Redmi K20 Pro review

Introduction

The Redmi K20 pro is a medium priced phone that was launched in India in mid May of last year (2019). The actual availability was somewhere after that towards late 2019. This blog post attempts to provide some details regarding the phone and also contains a link to the detailed video review of the phone.

Specifications

The phone comes with the following features

Snapdragon 855 chip
6.4″ AMOLED display
6GB / 8GB RAM
128GB / 256GB ROM
48MP + 13MP + 8MP triple rear camera
20MP popup selfie front camera
27W charger
In display fingerprint charger
4000 MaH battery
3.5mm headphone jack

Initial and usage impressions

Video Review

The video review of this phone is available here for your viewing

Chipset and performance

After a long time the Snapdragon chips have come of age and 855 is no slouch either. Although SD has moved onto 865 chipsets already, the 855 is still a fast processor and Android blazes through with apps loading super fast on this phone. I tried having different apps load and in the background and multiple pages on browsers, everything loaded just fine. In fact I will go one step more to say if you use this phone you will be hooked onto these fast processors and will not look back to the sub 15000 rupee phones anymore. At least I will not anymore!

The Snapdragon or any fast processor for that matter, really makes a difference and I could not imagine apps load so fast on a Mi phone.

Display

Finally seeing an AMOLED display on a Redmi is refreshing. I cannot rave more about the display as much as I have in the video review, but all I wish to say is that the display is crisp and clear and it is really good to watch videos or photos on. The brightness is sufficient and more than enough for games, videos and photos even in a dimly lit room. And this is a big plus for this phone.

Storage and RAM

6GB RAM is pretty standard for android phones these days and so is 128GB storage. RAM and ROM getting cheaper by the day means for the same money you get more bang. The storage is more than enough for keeping those large photos for days on end, and for your browser or mail attachment downloads. And in the case you need more you have support for micro SD card although I dont see myself using it much. 128GB is more than enough for a start and if you have the 256GB nothing to beat it.

Cameras

Everyone is jumping onto the camera bandwagon these days and Xiaomi is no different. When the whole world is converging onto the phone so also will the memories in terms of videos and photos. With large storage and good cameras this means you can now enjoy photography more than ever on the phone itself. Of course people do still use DSLRs and the likes, but there is a lot more the phones can do nowadays compared to yesteryears.

The triple camera of this phone helps produce some great shots. Night photography is not excellent but sufficient enough for a phone this expensive and there is nothing much to complain about. The popup camera in the front for selfies at 20MP is really good beating most of the average selfie phones. But I kind of felt the image was a bit too softened with noise removal and it did not look very crisp.

I will post images taken from this camera in a short while more. This phone also supports 960fps HD slow motion video too. Other than there is a wide angle mode, a telephoto mode to complement your photography skills.

In summary the cameras on this phone are very good and though not in the league of the Samsung phones, they come a pretty decent second in the race. There is still some way to go for Redmi phones to sport awesome cameras but this also means the cost goes up if they do it. So either for the tech or for the cost we have what we have on this phone and it is seriously not so much a bad deal.

Other features

There are some features unique to this phone

The pop up camera is one such feature. It is surely more gimmick than substance, but it feels premium and works well, its definitely eye catching.
Form factor is very good even though display is 6.4 inches, since width is a bit narrower it feels premium to hold in the hand
There is an in display finger print sensor which is again a bit gimmicky but still a cool feature and feels pretty modern compared to some older phones. It does not work all the time like I said in the video, but it still is an interesting addition.
The 4000 MaH battery is a standard on all Xiaomi phones and this one also sports the same prowess. This is really good as I never have to charge the phone for 2 full days for my kind of limited usage. If you are worried about whether the battery will last at least the whole day, you need to stop worrying on that count. If this phone cannot do that no other phone will.
Although understated the 3.5mm headset jack being there means all your old headphones, earphones will still work on this phone! Yaay!

Conclusion

You can buy this phone on Amazon for a good discounted price in 2020. For a price point of 27000 (after 2000 off on MRP) on Amazon, its a very good buy. There are further discounts on credit cards upto 3000 rupees more and also exchange offers on your older phone. With a no cost EMI also on offer this phone comes at a juicy not to be missed price and deals.

Do you own this phone? If so let me know in the comments what you feel about it. Until the next review, take care and stay safe.

A month on

One month of topsy turvy life

It has been about one month since my previous post. Where my world had turned topsy turvy. Literally. And in this one month, there are more changes. I am not sure whether for the good or bad. But change is the only constant. We have been working from home all this month. Staying in touch with our colleagues over meetings. Still getting office work done. But it has not been that easy.

Keto-diet

Around the same time as the lockdown, a week earlier when things were normal I had gotten into a keto-diet regime to bring down my weight. My sugar levels were also high, so I had to do something about that as well to avoid it getting into a diabetic state. It is around this time that a consultant from a company called ReShape Fitness added me on linkedIn, and instead of the usual question of “how can I help you”, I asked him “how can you help me?”. Since there was a need for me. Thus began the diet session for nearly four weeks. My weight was 81.5, not bad for a height of 5’11” but still bordering towards high side.

I had to eat mostly proteins like Panner, and veggies (peppers, cauliflower, cucumbers, tomatoes, cabbages) and himalayan pink salt, keya pepper for taste. I was allowed to eat fats such as almonds, pistachios, but not carbs (such as carrots, even onions so to say). I was put on supplements (from Amway – the nutrilite variety) and protein drinks along with dietary fibre. So it was protein in the morning, veggies for the other two meals with nuts to supplement the hunger. Four weeks of this. The body started revolting on day 3. I spoke to the consultant and wanted to come back to normal food. But he convinced me to stay put. After about 8-10 days the fat burn started. All the way from 81.5 kilos to 72.5 kilos. A good 9kgs down. Irritable bowel syndrome fixed, low back ache fixed and the body was shown its place on what it should tolerate as the new normal.

It was around this time, I also started facing challenges in getting grocery delivered due to nationwide lockdown. And a severe bronchitis attack I had to sustain and get cured of. So I had to quit this program by 4th week to get back to carbs. But I learnt what I had to and would gladly continue it going forward.

Mental health & work

See there is nothing serious that can go wrong if you are at home for a month or so. But that depends on context. For me my wife and kids were with me, so also parents so it turned out positive. However I would say office productivity increased being at home due to more efficient targets and meetings. Work started by 9am as opposed to the daily 1.5h grind of commute. Every day was quite productive, but also made me tired. Due to the summers, I slept only by midnight and started getting up a bit late than normal warranting the need to hurry to get into the meetings scheduled.

Lack of proper sleep, issues with diet and health are enough to make you moody and go berserk at home. And if the health issue persists like weeks like mine did, you really begin to feel low.

We keep joking around that we want to retire soon. But this is more like the same case but a trial version of how you would feel if you did retire. And if you never had to go out anywhere or meet anyone. This is when you truly realise the value of society, friendships, relationships, being together, checking on each other often, and everything else in between. There were instances where I did feel frustrated just staying put at home. Without socialising, or shopping, or even driving my car. This is when I understood that driving in the traffic was actually ok for me, it was an activity that kept me busy. Unlike sitting on a couch all the time.

