But do these two devices have what it takes to topple the current segment leaders and capture significant market share? Let's find out.
Design
When it comes to design, Videocon A20 beats its bigger brother as it looks similar to Samsung Galaxy Ace Plus. The screen is outlined by a chrome bezel and has four haptic buttons underneath. The front panel also has the usual sensors though the presence of the VGA camera was surprising to us. The rear panel of the smartphone is a fingerprint magnet and features a 3MP camera and speaker grille. Videocon A20 is easy to hold and looks good in the hand.
Coming to A30, we were a bit disappointed with the design language followed by the manufacturer. As the more feature-rich device, A30 was expected to look as good as its smaller brother, if not better. It features a black-coloured front, while the rear is painted white. The sensors, VGA camera and haptic keys are present on the front panel of this phone as well, while a 5MP camera with flash and speaker grille are placed on the backside.
Hardware
Videocon A30 features a 4-inch screen and runs on a 1GHz dual-core processor, paired with 512MB RAM. The dual-sim phone has 4GB ROM and support for microSD card up to 32GB capacity. Powered by a 1,500mAh battery, the phone has connectivity features like 3G, 2G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0 and microUSB.
The smaller device, A20 has a 3.5-inch touchscreen and runs on a 1GHz processor with 256MB of RAM. This smartphone has 512MB of on-board storage and can handle up to 16GB microSD card. Its connectivity suite has all the usual suspects as well, namely 3G, 2G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0 and microUSB and battery packs juice worth 1,350mAh.
Going by the basic spec sheet of the two devices, Videocon's strategy is to ensure that its two smartphones have not just comparable but slightly better features than most of their rivals. Therefore, A30 can take down rivals like Micromax A68 Smarty 4.0 and Karbonn A7 Plus due to its dual-core 1GHz processor, even though most other specs remain the same. Similar is the case for Videocon A20, whose 3.5-inch screen gives it an edge over rivals since most phones in this price segment feature a 3.2-inch display.
Software
Videocon A30 comes with Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) out-of-the-box and has a few pre-loaded apps like document editor and gesture control (especially useful while finding contacts). The phone also comes with a few games but you would have to pay for them, so they are not of much use.
The all-new A20 runs on two-generation-old Android OS Gingerbread (Android 2.3), not the widely used Android 4.0. The chief logic behind this could be the meagre RAM that the device packs, since Ice Cream Sandwich requires a lot of RAM for smooth functioning and A20 would have had to compromise on performance on that count. Apart from that, the phone has the same in-built apps as its bigger sibling and handles them all equally well.
Performance
Videocon A30 gave us a pleasant surprise when it comes to performance as the phone had minimal lag and could handle moderate usage with ease. All credit goes to its dual-core 1GHz processor by Qualcomm, though we were not too happy with the touchscreen. During day-to-day usage, the screen did not feel smooth to the touch and even seemed like a resistive display during heavy gaming.
Similarly, Videocon A20 also did well on the benchmarks due to its 1GHz Qualcomm processor, though we would have appreciated a little bit more RAM for the hungry apps a regular user usually downloads. Nevertheless, for a sub-Rs 5,000 Android phone, Videocon A20 does well in terms of day-to-day usage.
Apps and web browsing worked well and battery life was decent, though (as with any other phone) we had to charge both the phones more than once a day after a bit of browsing. Camera performance was also decent for both phones, but do not expect the best of imaging capabilities since we have taken into account the paltry price tag while writing the review.
Our take
Videocon A30 and A20 are budget devices and hence do not offer anything more than basic features. The phones were largely lag-free during our review and can boast of slightly better specifications than their rivals, giving them a slight edge. However, some users may be miffed that Videocon A20 runs on Android 2.3 (Gingerbread). Nevertheless, the build quality is sturdy and performance during phone calls is also great. Moreover, dual-sim compatibility and nifty features like video calling at budget prices as well as pre-loaded gesture control and document editor do add to the overall package.
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