Panasonic today introduced its Eluga range of smartphones in India but these are not the devices that we’ve often lusted over. The Eluga U is a new handset designed straight up for India and as such drops many of the features that made the Eluga series unique. But keeping all preconceived notions aside, we spent some time with the new handset. Here’s what we think about it.
Panasonic Eluga U specifications
- 5-inch (1280 x 720 pixels) HD IPS OGS display with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection
- 1.2 GHz quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor with Adreno 305 GPU
- Android 4.4 (KitKat)
- Dual SIM
- 13MP rear camera with LED Flash, 1080p video recording
- 2MP front-facing camera
- 7.95 mm thick and weighs 141 grams
- 3.5mm audio jack, FM Radio with RDS
- 2GB RAM, 16GB internal memory, 32GB expandable memory with MicroSD
- 3G HSPA+, WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS
- 2500 mAh battery
Panasonic has talked a fair bit about the design of the handset and2 on first glance, it certainly looks above average. We won’t go as far as calling it the best looking device in the category nor is it the most unique but the overall feel of the hardware both in terms of design and quality is decent. Three capacitive buttons are what you find below the 5 inch 720p screen while up top is the 2MP front facing camera alongside the proximity sensors. The screen is an IPS OGS display that has good viewing angles but the brightness levels leave a lot to be desired. The screen is also exceptionally prone to fingerprints. You’ll find Gorilla Glass 3 protection so at least there’s a modicum of scratch resistance on here.
Over at the right side of the phone are the power and volume buttons. Perhaps it is teething issues with the early batches but the buttons didn’t feel very reassuring. There’s a distinct wobble to the buttons and possibly some gap as well. The power key is placed surprisingly high along the edge of the phone making it a bit of a stretch to reach. We ended up pressing the volume rocker a couple of times while trying to switch on the device. Over on the left side of the Panasonic Eluga U is the micro SD card slot. There’s 16GB of built in storage but you can expand it by up to 32GB via the card slot.
The back of the Eluga U has an interesting textured glass rear. The mesh like pattern is particularly visible in good lighting. Owing to the nature of the material used, the back too is a fingerprint magnet and particularly hard to clean as well. The 13MP camera module is placed right up top with a single LED flash next to it. There is also a surprising amount of text on the back of the device. A Panasonic logo can be found near the top while an Eluga logo can be seen in the lower half. A range of certification related logos can also be seen here.
Powering the phone is a 1.2Ghz quad core Snapdragon 400 processor. This is paired with 2GB of RAM and in general, performance is decent but nothing extraordinary. Around 1.4GB of RAM is free at launch.The software onboard is Android 4.4 with limited customization. You get to chose between Google Now launcher or Fithome UI. The latter is a launcher that has an app drawer optimized for one handed usage. There’s a hint of frame rate drops occasionally but generally, the handset manages to chug along without much fuss. A 2,500 mAh battery can be found under the hood which should be enough to last over a day of moderate usage given the frugal processor under the hood.
The Eluga U in our limited time with it appears to be a decent attempt from the company to capture the imagination of users who associate with the Panasonic brand name. That said, there’s little here that sets it apart from the competition and the pricing in particular leaves a lot to be desired. With competition like the Xiaomi Mi3 and the Asus Zenphone 5 providing similar and in some cases better performance at a much lower price point, you are left wondering why should anyone consider this device over the others? We’ll take a deeper look at the handset in our full review soon. Do let us know if you have any specific questions about the Panasonic Eluga U.