Intex today introduced the latest smartphone in its Aqua series. Called the Intex Aqua i5 HD, the phone isn’t really going to be a breakthrough for the budget segment but it does bring with it a balanced outlook between price, performance and looks. We spent some time with the device today and Intex was quick to point out that camera performance, screen size and design was amongst the top priorities while designing the phone. Here are our first impressions.
Intex Aqua i5 HD specifications
- 5-inch HD (1280 × 720 pixels) OGS display
- Dual SIM (WCDMA + GSM) with dual Standby
- Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) OS
- 1.3 GHz quad-core processor
- 13MP Auto Focus Camera with LED flash
- 5MP front-facing camera
- 3.5mm audio jack, FM Radio
- Light Sensor, Magnetic Sensor, Proximity Sensor, G sensor
- 3G, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0 with A2DP and GPS
- 1GB RAM, 4GB internal memory, Expandable memory up to 32GB with micro SD
- 2000 mAh battery
The front of the phone has a 5 inch 720p display. The display is of the OGS ie One Glass Solution variety in which the panel is bonded to the digitizer. In our brief amount of time with the phone’s display felt quite good to look at. Contrast levels are on the higher end and might appear oversaturated to some users but we feel that the majority of users will find it adequate for multimedia consumption. The screen attracts a lot of fingerprints and is reflective enough to prove to be a hassle in bright sunlight. We’ll have to test it out more to judge outdoor visibility. Build of the device on the other hand was quite impressive. Definitely amongst the better budget devices we’ve tried out. The matte back of the phone sits well in the hand and the edges gently curve out. We think that Intex could’ve reduced the bezels here a bit more with the phone coming in about as big as the already huge Xperia Z2.
Over at the back of the phone you spot the 13MP camera with a single LED flash. Intex claims to have worked on including a high quality module here but we found performance to be fairly lacking. It will be premature to declare it as a poor camera but initial results with indoor shots definitely did not impress. The phone also has a 5MP front facing camera.
Powering the phone is a 1.3Ghz MediaTek Quad Core chipset paired with 1GB of RAM. There’s also 4GB of storage of which about 2GB is available. You can expand this via the microSD card slot. The phone is of the Dual SIM (WCDMA + GSM) variety with dual standby capabilities as well. Powering the show is a 2000 mAh battery that is of course user replaceable.
Our initial impressions show the Intex Aqua i5 HD to be a fairly solid offering though performance seemed a bit lacking. We’ll have to wait for our retail unit to give that a spin. That said, the recently announced Moto E is sure to have an impact on all newly launched sub Rs.10,000 products. It remains to be seen how well Intex can market this Android 4.2 running phone priced at Rs. 9,990.