Micromax's 'Yureka' moment

Micromax, India's number one smartphone vendor, has grown manifold in terms of popularity of late. With a wide range of affordable gadgets, it has taken the market by storm and has been a cause of headache for its rivals. However, questions have often been raised on the durability and looks of the products they offer. Recently, Micromax launched a subsidiary company, Yu Televentures. The move, as the top bosses of the firm say, aims at developing smartphones that would invite the tech-savvy and budget-conscious youth's attention.

Yu's first offering, the Yureka, has generated quite a buzz. With impressive specifications, a big screen and competitive pricing, the device sounds promising enough to give the Xiaomi Redmi Note a stiff competition. Today, we shall dwell upon the experience we had with our review unit, which we have been using for a week.

Design

The absence of any Micromax label on the device or the box came as a surprise to us. It is evident Yu does not want to be associated with its parent company. In terms of design, the Yu Yureka is significantly different from any other device from Micromax. You will find the 5.5-inch IPS panel display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3, complemented by a sandstone finish on the rear cover that will remind you of the OnePlus One. However, we can say easily say it is not anywhere close to the quality of the OnePlus One. Though, it is better than the regular glossy plastic cover available with most smartphones in this price range. Beneath the removable cover, you will find the SIM-card slots. Also, there is a microSD-card slot next to the removable battery. The camera and flash are tucked away in one corner and the only other thing seen is a small speaker grill running across the bottom. The power and volume buttons can be easily reached on the sides, and the microUSB and headset sockets are at the bottom and top, respectively.

Software

The smartphone comes with impressive specifications. It is powered by a 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 system on chip that houses an octa-core processor clocked at 1.5GHz and the Adreno 405 GPU clocked at 550MHz. You will also find a 2GB RAM, which is aided by 16GB of storage. Of the 16GB, 12.8GB is available to the user. Storage can be expanded up to 32GB. The dual-SIM phone supports Cat4 4G LTE with TDD 2,300MHz and FDD 1,800MHz bands for India. The screen offers a 720X1,280-pixel resolution, which is crisp and clear.

The Cyanogen operating system is something we were looking forward to, and it has not disappointed. It's highly customisable and allows the user to play around with the interface.

Performance

The 5.5-inch Yureka screen offers good viewing angles. The pixel density of 267 an inch might not be able to provide the sharpest images, but at this price, it is not really a deal-breaker. The phone's built-in speaker was reasonably loud. We did not encounter any issues with call quality. On average use, the 2,500mAh battery survived for about eight hours. Visibility is sunlight was not irritating.

The 13MP rear camera came as a surprise package. The image quality in good light was impressive, much better than what other camera phones have to offer in this segment. However, images clicked in low light had nothing to write home about. The device supports full high-definition video recording and the ones we captured came out reasonably good.

Verdict

One cannot deny that smartphone users in the country admire big screens and anything that is priced not high enough. With the Yu Yureka, Micromax seems to have struck the right chord. The Yureka has a lot going for it - the Cyanogen operating system, the big screen, the absence of a plastic rear cover and the amazing price. The device has everything a common smartphone user would need at just the right price. Hence, at Rs 8,999, we would say this is a gadget worth checking out before investing in any mid-range smartphone.

Specifications

Screen: 5.5-inch 720X1,280 pixels

Processor: Qualcomm MSM8939 Snapdragon 615 octa-core 64 bit
Cameras: 13MP (rear), 5MP (front)
OS: Android v4.4.2 (KitKat)
RAM: 2GB
Battery: 2,500mAh battery
Price: Rs 8,999