There were plenty of phones under Rs 15,000 two years ago, but that seems to have dried up. Companies are targeting higher segments as profit margins fall. It’s possible.
Counterpoint Research estimated 320 million Indian feature phone users in August 2021. We have almost 800 million Internet users.
As consumers switch from feature phones to smartphones, the cheap category has opportunity to develop for the next few years.
We reviewed the fingerprint-enabled Redmi A2+ recently. Many individuals only want a phone that can make calls, browse, stream a little video, capture a few moments, and utilize some common apps. Others want a secondary gadget. Redmi A2+.
The cheap phone comes with a 10W charging brick and a Type-A to micro USB power connection. UI matters most on such phones.
Android 13 Go Edition runs smoothly. Redmi receives security fixes in two years. Budget businesses rarely offer this. Preloaded applications are a drawback. Since the phone has limited storage, uninstall all the bloatware. Delete Facebook Lite and Spotify if you don’t care.
The phone has a high-quality polycarbonate shell. There is a microSD card slot and two SIM card slots. A2+ has a responsive fingerprint scanner.
The inexpensive phone has a nice display and heavy bezels. The 6.52-inch HD+ display has superb content viewing and brightness. Don’t expect much from a 1600×720 phone. Color accuracy is good.
The Redmi A2+ is a durable smartphone that raises the bar for low-priced models.
Two rear cameras—an 8MP primary and a depth camera—are available. 5MP front camera. Pictures shine? This phone is fine for taking photos and making video calls. Photos have depth and contrast. I wonder how far the smartphone market has progressed in a decade.
Camera-wise, Redmi excels. HDR is sufficient and portraits are good. Budget phones don’t show ultra-wide. The front camera also records at 1080p@30fps. The front camera has good audio but unstable videos.
The gadget has a MediaTek Helio G36 chipset and 4GB LPDDR4X and 64GB EMMC 5.1 storage. The phone performs well and does daily chores without benchmark scores. One audio speaker plays music.
The 5,000mAh battery should last a day and a half. The 10W charger takes a few hours to charge, but you may do it overnight. Redmi might have avoided micro USB charging. Redmi A2+ is durable and a cheap phone standard. Redmi’s action is brave given rising component prices.
