<div><strong>By Puneet Mehrotra</strong></div><div> </div><div>Just back from a vacation in Uttarakhand, I was surprised to find the visibility of iBall far surpassing Samsung, Micromax and or even Lava (all three which claim leadership in this part of India). Almost every mobile shop had iBall products on display. Their brand ambassador, Kareena Kapoor's flashing smile combined with rock bottom prices seems to be working well for iBall. Having said that the visibility of mobile phone brands is as fast changing as the speed of the multiple models that are launched almost every week.</div><div> </div><div><strong>iBall Andi HD6</strong></div><div>The recent offering from iBall is Andi HD6. Priced at Rs.6,999 Andi HD6 is looks like a phone for almost triple its price. As the saying goes looks can be deceptive, don't set very high expectations from it, the kind you would have from a Rs.20,000 device, just because it looks like one. Having said that for Rs,6,999 it does have some great features.</div><div> </div><div><strong>Here are the pros and cons </strong></div><div> </div><div><strong>Pros</strong></div><div>Design - It looks really wonderful. Doesn't look like a Rs.6,999 phone</div><div> </div><div>1.3 GHz Quad Core processor and 1GB RAM gives faster and smoother execution of tasks.</div><div> </div><div><table align="right" border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1" style="width: 200px"><tbody><tr><td><img alt="" src="http://bw-image.s3.amazonaws.com/puneet_1.jpg" style="width: 200px; height: 300px;"></td></tr><tr><td><strong>Puneet Mehrotra</strong></td></tr></tbody></table>Packed with 8GB ROM (expandable up to 32GB). A statement from iBall says "promising exceptionally fast performance, smoother transitions and a fluid experience for the heaviest of users."</div><div> </div><div>Battery is a good 3000 mAh. It should be good even for the heavy users.</div><div> </div><div>One of the great things about iBall are the accessories they give in the box. For example this one has a modish protective case. It's good for users resisting dirt, stains and has an easy access to all phone functions without spending additionally on accessories. I wish other manufacturers follow iBall in this area. Motorola, Xiaomi and others don't even give basic headsets now forget accessories.</div><div> </div><div>Additional features include Advanced Security Options, Auto Call Recording, G-Sensor, Proximity Sensor and also comes with Regional Language Support for more than 15 Indian languages.</div><div> </div><div><strong>Cons</strong></div><div>The phone comes with 8MP AF rear camera with LED Flash and 5MP front camera. iBall please take note of the camera. The quality of pictures is not upto the mark. While trying out the results of this phone with a Xiaomi Redmi 2 which has just a 2 megapixel camera in front, the results of the latter were better. </div><div> </div><div>The phone has a 6-inch HD 720x1280 pixels IPS display. The resolution quality could have been better. </div><div> </div><div><strong>The Last Word</strong></div><div>iBall Andi HD6 is a decent phone for a basic Android user for the price it is being offered Rs.6,999. For this price the phone has a great processor, battery life besides a user friendly interface. One of the advantages going for iBall is the penetration of support centres even in the smaller towns besides of course physical availability with your neighbourhood mobile shopkeeper. That's really a huge "touch feel availability" advantage iBall has over lot of Chinese manufacturers like Xiaomi, Oneplus and even MotoG amongst others. </div><div> </div><div><div>Puneet Mehrotra is a columnist on Life & Technology. </div><div>puneet.im puneet@tbe.in </div></div>
