HP introduced Pavilion X360 laptop at the MWC in February. and now, it has brought the device to the Indian market. Taking a cue from the likes of Lenovo Yoga, the laptop can swivel 360-degrees and be turned into a tablet. However, unlike other convertibles, HP is targeting the mid-range segment with the device by pricing it at Rs 39,990. Is the Pavilion X360 the affordable convertible we've been waiting for? We try to find out in our review.

Build and design
HP Pavilion X360 is a very good-looking device though it's on the heavier side at 1.4Kg. We were enchanted by its 'brilliant red' colour outer shell that has a satin sparkle texture and a soft matter finish that helps protect against fingerprints. The silver coloured metallic HP logo sits right in the middle.



The hinge as well as the bottom shell sport the same design. Lift the laptop's lid and you'll see the its 11.6-inch touch-enabled display surrounded by a black bezel that sports a glossy finish with the rest of the frame also sporting black colour, albeit with matte finish.

The Keyboard panel on the other hand, looks stunning with its brushed aluminium finish, featuring an island/chiclet style black coloured keyboard. The keyboard features special keys for controlling screen brightness, volume and music playback.

The trackpad also sports a metallic finish. We found the keyboard to be pretty good, although not as swift as the ones featured in some high-end devices. Your typing speed would, of course, improve as you spend more time with the device. To our disappointment, the keyboard is not backlit.

The trackpad, which HP likes to call Imagepad, offers multi-touch gesture support and is pretty smooth when it comes to scrolling or navigating through the screen. The wrist rest offers good support and makes the experience even better.

The hinge sports the Beats Audio branding.

HP Pavilion X360 offers a large number of connectivity ports. On the right side of the keyboard panel, you'll see an Ethernet port, an HDMI port, a USB 3.0 port, a USB port 2.0 and an SD card reader, in addition to a charging port.



The left edge sports a USB 2.0 port and an earphone jack along with a volume rocker key (which comes handy in tablet mode) and a power button. The two speakers are located at the bottom. Overall, the Pavilion X360 is a very well-built device and exudes a premium feel.

The 360-degree hinge

Thanks to its 360-degree hinge, the device can be used in multiple modes. It can serve as a conventional clam-shell notebook, used as a video player in the stand mode with the keyboard acting as a base, and act like a photo frame or recipe book, placed in the tent mode. You can fold it a full 360-degree and make it into a tablet as well. The keyboard is automatically disabled as you turn the display an angle more than 180-degree.

While the hinge works flawlessly and never feels flimsy, the tablet's base panel is a bit heavy and adds to the bulk when you're carrying it around as a tablet. Also, when you fold it 360-degree, the display doesn't clasp with the base panel and since the base panel is longer than the display panel, it sticks out and doesn't look appealing. HP says that it's intentional as the speakers are located at the base. We feel that the placement could have been different to take care of aesthetics.



This really spoils the remotest possibility of someone mistaking the device for a tablet. The added width worsens things further. The device is good for use as a laptop or a stand, but we'd certainly not prefer using it as a tablet.

Having said that, the Pavilion X360 scores when it comes to build and design, and is one of the most attractive devices available in the market.

Display

HP Pavilion X360 comes with an 11.6-inch anti-glare LED backlit touch screen (1366X768p). For a device which is designed to be used as a tablet in addition to a notebook, the X360's screen is disappointing. While we're okay with HP putting a low resolution,720p panel as it's a mid-range device, the display isn't bright enough and colours appear washed out. Viewing angles are also not that wide. The display is one of the weaker points of the device.

Software

Our review unit came with 64-bit Windows 8.1 and we updated it to Update 1, the latest version of the OS that features power and search buttons, ability to pin Modern UI apps to the taskbar, and boot directly to Desktop, among others.

Windows 8.1 Update 1 offers a better desktop experience and streamlines Modern/ Windows 8 apps with desktop apps.

