The Indian smartphone industry is much crowded with the presence of Chinese brands and it has been hard for Indian OEM’s to keep up. One such brand is Xolo, which once was competing with brands such as Micromax, but since the entry of Chinese brands in Indian market the existence of brand Xolo has been lost. Recently Xolo has launched its latest budget smartphone the Xolo Era 1X Pro, and we thought we should give it a shot and see what the brand has to offer. But is it too late for Xolo to compete with the rest? Let’s find out.
Design & Hardware
The Xolo Era 1X Pro has a neat symmetrical design with chamfered edges and prominent bezels on all sides. The device is all plastic and use of metal is minimal. The back of the device is textured that provides a good grip on the smartphone. The front of the device carries a 5-inch HD IPS display and 3 capacitive touch buttons on the bottom bezel which don’t light up. The charging port and a 3.5mm jack have been provided at the top edge of the phone. The right edge houses a physical power button with a volume rocker on top of it. The back has a 8MP rear camera with a 5P lens. Overall, we found it quite satisfactory and nothing much can be complained about at this price point.
Xolo Era 1X Pro Specifications:
- 5-inch (1280 x 720 pixels) HD IPS display
- 1.3GHz Quad-core Spreadtrum SC9832A processor
- 2GB RAM, 16GB internal memory, expandable memory up to 32GB with microSD
- Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) OS
- Dual SIM
- 8MP autofocus rear camera with LED Flash, 5P Largan Lens
- 5MP front-facing camera with dual LED flash
- 3.5mm audio jack, FM Radio
- Dimensions: 145.5x72x8.6mm; Weight: 145g
- 4G VoLTE, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS
- 2500mAh battery
The Xolo Era 1X Pro comes with dual SIM card support along with a dedicated microSD card slot.
Camera
The camera is for sure one of the shortcomings of this device and its performance is not just up to the mark. On the optic front, Xolo Era 1X Pro comes with an 8MP rear camera sensor with 5P lens. The pictures clicked through the primary camera lack detailing and sharpness and lack of image stabilization in the camera is surely felt while clicking the pictures.
The front camera is a 5MP shooter with dual-LED flash, a surprising feature as compared to the single LED on the primary camera. The selfie camera captures just below average pictures which can be enhanced by the makeup filter provided on the camera app. Talking about the stock camera application, the app experience is a turn-off as it lags a lot.
Performance
The Xolo Era 1X Pro is powered by a 1.3GHz Quad-core Spreadtrum SC9832A processor coupled with 2GB RAM and 16GB of internal storage. Although there is nothing fancy about this chipset but this chipset provides just enough processing power to run day-to-day applications. The UI is full of bloatware but fortunately, most of it can be uninstalled. The UI is close to stock Android ensuring simplicity and ease of use.
The battery is another shortcoming of this device, with 2,500 mAh removable battery the device struggles to last for a full day of use. The device takes forever to charge with the bundled charger, in our testing period it took more than 160 minutes to charge the device from 0-100 percent.
ION Verdict
The Xolo Era 1X Pro is a decent device with average hardware and mediocre performance. If it was 2015 the device would have ruled this price segment but unfortunately, right now the Indian smartphone market is crowded with brands (Indian and Chinese) that provide much better hardware, build and display at similar price. The device has nothing special to offer that can overshadow its other competitive devices but overall it’s a decent package from an Indian company. Competing with smartphones like Redmi 4A and Moto C in the category, the Xolo Era 1X Pro may not be an ideal choice for a buyer.
Pros
- Stock Android
- Build Quality
Cons
- Below Average rear camera
- Smaller Battery
- Mediocre Performance
- Still running Android 6.0
Xolo Era 1X Pro is available on Flipkart for ₹5,799
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