I know some other people known to me were going through serious trouble at home with having too much to do and no me time for themselves.

Real vs Unreal needs

This pandemic has surely brought about the ability for all of us to think and separate our needs into real vs unreal ones. What we need is food, family time, a feeling of being in good health, sufficient work and good rest. Nothing is gonna happen to us if we don’t socialise, or go out very often. Nothing is going to happen if we don’t keep binge ordering stuff from e-commerce websites to our whims and fancies.

We are now able to cook more at home, enjoy safe food with family. There are so many of us that took to cooking literally. Heck I am even starting a recipe blog for you all shortly. Binge spending stopped for good. With the stock market crash and the uncertain outlook on the economy we now understand why it is important to save money. We now realise the value of our current jobs after the job market froze literally. We are able to separate the wheat from the chaff.

The future

At least for the short term, the pandemic is not going to go away anywhere. A lot of what we do and how we do it will change. I was reading an article where TCS is going to make 75% of their workforce work from home. Things are changing slowly. Many companies would not mind providing more work from home options to balance out for their employees with respect to pandemic type situations. There would be more take away options at restaurants making them move to the model for good as compared to in house dining which will get more expensive. In fact the social distancing need is significantly going to increase everything – airfares, train fares, bus fares, hotel fares and what not.

Many people will likely stop ordering food from outside due to the risk of catching Covid. All payments would become contactless without cash exchanges anywhere. Shops like hair salons will see increased rates due to decreased footfall. People would be skeptic to go to clothing stores or such shops in the malls due to multiple people touching the clothes. Movie halls will see increased rates and lower footfall.

Blueprints for the vaccine will get generated, and there would be a genuine investment into healthcare facilities for the future. Gyms will see lesser footfall and likely get out of business or have to move to online coaching mode with at home equipment for patrons. This also means more investment for us. All public gatherings would be scrutinised and sanitised or even avoided. Marriages would likely see lesser people attend. Food would be circumspect. Cleanliness would be questionable going forward.

Schools & colleges would turn to electronic mode of working for at least one year – at least most schools. In fact they actually must if they have not yet done so. Public transport would be messy and lesser preferred. There is news that the used and new car market will actually pick up very well soon because people would prefer buying and driving their own vehicles to avoid risk of infection. This automatically defeats purpose of public transportation and would lead to heavy traffic jams and increase commute time in the city.

Industries will begin to function but will not have a concrete executable plan in place to handle infection risk. Their plans would make sense on paper but in reality will take long time to be actually giving results. Tourism industry will take a huge hit with airlines hiking their fares and not many people wanting to go to resorts for avoiding risk of infection. In fact this industry may not see heydays for another 1-2 years as they cannot change their business model like other industries.

Salary cuts or job losses means Loan defaults and not many people will go for newer loans for the whole of 2020 for the short term which means spending will reduce. This will affect all industries such as real estate. Many migrant workers will likely be out of jobs for an extended period not so much because people cannot pay them (like maids, cooks, etc) – but more due to the perceived infection risk. The country needs lots of impetus to reboot the economy. Without that, things will take a long while to come back to shape. What we also need is a plan that will actually work without causing much hardship to people going about their duties. Unfortunately there is no such silver bullet to every need. At best we will end up with few things that works best in this situation and other things that just dont and infact may be complicating the situation more. It will be a mix of stuff which we will have to deal with.

But this too shall pass. Except this time it would be a long reset. Wear your seat belts and sit tight. The road ahead is rough.

The Dyson V11 absolute pro review

Introduction

After being accustomed to Eureka Forbes for most part of my life with the demo man coming to my home and later managing to convince me to buy one of their vacuum cleaners each single time, I slowly moved on to the likes of Karcher. All of these vacuum cleaners however were wired and had to be lugged around the house along with the wire. This was irritating at some point and I wanted something which would cut free the cord. Here is where the Dyson family of vacuum cleaners used to appeal to me since a long time. Finally I decided to take the plunge in 2020 and went in for the DysonV 11 absolute pro.

What it claims to be

Dyson V 11 absolute pro is a cordless vacuum cleaner obviously with rechargeable battery about the size of a laptop battery and can be easily used around the house to clean the house. So what is special as compare to the other vacuum cleaners you may ask? Well from the looks of it there’s nothing really different from other vacuum cleaners but when you begin to use this machine you see the finance with which it is built. The looks, the attachments, the ease of attaching and removing something, the way it glides over the floor, the way in which you can keep it clean, the way charges, and so many other things in between – these are what makes it really different from other vacuums.

So basically it comes with the main unit along with many accessories for which you Will need a bag to store them. It’s a professional design with the stunning blue look and feel extremely premium to hold in the hand. It’s almost like the Apple of phones.

Installation

After the purchase of the vacuum cleaner the goods were delivered to me by courier within a couple of days. Post that an appointment was set for demonstrating the vacuum cleaner and me being the usual guy decided not to go for it since I knew how to use vacuum cleaners. Nevertheless after sometime I thought I should still let the appointment go through and called the guy for a demo.

The guy said he will take a Ola cab and reach my home. I have never seen any service personnel come by taxi for a demo. Just imagine the level of comfort his company gave him to do a task well. Small things matter right? He was at my home on time very professionally dressed and already to show me the demo of the vacuum cleaner. He went about to explain all the parts very well and detailed some specifics of how to use each part.

He had to wall mount the vacuum and he did that in an extremely professional way. Not a single bit of dust fallen on the floor anywhere. I was extremely impressed with his way of working and vacuum cleaner was on the wall in no time.

Detailing the parts

The vacuum comes with the following parts

Main unit which also has charging port
charging cable
Wall mount apparatus
One long tubular attachment
One floor cleaning part
One crevice cleaning part (for in between mattresses, sofas)
One mattress, sofa cleaning part
One carpet, mat cleaning part
One electronic screen cleaning brush
One cobweb and wall corner cleaning brush which can also be used for windows
One bent attachment to reach above air conditioners, fans
One spring attachment to pull, extend and clean inaccessible areas

Detailing the modes of operation

There are basically three modes of operation, Turbo, Medium/Auto and Eco

Eco stretches the battery upto an hour
Medium / Auto takes the battery until 40 minutes
Turbo is usually around 15 minutes

All these vary the suction power and produce different results.

Cleaning the parts

The user manual has a lot of information about how to attach the parts how to clean them and so on. These are pictorially depicted and easy to understand. The user manual has a lot of information on how to interpret alerts from the machine, understand if there is a blockage in the machine, and how to look for blockages within the vacuum cleaner in such rare instances. The level of instructions are not confusing and are very pictorial easily get the point. Two of these parts can be cleaned with water. The main unit has a filter which can be cleaned washed and dried in sunlight and put back again.

The dust holder area in the vacuum is within the main unit and can be open to dispose of everything in a dustbin. You need to ensure that when getting rid of the dust you don’t put your face to close with the dustbin, else there is lot of micro dust which could fly out causing cough.

