Ai+ is the brainchild of CEO Madhav Sheth, who, after spending years in the smartphone industry, has decided to build a smartphone brand from India, for India, serving the Indian audience. After launching two phones last year, Sheth has now introduced the Ai+ Pulse 2 for the Indian masses.
Priced aggressively at Rs. 6,999, today we take a look at how the Ai+ Pulse 2 phone holds up in real-world use.
Ai+ Pulse 2 Review: Design
The Pulse 2 marks a clear visual departure from its predecessor. While the original Pulse featured a slightly cut camera bump on the back with a different lens arrangement, the Pulse 2 upgrades to a more defined squircle camera island housing two lenses, an LED flash, and a 'Matrix AI Camera' badge, giving it a more modern, purposeful look. The back panel itself has also changed, moving away from the matte texture of the Pulse 1 to a glossier finish on the Black variant we reviewed. While sleek-looking, it does attract fingerprints rather readily. The phone is available in five colour options - Green, Blue, Pink, Purple, and Black - giving buyers a fair degree of personal expression at this price.
One of the more distinctive design touches is the red-accented power button on the right spine, flanked by the volume rocker - a small but punchy detail that adds character to an otherwise understated frame. The USB Type-C port and speaker grille sit at the bottom, while the left spine carries only the SIM tray. The top is entirely clean. Notably, this device does not have a 3.5mm audio jack, which users migrating from budget phones may find inconvenient.
The boxy frame is a deliberate choice and it works well in practice. The flat sides create a firm, secure grip that makes the phone feel planted in the hand. That said, at 6.745-inches, one-handed use is a stretch for most users. Reaching across the display requires readjusting your grip frequently, and tasks like typing with one thumb involve some compromise. This is not unusual for a phone of this size in this segment, but it is worth factoring in.
Ai+ Pulse 2 Review: Design |
Inside the box, you get the Ai+ Pulse 2 handset, a charger, a USB Type-C cable, a SIM ejection tool, an information leaflet, and a silicone protective cover. It is a clean, practical in-box package with no unnecessary additions. Do note that there is no 3.5mm audio jack on this device, so users who prefer wired audio will need a USB Type-C adapter or Bluetooth earphones.
Ai+ Pulse 2 Review: Display
The Pulse 2 sports a 6.745-inch HD+ IPS LCD panel with a V-notch cutout, a resolution of 720x1600 pixels, and a 120Hz refresh rate - a meaningful upgrade from the 90Hz panel on the Pulse 1. The step up in refresh rate is noticeable in everyday use. Scrolling through social media feeds, navigating the UI, and swiping between home screens all feel noticeably smoother. The display is rated at 450 nits typical brightness and supports HBM for brief peak brightness boosts.
For extended binging sessions, the display holds up reasonably well. Colours are warm and fairly pleasant for casual streaming, and the screen size makes watching content comfortable. However, the HD+ resolution does mean that fine text and detailed images appear slightly soft when scrutinised closely - this is a budget constraint that is hard to escape at this price point. Outdoor visibility is adequate under mild sunlight but begins to struggle in direct brightness, with reflections becoming a notable issue on the glossy panel. Colour reproduction leans warm rather than oversaturated, which feels natural but may disappoint users accustomed to punchier AMOLED displays. The oleophobic coating helps keep smudges at bay during use, though the glossy back fares less well in that department.
Ai+ Pulse 2 Review: Performance
The Pulse 2 is powered by the Unisoc T7250, an octa-core 12nm processor running at up to 1.8GHz, paired with a Mali-G57 MP1 GPU. It is available in two configurations: 4GB LPDDR4x RAM with 64GB eMMC storage, and 6GB LPDDR4x RAM with 128GB eMMC storage. Storage is expandable via a dedicated microSD slot.
The benchmark numbers tell an honest story. In AnTuTu v11, the AI+ Pulse 2 scored 390,665, with the CPU contributing 149,198, GPU 20,991, memory 105,991, and UX 114,485. The temperature rose by 3.7 degrees Celsius during the AnTuTu run - a reasonable result. In Geekbench 6, the phone scored 441 in single-core and 1,461 in multi-core, with a GPU OpenCL score of 711. These numbers place the T7250 a step ahead of the T615 in the original Pulse and confirm that the Pulse 2 is a genuine upgrade in processing capability.
Ai+ Pulse 2 Review: Geekbench results |
In day-to-day use, the phone handles casual browsing, YouTube, social media, and calls without any significant issues. Multitasking within two or three apps is functional, though stacking more leads to occasional app reloads, particularly on the 4GB variant. High-intensity games such as BGMI can be played, but only at low to medium settings, and prolonged sessions result in visible frame drops. The Pulse 2 is a casual gaming phone - not one built for competitive play.