HP also bundles additional software with the laptop, including CyberLink YouCam and PowerDVD, Adobe Shockwave Player, HP Connected Music, HP Support apps, McAfee LiveSafe, HP CoolSense, HP ProtectSmart, Skype, Amazon Kindle and 7-Zip among other HP apps and casual games. These apps can be easily uninstalled if you don't require these.

Performance

HP Pavilion X360 is powered by a 2.16GHz Intel Pentium N3520 quad-core processor with 4GB RAM. The processor has the same architecture that has the Bay Trail Atom chip which is not very powerful. In terms of performance, the laptop is good for moderate use and for web browsing, casual games and multimedia, and for apps like office suites, and simple imaging editors, among others. If you open too many tabs and multitask between many apps, the laptop becomes sluggish. Don't even think about playing graphics-intensive 3D games.

Having said that, the laptop runs Modern UI apps without any problems.

The X360 doesn't offer good battery life. In our tests, the laptop lasted about 4-4.5 hours while using Microsoft Word, a picture editor, a music streaming service and playing some YouTube videos, keeping the screen at full brightness. In our video look test, it lasted about 3.5 hours.

While we don't endorse benchmarks, the Pavilion X360 scored 1040 in PCMark8 (Creative conventional) and 1277 in PCMark 8 (Home conventional) tests, and 442 in Novabench. The Pavilion X360 scored 1435 in Cloudgate 1.1 and 16,612 in Icestorm 1.2 tests of 3DMark.

The laptop has an HD front webcam which is good for video chats. The BeatsAudio speakers are not that great as they lack loudness and bass though the sound output is good in terms of clarity.

Overall, the device doesn't boast of high-end performance but is well-suited for day-to-day tasks.

Verdict

HP Pavilion X360 is a good-looking Windows convertible let down by its sub-par display and underwhelming performance. It doesn't offer a good tablet experience due to its bulk which makes it difficult to lug around and due to its unwieldy shape.



At a starting price of Rs 39,990, we'd not recommend buying the device unless you really want the 360-degree swivel feature. You can get a more powerful touch-enabled notebook in the same price range minus the multimode feature.

You can also look at HP Pavilion X2 which comes with a removable display panel for use as a tablet, and more powerful hardware. It costs about Rs 10,000 more, but will offer better portability. If your budget is less, then the Lenovo Ideapad Flex 10 is another option.

Let's not beat around the bush. Moto E is a phenomenal smartphone. No, it doesn't dazzle like iPhone 5S or packs in a gazillion features like Galaxy S5. But it doesn't have to. With a price of Rs 7,000, it needs to just provide basic but hassle-free smartphone experience to people who don't want to or can't splurge more than Rs 10,000 on a phone. And Moto E does exactly that. Not only does it offer a good smartphone experience but in some cases does so in a way that puts it ahead of more expensive devices.

Yes, there are a few misses in Moto E. We will tell you where it falls short and where it excels in this review, but if you are in a hurry to get the device, you can go ahead and pull the trigger. Moto E is worth its price.

With this out, let's take a better look at Moto E and what makes it such an appealing deal.

Build and design
Last year when Motorola rebooted its smartphone business with Moto X, a premium phone, it probably decided to use a similar design in all its phones. Moto X had rounded edges, a curved back cover stylishly carved on the top, the primary camera topped with a round glass cover, a metal ring around the camera and the Motorola logo under the camera. Moto G, launched a few months after Moto X, had the same design even though its finish and build quality was more mainstream.

Moto E continues the tradition. It looks similar to Moto X and Moto G. However, Moto E is also an unmistakably budget phone, in both design specifications and build quality.

At its thickest point, Moto E measures 12.3mm, which makes it chubby compared to lean and sleek Moto X and stocky Moto G. It also weighs 142 grams, which is on the heavier side for a phone with 4.3-inch screen. The build quality doesn't match what Moto G or Moto X offer. But see all of it in the context. For its price, Moto E is mighty nice. The plastic back cover, which can be removed to access sim and microSD card slots (but not battery), has matte finish and feels soft to touch. This makes Moto E a better device compared to phones that use cheap glossy plastic.



