The recently popular smartphone from the homegrown manufacturer, Yu, is again going up for sale exclusively on Amazon India. The second round of registrations has commenced, and the phone will be up for grabs on 22nd January for a price tag of Rs. 8,999.
Micromax is imitating Xiaomi’s successful marketing scheme to entice more customers. However, last time, things didn’t go so well as Amazon India was unable to cope with the heavy rush. The first round of flash sale saw around 3 lakh registrations, but only 10,000 units were available for sale. The inadequate availability of the phone resulted in an outrage from interested buyers who were left disappointed. However, the company announced that the phone received a superb response, and the stock cleared in just 3 seconds.
Another glitch that added to the fury of the customers is that Amazon India showed the final price of Yu Yureka as Rs. 12,499 instead of the actual price (Rs. 8,999). However, the e-commerce website later apologised for the technical hitch.
As of now, there is no clue about the number of units that will go up for sale as both Micromax and Amazon are tight-lipped on the topic.
Coming to the specifications of the Yu Yureka, the smartphone sports a 5.5-inch 1280x720p display. The screen has a protection of Gorilla Glass 3. The device is powered by Snapdragon 615 CPU along with Adreno 405 GPU. The device features 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal storage capacity, out of which 12 GB is free. The phone gets its juice from a 2500mAh battery. On the camera front, the handset has a 13MP snapper along with a 5MP shooter on the front. The most significant feature of the device is the attractive Cyanogen OS 11.
For those who haven’t seen our review, can check out the video below:
4G LTE is considered to be roughly 10-20 times faster than 3G standards. With the popular carriers embracing 4G LTE and offering attractive tariff plans, smartphone makers have come out with handful of budget devices with LTE support.
Want a future-proof smartphone but don’t have the budget to shell out for a high-end device? We are listing the top 4 LTE capable Smartphones under 10K:
1. Yu Yureka – Rs. 8,999
In terms of hardware the Yureka is pretty great, in fact the closest devices in terms of hardware cost double. Cameras are a high 13 MP and 5 MP combination. At the front it has a 1280 x 720p 5.5-inch display. On the inside is the intriguing Snapdragon 615 CPU + Adreno 405 GPU combination, which is decent considering the price. For our full review of the device, click here.
2. Xiaomi Redmi Note 4G – Rs. 9,999
Xiaomi’s blockbuster Redmi series has been flying out of Flipkart’s shelves rapidly since its launch. Redmi Note is available in two variants, one is 3G, while the other one is the 4G LTE compatible variant. The 4G variant, made for India, has dual-band support for both TDD-LTE 2300 MHz (Band 40) and FDD-LTE 1800 MHz (Band 3).
3. Lenovo A6000 – Rs. 6,999
Lenovo A6000 is India’s cheapest 4G enabled handset. The smartphone was first showcased earlier this month at the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), and India is the first market in which it has been released. Up front, the Lenovo A6000 features a 5-inch HD (720×1280-pixel) IPS screen, which is smaller than the 5.5-inch screen on both Micromax’s Yu Yureka and Xiaomi’s Redmi Note.
4. Nokia Lumia 638 – Rs 8,299
Microsoft also jumped into the 4G game back in December with Lumia 638. Specs on the smartphone include a 4.5 inch FWVGA (480×854 pixels) ClearBlack LCD display with Gorilla Glass 3, a 1.2 Ghz quad-core Snapdragon 400 SOC chipset along with 1 GB of RAM. Optics will just include a 5 MP rear auto focus camera. On the memory front, there’s an 8GB of internal storage with microSD card compatibility (up to 128GB). Powering the smartphone would be a 1830 mAh battery while the OS on board would be Windows Phone 8.1 with Lumia Denim update.
E-commerce website, Amazon India, on Wednesday, addressed a glitch that took place during the online sales of the Yu Yureka. The website has got exclusive online retail rights of the Yu Yureka in the country. While the phone is actually priced at Rs 8,999, some of the users were shown the price as Rs 12,499 or higher because of a technical error. The US based firm apologized for the same on Twitter and is presently working to address the customers who were impacted by it.
