Intex’s latest smartphone, the Aqua Star II HD, is a successor to the Aqua Star II, which is just four months old. The new phone will compete with the YU Yuphoria and the Motorola Moto E (3G), both priced at Rs.6,999.
Design: modest but handy to use
The Aqua Star II HD has a functional design with good build quality. The back panel has a soft velvet finish, which helps with the grip. The phone feels quite light for a 5-inch smartphone; it weighs 125g. The matte finish on the back keeps the phone clean and smudge-free without much effort.
Display: sharp and on a par with rivals
The Aqua Star II HD has a 5-inch display with a screen resolution of 1,280x720 pixels, which is more than its predecessor’s rather limited 854x480 pixel resolution on a 5-inch display. The text looks crisp, viewing angles are good, and the colours look much better. The display doesn’t reflect much, making it handy in bright light also. However, the white colours on the Aqua Star II HD’s screen aren’t as pure as what the Yuphoria’s screen manages to replicate. The Moto E has a smaller 4.5-inch display with 960x540 pixel resolution—despite the low resolution it looks as good as other HD displays in the same price category.
Camera: daytime clicker
The camera is 8 megapixel, and can take acceptable shots in bright light. Plus, it gets the colour reproduction right, as long as there is no light source falling directly on the camera.
Software: old Android, different UI
The phone runs on Android 4.4 (KitKat) with a customized skin over it. The icons are huge and colourful but the interface is pretty basic. It comes with a number of gesture controls, such as double tap to wake up the screen. There are gesture commands that come in handy—draw W to open the Web browser while the screen is locked, or M for messages. It’s important to note that a lot of phones that cost as much are offering a newer Android version out of the box, and have better interface designs as well—Intex really needs to roll out an update soon.
Processor: lags but handles most tasks
It is powered by Spreadtrum SC7731 quad-core processor clocking at 1.2 GHz, which is quite rare and not seen in many smartphones. The performance tends to lag a bit occasionally, irrespective of whether or not any apps are open in the background. Apart from this niggle, which is mostly because of poorly optimized software, the phone handled most tasks such as reading, Web browsing, social networking and some amount of light games like Temple Run 2 with relative ease. Surprisingly, the processor doesn’t heat up at all, even when stressed during gaming.
During our tests, the Wi-Fi on this phone came across as unstable. It randomly dropped connection with a hot spot, or the data transfer speed slowed down considerably. We connected some similarly priced phones to the same Wi-Fi connection, and they worked smoothly.
Battery: gives a day’s backup
The 2,000 mAh battery lasts a day when used as a primary phone for reading, social networking, Web browsing and watching videos.
At Rs.6,590, the Aqua Star II HD faces competition from the likes of YU Yuphoria, Lenovo A 6000 Plus (Rs.7,499) and Moto E. Its predecessor, the Aqua Star II (Rs.6,222), doesn’t offer anything extra. The YU Yuphoria offers better processor, smooth performance and 4G connectivity, while the Moto E offers the latest Android OS out of the box.
