YU Launches CyanogenOS Powered “Yutopia” With SD810, 4GB RAM

Nowadays, YU is being called as the OnePlus of India, and for good reason too. The similarities between both of them are numerous:

Both are off-shoots of a major and successful company in their home markets. Both tend to create a fair bit of hype around their products. Both aim to produce the most “bang for your buck” smartphones. And both have taken the plunge with CyanogenOS, albeit with different outcomes.

YU is back in the news again, this time for their latest device, the Yu Yutopia. The Yu Yutopia is Yu’s first flagship-level smartphone as it has its sight set on the top most perch on the specification tree, while still trying to remain price-conscious. Without further ado, let’s take a look!

The Yu Yutopia features an aluminum unibody construction, with the design pattern being carried over from the Yu Yuphoria. On the front of the device is a 5.2″ QHD 2560×1440 display from Sharp, giving the phone an impressive pixel density of ~565 ppi. The device dimensions are 146.6 mm x 72.6 mm x 7.22 mm, with the thickness with the camera bump being 9.07 mm. Even with its fully metallic body, the device weighs 159 grams, which is lighter than the OnePlus One and OnePlus 2. The “Saturn Ring” design for the camera setup has made its way on to the Yutopia as well, which gives it a sense of distinctness in the sea of metal smartphones. Yutopia opts for speaker holes drilled in the bottom part of the back panel for its sound experience.

The Yutopia makes tall claims of being “the most powerful phone ever”, and it banks upon the 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 octa core CPU to deliver on this. Flanking the 810 is Adreno 430 in the GPU department, and an impressive 4 GB of LPDDR4 RAM. Internal storage comes in at 32GB, with option to expand another 128GB with the micro-sd card slot. The phone also boasts of a decently sized 3,000 mAh battery (non-removable), capable of Quick Charge 2.0. There is no mention of Wireless Charging, so we assume it is absent from the device. The device also uses a USB 2.0 port instead of USB Type C. However, to still be a contender for flagships, the Yu Yutopia does bear a fingerprint sensor placed on the back of the device below the camera ring.

For the camera, the Yu Yutopia bears a 21 MP Sony IMX230 sensor, with dual LED flash, OIS and PDAF. The rear camera is capable of 4K video recording. The front facing camera is a 8 MP snapper. While the back designing of the camera may look terrible to some, the specifications are certainly impressive and remain relevant to 2015.

The Yu Yutopia is 4G ready, and can sport dual SIM’s as long as you are okay with losing your microsd card slot. Complete information on the supported bands can be found here. The phone also comes with Cyanogen OS 12.1 out of the box, and should be upgraded to Marshmallow fairly soon. Other tidbit additions to the device is an app called “Around Yu”, which works as a discovery hub for various services. There is also a branded earphone from House of Marley bundled in the retail package. Yutopia also comes with an option of an Assured Upgrade Programme, in which Yutopia buyers are assured 40% cashback on the purchase of the Yutopia 2 (whenever that comes out) and exchanging their old Yutopia within the “upgrade window”.

All in all, the Yu Yutopia does come with flagship level specifications, making it a very good buy from this aspect. But what about the price? Well, the Yu Yutopia is priced at a very impressive Rs. 24,999, which is around ~375 USD. This puts the device neck to neck with the OnePlus 2 64GB, and way lower than a lot of other competing phones like the Moto X Style 16GB (INR 29,999; Converted: $450), LG Nexus 5X 32GB (INR 31,999; Converted: $480) and the Huawei Nexus 6P 32GB (INR 39,999; Converted: $600).

Pre-orders for the device have begun on Amazon India, which is its exclusive seller. The device is expected to start shipping from December 26th onwards.

Yu has done a commendable job in putting as many relevant specifications within a smartphone body and still managing to remain at a price within the reach of a lot of people. Coupling impressive hardware with the general ease-of-modding of CyanogenOS powered smartphones make it a very good recommendation for Android enthusiasts in the mid end segment looking for a replacement for their OnePlus One. We hope the phone can perform as well in real world usage scenario and do justice to its specifications, and to the company’s claims.

What are your thoughts on the Yu Yutopia? Do you like the overall package of the device? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Read on for related content:

• YU Yuphoria Launched With An Unbelievable Price Tag
• Official CM12.1 Nightlies Begin For Yu Yuphoria
• Update On Latest Cyanogen OS for Yureka and Yuphoria
• YU Yuphoria Forum Now Available
• CyanogenMod 13 Available for YU Yunique!
• Android Open Source Project 6.0 for YU Yureka
• YU Challenges Devs To Port Android 6.0 To YU Devices

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