Ai+ Pulse 2 Review: Camera
The Pulse 2 carries a 50-megapixel dual AI rear camera setup with autofocus and EIS, paired with a CIF secondary sensor. The front camera gets a meaningful upgrade from 5-megapixel on the Pulse 1 to 8-megapixel, which makes a genuine difference in selfie quality and video calls. The rear camera shoots video up to 1080p at 30fps.
In our camera samples, the daylight outdoor shot of the building facade and tree canopy shows decent dynamic handling of greens - foliage comes out vivid and fairly detailed, though the sky shows some overexposure in the brighter areas. The close-up shot of the small figurine on a glass desk near a window showcases the camera's attempt at background separation, but depth rendering is soft, and there is visible noise in the mid-tones - indicative of the sensor's limits in indoor mixed lighting.
Ai+ Pulse 2 Review: Camera Samples |
The camera app offers a host of editing tools to tinker with, including HDR, beauty mode, filters, and scene detection. While there are no standalone AI editing features baked into the camera app, the suite of manual adjustments is comprehensive enough for the target audience. Night mode is present and makes a noticeable effort to brighten dark scenes by stacking exposures, but results carry visible softness and noise in very low light.
Ai+ Pulse 2 Review: Camera Samples |
Ai+ Pulse 2 Review: Software and UI
The Pulse 2 runs nxtQ 1.0 OS based on Android 16, making it one of very few phones in this price bracket to ship with the latest version of Android out of the box - a genuine differentiator. The UI is clean and deliberately simple, with minimal bloatware and a straightforward layout. One of the more noticeable design choices is that all pre-installed Google apps have had their logos reskinned with AI+'s own aesthetic, giving the interface a cohesive, branded feel. The quick settings panel is logically laid out, with the essential toggles - Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, mobile data, torch, screen record, QR scanner, and battery saver - all accessible at a glance.
That said, not everything is seamless. A slight but perceptible lag was noticed while switching between apps and during back-navigation, which does soften the otherwise smooth 120Hz scrolling experience. There is no native notes app preloaded on the device, so users will either need to install a third-party option or rely on Google Keep Notes, which does come pre-installed.
Ai+ Pulse 2 Review: Software and UI |
The standout software feature is the NxtPrivacy Dashboard. It scans all installed apps regularly and provides a clear breakdown of which apps are tracking you, which ones are accessing your location, and which ones are clean. During our review period, the dashboard showed zero apps tracking us, and the permission-level breakdown by category - including location, microphone, and contacts - made it easy to review app behaviour at a glance. For a phone aimed at first-time and privacy-conscious users, this is a meaningful feature.
Ai+ Pulse 2 Review: Battery
The Pulse 2 carries a 6,000mAh lithium polymer battery - a significant jump from the 5,000mAh cell in the Pulse 1, and one that AI+ positions as the slimmest 6,000mAh battery in this category. It supports 18W fast charging, and the charger included in the box is rated accordingly. The battery life in mixed usage - covering social media, some streaming, calls, and light gaming across a full day - comfortably lasted a day and a half, making it one of the stronger performers in this segment on endurance. On lighter days, stretching to two days is achievable. Charging from near-empty takes approximately 90 to 100 minutes at 18W, which is not blazing fast but is adequate given the battery size and price point. The phone also carries an IP64 rating, offering full protection against dust ingress and splash resistance from any direction.
Ai+ Pulse 2 Review: Battery |
Ai+ Pulse 2 Review: Verdict
At Rs. 6,999, the Ai+ Pulse 2 makes a surprisingly confident case for itself as an Indian brand. The combination of a 6,000mAh battery, Android 16 out of the box, 120Hz display, IP64 rating, and the NxtPrivacy Dashboard is hard to fault at this price. The Pulse 2 holds its own on paper and on endurance. Where it concedes ground is in performance headroom for heavy gaming, the absence of a 3.5mm jack, and occasional UI lag that a software update could potentially iron out.
For a first-time buyer, a student, or someone looking for a reliable secondary device with genuinely long battery life, the AI+ Pulse 2 is a compelling buy. Furhtermore, if you are genuinely looking to back an Indian brand, AI+ makes a strong pitch with the Pulse 2. It is not trying to punch above its weight in every category, but it does deliver squarely on what its audience needs most.
For alternatives at the same price, you can look at the Samsung Galaxy F05, Poco C71, and Realme C71.
Rating: 3.5 / 5
Ai+ Pulse 2 Review: Verdict |
