The entry level smartphone market is where all the action is taking place ever since Motorola announced its first budget smartphone, the Moto E (Read Review). Almost all smartphone makers have entered this category with similar devices. Swipe also launched its entry level device, the Konnect 5.0 which is 5 inch display device and runs on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. The device is powered by 1.3 GHz quad-core processor with 1GB RAM. The display has a resolution of qHD (960 X 540 pixels) and has a 8-megapixel rear camera with OmniVision sensor, LED flash and a 3.2-megapixel front-facing camera.
The device has option for dual SIM and comes with 3G support. The internal memory is at 8GB which can be expanded to 32GB via microSD card. The phone is priced at Rs 8999 and today we take detailed look into the device to see if it is worth the money.
Here is the video review of the device, for text version read on.
Design, Build and Display:
Swipe Konnect 5.0 comes with a good design which is unique for smartphones these days. It comes with a curved back cover which makes it easy to hold and use even with the large 5.0 inch display. The device feels surprisingly light weight considering its size. The build quality of the device is also pretty decent. The removable back cover house the SIM cards and the battery.
The right side of the device has the power button while the volume rocker keys are on the left side. The top panel has the micro USB charging slot and also the 3.5mm audio jack. The back panel has the 8MP camera along with flash and also the branding and logo.
Above the display you have the earpiece and also the secondary camera. Below the display, there is the three touch buttons for home, back and multi tasking.
There is a slight bump at the back panel for the camera unit making it prone for breakage in case of falls. The speakers are also located at the back panel.
The display on the device is a 5-inch IPS unit with a pixel resolution of 960 by 540 has a pixel density of 220 PPI. The display is bright, has good viewing angles and the pretty good sunlight readability, but the screen is not sharp. The display is surrounded by huge bezels making the phone look bigger than it actually is.
Software and Performance:
The device runs on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean and the company has already released the Android KitKat update for the device. Our test device came with Android Jelly Bean 4.2 and we didn’t receive the KitKat update yet. The UI is mostly stock with very little customizations from the company. The device comes pre-installed with apps like Automatic call recorder, Easy Installer, Kingsoft Office, My City Guide, MX Player, NewsHub, Next Calendar, NextContact Widget, Next Launcher 3D, Next Music, OOBE, Swipe Assist etc.
The device runs on Quad core processor from MediaTek with 1GB of RAM. With very little customizations and 1GB of RAM, the performance is very good and we didnt see any sort of lag while opening apps or while multi tasking. Overall, the 1GB RAM and the quad core processor gives great performance for the device.
The phone comes with dual SIM support and has dedicated options to manage the dual SIM cards. The call performance was good and we didnt have any dropped calls. The speaker performance was also pretty decent. Since the device comes with Jelly Bean out of the box, you can move apps to SD card and also install apps on them.
The device has 3G connectivity along with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. We tested the USB OTG functionality and found that it lacked that feature.
The device comes with 8GB of storage which is expandable via microSD card. Out of the 8GB, around 4.5GB is available to the user which is pretty decent since most of the phones in this price point comes with just 4GB of internal storage. The gaming performance was also pretty good on the device and we didn’t see any sort of lag while playing games.
Camera:
The device comes with a 8MP camera and it performed pretty well for the price point. The camera has a very similar UI which can be found on most of the device powered by MediaTek processors. The camera was almost all set of options and also ability to record videos at 1080p. Although the colors were pretty decent, they weren’t consistent all the time. The macro shots came out well and you can see it from the image below. The camera’s low light performance was not great and there was pretty much noise in the photos taken in low light.
The video recording was again good for the price point. Here are some of the samples taken with the camera.
Battery Life:
The device is powered by a 1950 mAh battery and the performance is pretty average. Although you can squeeze in a day of moderate usage, we expected it to be better. Now that the company is rolling out Android KitKat for the device, we expect the battery to last a day with normal usage which is kind of difficult in current software.
Verdict:
Priced at Rs 8999, the device is pretty good buy with decent build quality, good display and an average camera with great performance. The battery life of the device is the main concern and we expect this to improve once the KitKat update is rolled out. The build quality could also have been a tad better. ASUS Zenfone 5 with slightly better specs would definitely give tough competition for the device.