As of now, it is still not clear what went wrong that led to this price shoot up. The first glitch took place during the first sale of the Yu Yureka in which the company offered 10,000 units for a flash sale.
After the sale on Tuesday, YU announced that it sold off 10,000 units in just 3 seconds. However, later on, some reports alleged that only 3000 units were placed for the flash sale, and even fewer units were sold. Yu has categorically denied the allegations and stood by their stand that they sold 10,000 units.
The most anticipated device of the year, Yu Yureka, will go up for sale tomorrow. In spite of the huge registrations, the company said that, for now, they will be putting only 10,000 units of its 4G device on Amazon. The smartphone, unveiled last month, boasts a set of specs seen on many high-end devices while it comes at a price of Rs. 8,999.
[quote text_size=”medium” author=”Rahul Sharma” author_title=”Co-Founder of Micromax”]
We saw unprecedented response with over three lakh registrations. Registrations were to be open till 25th December. However, owing to the mega response they had to be closed a day earlier.
[/quote]
If we talk about its specifications, the Yu Yureka has a 5.5-inch display with 1280 x 720p resolution. The screen is protected by Gorilla Glass 3. It is powered by Snapdragon 615 CPU along with Adreno 405 GPU. The device features 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal storage capacity, out of which 12 GB is free. The phone gets its juice from the 2500mAh battery.
On the camera front, the handset has a 13MP rear snapper along with a 5MP shooter on the front. The most significant feature of the device is the attractive Cyanogen OS 11.
Rahul further talked about the phone units, “We are working on ramping our capacities. Given the kind of enthusiasm that we have seen, we will increase the number of units put out for sale gradually.” It was also learnt that Cash-on-Delivery System will be available to Yureka buyers. Do read the full review of the Yu Yureka here.
At CES 2015, Lenovo introduced the A6000 capable of taking on the likes of Xiaomi Redmi Note and the newly launched Yu Yureka. The phone has some good specs for the sub Rs.10,000 segment. But how does it rate against its competition?
Here is a comparison of specs for you to decide:
Redmi Note 4G
Specs
Lenovo A6000
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4G
YU Yureka
Display
5 inch HD IPS
5.5 inch IPS LCD
5.5 inch HD
Processor
1.2 GHz 64-bit Snapdragon 410 processor
1.6 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400
1.5 GHz octa-core Snapdragon 615
RAM
1 GB
2 GB RAM
2 GB
Storage
8 GB
8 GB
16 GB
Expandable Upto
32 GB
64 GB
32 GB
Main Camera
8 MP
13 MP
13 MP
Front Camera
2 MP
5 MP
5 MP
Battery
2300 mAh
3100 mAh
2500mAh
Operating System
Android 4.4
Android 4.2
Cyanogen OS 11
Price
Below Rs. 10,000
Rs.9,999
Rs.8999
Overall it’s easy to come to the conclusion that Yureka’s spec sheet coupled with CyanogenMod and its attractive price give it an edge over the competition. Lenovo’s A6000 seems to lag a bit behind, but a competitive price tag might give it a chance to establish itself in the market. We just have to wait for the arrival of the A6000 to check out the final spec sheet and pricing for a final conclusion!
Yu by definition is supposed to mean “you”, which when Micromax decided to launch a new company was intended to make devices more personal for the users. Hence the company chose to go with Cyanogen, even though they decided to procure and rebrand devices like they used to in the past.
But what is Yu intended for? Is it really a way for Micromax to change their company’s brand value and appeal to a younger and much more aware online generation, or is it just a way of seeking vendetta against Micromax’s newest enemies: New Chinese entrants like Xiaomi, OnePlus and even Gionee.
5 MP Front Camera
We’re aware of the fact that Micromax is selling the Yu Yureka at a massive loss of Rs. 2000-2500 per handset sold in India. Micromax is buying the hardware for around Rs. 8300 and they are paying Cyanogen royalties, apart from the massive one time exclusivity deal they did with the company before launch, which led to the temporary ban of the OnePlus One in India. Not to mention import duties, shipping, Amazon’s fee etc.