The overall build quality is a step up from what other companies offer in phones priced below Rs 10,000. The screen on Moto E is covered with tough glass - Gorilla Glass version 3, to be precise - something that is a rarity on mainstream and budget phones. The Gorilla Glass gives the phone a solid feel. Though it is not slim and light, the compact size, curved back cover and rounded edges make Moto E a phone that is easy to handle and use.

Display
Good screens are expensive and companies often put cheap screens in budget phones. Motorola reverses the trend and equips Moto E with a screen that is really good, considering the low price of the device. The 4.3-inch screen in Moto E has resolution of 540x960pixels (540P). It is not as sharp as 720P or 1080P screens in more expensive, but unless you stare at it from close, the text and images on Moto E screen look clear enough. It also displays rich colours and has decent viewing angles. Movies on the device are enjoyable because the image doesn't get distorted much if you tilt or move your head while watching them.



Unless you try to read an article under direct sunlight, you will be satisfied with the brightness of Moto E screen.

Software
Moto E is powered by Android 4.4.2 aka KitKat. This is the latest version of Android. Unlike other companies, Motorola is also promising to update Moto E to the next major version of Android.

Punit Soni, Motorola's vice president for products, told TOI that the company would like to support the device for at least 18 months with software updates. But even if that doesn't happen, he promised, Motorola would update Moto E to the next version of Android.

Since last year, Motorola uses almost an unmodified version of Android in its devices. This makes a Moto device like Moto E similar to a Nexus phone. The launcher and lock screens are more or less same. Google Now, the virtual assistant built into Android, works without any fuss. And so do the Android keyboard and Voice search. The on-screen buttons - Home, Back and Multitasking - work the way they do on Nexus devices.

This is different (in a good way) compared to what other manufacturers offer by modifying the user interface, feature set, navigation buttons and other aspects of Android in their phones.



In terms of extras, Motorola offers just a few unique apps. There is an Alert app, which can "alert" your contacts in case of emergency. Then there is the Assist app, which can monitor your schedule and put the phone in silent mode when you are sleeping or when you are in a meeting.

Camera
While Motorola decided against going with a cheap screen, on camera it probably saved some money in a bid to keep the price of the phone low. Moto E is not a shooter's delight. It lacks a front camera. So, no selfies with Moto E unless you are standing in front of a mirror.

The primary camera can shoot images in 5 megapixels, a decent number for a budget phone. But as we have said earlier, the number of pixels doesn't matter. The camera in Moto E lacks flash as well as auto focus. Fixed focus is not much of an issue when you are shooting portraits or photos of friends, but if you are trying to click close ups, it is a problem. Moto E has a difficulty focussing on close objects. Even when the subject is around a metre away, the camera tends to shoot soft images.



Photos shot with Moto E in good light show noise and have colours that look artificially punchy. The camera also doesn't capture details well and tries to compensate by sharpening the image. The end result is not good. Images shot in low light too come out noisy.

Compared to cameras in other similarly priced phones, Moto E does an average job. Most of the time you will be able to click photos that you can share on Facebook or Twitter. But don't expect clear and shiny photos that more expensive smartphones can manage. One good feature of Moto E camera is that you can change the exposure by selecting the area in a scene that you are trying to capture. This helps in low light scenes.

The device shoots 480P videos. The video recording is good. It is possible to shoot clear and usable video footage, albeit in 480P, in good light.

Performance
Moto E uses a dual-core processor running at 1.2GHz. It has 1GB RAM, 4GB internal storage (2.2GB user accessible) and support for up to 32GB microSD card. Apart from 1GB RAM, there is nothing striking about Moto E hardware.