Summary of the gadget

There are very few things that are professionally designed in the world while at the same time addresses real life issues while we humans use these gadgets.

Pros

Here are a few things that tilted my favour towards the Dyson v11

Professional look of the device
Heard a lot about the professionalism of the company and the level of investment they do into their design (such as bladeless fan etc)
Cordless vacuum means no more wires worry or tangling or hurtling vacuums across the house
Easy way to dispose dust straight into the dustbin – no dust bag etc
Suction power is uniform until the last drop of battery
Charging is done overnight and its ready to go again in the morning
Professional installation support and easy to read manual
Wall mount option
Attachments that are sensible to use and easy to attach/detach at any height
Entire vacuum can be held in one hand like a huge gun
Slickness in the tech
Easy cleaning options

Cons

Here are a few things why people may not buy a Dyson

Karcher and Eureka are still at affordable range of about 5-15k INR. For everyday vacuuming at cheaper price these are still great options
At nearly 50000 INR this is one of the costliest vacuums in India and is not affordable to someone who likes it but is restrained by the cost factor
The main unit is heavier than I expected and hence you need to keep it at an angle while cleaning the floor else your wrists are gonna hurt after a while.
For floor cleaning I would still prefer something like the Roomba simply because its automation level vs the price point of 2/3rds of Dyson means it would do its job without me having to intervene.
At the end of the day no vacuum can ensure your entire house is clean always. Its a mix of vacuuming mopping and sometimes even deep cleaning windows and doors that ensures maximum results.

In summary I purchased this gadget at a zero cost emi of 2500 INR a month for two years. I know that this gadget is there to remain with me for a couple of years and this offer was great for me. I know I have invested in a company that puts thought into design for addressing real world issues and does that in style with their products. I am a happy customer of Dyson and feel that their products and their professional approach will give a lot more choice to the customer in future.

If you have the money and are looking for a good vacuum in the market, there is nothing better than this one at the moment. Go for it !

The world turned topsy turvy

Context

It was December of 2019. I was preparing to buy a new car, and also conduct a function at my home for my boys. Planning was in full swing. Suddenly I lost my 96 year old grandma. It all happened in just a week. We were a bit sad about this, but still decided to go ahead with the function assuming her blessings. She personally had told me she will be there at the function no matter what the circumstances. But that was not to be.

Hectic activity preceded the function. Invitation cards, arranging a hall, transport, accommodation, food, the priests and everything else from decoration to photography. The mood was set and the function happened. It was a fantastic event well represented by everyone. Family, friends to support me and make it a success.

Around this time just after the function, my father in law had a heart attack. It all happened all of a sudden. He was at my home and he suddenly started perspiring. I just checked his head and felt that it was a little too much and I took a call to immediately take into the hospital along with my wife. Fast forward two days and he had come out of the ICU after having a couple of stents placed in his heart. A couple of days later he was back home feeling fine. In the meanwhile my new car suffered an accident although a minor one. I personally did not get hurt but I had to spend a lot on damages.

Just when I thought everything was getting settled the COVID-19 mania entered the scene.

The Pandemic

Even at the time of this writing the number of confirmed cases all around the world has already touched 600,000. A whopping 27,000 deaths have already occurred. 130,000 people have recovered and the pandemic has affected 181 countries. India had to work fast and do something immediately. This is where the Prime Minister took a bold call and not only did he ask for a curfew of one day but also extended the curfew for three more weeks. What started as a joke about the Chinese turned into a real nightmare for the entire world. Every company offered work from home for the employees and the government ordered a strict lock down of the entire country. This simply means everything was stopped – malls and movie halls, schools, transportation, working from offices, public gatherings, events or even simple things like restaurant visits and family outings.

Pressing the reset button

Work and Study

Just one week or two everything has turned topsy-turvy. Kids took up exams in schools hoping that they would go to the next grade with flying colours. But the government cancel the entire primary and middle schooling and rather promoted them to the next grade automatically. High school exams are now postponed without a date. Working from home became the new normal for employees in India. All the meetings were happening on video conferencing software. And now the whole world is talking about the recession to come. If the stock markets are anything to go by we are in for a very very long haul by the time everything recovers. People were hoping of good salary hikes and promotions and needless to say bonuses but now all they want is their job to be secure.

Fun and frolic

People wanted to spend time with their families watching movies and going to malls for shopping and a few other trips for holidays. But people are now spending time with families sitting at home. Many people lost lot of their money in the stock markets, while some have a lot of money and don’t know what to do with it. There was a time when weekend shopping was a must do in everyone’s list but today the whole world is scrambling to get food that can last at least one week. The world is talking about distancing from each other not meeting each other, and not going to any public place for fear of catching the virus.

The importance of small things

Everyone of us for a long time have assumed that everything in the world will be available to us all the time. Given the crunch on resources we now understand to see small pleasures in life and appreciate them. It could be as simple as having a good meal with your family. It could be to do the clothes or to do the garden or even playing with your kids on the street. It could be watching the birds or enjoying the silence given that all the industrialisation has come to a full stop. This is the reverse case of the so-called perceived stress that we undergo with our job. Requiring us to sit at home doing nothing for nearly a month makes us feel like we are cut off from everything. We now understand the happiness associated with all the socialising that we did. Our mind yearns for getting back to work meeting our colleagues and friends and getting a break from the mundane home life.

We now understand that we need not run to the doctor for every single problem we have, but rather find some way to get it cured at home itself. We now understand how not to waste things, how to keep our home clean, and what it is to be healthy. We now understand how important it is for our kids to go to school and get educated while spending quality time with their friends.

Government stuff

As far as the government facilities are concerned the lawmakers now realise the seriousness to reboot the system once and for all. In my opinion this should be a permanent change and for the good. This should help the future generations be prepared for anything like this pandemic. Our healthcare facilities need to be upgraded and more importantly accessible to all irrespective of how much money they have. In fact a country like India should now seriously think about social security in a greater sense with respect to health care. In all of this I really appreciate how we as a country have put in all our minds together and take a resolve to fight this pandemic.

Future priorities

As we go into the future cautiously our priorities need to be revisited completely. We need good healthcare which is affordable to all. We need assurance on food supplies. We need to stop hoarding essentials. We need to stop panicking about everything. We need to support those who are taking action. We need to care more for our families. We need to socialise more with our friends. We need to look forward to a world where humanity takes priority over everything else. We need to help more. We need to give more. We need to treat all other beings other than humans with greater respect. We need a lot more trust and a lot more faith. We need to stop being politically oriented and start being more humane. We need to celebrate the fact that we are living a good life and so are others around us. We need to make genuine friends and we need to respect people around us more.

But is the world ready for all this? Or are we going to go back to old ways and only think about ourselves while we cause destruction around the earth with our selfish nature? This is like that all important exam question but you are given a chance to edit your answer once. Will you choose wisely?