Micromax also got the YU into the limelight by playing politics and getting “free media controversy” over the ban of the OnePlus One sale in India.
After all that, the Yu Yureka will sell for Rs. 8999 on 13th of January 2015, and our review will tell you whether or not you should be getting in line to get this device.
Hardware
In terms of hardware the Yureka is pretty great, in fact the closest devices in terms of hardware cost double and don’t feature the same performance standards as the Yureka. Cameras are a high 13 MP and 5 MP combination, which does work well.
Over at the front, garnering a great amount of resolution, is the 1280 x 720p display in all its 5.5-inch glory. The display is bright and easily visible outdoors. On the inside is the intriguing Snapdragon 615 CPU + Adreno 405 GPU combination which fails to satisfy us, although, for the price you couldn’t ask for much more.
The Phone supports USB OTG, with the use of a micro USB to USB adapter (which is not included). Interesting to note, is that the USB storage shows up, but you need third party filing software to access it. Apps cannot be moved to the SD card, not in the handset’s current software layout. So you are stuck with about 11-12 GB of space for Apps, which is a serious let down.
Qualcomm Snapdragon 615
Specs
Yu Yureka
Display
5.5 inch IPS LCD
720×1280 px
Gorilla Glass 3
RAM
2 GB
Storage
16 GB – (12 GB free)
Battery
2500 mAh
Processor
Qualcomm Snapdragon 615
CPU
1.5GHz Octa-core
GPU
Adreno 405
Front Camera
5 MP
Rear Camera
13 MP
Price (Click for Updated Pricing)
Rs. 8,999
Special Features
Cyanogen OS 11
Build Quality and Design
The thing about buying devices from vendors is that you have no control over build quality. While Micromax has seen some great built phones like the Canvas HD and most of the relative series, we have also seen especially poor phones like the Canvas 4 Plus which was a blatant copy of the iPhone and well, it bent too.
However the Yu Yureka, is not a Micromax product, or atleast that is what they want us to believe, as they elaborately set up new dominions and a new company in an exercise to get rid of their past. Well fret not Micromax, because the Yureka is different in many ways however it’s also the same in many.
2500 mAhBattery
The device already exists in other markets with a different name, and Yu plays no real role in the design of the hardware, except probably plastering some logos, and naming the standard black variant the never-heard “MoonStone” finish. (Wow ! Really? ). All new nomenclature aside, the built is pretty good, the finish on the back is no where near the “Sandstone” that you will find on the OnePlus One, however it is clean and well defined and feels great in the hand.
The bezel does not stick up a lot from the edge and this may be a problem for a lot of folks, who drop their phones on the frequent. The front does feature Gorilla Glass 3 so you will get some persistent protection.
Design-wise the phone will not win any awards, but it’s not a poor looker, in fact it can become quite the eye candy. The edges are nice and rounded well and the feel and finish of the product in hand is premium to say the least. Remember this is a Rs. 9,000 product we are talking about, and using words like “premium” is far from our usual banter.
Performance and Gaming
The Yureka is a workhorse in your pocket, and each time something like that appears from a company like Micromax (Sorry “YU”), we recall the toasty Micromax Canvas Knight, which was easily the best product to buy if you were short of a egg frying pan.
The Yureka is not that product. Heck the Yureka is easy to hold in the hands and disperses heat well. The extensive use of plastic also probably aids in the isolation of heat from the hands of the user.
As far as performance is concerned we were elated to see benchmark scores from the Yu Yureka easily match expensive devices for one quarter of the price. However no where near that of Xiaomi Mi3, OnePlus One and the Note 4 as it stands at present.
Games run happy, however the Adreno 405 doesn’t do much justice to high end gaming. The CPU is designed to leverage the 64 bit architecture which will enable better performance in the future and once the whole eco-system runs on it. For now gaming is still good, and blows away most of its present competition.
