With the launch of new Xolo Era 1x, the competition under 5K has caught pace and now we can see more 4G phones under 5K segment. We will be comparing top 3 phones under 5K to help you choose the best one. The phones which we have selected for this comparison are Xolo Era 1X, M370 from Infocus and Asus Zenfone Go 4.5 2nd generation. We have selected Zenfone 4.5 just to give an idea about what do you get from a well established brand under Rs. 5000. You can also call these as the battle of the budget phones.
Also Read: Xolo Era 1X- Another Impressive Smartphone Under Rs. 5000
Specifications
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Design and Build
Xolo Era 1X comes with a plastic body and it’s even unfair to ask for a metallic body for such modest price. The design of the Xolo Era 1X is good and is available in Black and Gun Metal variant and another in gold with brown. The gun metal finish looks good. Though the edges reminds you of a Xperia series but you can say its unique. If we come to the Infocus M71, we see that it’s the slimmest phone of the lot. Design is one of the added advantage to this phone. The Infocus branding is also well done at the bottom. You can grip it very easily and is also attractive to look with its contrasting colour scheme. The texture on the back enhances the grip and also makes it look different. Whereas the Asus Zenfone Go 4.5 has its design reminiscent to Zenfone 4, and even looks like a concise version of the Zenfone 2 Lazer. Just like its elder siblings, its got that good reflecting texture below the home and back button. The volume rocker and the power button are also nice and tactile. Its classic but it’s the fattest of the lot.
All the phones give a tough competition in design and build quality, I personally preferred Xolo Era 1X. But the contrasting colour scheme of Infocus M370 is definitely eye catching and even the slimmer profile makes it easier to hold. Though you don’t find the sort of build quality you get in premium phones, these are satisfying at the price you pay.
Display
We need to note that all these phones are compact. The Xolo Era 1X comes with a 5.0 inch HD display with a resolution of 1280×720 pixels. The pixel density is 294 ppi. It comes with an IPS display and 2 point multi touch which is good. The Infocus M370 also comes with a 5.0 inch HD display with a resolution of 1280×720 pixels. Again there are no complaints with the quality of the display at this price point. Asus Zenfone Go 4.5 comes with 4.5 inch FWVGA Display with a resolution of 480×854 which is quite outdated and is of sub standard level compared to other two phones. Hence, in the display section, we can conclude that both Era 1X and InFocus M370 stand out compared to the Zenfone Go 4.5.
Hardware and Storage
All the phones come with 1 GB of RAM. But what differs is the processor, inbuilt storage and the storage expansion limit. Asus Zenfone 4.5 has 1 GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage. The storage is expandable up to 32 GB only. Xolo Era 1X comes with a 1.3 GHz quad core Spreadtrum SC9832A chipset, which is decent for the price. It also has 1 GB of RAM and 8 GB of internal storage which can be expanded up to 64 GB. The M370 comes with the tried and tested 1.1 GHz quad core Qualcomm MSM8909 chipset. It also has 1 GB of RAM and internal storage of 8GB. The storage can be expanded upto 64 GB via micro SD card. Considering the processor speed, we see that Era 1X and Zenfone Go 4.5 lead the race. But the Qualcomm branding pulls back M370 back into the race. Hence, if you consume more media and want some performance then clearly, M370 works the finest.
Camera
Xolo Era 1X comes with 8 MP Auto Focus Rear Camera with 4P Largen Lens and LED flash. It can also record videos in 1080p. It also comes with 5 MP front camera with dual LED flash. Era 1X also comes with some other features like time lapse, beautification mode, slow motion video, live photos etc. which add on to its value. The M370 also comes with 8 MP rear camera with f/2.4 aperture and also LED flash, but the front facing camera is is only 2 MP. The Zenfone GO 4.5 comes with a 5 MP rear camera with LED whereas it comes with a 0.3 MP front facing camera which falls far off the league compared to the other two. Rear camera is good on InFocus m370 and Era 1x, whereas the front camera experience on Xolo Era 1x is the best among three.
Battery
On comparing the battery, the Era 1X comes with 2500 mAh Li-Po battery which is removable. Also it gives a standby time of 185 hour and talktime upto 22 hours in 2G. The M370 comes with 2230 mAh Lithium ion battery and is expected to give a standby time of 400 hours and a talktime of 14 hours on 3G. Whereas the Zenfone Go 4.5 comes with 1600 mAh battery which is poor comparing the other two. Also the battery is non removable which only adds to the worries. Hence, Era 1X would be the last phone standing in battery performance when compared with other two phones.
Special Mention
Both Era 1X and M370 are 4G phones with VoLTE enabled. This means that this can be used with the Jio SIM. But the Zenfone Go 4.5 has just 3G connectivity. Also, Era 1X and M370 comes with Android 6.0 Marshmallow out of the box. But Zenfone Go 4.5 comes with Android 5.1 Lollipop which is sort of outdated. Infocus M370 also comes with a feature called You-Moticon where you can use your photo as an emoticon. It’s a fun feature to use.
Pricing and Availability
All the phones are available online. The prices of the phones are as follows. The Xolo Era 1X costs Rs 4,999 on Flipkart and is available with two colour variants. Infocus M370 is available for a price of Rs 4,999 for the 1GB/8GB variant in Snapdeal. Asus Zenfone Go 4.5 costs Rs 4,999 on Flipkart and is available in two variants.
Conclusion
We can see that each phone has its own might to sit at the top spot. But when we sum up the whole scenario after real life tests the only reason to go for Zenfone Go will be the brand name and processor whereas the Infocus M370 and Xolo Era 1x are the almost the same in terms of usage. Xolo comes first in the list because it offers a better battery and front camera when compared to the M370.
