Lava Xolo Q2000

Lava was one of the first Indian manufacturers to recognize the need to focus on premium devices, which was achieved with the launch of the Xolo sub-brand in 2013. The Xolo brand bore witness to several firsts in the mobile segment, even scoring a few hardware wins on the global stage. It was the first to offer a device with an Intel Atom-based CPU, the first manufacturer to India to offer Nvidia s Tegra-based hardware, and the one of the first vendors to launch phones with HD displays in the budget segment.

The Xolo Q2000, built on the success of the Xolo Q1000, is no different in this regard. Sold for just over 12,000, the device offers an interesting mix of hardware for the price, more so when you consider that the device first debuted in 2013.

Boasting a 5.5-inch HD screen, the Q2000 falls into the phablet category, although with a majority of devices sold these days featuring a similar screen size, it is now safe to assume that phones with large screens are here to stay. The handset has a 69.7% screen-to-body ratio, which basically means that you don t have to worry about thick side bezels.

Under the hood, the Xolo Q 2000 is powered by a quad-core 1.2GHz MediaTek MT6589 SoC featuring four Cortex A7 cores and a PowerVR SGX544 GPU. That combination of hardware provides adequate juice to drive visually-intensive games, although the 1GB RAM may turn out to be a bottleneck with the more recent titles.

In terms of storage, you get 8GB internal memory along with a microSD slot should you wish to add on additional storage. The Q2000 features a 13MP rear camera with LED flash that can shoot full-HD videos, followed on by a 2MP front camera. Software is the most major sore point on the Xolo Q2000, with the device still running Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. Thankfully, you can install custom ROMs to get a later version of Android.

As far as connectivity goes, you re looking at 3G, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, FM Radio and dual-SIM. A 2,600mAh battery ensures that the phone is chugging along for at least a day on a full charge.