However, Motorola has optimized the software well. In daily use, we found Moto E to be a good performer. During browsing we found the pinch-to-zoom gesture on a webpage smooth. While switching between apps we didn't notice any significant lag. When we scrolled in apps like Facebook and Twitter, the performance was smooth.

Yet, Moto E doesn't feel as speedy as Moto G or high-end phones. You may notice a hint of lag from time to time. But this is not the kind of lag that will slow down a user. After clicking on dialer, you won't have to wait for a few seconds before the call log opens. When you are quickly scrolling through the photos in your Gallery app on Moto E, it doesn't freeze for a second or two the way some other budget phones do.

Again putting it in context, Moto E offers performance that is superior to most of the Android phones selling for less than Rs 15,000. Under Rs 10,000, there is no Android phone that offers similar performance.

But more than the performance, the real deal with Moto E is that it does almost everything that a more expensive Android phone can do. It offers very good GPS performance, a rarity in a mainstream phone, and that allows users to utilize apps like Google Maps and Runkeeper. It can play 720P videos and in some cases even 1080P files. It gives users a Facebook, Gmail, Twitter, YouTube experience that is not lacking in any significant way compared to what they can get with more expensive phones.

Moto E supports two sim cards. When we used it with a 3G connection and Wi-Fi, we found the connection speed to be satisfactory.

Moto E has a mono speaker under the screen that is loud enough to fill a small room with sound even though the quality of sound is not particularly rich. Sound quality during music playback through headphones and calls is satisfactory.

Battery life too is good. The device has a 1,980mAh battery. When used with a 3G connection, Moto E lasted around 15 to 16 hours before we had to recharge its battery, ​which was above average.

Gaming
First a number: In 3D Mark, which measure graphics performance, Moto E scores over 3700 points. This is more than what HP Slate 6 and Lenovo Vibe X (both have an MRP of more than Rs 20,000) score. It is also more than what Nexus 7 (2012) scores. For a budget phone, this is a really impressive performance.



In actual use too we found Moto E to be a decent performer. We played Asphalt 8, a demanding game, at high graphics settings on Moto E. However, there was some occasional lag so we switched to medium graphics settings for smoother gameplay. We also played casual games like Angry Birds Go and Temple Run with ease on Moto E.

Key takeaway: Moto E may not be able to run some demanding games that may come out in future but it can handle most of the existing games and you can have lot of fun with it if you are fond of Angry Birds and friends.

Verdict
As we said earlier, Moto E is worth its asking price of Rs 6,999. There is no other Android device in sub-Rs 10,000 that offers comparable value.

There are two competitors to Moto E: Nokia Lumia 520 and Spice MI-515. Both have their own set of issues.

Lumia 520 is not an Android device. It offers comparable performance to Moto E but inferior Gmail/YouTube/browsing/gaming experience. Also, Android devices have access to better apps. Spice MI-515 is a really impressive phone, with performance similar to that of Moto E. But it is almost a year old now, runs an older version of Android, probably won't get any upgrade, and has questionable build quality. Both Lumia 520 and MI-515 also cost around Rs 1,500 more.

Moto E is kind of a total package for people looking to get a smartphone for less than Rs 10,000. Except the camera and low internal storage (it could be an issue if you install many games), the device gets everything else right. Yes, it is not in the league of expensive phones, but if you were waiting for a good budget Android phone before you ditch your feature phone, your wait is over. You can safely go for Moto E. It is the best sub-Rs 10,000 phone in the market right now.

Nokia Lumia 630 marks many firsts. It's the first phone to be commercially launched in India after Microsoft acquired Nokia. It's the first dual-sim Windows Phone handset. And, it's also the first smartphone to ship with Windows Phone 8.1, the latest iteration of the OS.

Entry-level Windows Phone devices like Lumia 520 have contributed a lot to the platform's market share, especially in markets like India. With the addition of dual-sim functionality, will Lumia 630 take it at the next level? Will the phone be a serious challenger to budget Android devices? We try to find out in our review.

