When Micromax’s subsidiary company Yu launched their first smartphone in India, the Yu Yureka, we were impressed.
For Rs 10,000, the user got top-of-the-line specs and CyanogenMod. Life was amazing for people looking for a powerful smartphone under Rs 10,000.
Then, to challenge the Yu Yureka, came 4G powered Lenovo K3 Note.
So now, Yu has come out with an upgrade and this one is unimaginatively named the Yu Yureka Plus.
Both the out-going Yu Yureka and the Yu Yureka Plus look similar – no difference in design at all. The only change is that now you get a white colour option on the phone.
So is it worth upgrading or even buying the Yu Yureka Plus? Let’s find out.
Watch: Review Yu Yureka Plus
What’s Good?
The Yu Yureka Plus now comes with a full HD display to compete with the Lenovo K3 Note. The earlier Yureka also had a pretty awesome display, but the Yu Yureka Plus has a better one.
The 5.5-inch IPS display with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels looks sharper and packs in more detail. We noticed this mainly while playing heavy graphic games. The colours are on the cooler side, but the contrast is pretty amazing.
The processor and the hardware remains unchanged. The phone still runs the reliable Octa–core Snapdragon 615 processor backed by 2GB RAM. The phone is pretty much still up there with the Lenovo K3 Note if you compare them user experience-wise and for multitasking.
It also comes with 4G LTE compatibility and the camera on the Yu Yureka Plus has also been improved. The phone comes out of the box with CyanogenMod OS 12.
It now comes with a 13 megapixel rear camera with a Sony IMX 214 CMOS sensor and f2.2 aperture. The camera is pretty fast to focus and the images are quite sharp and up to our expectations in daylight. However, the low light images are just about bearable.
The 5MP front camera takes fantastic images and is one of the best cameras for selfies in this price range.
What’s Bad?
The Yu Yureka Plus comes with a removable 2,500 mAh battery that lasts just a day.
We were hoping for a bigger battery on the upgrade. Its competitor, the Lenovo K3 Note, offers a bigger battery and a better battery backup.
Also, there is 16GB of storage that can be expanded, but for a phone like this, we would have liked if YU came out with a 32GB inbuilt storage version.
Sure, you can expand the storage with a micro SD card but that’s an additional expense.
Why Buy It?
Overall, the Yureka Plus is a fantastic phone to have for Rs 8,999 and it’s Rs 1,000 cheaper than the Lenovo K3 Note.
As the original Yureka has been discontinued by the company, this is the only good option you have if you’re looking for a budget android smartphone with CyanogenMod. We, at The Quint, definitely recommend the Yu Yureka Plus.
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