Ten Most Expensive Smartphones You'll Probably Never Buy

HTC One Gold Edition

Apple's gold-coloured iPhone 5s might have sparked a gold rush in the smartphone industry. Both Samsung and HTC announced gold-coloured variants of flagships Galaxy S5 and One (M8) this year. But HTC was first to take the newfound gold obsession quite literally, making the "most expensive HTC phone ever created" - HTC One (M7) Gold Edition. We're not surprised to know that only five of these made-in-gold phones were created - each valued at £2,750 (roughly Rs 2,75,000) each.

Stuart Hughes iPhone 5 Black Diamond

If there ever was a star-studded product, it probably would be the Stuart Hughes iPhone 5 Black Diamond. Thanks to real diamonds and ample Photoshopping, the phone looks like a school student's astronomy project. Priced at £10,000,000 (roughly Rs. 1,00,00,00,000), we're not quite sure if anyone who plans to use the phone would buy it. Constantly looking at the phone will prove to be a tough task, thanks to several shiny diamonds.

Tonino Lamborghini Antares

Italian car maker Lamborghini's owners also dabble in luxury goods, such as the phone in the image above. Priced at £2,500 (roughly Rs. 2,50,000) each, this phone is probably the best looking among the ones listed thus far. That is if you ignore the gold variant, whose looks can be described as the opposite of beautiful. Assuming you ever buy this phone, Lamborghini also sells a range of not-so-beautiful leather cases to compensate for the phone's good looks. Let us know how you liked it.

Tag Heuer Link

When it was launched in 2011, Tag Heuer Link was actually a pretty good Android smartphone. Its sealed body is water-tight and shock-resistant. If you like rugged smartphones, you might even have considered shelling out $6,700 (around Rs. 4,20,000) to buy one. However, luxury smartphones age like their cheaper counterparts. The phone runs Android 2.2 Froyo, and looks more like a PDA (remember those) than a smartphone.

BlackBerry Porsche Design P9981

If this phone is anything to go by, we're happy that Porsche doesn't make phones. The iconic luxury car maker's touch hasn't added to this phone's looks at all. In fact, the P9981 looks like a phone that got the worst of both worlds - the bulk (and price) of a car and software from a bygone era. To top it all, BlackBerry's product listing refers to the BB7 OS on this phone as the "next-generation BlackBerry OS". We're still wondering if anyone really believes that to be true. The price? Rs. 1,39,990.

Dior Reverie

So why does Dior's Reverie phone cost £78,000 (roughly Rs. 78,00,000)? Apparently because each unit is hand-assembled in France, "intricately embellished in 18-carat white gold, 1,539 diamonds and 46 pieces of iridescent mother-of-pearl". Seriously, if you really had that much money, wouldn't you be better served by buying all that jewellery minus the phone? This phone comes with a full touch screen and a five megapixel camera. You could buy that separately if you had the money.

Vertu Constellation

Luxury handset maker Vertu's Constellation smartphone costs €4,900 (roughly Rs. 4,16,000). features a 4.3-inch HD display with 342ppi pixel density which is protected by a 5.1-inch piece of sapphire crystal which the company claims can only be scratched by a diamond. Luxury components aside, the phone also has a case made of calf leather, which is available in five colours and is far from good-looking.

Ulysse Nardin Chairman

Phones with the old numeric keypad went out of fashion a long time ago. Yet Ulysse Nardin has managed to make a good-looking retro phone with one. The Chairman is not unique for its keypad, but for its passive recharging system. The phone has a kinetic rotor system that can recharge the phone's battery (similar to the technology used in some watches). For that cool technology and lots of diamonds of course, you might have to shell out anywhere between $12,800 and $49,500 (approximately Rs. 7,20,000 to Rs. 29,00,000).

Savelli Jardin-Secret White Ice

Savelli's Jardin-Secret series consists of 11 luxury phones, all of which have been hand-crafted and run Android. With each of these phones, Savelli says users get an exclusive UI design and sounds created by professional photographers and DJs. White Ice is a variant targeted at women, and comes with 18-carat rose gold and white alligator skin. While animal lovers may frown at this phone, those who want to buy phones from this series will have to shell out $10,000 to $1,20,000 (around Rs. 6,00,000 to Rs. 72,00,000).

