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Lava, one of the home-grown mobile phone brands, has seen phenomenal growth in the last few years but will Lava be able to enhance its brand value by tying up with the world’s largest chipmaker and revered company Intel to roll out the Xolo X900?

Intel along with Lava launched the Xolo X900, the first smartphone which comes with an Intel processor inside. Priced at Rs 22,000, the Xolo X900 is powered by a 1.6 GHz Atom processor with Hyper Threading technology that is believed to spur speed and multi-tasking abilities of the X900.

The phone has a 4.03-inch high resolution LCD display and an 8 MP camera. The Xolo X900 runs on Android 2.3, which can be enhanced to Android 4.0. Battery life is nearly a day under normal usage.

The imposing four-inch screen comes with a 1024 x 600 pixel resolution, which is actually pretty sharp. The 8-MP camera is capable of 1080 p video, which is highly acceptable.

The Xolo X900 has a 400 MHz Graphics Processor Unit (GPU) and its camera can snap up 10 pictures in less than a second. That’s simply mind blowing! The Xolo supports HD video recording and playback.

Lava says that users can perform 3G browsing for five hours. The company also promises 45 hours of audio and eight hours of talktime on its Xolo X900.

Since the Xolo is based on an Intel reference design, it wears pretty good looks and its performance is also acceptable.

The X900 has a sleek silver and black design and is comparable to Apple’s iPhone so far as slimness goes. Though the gadget is a commendable on the technology front, its price is a tad on the expensive side.

But a pact with Intel will bring Lava in the limelight in the smartphone market though sales spurt may take some time.

Intel is a company that rules the global microprocessor market for laptops and PCs. Entry into the smartphone market will bring it in direct competition with the likes of well-known players like ARM and Qualcomm, among others.

But even though Intel has monopoly in the chip market, the company, along with Lava, has no experience in the smartphone market. So, potential buyers may initially stay away from the Xolo X900 but this downside can be tacked with a big advertisement and awareness drive.

The tie-up with Intel for the Xolo X900 will (in the medium to long term) not only spur Lava’s cellphone sales in India but is also likely to give Lava a foothold in the overseas market, courtesy Intel’s goodwill.

HCL has also entered the tablet race and has come up with one of the cheapest gizmos by any private player – the company’s 7 inch Android tablet, the HCL ME X-1 – which is now available across the country for almost a steal (at Rs 5,495) but the gadget is a dampener on features while Lava’s Connect Z7C tablet is less on features but is priced high.

The HCL ME X-1 capacitative multi-touch touchscreen tablet operates on the Android Gingerbread 2.3.3 operating system.

The tablet supports 800x400 pixel resolution and functions like pinch to zoom, tapping, dragging or swiping during navigating or while surfing the Internet can be performed easily.

The tablet has a highly ‘ingenious’ ME Launcher user interface, which allows a user to operate the gadget seamlessly on a Cortex A8 processor, at 1 GHz.

The tablet has a 512 MB RAM along with 4 GB of internal memory and this to a certain extent could come as a dampener for users willing to pick up the HCL ME X-1.

However, the memory of this tablet is also expandable up to 32 GB, which is usually less than the standard 64 GB. The tablet has a 2 megapixel primary camera, which supports video recording and this also is not too great.

This tablet has a 3,500 mAh lithium-polymer battery which gives up to 8 hours of battery life per charge. The HCL ME X-1 tablet supports Wi-Fi, USB, HDMI and 3G, which is a plus though.

Lava also rolled out the 3G voice-calling E-Tab Connect Z7C tablet for Rs 9,499. The device is the first voice tablet from the company. This is the only striking feature of the Lava tablet.

The tablet is powered by a 1.2 GHz Qualcomm MSM7227A processor and operates on 4.0 Android Ice Cream Sandwich.

It has 512 MB RAM, along with 4 GB of built-in storage expandable via a microSD card up to 32 GB, which is a shade above average.

Lava’s Connect Z7C comes with 7 inch screen with a WVGA (800x480 pixel) resolution, 2 MP rear and 0.3 MP front camera, which is depressing.

Connect Z7C’s connectivity options are Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 3.0. The Lava tablet operates on a 3,000 mAh battery and comes pre-loaded with a litany of apps, including Hungama, Bigflix, Edukart and Diamond Comics to name a few.

Despite the cheap pricing, HCL ME X-1’s features are average and only students may flock for it, as the tablet seems ‘unsuitable’ for professional use while Lava’s Connect Z7C tablet is also low on features and high on price (except the voice-calling feature).