When it comes to search engines, nothing beats Google. It dominates search market on all major platforms such as desktop, mobiles, TV, smartwatches, and whatnot. As a compensation for making our life easier, Google gets to keep all the data. Since we are now in the ultimate part of the year, the search-giant has released detailed country specific data. Dubbed as ‘Google Trends’, this data gives us a gist of things that created a lot of buzz during the year. Since we cover tech, and smartphones remain the hottest category, let us look back at some of the top searched handsets in India.

Freedom 251
The Freedom 251 has been the most sought after smartphone. It was named as the most inexpensive smartphone in the world. Announced back in February 2016 by a company called ‘Ringing Bells’ the Freedom 251 retails online for a mere Rs 251 or $4. Hence, no wonder it was the most searched for smartphone on the Internet. For a smartphone for a price of a Veg Happy Meal, it has a bunch of features packed in. It is a single sim device with a 4-inch TFT color screen with 540x960 pixels. It is powered by a 1.3 GHz quad-core processor and has 1 GB RAM and 8 GB of internal storage. The device also comes with a microSD card slot. In the photography department, you get a 3.2-megapixel rear camera and a VGA camera on the front. It runs on Android 5.1 operating system and covers essentials such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and FM radio. The Noida-based company showed the carrot of an incredibly cheap handset to the country. Obviously, it did not live up to its promise. Ringing Bells, founded by Mohit Goel, failed miserably in delivering the hopes of billions of the consumers who pre-booked the device. Recent reports suggested it as a scam and the Indian government also denied any involvement in this project.



Apple iPhone 7
Apple unveiled the latest iteration of its iPhone line-up earlier this year. It was made available to the Indian consumers from October 7 onwards. The iPhone 7 with a 4.7-inch display was priced at Rs 60,000 for 32 GB. The one with 128 GB was pegged at Rs 70,000, while the top model could be yours for Rs 80,000. The bigger sibling with a 5.5-inch was even more pricier. Its top model would set you back for whopping Rs 92,000. Goes on to show that people in this country are equally interested in the cheapest and the most expensive phones. Apart from the OIS camera for the iPhone 7 which the iPhone 6s lacked, both the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus now are water & dust repellant. Which is welcome feature and is a quite a noteworthy addition to these premium offerings from Apple. The bigger iPhone 7 Plus also gets a twin lens camera setup at the rear. The primary one is a wide-angle lens while the other is a telephoto sensor capable of up to 2x optical zoom and of up to 10x digital zoom. Apple also introduced the ‘Air-pods’ which are essentially wireless earphones that cost Rs 15,400. iPhone may not command significant marketshare in India, but is undoubtedly the most desired device in the country.



Xiaomi Redmi Note 3
Xiaomi launched the Redmi Note 3 in March, 2016. It came as a variant powered by Snapdragon chipset for India. The phone boasts of a 5.5inch Full HD display. Available in 16 GB and 32 GB variants, the Note 3 is a dual sim device with 4G VoLTE capabilities. It runs Android marshmallow 6.0.1 operating system. It packs-in a massive 4050 mAh battery underneath its metal body construction. Ever since its launch, the Note 3 been favorite among the consumers looking to purchase a budget handset. Thanks to its performance, usability and exceptional battery performance, not many phones can compete with Xiaomi’s phone when it comes to value proposition.



Lenovo K4 Note
Priced at Rs 11,999, the Vibe K4 Note is a dual sim standby phone with a 5.5-inch Full HD display. By spending Rs 500 extra, you can get a VR headset too. The phone is powered by MediaTek’s octa-core MT6753 chipset. It has 3 GB RAM and 16 GB of internal storage. The handset features front mounted twin speakers with Dolby Atmos. It gets a 13-megapixel rear facing camera. For selfies, there’s a 5-megapixel front-facing snapper. To support a smartphone loaded with such features, Lenovo has squeezed in a 3300 mAh battery.



Samsung Galaxy J7
Among the crowd of Chinese guys, comes the mid-range handset from the Korean-giant. The J7 (2016) is an upgrade to the last year’s model. Launched in the end of the first quarter of this year, this device sports a 5.5 inch Super AMOLED display and features a metal body construction. It is a dual-SIM handset with 4G connectivity. This phone features a unique S-bike mode. Samsung has also added a Ultra-Data saving mode, which could save up to 50% of your data usage. The phone is powered by Samsung’s own Exynos 7870 chipset. It has 2 GB RAM and 16 GB of onboard storage. To provide the juice, it gets a non-removable 3300 mAh battery. This handset is ideal for budget conscious consumers who want to refrain from buying Chinese phones.



OnePlus 3
OnePlus, in its third attempt delivered a flagship killer. It supersedes the OnePlus 2 which didn’t quite go well with the consumers. It is a dual-SIM handset with 4G VoLTE connectivity. The phone sports a 5.5-inch AMOLED Full HD screen with Corning Gorilla Glass 4 protection. It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 chipset, which was top-of-the-line SoC (System on Chip) when the OnePlus 3 launched. It gets 64 GB of internal storage, which is non-expandable. It one of the few handsets to feature whopping 6 GB of RAM. Imaging performance is handled by a rear facing 16-megapixel camera and an 8-megapixel selfie shooter. The handset has a front-mounted fingerprint sensor. To enable a powerhouse of a device which the One Plus 3 is in every way possible, it comes with a non-removable type battery of 3000 mAh with Dash Charge technology.



Google Pixel
Google, the creator of the Android operating system, finally decided to foray into the hardware business. The company introduced its flagship devices the Pixel and Pixel XL in October 2016. The Indian prices for this handset start from Rs 57,000 onwards for the compact model. The XL model, on the other hand, can cost as much as Rs 76,000. Google’s Pixel is no slouch as far as performance goes. The Pixel gets a 5-inch display while the bigger Pixel Xl gets a 5.5-inch display. Both these panels are AMOLED with Quad HD resolution. The phone is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 821. The storage options are 32 GB and 128 GB. The Android Nougat v7.1 which is the latest operating system. Imaging duties are handled by the 12.3-megapixel sensor at the back and a 8-megapixel for selfies. Providing the juice to this device is the non-removable 3450 mAh battery.



Though Ajinkya mostly writes about gadgets, he prefers things that guzzle gasoline more than those running on lithium-ion batteries. He is a content guy at Compareraja.in

Tags : Samsung, Apple iPhone 7