5 smartphones you most definitely must not buy
Often I recommend gadgets that most people should buy, but this time around let's do the opposite. Some products are exceptional, some are good and some just offer no value for money.
Admittedly, in this hyper competitive market, there aren't many smartphones that are inherently bad, but there are a few products you must avoid solely on the basis of their price and the value they represent to the consumer. Here are some of them:
1. Huawei Honor 5X: It is a phone that promises a lot but delivers little. Well, at least in terms of the price. Don't get me wrong, it is not a horrible phone for sure. However, for Rs 12,999 it competes with my favorite phone of the year - Xiaomi's superb Redmi Note 3. As of May 31, it even gets more competition in the form of Yu's Yunicorn. Sigh! Avoid it please.
2. LG K7: Over the last few years, a pattern has increasingly become clear. One should avoid cheap phones by some of the biggest brands in the market. Yes, I am talking about brands like LG and Samsung. LG's new K7 is a classic example.
It offers very little in form of features apart from the fact that it is the company's first "Make in India" device. Oh wow. In fact, for its price, it offers a pathetic set of features that includes a poor display and a rather unusable camera. You might as well burn Rs 9,999 than buy this one.
Also read: 5 best smartphones to be out in the market
3. CoolPad Max: On paper, CoolPad's Max has all the ingredients that make for a great smartphone, but in use the picture isn't as rosy. It has good looks, a neat camera and a decent display. But does that warrant a rather unknown brand charging Rs 24,999 for phone which comes with a processor that's in phones that cost Rs 10,000 or less? No.
If you want similar features, you can buy the awesome Moto G4 Plus; or if you're hell-bent on spending Rs 25,000, get the Xiaomi Mi 5 which packs a punch.
4. iPhone 6: Everyone wants to own an iPhone. That's the aspirational smartphone equivalent of a Mount Everest. However, even when it comes to choosing an iPhone, people make wrong choices. The iPhone 6 is the model everyone should avoid. Why? Well, according to Flipkart, it still costs a gut-wrenching Rs 36,499 and it is two years old.
Also read - Xiaomi Mi 5 is no iPhone. It's the best smartphone to own
The new iPhone SE costs Rs 37,999 on Amazon and it offers the same processor and rear camera as the iPhone 6S. It also has the best battery life of all the iPhones. Why then would you go for a model that's old and inferior in every way possible?
5. Micromax Canvas 6 Pro: It is another phone that could be avoided. It is not a bad phone in itself, but there are numerous phones that compete with it that manage to offer a better experience. The Canvas 6 Pro has a cheap build and a very reflective screen, which always is a bad start.
Its camera is nothing special while software-wise, the Android in Micromax is riddled with "bloatwear" and duplicate apps and an incomplete service layer called "Around Yu" which doesn't work very well. It's a pretty inconsistent phone, which could be easily avoided for something nicer like the Redmi Note 3 or the Moto G4.