Network and Battery Life
The Network connectivity is fabulous, signals are strong and voice quality is impressive from the handset. The tower to tower jump is a bit sketchy so you will face call drops on the go.
The brilliant thing is the fact that the handset does LTE based on networks that will eventually launch in India. So for a price of under 10k this is a strong contender if you are looking for a future safe investment. However as many have pointed out, LTE may not be a prerequisite of those aiming for a new device in this price bracket. We say that it’s a fantastic add-on to have, and will aid in better connectivity in the future so why not get the extra benefits. And hey, once you do want LTE, you won’t need to switch phones.
Battery life is average or slightly better than. We saw the handset run a full day, however if you have had a busy day and have been receiving calls on both sim cards you might need to charge, atleast once in the late-evening. That being said we got 5-6 hours of screen on time from the Yu Yureka, which is excellent.
Talk Time : 7-8 Hours.
Music : 10 Hours
Internet Usage : 5.5- 6 Hours
Multimedia and Gaming : 4 Hours.
13 MP Rear Camera
Camera
The Camera like many-a Micromax devices in the past is mostly talk and no real action. The rear camera will impress in outdoor and well lit conditions, images captured and saved are not compressed well, which may be a doing of the build of Cyanogen on the Yureka, thus resulting in unwanted noise on the dark spectrum of the range.
Results are unwieldy in poor or low light situations where sometimes the images are decent while sometimes they are unusable. The shutter is no where as fast as that on the OnePlus One, but the camera app includes almost all the features sans the 4K video capture.
Samples
You do get 1080p on the rear camera while the front camera is limited to 720p. The rear camera will also capture double the frame rate i.e. 60fps but only at 720p. Video is decent but tends to be shaky since there are no stabilization features in the handset, electronic or otherwise.
Advantage: Cyanogen’s camera app has the extensive availability of customizations, including filters, face detection features, continuous focus, time lapse all built in.
Multimedia
The display is excellent indoors and outdoors, the resolution of 720p is considered good for the price bracket and the IPS panel significantly improves on the viewing angles. Touch response is commendable and the color reproduction is good as well.
Speaker is Muffled
The speakers are tiny and quiet, sort of muffled, as if there might be a piece of tape on the inside, left by mistake (we checked and there isn’t any.) The speaker is just not loud enough and that is something most buyers will have to look past. The included earphones are usable but will not enhance the audio in any way. The audio output from the headphone jack is loud and rightly mixed, when tied with good quality headphones. The headphones we tried the Yureka with cost several times more than the handset itself. However, feel free to use your own favorite pair, and they should work just as well.
Cyanogen
We saw it simply laid out when we were extensively testing the OnePlus One, the reason why that device rocked all the mobile lovers’ world was the right mix of hardware and software at that price. Yu Yureka is attempting to do that at half the price and in our opinion it is winning. The handset and UI is buttery smooth; you glide and slide through windows and apps, withough much ado. The mix of a very well developed build of Android “Cyanogen” the hardware, including all 2 GB of Random Access Memory, is working in sync with the software.
Cyanogen is one of, if not the only, largest developer supported builds of Android, and it’s only growing by the day. The Cyanogen team has shown promise with their builds in the past and they showed excellence with the OnePlus One.
The Yu Yureka does not fall short of the experience, and offers all the same customizations, albeit lacking a few of the features that for the time remain restricted to the OnePlus handsets, like gesture actions and quick launching shortcuts which can be easily enabled.
The image compression is not that great, however the front camera images are saved in a less noisy format when compared to similar images from the OnePlus One, which may be a definite win. (Selfie Time!)
YU forums will also help the company deal with everyday problems by letting people discuss their issues amongst each other, help in bug detection and elimination. And build a cult around the device which will enable future loyalty towards the brand.
YU Forum
Conclusion
Despite numerous efforts from our Northerly neighbors and companies like Xiaomi and OnePlus, with their “flash sale” systems and invite-only buying options, the Indian powerhouse Micromax has shown us that they are still the king in their own domain. However, and a big doubt here, the phone is being sold for a loss, and that too a major one, only to piss off the competition. Only to win back the market share that they have been losing. All this without hurting their current partners and networks.