Details of the economic stimulus package for battling coronavirus times from FM Nirmala Sitharaman & BJP – India fighting COVID-19

In today’s meeting the finance minister outlined the stimulus package of 170000 crore Rs/- for the country during the time of fighting a serious pandemic COVID-19. Here is the summary of the package

50 lacs insurance cover for medics
Money and pulses to be made available for poor
5kg rice/wheat per person free for 3m over and above for 80cr people
1kg pulses per household free
Farmers, mnrega, divyang, jandhan, Ujwala, self help, organised sector workers, construction workers, district mineral fund are covered for this stimulus package
Farmer – 2000 Rs immediately of the 6000 for the year
Wage increase in mnrega by 2000 per year
Old age > 60y – 1 time amount of 1000 Rs over 2 instalments
Jandhan holders get 500 Rs per month for next 3 months
Ujwala – 3m free cylinders
Women self help groups – (deen dayal yojna) – collateral free loans doubled from 10 to 20 lacs
Organised sector
- GOI will pay EPF contribution of 12% and 12% – for all those establishments upto 100 employees, 90% of whose employees earn less than 15000 per month
- PF regulations will be ammended to allow non refundable advance of 75% of PF or 3 months of wages whichever is lower for contingency
Construction workers – give directions to state governments to utilise the construction welfare fund to provide for economic stability
District mineral fund – will request state governments for supplementing and augmenting all kids of screening, testing and those things necessary for fighting the pandemic

2020 – The shark joins the family

Introduction

I am not new to T-BHP, and have been here since about mid 2006. That is now 14th year with the site. That said, I have also had the good fortune to own many new and pre-owned cars (just due to my craze in cars). I started off with a Maruti 800 3rd hand car to learn driving in 2000, after which I moved on to Fiat Palio NV, a new Maruti 800 AC, the Swift VDI, Honda City pre-owned, the Ford Figo, Nissan Sunny, Honda Civic pre-owned, Maruti Ciaz, Honda BRV pre-owned, Tata Nano pre-owned, and Maruti Celerio. As you would see after the downfall or the news of FIAT not doing so well, I went with Honda or Maruti mostly with the exception of also having the FIAT MJD where possible.

You can read about some of my other cars here, here, and here

Few of these cars were petrol, and few diesel, but I have always been a diesel-head. I do not know what really made me change cars, but on a pure ROI basis, I would have spent as much as about 2-3 cars changing so many cars over this period. Of all these Maruti was no nonsense and I knew what to expect. Although they still were/are making tin cans with the probable exception of XL6. I was a 3 time Honda owner and have finally ditched Honda after a hattrick session of issues with these cars and my legs which I will detail a bit later.

Buying another car was just a routine affair for me after so many. But I was in a severe dilemma. After so many cars, I just wanted my legs to be at peace. Of all these the celerio and BRV were automatic petrols and the BRV was fantastic for ownership – it was such a fuss free car. But the issue of leg pains tormented me all over again. My thoughts that automatics will be better for legs were rubbish. The right leg was angled badly in automatic cars and this was hurting me. I had to go manual again. And diesel it had to be to leverage on the torque. Now the question was which one this time?

Criteria to own a car

I had to buy one more car. A car that would keep me happy for few more years without a change. I knew it had to be a diesel manual for sure as it put me at ease compared to the automatic as I had control over how to drive my car. It had to be value for money for the features given and it had to meet these criteria.

Leg space with far seat push back for driver seat
Ground clearance to avoid shitty potholes in Bangalore
Not too much body roll if possible
Tech gimmicks
Reasonably good mileage, torque and power
Complete VFM for the price paid
Good AC with inbuilt stereo supporting apple car play for my phone
I did not want to install any accessory this time extra barring a few I wanted everything in the car itself – fully loaded vehicle
Resale was a consideration but the lowest priority one

Too many choices in 2019

Given the great launches of 2019, I had the following options this time around without paying heed to any pricing bracket.

Nissan Kicks
Ford Ecosport
Tata Harrier
MG Hector
Kia Seltos
Renault Duster
Renault Captur
Jeep Compass
Tata Hexa
Nexon / WRV / Brezza / Ertiga
XL6, Ciaz 1.5D

I needed to be absolutely sure that any car I buy was VFM, and kept me cool during my 25km (total per day) commute up and down in Bangalore if you know what peak traffic looks like. So the ground rule was that any test drive had to be in similar conditions and if someone didn’t offer me that it was a no-no for me.

Now for elimination rounds. Ready?

Kicks

I took a test drive of kicks diesel and my opinion was that the pedals were a bit hard to press, but overall the engine was good, but the car was rather lacklustre even with its intelligence. The horrible part was the sub par below HD rear camera that put me off. Seating was for 5. Grey leather interiors were not so great. The music system was sub par. They were offering 0% interest scheme etc but the whole sales pitch was not really up to the mark. At about 17.4 lacs OTR Bangalore, this was not so much VFM. At 15 you could consider this. Moreover Kicks was fast approaching the likes of Duster, Captur, etc into oblivion in terms of dated designs. Kia almost smashed every other car out of the park with Seltos.

Duster and Captur

I had seen much of this already, and although these are the toughest cars money can buy honestly in that price range, the design was dead on arrival for me so I had to drop it. Even if I had bought these they would easily depreciate by 50% very very soon as I had enough experience with Ola cash my car, or Olx, or cars24, etc by now. So buying one of these means 5-7 lac of depreciation in 2-3y. Design and modernness and appeal was missing in 2019 to go forward. So no test drive taken.

Jeep Compass

Eliminated due to cheaper options with same engines available at lower price point such as hector, harrier. Also space was a concern.

Nexon, WRV, Brezza, Ertiga

All dropped because at about 10-12 lac-ish they either lacked features, or power, or space or something or the other. Only way to get more is to go to 15 lac + range. Initially I wanted to stop at 15 lacs, but later I made up my mind to go to 20 + or – 1 or 2 more lacs. As long as there was VFM. The VFM always ensured I listened to my mind than my heart.

XL6

New launch, only petrol, no diesel, so dropped although it was more appealing than Ertiga.

Ciaz 1.5D

Old hand, I already owned 1.3 ciaz, was very cool to drive. Took a test drive of 1.5D and was blown away by the drive. Absolutely scintillating engine and overall drive. Smooth like hell. But reserved judgement for a while more. I got this at 13.75 lacs. Which means it was tending to 15 already. Surely VFM with everything in place – leather seats, white led’s alloys, and what not. Strong contender for sure.

Tata Hexa

When the car was launched the Tata hexa was awesome. But once more new choices were available this car also seem to be getting obsolete with respect to design. It is not that it was an incapable car but the engine was a bit outdated and I was in two minds whether to go for it or not. I also perceive the car as heavy and was not so much to go towards the Tata brand. Their service network leaves a lot to be desired and after owning the Tata Nano I was not okay to go to Tata again with the exception being Harrier.

Ford Ecosport

The Ford EcoSport was an old horse again. It has sold very well since inception over multiple iterations. Even after so many years it was still not looking very outdated. My friend owned an eco-sport automatic and I have driven it multiple times. As long as you handle it with care it is a breeze to drive within city traffic. But the version I was considering was a diesel manual the same one the Figo came with. The dealer offered me a 12 km ride and the car performed extremely well. The engine was very potent and each and every functionality was well integrated within the car. I actually kind of like the sync system in the older car. The point is about finding what you want easily and Ford are masters at this. I did have some leg pain but that’s probably because I was driving the new Ford for the first time and it took some time getting adjusted to.

