MOBILE SPECIAL..Six best smartphones under Rs 10K

Six best smartphones under Rs 10K
Samsung Galaxy Y
Samsung’s TV promotions of the Galaxy Y seem to be quite successful as this is currently one of the more popular smartphones in the market. Designed for the young crowd, the Galaxy Y delivers on a great form factor, speedy 832MHz CPU, 3G, Wi-Fi ‘n’ and offers a long battery life. The 2MP camera may not be the best, but you do get handy features like ‘panorama shot’, ‘smile shot’ and an ‘image editor’. Like all Samsung phones, the audio quality in the Galaxy Y is really good, enough to ditch your MP3 player.
Specsheet:
OS: Android Gingerbread (2.3)
Screen: 3-inch (320 x 240 resolution)
Connectivity: Wi-Fi ‘n’, Bluetooth v3, 3G
Storage: 160MB internal (2GB microSD card included)
Price: Rs 8,000

HTC Explorer
The HTC Explorer recently had a minor
price-cut, making it even more attractive. The screen offers a good resolution and
accurate colours which makes it great for surfing the web or watching a video while travelling. Despite it having a slower 600MHz CPU, Sense 3.5 UI disguises that very well and you’ll rarely notice it. The build quality is also excellent and it feels really good in your hand. The camera produces good pictures with plenty of options to tweak.
Specsheet:
OS: Android Gingerbread (2.3)
Screen: 3.2-inch (320 x 480 resolution)
Connectivity: Wi-Fi ‘n’, Bluetooth v3, 3G
Storage: 90MB internal (2GB microSD card included)
Price: Rs 9,500

Samsung Wave Y
Don’t underestimate this Bada phone as it can do just about everything an Android smartphone can. Samsung uses the same TouchWiz interface so you get all the features found in their Android handsets. Social media apps are built right in through Social Hub and ChatON. You also get a proximity sensor, which is normally not found in phones in this price range. The Wave Y also delivers on battery life and will easily last for two days without charging. The Wave Y also features DLNA, allowing you to stream music and video files over compatible devices.
Specsheet:
OS: Bada v2.0
Screen: 3.2-inch (320 x 480 resolution)
Connectivity: Wi-Fi ‘n’, Bluetooth v3, 3G
Storage: 150MB internal, expandable to 32GB
Price: Rs 7,200

Spice Mi-350n
Spice may have started out as a maker of affordable feature phones but has since branched out into smartphones.
The Mi-350n is one of the best Android offerings to date. The 3.5-inch screen
sports a decent resolution and the colours are rich and vibrant. It’s a dual-SIM handset with a 3.2MP shooter with auto-focus. Facebook and Twitter come pre-loaded and the memory is expandable to 32GB.
Specsheet:
OS: Android Gingerbread (2.3)
Screen: 3.5-inch (320 x 480 resolution)
Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth v2.1, 3G
Storage: 170MB internal, expandable to 32GB
Price: Rs 7,800

Micromax Superfone Lite A75
The successor to the A70, the A75 steps it up a notch by offering a larger screen, dual-SIM, Ginger-bread, LED flash for the camera — all this for a slight bump in price. The build and design of the handset resemble the Galaxy Nexus S quite a bit without coming across as a cheap knock-off. There’s even a front-facing camera for video calling. The A75 is also one of the only 3.7-inch phones in this price bracket which gives you more room to play with. This is really handy when browsing or watching videos on the go.
Specsheet:
OS: Android Gingerbread (2.3)
Screen: 3.7-inch (320 x 480 res)
Connectivity: Wi-Fi ‘n’, Bluetooth v3, 3G
Storage: Expandable memory up to 32GB
Price: Rs 8,900

Nokia E5
The E5 may not have an Android flavour but it’s still a very productive phone. It sports a full QWERTY keyboard and runs Symbian OS v9.3. The 600MHz ARM CPU offers a decent amount of power for multi-tasking. You also get a 5MP shooter with an LED flash. The E5 also supports Mail for Exchange, IBM Lotus Notes, Push Mail notifications as well as Quickoffice for viewing and editing Office documents. Navigation needs are taken care of by Ovi Maps along with life-time Walk and Drive navigation support.
Specsheet:
OS: Symbian OS v9.3
Screen: 2.4-inch (320 x 240 res)
Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth v2, 3G
Storage: 250MB internal (2GB microSD card included)
Price: Rs 9,200
(DNA 120313)