Micromax to challenge big gaming smartphones
Last month one of India’s leading electronics companies, Micromax announced they are to launch Yu, a new brand of Cyanogen OS-based smartphone that could become more than a rival for major industry players and kick off 2015 with a bang.
At the centre of that will be the release of Yu Yureka, exclusive to major firm Amazon.
Expected to start shipping in mid-January, the device has been described by Rahul Sharma, the co-founder of the brand, as “Android on steroids” and will boast a whole heap of features that outweigh the Google operating system.
Based on Android KitKat, Cyanogen OS 11, offers a different layout to Android with dozens of ways to customise your mobile making it much slicker than regular KitKat.
Performance wise, Sharma isn’t too far short. Of course he’s hugely exaggerating to try and get the edge over Samsung, a brand Micromax are catching up on in the Indian market, but the Yu Yureka really does stand up when it comes to performance.
With a 64-bit 1.5GHz octa-core Snapdragon 615 processor alongside an Adreno 405 GPU it’s a powerful tool and will run virtually any game as comfortably as you’d expect a console to. Which is where the $140 device comes into its own a little more.
And with the Google Play Store to choose from, it’s entirely necessary. More and more high-quality games are hitting the app store, with the likes of Call of Duty taking their impressive graphics from the Xbox and PlayStation and onto mobile, whilst titles including Asphalt 8: Airborne has made gameplay better than ever.
That’s complimented by a huge battery life which boasts six hours video playback and four hours gameplay for those who enjoy long sessions. And there are plenty of people out there who do, particularly when it comes to casino games.
A round on the poker, baccarat tables and other games at Red Flush Casino can often keep players going for hours trying to build up a chip stack – just as Football Manager can capture others into gaming for long periods – and with a superior battery life it’s almost impossible to run out of battery when you’re on that lucky streak.
As you would expect with Micromax, they’ve once again produced a solid all-round performer, the 16GB of internal storage is up there with most others on the market, and protection wise its Gorilla Glass 3 protection is extremely tough for the inevitable moment when you drop your mobile…