How Indian Android Device Manufacturers are Fooling and Misleading You

Rupam

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2009
Messages
1,180
Points
83
Location
Kolkata, Paschim Bango
A very interesting article about How Indian Mobile makers are taking the us for a ride.

Micromax Canvas 4, a mid-range smartphone is seeing hype and excitement comparable to the likes of multinational brands perhaps for the first time for an Indian manufacturer. Promising specifications better than many high-end devices, it has led people into thinking that this company is offering much more value at much lesser price.

Which is wrong.

For a nation that has always been highly price-conscious, its very easy to mislead people by advertising the number of cores a phone or a tablet has.

Same goes for Lava, Karbonn, Intex, Spice and all other Indian manufacturers, which are having a dream run this year. From a meager handset market share of less than 3% in 2012, they now account for nearly 30% of it (source). This obviously could not have been possible without Android, which has been lately driving an explosion of budget smartphones and tablets.

Being an Android enthusiast for long, here are a few important tips from my side that you should keep in mind while you are looking for Android devices.

Too Good To Believe Hardware Specs


CPU Cores and Clock Speed Mean Nothing

Unaware of how microprocessors work, the biggest misconception among the non tech-savvy crowd is that a devices performance is measured by its number of CPU cores and the speed at which theyre clocked.

Thankfully, CPUs dont work this way. A detailed explanation of their working is taught in colleges (I personally hate the subject which deals with this), but for the laymen what actually matters is the architecture of the processor.

Think of CPU as a group of engineers working on some project. Each worker is a separate core. The amount of work done by the group does not depend on the quantity of the engineers, but on their skills as well as their speeds. A group of two highly skilled engineers can finish their assigned project faster than a group of four less skilled engineers working on the same project.

In a similar fashion, its totally possible for a dual-core or single-core CPU X to outperform a quad-core CPU Y. The single-core Lava X1000 might be the best example for this, which performs 10% better on the quadrant benchmark test.

Taking advantage of this unintelligence, manufacturers lure customers by releasing multi-core phones of mediocre architecture at 1/4th the price of high-end phones having the same number of cores. This leads people into believing that theyre providing the same level of performance at comparatively dirt-cheap rates.
Tip: Try to avoid CPUs of Cortex A-7 Architecture if Budget Allows

Almost all budget Android devices use CPUs made by MediaTek, a company known for its low cost semiconductor chips. And a majority of them utilize the Cortex A-7 architecture. If possible, avoid them as they are considerably slow and instead look for devices having Cortex A-9 CPUs or processors made by Intel, which are significantly better.

For instance, the quad-core A-7 MediaTek MT6589 that is being used in various recently launched phones scores marginally less than the single-core Intel Atom processor packed in with the Xolo X1000 on the Quadrant test, despite having more number of cores.

This was tested on a developer device provided by MediaTek. Quadrant scores may vary on different phones since it can be heavily optimized using software tweaks.


Low Internal Memory is a No Go

Storage settings thumb How Indian Android Device Manufacturers are Fooling and Misleading YouFor a mobile platform where games tend to reach 500MB 1GB of content, its advisable not to buy devices having internal storage of anything less than 4GB, which should equal to around 2.5 3 GB of usable storage after excluding system space.

And no, buying a separate SD card if the internal memory is low is NOT a solution. Apps in Android are installed in the internal storage by default. Although Android lets you move apps to SD card, a lot of apps do not support this feature, especially those having widgets since widgets do not work when installed in the SD card.

A trickery that manufacturers seem to have started playing lately is using a combination of internal flash storage and internal SD card.

The Lava Xtron+ tablet, for example, has a 500MB internal flash storage and an 8GB inbuilt SD card. The problem with this combination is that the internal flash storage gets immediately filled with just 25-30 non-movable apps downloaded from the Play Store.

Pro tip: Look for devices that have a single internal flash storage. This can be found by going into the devices Storage settings page (Settings > Storage).

Software Issues

The hardware is only one half of the story. Even if companies are able to sell devices having Cortex A-9 CPUs at affordable rates, it is totally possible for them to still mess up the software.

The best example I can think of regarding this issue is, again, the new Lava Xtron+ a tablet having stellar hardware but plagued with so many software flaws that using it is sometimes an irritating experience. To give you an idea, the Wi-Fi often stops working, cell standby continuously drains 60% of battery and multiple user accounts (a key Android 4.2 feature exclusive to tablets) is missing.

This gives us another important lesson that a manufacturer can only buy hardware parts with its money and not skilled engineers to work on the software.

Pro tip: To save yourself from such flawed Android devices, restrain from pre-booking or buying devices immediately after their release and read their reviews first.

This ones tough.

