Best five smartphones in India money can buy [June 2012]

We tried comparing  top 5  Smartphones available in India now keeping in mind some of the most important features a smart phone got to hold. This is not a budget smartphone list and your pockets are going to burn. But for good!

1. HTC One X:

The HTC One X brings one of the best processors, a HD screen on an amazingly thin chassis. One X is a love at first sight phone,  a savior for HTC off-lately amidst it’s profits fall. Talks also suggest  an Android Jelly Beans ( 4.1.0 ) for One X coming pretty soon.

Powered by a speed king Quad-core 1.5 GHz Nvidia Tegra 3, it runs on the Android v4.0 (IceCream Sandwich) OS. A Li-Po 1800 mAh battery ensures sufficient talktime and resistance against the hungry processor.

On the display side, it has a significant size of 4.7 Inches TFT touchscreen providing a resolution of WVGA, 720 x 1280 pixels which can cater needs of a tablet too (at times). The screen is protected by a Corning Gorilla Glass. HTC has it’s own Sense UI incorporated.

For capturing, it’s loaded with an 8 MP quality primary and a 1.3 MP secondary camera with features like Simultaneous HD video and image recording, geo-tagging, face and smile detection. Additional features include Beats Audio, Organizer, Document editor, Image editor, Google Search, Maps, Gmail, YouTube, Calendar, Google Talk, Picasa integration, Voice memo/dial, Predictive text input (Swype).

On the internet and connectivity side, HTML, Adobe Flash are the preinstalled browsers, supports GPRS (Class 12, 48 kbps), Edge (Class 12), 3G (7.2 Mbps HSDPA; 5.76 Mbps HSUPA), Wifi (802.11 b/g/n), GPS, Bluetooth v2.1, DLNA and a 3.5 mm audio jack.

The memory is backed by an internal storage of 32 GB (26 GB user-available) storage. RAM is 1 GB.

Important features in a nutshell:

• OS version: v4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
• Processor: 1 Quad-core 1.5 GHz
• Primary Camera: 8 MP
• Secondary Camera: 1.3 MP
• Internal storage: 32 GB
• External storage: No
• RAM: 1 GB
• Battery: Li-Po 1800 mAh
• Display: 4.7 inch

It’s priced at Rs 36,099 on Flipkart. Buy Now.

2.      Samsung Galaxy SIII:

The 4.8 inched screen, quad core processor and Sony camera are among the highly appreciated specifications of the recently launched Samsung galaxy S3.

On reviewing the global version of the Samsung Galaxy S3, Jessica Dolcourt from CNET said she was thankful to Samsung for not keeping the screen as ludicrously big as the 5.3 inched Samsung Galaxy Note, and instead giving the phone an unnecessarily large yet appreciable 4.8 inched screen.

Powered by a Quad-core 1.4 GHz Cortex-A9, it runs on the Android v4.0.4 (IceCream Sandwich) OS. A Li-Ion 2100 mAh battery sufficient talktime of Up to 21 h 40 min (2G) / Up to 11 h 40 min (3G).

On the display side, it has a significant size of 4.8 Inches TFT touchscreen providing a resolution of WVGA, 720 x 1280 pixels. Resolution of the Samsung Galaxy S3 is almost as many pixels offered by some 13 inched laptops. The Galaxy S3 is amongst the first phones to feature the Corning Gorilla Glass 2 which is 20% slimmer and has a much better touch responsiveness.

For capturing, it’s loaded with an 8 MP quality primary and a 1.9 MP secondary camera with features like Simultaneous HD video and image recording, geo-tagging, face and smile detection. Additional features include Organizer, Document editor, Image editor, Google Search, Maps, Gmail, YouTube, Calendar, Google Talk, Picasa integration, Voice memo/dial, Predictive text input (Swype).

S-Voice natural language commands and dictation , Smart Stay eye tracking and a Dropbox (50 GB storage) are entirely new features.

On the internet and connectivity side, HTML, Adobe Flash are the preinstalled browsers, supports GPRS (Class 12, 48 kbps), Edge (Class 12), 3G (7.2 Mbps HSDPA; 5.76 Mbps HSUPA), Wifi (802.11 b/g/n), GPS, Bluetooth v2.1, DLNA and a 3.5 mm audio jack.

The memory is backed by an internal storage of 16/32/64 GB variable capacities. RAM is

1 GB.

Important features in a nutshell:

• OS version: v4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
• Processor: Quad-core 1.4 GHz Cortex-A9
• Primary Camera: 8 MP
• Secondary Camera: 1.9 MP
• Internal storage: 32 GB
• External storage: No
• RAM: 1 GB
• Battery: Li-Po 1800 mAh
• Display: 4.7 inch

It’s priced at Rs 38,900 on Flipkart. Buy Now.

3.     iPhone 4S:

While the iPhone 4S looks like the previous year’s iPhone 4, it has a a faster processor, better optics, a new antenna array, and Siri, Apple personal virtual assistant, making it an impressive upgrade. Oh, and the Apple name attached to it. It’s pricy because of it’s own brand value.