Mobiado Grand 350 Pioneer

As far as luxury phones go, Mobiado Pioneer probably has the coolest reason for its astronomical cost (€8,600, which is roughly Rs. 7,00,000). The company says the phone is a tribute to the Pioneer 10 satellite probe - the first man-made object to go past the asteroid belt beyond the planet Mars. In a fitting tribute, this phone has a back cover that's made of an actual meteorite. Our palms are itching for first impressions.

Top 10 Must Have Gadgets

We are living in 2015. An era in which technology is at its best. Every day, Technology inventions keep us amused. No doubt that technology made our lives much easier and better. These tech wonders entertain us, help us, and care us in every field of life.

Here we are presenting you Top 10 Must Have Gadgets for everyone.

Samsung Galaxy S III

Samsung announced his much awaited galaxy S III in this year with a display of 4.8” HD Super AMOLED (1280×720) display. This cell phone is equipped with 1.4 GH quad core processor, 8 MP camera and latest android OS 4.0 (Ice cream sandwich) upgradeable to 4.1 (Jelly Bean).This is the best cell phone ever with some amazing features. You must have it if you are a tech lover.

New iPad

Apple announced its new iPad (iPad 3) in this year also. “This is brilliant, in every sense of the world” that’s what Apple says. Main feature of this generation of iPad is its retina display. You will definitely fell in love with its amazing display. This gadget has A5X chip with quad core drivers. 5 MP iSight camera to capture your memorable moments with full 1080p HD video recording. It also has the world most advanced OS iOS 6 with talking assistant Siri. Give a try to Apple new iPad. I am sure you will get addicted to this.

MacBook Pro (With Retina display)

“You have never seen anything like it because there is never been anything like it” well Apple said it right. A Retina display with 5.1 million pixels and Quad-core Intel Core i-7 processor makes MacBook Pro is an amazing gadget. This notebook has the highest resolution display ever. It comes in two sizes 15” and 13”.  It is equipped with OS, X Mountain Line. It also has 7-Hour battery life. So you want a notebook with some amazing display, high performance and remarkable battery life, try MacBook Pro. I hope it will never let you down.

iPod nano

Famous play writer Shakespeare once said “If Music is the food of love, Play on”. And for that you need a music player. iPod nano is the best gadget to fulfill this need. iPod nano support both audio and video formats. It has an immense Playback time when fully charged with 30 hours on audio and 3.5 hours on video. It also tracks your daily life activities with an amazing app Nike+. It is a cheap and superb gadget for music lovers.

Beats by Dr. Dre (Headphone)

Powerful distortion free audio performance with deep bass response is the main quality of Beats which give this gadget a prominent place among its competitor. As its websites states, they made this outstanding gadget after the research of 25 years. This Bluetooth enabled headphone is a really comfort for ears. A little pricy but a must have gadget for music lovers.

Nikon D7000 DSLR

If you like photography, try Nikon D7000 DSLR. With 16.2 MP it has some amazing features. It is GPS enabled. You can save coordinates of any picture taken by this camera. It also record movies in 1080p. It has 2 storage slots so you will never face any storage issue. Nikon D7000 is a great stuff for photographers.

 XBox 360 with Kinect

Microsoft has totally changed the concept of digital gaming. If you have Xbox 360 purchase Kinetic and enjoy the awesomeness of this gadget. It judges your movement and perform same thing. It will provide you exercise in a fun way.

Sony-KDL-55HX853

The KDL-55HX853 new LED 3D TV by Sony is fashionably thin, only 3.5 cm. The TV offers four HDMI inputs, Scart, component, phone stereo, PC, two USB inputs, Ethernet and a CAM slot. Wi-Fi is built-in and there’s a Wi-Fi direct mode for direct connection with local devices. You can enjoy the cinema entertainment at home. Watch a 3D movie with friends or family and has super fun.

