Game for Xolo Play

High-end gaming-enabled phones have been on the radar for a while. Several brands have treaded this path; while some did well, some failed. Xolo Play T1000 has arrived to the party, to capture the imagination of a customer intending to carry a power-packed phone that also soothes his gaming senses. Here's how the Xolo Play fares:

Design
The handset boasts a 4.7-inch touch screen slab, with physical elements like the buttons built around the screen's frame. The screen has a resolution of 1,280 x 720 pixels. Due to the absence of a Gorilla Glass layer, the screen is prone to smudges but the display is brilliant. On the right side, we have the power key and volume rocker. At the back, you will find the camera module encased in an aluminium & glass island, with an LED flash below it. The speaker rests at the back, while the microphone is towards the bottom. The matte finish material renders a good grip. A 3.5 mm audio jack and the micro USB port are at the top. Under the removable back cover, you will find a 1,900 mAh battery pack, full size SIM card slot and a micro SD card slot. The build quality is fairly impressive, though it is slightly on the heavier side (167 g), and 10.44 mm thick.

Display

The screen has a pixel density of 312 ppi, which results in crisp text. The OGS technology adds value to viewing angles and makes the clarity worth praising. Sunlight visibility does not disappoint.

Software
T1000 runs on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. Xolo Play comes with TegraZone app. It has added apps such as Xolo Care (to communicate with customer care either via call, SMS or email), Xolo Power (to control energy saving features) and Xolo Secure (to maintain backup for data and detecting malware).

Performance
The device features a 1.5GHz NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor, with a 5th battery-saver core and 1GB of RAM. Despite the powerful chipset, performance is not as good as one expects. There's a hint of lag through the operating system. The phone has a tendency to hang when multiple applications are in process. Internal storage is fairly limited at 4GB, with just 2 GB at the user's disposal. However, you can expand it to 32 GB via a microSD card.

Camera
The 8MP camera at the back is capable of 1080p video recording at 30fps, which is reasonably good. The 1.9MP front camera can record VGA videos.

Gaming
While the Play 1000 is touted as a gaming device and has some powerful hardware (including a GeForce GPU), the gaming experience suffered from occasional lags. But it was definitely playable. The graphics quality was impressive, though it was also plagued by occasional jitters.

Connectivity & battery life
The T1000 ticks all the boxes in terms of connectivity options and these range from WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0 and A-GPS. Xolo has made it possible to install third party applications to the SD card. The battery manages a day of usage.

Verdict
At Rs 15,999, the T1000's performance could be a hit or miss but is not exactly a deal-breaker. If Xolo comes out with software updates to fix the few performance issues, it could be a hit in the gaming phones category.

Pros: Good display, powerful NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor, sturdy built
Cons: Battery life could have been better, software glitches
XOLO PLAY T1000
Weight: 167 g
Camera (rear/front): 8MP/ 2MP
Display: 4.7 inches TFT, 1280x720 pixels
OS: Android Jelly Bean, Processor: 1.5 GHz quad-core NVIDIA Tegra 3 chipset
Battery: 1,900 mAh,
RAM: 1 GB
Storage: 4 GB (expandable up to 32 GB)