We have reviewed quite a few XOLO phones in the recent past, and it is one domestic manufacturer that we feel is a cut above the rest of its brethren. What we have come to like about this brand is that the build quality and hardware are pretty robust for the price, and the design though simple, is fairly elegant, and not the least bit gaudy. After having used the XOLO Q800 extensively, I felt it wouldn’t be a bad idea for me to try my hands on its recently released successor, the Q900, and share my initial impressions with you.

On paper both the phones have very similar specifications and feature set, except for one key differentiator – the screen. While the Q800 has a 4.5-inch qHD (540x960) display, the Q900 has a 4.7-inch HD screen with pixel dimensions of 720x1280. The screen is noticeably sharper, as you would expect from a display with over 300 ppi. The colours are vibrant too, and the view angles are fairly wide. Also, the touch sensitivity is perfectly fine. All and all, the screen quality is very good and there is nothing much to complain about. However, the panel is not an IPS type, and there’s no scratch resistant glass. So you will have to use a screen guard; something that I am not too fond of.

Another thing I am not very fond of is a glossy finish, and unfortunately XOLO has opted for just that in abundance over here. Not only does it attract fingerprints, but makes the phone look tacky too. It doesn’t look one bit premium. Remember my words of appreciation for the elegant design at the start of this article? Forget about those in this case; they don’t apply here. A faux metal ring at the front and a glossy back don’t exactly tick the right boxes in my style sheet. But if you can look past the aesthetics, the phone is solidly built, and you won’t hear a single creak even if you grip it tight.

At the heart of the Q900 is a 1.2 GHz quad-core processor based on the Mediatek MTK6589 SOC, with the PowerVR SGX544 GPU to handle the graphical elements and games. There’s 1 GB RAM and 4 GB of internal storage (2.7 GB user accessible). A microSD card slot allows you to expand it further by 32 GB. The phone runs Android Jelly Bean 4.2.2 out of the box, with no news on further updates. The interface is pretty standard with hardly any modifications by XOLO, which is a good thing. The battery has a rating of 1800 mAh, which is at least 10% lower than that of its predecessor.

Just like the Q800, this handset too has an 8 MP auto-focus camera with an LED flash at the back. The camera comes with a BSI sensor that is meant to improve low-light photography. There’s a 2 MP front facing camera for video-calling and selfies. The photos taken with the rear camera look quite sharp on the phone’s screen but I will reserve my opinion about the overall camera quality till I am done putting it through the paces in different conditions. Likewise for the performance of this phone, I will leave it for the in-depth review.

The phone is priced at Rs 13,000. So all those interested in an affordable quad-core phone with an acceptable amount of RAM, and a sharp HD screen, stay tuned for the XOLO Q900 review that we will publish shortly. In the meanwhile, you can check its unboxing video below.

Tags : xolo, Android, Mobile Phones