Build & Design
Nokia Lumia 630 doesn't look very different from other Nokia Lumia budget phones. We've seen the same design in Lumia 620 and, to some extent, in Lumia 625. Having said that, the phone does look sleeker and feels good to hold. It's 9.2mm thick and weighs just 134gram.

Lumia 630 sports a colourful, interchangeable polycarbonate back shell that wraps around the phone. The cover which will be available in black, white, green, orange and yellow colours, sports a matte finish.




We still want to see fresher designs from Nokia, even on budget and mid-range devices. Overall, materials used in the phone are of good quality and feel durable.

The right edge of the phone features the power and volume rocker keys, in the same colour as that of the shell. Strangely, a major omission in Lumia 635 is the camera shutter hardware key, which is available in Lumia 620 and 625 smartphones. This means that you'll only be able to activate the shutter through soft keys. Perhaps the focus is not so much on the camera.

The right edge is barren, while the bottom edge features the micro-USB port and the 3.5mm headset jack sits at the top. The back features a 5MP auto-focus camera but there's no LED flash, which makes the phone useless for dark and low-light shots.

Removing the cover reveals the two micro-sim card slots, a microSD card slot and the battery compartment. It's easy to remove the cover and insert the sim cards. The cover fits well and there were no creaks or wobbles.



Missing sensors
Nokia has cut corners at a number of palces (more on that later) and has even excluded a proximity sensor and an ambitent light sensor. As a result, the screen does not turn off during a call unless it touches your face or finger. We didn't miss this sensor much but the absence of an ambient light sensor means that the phone doesn't feature automatic brightness depending upon the ambient light. This means you'll need to manually set brightness levels depending on the light conditions, which is a bit cumbersome.

Display
Nokia Lumia 630 sports a 4.5-inch FWVGA (480X854p) ClearBlack, IPS LCD display. It comes with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection to guard against minor scratches. The display is not one of the best ones we've seen on a Nokia phone. It packs less pixels than Lumia 520/525 due to the bigger screen size and as a result pictures and text looks a bit pixilated. Viewing angles were also not that great and sunlight legibility was above average. Overall, Lumia 630's display is not bad but with the competition (read Moto G) offering high quality displays packing more pixels, we feel that Nokia could have done a better job.

Camera
Lumia 630 is not exactly a camera phone. It just offers a 5MP rear camera and there's no LED flash. While the phone comes with a new Camera app (in addition to Nokia Camera app), the hardware is not remarkable for the price. One good thing is that it does feature auto-focus. You can even set the focus manually.




The quality of images captured in day light was better than the quality of ones taken indoors in less light. It struggles to shoot in low light, though. Colour reproduction was good though.

We feel that by excluding a front-facing camera the device will lose favour among youngsters especially with selfies being the current rage.




The camera can only capture videos of up to 720p and the quality of recording was just average. Clearly, the camera is not the high point of the device.

Software
Nokia Lumia 630 is the first handset to ship with Windows Phone 8.1 in the Indian market. The new iteration of the OS irons out inconsistencies and achieves feature parity with competing smartphone platforms like Android and iOS. It pretty much covers the basics and would satisfy most casual users.

Windows Phone 8.1 brings core changes like support for universal Windows apps for tablets, phones and PCs but there are a number of user facing changes as well.

The first and most demanded feature that it has got is Action Center, a unified notifications interface; it is the equivalent of iOS's Notification Center and Android's Notification Tray. The implementation is also similar, with a swipe from the top rolling down the Action Center displaying four customizable toggles, notifications, alert messages, network indicators, date and battery level. The 'Clear All' and 'All Settings' buttons clear all notifications and jump to the phone's settings menu, respectively.