Sonos Subwoofer

Soul shaking sound, Heart pounding design, and wireless with one button setup are the main qualities of Sonos Sub. You can place it anywhere in the room even lying flat under couch.

iMac

The all in one Apple’s iMac is here. All in one beautifully designed gadget with some wonderful features like FaceTime HD camera, 3X faster graphics and quad core processor. The beauty of iMac is it has wireless everything.

Top 10 Apps to Evaluate Android Phones

When new android devices and CPUs are released, benchmarking apps get a lot of attention, just as they also get the attention when a new phone is bought by users. Some are better than others, and numerical scores on a universal scale represent the real world performance one should expect from their device. Benchmarking apps are the best tools to compare the performance of Android devices for testing the overclocks or kernel changes on a device or testing the graphics rendering, to decide upon which product to purchase. These apps can test network performance, boot speed, gaming, processor, I/O, web browsing and graphics appeal for a multitude of devices and configurations. So, here is the list of Top 10 Apps to Evaluate Android Phones .

1. AnTuTu  4.5

AnTuTu Benchmark is one the most popular benchmarking apps in the android world, used as an industry standard by leading technology companies and hardware review sites. This benchmarking app has already been used by more than 100,000,000 users and also during Google I/O 2014. With this Click and Go test suite, Antutu tests all aspects of an android device which are mainly focused on the performance of UX, GPU, RAM, CPU, and Input/Output. User Experience or UX calculates the overall device performance while in the CPU Tests Measures the power of the CPU. RAM and GPU test measures the performance of RAM and graphic processing respectively. But the score may vary slightly every time as Antutu can be influenced by the device temperature, running apps and more.

2. NenaMark 2

NenaMark2 is an OpenGL benchmarking app for high-end mobile devices with higher resolution graphics and advanced graphical effects. NenaMark measures performance using realistic scenes, and provides the performance score in frames per second, which can be used for realistic comparisons between different devices. It tests with the effects of Skeletal Animation for matrix animation, Morph Target Animation for blend vertex sets, Water for reflections and Fresnel effect, the Cloud and Smoke System for advanced particle system and Dynamic lighting for diffuse lighting per vertex. It also uses Map Reflections without dynamic cube map generation for checking the performance of rendering.

3. Quadrant 2.1.1

Quadrant is a CPU and graphics benchmark which requires an Internet connection to compute benchmark results, and it is supported by ads. Quadrant tests the performance of CPU and its arithmetic operations, XML parsing and multimedia decoding while the I/O performance test rely on file system access and database operations. Performance of 2D graphics and 3D graphics can also be calculated with OpenGL single-pass and multi-pass rendering with stencil buffers. This application does not work on devices without a GPU like Spica, Tattoo, etc. The makers already declared that this benchmarking application may not be used for commercial purposes.

4. Vellamo

Vellamo is an easy-to-use suite designed of system-level benchmarks for devices based on Android 4.0 or higher. This app includes three primary chapters. The HTML5 Browser Chapter evaluates the performance of mobile web browser; the Multicore chapter measures the synergy of multiple CPU cores, and the Metal Chapter measures the CPU subsystem performance of mobile processors. It is designed to test the performance of UX, 3D graphics, memory read/write and peak bandwidth performance. The HTML5 Chapter is a set of system-level web browsing tests including graphics rendering and JavaScript to pixel blending and network stack performance. The Metal Chapter is a set of discrete lower-level benchmarks around the CPU, which includes CPU performance on integer and floating point operations.

5. Basemark X

Basemark X by Rightware is a benchmarking app for objective cross-platform comparisons between Android, iOS and Windows Phone 8 devices for hardcore gaming. It features heavy graphics content which pushes tested devices to the limit. It built on top of a real-world game engine Unity 4.2.2 which reflects the real-world graphics performance of smartphones and tablets when rendering future 3D games. Options are there to choose either medium or high quality to run the benchmark according to the specification of the device. In the end of the tests, Basemark X produces a high quality and objective score which can be compared against the scores of other devices on Rightware’s official database called Power Board.