Powered by a Dual-core 1 GHz Cortex-A9 processor , it runs on iOS 5 (upgradable to iOS 5.1) OS. A Li-Po 1432 mAh battery provides sufficient talktime of Up to 14 h (2G) / Up to 8 h (3G).

On the display side, it has a 3.5 Inches (Apple has traditionally beleibed in smaller screens) TFT touchscreen providing a resolution of 640 x 960 pixels. The display is made of Corning Gorilla Glass with oleophobic coating.

For capturing, it’s loaded with an 8 MP world class camera and a secondary VGA camera with features like Touch focus, geo-tagging, face detection, HDR. Additional features include Scratch-resistant glass back panel, Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic, Siri natural language commands and dictation, iCloud cloud service, Twitter integration, TV-out, Google Maps, Audio/video player and editor, Image editor, Voice command/dial.

On the internet and connectivity side, HTML (Safari) is the preinstalled browser, supports GPRS (Class 12, 48 kbps), Edge (Class 12), 3G (7.2 Mbps HSDPA; 5.76 Mbps HSUPA), Wifi (802.11 b/g/n), GPS, Bluetooth v2.1, DLNA and a 3.5 mm audio jack.

The memory is backed by an internal storage of 16/32/64 GB variable capacities. RAM is

1 GB.

Important features in a nutshell:

• OS version: iOS 5, upgradable to iOS 5.1
• Processor: Dual-core 1 GHz Cortex-A9
• Primary Camera: 8 MP
• Secondary Camera: VGA
• Internal storage: 32 GB
• External storage: No
• RAM: 512 MB
• Battery: Li-Po 1432 mAh
• Display: 3.5 inch

The 16 GB model is priced at Rs 44,500 on buytheprice. Buy Now.

 4.     Samsung Galaxy Note:

A phablet (combination of smartphone and tablet) rather than a smartphone, this giant possesses a 5.3 inches display with a Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen and provides 800 x 1280 pixels.

Featuring a Dual-core 1.4 GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor, it runs on the Android OS, v2.3.5 (Gingerbread), planned upgrade to v4.0 OS. A Li-Ion 2500 mAh battery ensures Up to Up to 960 h (2G) / Up to 820 h (3G) standby time and Up to Up to 26 h 10 min (2G) / Up to 13 h 30 min (3G) of talktime.

For capturing, it’s loaded with a 8 MP, 3264×2448 pixels, autofocus, LED flash and a 2 MP secondary cameras.

On the internet and connectivity side, HTML 5 and Adobe Flash are the preinstalled browsers, supports 2G and 3G networks, Wifi (802.11 b/g/n), GPS, Bluetooth v2.1, DLNA and a 3.5 mm audio jack.

The memory is backed by an internal storage of 16 GBstorage. An external card slot allows 32 GB memory . RAM is 1 GB.

The Samsung Galaxy Note is priced at Rs. 32,400. Buy now.

5.     HTC One S:

This guy is another hot kid in town and has off-lately been a Galaxy S2 competitor. If you scroll up and down, you won’t find the S2 because of this reason. Not like it’s bro One X, but this still has the potential to steal your money.

Powered by a Dual-core 1.5 GHz Krait processor, it runs on the Android v4.0 (IceCream Sandwich) OS. A Li-Po 1650 mAh battery sufficient talktime of Up to 21 h 40 min (2G) / Up to 11 h 40 min (3G).

On the display side, it has a significant size of 4.3 Inches Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen providing a resolution of 540 x 960  pixels.

For capturing, it’s loaded with an 8 MP quality primary and a VGA secondary camera with features like Simultaneous HD video and image recording, geo-tagging, face and smile detection. Additional features include Beats Audio, Organizer, Document editor, Image editor, Google Search, Maps, Gmail, YouTube, Calendar, Google Talk, Picasa integration, Voice memo/dial, Predictive text input (Swype).

On the internet and connectivity side, HTML, Adobe Flash are the preinstalled browsers, supports GPRS (Class 12, 48 kbps), Edge (Class 12), 3G (7.2 Mbps HSDPA; 5.76 Mbps HSUPA), Wifi (802.11 b/g/n), GPS, Bluetooth v2.1, DLNA and a 3.5 mm audio jack.

The memory is backed by an internal storage of 16 GB. RAM is 1 GB.

Important features in a nutshell:

• OS version: v4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
• Processor: Dual-core 1.5 GHz Krait
• Primary Camera: 8 MP
• Secondary Camera: VGA
• Internal storage: 16 GB
• External storage: No
• RAM: 1 GB
• Battery: Li-Po 1650 mAh
• Display: 4.7 inch

It’s priced at Rs 33,590 on infibeam. Buy Now.

Our Verdict:

• iPhone 4S if you want an extremely well user experience. Nothing more, nothing less. Or else,
• The Samsung Galaxy S3. It will cost 2k (approax) more than the One X but S-Voice, Corning Gorilla Glass 2, Smart Stay eye tracking and a Dropbox (50 GB storage) are just the right features to compensate.