Panasonic T31 is an entry-level android smartphone from Panasonic and is priced at INR 7990 in the local market. We recently reviewed the Panasonic T11 and Panasonic P11 both of which are targeted towards the mid-range price segment and yes, they compete well in their respective segments.
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In some cases they even beat the smartphones of established giants and in the other they go hand in hand with their competitors.
The T31 doesn’t come with anything special but it has everything that you’ll expect in a sub INR 8k smartphone. It faces tough competition from Samsung Galaxy Trend (review coming soon), Lava Iris 458Q and Canvas Fun A76.
Recommended: Best Phones under Rs. 10,000.
User Experience
Design: Eerily similar to Micromax phones
From the first looks and when viewed from the front it looks similar to Micromax phones. But when you turn it over to see the back then you’ll see the Panasonic logo and be forced to think about its similarity with the Micromax phones.
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This plastic body phone has a glossy back panel. With roughly 12mm in thickness it is not exactly a slim smartphone but on the plus side it doesn’t feel very heavy.
T31 houses a 4 inch display making it very suitable for single handed operation.
User Interface: More than usable
It runs on android Jelly Bean v4.2.2 along with some customizations from Panasonic. The unlocking options can be chosen from among Slide, Face unlock, Pattern, PIN and Password.
The UI is smooth to operate but it has some hiccups. One of them is that the two finger swipe doesn’t always brings up the settings toggles when done hurriedly.
Display: Average
Its 4 inch TFT LCD display supports a resolution of 480×800 pixels which means a pixel density of 233 ppi. The colors looks okay and the auto brightness function will make the display legible in the Sunlight.
The display also loses out on contrast and colors when viewed from an extreme angle.
Typing: Could have been better
Typing in the portrait mode is okay but it disappoints in the landscape mode. The keys are placed very close to each other leading to typos.
The T31 doesn’t have any gesture input of any kind which is badly needed in sub-5 inch displays.
Browsing: Not up to the mark
The browsing on this phone is not a treat either. The scrolling is smooth but it takes some time to render the photos on a web page. The double-tap to zoom works fine and the pinch to zoom takes some time before it actually zooms in.
The stock browser also doesn’t have incognito mode but that’s okay since it comes with Google Chrome pre-installed.
Extra Features
This might not be much to talk about but the Panasonic T31 does come with gesture support. It supports gestures like Turn over to mute, Turn over to activate and Shake to switch music.
Camera: Captures low details
The Panasonic T31 has a 3.2MP fixed focus camera which can record 24fps videos with a resolution of 1024×720 pixels.
The camera interface is very simple. The only shooting modes present in this phone are HDR shot. Yes, it lacks all of those extra features like Panorama, night shot, beauty shot, Picture-in-picture etc.
Now let’s talk about the image quality. The photos taken by this camera are only suitable for uploading to the social networking websites.
The colors are more towards the natural side but the photos and videos are low on details.
Downscaled Camera Samples at 90% Quality
Zoom Test
Here are some camera benchmarks which might come in handy:
| Camera start-up time | ~ 1.85s |
| Shot to shot time | ~ 2.7s |
Multi-media: A mixed bag of cookies
Audio
The Panasonic T31 supports all of the popular audio files (mp3, aac and wma) but the problems is that it is not loud.
The loudspeaker at the rear can get occluded even when the phone is placed on a flat surface like glass etc. Seriously!
The stock music player has all of the standard options like shuffle, repeat etc. You can also select any audio-preset suitable to the music genre that you’re playing.
Video
Alike the music player, the default video player also supports most of the popular video formats like mp4, avi, mkv and flv. How well it plays them is another question.
Seeking to any point while playing the flv videos takes some time. This delay increases even more for seeking in mkv video playback.
You can enjoy watching mp4 videos up to 720p on this phone. The full HD videos can be played but at the price of losing the smooth video playback.
Gallery
The gallery has standard sorting options like Times, locations and title.
Notifications
The loudspeakers are not loud enough to be heard in the busy city traffic. For answering calls and texts in public places you’ll have to rely on vibration alerts.
Hardware performance: Not ideal for heavy multi-tasking
The Panasonic T31 is not a solid performer when it comes to heavy multi-tasking. For everyday tasks it works just fine but the power users should stay away from it.
Here are some timing benchmarks which might come in handy:
|
Activity |
Approx. Time |
|
Startup time |
~ 8.5s (quick start enabled) |
|
Reboot time |
~ 46.4s |
This phone can’t run games like Temple Run Oz properly. You can forget about Asphalt 8 and Modern Combat 4.
Pre-installed Apps & Games
- Default Apps– Adobe Reader, Chrome, Evernote, Hungama, India Today Group, Reviews 42, WeChat, Viera Remote2.
- Games– Assassins Creed Revelations Demo, GT Racing 2 Demo, Modern Combat 4 Demo.
The good news is that you can uninstall these demos and free up some disk space for installing more useful apps.
Battery
The T31 packs a 1300 mAh Li-Ion battery which holds enough juice to make it last for a day. The Saving Mode can enabled to further conserve that precious charge in the battery.
