“So, this is the Note II? Nice,” said a
friend. We could only smirk, for we were holding the Intex Aqua 5.0, an
entry-level Phablet that costs a fraction of the Samsung device that our friend
mistook this for. You cannot blame him, for the look and build quality of the
Aqua 5.0 makes it look very pricey. We must confess that to add to the
deception, we had Samsung’s trademark dandelion wallpaper on the phone.
The truth is that if you are on a budget
and aspire to own a phablet, the Aqua 5.Q isn’t a bad bet. We don’t know how
the phone will fare six months on, but in the week that we used the device it
managed to give us a pleasant surprise. It seems like a well-built phone with a
plastic body that has a brushed aluminum finish at the edges. The rough rear
piece makes it easy to grip. Then, the 5-inch capacitive multi-touch touch
display, though just 800x480p, is good, especially when you know how much the
phone costs. The viewing angles are a bit limited, but play a high-end game or
a HD video and you wouldn’t be disappointed. The phone runs a dual-core
processor and running heavy apps or video was not a problem. In fact, the
benchmark tests we ran on the phone were too good to be believed. Anyway, the
device runs Android 4.Q ICS and you can live without an upgrade for some
months.
The
viewing angles are a bit limited, but play a high-end game or a HD video and
you wouldn’t be disappointed
The call clarity is good, though we would
have like it to be a bit louder. But you wouldn’t be keeping this 5-incher to
your ear to make a call, that job will have to be entrusted to an accessory.
The phone has two cameras a 1,3MP one in front and a 5MP in the rear. The
latter is good enough for you to create decent HDR and time lapse videos, but
the results are a bit noisy in low light and when using zoom. The 2000 mAh
battery is good enough to last a day and a half with regular usage, including
Wi-Fi.
The
phone has two cameras a 1,3MP one in front and a 5MP in the rear
There aren’t many big flaws with the phone.
But we noticed that a part of the phone near the camera heats up during
browsing. Then there is a slight gap towards the bottom end of the touchscreen
from where light seeps out and this is a minor irritant. And, yes, the phone
has a tendency for the horizontal orientation, even when it doesn’t need to.
Maybe it likes being a tablet more than a phone.
Overall, we suggest people who are looking
at an affordable phablet or tablet should consider this phone seriously.
|
Specifications
§ Price:
$184
§ 5-inch
(800 x 480 Pixels) Capacitive multi-touch display
§ 1GHz
dual-core processor
§ Android
4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
§ Dual
SIM (GSM + GSM)
§ 5MP
auto focus rear camera with LED flash, 1.3MP front-facing camera
§ 3G,
Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.0, GPS
§ 512MB
RAM, 4GB internal memory, up to 32GB expandable memory with microSD
§ 3.5mm
Audio Jack, FM Radio
§ 2000
mAh battery
|
