The mobile phone market is abuzz with countless models and features. Mobile manufacturers have been shouting atop rooftops and creating mind blowing marketing campaigns to convince potential buyers that their model is the best. Millions of dollars are poured out on a daily basis to churn out very expensive Ad campaigns by the manufacturers the world over.
There are however a small bunch of surprise best sellers that emerge out of nowhere. Nobody expected them to become super hit among users, not even the people who designed and manufactured them. The manufacturers hardly seem to promote these products yet consumers seem to be drawn to them purely by word of mouth. This post is a shout out to a few such Surprise Bestseller.
Samsung Wave M
Samsung Wave M is the lesser promoted lower-mid range Bada phone from Samsung. While Samsung has heavily promoted its Android batch of phones under the brand Galaxy, Bada phones have also received moderate marketing effort from Samsung. Samsung has heavily promoted its Samsung Wave Y, its entry level Bada smartphone and Wave 3 its giant 4” screen premium version. Samsung Wave M has however received little to negligible publicity efforts. Yet, among the consumers Samsung Wave M seem to be gaining popularity.
Samsung Wave M runs on Bada 2.0 with an upgraded Touchwiz UI that’s just a delight to use. Notifications now show up on the lock screen. There is also the new Live panels which essentially are widgets with transparent screens that let you browse through contents by scrolling rather than swiping from side to side. Samsung Wave M is a neat little package with a shiny black plastic body, a 3.65” capacitive touch screen and 832 MHz processor. The phone has a 5MP camera with LED flash and auto focus in built. Samsung has filled this phone with a plethora of useful apps including the now popular Samsung Chat ON messenger. Samsung Wave M is priced comfortably at Rs 12,140. The only drawback perhaps for this phone is its lower pixel density and the fact that it cannot compete with an Android phone of a similar price range. However, for an entry level smartphone user, this phone has definitely offered a thrilling camera and a satisfying UI.
Nokia 500
Nokia 500 is the latest in a series of launches by Nokia for its aging Symbian line up. The entry-level Symbian has tickled the imagination of several eager buyers mainly due to its neat looks and curvy designs. Nokia has almost completely stopped promotion of its Symbian phones, concentrating heavily on its newly launched Lumia and Asha range of mobiles. However, Nokia 500 has found several takers for the following reasons.
Nokia 500 sports a truly trendy design, with a curved back cover which you can swap with different colors. A 5MP camera that takes really decent photographs for amateur standards and most importantly a whopping 1GHz processor that makes Symbian Anna running on this mobile, really work like a charm. The phone features a crisp 3.2” LCD screen with a very high pixel density, making text reading a pleasure. Some really thrilling features of this phone are its off line voice navigation application ( available in few countries) and its ability to play DivX and Xvid format videos.
Nokia 500 does face a few shortfalls which are natural considering the cost factor. The phone comes in with just 2GB internal memory and a 256MB RAM, hardly enough to cater to the potential of a 1GHz processor. The phone also lacks LED flash for an otherwise decent camera. These factors being said, Nokia 500 is definitely miles better than some of the other competitor models in the market in its price range. Nokia 500 price is just Rs 8812.
Samsung Omnia W
Samsung has reigned supreme in the Android market in the last year and have done countless promotions for its Galaxy S2 and Galaxy Note smartphones. Towards the end of the year Samsung even focused at pushing its entry-level android, Samsung Galaxy Y. While Samsung focused heavily on its Android range of phones, it also launched a Windows phone for the few customers who were interested in exploring the upcoming Windows 7.5 Mango OS. Samsung Omnia W didn’t receive much marketing support from the company, yet is the most popular Windows phone in the market today.
Samsung Omnia W offers a great package in terms of hardware. The phone features a 1.4 GHz processor with a 512MB RAM, a 3.7” AMOLED capacitive touch screen and a decent 8GB internal memory. The phone has a sleek metallic cover making it look truly bold and sophisticated. The live tiles of Windows Mango really come alive in the screen of the Samsung Omnia W. The AMOLED screen gives real richness to the images thanks to its high pixed density. The phone comes with a 5MP camera with LED flash that takes decent pictures even in low light conditions.
Samsung Omnia W is a wholesome smartphone that doesn’t feature very high end specs or boast of dual core and endless memory, but what it does, it does splendidly. The phone definitely provides a smooth Windows experience and for the price range of Rs 14,999 it is a great bargain for a Windows phone.
Nokia E5
Nokia E5 is the lesser advertised business phone from Nokia. While the Nokia E6 and E7 has gained rave reviews and attention from the media, E5 made its quiet entry in the last quarter of 2010. The consumer however has taken a great liking to this enterprise phone. Nokia E5 features a 2.4” screen that provides pretty sharp images. However its size makes browsing and watching videos less delightful. The biggest selling point of Nokia E5 is its full QWERTY keypad that makes this phone truly enterprise worthy. The keys are rounded and rubberized and definitely aid in typing text fast. E5 provides separate navigation track pad as well as the call and end buttons . In total there are 4 different layers of keys on the front of the E5 making its use extremely smooth and efficient.
Nokia E5 features a 5MP camera with LED flash that also takes decent pictures. The phone runs on an older version of Symbian S60v3 and is definitely far outdated than most of the smartphone OSes available in the market, yet this phone has garnered a great fan following among consumers thanks to its budget price of Rs 8875. This phone is definitely the most affordable business phone for the enterprise customer.
Samsung Galaxy Ace
Samsung Galaxy Ace is the perfect example of a smartphone that got sold solely on its merit than marketing gimmicks. Samsung has spend considerable amount of money promoting its premium smartphones Samsung Galaxy S2 and Samsung Galaxy Note and its entry-level smartphone Samsung Galaxy Y , yet completely skipped promoting the Samsung Galaxy Ace. Consumers however embraced this mid-range power packed android with open arms. Samsung Galaxy Ace is simply, the best smartphone available in the Rs 10k to 15k price segment.
The phone sports a 3.5” inch screen and runs on Android 2.3 Gingerbread powered by a 800MHz processor with 278MB RAM. The phone has a gorgeous display and a great 5MP camera that takes equally gorgeous pictures. The phones design itself seem to give a resemblance to Apple iPhone 4, probably aimed at giving the potential mid-range buyer the satisfaction of owning something truly premium smartphone at the price of Rs 12,900.
Summary
These surprise best sellers have become popular almost entirely on word of mouth and user experiences. While the typical company promotes the flagship products and premium products heavily, the consumer out in the market is swayed by great value of money or unique features that are often not promoted. While Samsung Omnia W became popular almost exclusively on being the best Windows phone and Samsung Galaxy Ace became popular simply on the basis of being the best value for money, models such as Nokia 500 and Nokia E5 became popular thanks to a strong brand name. Nokia’s Symbian maybe in its last leg, yet these models continue to excite the imagination of the average smartphone entrant. The simple truth remains that if the product is good, consumers will eventually find it.