Battery backup
|
Test |
Approx. Battery backup (mins) |
| Browsing (10s refresh rate; incognito) | 384.6 |
| HD Video playback | 333.3 |
Charging times
|
Current Source |
Approx. time to full charge (mins) |
| USB 3.0 | 215 |
| AC | 148 |
Connectivity: Covers the basics
- 2G
- 3G
- GPS
- WiFi
- FM Radio
- Bluetooth
Box Contents
Handset, battery, travel charger, USB cable, headset, quick start guide and a warranty card.
Final Verdict
Priced too high for its worthThe Panasonic T31 is a good option for those who are looking for a branded android smartphone under 8k INR. If you want a budget phone for gaming and photography then you should stay away from it.
Recommended: Best Phones under Rs. 10,000.
- Looking for a branded entry level android smartphone
- Love gaming
- Watch FHD videos
- Like photography
- Can’t tolerate performance lags
You ought to know this- Why we don’t trust specifications?
Specifications: Panasonic T31
|
Hardware |
Panasonic T31 |
| Chipset | MediaTek MT6572 |
| Processor (CPU) | 1.3 GHz dual-core |
| GPU | Mali 400 |
| RAM | 512 MB (free- 180MB) |
| Display Type | TFT LCD, 16M colors |
| Size & Resolution | 4 inch, 800×480 pixels, 233.24 ppi |
| Primary Camera | 5MP, Fixed Focus Video- 1024×720 pixels @24fps |
| Secondary Camera | 0.3 MP |
| Android OS | v4.2.2 JB |
| Battery | Li-Ion 1300mAh |
| Memory | Internal- 4GB (user available- 1.83 GB), microSD up to 32 GB |
| Connectivity- NFC | No |
| USB | Micro USB |
| EDGE | Yes |
| HSPA+ | Yes. Down- 21Mbps, Up- 5.76 Mbps |
| WLAN | 802.11 /b/g/n. Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi Hotspot |
| Bluetooth | v4.0 |
| GPS | Yes |
| FM Radio | Yes |
| Dimensions | 122 x 64.4 x 11.95 mm |
| Weight | 120 g |
| Sensors | Accelerometer, Proximity, ambient light |
| Dual SIM | Yes (3G+2G) |
| Colors | White, Black |
| Price | INR 7990/- |
| SAR Value | Head- 0.852 W/KgBody- 1.18 W/Kg |
Device sponsored by Friends Electronics
Contact them at the below mentioned number/address and tell them you found them through MobileJury to get the best deals. Ph. 9822487902 Add: Parihar Chowk, Aundh. Pune 
Ankur sir pls tell me if Subway Surfers runs well with this phone…??
Hi Pawan,
Subway Surfers is NOT as resource intensive as the Temple Run Oz. It should run very well in it.
ohkk sir…thanks…sir could u suggest me a phone around 7k wid which i could perform nearly all d general purpose tasks as of smartphones…may it be micromax, xolo, panasonic, etc…
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I thing its great to have qwerty in landscape mode..
BTW its has the great specifications..
thanks for sharing it…
Gives detailed n necessary information abt the phone
Great review guys…enjoyed reading! 🙂
I brought T31 and this mobile worth for 8k because good andriod version, good battery backup and other features are good.
I bought this last week mainly for the brand name Panasonic but in this model (T31) the voice call output is also routed to the loud speaker apart from front speaker!! spoiling the privacy. I got a replacement with another new piece from the service center but it too had the same issue. It is a bug!
Hi Kumar,
I can’t believe that you are having such an issue even with the newly replaced phone. You should get in touch with Panasonic and tell them about the issue again.
The T31 that I tested worked fine and did not have this problem.
is this phone good for gaming purpose i mean only some games like temple run, temple run 2 and oz and subway surfers?! and what abt d internet speed is it fast!??
Hi Ankit,
The Panasonic T31 can run these basic games. Internet speed depends upon your cellular operator.
How to take Screenshot of Panasonic T 31
Press and hold the “power button” and “volume down” key till a screenshot is taken.
Hi. I am facing an issue with this phone. I cannot video call from Skype. The app does not show a ‘video call’ button. Is this phone not compatible for Video Calling?
The phone description on several websites claimed, “The 0.3 mp front camera comes in handy for video calling with apps like skype”
Is this a bug in my phone, or it is not compatible with skype’s video callng feature?
Hi Shekhar,
If the phone has a front camera then technically it should support video calling. Try getting in touch with Panasonic Mobiles on twitter. @PanasonicIndia
Its the worst phone in history i bought this model 2weeks back & already facing a software issue and after given for service im yet to get back my phone its been 3days already worst of all please save your money or invest in something worth using. thank you guys…
Dear All,
Unable to make video calling, also mobile getting hang frequently. touch screen is very slow.
Is this can update to lollipop or kitkat
Hi sir m using Panasonic t 31 but m having some problem every time while typing for messages it always vibrates so is there any solution to fix this issues just let me know sir i just hate this vibration mode.