The smartphone market in India witnessed substantial growth during the year 2016. According to Counterpoint Research, the number of smartphones shipped into the country increased by 18 per cent over 2015 and stood at 300 million units. This was due to the increasing penetration of 4G technology in the country, which led to an increase in the demand for 4G-enabled handsets. In order to tap the growing demand potential, smartphone vendors launched affordable 4G handsets, priced at as low as Rs 3,000. Moreover, the cut-throat competition in the market due to the growing penetration of Chinese-based handsets also contributed to the growth. These vendors accounted for 46 per cent of the total market share during October-December 2016.

As a result, the smartphone space witnessed the launch of several affordable as well as high-end models from global and local manufacturers. tele.net takes a look at some of the popular smartphones launched in 2016 across different price segments…

  • Sub-Rs 10,000 category: This is typically the entry-level price segment, which witnessed maximum activity in the smartphone market during the year. One popular handset launched in this category is the Xiaomi Redmi 3S Prime. The device runs on the Android 6.0.1 operating system (OS) and features a 5 inch touchscreen display with a screen resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels. It is powered by a 1.1 GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor, 3 GB RAM and is packed with a 4,100 mAh battery. The phone has 32 GB of internal storage, which can be expanded up to 128 GB. It comes with a 13 megapixel rear camera and a 5 megapixel front camera. The dual-SIM smartphone offers connectivity options such as Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, Infrared, USB OTG, FM, 3G and 4G, and it is priced at Rs 8,999.

Meanwhile, China-based handset manufacturer Asus introduced the Zen­Fone Max smartphone starting at Rs 9,660 in May 2016. It features a 5.5 inch touchscreen display with a screen resolution of 720×1280 pixels and runs on the Android 6.0 OS. The device is powered by a 1.5 GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor and has 2 GB RAM. It has 32 GB of inbuilt storage, which is expandable up to 64 GB. The smartphone offers dual-SIM support, and comes with a 13 megapixel rear camera and a 5 megapixel front camera. The handset is equipped with a 5,000 mAh battery and supports connectivity options such as Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, USB OTG, FM, 3G and 4G.

  • Rs 10,000-Rs 20,000 category: A significant amount of activity was also witnessed in this segment as handset vendors intended to offer features similar to high-end smartphones. In September 2016, Lenovo launched its Lenovo Z2 Plus priced at Rs 17,999 for the 32 GB variant and Rs 19,999 for the 64 GB variant. The device runs on the Android 6.0.1 OS and is powered by a 2.15 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor. It features a 5 inch touchscreen display with a screen resolution of 1080×1920 pixels and has 3 GB RAM. The handset comes with a 13 megapixel rear camera and an 8 megapixel front camera. In December 2016, Motorola launched its first all-metal smartphone, Moto M, priced at Rs 15,999 for the 32 GB variant with 3 GB RAM and Rs 17,999 for the 64 GB variant with 4 GB RAM. The phone features a 5.5 inch HD in-plane switching (IPS) display with a screen resolution of 1080×1920 pixels. It runs on the Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow OS and is powered by a 2.2 GHz quad-core MediaTek Helio P15 processor. The device comes with a 16 megapixel rear camera and an 8 megapixel front camera. It is equipped with a 3,050 mAh battery and offers connectivity options such as Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth v4.1, GPS/A-GPS, 4G, USB Type-C (USB 3.1), and a 3.5mm audio jack.
  • Rs 20,000-Rs 30,000 category: China-based handset vendor LeEco launched the LeEco Le Max 2 smartphone priced at Rs 22,999 for the 32 GB variant with 4 GB RAM and Rs 29,999 for the 64 GB variant with 6 GB RAM. The device features a 5.7 inch quad high definition (QHD) bezel-less “Super Retina” display. It has the world’s first Sense ID fingerprint scanner (made by Qualcomm) with ultrasonic technology that enables the phone to detect fingerprints with grease and dust accurately. The phone runs on the Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS and is powered by a 64-bit quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 pro­ce­ssor. It comes with a 21 megapixel rear camera and supports optical image stabilisation, as well as an 8 megapixel front camera. The smartphone is packed with a 3,100 mAh battery, and provides connectivity options like Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, USB OTG and 3G.

In December 2016, another popular handset, OnePlus 3T starting at Rs 29,999 was launched. It features a 5.5 inch optic AMOLED display with a screen resolution of 1080×1920 pixels and has Corning Gorilla Glass 4 protection. The dual-SIM smartphone runs on the Oxygen OS, which is based on the Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow OS, is powered by a Qual­comm Snapdragon 821 system on chip (SoC) processor and has 6 GB RAM. The device is available in two variants, one with 64 GB inbuilt memory and the other with 128 GB internal memory. It has 16 megapixel rear and front cameras, is packed with a 3,400 mAh battery and offers connectivity op­ti­ons such as 4G, Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Blue­tooth 4.2, near field communication (NFC), USB 2.0 Type-C, 3.5 mm headphone jack, and GPS/A-GPS.

  • Above Rs 30,000 category: While China-based handset vendors dominated the aforementioned price segments in 2016, the popular phones in this segment were launched by vendors such as Apple and Samsung. Samsung launched its Galaxy S7 Edge smartphone starting at Rs 56,900. It features a 5.5 inch touchscreen display with a screen resolution of 1440×2560 pixels and a pixel density of 534 pixels per inch. The device runs on the Android 6.0 OS, is powered by a 1.6 GHz octa-core processor, and has a 3,600 mAh battery. It has 4 GB RAM and 32 GB of internal memory, which can be expanded up to 200 GB. The handset comes with a 12 megapixel rear camera and a 5 megapixel front camera. It offers connectivity options such as Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, NFC, USB OTG, 3G and 4G. The smartphone is available in black, white, gold, silver, pink gold, black pearl and coral blue colour variants.

In October 2016, US-based handset vendor Apple launched the iPhone 7 and the iPhone 7 Plus smartphones in India. The iPhone 7 is priced at Rs 60,000 for the 32 GB variant, Rs 70,000 for the 128 GB one and Rs 80,000 for the 256 GB variant. Meanwhile, the iPhone 7 Plus is priced at Rs 72,000 for the 32 GB varaint, Rs 82,000 for the 128 GB one and Rs 92,000 for the 256 GB variant. The iPhone 7 features a 3D touch-enabled 4.7 inch retina HD display with a screen resolution of 750×1334 pixels, whereas, the iPhone 7 Plus features a 3D touch-enabled 5.5 inch retina HD display with a screen resolution of 1080×1920 pixels. Although both the smartphones are powered by an A10 Fusion processor, the iPhone 7 has 2 GB RAM and the iPhone 7 Plus has 3 GB RAM. Both devices have a 12 megapixel rear camera and a 7 megapixel front camera, and run on the iOS 10.0.1 OS. While the iPhone 7 is packed with a 1,960 mAh battery, the iPhone 7 Plus is equipped with a 2,900 mAh battery. The handset offers connectivity options such as Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, NFC, 3G and 4G.

Going forward

The handsets that are likely to be launched in 2017 will come with latest features such as better battery life, fast charging technology as well as other new and advanced technologies. Further, as technologies such as virtual reality (VR) gain traction, vendors are expected to offer smartphone accessories like VR headsets bundled with the handsets.