You can choose to display the Action Center even when the screen is locked and turn notifications on or off for specific apps. Interestingly, you can clear all notifications, including the ones displayed in Live Tiles, when you tap on the Clear All button. This is a minor but well thought out functionality. Notifications for individual apps can be swiping over them.

Nokia Lumia 630 is the first Windows Phone device that comes with on-screen buttons for navigation. These are similar to the soft keys we've seen in Android phones from Google (Nexus), LG, Sony, Motorola and, now, HTC. You can enable haptic feedback (vibrate on touch) for these keys and choose to keep them always dark, match the background colour of the app on screen, or match the accent colour. Unfortunately, keys are visible even when you're playing full screen games or reading a web page in reader mode (yes, Internet Explorer now supports it). This makes the display appear smaller and gives the impression that there is less space for content.

The Start screen has also received a minor makeover and can now display background wallpapers. The wallpaper is visible through transparent tiles but tiles that have different colours remain opaque. We have to say it looks better than the single solid coloured tiles and adds more personalization capabilities. The update also enables a third column of tiles on non-1080p displays. So, if you don't mind a cluttered but convenient arrangement, you can opt to squeeze more tiles on the Lumia 630's relatively smaller screen.

Multitasking is better as the OS just suspends apps when you hit the back button so resuming them again doesn't take much time. The multitasking interface now offers the option to close apps by tapping on the cancel key or by swiping them down the screen, a bit like iOS and webOS.

The other big Windows Phone 8.1 feature that everybody's talking about is Cortana, the virtual assistant that rivals iOS's Siri and Android's Google Now. The feature is still in Beta and not available in India unless you change the region settings to US, and language settings to English (US). While it doesn't support all features, you can ask it to perform a large number of tasks including opening apps, calling contacts from People list, setting reminders, check weather, time or location, check nearby places and search the web, among others.

Cortana recognized our voice and our accent much more accurately than Apple's Siri. The OS also supports a Do Not Disturb feature called Quiet Hours, but it's linked to Cortana, which handles alerts and notifications when the mode is turned on.



The phone also benefits from the Windows Phone 8.1's new Swype-like 'Word Flow' keyboard that lets you quickly key in words by tracing a path over letters. In tandem with the predictive text feature, the keyboard offers one of the fastest typing experience available at the moment. It also integrates Emoji characters.

new feature called Wi-Fi Sense lets you share your home or office Wi-Fi connection with people who have a WP 8.1 device without sharing the password for that network. We couldn't test this feature as we didn't have two WP 8.1 devices.

The Data Sense feature not only allows you to monitor data use but even offers a setting for saving consumption by compressing large images via the browser. We found the built-in data compression feature (seen in browsers like Opera Mini and Nokia Xpress) pretty useful.

Windows Phone 8.1 also introduces support for VPN (Virtual Private Networks), splits the Music+Videos apps into two, offers new camera and calendar apps with better features and updates the default browser with new capabilities (including reading mode).

Nokia Lumia 630 comes with a large number of preloaded apps in addition to Nokia and Microsoft apps. Thankfully most of these apps can be removed.

The phone comes with a three months subscription of Nokia MixRadio, including free music downloads, but for some reason we were not able to activate it. We got a message saying "Downloading songs or albums is no longer possible.." every time we tried downloading music tracks.
Dual-sim capability
Lumia 630 is the first dual-sim enabled Windows Phone device. The implementation of the feature is a little different from what we've seen on Android or feature phones, which makes it interesting.

By default, you get a set of Messaging and Call apps for each sim card, complete with individual call records, speed dials and message threads. However, it's possible to switch between the two sims in the phone dialler screen or even when you're viewing a contact. Same is the case with messages when you're trying to reply to one. We found this functionality pretty convenient.

For people who don't like this arrangement and want centralized universal apps, it's even possible to link the two sets of apps and just keep one. You can even set the default sim for individual contacts. For instance, if you have a separate work number, you can set it as default for all work contacts. So, the phone will use that particular sim while dialling out or sending a message.

