The festive season has just begun and if you are planning to purchase a smartphone, here is a list of 25 devices that have seen a drop of Rs 500 to Rs 5,000 in their prices this month.
In our research, we have found that eight smartphones from BlackBerry, five from Sony, three from Motorola and HTC each, two from Samsung and one each from Nokia, Huawei, Lava and Apple have seen a drop in their prices.
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Galaxy Ace Duos
Old price: Rs 12,000
New price: Rs 11,400
The Galaxy Ace Duos comes with a dual SIM feature which allows users to swap SIMs without turning the phone off. When activated, this feature automatically forwards calls from SIM 2 to SIM 1 when the user is using SIM 1, or vice versa, ensuring that no calls are missed.
The Ace Duos has an 832 MHz processor, and HSDPA 7.2 Mbps and WiFi b/g/n connectivity. Besides, it has a 5 megapixel Autofocus camera, 8.9 cm HVGA screen, Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system and 3 GB internal memory.
Like other Samsung Galaxy smartphones, it too comes with the TouchWiz UX interface that provides a premium navigation experience. Galaxy Ace Duos comes with a 1,300 mAh battery, which Samsung claims provides 6.5 hours of talk time on 3G and approximately 16 hours on 2G.
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Galaxy S Duos
Old price: Rs 17,990
New price: Rs 16,900
Galaxy S Duos is a dual SIM Android smartphone with a 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM 7227A processor running Google’s Android Ice Cream Sandwich on its big 4 inch display. Inspired by the design featured on the Samsung Galaxy SIII, the Galaxy S Duos looks good and sure enough, is quite an object of desire.
The 4 inch LCD display comes with 480 x 800 pixel resolution while the 1 GHz processor coupled with 768 MB RAM takes care of applications. The device utilises a slightly older but functional Adreno 200 graphics engine which will be good enough for most tasks, but HD gaming is one area where the device will lag.
Galaxy S Duos comes with 4 GB onboard storage, which can be expanded by 32 GB using a standard micro SDHC card. Imaging is handled by a 5 megapixel auto focus camera that is capable of recording VGA resolution videos, but there is an LED flash for illumination in low light conditions. On the front there is another VGA camera for video calls.
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Nokia 808 PureView
Old price: Rs 32,000
New price: Rs 31,500
The Nokia PureView 808 smartphone features a single core 1.3 GHz mobile processor with 512 MB RAM. The 41 megapixel camera of Nokia 808 incorporates a new technology called PureView which is jointly developed by Nokia and Carl Zeiss. Bearing an f/2.8 aperture, the 41 megapixel camera will come with Xenon flash and promises 7728 x 5354 pixel images in 16:9 format.
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Sony Xperia P
Old price: Rs 24,400
New price: Rs 22,490
Xperia P is the smaller cousin of the Sony Xperia S that was launched in India in April this year. Sony Xperia P is based on Android operating system and has a 4 inch scratch resistant TFT touchscreen with 960 x 540 pixel resolution. The phone is powered by a 1 GHz dual core processor.
The Sony Xperia P has an 8 megapixel camera with auto focus and LED flash and a VGA camera in the front to aid video calling and conferencing. The Xperia P comes with 16 GB internal storage, of which 13 GB will be available for the user to store his data.
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Sony Xperia U
Old price: Rs 16,100
New price: Rs 14,790
Xperia U features a 1 GHz processor and has access to Sony’s Entertainment Network that allows users to watch the latest Hollywood blockbusters on Video Unlimited or listen to millions of songs through Music Unlimited.
The Xperia U has a 3.5 inch screen powered by Sony’s Bravia Engine technology. The Xperia device will feature 3G, WiFi, Bluetooth and NFC connectivity, and is DLNA certified as well. Sharing the same design philosophy as the Xperia S, this new smartphone will also have a transparent bar just under the screen that enhances visuals significantly.
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Sony Xperia Go
Old price: Rs 18,500
New price: Rs 17,700
Sony Xperia Go features a 3.5 inch reality display with 320 x 480 pixel resolution and up to four-point touch sensitivity.
Xperia Go comes with a 5 megapixel main camera but misses out on a front camera, so no video calling. It is powered by a 1 GHz dual core processor along with 512 MB RAM and 8 GB onboard memory for smooth operations.
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Sony Xperia Ion
Old price: Rs 35,300
New price: Rs 32,490
At about 10.6 mm thick, the new Xperia Ion is a power packed device with large 4.6 inch touchscreen and 1280 x 720 pixel native resolution. This touchscreen is a Reality Display with a scratch resistant, shatter proof sheet on the mineral glass.
Under the hood, the Xperia Ion houses a dual core 1.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 MSM8260 mobile processor with 1 GB memory. This processor is coupled with Adreno 220 graphics that is good enough to run the most recent mobile games. This smartphone is PlayStation certified and can therefore run legacy games with on-screen control buttons.
