Best Android phablets for all budgets in India

The new term that is buzzing the entire tech industry is phablet. They say, ''phablets are the next smartphone''. Well, the confusion might has hit your mind already because of the inclusion of the word 'phablets' in the title. What is a phablet? Nothing! Just mix up with the words Phone and Tablet; you will get the result as phablet (some may call it Fhablet). Phablet is a device which has the screen size ranging from 5 to 7 inches. Some call it a hybrid denouement of both generation devices, which will take over the entire world to ransom in next few years. In simple words, Size of Phone < Size of phablet < Size of Tablet. However, choosing the best phablet out of the crowd, is not an easy task. So here is the list of best phablets in India.

High-price Android phablets

LG Optimus Vu: With the screen size of 5 inch and a bunch of amazing features, this one, from the house of LG, is shining at the very first place. Powerful 1.5 GHz quad core Nvidia Tegra 3 processor and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich version speak about the reason of being this phablet at the top. With good display quality and lightweight, it surely tops on the wish list of many. 8 MP camera is quite enough to attract the photography freaks to try their hands on it.

Oh, Yes! 50GB free cloud service, that you get with LG Optimus Vu, is an extra plus point. It's klutzy 4:3 aspect ratio makes it squarish and looks somewhat ugly. Even, the cosmetics are nothing to boast about for LG. The plasticky body ensures that you will not fall in love at first sight. However, keeping all criticism aside, the LG Optimus Vu is definitely the powerful device that comes with a nice price tag. It is selling like a hot cake in Korea, which has forced them to release its successor in Optimus Vu 2.

Having known Indian crowds well, one can say that LG may not be able to repeat the same success by the likes of Galaxy Note, but that doesn't make it less enticing. It is just that Indian crowd like to cling to their favorite brand more often (probably, this is the reason why Nokia has still survived in the Indian market). Indians are known as the most loyal customers, and if LG manages to win their heart, there will be no looking for them in next few years. It is currently available online at around Rs.29,499.

Samsung Galaxy Note N7000: Samsung Galaxy Note doesn't need any introduction. Call it a father of this segment or ruler, whatever you like, but you must have heard of the most buzzed device of 2011. Samsung Galaxy Note N7000 just took the entire industry with pleasant surprise with 5.3 inches screen size and stylus also branded as S-Pen. Beneath comes a dual-core 1.4 GHz ARM Cortex-A9 processor that breathes the life into this ingenious device. A blood is circulated through the vein by mammoth 2.500mAH battery.

Well, the operating system might not please you as it comes with Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread version. But no need to worry, as it can be updated to 4.1 version easily OTA. Camera quality is just awesome and you can capture best moments of your life with 8 MP camera. If you are like me, who keeps on doing chit-chat with friends, then Galaxy Note N7000, is perfect for you as it provides the talk time of around 26 hours. Oh, what to say more? 10 million (and counting) happy customers of Note N7000 speak the rest.

Samsung has thrown whatever it could with the first version of Galaxy Note, and their handwork speaks for itself. Samsung also equipped with some of applications of its own to lure more customers. Galaxy Note N700 is priced around Rs.29,990, but can be easily get around Rs.26,999 in local market.

Samsung Galaxy Note 2: Samsung Galaxy Note 2 was released to upgrade the line of already popular Note series phablet. Galaxy Note 2 has got the screen size of 5.5 inches and Quad-core 1.6 GHz Cortex-A9 processor. It also comes with upgraded 2GB of RAM. No change has been noticed in the camera and like Note I, this one also comes with 8 MP camera. A small change has been made in front facing camera though. It has a 1.9MP front facing camera which is capable of taking HD videos as well.

Of course, you would be able to make video calls with it. However, the huge difference can be noticed with the S-Pen design and applications designed to cooperate delicately with the new Note 2. Smart gesture, air view, multi windows operation, S note are a few more additions to the previous system. Besides that, handwriting recognition system is smart enough to detect even worst handwriting. Samsung has ramped up its position with such a smart software integration.

Even, you can change your hand position with dominant hand feature so you use the device more efficiently, if you've a small hand. It is destined to repeat the success of Galaxy Note I, and initial response from the user and sales figure hints at the same. Unfortunately, you should be ready to shed anything in vicinity of Rs.37,999 to buy Note 2. Infibeam seems to be selling the device at Rs.36,900.

Low-price phablets

Micromax Canvas A100: Admit it! When you just saw the word 'Micromax', low price tag hit your mind. Well, this is the milestone that Micromax has been able to achieve so far. Like other Micromax gadgets offering, even Micromax Canvas A100 is also a budget phablet. With 5-inch screen size, Canvas A100 shines at the top of the budget line of Android phablets. The 1GHz scorpion processor and 512 MB RAM processing muscle empowers it.

The pre-loaded Ice Cream Sandwich ensures the next best operating system in the world, which can be upgraded to the latest version. Did you know it is a dual SIM android phablet? A 5MP camera is, although not the best offers different image capturing and video experience. The secondary camera is measly 0.3MP, but you couldn't ask anything more for 10,000 INR budget range. The internal memory of 2GB can be expanded up to 32GB through a MicroSD card. Micromax has also successfully launched its successor A110 Canvas 2 with 1GHz dual core processor and 8MP main camera.

iBall Andi 5C: Although relatively new in the smartphone segment, iBall has had success in releasing some niche specific smartphone and featured phone in India. Their new offering Andi 5C is equally enticing. Equipped with Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich, the device carries 1GHz A9 Cortex processor and 512MB of RAM. Similar to Micromax Canvas A100, it is a dual SIM phablet.

The IPS display is known to offer better quality images, but the resolution of 480 x 800 kills all the fun. The device also relatively bulky with 216gms of weight and battery of 2,300mAh. A 5.0MP auto focus camera delivers decent result, but nothing exceptional here. iBall has done an exceptional job in making the device while keeping the low price tag in mind. Andi 5C is available for Rs.12,499 in Indian market.

Spice Stellar Horizon: With the 5 inches screen in Spice Stellar Horizon bid its place in the phablets list. It comes with 1 GHz dual core MT6577 Onboard processor, 512 MB of RAM and 4GB of internal storage which could be expanded to 32GB. The dual SIM phone looks good and feels solid in the hand, but don't expect it to compete with high quality devices. The MediaTek dual core processor was a big setback for many of us, as previously it was supposed to run on the Snapdragon S4 processor.

There is also no point of comparing both processor muscle power, as Spice is designed to satisfy lower food chain. Quite similar to Canvas A100, it carries 5MP shooter and 0.3MP front facing camera to serve video calling functionality. It is available in the vicinity of Rs.11,999.

Recently, Karbonn announced Karbonn A24 phablet with 4.5 inch screen and 1.2GHz dual core processor. However, we have skipped including it from the list, since the list is designed keeping 5-inch display in the mind. Even, Zync has launched dual-SIM Cloud Z5 phablet in India at Rs.9,490, but we doubt that it will available in all local stores. It has 4GB inbuilt memory, 1GHz processor and 512MB RAM. It also offers decent 8MP camera.

Which device are you going to buy in this festival season?

(This article is written by Ricky Shah, who is a tech blogger and mainly writes on Windows related news and tutorials on his blog Geniusgeeks.com)