TECH REVIEW ..............Intex Aqua i7

TECH REVIEW Intex Aqua i7  PRICE 21,990 SPECIFICATIONS 5-inch touchscreen (1920 x 1080 pixels), 1.5Ghz quad core processor, 2GB RAM, 32GB storage, 13MP rear + 5MP front camera, Android 4.2, 2,000mAh, 143 grams Top notch hardware, build quality, still camera image quality, user interface tweaks, display Average battery life, camera takes time to focus, sub par video recording quality In one swoop, Intex has made it harder to distinguish an Indian smartphone from a premium global brand. Aqua i7, the new flagship smartphone from Intex is a very high quality phone and it’s evident that a lot of work has gone into the design and development of this device. Aqua i7 is an elegant looking device with a chrome band running around the edges and a matte finish back panel. Even though it appears similar to most 5-inch smartphones, it feels much better in the hand. It fits comfortably in the hand – thickness is a mere 7.8mm slim and weight is a very manageable 143 grams. Under the back panel is a removable 2,000mAh battery and dual SIM slots – one micro SIM and one full size SIM. The i7 also has a gorgeous 5-inch display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. Viewing angles on the screen are excellent and it offers rich colours with good brightness. Hardware specifications are better than most phones in the same price range. It is powered by a 1.5Ghz Mediatek quad core processor, 2GB RAM, and has 32GB internal storage (non expandable). We got a score of 15487 in AnTuTu and 4602 in Quadrant benchmark – just slightly below the Google Nexus 4. Performance in gaming, full HD video playback and multi-tasking was flawless, although the user interface did become sluggish at times with multiple apps running. Intex offers a customisable launcher on top of Android 4.2 with some useful tweaks. You have a CPU usage indicator graph that displays usage for individual processor cores. It also includes various power modes that help improve battery life, auto call record, anti-theft, SMS/call filters as well as an app lock feature. The Miracast wireless display (an Android 4.2 feature) can be switched on from the settings as well. Intex has also pre-loaded a custom keyboard that allows you to type in various Indian languages. An interesting addition is the Myscreen app. It allows you to simultaneously use multiple functions such as the text editor, video player, file manager, drawing pad, browser window, music player and SMS compose box. We were able to work with up to 6 windows at the same time – quite impressive and unique. Audio output from the earpiece is loud and clear, though we did feel that the external speaker volume could have been louder. Aqua i7 comes with dual cameras – 13MP rear and 5MP front. While the front camera is nothing to write home about, the rear camera is impressive. You get multiple modes – HDR, panorama, smile shot and magic shot (remove unwanted elements from a photograph) along with a professional mode to tweak advanced settings such as exposure, hue and saturation. Image quality is excellent in daylight and indoors we saw minimal noise. The only letdown is that the camera requires a second or two to focus properly. Video recording can be done in full HD resolution, but it has average quality and suffers from visible noise indoors. With the 2,000mAh battery, it struggled to last an entire day with a mix of calls, data connectivity, multimedia playback and some camera use. Prepare to keep your charger handy. Overall though, the Aqua i7 is an impressive device –better than most phones at this price. If you can extend your budget, consider Lenovo’s K900. It has a 5.5-inch full HD display, 2Ghz Intel processor, 2GB RAM and a bigger battery. KARAN BAJAJ   ALSO SEE Lenovo K900 24,499 5.5-inch display (1920 x 1080 pixels), 2Ghz dual core Intel processor, 2GB RAM, 16GB storage, 12MP/2MP camera, Android 4.2, 2,500mAh  ET130930