The YUNIQUE aims to break a new price threshold for a 4G device with a HD screen.
The Koreans did it, the Chinese perfected it and now Indian smartphone brands are out to redefine the very term ‘value for money’. Cheap or ‘Value for Money’ doesn’t cut it any more. The ‘aspirational buyer’ is a growing market segment and this aspirational buyer doesn’t just want to buy a cheap phone but snag a device that also boasts of a ‘novelty value’ what some of us might call a ‘cool quotient’. It’s this cool quotient that helped sub Rs 10,000 Nokia/Windows smartphones withstand the onslaught of cheaper Android devices. YU might be less than a year old but this Indian brand has made a big impression with the Indian aspirational buyer. The YUNIQUE aims to break a new price threshold for a 4G device with a HD screen and at a sub 5,000 price tag it almost brought out the sceptic in us!
Yes, Rs 4,999 might seem like an audacious price point but hey this is 2015 and anything is possible. The YUNIQUE is the third device from the YU stable and gets its design language dead right. While the price point makes us naturally sceptical, we also measured the phone’s capabilities against the price tag and didn’t treat it like a device with a five figure sticker price. We like the clean lines and the all-black form of the YUNIQUE. The volume rocker and power button sit on the right spine; they merge into one unit with the power button in the centre and the ‘plus’ and ‘minus’ keys of the rocker on either side. This takes some getting used to. The Micro USB slot is in the base of the device while the 3.5mm headphone socket sits on the top centre. YU’s trademark camera lens (with a LED flash) is located on top of the back. We like the matte finish of the back; the device weighs 128 gms and feels quite good in your hands.
The 4.7-inch HD screen is one of the talking points of this device and it ought to be. 1280 x 720 pixels and a pixel density of 312PPI (Pixels per inch), more than impressive for this segment. A 1.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 Chipset is at the heart of this device with 1GB of RAM. We pushed this device with some moderately intensive gaming and it did okay but push it a little harder and it certainly wasn’t blazing fast. The YUNIQUE handles multi-tasking reasonably well too. The device clocked 19501 on our AnTuTu Benchmark test and a decent 3322 on the PCMark (Work performance score). Overall the device punches slightly above its weight. There’s 8GB of Internal Memory and a Micro SD slot under the back cover that supports cards up to 32GB. There are also two Micro SIM slots on the rear; the battery is not removable though.
The 2000mAh battery should get you through a whole day at work. The battery dropped to about 25% after about 10 hours with WhatsApp, about 15-20 minutes on YouTube, some camera use and gaming for about 30 minutes. The battery is clearly one of the features that YUNIQUE has got right. The 8MP camera produces decent results; don’t expect stellar results in low light though. It’s the same with the 2MP front facing camera – good enough for the odd candid selfie but certainly not for those lowlight scenarios. Clearly the camera is one area where price does matter and yet we think the YUNIQUE is one of the better performers at this price point. YU keeps the User interface clutter free and free of any annoying bloatware; the device runs on Android 5.1 (Lollipop) and you can enjoy a pure-play Android experience. The device also supports the latest version of Cyanogenmod – 12.1.
YUNIQUE does have its chinks – there are occasional stutters and the front facing cam might not please the truly ‘vain’ who click selfies at every conceivable opportunity. The device has a lot going for it like the build quality and the solid battery life. It’s certainly not low on cool quotient and heck, it costs lesser than the Apple Pencil!
What we liked: Build quality, clutter-free user experience, battery life
What we didn’t like: Front facing camera, occasional bugs
Price: Rs 4,999
Specifications:
- 1.2 GHz Quad core Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 chipset
- 1GB of RAM (DDR 3 / 64-bit architecture)
- 8GB of internal memory (Extendable up to 32 GB)
- 8MP primary cam and 2MP front facing camera
- Dual SIM
- Choice of Android 5.1 (Lollipop) and Cyanogen OS 12.1 (FOTA)
- 4.7-inch HD Screen (720 x 1280 pixels / 312 PPI)
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