Our review of the Cyanogen-flayoured Yureka, the first offering from Micromax-backed brand YU. In a nutshell, we think that the Yureka is a very compelling buy for its asking price of Rs 8,999, but don't let that act as a spoiler... flick through the slides for a full loawdown.

1. YU Yureka
Review in pictures
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2. 2
Ho-hum design, but still better than most
The Yureka offers what the vendor calls a ‘moonstone’ finish, referring to the matte grey rear
that’s shod from plastic and looks decent
Helps keep fingerprints and smudges at bay, and the overall build quality seems solid,
without the plasticky feel
The device is large, but not too chunky
DESIGN

3. The good display displays the goods
Sports a 5.5-inch display with a resolution of 1,280 x 720 pixels
Despite the unimpressive pixel density of 267ppi, it’s extremely sharp and clear
Offers good viewing angles and high brightness levels
Layered with Corning Gorilla Glass 3 for protection
The touch responsiveness is good, and you can also enable the double-tap-to-
wake feature
DISPLAY

4. The shooter does the job
The primary snapper boasts
impressive credentials like a
13MP Sony IMX135 CMOS
sensor, f/2.1 aperture, and 5P
Largan Blue Lens architecture,
while the front shooter offers a
resolution of 5-megapixels
The Cyanogen camera app hides
powerful features under a
minimalistic interface
The Yureka can shoot pretty
good images as long as the
lighting is good, but falters in low
light
Pictures clicked in low light are
quire soft and grainy
CAMERA
Daylight Low light

5. The Cyanogen OS is the soul
Runs Cyanogen OS with
Android 4.4.4 KitKat as the
base
Packs tons of customisation
and tweaking options
The look-and-feel can be
tweaked using downloadable
themes, but other things like
the notification panel, status
bar, quick settings etc can
also be changed
You can even choose to
disable the hardware
navigation keys in favour of
customisable soft keys
USERINTERFACE

6. Runs, not crawls
Powered by a 1.5GHz octa-core Snapdragon 615 chip and 2GB of RAM
The overall operation is quite smooth and there are hardly any hiccups in day-to-day
usage. Multitasking and graphics-heavy games run quite smoothly
Offers 16GB of internal storage, out of which around 12.5GB is available
In addition to support for Indian 4G bands, offers dual-SIM support, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
4.0, A-GPS and USB-OTG
PERFORMANCE

7. Hardly a guzzler, this
Packs in a 2,500mAh
removable battery
Easily lasts an entire day
with moderate to heavy
usage, involving phone
calls, social media, texting,
and use of the camera
In our video loop battery
drain test, it lasted for a
respectable 10 and half
hours
PERFORMANCE

8. At a glance…
5.5-inch, 1,280 x 720 pixel IPS
display (267ppi)
1.5GHz octa-core Qualcomm
Snapdragon 615 processor
2GB RAM
13-megapixel primary camera, 5MP
front
16GB storage (expandable by
32GB)
Dual-SIM, 4G, Wi-Fi 802.11,
Bluetooth 4.0, micro-USB 2.0, USB
OTG, A-GPS
Cyanogen OS v11 (based on
Android 4.4.4 KitKat)
2,500mAh battery

9. Pros and Cons
Good build
LTE support
Cyanogen OS offers a range of
tweaking options
Smooth performance
Good battery life
The camera can’t churn out
usable shots in low light
Limited number of units available

10. Pricing & Verdict
Price:
Rs 8,999
“The YU Yureka is an extremely compelling buy for Rs
8,999 and everything it offers. The Cyanogen platform
definitely adds to the pull factor, offering a minimalist,
near-stock UI along with a slew of options if you want to
personalise your device and tinker around with various
settings to see what works best for you. Even otherwise,
it’s a very capable device with smooth performance,
good battery life and a reasonable camera. A no-
brainer…”