Huawei Ascend G510 and Ascend Y300

Huawei, the fourth biggest smartphone manufacturer at last count, is riding the Android wave to success. To its credit, the company has unveiled a host of cool devices to its credit, such as the world's slimmest smartphone and a 6.1-inch monstrosity that costs 'just' Rs 24,900.

Among the smartphones that this Chinese manufacturer has launched in India are Y300 and G510, budget offerings that compete in a segment dominated by the likes of Samsung, Sony and Micromax. Will these phones hold their own or wilt under the pressure of intense competition? Read our review before deciding for yourself...

Hardware
Huawei Ascend G510 and Y300 feature 4.5-inch and 4-inch displays respectively, but the surrounding bezel makes them appear smaller than they are. So, in spite of huge real estate (for the segment), you get rather bulky handsets. Nevertheless, the two phones are not too big to hold and seem sturdy. The display quality of the screens is quite good, with decent viewing angles (IPSpanels are known for this) and accurate colours. On the negative side, the pentile matrix is hard to avoid and pixels can be easily seen.

The two dual-sim phones are made entirely of plastic, hence do not have the premium feel. What hurts their prospects is that the build quality, though acceptable by any measure, does not match the levels of rivals like Sony Xperiatipo and Samsung's Galaxy phones.

Coming to the technical specifications, Ascend G510 has 854x480p resolution and 218ppi pixel density. The phone is powered by a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, backed by 512MB RAM. AscendY300, the smaller of the two, gives you resolution of 800x480p, with a decent 233ppi pixel density. It runs on a dual-core 1GHz processor, once again with 512MB RAM.

Below the screen, both the phones have the standard Android three-key layout. The duo share most other specifications, including connectivity options like 2G, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1 andmicroUSB 2.0. Primary cameras of the two phones are rated at 5MP, while the secondary unit is of VGA resolution. Internal storage is also the same - 4GB. Battery capacity varies marginally, 1,730mAh in Ascend G510 and 1,700mAh in Ascend Y300.

Software
Both the phones run on Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean), which is one of the smoothest operating systems out there. Huawei has used a heavily customized version of the OS here, named Emotion UI. This user interface does away with the app menu completely, putting all the apps and widgets on the homescreens. The number of homescreens in the phones increases with the number of widgets and apps you add; the option to create folders to keep the homescreens sorted is there too.

Emotion UI is quite unique, with a host of transition effects like flip, box etc. You can replace the apps at the bottom and access various toggles from the Notification Bar. While heavily customized, this UI is not too heavy and we did not observe any lag in the phone. However, downloading was too slow for our patience even on a rather capable 2Mbps network.

Performance
In order to assess the performance of the two phones, we put them through the Antutubenchmark. Ascend G510 secured an average score in the range of 6800, while Ascend Y300notched up an average of 6200. This performance is acceptable, though dual-core CPUs are expected to do better. Nevertheless, the two have given us better scores than rival devices, which give them a slight edge.

During the review, we constantly felt that the bezel around the screen make the display of the two phones look smaller than they are in real, something which may hamper user excitement. Another thing to note is that the screen, though big, is not of the highest quality. However, you will find that most - if not all - phones in this segment have similar displays.

Rather limited 512MB RAM is another concern, since using several apps will obviously take its toll. However, the UI is quite light and phone remains responsive; we observed lag only when playing games that are known for stressing the chipset, or when too many apps were open at the same time. Otherwise, the phones remained quite fluid.

Battery life of the two phones is decent, providing backup for around half a day on a regular day. This usage includes a couple of hours of internet browsing, an hour of video playback, around three hours of music and half an hour each of games and e-books.

Considering preloaded apps like Facebook and WhatsApp, we feel Huawei is targeting youngsters with these phones. However, download speed of both the phones is painfully slow and we were disappointed with the performance (or the lack of it) on this front.

The 5MP cameras of the two phones are okay just for social media uploads. In both the phones, the captured images were a little grainy, but contrast was good and we saw good levels of detail. The camera app is quite simple and has provision for touch-focus.

Rivals
Instead of naming rivals and comparing specs, the easier way to do a competition check in this case would be to see the overall strengths and weaknesses. Firstly, big screens and dual-core processors are not offered by other global brands like Samsung, Sony and LG in this segment, giving a big advantage to the Huawei duo. Ascend G510 and Ascend Y300 delivered satisfactory performance for the price and have a decent chance against rivals, provided buyers are comfortable going for a little-known (at least in India) brand.

Challengers from the stables of Micromax, Karbonn, Spice etc are a different deal altogether. They offer bigger screens than what these Huawei phones boast of and CPUs that are clocked at the same speed. Some, like Micromax Canvas 2, score better in terms of features like camera etc. While Huawei has proved its mettle globally, it does not really inspire the confidence thatSamsung does, and is likely to be taken in the same league as Micromax, Spice etc only in terms of the brand value. But in terms of quality, the two Ascend smartphones do better than the competitor models by Indian brands in terms of Antutu scores.