6. GFXBench 3.0

GFXBench, with a single, easy-to-use application, is a cross-platform and cross-API 3D graphics benchmark that measures graphics performance, long-term performance stability, render quality and power consumption. It adds advanced OpenGL ES 3-features and new special tests to the popular GFXBench 3D graphics benchmark. In the app, Manhattan test is a GPU-intensive OpenGL ES 3 test using advanced API-features and Battery and Stability test which measures the device’s battery life, performance stability by logging frames-per-second, and expected battery running while running sustained game-like animations with its T-Rex scene. It also contains Render quality test for measuring the visual fidelity provided by the device in the high-end gaming.

7. Smartbench

Smartbench is a multi-core friendly benchmark application that measures the overall performance of android devices. It reports both Productivity and Gaming Index to suit both productive users and 3D gaming users. This app puts heavier load on each test to accurately evaluate the performance of the device, as it is all prepared for the quad-core smartphone world, and unfortunately, it runs slower on older devices. The new version also comes with high polygon objects count and 3D rendering test. It also detects high-resolution screens, and uses them appropriately for the purpose of evaluating. For new and existing Smartbench Donate users, it gives some additional features like no ads, entire results history, and also features result chart without running the test first.

8. 3DMark 1.3

3DMark 1.3 is a cross-platform benchmarking apps which compares the performance of the android device with phones and tablets running iOS, Windows or Windows RT. It comes absolutely free with no in-app purchase or restriction option. 3dMark is built on Ice Storm, an OpenGL ES 2.0 benchmark that evaluates using fixed off-screen rendering at 720p then scales the output to fit the native display resolution of android. Ice Storm platform includes two graphics tests, designed to stress the GPU performance and a physics test to stress CPU performance. Ice Storm Extreme raises the off-screen rendering resolution to 1080p and uses higher quality textures and post-processing effects in the graphics tests to create a more demanding load for the latest smartphones and tablets.

9. GeekBench 3.1

GeekBench 3.1 is a popular cross-platform benchmarking app which includes several new tests designed to simulate real-world scenarios to measure android mobile processor performance quickly and accurately. Every test in Geekbench 3 is multi-core aware which allows Geekbench 3 to measure the full potential of device’s processor and also reports performance as separate single-core and multi-core scores that figure out how the device will handle apps. It is very easy to use app mainly to evaluate machine’s processor and memory stacks up. Its web-based Result Browser makes it easy to keep and access benchmark results from anywhere. But the Result Browser can get a bit clogged after intensive use.

10. SpeedTest

This benchmarking app designed by Ookla is attached with Speedtest.net, a widely known and one of the most used networking test engine for desktop and laptops of millions of user. It is a very easy to use app for evaluating the hardcore network performance of android devices. It provides accurate one-tap connection testing in less than 30 seconds because of its global network. It evaluates and gives accurate result of Download, Upload and Ping on the device. This app also comes with Real-time graphs which show the connection consistency of the device, as it also troubleshoot and verify the promised network speed. Tracking past tests with detailed reporting and sharing the results are two of the best feature of this app.

Many other apps are also there in the market for evaluating accurate performance of the device. As we know, most of the flagship phones from different brands are judged by the result provided by benchmarking apps. Whether for the purpose of gaming quality, or to evaluate CPU and memory performance, these apps are handy and a must use for any android device user.

Top 10 Best iPhone Apps for Students

There is an enormous selection of iPhone mobile apps that can help students run their daily lives in a variety of ways: from organizing your thoughts and assisting your studies, to managing your money and helping you navigate the area around your university. Here are just some of the best, and in order to respect the much-lamented student budget, they are all available for free.

1. Dictionary.com

All of us get stuck for words at some point or another, but with this excellent dictionary and thesaurus app, this need not be the case. Once downloaded, the dictionary’s over 1,700,000 words are available without the Internet access. Its voice-activated definition search and pronunciation functions complete the package.

2. Wikipanion

The Wikipedia app for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad allows you to search and navigate all Wikipedia entries both easily and quickly. With additional bookmarking, history and image saving functions, this app is an essential companion to your studies.

