Swipe Elite with 5-inch display, 13MP camera launched for Rs. 5,999

Swipe Telecom, popular for its budget tablets, has launched Elite, a new sub-brand of phones. The first phone under the sub-brand has the same name, Elite. The company will be using an online-only model to sell the phone and describes it as a "disruptive budget smartphone in India's mobile space". 

Even though, it is a online-only brand the company will not opt for the flash sale model to sell Elite. "It’s only because of the online model that we can keep the price of the smartphone low.' said Swipe’s Founder-CEO Shripal Gandhi.

Swipe Elite runs the company's own OS called Freedom OS, that's based on Android Lollipop. The new Freedom OS allows users to customize the user interface of the phone in multiple ways. For instance, the number of apps present in the bottom dock can be changed and the size of icons adjusted. The app drawer can be customized as well.

As for specs Swipe's Elite features 5-inch HD (1280 x 720 pixels) IPS display with 2.5D curved glass and is powered by 1.2GHz quad-core processor (unspecified chipset) with 2GB RAM and 16GB expandable storage (up to 32GB supported). For imaging, the phone sports a 13-megapixel auto-focus camera with LED flash and 8-megapixel front shooter. In terms of connectivity it supports 3G, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS and USB OTG. It is fueled by 2500mAh battery that comes with 'super charge' technology for quick charging.

The phone also supports gestures which you can set to perform specific tasks. Swipe's localised search engine helps users to find files, word documents, apps withing the phone. There is also a Assist X feature that lets users to call, chat and locate a service center from the phone, in case of any issues.

Swipe is also offering a service called Swipe Box, which offers 100GB of cloud storage by aggregating all of user's cloud storage accounts into one.

The Swipe Elite is priced at Rs. 5,999 and will be available exclusively on Flipkart from August 19. The phone has been agressively priced to take on some of the popular contenders including Xiaomi Redmi 2 Prime, Lenovo A6000 Plus and Yu Yuphoria in the budget category.

Swipe announces its online only brand "Elite"; first smartphone releasing in August

Following the footsteps of Micromax (YU) and Xolo (Black), Swipe telecom has announced its online-only brand called Elite, which will also include premium phones. The first phone under its new brand will launch in August and will be priced between Rs. 5,000 -  Rs. 15,000.

Swipe is not a familiar name among urban Indian consumers, but the brand has a strong presence in the tablet market across the country. Most of their products are sold on Naaptol and Homeshop 18.

Swipes Elite smartphone will be launched exclusively on a leading e-commerce website. The company plans to launch a new smartphone under Elife brand every two months and it will spend INR 2 million on marketing and promotional activities. 

Revealing more on Swipe’s plans, Shripal Gandhi, Founder & CEO of Swipe Technologies said that,“There is a growing demand for our products online and the traction has increased by almost 200% during the last year. With changing purchasing patterns of the smartphone users, Swipe’s upcoming offering through this new brand Elite will be available for sale only on e-commerce websites. The idea is to introduce a premium and superior smartphone that caters to extremely aspirational and tech savvy high-end youth segment.”

Micromax was the first Indian mobile device manufacturer to launch an online-only brand YU last year in December. The company partnered with Amazon India to sell YU branded handsets. Xolo also launched an online-only brand called BLACK in partnership with Flipkart.