Apart from the smartphones that became popular this year, there were a lot more competent smartphones that you could have purchased. But did not, because of the unrealistic price of the device in the face of what the competition is offering. Here are some such phones that you would have bought, but couldn’t.
Hopefully, smartphone manufacturers will be slightly more careful and sensitive with the pricing of the devices in 2013, especially in a market like India, where value for money is the essence of shopping.
HTC One X: This phone was launched at around the Rs. 37,500 price bracket. And this was a tad too much always. Yes, this was one of the first phones in the Indian market with the quad-core processor, but that really wasn’t justifying the price tag. The LG Optimus 4X HD arrived in the market priced around Rs. 33,000. Later, the Galaxy S III ensured that it was an undisputed all-round better deal, but even before that, people were wondering why price was still not tweaked. Market forces still ensured that the One X prices were tweaked later, but a little too late. Currently retailing for just around the Rs. 30,000 price bracket. Read HTC One X Review.
Sony Xperia Ion: One of the rather solid phones to be launched this year. But no one even bothered with it, because it was launched with a price tag of Rs. 36,999. This for a phone with a dual-core processor, an inferior display type and with an older gen OS, still, the consumers were having none of it. What was Sony thinking of pitting the Xperia Ion against the Samsung Galaxy S III and the eventually launched HTC One X+? The Ion would have been a very good deal priced around the Rs. 28,000 mark, but Sony didn’t want to hurt the Xperia S. Messed up decisions all around! Read Sony Xperia Ion Review.
HTC One S: The One S was launched on the heels of the One X, and was priced at Rs. 33,590. The One S was ridiculously close to the One X in terms of the price difference, and do remember, the One S is a dual-core processor phone. Despite the excellent performance, people pretty much said, “why should we spend so much for a dual core phone”, and went on to consider a phone from the Rs. 27,000 – Rs. 30,000 price band, which included the likes of the Sony Xperia S and the Motorola Razr. Currently, the One S is retailing around Rs. 25,000, and is a very good deal at that price. Read HTC One S Review.
Sony Xperia SL: Yet another Sony Xperia phone on this list – do you notice a trend? Sony Mobile clearly did not learn from the mistake they made with the Xperia Ion, and priced the dual core Xperia SL at Rs 32549. This suffered from the same syndrome as the HTC One S, and even more so because by the time the SL was launched around the end of October, the Galaxy S III and the Galaxy Note were the undisputed Android devices to buy upwards of Rs. 30,000. The SL was essentially a minor upgrade over the Xperia S, with the slightly upgraded processor. Everything else, including the looks remain the same, and for currently around Rs. 25,000, the Xperia S makes for a better value phone than the SL that is retailing for around Rs. 29,000. Also check out Sony Xperia SL Review.
Nokia Lumia 900: First, Nokia kept delaying the launch of the Lumia 900 in India. Then, when they finally did in autumn 2012, it was priced upwards of Rs. 30,000. That is not done for a phone that was about to become outdated in a few months in terms of the operating system. As we had said, the Lumia 900 was the best phone in the Windows Phone 7.5 generation, but unfortunately, that generation ends with that phone. Currently retails for around Rs. 25,000, but people believe that the Lumia 800 is still a better bet, selling at around Rs. 18,000. Read more about the device here.
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