Micromax unveiled it’s latest addition to the YU series of smartphones yesterday called the YUPHORIA at an event in Delhi. It’s main competitor is the Xiaomi Redmi 2 which has been around in the market for quite a while now. Let us compare and see the differences between both and what new things the YUPHORIA brings to the table.
Let start off with the screens as that is essentially the most important aspect of a smartphone. The Redmi 2 has a 4.7″ 720p display while the YUPHORIA has a 5″ 720p display. Both the screen are IPS LCD units however the YUPHORIA gets the newer Gorilla Glass 3 protection while the Redmi 2 does away with Gorilla Glass 2.
Size wise, the YUPHORIA is bigger due to its larger display. It measures 142.38 x 72.96 x 8.25mm as opposed to 134 x 67.2 x 9.4 mm of the Redmi 2. Despite the larger surface area, Micromax has managed to slim down the YUPHORIA’s waistline. As a result, the phone should be just as easy to handle as the Redmi 2.
Despite having a metal frame, the YUPHORIA is much lighter at 143 grams as opposed to the Redmi’s 133 grams. The difference in weight could be attributed to the metal frame which Micromax says gives a premium feel to the device.
Both the phones support dual microSIMs and microSD cards upto 32GB in capacity. They both support 4G LTE as well. The Redmi 2 has two variants – the 8GB version which comes with 1GB of RAM and a 16GB version that comes with 2GB of RAM. The YUPHORIA comes in a single 16GB variant with 2GB of RAM. Both the phones are powered by Snapdragon 410 processors clocked in at 1.2GHz along with Adreno 306 GPUs. Surprisingly the YUPHORIA does not support USB OTG while the Redmi 2 does.
Both the phones come with an 8 Megapixel camera on the back along with Autofocus and LED flash. Both the cameras boast 1.4 micro pixel sizes and 1080p video recording. The YUPHORIA has a metal ring surrounding its camera unit which Micromax calls the Saturn ring. We aren’t sure if it is metal or plastic that is made to feel like metal but the Saturn ring will apparently be a common design element in the YU phones that follow. The YUPHORIA has a superior 5 Megapixel camera as opposed to the 2 Megapixel unit on the Redmi 2.
Battery wise the YUPHORIA is fitted with a larger 2230 mAH battery compared to the 2200 mAH unit on the Redmi 2. However with the larger sized screen, it remains to be seen which one is the better performer in real life. Both the phones have removable battery covers as well as removable batteries.
The YUPHORIA will come with Android 5.0.2 Lollipop out of the box while the Redmi 2 comes preloaded with Android 4.4.4 KitKat and will receive an update to Lollipop in the future. The YUPHORIA will run on Cyanogen OS 12 based on Android 5.0.2 Lollipop while Redmi 2 has its MIUI 6 layer on top of Android 4.4.4 KitKat.
YU YUPHORIA comes in two colour variants – Champagne Gold with White and Buffed Steel with Black. The Redmi 2 is available in Black, White, Green, Pink and Yellow. While the Redmi 2 does have more colour combinations and might appeal to a younger crowd, the YUPHORIA seems more elegant and will appeal to a more mature crowd. Also to be noted is the fact that currently the Redmi 2 is available only in White colour in India so that gives YUPHORIA an advantage.
The Redmi 2 was launched in March earlier this year and has been quite a successful products. Xiaomi which is quite a new entrant to the Indian market compared to Micromax has slowly been gaining market share especially in the lower end smartphone segment. Something which Micromax had a clear lead over. Micromax now aims to steal some of the limelight back from Xiaomi as they have priced the YU YUPHORIA at Rs 6999. Same as the price for the Redmi 2. On paper, Micromax seems to have the advantage as the YUPHORIA offers better features and value for money, it still remains to be seen how well it will perform in real life. The YU YUPHORIA will be available exlusively through Amazon India through flash-sales. The registrations for the first flash-sale which is scheduled for May 28th has already begun so if you’re keen on getting one, do go ahead and register.