SMARTPHONE SPECIAL .... NEW BUDGET SMARTPHONES (4)

NEW BUDGET SMARTPHONES (4)





Entry-level smartphones have enough processing muscle to handle every productivity task smoothly and even play Full HD movies. You can also expect a day-long battery life.

NUBIA N1 LITE

The Nubia N1 Lite comes with a 5.5-inch screen, making it a good entry-level smartphone for those who need a larger display to type and for productivity tasks like email, messaging and web browsing.

The N1 Lite stands out from the rest of the phones in this review with its all-black sturdy plastic build, complete with gold accents.

Its HD display is bright, and is quite legible in direct sunlight. Text and images appear sharp, with muted colours, but you can tweak its screen settings with the help of the MiraVision tool to enhance colour, contrast and sharpness.

The handset runs a user interface with minimal customisations, and comes with a built-in call recorder, a `turbo' feature that uses Wi-Fi and your cellular network simultaneously for quicker downloads, as well as a fingerprint sensor to lockunlock the handset.

The N1 Lite is quite capable of handling productivity jobs like email, messaging, web browsing, reading ebooks and casual gaming, but heavy apps and graphic-intensive games take their toll on its processor. You can still manage to watch Full HD movies without any hiccups.

Its rear camera does a good job of capturing photos that are evenly exposed, and with a fair amount of detail. Macro shots look sharp, although a close inspection of the photos reveal slight graininess in every capture. The camera interface looks slightly dated but includes a number of scene modes and options to adjust sharpness and colour saturation. Its front snapper, which also has an LED flash, is an average performer and captures images that contain a lot of noise even under normal light conditions.

The N1 Lite includes a basic sound enhancement to boost audio output when listened to on its speaker. However, this merely accentuates the treble, so music played over earphones sounds better when this mode is disabled.

The N1 Lite is the cheapest handset in this review to come with a dedicated memory slot.

SPECS: 5.5-inch HD display | 1.3GHz MediaTek MT6737 quad-core processor | 2GB RAM | 8MP rear (LED flash), 5MP front camera | 16GB storage, microSD | 3000mAh battery

Rs 6,999 | RATING: 6/10

What the ratings mean: Below 5:

The product is poor and doesn't offer the experience it promises | 5 & 6: The product works as advertised | 7: The product is good; will not disappoint the buyer | 8: Very good; super value for money | 9: The device is exceptional | 10: You're kidding, right?
All ratings awarded to devices factor in prices to arrive at a final score.

Ashutosh Desai TOI 5AUG17