SMARTPHONES UNDER ₹20,000
Reviews of four
handsets to help you make an informed buying decision…
ASUS ZENFONE MAX PRO M1
At a time when most manufacturers have opted for an
all-glass build, the Max Pro M1 comes with a metal back—with hard plastic at
the top and bottom edge for its antenna. On the downside, you don’t get a
Gorilla Glass display. The phone still feels solid to hold, but you might want
to use a screen guard to protect against scratches.
The touchscreen on the M1 is capable of high
brightness levels and this makes it legible even under sunlight. Text appears
crisp and graphics are rendered in natural colours. There is some tinting in
the display when viewed from wide angles, but this does not affect readability
and is not a deal breaker. You also get a night mode to cut screen glare, which
can be configured to kick in at a pre-set time.
The M1’s bottom-firing speaker is loud and clear
enough for hands-free calls. The device uses an NXP audio amplifier; the
output over earphones is balanced across the aural
spectrum, with discernible bass. This works well with its high-res display to
watch Full HD movies and for gaming. Still, we would have liked a built-in
equaliser to finetune sound output.
Asus has done away with its ZenUI, which included
bloatware that could not be uninstalled. Instead, you get a “pure Android Oreo”
experience with just the essentials: Apart from the standard Google apps and
services, you get a voice recorder (but no call recording) and FM radio. This
barebone Android installation results in smooth multi-tasking between apps. The
device also has a fingerprint sensor and support for face recognition. These
work as advertised and unlock the phone with minimal delay; face recognition
even works consistently in very low light.
Photos clicked in natural light display a fair amount
of details with natural colours and even exposure. There is a drop in
quality—with some grain and softening—in low light, but the results are worthy
of sharing online. On the downside, the cameras take a second to focus and may
click photos with incorrect white balance. That said, the app comes with scene
modes for portraits with bokeh, close-ups, action, sunset and more. Manual
control is restricted to adjusting ISO, exposure and white balance only. Selfies
taken with its front camera have a warm colour tone, but lack detail when
viewed at actual size.
RATING 7
Overall, the Asus ZenFone Max
Pro M1 offers very good value for money: It is equipped with powerful hardware
– the more expensive Nokia 6.1 Plus has the same processor – that ensures
smooth performance for gaming and multimedia. Plus, you get a dedicated microSD
slot for extra storage and a high-capacity battery that’s capable of well over
a day’s worth of mixed usage.
NOKIA 6.1 PLUS
The 6.1 Plus sports a metal trim and a complete
Gorilla Glass build that makes its surfaces resistant to abuse from keys and
coins in your pocket or handbag. It isn’t as ostentatious as the Honor 9N but
feels solid and looks good.
Its touchscreen is similar to the Honor 9N, complete
with a notch at the top; it is responsive to taps and swipes and renders punchy
colours, but with better contrast and black levels. On the downside, you don’t
get options to adjust screen resolution or hide the notch.
The speaker on this phone sounds flat but is loud
enough for hands-free calls; output over earphones tends to favour the highs
and mid-range, which makes music sound brighter. Again, you don’t get a sound
equaliser to tweak output.
This handset runs Android One, an unmodified version
of Google’s mobile OS: you get the new News app, Tez (now Google
Pay), Duo for video calls, Drive-related productivity apps
and FM radio. A fingerprint sensor at the back, works promptly to unlock the
handset. However, the 6.1 Plus is the only device in this roundup that does not
include a face unlock feature. Overall, the almost-stock Android OS on the
phone does not pose any problems and you are guaranteed a smooth performance
whether it is while multitasking or 3D gaming.
The rear cameras on this handset clicked some of the
best shots in this round up. This was evident by the textures and details in
snapshots that were rendered with accurate colours, contrast and bokeh. You
also get a manual mode that lets you adjust light exposure and white balance to
improve the final output.
When it comes to selfies, its front snapper comes
with a beauty mode, as well
as portrait lighting with up to six options. These
photos are clear enough to be shared online, but the lack of detail is apparent
when the images are magnified to full size.
Notably, the Nokia 6.1 Plus can capture snapshots
with the rear and front cameras simultaneously, albeit at a lower 4MP
resolution. This means you can capture yourself “behind the camera” as you
shoot what’s in front of you. Here, you can pick between a split-screen or
picture-in-picture mode. The 6.1 Plus even lets you livestream videos from both
cameras to YouTube and Facebook directly.
RATING 4.5
The Nokia 6.1 Plus’ cameras will
appeal to those who are into social media and video blogging. The handset—which
comes with one of the best mid-range processors—sports the contemporary sharp
notch display and it is the only smartphone with Gorilla Glass protection in
this round up. You are also assured a day-long battery life with support for
fast charging.
HONOR 9N
The Honor 9N is an all-glass affair that uses
12-layers of the material for its back to create a polished mirror look. Again,
you might have to use a tempered-glass screen guard to protect its display from
scratches. Overall, the handset—albeit slippery to hold (you get a plastic case
in the box for improved grip)—looks very premium.
