These phones will
perform their basic duties and a bit more while avoiding the extra 5% duty
levied by the government.
At a time when smartphones dominate headlines
and are the first choice for most youngsters, simple mobile phones have
seemingly lost significance. Yet manufacturers haven't stopped making them. In
fact, these mobile-phones are still being released by big brands such as Nokia
and Samsung and constitute a sizeable chunk of phones sold in our country.
These basic phones are usually ultra low-cost
phones, targeted at people who prefer to use mobile phones for calling and SMS,
rather than high-end fancy feature. Even with a smartphone in the house, you
may want one of these as a second phone purely for their simplicity and battery
backup. We list five mobile phones that people can buy for less than Rs 1000 in
India.
All of the below have been selected based on
their brand value in India, featuring the latest model in the series. These may
be boring devices for many, but feature extras like FM Radio - and are great
when it comes to battery life (talktime on a single charge). Prices were drawn
from online retailers, and you may be able to purchase them for even lesser at
your local brick-and-mortar stores.
Nokia 1280
Good old Nokia, which gained a lot of popularity
with its basic-phone range, has the Nokia 1280 phone which is sold for a price
of Rs 999. Its key features are:
- 1.4" screen
- alphanumeric keypad
- built-in FM radio
- speaking Alarm clock
- flashlight present
- 8 hours of talktime claimed
The Nokia 1280 weighs around 82 grams and comes
in two colour variants, Graphite and Black. This model is meant to be replaced
by the Nokia 100 (priced above 1k) in a few months.
Spice M5005n
Spice, known for its low-cost mobile-phones has
the M5005n which is priced at Rs 979. The key features that this phone provides
are:
- 1.8" TFT display
- Dual-SIM support
- 0.3 MP primary camera with video recording
- built-in FM radio along with MP3 and video player
- built-in torch
- Bluetooth connectivity
- 6 hours of claimed talktime
Intex Nano Y
Priced at Rs 949, the phone provides multimedia
features like Music player (support offered: MP3, WAV), video player and
built-in FM radio. Here are its key features:
- 1.8" TFT screen
- Dual-SIM support
- Primary VGA Camera with video recording
- Bluetooth and USB Connectivity
- Claimed talktime of 4 hours along with 240 hours of standby time
- Auto call record
- LED torch light
- 1.8" LCD display
- Dual-SIM support
- Built-in FM radio and MP3 player
- Up to 4 GB microSD card support
- Bluetooth connectivity
- Talktime of up to 4 hours
- LED Torch
- 1.8" display
- Claimed battery talktime of 4 hrs
- Dual-SIM support
- LED Torch
- Built-in memory can be expanded up to 8 GB
Here's a recap to summarize our list of sub-1k
mobile-phones:
If you are specifically looking for a robust
basic phone, we suggest you go in for Nokia 1280 for its build-quality and
warranty. If you want one with more features (like dual-SIM, memory
card support, and camera), pick the Spice M5005n instead.