, the company has taken pains to sweeten the overall package for customers with one of the biggest price cuts ever witnessed in the Indian mobile phone market. This new initiative from Blackberry should see sales double or even triple in the next two months before the offer ends and will earn the company a lot of goodwill in the Indian market, something that works favorably with regard to consolidating market position.
More about the Blackberry Z10
For INR 17, 000 only, customers will now get a top end smartphone with the best possible features and advantages. Not only is the Z10 the first Blackberry device to use BB10, it also has a dual core 1.5 GHz processor along with internal storage of a whopping 16 GB. 2 GB of RAM is complemented by a powerful 1850 mAh phone battery that provides a staggering 312 hours in standby mode and ten hours of talk time which is pretty decent too. Alongside, there is an 8 megapixel primary camera at the rear of this device which can capture 1080p quality videos along with a secondary front camera of 2 megapixels which comes in handy for video calling and other activities. This smartphone provides a full touch based experience for users instead of the usual keypad attached to Blackberry smartphones. Does this phone have the potential to be a winner in the Indian market? Read on for some insights on the actual feel, appearance, functionality and performance of the Blackberry Z10.
The phone does not look flashy at all; rather, it can be called quite understated with regard to appearance and the first look. There are corners that are curved along with an overall rectangle like design which should work perfectly okay for fastidious phone freaks. The design aspect is neither ground breaking nor disappointing. However, the phone looks and feels up market and premium build quality is the USP behind the same. The rear end of the Z10 has excellent gripping possibilities for users with an impressive logo in the middle along with a top left flash and camera lens. There is a slit right at the bottom which hides the microSD, battery and microSIM slots from public view. Right at the front, the display of 4.2 inches is a marvel to behold for Indian customers. The buttons are all compact and there is no sense of stagnation with regard to the overall appearance of this smartphone.
The 1280 by 768 pixel display is very competent with superior angles for viewing and fabulous reproduction of colors. Visibility under direct sunlight is quite good with no issues related to reflectivity. There are arrays of touch based gestures that can be employed with prompt responses from the touch screen which is another plus point. The 8 megapixel camera will be loved by shutterbugs and can capture videos in full high definition mode. Alongside, the quality of images is decent overall and daylight and low light images look good with just a little noise penetrating the same. Other camera features include the Time Shift mode which is fun to use but there is no Panorama feature like other top end smartphones.
The operating system is powerful enough but does not match up to iOS and even Android both in terms of flexibility and power. However, it is decent enough for business conversations, gaming, emailing, social networking and internet usage which are just about what the average user would want. The battery should run without charge for at least a day and this is good enough for heavy smartphone users as well.
All in all, this is one smartphone that should be snapped up without hesitation at the immensely low prices offered by Blackberry. Take advantage of the offer now!
Global mobile phone manufacturer HTC had been going through some rough times recently. HTC reported its first ever quarterly loss in the third quarter of 2013 with similar fluctuations predicted for the last quarter of the year. Come 2014, the company had been aiming at newer customer initiatives to take the brand forward in the best possible manner. According to company representatives, HTC is facing a plethora of challenges owing to its marketing and communication lapses and not its financial woes. Facing up to these challenges was outlined as the major goal for the company in 2014’s first few months according to Cher Wang, the company chairwoman.
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| HTC Desire 816 |
Wang outlined specific initiatives needed to be taken such as direct interaction and communication with customers along with innovative marketing and new ideas for greater success and a company revival. HTC’s USP always was its top of the line technology, design and product competency. The company admitted to not having a finger on the pulse of the modern customer and vowed to find ways to amend the situation. The company has also been facing a radical financial upheaval over the past couple of years owing to falling sales and waning customer demand. Alongside, top company sources confess to the wide gap between the launch of innovative new products and their marketing and promotions which was hurting the company’s prospects all through this period. In what is slated to be a major revival operation from this mobile phone manufacturing giant, HTC recently launched the highly awaited Desire 816 which will be one of its flagship products this year.
The HTC Desire 816 was launched at Barcelona’s glittering Mobile World Congress 2014 recently. In a highly awaited development, the company confirmed that this successor and potential replacement to the HTC One would be launched formally on the 25th of March. The first smartphone from the HTC stable this year will be aimed primarily at the mid-level customer segment in terms of the most sales. This exciting new device was unveiled by HTC CEO Peter Chou and shocked many mobile phone enthusiasts who were expecting the MS instead. HTC has indeed surprised many tech experts and market followers with its mid range smartphone instead of the high end, premium smartphone many were expecting. With an eye on overall revival this year, the company is shifting its marketing focus to more mainstream levels which assure high sales volumes.