When youre buying a sub-10 thousand phone, its difficult to expect the manufacturer to support it for long by releasing future updates and bug fixes. And you cannot complain about this. Even with Android, which has a 6-months update cycle unlike 1 year of other mobile platforms, its difficult for manufacturers to promise future updates for its budget phones. So, be aware of this fact that when youre buying a budget phone, youre possibly also buying it with nearly zero future support.

For the first time however, Micromax has introduced Over-the-Air (OTA) updates functionality in the Canvas 4, which is a welcome change and could possibly mean that users might receive upcoming version(s) of Android.

Thats it. Keep these four tips in mind and you will never regret your buying decisions when it comes to Android devices.

Source How Indian Android Device Manufacturers are Fooling and Misleading You

Does anyone has mobiles of indian brand? micromax, lava, Karbonne, xolo !!!
 
Hello Rupam,

Thank you very much for this useful post. Really. I have to re-read it. Cannot understand it completely but I got the jist. I will read it a couple of times to understand it.

I am still stuck with a Nokia basic good old buttons phone:) :) :) 110.

Vinod
 
Thank you very much.

Actually planning to buy a Micromax/Karbonn next time, in place of a Samsung Galaxy Y I am using at present. Somehow, I found that they are more loaded on specs and are faster, and cost less than the Galaxy Y. Your post however gives more insight into the much hyped recent launches. May be because they are more of "marketers" than "manufacturers".
 
Last edited:
I have two questions : Micromax/Karbonn/Lava/iBall/Salora/Xolo do they have dedicated manufacturing plant in India ? Or they import parts or OEM from China and assemble them?

How come they afford to run full page newspaper ad every week?
 
My first Android was Spice Mi 410. Worked nicely for about an year or so. I was not expecting more, so I consider that a successful buy.
Right now I have a Xolo Q800 that brags of a quad core 1.2GHz processor and 1 GB RAM. While using it I have to admit that was the fastest phone I have ever used. Here is the strange and startling bit, right now I am using a Google Nexus 4 with Illusion ROM, but the Xolo was faster, yes faster even though the Nexus 4 has 2 GB or RAM. And now here is the expected bit perhaps, the Xolo's microphone conked within 2 months. Am I being unfair by terming it as 'expected'? Maybe.
My experience with phones have been horrible. I have used so far Galaxy Ace, Sony Ericsson Xperia Neo V, HTC Desire V, Nokia 610 and now the Nexus 4. Of these HTC was the best phone I have ever laid my hands on, although NONE of the above lasted more than a year. I changed the Nokia within a month so that does not count I believe. These very pricey and well regarded brands all died within an year or so, and so I thought enough of splurging money on phones and went for Xolo because it was a Super bang for buck....at least on paper. The Xolo is still with me, it runs just fine, flawlessly at the face of anything you throw at it....just the small matter of not being able to make calls without a headset attached with it....well if you can disregard that then what a hoot!

The Nexus 4 is beautiful though, so far great.
 
This is very useful, because the more one gets used to carrying a miniature computer, rather than a phone, in the pocket, the more one wonders what can be had for less cash.

It is depressing to hear about phones lasting a few months or a year. I have made mine (except for one I did not like and one that I liked a lot that was stolen) last several years, and the higher the cost, in view, the longer they have to last.

Sadly, much of the mobile phone market elsewhere works on contracts where it is inexpensive to change the phone every year or so. I suppose that must influence the life expectancy
 
So does this mean that money spent on Samsung Galaxy grand for 20K is very good than spending on Xolo Q700 for 10K for almost same features....

I think some international brands are priced insane... (Priced grearter than 30K).. I don't want to pick names & models here...

Here is a compariosn for Xolo Q700 Vs Samsung Galaxy Grand...

Compare Xolo Q700 vs Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos I9082 | SmartPrix

Kindly list the advantages of Grand over Xolo Q700
 
elangoas, there is no denying that international brands do leverage their brand premium by unjustifiably pricing their products.
One thing is sure > 10k phone or 20k phone has often same internals. The most important fact is that both indian and international companies are justifying. promoting their products by fooling people to believe that they have the best hardware in their price range. They no more focus on durability and long term after-sales support. It has become a rat-race of technological gimmick and consumers like shibashis suffer for that.
 
When people compare Indian Manufactures phones with those global brands like samsung or htc the compare a 10K Indian model with 30K global modal . if you compare phones in same price bracket you will realize that Indian brands offers much better hardware and build quality than the global brands .

1 CPU Cores and Clock Speed Mean Nothing

yes its absolutely true , but the mediateck quad core powered Indian handsets comes in the price bracket 10 ~ 15 K how can it be compared with the snap dragons quads which is featured in 25K + phones . and for every common tasks these offers lag free performance

2 Low internal memory

Most of the 10k Indian phones features 1gb ram and 4 to 8 gb internal memory and can be extended it with a cheep SD card .