3. Flashcards*

Flashcards are no longer tedious to create with this iPhone app. It is easy to use and allows you to create extensive virtual decks of flashcards without performance-related issues. The app also integrates device syncing, sharing, image and web editing functions.

4. Mental Note Lite – the digital notepad

When a flash of inspiration hits you, who has time for a pen and paper? As your personal digital notepad, Mental Note Lite allows you to integrate your text-based notes with photos, voice recordings and drawings. The app will also allow you to export your notes in several formats including PDF.

5. Amazon Student

Helping you to save money and trade-in unwanted textbooks, Amazon Student is the perfect app for all those keeping an eye on their budget. The app allows you to obtain instant price-checks by scanning in book barcodes and its trade-in function allows you to scan any unwanted books, games or films into the system and see their trade-in values, which will then be converted into Amazon Giftcards.

6. Mint.com Personal Finance

A highly acclaimed app for all those seeking to manage their money easily and safely, Mint.com Personal Finance allows you to create a personalised budget based on your spending, provides you with bill alerts and reminders, categorises your transactions automatically, and provides you with accessible graphs to understand your spending. An essential app for students on a tight budget.

7. Wi-Fi Finder

Operational in 144 countries worldwide, the Wi-Fi Finder helps you to locate your nearest Wi-Fi hotspot, providing you with directions and a map to get there. Its filter function also allows the user to sort results according to the type of location available, whether it is a coffee bar, restaurant or Internet café. Downloading the directory will also allow access to the app without being connected to the Internet.

8. AroundMe

For students studying away from home, this can be a useful tool for finding your nearest services. Search for your nearest bank, supermarket, cinema, restaurant or hospital, for example, in order to obtain relevant maps, routes and contact details.

9. DropBox

Dropbox is a great app that allows you to upload any kind of files (photos, documents etc.) virtually on a cloud-based server. The best thing about dropbox is that it is easily accessible from any device, and with the dropbox mobile application even from your phone. By signing up for a Dropbox account you get 2 GB of free storage, and can start uploading files and photos straight from your mobile phone.

10. iTunes U

This great app helps you to find and download study materials of different universities all around the world. You can find pretty much everything including presentations, lectures, and course material from some of the top universities. Also the rang of subjects covered is quite diverse.

Micromax's Yu Yureka to Be Available to Buy Again on Thursday

Micromax's Yu Yureka smartphone will be available on Thursday in its 13th flash sale, which kicks off at 2pm IST on Amazon India for registered users. Yu, unlike several previous sales, had at the time of writing not revealed how many units will be going on sale.

The company did not provide figures of how many units were up for sale last week; though it announced that the available handsets went out of stock in 8 seconds. Similarly, Yu did not reveal how many Yu Yureka units were available to buy in the 11th sale on Amazon India; however later announced that they went out of stock in 7 seconds.

The Yu Yureka smartphone is likely to get a successor soon, currently codenamed 'Project Caesar', which runs Android 5.0 Lollipop out-of-the-box. The company late on Wednesday announced that 'Project Caesar' smartphone will be called Yu Yuphoria, which is a crowdsourced name chosen after a naming contest.

To recall, Micromax's Yu Yureka, priced at Rs. 8,999, offers some rather impressive specifications at the price. The dual-SIM smartphone features Cat. 4 4G LTE connectivity, and runs Cyanogen OS 11 based on Android 4.4.4 KitKat. It bears a 5.5-inch HD (720x1280 pixels) IPS display with Gorilla Glass 3; a 64-bit 1.5GHz octa-core Snapdragon 615 SoC (MSM8939); an Adreno 405 GPU; 2GB of RAM; a 13-megapixel Sony Exmor CMOS sensor rear camera with an f/2.2 aperture and flash; a front-facing 5-megapixel fixed-focus camera; 16GB of inbuilt storage expandable via microSD card (up to 32GB), and a 2500mAh Li-Po battery.

