Diwali shopping: 12 hot new phones to consider

By Hardik Singh | Updated Oct 15 2014
Diwali shopping: 12 hot new phones to consider

Diwali is almost here which means new launches, big discounts and Diwali bonuses. Here is a list of twelve new phones that have arrived in time for this festive season and for you to consider.

Diwali shopping: 12 hot new phones to consider

Blackberry Passport
Price: Rs. 49,999

Blackberry is back and with a 'squared' perspective. The new Blackberry Passport brings an unorthodox 1440x1440 pixel 4.5 inch square screen. Blackberry claims that the new square screen can and should mimic your PC screen. The device is aimed at the business consumer with its productivity centric approach. The smartphone offers the best hardware Blackberry has ever offered- a Snapdragon 801 chip, 3GB of RAM, 32GB internal storage and 13MP camera.

Diwali shopping: 12 hot new phones to consider

Lenovo Vibe Z2 Pro
Price: Rs. 32,999

The Lenovo Vibe Z2 Pro is a big six inch phone but somehow doesn't feel that big. The curved metal back and a bright 2K display makes the phone stand out. In terms of specs the phone is no slouch with its Snapdragon 801 chip, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage and 16MP camera. The phone also has a smart feature of letting you to revert to stock Android just in case if you don’t fancy the highly customizable Vibe UI 2.0.

Diwali shopping: 12 hot new phones to consider

Huawei Honor 6
Price: Rs.19,999

Huawei is still looking for a solid ground to stand on in India and the Honour 6 could just be the phone to make that happen. The Honour 6 from Huawei is uses a tried and tested smartphone recipe with a homebrewn chipset. Huawei ticks all the right tick boxes and more for a 20K phone. A 5 inch 1080p screen, 3GB of RAM, an Octa core Kirin processor, a 13MP camera, 16GB internal storage which can be expanded and a big 3100mAh in a 20K budget is a nice deal.

Diwali shopping: 12 hot new phones to consider

Samsung Galaxy Note 4
Price: Expected Rs.58,300

The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 is the latest iteration in Samsung’s Galaxy Note series. Samsung has improved the UI to make it more stylus friendly. The 5.7 inch phablet packs a QHD AMOLED display which Samsung says is optimized for web-browsing and reading e-books. The new Note 4 comes with the usual top of the line Samsung hardware with an octa core processor, 3GB of RAM, a 16MP camera and a “Metal” band round it.

Diwali shopping: 12 hot new phones to consider

Apple iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus
Price: Rs. 53,500 & Rs. 62,500 respectively

The Apple iPhone 6 and 6 Plus could easily be referred as the most anticipated smartphones this year and they will be here just in time for Diwali. The latest from Apple are already under the microscope due to the “bendgate” fiasco and could hit the iPhone 6 Plus sales but only time will tell. As far as the phones go, there is a slight improvement in almost every part of the phone but the biggest advancement are the larger 4.7 inch and 5.5 inch screens on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus respectively.

Diwali shopping: 12 hot new phones to consider

Sony Xperia Z3 and Z3 Compact
Price: Rs. 51,990 & Rs. 44,990 respectively

Sony has some of the best designed products and the new Z3 and Z3 Compact underscore that fact. Both phones come with a Snapdragon 801 chip inside with 2GBs of RAM, a 20.7MP camera at the back and both smartphones are waterproof in 1.5M of fresh water for up to 30 minutes. The main differentiating factor between the two phones is the screen, the Z3 offers a 5.2 inch 1080p screen and the Z3 Compact has a 4.6 inch 720p screen.

Diwali shopping: 12 hot new phones to consider

Samsung Galaxy Alpha
Price: Rs. 39,990

Samsung Galaxy Alpha is the phone Samsung should have launched in the first place. The metal band running around the plastic phone benefits its appearance dramatically. The smartphone uses Samsung’s own Exynos octa core chip with 2GBs of RAM with 32GB of internal storage only. The only downside to the phone is the 720p display which could have been a 1080p one.

Diwali shopping: 12 hot new phones to consider

Nokia Lumia 730
Price: Rs. 15,299

Nokia is marketing this Lumia 730 as a selfie phone with its 24mm wide angle 5MP front camera. The phone runs on a Snapdragon 400 SoC which worked fine during our short hands-on with the phone. The smartphone sports a 4.7 inch display and looks vibrant with on-screen buttons. The smartphone has a 6.7MP camera at the back and Nokia has added a special anti-fingerprint treatment to the body to avoid smudges.

Diwali shopping: 12 hot new phones to consider

Nokia lumia 830
Price: Rs. 28,799

The Nokia Lumia is the mid range offering from Nokia. The 5 inch device runs on the same 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 SoC inside the Nokia Lumia 730. This is the slimmest Pureview camera with a Carl Zeiss lens and lets you shoot 10MP photos. The Lumia 830 has a metallic frame around it unlike the rounded edges of the Lumia 730.

Diwali shopping: 12 hot new phones to consider

Nokia Lumia 930
Price: Rs. 38,649

 
The Nokia Lumia 930 runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 SoC and 20MP camera at the back, and is the new flagship device for Microsoft. The 1080p 5 inch display in the smartphone is one of the best we have seen on a Lumia device. The phone has a metal rim  which gives it device a premium feel but the new on-screen buttons are absent here and the Lumia 930 comes with the old capacitive touch buttons.