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Panasonic launched its flagship smartphone, Eluga X1 Pro in India. The new Eluga smartphone launched for a price of Rs 26,990 for 6GB RAM and 128GB storage model. The new Panasonic Eluga X1 Pro features a 6.18-inch full HD+ 19:9 display. While many Android phones have begun implementing iPhone X’s notch design, Panasonic’s flagship model has joined the bandwagon too. Panasonic Eluga X1 Pro houses a wide notch on top of its display. The front panel has Corning Gorilla Glass protection to save it from scratch and smudges.
Powering the phone is a MediaTek Helio P60 processor, the same chipset found on Realme 1 and Nokia 5.1 Plus. The processor is clocked at 2.0GHz and paired with Mali-G72 MP3 GPU for rendering graphics. The phone features vertically stacked dual cameras at the back, comprising of a 16MP primary sensor and a 5MP secondary sensor. The new Panasonic Eluga X1 Pro smartphone will be available for purchase from October 10. We spent some time with Panasonic’s new flagship smartphone, Eluga X1 Pro and here are our initial impressions.
Panasonic Eluga X1 Pro features a glass design with metal frame surrounding the corners. The phone flaunts a minimal bezel display with a cutout on top. At the back, it has a vertically stacked dual rear camera sensors located on the top left corner. The fingerprint sensor sits below the dual rear camera modules. On the left, there is the hybrid SIM tray while on the right you will find the power button and volume keys. The USB Type-C port and speaker grills are drilled at the base of the phone. The thumb comfortably reaches the volume keys and power button. However, the phone attracts fingerprints, thanks to the glass back panel. Panasonic Eluga X1 Pro feels slightly heavy as well and the edges are a bit sharp. Besides, the phone does not have a 3.5mm audio jack. But Panasonic did bundle a USB-C adapter to enable users to attach their headphones.
As for the display, Panasonic Eluga X1 Pro features a 6.16-inch full HD+ with 19:9 aspect ratio and resolution of 2246 x 1080 pixels. The front panel sport minimal bezels that run along the curvature with a thick chin at the bottom. The display on the phone renders good colour reproduction and decent viewing angles. However, the icons appear a bit outdated and the panel is quite reflective on certain angles which make it difficult to read content in bright light.
The new flagship model from Panasonic offers dual rear camera sensor combining a 16MP primary sensor and a 5MP secondary sensor. The native camera app includes a host of features, for instance, Night mode, Time-lapse, Slow-mo and Bokeh mode. The app even comes with Facemoji, a feature which seems to be a blatant copy of Apple iPhone X’s Animoji. As for the performance, the dual camera lenses tend to capture bright images with rich colours and nice details in good lighting condition. However, in low light, the camera sensors on the Eluga X1 Pro fail to retain details and the images rather appear to be grainy.
Panasonic Eluga X1 Pro is powered by a MediaTek Helio P60 processor clocked at 2.0GHz. The chipset is paired with Mali-G72 MP3 GPU for graphics rendition. During our initial usage, we did not face any lag while surfing through tabs in Chrome browser. However, the phone did stutter and heat up a bit even while running the casual game, Mini Militia. Although the phone managed to render graphics smoothly with good detail. But we would like to reserve our opinion about the phone’s performance until we run the parameters in our review.
Panasonic Eluga X1 Pro runs Android 8.1 Oreo right out-of-the-box. The user interface on the phone is not that cluttered and thankfully the phone does not come with bloatware. Panasonic Eluga X1 Pro includes built-in themes and Smart Gestures that enable you to pause alarm when you flip back the phone, wake up the phone with double click etc. You can adjust the colour temperature of the display as well by going to Settings>Display>LCD effect. It also provides the option to customise the navigation keys. The phone also has an AI-based Infra-red face unlock feature and rear-mounted fingerprint sensor. During our initial usage, we found both the features to be quite accurate.
Panasonic Eluga X1 Pro packs a decent 3,000mAh battery and comes with USB Type-C port for charging. Panasonic claims that the phone comes with wireless charging support, however, the phone does not include a wireless dock for charging. In our limited time with the phone, the battery appeared to last for nearly eight hours while using it to stream videos on YouTube and run a few casual games. However, we would like to hold back the final verdict until we put it through a few more tests. As for storage, Panasonic Eluga X1 Pro comes with 6GB of RAM and 128GB onboard storage which can be further expanded via microSD card.
Panasonic Eluga X1 Pro is a decent option for those who want a smartphone with simple user interface, decent dual cameras and a good display. The smartphone is the first in the Rs 30,000 price bracket to come with wireless charging support. Although the new Eluga X1 Pro ditches the 3.5mm audio jack, thankfully Panasonic has bundled a USB-C adapter. While the company has put an aggressive price tag for Panasonic Eluga X1 Pro, the phone will likely compete against the likes of OnePlus 6, Asus Zenfone 5Z. But we will share more insights into the phone’s overall performance in our full review.