One thing which indian manufactures is lacking is the A S S , but things are improving now micromax is offering a replacement policy for canvas 4 if any complaint is not sorted in seven days of registering the complaint .

I think the author had a bad experience with Lava Xtron and saying every indian android devices are bad and he is the one who is misleading the people .

I am a micromax canvas user for the last ten months and i never had a problem with the device . Even got two android rom updates which most of the sub 10k global phones never get .
 
I would disagree here . We as customers do not have the complete knowledge about the manufacturing processes used by different brands.We only see the finished product in our hands and do not know how it was produced and what materials were used in producing it.
One of my favorite tv program is how stuffs are made which airs on discovery I think . Seeing this program makes me realize the difference between good and cheap brands.

In general good brands do not compromise in quality.
I have a Samsung galaxy s running great for the last 3 years. I have similarly good experience with Nokia and LG also.

Ok.. So how much do you think one has to pay for quality & reliability over its nearest competitor....?
 
The most important fact is that both indian and international companies are justifying. promoting their products by fooling people to believe that they have the best hardware in their price range. They no more focus on durability and long term after-sales support. It has become a rat-race of technological gimmick and consumers like shibashis suffer for that.

Right.. Everybody does that.... But the thread title says that Indian companies have fooled us...:sad:

I fortunately live 45kms away from the city.... Not even sub-urbs...But village.... None of them here are aware of what dual core is / Quad core / Single core / GPU / RAM / ROM means for a mobile...

All they need is a good flashy mobile for their hard earned money....
 
Thanks Rupam, intersting read. My point of view varies in some aspects

1) This point, although valid is not completely true. One should decide the processor based on their workload type. If I am using it for business purpose where lots of multitasking is involved, a multicore, albeit low powered, will be more suitable than a faster processor with lesser cores. Reverse is true for gaming where lots of number crunching is required. Its more of horses for courses. Remember, faster cores will more likely consume more battery and may have greater licensing costs than low powered ones. Based on your analogy, would you can hire one great salesman and cover one area in the city or four average salesman who can cover greater area. It would depend on what you are selling. Talking about Intel processors, its not able to make headway in personal devices sector for a reason. They are not as power efficient as ARM processors and battery life has a big say in this sector.

2) Agreed. However, judiciously moving apps to SD card can benifit you a lot. I have Sony Arc S which was the best you could buy couple of years back. It has only 420 MB internal memory. However, I have not faced any problems with it. As you said, 25-30 apps can reside in internal memory and that may suffice needs of lots of people. Morever regularly deleting unwanted apps can help you a lot :).

3) Completely agreed. Problem is, indian companies are just selling rebadged cheap chinese products. I am pretty sure none of them even hire software engineers which is very short sighted :(. Thats why a Micromax will never be a Samsung as they are not able to see beyond immediate profits. You need to till the land if you need good crops every year.
 
These things need to be judged in a balanced way especially in the case of mobile phones as life of a mobile is only 3 years.

So there is no need to pay a hefty premium for a mobile phone built like a tank.
But I think a premium of 25% to 50% is justified for brand value and the peace of mind that comes with buying a good brand.
Also I have noticed that a majority of Indian buyers are not aware about the brands and their history. For these people Micromax, Samsung and Sony are the same thing. So majority of buyers of brands like Micromax are these people.

Ok.. Lemme give you an other example... Slightly OT. Juz wanted to mention here..

Letz take the case of Honda & Bajaj in two wheelers for 150cc segment....

Both are manufactured in India.. Both of them retail for the same price OTR approx 70K... If i were to choose a bike, i would take the Honda eyes closed than Bajaj Pulsar which offers more frills like digital meter, LED lamps, backlight switching & all these....

Am ready to shell out approx 10% more for Quality.. But def not more than that..

Obviously everyone knows Honda is known for Quality World Wide.. But why do you think Bajaj is the 2nd larlest manufacturer of bikes in India ?

Are we indians looking for more for the money ????
 
Last edited:
3) Completely agreed. Problem is, indian companies are just selling rebadged cheap chinese products. I am pretty sure none of them even hire software engineers which is very short sighted :(. Thats why a Micromax will never be a Samsung as they are not able to see beyond immediate profits. You need to till the land if you need good crops every year.

Everyone has to understand that Micrormax is an evolving company, while Samsung is an well established brand....

What was the scenario 5 yrs back.....THere were no takers for Samsung mobiles..... Nokia & Sony Ericsson largely ruled the roost in India... I can't even think of a Samsung model that made some attention...

So it is just a matter of time before Indian companies realise the market potential they have & give international brands a run for their money...

We deserve better products for our money...
 
Everyone has to understand that Micrormax is an evolving company, while Samsung is an well established brand....

What was the scenario 5 yrs back.....THere were no takers for Samsung mobiles..... Nokia & Sony Ericsson largely ruled the roost in India... I can't even think of a Samsung model that made some attention...