The Ford EcoSport was a strong contender in the buying game and at about 15 lakhs this was a very good machine to go for.

Tata Harrier

Even though I was concerned about the bulk of the car the Harrier was a worthy alternative at about 18.5 lakh. This was not the top end version. The dealer offered me a 12 km drive through peak traffic. I also took a shorter test drive around the office once more. The first thing you notice about the Harrier is its bulk. It is a real SUV but also one that blocks many parts of your vision with its thick pillars. When you’re standing next to vehicles in peak traffic, you don’t get a sense of safety and feel that you may probably hit the two wheelers standing next to you.

Gear shift and clutch seem a bit disconnected and although it easy to drive and powerful to the interiors lack finesse and Tata could have done better for a car this expensive. Of course there are eight speakers and the Harman stereo but I somehow felt the tech stuff could’ve been more cooler. It would not be wrong to say the hexa is actually better than the Harrier inside. Since the car seemed way too big for me and did not offer me VFM for the price I have to pay I decided to drop it.

Kia Seltos

This car has been grabbing headlines ever since its launch simply because it is a car with all the features anyone can ask for at this point in time. The point was not that the people did not have money but they wanted a vehicle which offered them more. In every possible way this car was good but I did have some things to pick on.

The doors wouldn’t open wide enough and the space in the middle row was just about okay if not great. This was a car where the clutch and gear shift were mated very well and it was a joy to use. The power is adequate for five people and the torque meant that you could putter around in city traffic easily. So this car was obviously in the list.

MG Hector

This car was the dark horse among all cars and irrespective of the negative publicity it manage to gather, as a car it offered much much more at a lower price point. This car was sitting right higher than Ford EcoSport and slightly lower than the Seltos top end HTX+ variants. Ride quality was very good and I had a 12 km test drive of this car as well. The power was very good and the way it was able to handle potholes on the road was awesome. It had huge amount of space both for the rear passengers as well as for luggage and this was a selling point for me.

I preferred to go for the top end variant but the problem was this was going about 20 lacks. The second gear had an issue in this car and was not properly tuned so I did have a few instances where the car stopped in second gear. The fiat MJD with 170 bhp of power was very evident with this car. This car made the Harrier look pale in comparison. This car also made it to my buy list.

Finalists

Kia Seltos, MG hector, Ecosport and Ciaz 1.5D.

For a long time, I really wanted the 1.5 Ciaz again, but the thought of owning another Maruti again kind of made me look elsewhere. The XUV and Scorpio were out since they were old, outdated and somewhat not in my taste. The Verna did not even figure here because I did not prefer a Hyundai. So also the Venue since it was utmost a small 5 seater raised to a good ground clearance. Somewhat felt it was overpriced.

I booked the hector, second variant manual diesel. White colour. Paid 50000 bucks. I told him take your own time to deliver upto 5 months. I wanted the delivery to be in 2020. During the time I waited, I could not still give up on the others so easily. After a lot of reading about BS4/6 confusions for diesel cars and the fact I already owned Ciaz with a heavy heart I decided to let the 1.5D go. After driving the Seltos I came to appreciate the features a lot and for 18.9 lacs I was getting leather ventilated seats, Bose speakers, purifier, sun roof and what not. So I decided to cancel the hector booking and book the Seltos instead. By now it was November of 2019 and when I went to book it, they jacked the prices to 19.5 and at this price the HTX+ made no sense for VFM – my original criteria. Without a bit of thinking I dropped the Seltos as well.

Wild card entry – Mahindra Marazzo

That left the Ford Ecosport only on the list. Very capable and right in all sense of the word. I had carefully kept off MUV cars in all this search but this is where I called Mahindra and asked them whether they would give me a test drive of the marazzo and I got my 12km test drive upto my home in peak traffic. I checked for parking at my home and it was a bit tight. But still managed to feel that parking was possible correctly.

The car itself was a 120bhp 1.5 Diesel from the Mahindra stable and the first thing you notice is its super silent engine/cabin. On the test drive, it was not the star performer, but ticked many of my boxes on the list. The price was 18.6 which is why I had dropped it last year before the BRV. But here it was again this time at a whole lot lesser – almost 10%+ down on original pricing OTR. This was the M8 fully loaded model and for the value it was offering midway between 16 & 17 lacs, it was astounding enough for me.

Bonus is it was a 7 seater / 8 seater config possible. I opted for the aquamarine green and specifically did not want to go for loan, somehow managed to scoop up the money and made a full downpayment for the aquamarine colour – mid December. However a couple of days after payment was made, he said the colour isn’t available and there was a glitch on the facts he stated that car was there. This was India Garage. They offered me a white instead and he confirmed it was under transit. I had to make a choice. I opted for the 7 seater (2+2+3) , pearl white M8 top end variant of the BS4 marazzo which was on an irresistible offer price in December. The risk was with BS6 fuel on BS4 car but heck even BS2 vehicles still ply and there is nothing wrong with them and I trust the industry to find a way out.

There was a death in the family around Christmas so had to wait until that cleared up, so moved by registration to 1st of Jan 2020. So 2019 model registered in 2020. And no aquamarine, but Pearl white.

PDI and delivery

I had made the full downpayment and told him to hold the car until Jan 1st. He got it to showroom on Dec 31st, so my new year eve was spent checking it out at the basement of the showroom. Was looking good and waiting for its driver – me!!

On Jan 1st, called my fil, wife and kids (mom wasn’t able to come due to medical complications) to the showroom by 4pm. Car was getting cleaned and ready. Finished paper work which was minimal – no loan, full DP and nothing much to fill. Everything was done. Someone suggested to verify against TBHP PDI so did that. Was all ok. They gave me a bouquet and some photographs later, it was mine.

The car was finally mine – the gentle shark Mahindra Marazzo! This is where the story begins. Due to extreme paucity of time, I will need to update this thread in different parts. Please bear with me. For now I will leave you with a couple of photos. Enjoy!

MG Hector – the big boss

Introduction

Along with the current reigning king the Kia Seltos, the MG Hector has also tried undyingly to make an impact in the SUV market. Considering the sales of KIA which was hovering above the 10000 mark month after month since launch, the Hector did not do so well but has gotten off to a steady start with over 3000 units every month.

So how is the Hector as a car, and is it worthwhile to buy one if one has the budget is the course of the further discussion in this post. I will also speak about the sales a bit as we go along to analyse the car, the manufacturer and other aspects.

MG Hector – the car

Much has been said about the car by now since its launch. The fact that it seems British but its not. The fact that it is in fact Chinese (SAIC) and there is really nothing British about it, etc. We have by now come across all these comments in social media and news that people have started to perceive the car already in different dimensions.

