NEW DELHI: Panasonic has been steadily expanding its footprint in smartphone space. It has been dominantly hitting the sub-15k space and it adds one more with Eluga Icon. Panasonic Eluga Icon goes against the likes of Lenovo K3 Note and Yu Yureka Plus. The single most differentiator is the large battery. Read our review to find if the smartphone is worth your money Panasonic Eluga Icon
Panasonic Eluga Icon is the latest in the ever growing list of smartphones available exclusively on online retail channels. Panasonic Eluga Icon is available exclusively on Amazon.in and it offers conventional design and long lasting battery life. Specs: 5.5-inch (720 x 1280p, ~294 ppi) LCD display | Octa-core 1.5GHz Mediatek MT6752 processor | 2GB RAM | 16GB storage (expandable up to 32GB) | 13MP rear camera + 8MP front | Li-Ion 3500 mAh battery | Android KitKat OS Price: Rs 12,399 What is good? We got the device in slate colour for review which strikes a clear resemblance to Samsung’s Galaxy series. While it’s not a copycat but Panasonic Eluga Icon offers more conventional design than any other in this range. The slim design of 7.9mm and weighing in at 147 grams, Eluga Icon still feels great to hold in spite of its taller profile.
The Panasonic Eluga Icon sports a 5.5-inch display with 1280 x 720 pixels. At 294 ppi, this screen isn’t as pixel dense as the one on Lenovo K3 Note or Yu Yureka Plus but the colour reproduction is really good. The smartphone also comes with an option to adjust the colour temperature which makes the whole screen nicer to look at. Panasonic also added night mode which lets you set Red/Black/Yellow colour filter.
Panasonic Eluga Icon comes with above average cameras. The 13-megapixel rear camera is really a standout. It offers great colours and is really quick to focus. The camera produced Whites as White, Black as Black and even Greens turned out green. In simple words, this camera won’t be a disappointment. The front camera on Panasonic Eluga Icon is a 8-megapixel one which is the best in the business.
Panasonic Eluga Icon is powered by a true octa-core 1.5GHz MediaTek processor paired with Mali-T760 GPU which is great for gaming and other day to day usage but it scores well below Lenovo K3 Note in benchmarks. Panasonic Eluga Icon topped at 39431 in Antutu while K3 Note scored 45741 but Panasonic returned 1220 in Sunspider while Lenovo K3 Note scored 1258 (Note: In Sunspider, lower scores are always better). Panasonic Eluga Icon comes with huge 3500mAh battery which can easily get past a day even with heavy usage. For my usage which involves playing Asphalt 8 and online music streaming among other activities like Facebook, WhatsApp, etc, the Panasonic Eluga Icon did last me a day. The added power saving mode can push the battery to last a little longer and also Panasonic Eluga Icon comes with the best in class speakers. What is not good? The first major disappointment is the software running on this device.
The non-backlit Android menu keys are not that bad but Panasonic could have made way for it with on screen Android navigation keys. Also the phone is extremely large for one-handed use. Should you buy? If you are looking for a smartphone with large display and huge battery, Panasonic Eluga Icon would make a great choice. It offers good display, great battery life and loud audio output. The biggest flaw with the device is its OS. Android KitKat with Panasonic skin doesn’t really seem to blend well. At this price point, Lenovo K3 Note is the only other smartphone worth looking at.