At the back, the Xperia Ion has a 12.1 megapixel camera to click high quality images and record 1080p HD video at 30 frames per second. In the front, there is a 1.3 megapixel camera capable of recording 720p videos.
Packing 16 GB on-board storage, the smartphone offers a Memory card slot with support for up to 32 GB. Besides, the phone also features Near Field Communication and will be compatible with Sony SmartTags.
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Sony Xperia SL
Old price: Rs 31,000
New price: Rs 30,700
Sony Xperia SL comes with a 4.3 inch HD screen which Sony says has higher Pixel density than any Sony smartphone and claims to have the sharpest screen among phones.
The device runs on a 1.7 GHz Qualcomm MSM8260 dual core processor and Android 4.0 operating system. Sony has also put a Walkman application on the phone that provides enhanced music capabilities with a manual equaliser and surround sound. There is also a 12.1 megapixel camera at the back, besides a front facing camera.
Sony will also offer 50 GB Cloud Storage free with this phone. The phone is PSP certified and will allow you to play PlayStation games with virtual keys. There is also the Sony entertainment network but then it is still not active in India, so we will talk about it when it does get active. The phone is DLNA certified as usual.
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Motorola Atrix 2
Old price: Rs 19,500
New price: Rs 18,500
Atrix 2 features a 4.3 inch LCD display with quarter HD (960 x 540 pixel) resolution and dual core 1 GHz mobile processor. It has 8 GB on-board memory too.
Motorola India has started rolling out the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update for its Atrix 2 smartphones.
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Motorola Droid Razr
Old price: Rs 24,200
New price: Rs 22,000
Motorola Droid Razr has a 4.3 inch Super AMOLED touchscreen display and houses a dual core 1.2 GHz mobile processor coupled with 1 GB RAM. It has an 8 megapixel camera at the back for high quality imaging and even the front facing camera promises HD quality.
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Motorola Defy XT
Old price: Rs 15,790
New price: Rs 13,900
As the successor of the Defy+, the new Defy XT comes with IP67 standard certification for being water resistant, scratch resistant and dust proof. The Defy XT features a 3.7 inch touchscreen display that supports 480 x 854 pixel resolution and is made of Corning Gorilla Glass technology for strength. Under the hood lies a single core 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S1 MSM7227A mobile processor with 512 MB RAM and 1 GB ROM. At the back lies a 5 megapixel camera with auto focus as well as flash and there is a front facing VGA camera for video chat. Even this smartphone will have a 2 GB micro SD card included, while one can add up to a 32 GB memory card to it.
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HTC One S
Old price: Rs 28,700
New price: Rs 25,600
HTC One S features a 4.3 inch Super AMOLED Display built using Gorilla Glass technology for strength, and will support 960 x 540 pixel resolution natively. It has a dual core 1.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 mobile processor, 1 GB RAM and 64 GB on board storage.
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HTC Desire V
Old price: Rs 20,500
New price: Rs 17,000
HTC Desire V comes with a 4 inch display, 1 GHz processor running on Android Ice Cream Sandwich and a 5 megapixel camera for shutter bugs.
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HTC Desire VC
Old price: Rs 20,650
New price: Rs 19,600
The HTC Desire VC was recently launched in India. It comes with a 4 inch screen, the latest HTC Sense 4.0, Android 4.0 operating system, and support for dual SIM (CDMA EV- DO and GSM).
The Desire VC features Beats Audio for better audio quality just like the HTC One series smartphones do. It also comes with camera enhancements found on the one series, along with design elements like a durable metal frame and metal camera bezel.
Other features of the Desire VC include 4 GB internal memory, which is expandable up to 32 GB, a 1 GHz Cortex-A5 processor and 1650 mAh battery. Just like other smartphones, HTC is also offering 25 GB Dropbox space with this handset.
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BlackBerry Torch 9860
Old price: Rs 20,800
New price: Rs 19,700
BlackBerry Torch 9860 is a GSM model and comes preloaded with BlackBerry 7 OS and a Near Field Communication chip which allows transactions, data exchange, and wireless connections between two devices in close proximity to each other.
The device comes with a 3.7 inch touchscreen which, according to RIM, is the largest on a BlackBerry smartphone yet. The BlackBerry Torch 9860 is powered by a 1.2 GHz Qualcomm MSM 8655 processor with 768 MB RAM and 4 GB ROM on board with a Memory card slot for up to 32 GB.
RIM has added a 5 megapixel camera with flash and continuous autofocus. Its camera is also capable of recording 720p HD video. Very curvaceous at the edges, the Torch 9860 has an optical trackpad with dedicated Menu, Send and End keys.