The car in itself is a piece of art which I have not seen in a long time since the solid builds of the European vehicles that India saw during early and mid 2000s. It is also massive (perhaps due to offering a 7 seater in the guise of a 5 seater). It is definitely a looker and even if a year elapses, it would still hold its stance on the road. It is bulky, burly and would surely make people give way when driven. The reason it tends to look this good is due to the narrow DRLs on a huge body putting it in the likes of the fortuner.

Power

The car itself is mighty powerful as is evident due to the wonderfully crafted 2000 cc fiat engine. No doubt the engine gets gruff and noisy if revved hard and beyond 3500 rpm or so, but for normal cruises at high speeds, it is at best a purr and nothing more. The engine manages to lug along the heavyweight body without making any fuss.

Torque

The power and torque combination is at whopping 170bhp and 350Nm torque for the diesel manual version which is my only interest for this article. One expects that this would mean great low speed drivability but I soon found out this to be wrong. Unfortunately if I were to nitpick on something about this car, it would be the slightly hard clutch and improperly tuned second gear throw which makes it fussy in day to day stop and go traffic. No proper half clutch or smooth clutch and the need to constantly shift to first gear makes this car not a great one within the city. Again I am speaking about the diesel, but the petrol manual and petrol auto are better here.

Tech Gimmicks

Both Seltos and MG are selling crazy numbers because of the tech features they have on offer. People are always euphoric about something new that comes up in the market and this is most of the times the reason a person wants to go for a new car. MG Motors does not disappoint here.

The hector is an internet connected car which allows you to start a car or roll back the sun roof and set airconditioner temperatures, etc through the app on the phone. Maybe more things can be done as well – the manual will list all the features that can be controlled thus. Other than this the Hector lacks features like wireless charger, or air purifier that Seltos offers. But on the other hand it does come with many things you would expect in a car of that price (17-22 lacs on road Bangalore based on version).

Cruise control
Leatherette seats
Connected car features
Panoramic sunroof which is one of the best though it leads to heating of the interior during hot weather conditions outside

A huge entertainment system which through comes with resistive screen makes it a tad bit difficult to use, still has enough apps to keep you enthused
Powered driver and co passenger seats which in my opinion is a must in every car to allow to find a reasonable seating position

8 speaker infinity system which in my opinion again has a better sound signature than the Seltos’ Bose speakers – I felt the woofer in hector handled the bass very well and it did not sound so much disconnected from the rest of the sound elements like mid ranges, or treble notes. It definitely provides a closed theatre style setting which I liked a lot
Remote boot lid opener
Mood lighting
Electric foldable and heated OVRMs
LED DRLs, headlamps and fog lamps which are just wow in terms of lighting the road up during the night
17 inch alloys
Humongous boot – one can camp in there!

Drive

The Hector offers a pliant ride and the passengers are cocooned from all the road undulations which is mostly due to the 17 inch alloys and good suspension. While the power and torque allow you to unleash the beast on the highway, in city roads the car still does surprisingly well and is well composed at lower speeds too.

Surprisingly I did not find any body roll in the rear row at all and it was mostly muted to some degree thereby offering passengers comfort. Many reviews so far have pointed out that the rear seat thigh support isn’t as good as expected with hector but the massive leg space between rear seat and front more than makes up for it.

Cost & Warranty

The cost of the hector is between roughly 15-22 lacs on the road in Bangalore and for this price, it is definitely a good buy in that segment. There are really no major competitors to this car in that price range. And no, Seltos isn’t a competition since it cannot compete against a 2000cc 170bhp monster with its 1.5 115bhp engine. The only real comparison would be with Tata Harrier which by the way is also a great vehicle but the proportions of the Harrier are somehow too big as compared to the Hector.

Also Harrier misses out on well implemented tech stuff that must belong into 2020. The unnecessary bulk, and the body roll in Harrier does not give it an edge. I also felt that the interiors were a bit lacklustre .

So then the next question about warranty and peace of mind. Hector has it covered until 5 years unlimited kilometres for now. So any part malfunctioning will be replaced without breaking your bank hopefully. That said there are reports of MG dealers harassing customers that the part going bad was due to customer’s bad driving habits. In these cases, the truth is only half told and there is no good way to find out what was really the case. By and large I feel MG would be bound to adhere to warranty terms if they need their brand name to remain as a good perception among buyers.

Mileage concerns

There have been a lot of reports about mileage concerns with Hector. This is mostly true for the petrol manual and petrol automatic versions. But with the diesel manual the car returned a respectable 9kmpl in very peak traffic and so it may go to 14kmpl on highways. This is good for a 2000cc 170bhp vehicle. The petrol mileages have been to reported to be terrible.

Should you buy the Hector?

Short answer: If you have the money then yes for its brute power, great handling and very safe body. You should not buy this for mileage or for the fact it is a Chinese vehicle with an Italian heart. Hopefully the warranty cover will bring some peace of mind, but a lot remains to be proven with respect to the way they handle services of the vehicle. Nothing is known about average service costs and so on.

Did you buy the hector? Are you planning to buy one? Let me know in the comments below.

Big Data Introduction

I am beginning to put up some technical topics on my blog henceforth.

As a beginner post, here is an introduction to the concepts of Big Data. The content here is based on books I read, articles I read on the internet and also based on looking at demos of certain software that I or other people use. The effort I make is to put perspectives about the domain into a crisp readable mind map which is concise and puts forth a big picture for readers.

I use mind maps. If you are uncomfortable with mind maps, please look elsewhere for a better way to understand these topics.

This mind map covers the facts about Big Data, the challenges we face with the amount of data we are generating in this world today. There are constraints to using hardware, constraints on the nature of the data that we aim to process, etc.

When discussing drawbacks, it is also useful to understand the alternatives of how problems can be solved and the risks of using such alternatives. When we try and do some operations on Big Data they can be done entirely online or offline – so it is important to understand the choices we have to handle data in this manner.

Further data is also processed in different ways depending on where the data is coming from, what exactly we want to do with the data (index, search, etc). There are tools meant for usage for specific types of processing which are also listed in the map.

Hadoop being the popular (until now) distributed data processing framework means that it has thrown its weight around considering how many companies invested into it, to use it, to enhance it and produce outcomes on large amounts of data for purposes such as business analytics, or data sciences areas.

Finally the map also covers the related tools/projects in conjunction with Hadoop that exist in the ecosystem today and what they are capable of doing to help the Big Data domain. Obviously then what you would need to do is, based on your interest dwell deeper into an area that you are interested to know more.

I will leave you with a quote I saw in a particular book that defines the reason we need a different way to attack the problems Big Data poses.

If you need an ox for heavier pulling you don’t grow a larger ox, you put more oxen

The KIA Seltos – the drive, tech and pricing reveal

Introduction

As you would have already read in my previous post I had given you an overview of the Seltos, the latest and first creation of KIA for the Indian market. What is noteworthy of the car is its multitude of variants, the tech within the car and other cool features.

As there were many people waiting for the drive yesterday, it was difficult for me to get the drive yesterday so I was asked to come in the morning at 930am today which I promptly did though it was a tad bit cold and rainy in Bengaluru. Took me 10 minutes to drive there 10 minutes to test drive and 10 minutes back there. Neat eh ?

