The Indian division of electronics giant Panasonic has revealed a new sub-$200 Android smartphone called the Eluga A4. Though the 5.2-inch LCD screen might be considered small by 2017 standards, the Eluga A4 compensates with a massive 5,000 mAh battery.
I think it’s a good move on Panasonic’s part to focus on battery life, which is one of its strengths considering its positioning in the lithium-ion battery market. Frequent charging is one of the biggest pains for a smartphone user, and a bigger battery even at the cost of certain other features could work well on a mid-range device.
The older Moto Z Play had the same advantage when it launched, but then Lenovo decided to tone it down on this year’s Z2 Play, much to the dismay of many Moto fans.
The Eluga A4 is unashamedly mid-range, and makes no apologies for not going with expensive components like an OLED screen. And Panasonic India has hit the heart of the market with the really important features, like the 13MP rear camera (no fancy dual lens system here), the ARBO digital assistant for simple tasks like scheduling, the robust Bluetooth 4.2 connectivity and so on.
At an attractive price of INR 12,490, or the equivalent of about $193, the Eluga A4 will only be commercially available in India for now.
One unique marketing strategy for the Eluga A4 is that it won’t be sold anywhere online, unlike the barrage of Amazon-exclusive and Flipkart-exclusive offers that are quickly becoming the norm, especially for Chinese smartphone makers.
Panasonic India’s new device will fall smack-dab in the middle of the smartphone market, where several models like the Nokia 6, the Moto G5s, the Galaxy On8 and others are already on sale. It’s neither too pricey like the OnePlus devices, nor dirt-cheap like many indigenous brands meant for the larger mass market. Besides, the massive battery will definitely turn a few heads that are interested in all-day usage as an important purchase decision.
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