It sports the ‘notch’ display, which is the new “IN”
thing to have. This isn’t really a value add, but you can hide it via a
software toggle. Its Full HD+ resolution and high pixel density results in
vibrant colours and contrast, second only to the Nokia 6.1 Plus in this review.
Also, you can configure the 9N to automatically step down to HD+ to extend
battery life. Now, while the screen is not as bright as the one on the Asus,
you will not have any trouble with visibility under direct sun glare.
This handset’s speaker is powerful and favours the
highs so certain vocals tend to sound a little harsh; this is also because the
bass is underwhelming in comparison. The 9N comes with Honor’s own Histen sound
optimisation to boost output over earphones, and it does a good job when it
comes to audio for watching movies. Its compact form factor may seem limiting
for movies and games, but its music player app, quality sound output and
10-band equaliser, makes it a decent MP3 player.
This smartphone runs EMUI, a custom interface with a
number of proprietary
apps and services. You get a voice recorder, FM
radio, a Health app to track your steps; HiCare to
locate service centres and run diagnostics; an SOS app that
sends text alerts to pre-set contacts, and utilities to manage storage and scan
for viruses.
For security, you get a responsive fingerprint
sensor, and a face unlock feature that works well even in the dark to unlock
your phone.
The rear snappers on the 9N click pictures with
saturated colours and excellent contrast. The punchier hues, at times, tend to
kill details and textures in the pictures. Selfies are on a par with the Asus
ZenFone Max Pro M1, but with better colour contrast. You get basic shooting
modes like panorama, portrait with bokeh, time-lapse and “moving picture”. This
last mode captures a still and records a short video clip along with it.
The Camera app also includes a Pro mode which lets you adjust
shutter speed and switch to manual focus when the presets don’t work for you.
RATING 6.5
Performance-wise, the Honor 9N
is almost on a par with the Asus handset, but it looks so much better: You get
a compact form factor with a stylish, eye-catching design. Its UI comes with
all the bells and whistles found on its higher-end phones, with excellent
network reception, superior audio output and a day-long battery life. The
cameras don’t disappoint either; they come with software for creative photography
and post processing.
SAMSUNG GALAXY J8
The J8 sports a tempered glass and polycarbonate
body. And while it doesn’t look as premium as the Honor 9N and the Nokia 6.1
Plus, its build feels solid. You might still want to consider a screen guard to
protect its display.
Its display sports the lowest resolution in this
roundup as well as the lowest pixel density. So, it isn’t as crisp or sharp as
the screens on the other handsets here. On the other hand, it bumps up colours
to make images look richer and you get an outdoor mode that boosts brightness
to improve readability and offset reflections.
Its speaker is side-facing and placed closer to the
earpiece. Output is clear, while music over earphones sounds balanced and gets
a slight boost when its Dolby Atmos optimisation is switched on. Plus, you get
dials to tweak bass, treble and vocals. While the large screen and quality
audio output go well for movies, its low-res display is underwhelming when
compared to the Asus ZenFone Max Pro M1.
The J8’s Samsung Experience custom UI comes with apps
like a voice recorder, an FM radio, Samsung Max for privacy
protection, Secure Folder to safeguard data and apps,
and Dual Messenger to run two instances of Facebook and WhatsApp.
This handset supports Samsung Pay Mini, which lets you make UPI
payments and acts as a wallet manager for credit/debit cards, Paytm and MobiKwik.
It cannot be used like Samsung Pay for contactless payments
with a card machine, but it will let you scan QR codes to pay bills and
transfer money.
The J8 also has a fingerprint sensor and a face
recognition mode to unlock the screen. Both work as advertised to quickly
unlock your handset, and the latter even works in low light environs.
Like the Nokia 6.1 Plus, the J8’s rear cameras are
capable of detailed captures and a natural colour palette. Focusing isn’t
snappy, but pictures appear evenly exposed while
retaining texture details. You get basic modes for action photography and
panoramas; AR stickers and a “live focus” mode to take portrait shots with bokeh.
The manual mode on the J8 only gives you control over
ISO, exposure and white balance. It performs well even in dim settings, with
only a slight drop in quality and increase in noise gain. Plus, this handset
has the best selfie cam in this round up: Photos have a warm colour tone and
you can manually adjust exposure to retain details when the beautification mode
is disabled.
RATING 5.5
At its price, the Samsung Galaxy
J8 is an underwhelming phone. It comes with a processor that’s mostly found on
handsets that cost half as much and its display does not match up to the other
handsets in this group. It can handle most present-day smartphone tasks but is
the least futureproof of all the devices in this roundup. On the plus side, you
get a good set of cameras as well as apps like Pay Mini ,
on-device web and data security, and power management tools that can give over
a day’s worth of service before needing a recharge.
Ashutosh Desai
TOI 1SEP18
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