Lumia 630 also offers Smart Dual Sim, allowing you to automatically forward calls from one sim to the other if one of them is busy. Of course, you'll incur charges for receiving the call just like a normal forwarded call. The functionality worked without any hiccups while using a Vodafone and a Reliance sim card.

SensorCore
Nokia Lumia 630 boasts of SensorCore which allows applications to use the sensors in a Lumia phone without affecting battery life. The functionality helps the phone track the user's activity, including steps travelled, and record location data. According to Nokia, it is a software solution that is capable of running at very low power as well as a hardware component that acts as a buffer between the sensors and the applications.

In tandem with the preloaded Bing Health & Fitness app, it lets users track their physical activity. The GPS tracker feature of the app records time, distance, pace and calories burned while users walk, run, bike and do other activities. In our use, we found that the app did not measure our running activity accurately in an indoor location. Perhaps this was due to GPS getting disabled when the phone is locked.

Performance
Nokia Lumia 630 is powered by a quad-core 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor. Even though it comes with a measly 512MBWe still don't understand why the phone comes with less RAM given that a number of games and apps are not optimized for 512MB devices at the time of their original release. In fact, Nokia introduced Nokia 525, a variant of the popular Lumia 520 that comes with more RAM, to please consumers who want access to all apps and games.

RAM, the phone offers good performance. Windows Phone OS is not a resource hog and WP 8.1 optimizes it further to suit low-end devices. We did not observe lag or stutter while launching and switching between apps, though the apps still take time to resume from their suspended state when running in background. We also did not encounter any issues while browsing the web, clicking pictures and playing videos and music.



Lumia 630 offers Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS connectivity options in addition to FM radio (which is now a separate app). The phone offers excellent call quality and signal reception and we did not encounter issues while making calls even in areas where cell signal is relatively weaker. It was able to lock to GPS without any hiccups.

The external speaker on the phone offers loud sound output though the sound gets muffled when the phone lies on its back, which is an issue. We were able to play most popular video and audio file formats.

The phone is backed by an 1,830mAh battery (removable) and will last you a complete day (15-16 hours) even if you put the screen brightness at the highest level and use 3G data all the time. You'll be able to make about 2-3 hours of phone calls, play some casual games and browse the web in this time period. The phone can play video continuously for 8-10 hours.

Gaming
We were able to play casual games like Temple Run and Angry Birds without facing any issues. Even graphics-heavy games like Asphalt 8 performed well and we did not experience frame drops. However, if you set Visual Quality to High and Engine at 100% then you'll notice pixelation and distortion.

Verdict

The dual-sim version of Lumia 630 is available at Rs 11,500 (single-sim version costs Rs 10,500).So should you buy Nokia the phone? The answer is yes if you're looking for a reliable, fluid, easy to set-up and use, dual-sim smartphone without spending a large amount of cash.

As with other Windows Phone devices, the usual caveats apply. It's not as rich as Android and iOS when it comes to apps but the basics are pretty much covered (including all major Indian apps). It's another thing that developers do not update their Windows phone apps as often as they update iOS and Android ones.

Having said that, you won't miss much if your usage mainly comprises of email, making calls, instant messaging, social networking, consuming multimedia content and casual gaming. With Windows Phone 8.1, Microsoft has made the OS more streamlined, and has filled the gaps. It offers all the basic features you'll get on rival platforms. But on the hardware front, Nokia has cut corners to keep the pricing low and you'll have to compromise on a number of feature. In a way, it's a downgrade compared to the Lumia 620.

If you're looking for alternatives, there's Motorola's Moto G. It costs Rs 1,000 more and doesn't offer expandable storage but you get Android, smooth performance, a better screen, front camera and LED flash along with dual-sim functionality. You can even look at its younger sibling Moto E that costs Rs 6,999 and offers most features the Lumia 630 offers.