If Micromax was to sell ‘online only’ devices which would be available exclusively through select Online E-commerce websites, the company would seriously jeopardize its retail network, ensuring a boycott of the brand and a loss of a strong foothold in non-online markets, which is still a large chunk (over 80 % believe it or not). Micromax tried it with the Nitro and faced huge backlash.
So how does Micromax deal with the threat of new “cheaper”- “Online Exclusive” brands without hurting its strong retail market presence. Simple : Lets form a new company! Hence, YU is born. It solves the problem for Micromax on many levels; it makes the parent company more viable for investors. It can build better trust for its customers from the get go (unlike Micromax and its service fiasco) and it can keep the competition at bay, all this without hurting the Micromax Retail network : Win Win! Right?
Wrong!
Let’s talk about the handset, like many other handsets in the past, the Yu Yureka is excellent for the time it has been launched in, and for the price it has been launched at. The Yureka looks impressive, is built well, performs efficiently while delivering good network capabilities and better than acceptable battery life. All this while being future proof for India – with the LTE capabilities and all that it promises under the hood and inside of the glamorous package.
But there are a lot of future promises that will help us determine the real fate of this handset. A lot of Questions still need answering – Will it really get software updates? Will the company remove its loss margin and add a profit margin after selling a lakh or two handsets? Will Indian people buy into the forum culture the same way the Chinese, American and European have?
Yu Yureka comes with door delivery service and support. Will it be possible for Micromax/Yu to cater to the large numbers, if there are problems with the handset?
We do not know the answer to so many questions, what we do know is that the Yu may be one of the best devices to get under the Rs. 10,000 price bracket. And that too, without causing much worry to the buyer. If you are not looking into developer options and don’t care much for the extra frills, then at this price the Yu Yureka becomes the undefeated champion without entering the ring officially.
The handset has the potential to set a record, a benchmark of sorts for India, something that will show on a Global scale that our country and its manufacturers can match up to global standards. We said it before, if anyone could do it it was Micromax! But can they?
The ball is in your court : YU! the world awaits. While India waits in line to buy your handset.
Micromax’s new subsidiary Yu has made quite an impact in a short span of time with its new smartphone Yureka running on Cyanogen OS 11. The Yu Televenture has adopted new business practices similar to the likes of OnePlus and Xiaomi, relying on community driven ecosystem of CyanogenMod.
Check out our full benchmark and hardware test along with the gaming performance of the Yureka below-
Considering the price range, Yu Yureka packs quite an impressive combination of Cyanogen experience with the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 which does 1.5 GHz on Octa-cores. The Yureka comes with Android 4.4.4 out of the box expected to be updated to the Lollipop soon.
The device came to our testing lab and we ran a Benchmark Test, the results are as below-
Test
Yu Yureka
Xiaomi Mi3
Moto G (Gen 2)
Antutu
28,359
30,537
17,159
NenaMark
55.0 fps
60.0 fps
57.5 fps
To test benchmarks, we started by running Antutu on the device. The device performed well up to its hype and got an impressive score of 28,359 . However, the handset lags behind the Xiaomi Mi 3’s score of 30,537.
Speaker is Muffled
We also ran the device through NenaMark 2 and the Yureka scored 55.0 fps. The number is a little low as compared to other competitive devices available in market such as Xiaomi Mi 3 and Moto G (Gen 2).
All in all considering the price bracket of this device it performs pretty well on the benchmark test and is a great device for gaming. Also check out the Unboxing and Hands On of this device on iGyaan and stay tuned for the full review of this device.
Micromax’s new company was a smart move for the Indian smartphone giant. However, whether or not the company will be able to provide a better consumer experience will be seen overtime. YU Televentures takes departure from traditional business practices of Micromax and relies on a large community driven eco-system as done by the likes of Xiaomi and OnePlus.
Well, it’s practically 2015, and India has been left behind in the race for development ROMs. Almost all launched handsets are either locked, on in the case of Indian Manufacturers, have unsupported systems.
