LOOKING GOOD IN A RETRO WAY-CYANOGEN OS TO THE RESCUE
It looks good, and works rather well for a device this affordable. Then there’s the 64-bit chip and Cyanogen OS combo, which means you can expect Android updates for a while. And there’s 2GB RAM, which is fast becoming the minimum. Even the camera, with its uneven performance, is miles ahead of the former budget king, the Moto G, and we expect a lot of the issues could be minimised, if not eliminated, through software updates. The battery life is something you’ll just have to learn to live with, but for light users, it shouldn’t be an issue.
So there you are: For a budget device that’ll cost you just?6, 999, the Yuphoria does pretty well to exceed our expectations, and with its retro-ish looks, is easily the best-looking budget Android you can get. But we still have to wonder how well it’ll hold up against the latest crop of budget devices that are fitting in even more impressive specs with a price that’s not too far off.
Overall performance is pretty decent for this device, with the 64-bit Snapdragon 410 providing enough oomph for daily tasks and all but the most demanding games. Apps start up surprisingly quick, and while Chrome might take its time loading up webpages, we still found this to be a lot snappier than the erstwhile king of the budget segment – the Moto G.
The 2GB RAM also goes some way in making multitasking decently seamless, and the Yuphoria makes for a pretty good daily driver of a phone for anyone who’s just looking for a affordable-yet-snappy device and doesn’t care about the latest games.
In fact, the only real complaint we have about the Yuphoria‘s performance is the way it heats up – a few minutes of processor-intensive usage is enough to make you worry. Still, we hope this is something that can be handled on the software front, and isn’t another of the heating issues faced by Qualcomm’s new 64-bit processors.
Bass lovers will be pleased with Yu’s decision to fit in a Wolfson amp, resulting in sound with a good low end. The treble can be a bit high though, and mid-range a bit lacking. Still, we guess that’s what people usually prefer.
The Yuphoria’s 2230 mAh battery packs in Quick Charge 1.0 support, which is good as it’s not going to make it till the end of the day with heavy usage. In fact, we found ourselves constantly worried about whether it would die before we’d get to a charging point. Still, charge it midway during the day once, and you’ll avoid the panicky ‘oh my god, my phone’s dying’ feeling that’s an all-too-sad fact of the smartphone era. And that’s what we’ll do, as with a dual SIM, 4G LTE and expandable storage, this phone is surprisingly versatile for something that costs as much as a pair of basketball shoes.
power
6
battery
6
apps
9
build
8
Camera
5
screen
6