The phone looks and feels similar to the Apple iPhone 5C in many ways with its glossy body in plastic and its impressive specs. The smartphone will be available only in China from the 25th of March onwards and will be sold across other major markets from April. The design of this smartphone has been inspired by the HTC One to a large extent. The company is also looking at a price point that is considerably lower than the HTC One which can well be a winning strategy on its part. According to Peter Chou, CEO at HTC, the smartphone flags off one of the company’s many upcoming initiatives geared towards reaching out to more and more customers with fabulous design and usage experiences. He was clear about the immense opportunity present in the mid range market, prompting the release of this particular device. The HTC Desire 816 release date for the United Kingdom has not been announced yet. As for price updates, this may just be HTC’s flagship affordable smartphone for mainstream customers.
HTC Desire 816 Features and Other Specifications
The HTC Desire 816 will come with a truckload of powerful features and specifications. The smartphone will possess a 720 by 1280 pixel, 5.5 inch High Definition display unit. The smartphone will also run via a Snapdragon 400 SoC quad core 1.6 GHz processor. There will also be 1.5 GB of RAM along with 8 GB of internal phone storage. Storage can be scaled up to a staggering 128 GB via micro-SD support. This may well be the highest ever memory capacity sported by any smartphone. There will also be an HTC Sense UI for the phone along with Android’s 4.4 Kit Kat OS.
There will be a 13 megapixel primary camera at the rear along with a front facing camera of 5 megapixels. This smartphone will not possess HTC’s pioneering Ultra pixel camera technology however which was present in the HTC One series. There will also be a 2600 mAh powerful battery and HSPA+ and LTE connectivity options. The phone weighs about 165 grams and thickness stands at 7.99 mm. This will also be the first smartphone from HTC to possess capabilities for incorporation of nano-SIM cards in place of micro-Sim cards that are always compatible.
The smartphone will have red, white, yellow, black and purple color variants along with possessing Boom Sound functionality which is a unique HTC feature. Handling and usage experience should be good enough and the phone takes after the iPhone 5C when it comes to design, the rear and the bright colors. The front camera is quite capable as well when it comes to recording videos in high definition along with the high powered primary one at the rear. The phone should be a dual sim one with 3G connectivity operational for both.
The Final Verdict
This is indeed an exciting development for tech junkies and mobile phone enthusiasts out there. The HTC Desire 816 should be an exciting buy in the present circumstances especially due to the forecasted affordable and competitive price of the same. The company is looking at overrunning the competition in the mid range smartphone segment and this should ideally witness some aggressive pricing on its part. Overall, this smartphone offers a decent mix of features and other add-ons with the large display and camera features deserving special mention.
Expect this smartphone to outrun the HTC One in terms of consumer impact and overall sales. With such an attractive new launch, HTC sure looks to be on the right road to revival, resurgence and market consolidation!
Mobile phones are increasingly in demand in the current economic scenario. Who can live without a mobile phone? This is something that is an accepted fact in today’s ecosystem. Alongside, mobile phones have expanded to represent diverse forms and functions. Mobile phones are not just devices of communication nowadays. They are devices that take into account leisure, recreation, information, education, lifestyle, entertainment and personal communication of users. The entry of smartphones into the Indian mobile phone market has sparked this evolution of mobile phones. People can now make do without computers but not without their smartphones.
Along with the steady demise of solid feature phones, smartphones have also sparked a rapid change in the mindset of the Indian consumer. People now want the best features without any compromises. Features and specifications have to be top notch in all cases. However, the Indian consumer market also has another strange feature in place: customers want the best mix of features and facilities at the lowest possible price. Reconciling price and feature based aspirations is often a problem for mobile phone manufacturers.
New smartphones are substantially expensive and out of reach for a majority of the working population in major Indian cities. There are various local companies who manufacture smartphones for a pittance. However, people are no longer satisfied with cheap local versions of premium smartphones. They want nothing but the top brands at the lowest possible prices. Does this sound impossible? The used mobile phone market offers cutting edge mobile phones at half their prices!
Where do you find used mobile phones at such fabulous prices? These phones can only be found on online mobile phone classifieds portals. Do these portals really help? They contain loads of posted advertisements from used mobile phone sellers. You have to go through these posted advertisements and look for the ones matching your budget and your needs. Once you have selected a few advertisements, you have to scan them carefully for contact details of sellers. If contact details are present, you can use them to call up these sellers directly. While talking to the seller, you can negotiate your prices further and get additional savings.
Online classifieds portals can help you land quality used mobile phones at unbeatable prices. Alongside, you can also post your own advertisements stating your needs and requirements. Be sure to include your desired features, budget range and desired phone company in your advertisement. Last but not the least; never forget to include your own contact details in this advertisement. Once this is posted for free, you can expect to get quick results without any hassles.
You can expect prompt replies to your advertisements and queries from used mobile phone sellers. Use online classifieds portals properly to reap the benefits with elan. View advertisements, talk to sellers or post your own advertisement, it is all possible with these portals. The best part is that you do not have to pay a single penny for all these services. Buy mobile phones at half their original prices with online classifieds!