Intex Aqua Speed HD With 4.7-Inch Display, Android 4.4 KitKat Launched at Rs. 8,999

After launching the Aqua Speed last month, Intex on Tuesday launched another variant of the smartphone, dubbed Intex Aqua Speed HD, at Rs. 8,999.

The Intex Aqua Speed HD is a dual-SIM smartphone that runs Android 4.4 KitKat out-of-the-box. It features a 4.7-inch HD (720x1280 pixels) IPS display, protected by Asahi Dragontrail glass. The Aqua Speed HD is powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6582M processor coupled with 2GB of RAM and Mali-400 GPU.

The Intex Aqua Speed HD packs an 8-megapixel autofocus rear camera with LED flash and a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. The 16GB of inbuilt storage on the handset is further expandable via microSD card (up to 32GB).

(Also see: Intex Aqua Speed HD vs Intex Aqua Speed)

Connectivity options on the Intex Aqua Speed HD include 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, FM radio, and GPS. The handset is backed by a 1700mAh battery. It is 8.95mm thick, weighs 120 grams, and comes in White, Silver and Sea Blue colour options.

On Tuesday, the company officially listed the Intex Aqua Dream smartphone at Rs. 10,390, without availability details. The Intex Aqua Dream is a dual-SIM (GSM+GSM) device which runs the recent Android 4.4.2 KitKat out-of-the-box. It comes with a 5.5-inch HD (720x1280 pixels) IPS display.

Other specifications of the Intex Aqua Dream include a 1.4GHz octa-core MediaTek (MT6592M) processor; 1GB of RAM; 8GB of inbuilt storage; a 13-megapixel rear autofocus camera with LED flash; a 5-megapixel front-facing camera, and a 2300mAh battery.

Lava Icon With 5-Inch Display, 13-Megapixel Camera Launched at Rs. 11,990

Lava on Thursday launched its Icon smartphone in India at Rs. 11,990. The smartphone is exclusively available on Snapdeal starting Thursday. The first 500 orders on Snapdeal will get a free selfie-stick along with the smartphone.

The dual-SIM (Micro-SIM) Lava Icon runs the company's Star OS based on Android 4.4 KitKat. It features a 5-inch HD (720x1280 pixels) IPS display that uses Asahi Dragontrail glass protection.

The smartphone is powered by a 1.3GHz quad-core (unknown chipset) processor coupled with 2GB of RAM and ARM Mali-400 MP2 GPU. The Lava Icon comes with 16GB of inbuilt storage, which is further expandable via microSD card (up to 32GB).

The Lava Icon sports a 13-megapixel (Sony Exmor sensor) rear camera with dual-LED flash, while there is a secondary 5-megapixel front-facing camera also onboard.

On the connectivity front, the Lava Icon includes 3G, GPRS/ EDGE, GPS/ A-GPS, FM radio, Wi-Fi, Micro-USB, and Bluetooth options. The smartphone packs a 2500mAh battery, which according to company can deliver up to 20 hours of talk time on 2G and 9 hours of talk time on 3G networks. The handset measures 143.41x70.56x7.7mm, and weighs 143 grams.

Commenting on the launch, Navin Chawla, Vice President & Head Product, LavaInternational, said, "In line with our constant endeavour to offer products with great value to the consumers, we are delighted to announce the launch of our new premium smartphone - Icon. This is a beautifully designed product with a high quality camera featuring Sony Exmor sensor and other in built features. This marks the beginning a new segment for Lava smartphones wherein we will be coming up with a new range of experience driven devices."

HTC One E9+ With 5.5-Inch QHD Display, Octa-Core SoC Launched

Almost a week after listing the smartphone on its China site, HTC on Wednesday finally announced the One E9+ smartphone officially in China. The company has not yet mentioned any details as to when the handset will reach other regions or India. The price of the smartphone is also a secret for now.

Much like HTC M9+, which was launched on Wednesday, the One E9+ sports a QHD (1440x2560 pixels) resolution IPS LCD display but with a bigger 5.5-inch screen (534ppi). Powered by MediaTek MT6795M 64-bit octa-core processor clocked at 2GHz, the smartphone is equipped with 3GB of RAM. 16GB of inbuilt storage is also included that can be expanded via microSD card (maximum capacity unspecified).

