Idea Zeal Launched at Rs 5390: Top 5 Android Rivals in the Budget Smartphone War

| Updated: Tuesday, March 26, 2013, 18:17 [IST]

On Tuesday, Idea Cellular - a leading telecom service provider announced the launch of a new Android smartphone dubbed as Idea Zeal. The handset is priced reasonably in the budget conscious Indian consumer market at Rs 5,390. At such a low price tag, it is quite obvious that Idea has incorporated Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS in the device, rather than ICS or Jelly Bean.

Talking about the specs, Zeal has a 3.5 inch capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 320 x 480 pixels, 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, Android 2.3.6 Gingerbread OS, 3MP rear camera, 256MB RAM, 512MB internal storage, micro SD card slot, Wi-Fi, a-GPS, Bluetooth, 3G and a 1,300 mAh battery. Moreover, Idea Zeal smartphone will come preloaded with a host of applications including Facebook, Twitter, Orkut and YouTube.

Further, Zeal also comes bundled with a data plan from Idea. Consumers buying the handset will get a free data pack of Rs 261 offering 1GB data usage per month for 3 months. Also, the consumers will receive three months subscription to Idea TV for free.

It may sound too outdated to hear that a Gingerbread based handset is launched when the budget smartphone arena is moving forward towards Jelly Bean and several advanced specifications. However, not only Idea, but several other companies including Lava, Spice, Micromax, Karbonn, Samsung and more have also launched such handsets at budget price tags in the country.

Mainly, such entry-level smartphones are highly targeted towards the first time smartphone users who are looking forward to own wallet friendly smartphones. Hence, Gizbot has taken effort in providing a list of 5 smartphones that are based on Gingerbread OS and come with similar specifications and price as the Idea's new smartphone. Have a look at them below!

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Samsung Galaxy Y Duos Lite

Galaxy Y Duos Lite packs a 2.8 inch capacitive touchscreen display with 240 x 320 pixel resolution, 832MHz processor, 4GB internal memory, 2MP rear camera, micro SD card supporting up to 32GB, Wi-Fi, 3G, Bluetooth and 1,200 mAh Li-ion battery.

Priced at Rs 5,990, Galaxy Y Duos Lite comes with a smaller display and a slower processor, hence, Zeal with attractive freebies can be a better offering at a lower price.

Intex Aqua Trendy

Intex has recently launched Aqua Trendy based on Gingerbread OS at Rs 4,999. The handset features a 3.5 inch capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 320 x 480 pixels, 1GHz dual core processor, 3.2MP rear camera, 1.3MP front camera, micro SD card slot supporting up to 32GB additional storage, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and a 2,100 mAh battery.

With similar specs and a lower price tag, Aqua Trendy can compete with Zeal, however, Idea offers free bundled plans along with the smartphone making it an interesting offer.

Micromax A30 Smarty 3.0

A30 Smarty 3.0 runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread operating system. The handset sports a 3 inch TFT touchscreen display with a resolution of 320 x 240 pixels, 832MHz processor, 2MP rear camera, 256MB RAM, micro SD card supporting up to 32G expandable storage, 512MB internal storage, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and a 1,500 mAh battery.

With a very low price tag of Rs 3,999, the Micromax offering could be a stiff competitor to the Idea Zeal smartphone, however, the latter has a faster processor and larger display alongside free data plans.

Spice Stellar Xtacy Mi-352

Stellar Xtacy Mi-352 houses a 3.5 inch TFT LCD touchscreen display with a resolution of 480 x 320 pixels, 1GHz Qualcomm MSM7225AB processor, 512MB internal storage, 256MB RAM, micro SD card slot supporting up to 32GB additional storage, Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS, 2MP rear camera, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and a 1,300 mAh Li-ion battery delivering 3.5 hours talk time and 9 days of standby.

Priced at Rs 4,699 and comes with similar specifications as Idea Zeal, thereby adding to the list of competitors to the latest entrant.

Karbonn Smart A2

Karbonn Smart A2 boasts a 4 inch capacitive touchscreen display, 1GHz processor, 3MP rear camera, VGA front camera for video calling, 202MB onboard storage, 256MB RAM, micro SD card slot supporting up to 32GB expandable storage, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, micro USB 2.0 and a 1,7 50 mAh Li-ion battery.

The handset is available with a price tag of Rs 4,990, which is quite lower than Idea Zeal despite of its larger display and better camera along with a front camera.