So what are we waiting for? Let us look at how the drive felt like…..

Drive (1.5 Diesel Manual)

I got the GT line Diesel Manual (115bhp, 250Nm) version. It was a keyless startstopentry model so settling was comfortable. The powered driver seat was comfortable to change positions until an optimal driving position was available. It takes a while getting used to but along with this and a tilt and telescopic steering – in a few seconds I was comfortable enough.

Camera(s)

Switching the car on needs a clutch press and its better to ensure car is in neutral and hand brake on before trying something like that. The last thing you want is for the car to lunge forward by mistake. Once the engine was on, I could access the cameras which showed me all sides of the car (360 degree view) which is well implemented in my opinion. There is also a side lane camera which gets activated by putting on the turn indicator (which by the way is on the most intuitive side as opposed to american cars).

The camera tech is awesome and it would be a boon while taking the car out of cramped parking slots. However on normal driving only the lane camera is more of use on regular basis.

Engine

The engine itself is extremely silent both on the inside and outside and once you are in the car with windows closed, you would barely heat the engine. It is astonishing as to how silent this engine is if you compare it to say the 1.3 MJD in Ciaz. No gruff noise, no fuss, nothing. Just purrs.

Heads up display

KIA offers you a heads up display which indicates speed and navigation details just beyond the steering. The display kind of merges with the road when you drive and its least intrusive. I felt the colours and fonts used in the display were brilliant and is helpful to the driver. However it can perhaps show many more things like mirroring a google map in actuals, or gear information, etc. Just the speed and road names as you drive is not so useful for a seasoned driver.

Sun roof and ventilated seats

The showroom guy did open the sun roof and it is like any other car. The usual sun roof nothing much to say actually. What I felt more good was about the ventilated seats in the GT version. Imagine having parked your car in a scorching place and your seats are hot, the ventilation option blows cool air on your bottoms keeping them calm. This would prevent a lot of sweat on long runs and is generally a good to have feature.

Drive

I took a route that did not have patchy roads save for a few broken areas. It was mostly a well tarred section of the outer ring road. It is easy to slot the gear into any level you need to. Except for the second gear where a bit of acceleration was needed, in other gears the car just pulled fine. Engine is smooth at all speeds and you can barely hear it.

The car also feels confident to handle and is particularly also safe inside. You can quickly accelerate to get away from the mad rush or just amble along in any gear smoothly. The car has both the behaviours. Passiveness or aggressiveness.

Annoying bits – reverse gear button, and clutch

If anything decides the drivability of the manual versions, it’s always the combination of gear, clutch, engine power and torque. And here while the gear and power are fine, the torque is not so forthcoming and car needs to be accelerated a bit. This is surprising since the torque on offer is 250Nm and even with turbo lag any diesel car will show some intention to move forward from low speeds.

Coming to the clutch – only one word – annoying. It is rubbery and has pushback each time you press it. This is not great for relaxed driving as it makes you lift your left leg often from its intended position. Maybe over use it will become subdued but it is a huge deal breaker for me. It can mean life and death on choked roads of Bangalore. I felt that the clutch was jumpy even in the Tata Harrier and with a 2.0 engine you can imagine how much inconsistency it will generate on the roads.

KIA, I really feel you need to work on the clutch to make it more reasonable.

The reverse gear slot switch is another annoyance. Maybe I am biased. But let me tell you my story. I was driving a Ciaz until July and an automatic BRV from then on until now. In the automatic, there is a button below the gear knob to move from P to N to S to D to R modes. Now in the KIA they have given the same button to move to R mode. The disturbing part about this is it can be easily activated by a button press. Very easily. So if you are in forward gears and by mistake you press this and slot to R instead of 1, imagine the disaster on the roads.

KIA please please make a change and put a ring like in the FIAT Palio, or Linea. Lifting a ring to put the car in Reverse mode cannot be done by mistake and it will save drivers a lot of hassle. Please look at implementing this in a different way.

I am hoping the automatic version would be a lot better to drive with the diesel and since they did not have it yet for the test drive, I cannot say for sure yet. I am hoping to drive it sometime in the near future.

A word on possible pricing

According to rushlane the prices were leaked at a dealer event for training people on the car. And I am reproducing it here with the link to the original article as well in case you want to read it. If you look at the pricing it starts at 10 lacs for the base petrol and goes upto 17 lac for the top end GT variants in diesel, turbo and automatic. Extremely aggressive as it can kill everything in the way of this price bracket.

(source: rushlane.com)

So now that you know everything about the KIA more or less, what version would you book, let me know in the comments section of this post.

The KIA Seltos – change is in the air

The KIA Seltos – change is in the air

Introduction

By now every youtube channel has screamed hoarse on their experience with the KIA Seltos the first SUV introduced by KIA in India. This is the first car rolling out of the KIA factory in Andhra Pradesh and a many of firsts for KIA as a brand in India.

They are entering the country when the market is heated up and the automobile manufacturers are suffering to sell cars. At a time when customer sentiment for buying is very weak. At a time when each car model looks obsolete within months. They have had many things going against them during the time of entry itself. Like the fact they had to even conform to changing emission requirements of the Bharat Stage 6.

The MG hector made quite a splash and according to some data available, they are having a waiting period of over 6 months and have temporarily stopped bookings owing to good request numbers. This is a good news for any auto manufacturer to have during this downturn. KIA has brought in the Seltos to compete against the many contenders in this segment including the good old XUVScorpio, MG Hector, Tata Harrier, Jeep Compass, Renault Duster/Captur and more.

While the Tata Harrier is struggling to sell without an automatic version, the Jeep has sold enough and its novelty is wearing off. These two vehicles are big and capable but are seen as off-roaders. Creta remains the undisputed champion of sales owing to it being a worthy contender to Duster and the likes of SUVs and it being introduced much earlier to the KIA. However even the refresh of Creta is not being enough to generate buzz in the market and Creta’s price and the fact its novelty is wearing off would pose a threat to its sales in the long run. The areas like service are those where companies like Tata, Hyundai, Mahindra and Maruti will do well owing to its many service centres and availability of quick response times and parts for the vehicles sold so far.

So the industry badly needed some fresh new vehicles, with pleasing looks, reasonably powerful engines, customisability, range of features as opposed to just segment first ones, needless to say leverage on the good service network if available, conformance to new emission norms to avoid bringing in a vehicle that was dead on arrival and an overall sense of belonging to the customer who would put down his or her money on the car. Enter KIA with the Seltos.

Though the advertisement campaign about being badass and having a meerkat was a lousy start by KIA, thankfully the vehicle itself has much going for it which you will read about down below. This goes to show that when the product speaks for itself, there is no need to add a gimmicky marketing campaign for it.

Look and feel

Like we always think and talk about, the looks for any vehicle is subjective and whether or not its good lies in the eyes of the beholder. That said being overly boxy like the Lodgy, or the Evalia if you remember such a vehicle existed in the market would be an obvious target for bad mouthing. Customers expect a stance that is at least near to being an SUV (height, macho looks, bulging wheel arches, claddings to show pedigree, roof rails, and curved and straight line elements that form a fusion to make the vehicle look good overall). The good part is the Seltos achieves this with reasonable ease and it will not be wrong to say that the design really catches the eye.

