India’s homegrown brand Ai+ brings the second iteration in its entry-level Pulse series at a time when smartphone manufacturers across the board are hiking prices due to rising input costs. The Ai+ Pulse 2 flaunts a large 6.7-inch HD+ display while running Android 16 right out of the box. You also get old-school features like expandable storage and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Priced at Rs 8,000, the smartphone looks like a good deal on paper. But are there any tradeoffs to be made? Find out in our Ai+ Pulse 2 review.
Read Also: Logitech G PRO X2 SUPERSTRIKE Launched in India With HITS Technology and 8kHz Polling
In This Article
Ai+ Pulse 2 Review: Design and Display
Box Contents
- Smartphone
- 10W power adapter
- USB-A to USB-C cable
- Clear plastic cover
- SIM ejector
- User manual
The flat form factor of the Ai+ Pulse 2 lends it a nice in-hand feel. The plastic back panel has a smooth finish, with a glossy strip running vertically along its length. The square camera panel has rounded corners and exudes an iPhone-like look. The smartphone comes in 5 colour options – Pink, Black, Blue, Purple, and Green.
The plastic frame houses the volume rocker and the side button on its right edge. The side button has an orange accent and doubles as the fingerprint sensor. The 3.5mm headphone jack, microphone, USB-C port, and speaker grille are positioned on the bottom edge. The hybrid SIM tray makes its way to the left edge of the frame. It is integrated with a microSD card slot. The smartphone supports expandable storage up to 1TB. It is rated IP64 for dust and water resistance.
The 6.74-inch HD+ LCD panel has a 120Hz refresh rate and can reach up to 450 nits in High Brightness Mode. We found ourselves shielding it under harsh outdoor lighting conditions to make out the contents of the screen. However, it did not have any problems maintaining legibility indoors. The chunky bezels around the display get thicker at the bottom. The front-facing camera is placed in a waterdrop notch on the display. The fingerprint sensor is mounted on the side key. It is snappy and accurate.
We used the Ai+ Pulse 2 to stream movie and TV titles across OTT apps like Netflix, Prime Video, and JioHotstar. The 720 x 1,600p LCD panel produced decent visuals packed with vibrant colours. While it lacked the punchy contrast of its AMOLED counterparts, it was able to curate a good viewing experience. The audio output produced by the bottom-firing speaker is boxy and rough, but that’s something we expect from entry-level smartphones.
Ai+ Pulse 2 Review: Performance and Cameras
The Unisoc T7250 processor lies at the heart of the Ai+ Pulse 2. The smartphone comes in 2 RAM (LPDDR4X) and storage (eMMC) variants:
- 4GB + 64GB: Rs 7,999
- 8GB + 128GB: Rs 8,999
We ran a couple of benchmarks on the smartphone. Here is how it performed.
- AnTuTu 3D Lite: 401,624
- Geekbench 6: 432 (single-core) | 1,467 (multi-core)
The Pulse 2 is able to handle routine tasks like calling, instant messaging, web browsing, and media streaming. Using social media apps like Facebook and Instagram does not present any problems. The slow storage configuration impedes the loading time of apps, but there aren’t any speed bumps once they’re running in full swing. The lack of 5G connectivity is the biggest drawback of this phone. If you’re fine with that tradeoff, the general performance will not leave any room for complaints.
A good gaming performance is a big ask for an entry-level mobile processor like Unisoc T7250, but you can run games like Candy Crush and Block Blast without any massive performance issues. The mediocre touch response of the display kept us from enjoying FPS games.
The Ai+ Pulse 2 offers a splendid software experience for an entry-level phone. For starters, it runs Android 16 out of the box at a time when most budget phones are still shipping with Android 15. Ai+’s custom nxtQ OS does not add any bloatware or invasive ads, something that is unheard of in this segment. What you get is a clean software experience right out of the box.
nxtQ OS takes design inspiration from ColorOS/OxygenOS. Its vibrant interface feels fun. We like that there are custom icons for popular apps. The native wallpaper library has a lot of exciting options. The wallpaper carousel periodically changes the lock screen and home screen wallpapers without lacing the interface with invasive ads. You also get a handy NxtPrivacy dashboard that lets you know whether any apps are tracking you or accessing certain permissions.
The 6,000mAh Li-Po battery pack offers a 1-day battery life even with heavy usage. On days with 6-7 hours of screen time, we were left with ~15% charge in the tank before bed. If you’re more conservative with your usage, you can push the battery life to 2 days. The battery pack supports 18W wired charging, but the smartphone ships with a 10W power adapter. It took us over 2 hours to fully charge the device.
The rear camera array comprises a 50MP primary shooter and a 0.8MP auxiliary lens. The waterdrop notch on the display houses an 8MP front-facing camera. The 50MP primary shooter takes decent shots in outdoor lighting conditions. The images are vibrant and ‘social media ready’, but feel a tad overexposed. There is a visible softness to them, but that’s something to be expected from a smartphone in this price bracket. Images taken in limited lighting conditions are dim and grainy, and the Night Mode doesn’t do a lot to salvage the situation.
Portraits taken by the primary shooter are clear and well-focused. The smartphone applies a hint of background blur to these shots. The front-facing 8MP lens takes decent selfies, but softness remains a pertinent issue on this camera as well. Both cameras can record 1,080p footage at 30fps.
Read Also: Top 10 smartphones under Rs 40,000 (April 2026)
Verdict
The Ai+ Pulse 2 puts up a solid performance day in and day out, making it a worthy daily driver. It handles routine tasks without throwing any lag or hiccups. The 6.74-inch display is optimum for consuming content across different OTT apps. The clean, bloatware-free software experience offered by nxtQ OS is the highlight of this device. While the Rs 8,000 price tag for this phone makes it a steal in today’s market, it does come at the cost of sacrificing 5G connectivity.
Pros
- Nice design
- Clean software
- Big battery
Cons
- Lacks 5G connectivity
- Average cameras
