Smartphones are continuously challenging the human technological innovation, however, every new technology or new feature comes with a price. Sadly, sometimes the manufacturers tend to focus more on marketing and forget about the price, which as of today, is one of the prime driving factors of buying a smartphone in India. While on one side of the table, companies are going aggressive with the pricing, some companies often go ignorant and try to bump up its margin in the initial period, if not always. Which is where we decided to pen down top 5 smartphones which are overpriced and should be left on the shelves for as long as they exist.
Note- This list is majorly affected by the price to specification comparison so forewarning if you feel the list to be a little biased.
HTC U Ultra
HTC, which was once known for its top of the line design and experimental features, went down pretty swiftly in terms of smartphone sales. Back in March 2017, the company launched a smartphone which went on to become one of the most overpriced smartphones of the year. Launched at Rs 59,990, HTC U Ultra is currently available for about Rs 41,000 but still doesn’t impress us in a lot of ways. Apart from being a gigantic piece of tech, the HTC U Ultra has a really small battery at 3000 mAh for its size and lacks a tonne of features which are still present in devices much cheaper than its current price. To start with, we get a 5.7-inch display up front along with a not so useful secondary display at the top. There is no Headphone jack despite it being such a huge smartphone. No water resistance, no wireless charging and the device even ran into overheating issues. We don’t expect HTC to be prompt with the updates as well. Overall, if you are willing to spend Rs 41,000 on a smartphone, skip this one.
>Display: 5.7-inch Quad HD LCD | 2.05-inch Secondary Display (160 x 1040 pixels)
>Processor: 2.15 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 | Adreno 530 GPU
>RAM/Storage: 4GB RAM/64GB storage | Expandable 256GB (hybrid slot)
>Camera: Rear 12 MP f/1.8 | Front 16MP
>Battery: 3000 mAh
>Android: 7.0 Nougat
Alternatives: LG G6 and Google Pixel are a much better choice here if you want to stick to Android platform.
Vivo V5 Plus
While Vivo is doing good for itself in the Indian smartphone market, it doesn’t really ponder a lot about the pricing. A heavy marketing budget has helped the company to increase sales figures many folds in this past year. However, does it really offer the best bang for the buck devices? Well, a big No! Take Vivo V5 Plus as an example. Launched earlier this year, Vivo V5 Plus shares a lot of specifications with the Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 and is priced almost double which is absurd given how the Indian smartphone market operates. We are not saying that Vivo V5 Plus is a bad device, however, it fails to justify its price. No doubt, it has an impressive camera and the front dual camera setup might interest some, but when we talk value, Vivo V5 Plus doesn’t stand a chance.
>Display: 5.5-inch Full HD LCD (1920 x 1080 pixels)
>Processor: 2.0 GHz Octa-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 | Adreno 506
>RAM/Storage: 4GB RAM/64GB storage | Not expandable
>Camera: Rear 16MP f/2.0 | Front 20MP+8MP f/2.0
>Battery: 3160 mAh Non Removable
>Android: 6.0 Marshmallow
Alternatives: Moto Z2 Play or OnePlus 3T will serve you much better for this price.
Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra
Just like HTC, Sony has lost its grip on good smartphones. Even with an impressive camera implementation in almost every device, the Japanese company have struggled to make an impression for quite some time now. After scrapping its entire budget lineup, Sony hasn’t tasted any sweet in mid-range or premium segment as well. The Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra, apart from its strange name is also not very impressive when we consider it price. Available for about Rs 29,999, Sony Xperia XA1 Ultra is a behemoth device with a 6-inch 1080p display at the front. Still, Sony managed to fit in only a 2700 mAh battery inside. The Helio P20 Chipset clocked at 2.35GHz isn’t that impressive as well and company’s poor software optimization continuous to plague the overall experience here.
>Display: 6-inch Full HD LCD (1920 x 1080 pixels)
>Processor: 2.3 GHz MediaTek MT6757 Helio P20 | Mali T880MP2 GPU
>RAM/Storage: 4GB RAM/64GB storage | Expandable 256GB (dedicated slot)
>Camera: Rear 23MP f/2.0 | Front 16MP f/2.0
>Battery: 2700 mAh Non-Removable
>Android: 7.0 Nougat
Alternatives: Recently launched Honor 8 Pro and OnePlus 5 are much better options for this price range.
Oppo F3
While Vivo is having a good sales figures, its sister company ‘Oppo’ is also enjoying the stardom, Thanks to the aggressive advertising strategies that both the companies follow. However, the story here resembles a lot to that of Vivo’s. Both the companies have managed to attract loads of customers but aren’t really concentrating much on the feature aspect of the smartphones. Baring the selfie cameras, Oppo doesn’t have any unique selling proposition in its smartphones. To be honest, weighing too much on just a selfie camera doesn’t promise you a decent overall experience. Further, the price which comes attached with most of the Oppo smartphones tends to be on the higher side of each segment. And we are not even touching the software part, as of now. The Oppo F3 which is priced at s 19,999, is a prime example of a mediocre spec’d device priced way more than it should. The MediaTek MT6750T Processor is mostly seen in sub 15K smartphones and a dated Android version along with a not so new design skips most of the checks for a recommended smartphone list.
>Display: 5.5-inch Full HD LCD (1920 x 1080 pixels)
>Processor: 1.5 Octa-Core MediaTek 6750T SoC | Mali T860MP2 GPU
>RAM/Storage: 4GB RAM/64GB storage | Expandable 256GB (hybrid slot)
>Camera: Rear 13MP f/2.2 | Front 16MP + 8MP f/2.4
>Battery: 3200 mAh Non-Removable
>Android: 6.0 Marshmallow
Alternatives: Moto G5 Plus and Gionee A1 easily outguns the Oppo F3 in terms of both specifications and price.
Nokia 6
We are pretty sure, you were not expecting this. Nokia 6 was sold out in seconds when it went on its first flash sale on Amazon India yesterday. Moreover, the Finnish company have always had that reputational advantage in India and we are not surprised that the smartphone is doing so well. But, is it priced well for the Indian market? Although we cannot comment on the overall performance as we are yet to get our hands on the device but on paper, Nokia 6 doesn’t really justify its price. Priced at Rs 14,999, Nokia 6 comes with a 1.4 GHz Octa-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 which, if you compare, powers Xiaomi’s Redmi 3S and 3S Prime. Apart from this, Nokia 6 manages to wrap in a decent 1080p display and a beautiful aluminium unibody design. Even the Stock Android experience with the latest Android 7.1.1 kind of collects the good points, still we wish Nokia 6 could have been a couple of thousands cheaper.
>Display: 5.5-inch Full HD LCD (1920 x 1080 pixels)
>Processor: 1.4 GHz Octa-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 | Adreno 505
>RAM/Storage: 4GB RAM/64GB storage | Expandable 256GB (hybrid slot)
>Camera: Rear 16MP f/2.0 | Front 8MP f/2.0
>Battery: 3000 mAh Non-Removable
>Android: 7.1.1 Marshmallow
Alternatives:Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 still rules the sub 15k price segment while Lenovo K8 Note just makes things easier as it comes with stock Android as well.