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BlackBerry Torch 9810
Old price: Rs 27,500
New price: Rs 26,500
BlackBerry Torch 9810 features a large 3.2 inch high resolution touch display and slide-out QWERTY keyboard that allows for faster typing. The smartphone has 8 GB of memory, which is expandable up to 32 GB with a micro SD card that helps users to take more pictures, capture more videos and download more apps.
The 1.2 GHz processor of BlackBerry Torch 9810 makes browsing faster than ever. The smartphone is also loaded with a 5 megapixel camera with flash.
With the BlackBerry 7 OS, the new Torch 9810 is enabled with a digital compass and accelerometer.
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BlackBerry Curve 3G 9300
Old price: Rs 13,500
New price: Rs 11,170
Curve 3G 9300 is an updated version of the Curve 8520, RIM’s previous entry level model. RIM has added support for 3G in this phone.
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BlackBerry Curve 9360
Old price: Rs 18,000
New price: Rs 17,500
BlackBerry Curve 9360 smartphone comes with a 2.44 inch touchscreen, but it is unlike those that the older Curve smartphones had. To make this device stylish and good looking the company has given it a slim profile whereas the weight of the device has been kept low at 99 grams.
It is powered by BlackBerry 7 OS and runs on an 800 MHz single core processor. This phone comes with 512 MB of RAM, 512 MB ROM, 4 GB Internal Memory and an option to expand memory up to 32 GB via a micro SD card.
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BlackBerry Curve 9380
Old price: Rs 16,800
New price: Rs 15,790
This will be the first BlackBerry Curve smartphone to sport a touchscreen. Besides, it will also come with new technologies such as NFC and augmented reality.
Its 3.2 inch screen will support 480 x 360 pixel resolution with 4:3 aspect ratio, and has 189 pixels per inch density. The smartphone also features BlackBerry’s Social Feeds application, which ties all of your social networks together in one place. With Social Feeds you can update each of your social networks at once, and new messages from your friends will pop up at the top of the screen so you can check them quickly and easily.
This phone has a 5 megapixel camera.
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BlackBerry Bold 9790
Old price: Rs 26,450
New price: Rs 24,500
The Bold 9790 has a 2.44 inch display that will support 480 x 360 pixel resolution in 4:3 aspect ratio. In terms of physical design, it appears to be a cross between the Bold 9700 and BlackBerry Torch 9850.
Under the hood, this smartphone sports a powerful 1 GHz processor, 8 GB of memory and a 5 megapixel auto focus camera. It will also come with Near Field Communication (NFC) which will allow users to read smart tags on signs and posters, and connect with other NFC enabled devices with a simple tap.
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BlackBerry Bold Touch 9900
Old price: Rs 32,100
New price: Rs 30,600
BlackBerry Bold 9900 supports fourth generation or 4G networks. The device is powered by a 1.2 GHz processor that operates at almost double the speed of the processors of existing BlackBerry phones. Along with that, 768 MB RAM ensures smooth functioning.
The device features 8 GB onboard memory for storage along with support for 32 GB via SDHC cards.
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BlackBerry Curve 9320
Old price: Rs 15,500
New price: Rs 14,700
BlackBerry Curve 9320 features a 2.4 inch display that supports 320 x 240 pixel resolution. It houses 512 MB ROM and 512 MB RAM to make the BlackBerry 7.1 OS run smoothly. For additional storage, one can use a memory card of up to 32 GB.
RIM has also added a 3.2 megapixel camera with LED flash and image stabilisation for photography. Other features include Bluetooth 2.1, an accelerometer, stereo FM with radio, and 1450 mAh battery that promises continuous talk time of 7 hours.
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Apple iPhone 4S
Old price: Rs 40,500
New price: Rs 38,500
The iPhone 4S comes with an A5 processor and support for both CMDA and GSM networks, so now CDMA users will also be able to enjoy the benefits of their iPhone over their existing service. Along with that the Apple iPhone 4S comes with an 8 megapixel camera supporting 1080p video capability. The iPhone 4S is available with up to 64 GB of internal storage.
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Huawei Ascend G300
Old price: Rs 12,300
New price: Rs 10,500
Huawei Ascend G300 comes with a 4.0 inch WVGA screen with IPS technology and anti-fingerprint design. Ascend G300 has a 5 megapixel auto focus camera with video recording capabilities and LED flash.
It has a 1 GHz CPU and Android 2.3 operating system. Another attractive feature of this handset is that it takes less than 120 minutes to get fully charged with its supplied high power charger.
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Lava Xolo X900
Old price: Rs 22,000
New price: Rs 17,500
Xolo X900 features a 1.6 GHz application processor, which has been provided by the world’s largest chip manufacturer Intel. The phone comes with a 4 inch screen and 16 GB internal memory.
In terms of multimedia, the device has an 8 megapixel snapper encrusted with LED flash that is capable of recording 1080p HD video at 30 frames per second.