Samsung Galaxy S10 Lite
Price: Rs 39,999
The Samsung S10 Lite brings together a number of elements from mid-range and flagship Galaxy phones to take on the might of OnePlus in the sub-Rs 40,000 segment, a watered-down S10 if you will. The S10 Lite impresses on several key fronts — performance, battery life and shooting video — and makes a strong play for your wallet in the value flagship category.
To deliver the S10 on a ‘Lite’ budget, Samsung has used a glass-like ‘Glasstic’ polycarbonate panel on the rear and used Gorilla Glass 3 protection, neither of which leave the S10 Lite feeling any less premium. Samsung makes great displays, and the 6.7-inch, HDR 10+, 1,080x2,400 pixel screen with a punch-hole camera and narrow bezels is a delight for gaming and streaming content. Under the hood, the Lite packs in the 2019-top-shelf Snapdragon 855 chipset with 8GB of memory and 128GB of storage (expandable), and delivers flagship-grade performance, be it during heavy gaming or delivering a snappy experience while navigating the Android 10-based One UI 2 interface for everyday tasks.
You can go for a solid day-and-a-half of normal-to-heavy usage on the Lite’s capacious 4,500mAh battery. Yet, it’s the camera setup — 48MP primary, 12MP wide-angle, 5MP macro and 32MP selfie — that impresses, with good details and slightly boosted colours in good light and softer yet completely usable photos in low light. You have to try Samsung’s Super Steady OIS (optical image stabilisation), particularly in videos, to see how well it works!
Lacks the IP rating and wireless charging of its flagship siblings. Its competition offers high-refresh rate displays at similar price points.
Realme C3
Price: Rs 6,999 onwards
It’s the third generation C-series of budget smartphones from Realme, one that continues the brand’s streak of notable offerings in the sub-Rs 10,000 segment. It checks all the right boxes for the category — and then some.
From the sunrise design on the rear panel to the tall 20:9 display, there’s nothing about the C3 that screams ‘budget’ category outright. The waterdrop notch display itself punches above its price category to offer detail and vibrancy that’s usually found in pricier phones, although one would have preferred slightly thinned-down bezels. The C3 is powered by the Helio G70 — the first phone in India to be powered by MediaTek’s new chip — which does a good job for everyday use and gaming in particular. Playing PUBG at HD settings on a phone which costs under seven grand is no mean feat. And the frugal nature of the chip allows the C3 to last two whole days. Realme UI on Android 10 is a pleasure to use, though you’d probably want to uninstall some of that bloatware.
Feels dated in some departments, such as the microUSB port for charging and Gorilla Glass 3 for protection. Anaemic bottom-firing speaker. Occasionally lags and stutters when pushed. The rear camera turns out usable images in good light but struggles in low light. Capacious 5,000mAh battery charges rather slowly (10W).
Realme X50 Pro
Price: Rs 37,999 onwards
There’s no 5G to speak of in India but that isn’t stopping Realme from launching its 5G-sporting, Snapdragon 865-packing X50 Pro, arguably its most ambitious phone to date. If you thought Realme could only cater to budget audiences, think again.
For its first device in the premium ‘value flagship’ segment, the brand has played safe with the matte-finish glass back which is mildly reminiscent of the OnePlus 7T Pro. Looks good, just not ground-breaking. The 6.44-inch Full HD+ Super AMOLED display scores high on colours and brightness, and extra points to Realme for the buttery smooth 90Hz refresh rate. Expectedly, the Snapdragon 865 with up to 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and up to 256GB of UFS 3.0 storage is a potent combination, but it’s the fast charging that will really blow you away. Plug in the included 65W fast charger and the phone goes from empty to 60 per cent in under 20 minutes and all the way to 100 per cent in a little under 40 minutes — that’s for a 4,200mAh battery, mind you! Stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos audio are impressive. Cameras are aplenty — four in the rear and two in the front — and they take fantastic photos across different lighting conditions, among the best in the segment.
Drops the 3.5mm headphone jack and the microSD card slot. Chunky and a tad heavy.
Samsung Note 10 Lite
Price: 38,999/6GB onwards
The Note series has had its set of die-hard fans, thanks to the S Pen Stylus which sets this series apart, but its premium pricing has kept it out of reach for most. The Note 10 Lite, then, is the Note-for-the-rest-of-us, but you’ve really got to want that stylus to consider this over not only the formidable competition from OnePlus, but from its own stablemates.
No sacrifices on the display here, with the 6.7-inch full-HD+ Super AMOLED display packing quite the punch in terms of brightness and rich colours, and the ‘Glasstic’ design is premium, much like the S10 Lite. Interestingly, the phone makes space not only for the S Pen, but also for a 3.5mm headphone jack which the S10 Lite lacks. Of course, the reason why you’re here is the S Pen, and the Bluetooth-enabled stylus on the Note 10 Lite has much of the same features we saw on the Note 10 series, including quick notes, air gestures, acting as a remote shutter or recognising handwritten notes. The triple-camera setup (12MP primary, ultra-wide and telephoto) delivered photos that are on point in good light, but dropped details in low light.
Like the S10 Lite, lacks water resistance and wireless charging but the bigger downer is the dated hardware. The Exynos 9810 chip, while no pushover, is the same hardware that powered the S series of flagships two years ago! Fortunately, the performance isn’t visibly impacted, and you can run games on the highest settings.
Tushar Kanwar is a tech columnist and commentator. Follow him on Twitter @2shar. Mail your tech queries to t2onsunday@abp.in