So it is just a matter of time before Indian companies realise the market potential they have & give international brands a run for their money...

We deserve better products for our money...

You missed the point I was making. Samsung beat Nokia and SE because they hired the right people who helped them in innovating and creating new and competitive products. Cheap chinese handsets have been available for few years now and still Samsung rules in india. Why? Because Indian manufacturers are just rebadging chinese products, which are themselves inspired by the leader's products. Thus you always behind the leaders, waiting for them to innovate and then developing the same stuff in your product. Developing the inspired ideas from leaders takes time which means by the time you come up with it, your competitors are also there with the same and leaders have come up with newer ideas. You are always in catchup mode. Hiring technical people and using their skills to innovate will help them compete. Thats what I meant by a Micromax will not be a Samsung (unless they hire the right people and started looking beyond immediate profits). As an example, search for and look at MIUI. This is a very distinct interface for Android and although highly inspired by IOS, is a novelty for android. Doing something like that will definitely attract lot more people to micromax :).
 
Its good to see such an informative article, however, i see it as only an article that provides additional information for the benefit of those who are 'layman' to microprocessing terms/technology.
Personally, I admire companies like micromax! They are bringing about a series of phones with luxury features - large screen, mutli touch, latest android version etc. to the middle and lower middle class of india and other developing countries.
This is what entreprenuership is about, creating a place for yourself and your products in a market! These guys identified a need and came about "well prepared" to meet the requirements of the market - and they have done a pretty good job.
Do you think the guys who use Micromax, karbonn are complaning? - no, they are not.

Another angle - do you know what is the "cost to apple" to manufacture an iphone 4 in 2010-11? $183 = around Rs. 8500 (1 $ was = Rs 45/47 at that time).
And they were selling it at Rs. 35000...
Rs. 26500 worth of premium on every handset???
It still sells - no doubt about it - apple charges premium for its brand but thats exactly which makes it out of reach of many middle class budget concious ppl.
I admire Micromax and others because these companies have reduced their own margin levels to provide latest technology to budget conscious people--which i think is great!!

Your thoughts are welcome...:)
 
Indian phones are for them who want to NJOY all features available in branded phones at low cost. The motherboard/main component are Chinese but the outer cover is Indian made brand,so that people can trust and say that at-least its not a china mobile.
The quality provided by NOKIA, Samsung, Sony and others can't be matched such cheap quality phones
and International companies also have robust aftersales network.
People have different mentality and usage may be different. For example if I work in Wipro/TCS/HSBC then I have to buy a Internationale branded phone. But for a newspaper vendor (with all due respect to the profession), a Micromax replica of S3 will be much more relevant.

It is similar to those guys who want to own a Maruti alto/800 but can't afford it!!
so they go for TATA Nano .

So I'm not criticizing Indian brands, I admire them, but the point is to give quality products to indians. If they are not giving that, where is the difference? The success of Videocon is that they always delivered quality, I also use a Videocon refrigerator. So, I'm not against the indian companies.
 
Last edited:
@vishug - the price is not for material cost but for intellectual cost. Although I hate Iphone on priniple, it was a revolutionary concept. We all remember how the phones used to before it. It takes lot of money to hire people who have the capability to think of such concepts and even more money to pay to people to implement those concepts. On the other hand, its very cheap to pay for labour in a third world country and use the intellectual property developed by others for your own gains. They are further helped by Google who are giving Android for free, paying the high cost engineers themselves and recovering that cost by peddling more ads :). But agreed, this model works very well for india where a high cost mobile by reputed international brands can sometimes be worth more than annual earnings of a person.
 
You missed the point I was making. Samsung beat Nokia and SE because they hired the right people who helped them in innovating and creating new and competitive products. Cheap chinese handsets have been available for few years now and still Samsung rules in india. Why? Because Indian manufacturers are just rebadging chinese products, which are themselves inspired by the leader's products. Thus you always behind the leaders, waiting for them to innovate and then developing the same stuff in your product. Developing the inspired ideas from leaders takes time which means by the time you come up with it, your competitors are also there with the same and leaders have come up with newer ideas. You are always in catchup mode. Hiring technical people and using their skills to innovate will help them compete. Thats what I meant by a Micromax will not be a Samsung (unless they hire the right people and started looking beyond immediate profits). As an example, search for and look at MIUI. This is a very distinct interface for Android and although highly inspired by IOS, is a novelty for android. Doing something like that will definitely attract lot more people to micromax :).

Right perfectly said..... Indian handset makers have created a brand, they have made ppl more aware of the product offering.. Itz not the right time for these ppl to take the next big step....Don't do anything radical.. Just be more consistent until you earn your good name for after sales service....

Then rest will fall in place...
 
Join WhatsApp group to get HiFiMART.com Offers & Deals delivered to your smartphone!
Back
Top