The XOLO Play 8X-1100 is the latest smartphone of the XOLO Play series. The 8X-11oo is marketed under a gaming phone tag. What exactly is a gaming phone different from any other phone? Don’t pretty much all phones operate most games on the Play Store or App Store? So what makes the 8X-1100 a “gaming phone?” Well that’s what I am here for…
I’ve had this phone for over a week and you can tell from the phone that XOLO is somewhat new to the smart-phone business. When I first saw the phone, it wasn’t really that attractive. The dual color scheme worked against the phone. Most gamers prefer their devices in single colors, at least I did, or it could be my painfully boring taste in colors (my mum will testify to this). So I guess that’s up to personal preference. The dotted navigation buttons look pretty neat though and would appeal to gamers.
The specifications on the box would tell you that this phone is way better than the XOLO Q600s which we reviewed back in June. But to be fair, the 8X-1100 is almost double the cost, so yeah. On Flipkart the XOLO Play 8X-1100 will cost you about Rs 14,599.
Display and Camera
I’ve used this phone on my commute to work and back and the phones display remained quite consistent throughout. The 5-inch HD IPS display was good even in direct sunlight; all I had to do was increase the screen brightness. With a 720 x 1280 resolution the games colors and clarity are projected brilliantly and Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protects your screen from not only the elements but also your fingers (referring to your long periods of gaming which would require you to constantly be hitting that screen).
The camera on this phone is amazing. The phone has a sensitive 13 MP rear Camera with Exmor RS Camera Sensor that takes some really crisp images. And in the front there is a 5 MP camera clubbed with a BSI sensor which is more than enough to check your hair or take a selfie. And you can video record with 1080p.
A good performance phone
Processor
One of the selling points of this phone is that is has a 1.7 GHz Octa Core processor, and rightly so. The phone plays games without any stutter. The games I played were heavy and take a lot out of a phone, but that wasn’t an issue for the 8X-1100. And the 2 GB of RAM only enhances your gaming experience.
The phone also comes with OTG support for your extra media files. The phone itself is 16GB and can be expanded to 32 GB. The device runs on Android v4.4 KitKat
Design
As I’ve mentioned before, I wasn’t very pleased with the way the phone looked, keep in mind this in regard to the color scheme on the phone. The back of the phone is made of a smooth plastic material, which is perhaps a bit too smooth as the phone didn’t grip well in my palm. It might be a bit of a problem for those who are engrossed in a game and might accidently drop the phone. The company could have done a design resembles the Tegra Note’s back.
The phone otherwise was quite good, nothing extraordinary, but it was everything you could expect from a phone in that price range.
Battery
This phone is powered by a 2100mAh battery, which on paper gives you about 470 hours of standby time on 2G and 430 hours on 3G network. On an average of both 2G and 3G networks, the phone gives you about 14-15 hours talk time. I played a lot of heavy games on this device and it lasted me a little less than a day, so I was pretty pleased with that. However, I didn’t get a chance to run the phone on a 2G/3G network, so I’m not sure how it’d fare in that situation, but I can’t imagine it’d be too bad.
Gaming Element
If the 8X-11oo just had the 1.7 Octa Core Processor and 2 GB RAM it would probably be enough to qualify as a gaming phone. But it is not just these two aspects that distinguish this phone as a gaming device, XOLO have introduced something called the XOLO Play Zone, powered by Gameloft. Over here you can download and play from a large collection of HD games. Other than free games, you can access HD games for something like Rs. 20.
Gameloft’s Spiderman
Spiderman is damn addicting
Gameloft games that you can download from Google Play Store are free, but others like Real Football 2015, A good day to die hard, Assassin’s Creed 3, Danger Dash etc are all for Rs.20. Seriously, what more could you ask for?
Price
Initially I thought the 8X-11oo was overpriced and that it wouldn’t stand much of a chance in such tight competition. However only later I realized how much stuff Xolo shove into that tiny box. Other than your manuals and charger, you’ll find an OTG cable, a screen guard, earphones and a phone case.
The extras that XOLO send with love
Taking all this into consideration I think the phone is reasonably priced at Rs. 14, 599.
Verdict
There is not much wrong with this phone. It does everything you’d want it to, the only thing I didn’t particularly like was the color scheme and the way Google Now works on the phone. To clear windows you have hold down the home button which is usually kept for the Google Now functionality. But these two things are almost irrelevant to some people and is something that boils down to preference and choice.
But from my end, this phone is worth the money and can definitely be called a gaming phone to say the least.
