GADGET GIZMO SPECIAL For Budget Camera Enthusiasts

GADGET GIZMO SPECIAL For Budget Camera Enthusiasts

It's not easy for a new brand to make a mark in the competitive Indian smartphone segment. There are few that make an instant impact with their offerings but many just fade away . itel (the lowercase `i' is intentional) is the latest on the scene and they have started out with three budget Android smartphones. Of the three, the SelfiePro it1511 is the most expensive and is aimed at users who want a good camera without spending too much.

The phone has an 8MP primary camera with dual LED flash. There is a dedicated shutter button on the side which works well and is a rare feature on smartphones these days. We were surprised by the camera performance -focus speed is zippy and the image quality is fantastic (for the price). The photos have good details, rich colours, and minimal noise.They've really spent time on the camera. You get the option of guidelines, a level meter, touch capture, shutter sound, voice capture, gesture shot, smile shot, timer and EIS (electronic image stabilization). The only thing we thought was missing was a professional or manual mode.

As the name suggests, this is a phone that recognises the selfie craze. Even the front camera has an LED flash for better selfies. Even though the front camera is `only' 2MP, daylight images are great. Indoors and in low light we did notice some purple fringing around the edges. With the selfie flash on, the camera manages to capture more detail and most of the time, it manages to take photos good enough for sharing on social media or use as profile pictures.

Hardware is not the best in the price range as you get a quad core processor but with just 1GB RAM and 8GB storage. Even though navigation is zippy, the phone does struggle with games -be prepared for low frame rates and stutters. In normal usage, we noticed that the phone had around 400MB RAM free at any given point -even with over 10 apps running in the background. Battery manages to last from 9 am to 5pm with normal use but charging the phone takes over 4 hours since there is no fast charging support. One good thing about the phone is that it looks more expensive than its asking price. There is a faux leather finish on the rear panel with a slight curve, brushed metal edges and metallic buttons. The 5-inch display with a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels has wide viewing angles and excellent brightness. As with most budget phones, the display has thick bezels (they don't look too nice but consider the price again).

Overall, as the first device from itel, the it1511 manages to leave an impression. It scores high on looks, design, display, day-to-day performance, features as well as the camera. The only major quirk we have is the slow battery charging. The biggest hurdle for itel is brand recognition.

Karan.Bajaj@timesgroup.com