Verdict
Huawei phones are good, but they also have their disadvantages. The biggest bug is the slow internet download speed. We are not sure it is something that affected only our review units. But other than that, there is nothing that rivals have and these phones do not. Overall, we foundHuawei Ascend G510 and Ascend Y300 to be decent smartphones for beginners, and would recommend them to buyers, provided they are okay with slow downloads.

Price:
Huawei Ascend G510 - Rs 11,000; and
Huawei Ascend Y300 - Rs 8,000

LG Optimus G pro

South Korean manufacturer LG is on a spree to challenge its cross town rival Samsung on all fronts in the smartphone market. While its answer to Galaxy S III in the form of the acclaimed Optimus G was much delayed, the company has taken a slight lead on Galaxy Note III (going by the rumoured specs of the upcoming Samsung phone). The company launched the Optimus G Pro in February this year, with specs that will help it match what the next-gen Note phablet is likely to offer.

At the India launch event for the Optimus G Pro, the company compared the handset to the currently available Galaxy Note II several times. While the two phones are miles apart when it comes to features and spec sheets, it is a wise comparison since the latter has a huge fan following in India.

We do a review of the  to see exactly how good it is and whether it is a better buy than Samsung Galaxy Note II and indeed over the upcoming Note III, going by leaked specs. 

Hardware and design:
LG Optimus G Pro features a 5.5-inch screen, just as big as the one in Galaxy Note II. However, at first look you will see the difference between the two displays. The LG phone's screen is considerably clearer and brighter than that of Note II. This is because the smartphone features screen resolution of 1920x1080p, with pixel density amounting of 401ppi. In contrast, Note II user has to stay content with relatively low 1280x720p resolution and 267ppi pixel density. The LG phone has a huge advantage over its Samsung rival in this area.

The phone packs the same 1.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon S600 processor that we saw in LGOptimus G. The phone has 2GB RAM, 16GB internal storage, microSD card support up to 32GBand a 3,140mAh removable battery. Its connectivity features include 2G, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, microUSB, infrared and NFC. On the back, you get a 13MP camera with LED flash, while a2MP camera is placed in the front. All in all, LG Optimus G Pro has all the makings of a top-endphablet.



Coming to design, you will find that LG Optimus G Pro vastly differs from its sibling Optimus G. Instead of the finely cut, sharp edges that defined the look of Optimus G, you fill find that the new phablet is characterized by curves. In fact, it looks quite like Note II, albeit slimmer and longer. Nevertheless, the phone feels good in the hand and all buttons are easy to access, though we feel that the positions of the volume rocker and QMemo key should be interchanged as the former is used more often.

The phone is made entirely using plastic, instead of premium materials like glass and metal. At172gram, it is not the most lightweight phablet in the market today, but still weighs lesser than Samsung Galaxy Note II and Sony Xperia Z Ultra.

The front holds the secondary camera and the usual set of sensors above the screen and the three-key layout below it. The audio jack and IR blaster are on top of the phone, while the microUSBport is at the bottom. On the left is the QMemo shortcut key as well as the volume rocker, while the Power/Lock button is on the right. The speaker grille sits on the left side of the rear camera, while the LED flash is on its right.

The back of the device bears a shimmering pattern, similar to the design we have seen inOptimus G as well as Nexus 4 (also manufactured by LG). However, the effect is not as attractive on Optimus G Pro's plastic body as it is on the glass back of the other two smartphones.

Software:
Sadly, LG Optimus G Pro runs on Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean), in a market where all top-end handsets are powered by Android 4.2. Even though the upgrades in the latest version of Google's free OS are not too many, we would still like to have the best in hand when paying as high as Rs42,500 for a phone.

However, the Korean manufacturer has used its Optimus UI on top of the operating system in this phone. We have seen this user interface in Optimus G and OptimusL7 II dual. This skin has several good things on its side. It is very light, making the overall user experience very zippy. It is also the only Android skin that supports landscape orientation. It offers much more customization than the custom UIs of other manufacturers.



The notification bar has the usual toggles (spread across three tabs), access to floating apps, brightness etc. You can make notes or annotate on any homescreen or app via QMemo(accessible via the hardware key on top left side or the app itself). Floating apps, which Samsung and Sony also offer, are apps that open in small windows rather than taking up the whole screen. You can move them around, change their size or alter their transparency levels. By default, you get five floating apps, Videos, Web Browser, Memo, Calendar and Calculator; others can be downloaded from the app marketplace.

LG Optimus G Pro also has a notification LED light that is embedded in the Home key, instead of being placed on top of the screen, as is the case with most phones. You can choose the colour of LED light assigned to your contacts (in the Contacts app). Other customization options in the phone include home screen transition effects and preloaded themes. The phone pauses videos automatically when you look away from the screen; you can hold an icon and tilt phone sideways to move towards the right or left homescreen.

Camera:
The new Optimus G Pro has a 13MP camera on the back, which takes images with good details even though there is some noise. However, colour reproduction in the images is not exactly accurate, though it is extremely close. The daylight photos we captured were good, but lowlightimages suffered as the LED flash is not powerful enough. Volume rocker key doubles up as a hardware camera key in this phone.

