Lava Iris 501 Launched at Rs 9,999: 5 Hitting Challengers to the Dual Sim Dual Core Phablet in India

| Published: Saturday, January 12, 2013, 14:15 [IST]

CES 2013 tech show was not the only one to witness several smartphone and phablet launches this week. At the same time, the Indian smartphone arena also splashed the tech world with several handset launches in the budget category, thanks to various native manufacturers.

One of them was, Lava Mobiles, the India based handset vendor forayed into the phablet market with its dual SIM Android ICS offering dubbed as Iris 501. After posting a teaser stating "Your mobile experience is about to change with bigvantage" on its Facebook, the company launch the handset in the country this Friday.

The Lava phablet is now listed online on Saholic.com at Rs 9,999, the online retail arm of Spice - yet another smartphone vendor in India. The 'Tell me when available' button on the listing claims that the handset will be available for purchase from January 14, 2013.

Unlike other manufacturers who have first come up with single core processor equipped devices and then upgraded it to dual core, Iris 501 is the first phablet launched by Lava which is already equipped with a dual core processor and offers increased performance, sufficient memory space, increased reliability and faster multi-tasking capabilities.

However, there are a many other vendors including Intex and Magicon, who have also come up with dual core processor equipped phablets at the similar price points, which forces to imply that the newly launched Lava phablet has enough handsets challengers, when it comes to specifications and price.

Hence, have a look at the slideshow below to get an idea of the specifications of Lava Iris 501 and its 5 best striking phablet challengers.

Lava Iris 501

Measuring 148.5 x 79 x 10.5 mm in dimension, Iris 501 sports a 5 inch WVGA capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels, 1GHz dual core processor, Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system, 5MP rear camera, 0.3MP front camera for video calling, 4GB internal storage, micro SD card slot supporting up to 32GB expandable storage support, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS, micro USB 2.0 and a 2,300 mAh Li-Po battery of undisclosed backup.

Further, Iris 501 also comes with special built in apps like Hike - for free messaging, Saavn Music player app, Fusion Music organizer app and games from Gameloft like Asphalt HD.

The handset is priced at Rs 9,999, thereby making it a budget phablet offering.

New Zync Cloud Z5

On Thursday, Zync refreshed its phablet - Cloud Z5 with a 1GHz dual core processor and improved Android 4.0.3 ICS OS. The device packs a 5 inch 5 point multi-touch LCD capacitive touchscreen display with 800 x 480 pixel resolution, dual core 1GHz processor, Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich OS, 8MP rear camera, a 0.3MP front camera, 4GB internal storage, 512MB RAM, micro SD card slot supporting up to 32GB expandable storage, 3G, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g, Bluetooth 2.0, GPS and 2,500 mAh Li-ion battery.

Priced at Rs 11,990, the Zync phablet could be a challenger to the low cost Lava offering with its improved camera performance and slightly improved battery.

Micromax A100 Canvas 2

Similarly, Micromax also launched the upgraded version of its first phablet - Canvas A100 with A110 Canvas 2, wherein the new version packs a better camera, a dual core processor and some improved specifications.

As far as specs are concerned, A110 Canvas 2 features a 5 inch capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 480 x 854 pixels, 1GHz dual core processor, 8MP rear camera, 0.3MP front camera for video calling purposes, 4GB internal storage, 512MB, a micro SD card slot supporting up to 32GB expandable memory, 3G, Bluetooth, GPS with aGPS, USB 2.0, Wi-Fi and 1,600 mAh Li-ion battery delivering 5 hours talk time and 174 hours standby. Canvas 2 is priced at Rs 9,999.

With the similar price point and better camera performance, A110 Canvas 2 could be a potential rival to Iris 501, however, the latter has an enhanced battery life.

WickedLeak Wammy Note

Following the same lines as Micromax and Zync, WickedLeak also came up with a refreshed version of Wammy Note - upgrading the phablet with a dual core processor and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean platform.

The dual core variant houses a 5 inch Super HD capacitive touchscreen display with 480 x 800 pixels, 1GHz dual core processor, 8MP rear camera, 1.3MP front camera, 4GB internal storage, 512MB RAM, micro SD card slot supporting up to 32GB additional storage, 3G, Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth, micro USB 2.0 and a 2,500 mAh battery.

Moreover, with the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean platform, Wammy Note will feature Project Butter, expandable and contractible notifications, resizable app widgets, live wallpaper preview, high resolution contact photos, improved Android Beam and many more.

While the older version was priced at Rs 11,000, the new one is priced at Rs 12,000. Moreover, on the rivals front, with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, the WickedLeak offering could be a potential rival to the Zync offering.

Intex Aqua 5.0

Intex Technologies has also jumped into the bandwagon as it has come up with Aqua 5.0 - an Android phablet priced at Rs 9,999.
Speaking of specs, Aqua 5.0 flaunts a 5 inch multi-touch capacitive touchscreen display with a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels, dual core 1GHz processor, Android 4.0 ICS OS, 5MP rear camera, 1.3MP front camera for video calling, 4GB internal memory, 512MB RAM, micro SD card slot supporting up to 32GB additional memory, Wi-Fi, 3G, Bluetooth 2.0 and GPS and a 2,000 mAh battery.

With similar specs and better front camera for video calling, the Intex offering is also considered as a threatening rival of the new Lava handset.

Magicon mNote

Magicon mNote launched in collaboration between Aircel and Magicon is also a dual SIM phablet with similar specs and Rs 9,999 price point.

When it comes to specs, the phablet comes with a 5 inch Ultratouch touchscreen display, dual core 1GHz processor, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, 8MP rear camera with LED flash, VGA front camera, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and 2,000 mAh battery.

Priced at Rs 9,999, the phablet comnes packed with attractive voice and data plans from Aircel including 250 minutes talk time, 250 SMSes and 1 GB data for three months. The phones are come with a 4GB memory card and a warranty cover of 18 months.

With attractive freebies and better rear camera, the Magicon phablet could be a competitor to Iris 501.