Xolo launched a slightly updated version of the Xolo Q1010 in the form of Xolo Q1010i with the minor update including a better 8MP Sony EXMOR R Sensor. Other than the upgrade in the camera department, the Xolo Q1010i is pretty much very similar to the Xolo Q1010 in terms of performance, build quality and design. Lets check out how the upgraded camera and the device perform together.
You can check out the entire video review right below
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQvSF3L5skQ
Design, Build Quality and Handling
The Xolo Q1010i is one solid smartphone in the price range and quite the looker. The build quality is pretty good and the device feels very solid in the hand. The screen to phone ratio isn’t the greatest and a lot of real estate goes wasted with the not so narrow bezels.
The choice of design and materials for the Xolo Q1010i is pleasing as they have decided to go with a soft matte back cover and a contrasting shiny metal rim running across the device. The metal rim across the center of the device is a bit protruding all throughout and that makes the device feel a little thinner than it actually is.
Xolo Q1010i feels quite comfortable in the hand because of the grippy matte back. On the front, below the capacitive touch keys, there is a small strip of matte finish material that enhances the grip marginally.
Lets have a quick walk through of the hardware.
On the front of the device, we have the 5inch HD display(more on this later) occupying most of the real estate. Above the display, we have the rounded rectangle shaped earpiece at the center. The ambient and proximity sensor combination is on the right side of the earpiece. To the farther right, we have the 2MP front facing camera.
Below the display, we have the traditional layout of three capacitive buttons – Menu, Home and Back.
On the right side of the device, we have the power button in the correct place where your thumb rests.
Moving to the bottom of the device, we have the microUSB port at the center and the microphone at the right corner.
On the left side of the device, we have volume rocker. Both, the power lock button on the right side and the volume rocker on the left, offer nice feedback and are easy to use. On the top, we have a 3.5mm audio jack.
Moving to the back, we are welcomed by a matte finish soft material. The matte material offers nice grip, prevents scratches and fingerprint accumulation. The important piece of the Xolo Q1010i puzzle is the camera and it is located towards the top supported by a metal ring. There is a microphone just below the camera and we have an LED flash below it.
We have the loudspeaker grill on the bottom left corner of the phone.
The back cover is removable and on opening we have a non user replaceable 2250mAh battery. Above the sealed battery compartment, we have the two microSIM card slots on the left side while the microSD card slot is on the right side.
Overall, in terms of the build quality and design, the Xolo Q1010i is solidly built and looks quite good. The handling is also very good if you can forgive the big bezels.
Display
The Xolo Q1010i comes with a 5inch HD display sporting a resolution of 720x1280pixels. The 5inch HD screen has somewhat become a norm for the mid-range Android smartphones and the Xolo Q1010i makes no exception in that case. The 720p display on the Q1010i performs very well. Text, images and videos are very crisp because of the good pixel density. The viewing angles are quite good although you get to see a blue tint sometimes. The contrast is good and you will not be disappointed by the display on this one.
Hardware, Performance and Benchmarks
The Xolo Q1010i is powered by a 1.3 GHz quad-core MediaTek MT6582 processor with 500 MHz Mali 400MP2 GPU. There is 1GB RAM on the device to help with multitasking. The performance is good, but there is a lag occasionally.
The internal storage is 8GB and you have 2GB for the OS, 2GB for Apps and 4GB for the internal storage. There is also a microSD card slot to expand the internal storage.
The benchmark scores of the Xolo Q1010i are as follows
You can check out the benchmarks post for more information about the benchmark performance of the Xolo Q1010i.
Camera
The camera is the talking point about this mid-range smartphone that comes with a 8MP Sony EXMOR R sensor. The rear camera can record Full HD videos at 30fps, but the video files are stored in .3gp format.
There is very little to talk about the already familiar MediaTek camera UI that has various shooting modes on the left side and the separate shutter buttons on the right side.
In terms of image quality, the camera performs very well and that helps the smartphone punch above its weight. The images come out very well in broad daylight and the noise is very less. Even in low light, the images come out well and the noise is relatively low. The videos are not the camera’s strongest suit, but it will get the job done. You can check out the camera samples post to get an idea about the camera performance in depth or you can check out a few samples right below.
The front camera is a simple 2MP and it just gets the job done.
You can check out the video sample from the rear camera right below.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFYOzqWMYxE
The camera review video is right below. Do check it out.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-sUYHiQxDM
Gaming
The Xolo Q1010i comes with a new MediaTek quadcore processor – MT6582 SoC, Mali 400MP2 GPU and 1GB RAM. The gaming performance of the Xolo Q1010i is good. We tried a mixture of high end, casual and low graphics games. The device was able to handle casual and low graphics games pretty well and did a decent job with the high end games.
You can check out the gaming review and gameplay videos right below.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPAYjpTF2Fo
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maSGCF4wixU
Software
The Xolo Q1010i runs on a near stop Android 4.2.2 Jellybean and has very little extra gimmicks. The extra applications that come with the Q1010i are Xolo’s own apps – Xolo Customer Care and Xolo Battery Saver application. The software performance is smooth on most occasions although there is noticeable lag. The lag may increase as the usage increases. Switching between the applications is slow and it is limited because of the 1GB RAM.
Audio Performance
The audio quality is just okay with the headphones given with the device. However, if you use a high quality earphones, then the quality is good.
Battery
The battery life of the Xolo Q1010i is very good. The 2250mAh battery does a good job of lasting nearly a day. I was able to squeeze almost a day (14-16hours) of battery life with moderate to heavy usage. Watching videos on the device gave a battery life of about 6 hours and 30 minutes which is very good. If you use two SIMs, then the battery life will drop a little. Xolo has included the battery saver application that helps you extract more juice from the battery by turning off unused services.
Conclusion
The Xolo Q1010i was launched a month ago for Rs. 13,500, but you can now get the phone for around Rs. 11,700 in Flipkart. For the price, the performance is very good and the build quality is definitely a big positive. The Sony EXMOR R 8MP sensor on the back is another positive and this phone has more positives than negatives for its price point and is definitely one of the better buys in the mid range phablet category.
Pros
- Good gaming experience
- Very good camera
- Excellent build quality and solid feel
Cons
- Performance isn’t consistent, there are lags and jitters
- Seems very big for a 5inch phone – big bezels make it big
- Relatively older version of Android