Exteriors

It is impossible to fault this vehicle for what it offers and it is pleasing to see it from any angle. The closest anyone else gets in terms of looks to this which is drool worthy is Fiat with the designs. For example the Linea looks relevant even today. It is all about freshness of design. The KIA delivers very well in that department. The minute attention to details is what makes this vehicle exemplary and no matter which version you choose there is something great in each.

The bonnet is high, the doors are heavy and there is an overall aura of the Seltos being a stable car. Yes, reassuring door thud included. The grill, the headlamps be it LED or halogen, the fog lamps each lend to its overall front looks which is extremely pleasing to the eye. You need to see it in flesh to understand what I mean and photos will do only that much justice!

Tyres/Wheels

As for the alloys, I would have personally preferred the BRV style design, or at least something rather than the boring 5 spoke ones. When the company is so good with designing almost everything perfectly even one miss matters. But having said that the alloys and tyres are robust and that is what eventually matters on the road.

The lower version gets 205/65 16 inchers while the higher version gets 17” wheels.

Rear & Boot

The rear is simple yet elegant and is almost EcoSportish with bigger tail lamps though. The chrome strip running in between adds extra flair to the car. To keep it simple about the boot space, it can swallow a lot of items and be rest assured it can cater to all your workload needs. If you know the Duster boot well, its similar here.

Interiors

The interiors for a vehicle really determine whether the sales continue or not these days and a bland interior just would not work with customers anymore. The Duster through its many years of existence was never going to have great interiors because elsewhere in the world it is an off-roader and not that cushy SUV for city travel. It requires ground up design to think and execute great interiors and this is exactly where KIA scores very high marks.

Steering

The steering is circular in lower versions and D-Shaped (like Toyota Etios) on higher versions. The 10.2 inch display and stereo system blows everything else out of the water. It is like working on a fixed iPad in the car. The 7” colour display cluster behind your steering itself is a leap in tech and it shows a lot of things like door status, fuel info, and many other as well.

Storage and gears/pedals

The storage bins in the car are large, especially the one below driver handrest, you can hide 4-5 mobiles or 5 wallets in there. The handrest itself is well laid out – everything looks and feels like a 20 lac car. That said, the steering on the higher version is leather wrapped and so is the gear knob.

The clutch was hard to operate when engine was not on, but I am yet to figure the reality in a test drive effort later on

Infotainment system

They look so plush and the 10.2 inch system complements that very well and does not stick out like a sore thumb as in the EcoSport for example.

There are also the 8 speaker Bose system which is a first in this segment. The side buttons for windows and doors are a bit clumsy and feel like low grade plastic. The whole dashboard layout, the system and its buttons and the buttons on the steering – everything exude luxury in the higher variants.

The navigation system is so huge and so well implemented it gives a multitude of information on the screen. It is so good to see as such and will be a delight to use as well.

Seats

I love vehicles that give me white seats with perforation. They just look grand and gives you a feel of buying a very luxurious car. KIA has done exactly that with their higher versions and no one will be complaining. This seating alone is enough for people to lap the car up.

The lower version gets dull finish fabric seats which are not too bad either frankly. While the front seats are bolstered and feel very safe, the rear seats are best for two people, the middle passenger if included will have to sit a bit uncomfortably and if he is like me at 5’10” it will not be easy for longer drives. At best someone short or a kid can fit in there well. This is the only gripe or nitpicking I can do about the Seltos so far.

Variants

KIA has provided so many engine options and variant options with different sets of features which will make it an exciting buy for anyone looking for something that fits their budget.

Engine options

There are basically three engine options

1.5 petrol churning 115 bhp, 114Nm torque
1.4 turbo charged petrol churning 140 bhp and a whopping 242 Nm torque
And a 1.5 Diesel engine churning 115 bhp and 250 Nm torque.

Transmission options

You must note that each of these engines further are mated either to a manual or automatic transmissions and under auto there is the dual clutch DCT and the torque converter models as well.

Colour options

The Seltos comes in Clear white and Glacier white, Silver, Grey and Black, and Red, Blue and Orange. This with and without dual tone options as well. And metallic and non metallic as well.

Variants with respect to features

There are 3 variants in tech line the E, K and X and two in the GT line, the K and X for now. There are also the normal and the plus versions with few features extra in each version. I will include a link to the feature list PDF here in this post later, but what you need to observe is the sheer level of combinations of features, engines that Kia is offering which allows them to play in a wide range of price brackets to cater to all audiences.

If you are on low budget the HTE is for you, if you are on high budget the HTX is for you. The plus is really if you want the additionals or not.

HT Base version

The base version still comes with 2 airbags, ABS and EBD, front and rear disc brakes, projector head lamps and rear AC vents. It loses out on the auto climate control, and other higher end features such as infotainment system which is advanced. It comes with basic system with 4 speakers still and will satisfy average car buyer without having the need to invest more.

HT Mid Version

The HTK comes additionally with rheostat, 8 inch system, with rear cam, 6 speakers with the system among other things such as external mirror electric adjust etc. The plus version to the mid version includes 16” alloys, LED DRLs, push button start, cruise control, sunshade, rear wiper, washer etc. Besides it also has folding side view mirrors

HT High end version

The high end version is where all the meat is. 17” alloys, LED all lamps (front, fog, drl, rear) , 10.2 inch system with navigation, air purifier integrated with arm rest, antiglare rear view mirror, leatherette seats and auto AC among other things. The plus version to this gives you sunroof, ventilated front seats, power driver seat, Bose 8 speaker system, and a wireless charger among other things.

GT Line

Coming to the GT line, there are two versions currently with the space open for a lower GTE version maybe in future.

For the GTK version – you get everything that is in the HTX

For the GTX version you get curtain airbags, ESP, hill hold, vehicle stability, brake assist, multi drive modes and multi traction modes, and a 8 inch heads up display right above your steering which all exude sportiness quotient even more. Clearly the GTX is targeted for high end buyers.

In addition the GTX plus version gives you blind view monitor in 7 inch cluster display and a 360 degree camera.

Conclusion

With so many variants and features offered, in addtion to a pleasing look, confidence inspiring and safety oriented design, an eye for detail on the interiors, a separate sport line with turbo engines and matching interior features and tech KIA has sought to play to everyone’s attention and needs.

Without compromising basic safety, but with variants all over the Range other manufacturers will now be forced to offer more, or cut costs either way prompting them to accept defeat. What then matters now for KIA is only how good their service network can be and how much attention they pay to the customer woes.

Price

A final word on pricing. Official pricing will be out on August 22nd, but rumour has it that the ex showroom costs could vary between 10 and 17 lacs which when included with other costs would put it between 12.5 to 19.5 lacs in Bengaluru as the on road cost. This is sure to rattle every other manufacturer. But for KIA motors, Hyundai’s plan B will bring it the much needed boost in India.

I am yet to take test drive of this vehicle if time permits tomorrow so I will update that in a separate post.