This race is seriously getting interesting now. And guess from where these innovations are coming ? It’s Asia. Proving the point that it is no more an “emerging market“, Chinese and Indian smartphone manufacturers are stealing the show.
We already have seen Gionee’s slimmest smartphone in the world, the S5.5. At 5.6 mm thick, it is indeed the slimmest in the world. But, is it worth all that pomp and show ?
Now, another Indian smartphone manufacturer, XOLO, which rose to fame when it launched the first Intel mobile processor-based phones, is all set to launch the lightest phone in the world.
Specifications are yet to be leaked, but one thing has been confirmed, it is going to be Windows Phone. Last year, Microsoft had announced new partners for its mobile OS platform, and that included XOLO. The biggest advantage out of this, for XOLO was, that it came to be recognised as a brand. This is simply because of the fact that unlike the Android OS, (which is open source and can be used by any manufacturer), for putting a windows OS in a phone, companies need to partner, exclusively with microsoft.
Since it’s recognition, XOLO has been seeing increase in its sales, but its Intel venture, turned out to be a debacle. Now, they have come up with another stunt, the lightest phone.
As per sources of Times of India, the Xolo Windows smartphone could sport a 4.7-inch screen and will be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 200-8212 quad-core processor. Yes, you read that right. Finally, a Snapdragon and not Mediatek.
It will be a budget device priced around ₹ 12,000 and is likely to be the lightest ever phone, weighing a little under 100 gram.
A Xolo spokesperson, however, refused to confirm the details, saying the company did not want to discuss its under-development phones or the launch road map. But since it is a mid-budget phone, do not expect extreme performance.
From Gionee and XOLO, there’s one aspect, which is clearly visible. The Indian XOLO has learnt from Chinese Gionee’s mistakes. Many complained that Gionee’s slimmest phone had sever battery issues and that the firmware was so wrong that it show “Cheenad” instead of “Chennai”. While Gionee used Mediatek processor, even in its flagship launch (which was a very wrong move), XOLO is speculated to be using Snapdragon, in its flagship lauch.