The Camera app has features like Burst Mode, voice commands (say terms like LG and cheese to click images), HDR and panorama. Apart from these, the phone has several unique features like Beauty Shot, which alters features of the subject to make the face brighter and smoother. Time Catch takes quick photos even before you capture any image so that you can also save lost moments. 
The dual capture mode works while capturing photos as well as videos, wherein the front as well as rear cameras operate simultaneously to capture the subject as well as your own expressions in real time (this feature is present in other phones like Samsung Galaxy S4HTC One, and now Nokia Lumia 1020). Other cool features in the phone's camera are capturing a photo while recording a video and 360-degree panorama.

In terms of megapixel count, LG Optimus G Pro's camera ranks in the league of Samsung Galaxy S4 and Sony Xperia Z. However, as we saw in Optimus G, LG's 13MP camera is not really a match for the best in the segment. While the image quality has improved a lot as compared to Optimus G, it still does not match the photos delivered by Samsung Galaxy S4. It is likely that S4's imaging capabilities will be replicated or even bettered in Note III.

Performance:
The Snapdragon 600 processor that Optimus G Pro carries is one of the most powerful in the market. It delivered excellent results when we tested it earlier in Optimus G and the streak continues with this phone. On Antutu benchmark, it delivered a score of over 19000, which is respectable by any yardstick. However, it is not the highest in phones currently available in India (HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4 deliver higher scores). More importantly for LG, the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note III is said to beat these scores by a huge margin, with leakedAntutu screenshots showing that it notches up 34000 on the same test.

The display of LG Optimus, though gorgeous, is quite reflective and easily gets smeared with fingerprints. The colours are good while viewing videos but the contrast is a little off. Nevertheless, in big-screen smartphones in India, this is one of the only two phones that deliver such display quality, the other being Lenovo K900.

If you find the phone too big for your hands, you can choose the one-handed operation feature, where the keyboard, phone dialler etc can be moved towards the left or right so that it is easier to type on the big screen.

One thing we liked about the phone is its music player app, which is smooth, clean and has a YouTube icon that allows you to search for the song's video on the video sharing website directly from the music player. The stock video player of the phone can handle all popular video formats and features in-video zooming by default.

The 3,140mAh battery of LG Optimus G Pro is one of the biggest selling points of this phone. It last us over a day on a single charge, with usage being two-three hours of internet browsing and videos, four-five hours of music playback, an hour of gaming and calling.

Rivals:
LG Optimus G Pro obviously targets the high-end phablet market that Samsung Galaxy Note II dominates. However, this phone has to not only compete against Note II, but also Lenovo K900. Lenovo is not known for its smartphones in India, but K900 is a direct competitor of Optimus G Pro, albeit with a price difference of over Rs 10,000.

Both the phones have 5.5-inch displays with 1080p resolution and 401ppi pixel densities as well as 13MP cameras. However, the LG device bags a major victory due to a more powerful processor, though Lenovo's handset is made using a much more durable material, steel, and runs on Android 4.2.

Overall, LG Optimus G Pro pushes the right buttons and can lord over the top-end phabletmarket easily.

Verdict:
If you want a top-end phablet today, then LG Optimus G Pro is the device for you. However, its stay at the top is likely to be short as Samsung is expected to launch the Galaxy Note III at the start of September. The upcoming gadget will have two crucial advantages - a bigger screen and a faster processor.

If you can wait for another couple of months to spend over Rs 40,000 on a phablet, then Note III would be the device of choice. But if your purchase needs to be made in the next few weeks, then we have no qualms in recommending LG Optimus G Pro over any phablet in India, including Samsung Galaxy Note II.

What we like:
Gorgeous screen
Fast processor
Great battery
Several customization options


What we don't like:
Sub-par camera
High price
Plastic body

Price: Rs 42,500

Blackberry Q5 in India

After a huge defeat of BlackBerry by other competitors in India , BlackBerry is trying to emerge out from this difficulty by introducing its new phone named Q5 in India.

Canadian phone maker BlackBerry today launched the Q5 smartphone in India, bringing its latest handset in the country. This smartphone is aimed at emerging markets and has been priced at Rs 24,990. It is the third BB10-powered phone to be launched in India, after the exorbitantly priced Z10 and Q10 smartphones.

BlackBerry Q5 has 3.1-inch touchscreen with720x720p resolution, along with the Qwertykeyboard. It is powered by a 1.2GHz dual-core processor and packs 2GB RAM, 8GB internal storage. Storage can be expanded up to 32GBvia microSD card in this phone.

Connectivity features of BlackBerry Q5 are 2G, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, microUSB 2.0 and NFC. The phone has a 5MP camera with LED flash on the back and 2MP camera in front. This mid-range smartphone runs on a 2,180mAh battery.

BlackBerry has used plastic in making Q5, instead of premium material like cold-forged steel (which forms the body of Q10). It is available in the market in red, white and black colours and will hit the stores on July 20. Q5 holds the distinction being one of the only two smartphones with a Qwerty keyboard in its price range, the other being the two-year-old BlackBerry BoldTouch 9900.

Major rivals of BlackBerry Q5 in the Indian smartphone market include the likes of Google Nexus 4, Samsung Galaxy S4 mini, Sony XperiaSP and Nokia Lumia 820.