Monthly Roundup: Top Smartphones Launched in India in November

The month of November witnessed top MNC rivals Apple, Google and HTC launching their 2013 flagship smartphones in India, just ahead of the Christmas holidays.

Here is brief roundup on the specifications and availablity details of the new smartphones. 

Apple iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C:

American technology major Apple reaped some success earlier in the year with creative sales schemes for older iPhone models. To further continue their success streak, the company released its new 2013 marquee devices iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C soon after their debut in developed markets.

Apple premium phone iPhone 5S, despite its exorbitant ₹53,500 plus price-tag, reportedly recorded good sales with stocks running out within hours on the first day of its release in major metros across India.

The new iPhone 5S boasts of the new generation Apple A7, a 64-bit architecture based chipset making it the most advanced smartphone in the market. The new-age processor is said to increase the performance (twice the speed of previous generation model) and the RAM management efficiency and further lessen the burden on the processor, Apple has planted an M7 co-processor to monitor motion-related tasks of accelerometer and gyroscope, taking away a load off the main processor.

The iPhone 5S also boasts of Touch ID, a fingerprint sensor module on the home button for secured screen unlocking of the device. 

On the other hand, Apple's coloured plastic handset iPhone 5C is more of an old wine in a new bottle, as it features pretty much the same specifications seen inside the 2012 Apple flagship model iPhone 5. It features a 4.0-inch retina display, A6 dual-core processor, iOS 7 software, 1GB RAM, enhanced 8.0-megapixel main camera with OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) and comes with plethora colour options - White, Blue, Pink, Yellow and Green. In its bid to attract people to this device, Apple has introduced a buy back scheme offering up to ₹13,000 discount to prospective buyer who ready trade in their old smartphones for the peppy coloured iPhone 5C. [For more information, Click Here].

Network carrier Reliance Communication is offering new iPhones at discounts. According to RCom's discount plan, premium iPhone 5S and the iPhone 5C's base model can be purchased with no initial down payment at all. In order to avail this offer, buyers are obliged to sign a two-year contract with fixed monthly bill. [For more details on tariff charges, Click Here] 

Google Nexus 5:

Early this year, Google and its OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) LG released the 2012 flagship model Nexus 4, almost seven months after its global debut. In the process, they lost a huge chunk of profits to Samsung and local vendors like Micromax and Karbonn Mobiles.

Now, enlightened Google and LG released the new Nexus 5 in India within a couple of weeks after the global debut. The trick seems to have paid off as the Nexus 5 stocks ran out within hours after the launch on Google Play store.

[Fresh batch of units (16GB) have been re-stocked. Prospective buyers, Click Here]

Google Nexus 5 sports a 4.95-inch full HD IPS display and packs Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 series CPU, 2GB RAM, 16GB/32GB flash memory, 8.0-megapixel OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) camera and 1.3-megapixel secondary camera.

It runs on the new Android KitKat OS which boasts of enhanced features such as smarter caller ID, more organised message grouping, voice-command feature Google Now, low-power audio play playback (about 60 hours), quick access to settings, Quickoffice word document app, wireless printing options (HP printers) Bluetooth MAP (Message Access Profile) and many more

 HTC One Max:

Buoyed by the success of original flagship HTC One, the Taiwanese firm released smaller model called 'One Mini' in October and the big display variant HTC One Max in November.

The 5.9-inch phablet variant features a fingerprint sensor on its back cover. This is only the second phone in the market to come with the biometrics technology other than Apple iPhone 5S.

Other stipulated specifications include Android v4.3 Jelly Bean OS, Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 series quad-core processor, 2GB RAM, 16GB/32GB inbuilt storage, 2.0-ultrapixel camera (equivalent to 4-MP), 2.1-megapixel front camera and 3300 mAh battery.

Priced at a whopping ₹61,490 (MRP), HTC has a tough job of convincing price-conscious Indians to invest on the big phone.

[Online store, Flipkart is offering same device for ₹58,500. Prospective buyers, Click Here]

Keyspecifications of Apple iPhone 5S, iPhone 5C, Google-LG Nexus 5, HTC One Max: