YU launched its latest mid-range smartphone Yunicorn in India on Tuesday, adding another choice of high-spec low-priced handset for consumers. The sub-Rs. 15,000 price category has become a popular and important smartphone segment for shoppers, where handsets such as Xiaomi Redmi Note 3, Lenovo ZUK Z1, Moto G4 Plus, Meizu M3 Note, LeEco Le 1s and others have brought new meaning to premium smartphones.
The intense competition in the Indian smartphone market has led to new product launches from companies and YU wants to be a part of it. YU Yunicorn is priced at Rs. 14,999, but the company is offering a limited period discount and selling it for Rs. 12,999 for a month. Lenovo ZUK Z1 is priced at Rs. 13,499 and Moto G4 Plus 3GB RAM variant costs Rs. 14,999.
All the handsets are priced closely, which puts them rightly in competition. Here's a comparison of all the specs and features each handset offers at their respective prices.
Display
As YU CEO Rahul Sharma had pointed in a recent press meet, 5.5-inch is the standard screen size for smartphones these days. It is proven and hence all three smartphones in this comparison feature 5.5-inch displays with Full HD resolutions.
YU Yunicorn features a 2.5D curved glass display with slim bezels and a physical home button with fingerprint scanner in it. The handset does not catch fingerprints, which gives it a clean look.
Lenovo ZUK Z1 boasts of anti-fingerprint coating, display polariser coating and GFF whole-bonding process. Finally, the Moto G4 Plus has a Corning Gorilla Glass 3 shield protecting its display.
Camera
Motorola Moto G4 Plus has a 16MP primary camera with OmniVision Pure Cel Plus sensor, PDAF, dual LED flash, professional mode and a 5MP front-facing camera with wide-angle lens.
Lenovo ZUK Z1 comes with a 13-megapixel Sony EXMOR RS sensor with 1.2µm, dual LED flash, OIS, 5-physical lens and f/2.2 aperture. On the front side of the device, there is an 8MP snapper with 1.4µm pixel, OV8865 sensor equipped with OMniBSI-1 technology.
YU Yunicorn features a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera with f/2.2 aperture, PDAF, EIS, Truebright dual-core ISP engine, dual LED flash and a 5MP front snapper with f/2.0 aperture for better low-light selfies.
In a recent report, it was found that the Moto G4 Plus camera outperformed some of the best smartphones in the market, including iPhone 6s, 6s Plus and Samsung Galaxy Note 4. While we are still reviewing the Yunicorn smartphone for its camera, so far it seems to keep up with its rivals.
Processor, RAM and storage
Lenovo ZUK Z1 comes powered by a 2.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor, paired with 3GB RAM and 64GB storage. YU Yunicorn offers a 1.8GHz MediaTek Helio P10 octa-core processor, 4GB RAM and 32GB expandable storage. Finally, Moto G4 Plus runs Qualcomm Snapdragon 617 octa-core processor with 3GB RAM and 32GB expandable storage.
In terms of storage, Lenovo ZUK Z1 takes the lead but the Yunicorn's configuration makes it a solid multi-task performer.
Battery and software
Even with such high performing specs, these smartphones tend to offer large batteries for longer run time. Lenovo ZUK Z1 has the biggest battery of 4,100mAh, which the company claims to offer up to 38 hours of 4G talk time. YU Yunicorn has a 4,000mAh battery with fast charging support, and it is expected to last up to 4 days with average use or at least two days with mixed usage. Moto G4 Plus packs a 3,000mAh battery with TurboCharging technology.
All three smartphones run on Google's Android platform. After YU ended its partnership with Cyanogen, the Yunicorn runs on a new home-grown Android on Steroids (AOS) OS. Lenovo picked up Cyanogen for its ZUK Z1 while Moto G4 Plus runs stock Android Marshmallow OS.
Add-ons
All three smartphones have fingerprint scanners on their respective home buttons, dual SIM and 4G LTE support. The ZUK Z1 comes with a USB Type-C port, a feature missing from other two phones. YU Yunicorn comes with Around YU 2.0 integration that will let users access host of services without having to install specific apps for things like cabs, recharge, food and shopping, etc.
Availability
Lenovo ZUK Z1 is available exclusively on Amazon.in in weekly flash sales. The next sale is on June 2 and registrations are open.
Moto G4 Plus is also available on Amazon.in, but it is available without registrations or flash sales.
YU Yunicorn will be available exclusively on Flipkart on June 7.