The YU Yureka comes with Cyanogen preloaded, which allows for a lot of development, almost from the moment you open the box.
To take the packaging in the similar fashion, it sits comfortably between Xiaomi and OnePlus style of packaging, while made from recycled materials, we were far from impressed by the presentation or the box contents.
13 MP Rear Camera
Speaker is Muffled
In the Box you Get :
Yu Yureka Handset
EarPhones
Charger + Cable
2500 mAh Battery
2500 mAhBattery
The Interface is really snappy and that may be thanks to a mix of the Cyanogen experience along with the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 which does 1.5 GHz on octa-cores.
The eureka comes with Android 4.4.4 out of the box and will be quickly updated to Lollipop as soon as you can find a flash-able ROM or when Cyanogen pushes an update. Check out the specs below and a quick comparison with the Redmi Note (4G variant) which comes with a Qualcomm chipset. Also at the bottom is the Unboxing and Hands-On video. Stay tuned for the full review.
Yesterday, Micromax unveiled an exciting device for the Indian market. Launched under the new Yu brand, Yureka runs the CyanogenMod 11 OS and has an octa-core 64-bit Snapdraon 615 processor chipset. The smartphone has been priced at Rs. 8,999 and goes on sale 8th January, 2015 onwards.
For those who want to jump the bandwagon and be the first ones to get their hands on the device; Micromax Yureka has begun registrations as of 2pm today exclusively on Amazon India.
Specs of the Yureka include a 13MP rear camera, 5MP front camera and 5.5 inch HD display. It comes with 16 GB of internal storage, expandable up to 32GB. The smartphone runs on a 2,500 mAh battery and has 2GB of RAM.
Interested buyers can directly head over to the registration page here. Meanwhile, the Yureka has come under intense scrutiny off late, courtesy Micromax who has an exclusive agreement to sell CyanogenMod-powered smartphones in India. Resulting in a temporary ban been levied on prominent Chinese manufacturer OnePlus from promoting, selling or importing their phones in India.
Update: Registrations closed soon after 20 minutes
As reported earlier, Yu Televentures, Micromax’s new subsidiary has launched its first smartphone with Cyanogen under the Yureka brand. This is a whole new step for the Indian tech industry as this very launch marks the end of the dominance of the foreign brands in India.
The dual-sim, LTE enabled device will be available on a flash sale model, similar to Xiaomi devices, but on Amazon India from January 8. Registrations on the Amazon website to buy the device begins on Friday (19th December) at 2 pm. The new YU device is priced at Rs. 8,999 and comes with a 5.5 inch HD screen, 2GB RAM, A 53 cortex, Qualcomm Snapdragon processor 615 octa core 64 bit chipset and 16 GB expandable memory.
Early adopters will get a leather back cover worth Rs. 999 free. Notably, the company is also touting “free replacement or repair” at the user’s doorstep. The Yu Yureka (AO5510) smartphone runs on a custom-build Cyanogen OS, Cyanogen OS 11.
The device comes with a 2500 mAh battery. The new Yureka sports a 13 megapixel rear and 5MP front camera. According to the company, the device will be ahead of the popular competition as it will provide faster processing, better download speeds even in patchy areas and the A53 cortex will lower power consumption, meaning the phone will last longer on a single power charge.
The company also revealed that in 2015 more devices will be launched with some new cool features. Some of the features include blocking of spam or unsolicited phone calls, finding and wiping data off the device if lost, encryption of the device besides enhancements on camera, securing apps and making phone usage more intuitive.
Besides sync of data across different devices, features in the phone also allow users to save game scores, levels and setting on all apps get saved on the cloud. Yureka device users will also be the first ones to get the upcoming Cynogen L update, which will be based on Android Lollipop.
Specs
Yu Yureka AO5510
Display
5.50-inch 720×1280 pixels
Processor
Qualcomm Snapdragon processor 615 octa core 64 bit chipset
, and our review will tell you whether or not you should be getting in line to get this device.
