Yu Yureka
Micromax needs a win. In fact, it needs a big win, and for that it’s
pulling out the big guns. The company’s sister concern, Yu Televentures,
had its biggest and probably only win with the Yureka smartphone some years ago. So, to bring back the Yu brand, Micromax is also reviving the Yureka line of devices, with what it calls the Yureka Black.
There’s a stark change in philosophy this time. The Yureka Black feels more like a Micromax phone than one by Yu Televentures. It’s not the price breaking, spec-focused device the company has been known for. Instead, Micromax is focusing on design and delivering the specs/features that most of its competitors are bringing. That means there’s nothing really new or ground breaking about this device. Yet, it’s one of the many smartphones contending for your attention and a portion of your hard earned money.
Build and Design : Much like the Yu Yureka, the Yureka Black is essentially a phone called the Wiko uFeel Prime with the Yu logo instead of Wiko’s. You could criticise the company for that, but really it makes Micromax no different than any other, with their similar looking smartphones. For what its worth, the Yureka Black at least doesn’t look and feel like any of its competitors in the Indian market. It’s a sad fact, but the smartphone market literally has no innovation anymore.On the flipside, the Yureka Black’s metallic back feels distinctly more premium than competing devices. It feels more like glass than metal, same as the Jet Black variant of the iPhone 7 That though means that the Yureka Black is the most slippery smartphone in the budget segment. It feels slippery when you’re holding it, and tends to slide off your lap or table. It’s a difficult phone to handle, especially with one hand. Things are easier when holding it in vertical position, but it’s a nightmare when held horizontally, for shooting photos, watching movies etc. The slippery back also makes it difficult to prop up against other objects, since it tends to slide off them too. Lastly, as with the iPhone 7, the body is prone to scratches and smudges.
There are chrome antenna lines on the back with the camera at the top-centre and a flash below it. The Yu logo is parallel to the camera on the bottom and the sides are rounded, as are the corners. There’s 2.5D Gorilla Glass 3 on the front and true to its name, the entire device is as black as it gets. In fact, it’s so black that I found it difficult to spot the micro-USB orientation in dimly lit rooms. The bezels are hard to spot too, because of this black treatment, and the entire design becomes more seamless due to that.That said, I’m not a big fan of the black shadows (on the home screen) near the top and bottom edges of the display. It looks like light leak, but is actually an UI element that disappears when you’re using other apps.
Display : The black shadows I mentioned above make the display somewhat underwhelming at first glance. A closer look suggests that Yu has tuned the colours to pleasantly warmer levels, but contrast is certainly lower than usual. It’s a nice looking display and touch performance is good as well, but higher black levels would have been warranted, especially for a phone that plays on the whole “black” thing. In fact, deeper blacks would have blended well with the design as well.
Viewing angles are fine, but a yellowish tone appears when you’re not looking at the display head on. The angles don’t have to be too extreme either and as a result, photos, movies and videos sometimes look quite unnatural on the screen. The display is also slightly on the dimmer side, which means you’ll have to squint a little bit when you’re out and about.
There’s a stark change in philosophy this time. The Yureka Black feels more like a Micromax phone than one by Yu Televentures. It’s not the price breaking, spec-focused device the company has been known for. Instead, Micromax is focusing on design and delivering the specs/features that most of its competitors are bringing. That means there’s nothing really new or ground breaking about this device. Yet, it’s one of the many smartphones contending for your attention and a portion of your hard earned money.
Build and Design : Much like the Yu Yureka, the Yureka Black is essentially a phone called the Wiko uFeel Prime with the Yu logo instead of Wiko’s. You could criticise the company for that, but really it makes Micromax no different than any other, with their similar looking smartphones. For what its worth, the Yureka Black at least doesn’t look and feel like any of its competitors in the Indian market. It’s a sad fact, but the smartphone market literally has no innovation anymore.On the flipside, the Yureka Black’s metallic back feels distinctly more premium than competing devices. It feels more like glass than metal, same as the Jet Black variant of the iPhone 7 That though means that the Yureka Black is the most slippery smartphone in the budget segment. It feels slippery when you’re holding it, and tends to slide off your lap or table. It’s a difficult phone to handle, especially with one hand. Things are easier when holding it in vertical position, but it’s a nightmare when held horizontally, for shooting photos, watching movies etc. The slippery back also makes it difficult to prop up against other objects, since it tends to slide off them too. Lastly, as with the iPhone 7, the body is prone to scratches and smudges.
There are chrome antenna lines on the back with the camera at the top-centre and a flash below it. The Yu logo is parallel to the camera on the bottom and the sides are rounded, as are the corners. There’s 2.5D Gorilla Glass 3 on the front and true to its name, the entire device is as black as it gets. In fact, it’s so black that I found it difficult to spot the micro-USB orientation in dimly lit rooms. The bezels are hard to spot too, because of this black treatment, and the entire design becomes more seamless due to that.That said, I’m not a big fan of the black shadows (on the home screen) near the top and bottom edges of the display. It looks like light leak, but is actually an UI element that disappears when you’re using other apps.
Display : The black shadows I mentioned above make the display somewhat underwhelming at first glance. A closer look suggests that Yu has tuned the colours to pleasantly warmer levels, but contrast is certainly lower than usual. It’s a nice looking display and touch performance is good as well, but higher black levels would have been warranted, especially for a phone that plays on the whole “black” thing. In fact, deeper blacks would have blended well with the design as well.
Viewing angles are fine, but a yellowish tone appears when you’re not looking at the display head on. The angles don’t have to be too extreme either and as a result, photos, movies and videos sometimes look quite unnatural on the screen. The display is also slightly on the dimmer side, which means you’ll have to squint a little bit when you’re out and about.
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