Salora POWERMaxx Z1

I am not going deep down the specifications for this phone, because as of my last experience with SALORA, just instruct all not to buy SALORA mobiles because the specifications mentioned on their boxes never match up with their product inside the box, moreover their products are completely Chinese they just re-branded them, one more reason that people should go ahead with the purchase is the limited warranty for the product. (SALORA does not have proper(almost nil) after sales support, no service centers in some cities).

Now the product... (on my use on a local store)
1. Camera does not give a good result.
2. Cheap build quality
3. RAM for the mobile is less which makes its to give a slow performance
4. Touch interface is a single touch interface whereas other INDIAN brands are giving multiple touch interface in this price range

Overall VERDICT _ NOT at all a good buy in this price range with a backup of unreliable services from SALORA.

I got this phone through Flipkart last week.
It is one of the best mid-range phones available in the market for a price of less than 10K.

UPDATE: I visited the Salora service center in chennai and they upgraded the OS to Jelly Bean 4.1.2 :-) Project Butter kicks axx and the phone is even faster and responsive now. Some additional options are also available in settings. Changing to 5 stars from 4 stars. Salora has delivered on its JB bean promise when even the so called biggies struggle.

Pros:

* Most important advantage of this phone is the long battery life. 3200mAh capacity is a boon for a smartphone especially one with a smaller screen compared to other phones with higher price tag. The battery easily lasts for more 2 days with moderate usage. Any great phone with amazing features is useless when the battery dies down in few hours of intensive use. Battery is an important factor which is generally overlooked by many customers who always want to talk about processor, screen ppi and camera.
Decent screen - when compared to other sub 10K phones
* Less lag: The phone is surprisingly smooth with very less lag. Response time is very good irrespective of the less RAM.
* Dual sim options
* Closer to stock/vanilla OS. No lagging/stupid launchers overlaid on the OS! The basic launcher is simple and fast. I have installed Go Launcher and its pretty responsive.

Cons:

* Slight lag when viewing few Full HD videos using system app, but runs ok when we use MX Player
* Camera - camera performance isnt exceptional and the flash lighting is only of marginal use. Noticeable improvement in camera after the JB update but still not on par with other premium handsets.

Conclusion: Definitely a worthy buy. Battery life and lag free operations alone are enough to convince us considering the price is less than 10K.

I am using this phone since two months now. I couldn't find any reviews / hand-on experiences on any popular platforms, but I still choose to go ahead with it because of a promising battery life with decent configuration. So far, I am not regretting my decision.

Here's a quick review of my own experience -

Firstly, my device came with ICS, though JB was already out in market for it. I had to take it to Salora customer care, because this phone does not support OTA updates or a PC Sync software. And by getting a new JB ROM flashed on my phone, I lost all my contents. Thankfully I had a backup, would advice the same to all potential buyers.

After the update, the UI has improved dramatically. And the icons have improved with a little customization from Salora.

The device feels solid in hand. It has a premium alloy upper body, and the plastic back cover blends well with the design. Touch screen is responsive and outclasses many other phones I've seen in its price range, including well known brands. One problem with an alloy body though, is that if it falls it will get dent marks! Mine already has it on all corners. Not a big problem though. Atleast for me!

Camera is OK. Reasonable in day light, pathetic in dark places though it has a flash light. 8 MP camera seemed more promising, but when you zoom in to the pictures you've clicked - grains start appearing. Pictures do not have good depth. Not recommended for people who use phone as a substitute for camera.

Screen is really crisp, and plays full HD videos like a charm. Speaker output is good. One thing about headphones though - I tried using my LG Dolby compatible headphones, and it didn't work. I tried using Samsung ones, and they didn't work too. But thankfully a pair of Sony worked. It means, not only you won't find accessories for this product, but also that most standard accessories will be incompatible.

Inbuilt memory for apps is 500mb with an additional phone storage of 2GB. You can move media contents on external SD card, but you cannot move apps on it (Not allowed by Google!). So, a total of 2.5GB is all you get for your apps. It is enough for any moderate user, or even gamers who play games like temple run and subway surfer. NFS / Fifa / Blood and Glory players - not recommended. You'll fall short of memory.

What else? The overall experience while using this phone:

The processor is good. Dual core Cortex 'A9' clocked at 1Ghz. It has more than sufficient capacity to do most daily tasks. 512Mb Ram is low, I wish it were at least 768mb if not 1GB. But using a good task killer will keep you from complaining about any lags. I personally have not had a single lag experience, and I have used this phone for all kinds of purpose. I know my way around Android, so it is a good choice for me. All my friends who have checked it agrees that it is a great phone at this price range, except some who wished it didn't had its name tag appearing boldly on the body!

To sum my review up -

This is a premium looking phone, good screen, good touch response, good processor, slightly low RAM, awesome battery, reasonable camera and reasonable inbuilt memory.

Screen size is just right, can be operated using one hand. Slightly heavy in weight due to battery, but not in any ugly way.

Benchmarks:

Antutu - 6019

Nena mark 2 - 26FPS

The specs mentioned are correct and i emphasize on the battery life , had used GPS , DATA , for 14hrs straight & very few calls(under 1.5 hrs) and still showing 30% battery remaining . It is as fast as any phones with the specs. Display good , comes with the screen guard in the box, games like temple run2 , NFS 4 all works beautifully well. Very easy and simple interfce to manage the dual sim settings, 3G works well in Airtel and Idea networks without any technical issue. Has got service center in my town , so i less concern just in case . Only two cons i could think of and have experienced practically is
1>flip open covers or wrap around back covers not available as the brand it is not as popular as APPLE OR SAMSUNG.....
2>Salora has not yet Established a brand name. (and thats why guys u get it at 1/3 rd the price).
WTF the price has even reduced now, I bought it wen it was 13k.

Received the mobile yesterday…..in a very unusual packing in a good way I mean….with a screen guard on…and the huge 3200 mah battery…when I switched it on the screen lit up to a very bright and qhd display and it does have ambient and proximity sensor…the battery showed 70%…it has all the specs as advertised….antutu benchmark score was 6650 and the sound quality is good too…played temple run 2 without any lag had pre installed apps like skype twitter whatsapp gmail youtube to name some and the good part is u can uninstall them…internal memory is 2gb,503 mb for apps….
Writing this review from salora battery 27% now….and yeah it does not have a gr8 predictive text output….