XOLO Q1200

Review in pictures

Refreshing, unibody design

• The XOLO Q1200 features an elegant unibody design, with a sleek 6.9mm frame

• Sports a row of Android capacitive hardware buttons, which are unfortunately not backlit

• It’s a single SIM device, and features an ejectable tray (tool included) that holds both the micro-SIM and microSD cards

Bright display with vivid colours

• The 5-inch IPS display bears 720p resolution (294ppi), and is protected by a layer of Corning Gorilla Glass 3

• Colours are vibrant, but a tad oversaturated• Brightness and sunlight legibility are its strong points• The display is responsive, and supports various smart gestures

A snapper with a Sony sensor

• The Q1200 sports an 8MP primary camera with a Sony Exmor R sensor and dual-LED flash. The front camera bears 2MP resolution

• It offers various effects, frames and manual controls

• There’s also HDR, Panorama and Smart Selfie modes

• The camera supports voice capture, activating the shutter when you say ‘cheese’ or ‘capture’

Good for close-ups, not bad for selfies

• The main camera is an excellent macro shooter, delivering sharp images with minimal loss of detail

• Landscape shots and the HDR mode result in washed-out images

• Photos taken in low light are grainy but usable. However, the camera has trouble focusing at night

• The front camera can take a decent selfie in bright lighting

An overcrowded, overbearing UI

• The XOLO Q1200 runs Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, and is due for a KitKat update in the future

• It sports a heavy skin on top of Android, with overly colourful icons and wallpapers

• There are several themes and transition effects to choose from as well

• The notification bar has been modified, with a separate tab to access quick settings

Default apps have also been tweaked

• The device ships with the usual trio of XOLO apps: XOLO Power, XOLO Secure and XOLO Care

• Third-party apps include Facebook, Picasa Tool and Notes

• An FM Radio and torch are also included

• Most stock apps like the dialer, calculator, music player and browser have been highly modified too

A smartphone with ‘smart’ gestures

• The UI offers various ‘Smart Somatosensory’ features

• Smart Wake lets you cold access certain apps and functions by swiping or tracing letters when the screen is asleep

• Smart Light lets you double tap to wake the display

• The phone also offers reverse to mute and Pocket Mode features

With lots of inspiration from Samsung

• Non-touch operation lets you swipe your hand above the display to browse the gallery, music player and apps

• Float Window brings up a floating window to run the video and music player on top of other apps

• Voice Control also works to answer/ignore calls and set alarms

Decent performer marred by a sluggish UI

• A 1.2GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6582 processor, paired with 1GB of RAM and a Mali 400 MP2 GPU powers the handset

• Performance is slightly hampered by the heavy UI, which is a bit sluggish• However, heavy games like Riptide GP2 play without any lags or freezes• There’s 8GB of expandable internal memory, out of which a little under

6GB is available to use for storage

Battery life that’s below average• The device is fuelled by a

2,000mAh battery, which gives below average results, requiring a charge before the end of the day with regular usage

• Our standard video loop test gave us only 6 hours of playback before the battery ran out

• The Low Battery mode in the XOLO Power app can extend battery life further

At a glance

• 5-inch, 1,280 x 720 pixels, 294ppi

• 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6582 processor

• Mali 400 MP2 GPU• 1GB RAM• 8GB inbuilt storage with

microSD slot• 8MP primary, 2MP front

camera• Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean• 2,000mAh battery• Single SIM, 3G, Wi-Fi,

Bluetooth, GPS, USB OTG

-• Below average battery

life• Jarring, crowded UI• Slightly sluggish for

everyday tasks• A tad overpriced

Pros and cons

+• Classy, unibody design• Good primary camera• Bright, colourful display• Update to KitKat

incoming

Rs 12,999 (online price)

Pricing and verdict

“The XOLO Q1200 scores for its sleek design and vibrant display, but the overbearing UI does more harm than good. The company’s HIVE UI looks much more enticing, and we can’t wait to see what XOLO’s upcoming Android devices have to offer. Considering the competition like the ASUS Zenfone 5, Xiaomi Mi 3 and even the Moto G, we’d suggest you wait for a price cut before making your choice.