# XOLO Q3000 review from a Samsung owner!



## bhvm (Jun 27, 2014)

Hello Friends,
I just brought A Xolo Q3000 to replace my stellar Samsung Note GT-n7000. I always had a soft spot for Indian Brands. My Wife and sister use Lava 504Q. My Dad uses Micromax. I never had any problems with them. As a result,I thought of going local for my own personal Devices.

I am a heavy user and I always have Skype, Yahoo messenger,Gtalk and Whatsapp Running. I also have some other apps constantly running like Firewalls, network speed, Opera Mini (with Many tabs open). As a result I have 3G full on. I use almost all features of the Phone, Including odd ones like Light sensor (Lux meter),Compass, torch and more. This will give you a perception of demands i have from my device.

*Display- *Lets start with the Highlight of this Device. The Monsterous 5.7 inch FHD LCD screen. Screen is good quality however the Backlight is not bright enough. i have gone for matte Screen guard that helps sunlight legiblity but brighter backlight sure would have helped. In terms of overall quality and colours, i would still rate Samsung Note as better disply. Also, The OS allows only 4 rows of icons on this behemoth but my note allowed 5 rows despite smaller size and resolution.
Other problem is that the ambient light sensor is utterly useless. It keeps the display way too dim for any use. As a result despite having a sensor you won't be able to use it. The resolution of light sensor is way too coarse (100 lux) compared to Note sensor which was 1 lux accurate.
*Winner-Samsung Note*

*Sound- *Sound Quality of this phone is great. There is a trick called MTK engineering that will allow you to boost various volumes over their defaults. As a result watching vidoes has been a pleasure. However due to the placement of speaker, the sould is totally muffled when placed flat on table. Otherwise all is well.
*Winner- Tie.*

*Camera-* This monster sports a 16Mp BSi2 sensor and secondary BSI sensor cameras. Pixel to pixel there is not much improvement. However all the improvement lies in Android 4.2 Camera Interface. Lag is totally absent. There is HDR mode inbult (albeit it generates heavy noise) and Controls are very easy to use overall. I never had the camera app hang up which was a regular problem on Samsung note. The Full screen option generates widescreen photos at 13 MP resolution which are still decent enough. There is flexible panaroma Mode. beauty mode and face detecton. All of this works flawlessly.

The Flash LED is a let down though. I bet the Flash LED used on Samsung note is atleast 5x brighter, has a warmer tone and wider spread than this one. The Xolo uses a small 5mm LED which casts circular light like a torch. The tone is bluish and overall output is piss poor.

*Winner- Xolo 3000.*

*Battery- *The Phone is blessed with a bulky 4000 mAH battery. Its huge! I mean my LG optimus is the size of this battery alone! The battery is larger than iPhone as a whole. And it pays back. The battery runtime  is much better and i can get my phone to last 1.5 days with my regular heavy use. Note used to cry out by evening and shut off at 6pm!  Thanks Xolo!
However Please make spare battery available as its not available anywhere.
*Winner- Xolo.*
*
Performance & Sensors-*
Xolo is powered with mediatek 1.5ghz Turbo quad core processor whereas the Note is powered by dual core 1.4 ghz snapdragon. The performance of both phones is identical in day to day use. the Xolo is somewhat faster and also has better graphics quality in games. However the XOLO fails to decode 20Mp+ Photos with used to be displayed properly on my Note. Both phones heat up near their camera during heavy use which I hate.

Samsung Note has perhaps more sensors than a NASA rover! there is barometer, Altitude sensor and very accurate lux meter and Other gravity sensors. The Xolo Misses out on Altitude sensor and Barometer. The resolutions of Some other sensors is not as good as Note.
Xolo however has 2GB ram which means i do not need to use task killlers and about 1 GB ram is normally free.
*Winner-Tie!*

*Build-* This is what I love about Xolo. I am surpirsed that Samsung can pass on a plastic toy for a flagship device of 35k! The Build quality on samsung is totally pathetic. All the chrome has peeled of in Just 1 year of careful use. Small cracks have developed in sidewall without dropping the phone. The So called "gorilla" glass screen still gains scratches. The Back cover is totally glossy and is replate with scratches and blemishes. The smooth back means phone is prone to slippage which worsens the overall fragile attutide of phone.

Xolo on the other hand has a Nice rubbery-velvet back which is scratch resistant and provides good grip. the Phone is very large but is beautiful nonetheless. Camera piece has coffee chrome accent. Buttons are decently placed. The Power Jack and Audio jack both are on top which i liked a lot. The display is not gorilla glass but this can be easily solved with matte screen guard.
*Winner- Xolo all the way! Booo to samsung!!*

*Software- *Both phones run on latest android OS. However the samsung is Bloated with too many useless softwares that suck the battery life and cause annoyances. These apps keep running even when you never use them. I have rooted both phones and this made a huge difference to samsung by removing bloatware. Xolo, on the other hand has a minimalist attitude and has provided only useful apps like XOLO care, XOLO power and XOLO secure. However please take not that XOLO secure is known to be buggy software and you may end up locking your phone randomly.

One thing i Miss on Xolo is that the OS is not optimized to take advantage of large FHD display. The icons and widgets are still not souped up for better res. Actually less content compared than note fits on Xolo Homescreen. The only thing to take advantage of FHD today is Opera mini and Games.
*Winner- Xolo*

*Weight and Ergonomics- *Xolo is a monster. Altough it feels only slightly larger on paper, its  a behemoth! People with small hands and pockets kindly stay away. The Phone fits nicely in most jeans but Samsung fits MUCh better. The Phone is of same width but about half an inch longer than Note. I do not have any problems with this size and one should expect a 5.7 inch display to be that way.
Notification Light on the XOLO is a godsend and can be used in 2 colours. The Phyiscal home button of samsung is missing but I have learnt to live without it anyways. Also the capacitive buttons don't eat away into the screen like they do on Sony Xperia etc. Xolo has better placement of Ports and buttons are larger.
Most important is presence of Dual sim Functionality with samsung totally misses on flagship devices. One sim is Regular one but other sim is Micro sim on Xolo. Xolo also come with Free screen guard and OTG cable which a 35k phone skimps!
*Winner- Xolo!*

*Service- *So far both the phones have been working flawlessly. I would like to Buy a spare battery of Xolo but could not find any. Samsung spares are easily available. I hope Xolo improves its service soon
*Winner- Samsung
*
*Verdict-*
Xolo Q3000 is a bold attempt by indian brands that gives big names a Run for its money. i brought the Phone online for 17k and its simply half of what I brought Note for. The Functions and build are Better or atleast same as Big name brands and I would suggest xolo 3000 to anyone who is looking for a High end, Large phone.


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