Announced via the company's Weibo account, the HTC One E9+ sports a 20-megapixel f2.2 aperture wide-angle rear camera with LED flash alongside a 4-Ultrapixel front-facing camera, something we saw on the HTC One M9 as well as the HTC One M9+. TheAndroid 5.0 Lollipop handset running Sense 7 UI on top comes with 4G connectivity support and the iconic HTC BoomSound front-facing speakers powered by Dolby Audio.

Backed by a 2,800mAh battery, the HTC One E9+ will be available in three colour combinations, Grey and Silver, White and Gold, and Grey and Gold.

HTC, besides the One E9+, launched its HTC One M9+ at its Beijing event on Wednesday. The larger variant of its existing flagship One M9, the HTC One M9+, features a big home button and a fingerprint sensor that will also support biometric authentication for the AliPay payment system in China. As compared to the One E9+, the One M9+ sports a slightly more powerful processor, better battery, and a smaller screen size of 5.2 inches.

Five great camera phones under Rs. 15,000

One of the most sought after features in a smartphone - price-band notwithstanding - is a good camera. Increasingly, people are using it as a replacement for digital cameras. The onslaught of picture sharing apps like Instagram and social video sharing platforms like Vine are augmenting the need for smartphones with a decent shooter.

We sifted through a plethora of smartphones in the sub-Rs. 15,000 category and zeroed in on five phones that have a capable camera. Our selection process involved looking at sample photographs captured by the rear camera under daylight and checking if the captured images have accurate colour reproduction, low noise (loss of details), minimum chromatic aberration and good focusing speed.

A word of caution to all readers is not to expect the moon in this price range especially with respect to the performance of the camera under low-light. We added brownie points for camera modules which had a good camera app interface, decent front-facing camera and good video recording. As it should be, the megapixel count wasn't given too much importance provided the captured details were good. 

1. Lava Iris Pro 30
Lava's current tour de force - the Lava Iris Pro 30  - features an 8-megapixel rear shooter. In our tests, we noticed that in regular daylight shots, the camera surprised us with the quality of images. Additionally, the captured video retained quite a bit of details and the front camera took great images provided the ambient lighting was adequate. Check the attached sample photograph below.

2. Micromax Canvas Turbo Mini
The 8-megapixel rear-camera (sample shot below) on the Micromax Canvas Turbo Mini  is a revelation. The pictures taken in daylight conditions are well detailed and the icing on the cake is that it performs decently in low-light conditions as well. Moreover, the front-facing camera captures images at a very high 5-megapixel resolution and takes some really good shots compared to phones priced much higher. There are a few nifty tricks available in the camera app which adds some flair to photographs provided users can get them to work.

3. Nokia Lumia 525
Nokia's Lumia series of phones have a reputation of delivering great results with the camera; even the low-end options. The level of detail captured by the camera of Nokia Lumia 525 is amazing considering this phone's entry-level status. It is no wonder that the cheapest phone on this list received the highest rating (8/10) out of this lot for its camera performance.

4. Nokia Lumia 620
Another Lumia to be featured in this list - the Nokia Lumia 620 - features a 5-megapixel camera just like the Lumia 525 and captures great photographs under daylight with all details almost intact. In our review we noted that the colour reproduction was natural and stayed true to real-life colours, which the sample photograph below reveals.

5. Xolo Q1010i
With an 8-megapixel Sony Exmor R sensor the camera on the Xolo Q1010i  is supposed to perform better in low light. In our daylight testing, the camera captured really good images with very low noise levels. The images we captured with this phone had slightly exaggerated colours. A lot of people will like this, but remember that the colours are not really natural. In low light, the camera manages to focus and capture decent images. The rear camera on the Xolo Q1010i is ahead of its competition, as the photo below shows.

Which one of these is the best camera phone for you? If you've used any of these, leave a comment to tell us about your experience with the phone's camera.