Micromax’s YU Televentures today launched its second smartphone, the YU Yuphoria. The spin-off company had already tasted success with its first YU Yureka launch which has graced 500,000 pockets in India, in just four months. The YU Yuphoria priced at Rs. 6999 is not replacing the Yureka, instead its here to compete with the Redmi 2 and Lenovo A6000 Plus. The reason being, neither Micromax nor YU has a hold on this price segment of less than Rs. 8000 but the Yuphoria is supposed to change all that. We were at the launch event where alongwith the Yuphoria, the company also launched its YU Fit fitness band as well as a diagnostic device called the HealthyYU. We will have more on those later, let’s talk about the YU Yuphoria first. We have a hands-on video first, you should watch that first and then read on for more details and images.
Hands-on Video
Key Hardware Specifications
- Display: 5-inch HD IPS Display, Corning Gorilla Glass 3 Protection
- Processor: 1.2 GHz Quad-core, 64-bit Snapdragon 410
- GPU: Adreno 306
- Memory: 2 GB RAM, 16 GB ROM expandable up to 32 GB
- OS: Android 5.0.2 Lollipop based Cyanogen OS 12
- Cameras: 8 MP AF Rear Camera, f/2.2 aperture lens, 1080p Recording, 5 MP Front camera, wide-angle lens
- Connectivity: 4G LTE, Dual-SIM(Micro-SIM), WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 LE, GPS, FM Radio
- Battery: 2230 mAh (Removable)
You can also see our handy spec-by-spec comparison of the YU Yuphoria with the Redmi 2 and Lenovo A6000 Plus here.
Build
The first time I saw the YU Yuphoria at the event, it looked quite like the Lumia 830. But that was without actually touching the device. In-hand, the Yuphoria feels and looks a lot different. Let’s talk about the build, the different ports, buttons and metal sides of the phone.
The entire frame of the YU Yuphoria is not made of metal. Instead the sides are made out of metal and stuck on plastic and to have better antennae reception you can see the plastic cutouts at the top for the audio jack at the top and the micro-USB port at the bottom.
I wish the design decisions on the metal frame were inspired from Nokia (Microsoft) rather than the direction we see here.
The metal sides (not frame) does give the device a sturdy feel and premium appeal. There is another design decision which would seem a bit odd at first glance. The power button now sits on the right between the two volume buttons. Now, while using the phone I got a bit confused as to which one I had to press when trying to wake up the device. But the buttons are sturdy and offer good travel.
In the front you have a 5-inch 720p IPS display clad in Corning Gorilla Glass 3 and you have on-screen buttons this time around. The display is just gorgeous, it seemed color accurate, had good touch-response and was view-able in direct sunlight as well, even though Gorilla Glass tends to be very reflective. The display has good contrast and looks sharp as well.
Above the display you have a 5 MP front-facing camera with a wide-angle lens, proximity and light sensors with YU branding and main earpiece.
Moving to the back of the device is the new “Saturn Ring” camera housing, which includes an 8 MP rear camera, LED flash and a noise-cancellation Mic. Rahul Sharma, said at the launch event, that this new camera housing would be a signature for YU devices and will be included on all upcoming models. Thankfully, the camera doesn't protrude much and is protected inside the housing. As a design element, it definitely stands out. Center placement of the camera module is always welcome over side mounted units.
Going down further is the speaker mesh and another YU brand mention alongwith the Assembled in India moniker. Now, YU is taking #MakeInIndia very seriously it seems. The first few sales will be done with units assembled and manufactured in China, meanwhile Micromax will make its manufacturing units in India capable in assembling the Yuphoria in India. After which you will get your own Assembled in India units.
On opening the back-cover you will find a 2230 mAh removable battery inside, two micro-SIM card slots both capable of using a 4G LTE SIM card and a microSD card slot which can take upto 32 GB cards. The internals are laid out well. There is no flex in the back-cover when it is on the phone and there is no creaking as well.
Overall, the build quality of the YU Yuphoria is pretty solid, it feels great to hold in the hand and given its smaller size it can quite easily be used in one hand.
Camera
You have a 8 MP autofocus rear camera with an f/2.2 lens from OmniVision on the Yuphoria which can capture 1080p videos. There’s a 5 MP front-facing camera as well with an 82 degree wide-angle lens so that you can get more people into that groupfie.
The rear camera is capable of producing decent shots in good lighting but noise does creep into low-light shots. You can see the image samples we have below, they are pretty good in color reproduction as well as sharpness but I do have very steady hands.
But for a device priced at Rs. 6999 it does well, but I would reserve judgment till I spend more time with the camera. The front-facing camera does take some fine selfies with color color reproduction and very little noise.
Image Samples
Software
The software experience is quite smooth on the Yu Yuphoria. It is running Android 5.0.2 based Cyanogen OS 12 and it was a breeze to use. Apps opened up quickly, the animations were slick and the UI effortlessly responded to touch.
There wasn't anytime that I felt even while using the camera that the Snapdragon 410 innards were being taxed. The phone didn’t heat-up even with my continuous usage, that too mostly outside in direct sunlight.
Customizations are aplenty on Cyanogen OS 12, you have themes, an App Themer which will let you create your own themes, dialer with TrueCaller integration and lots of other tid-bits here and there. I did check out web-browsing as well and it was smooth.
Storage
Out of the 16 GB ROM you have 10.75 GB available on the device, now this phone was being used by other people and on other units I saw closer to 11.2 GB available on the device. USB OTG is not supported as of now and Apps are movable to the external storage but I wasn't able to check if app-data was too.
Availability
Yuphoria will be available through flash sales starting May 28th, you can register for it starting today on Amazon. It will be available in both Black/Silver and White/Gold color variants.
First Impressions
I have already spilled the beans about my views on the Yuphoria. Its pricing is the main feature here, not the metal sides. 2 GB RAM with 16 GB storage on a 4G capable phone for Rs. 6999 is bound to get attention. The metal sides do add that premium feel alongwith the overall design of the device.
The design decisions on the volume rocker/power button combo as well as the plastic cutouts for the ports might seem a bit odd but they are definitely unobtrusive. Overall the build, design, specs and price are all very competitive. There will be some covers available at launch on Amazon as well including the one you see below, this one is made of soft silicone and has a leather-like feel to it similar to the back-cover of the Yureka.
Availability is going to be the key to its success as the Redmi 2 is now readily available while the Lenovo A6000 Plus is going through its regular bout of flash sales. It wouldn't be a huge surprise if suddenly Xiaomi decides to bring the Limited Edition Redmi 2 to India with 2 GB RAM, 16 GB storage to foil Micromax’s plan.
But on its own the Yuphoria stands out, feels great to hold and might just have decent enough cameras we well with good performance. It remains to be seem how its 2230 mAh battery fares in everyday use and how the metal sides hold-on to general everyday use.
