Design no longer takes a back seat when it comes to budget smartphones. Many devices in the affordable category offer the look and feel of more expensive smartphones these days. Intex’s Aqua Trend is the latest such example. Priced at Rs.8,399, however, the phone faces a tough contest from the Lenovo Vibe P1m (Rs.7,999)—another good-looking phone and steady performer.
Design: good-looking, but a bit heavy
The Intex Aqua Trend’s pebble-like appearance is refreshing. The brushed matte finish and the champagne tint looks more like metal than plastic. But it is not just the looks that impress—the device actually feels sturdy and well-built. At 152g, it’s a bit heavy, but the absence of sharp edges, matte finish on the back and compact form factor make it handy. The phone’s closest competitor, the Lenovo Vibe P1m, is lighter (148g) and doesn’t look as classy, but it’s a good-looking smartphone in its own right.
Display: colours look a bit washed out
The phone has a 5-inch display and it is good to see that Intex has gone with a resolution of 1,280x720p. Most Indian phone brands go for low resolution (960x540p) to cut costs, and end up compromising on the user experience. The display looks sharp enough for reading and Web browsing, but the colours in the videos and photos look a bit washed out. The Vibe P1m also has a 5-inch display and a similar screen resolution, but it looks more colourful and comes with the rugged Gorilla Glass 4.
.jpg "The smartphone runs on the Android 5.1 (Lollipop) operating system")
Software: runs Android Lollipop with a half-baked interface
The smartphone runs on the Android 5.1 (Lollipop) operating system with a slightly altered custom-user interface over it. The app icons look a lot like Xiaomi MIUI’s default interface, but that is the only point of similarity. The rest of the features are based on the plain Android and look similar to a phone that runs the stock Android. It is a bit disappointing if you are looking for a phone with a unique, full-fledged custom interface. If you like the plain Android interface more, you won’t like this because it lacks the smoothness and clutter-free experience of a plain Android. There are too many apps. Lenovo’s Vibe UI is much better in this regard. It’s smooth, and offers plenty of customization and beautifully designed themes.
Performance: can multitask well
The phone is powered by a Mediatek MT6735 quad-core processor with 2 GB of RAM. It is a fairly powerful processor and has been used to power up several budget smartphones, including the Gionee Marathon M5 (Rs.12,999). While it was able to handle most mainstream tasks, including video playback, reading and social networking with ease, it struggled when it came to graphically demanding games, like FIFA 16. The Vibe P1m is pretty good at multitasking, but also struggles with heavy games. Both smartphones support 4G and offer 16 GB of storage, with the option of expanding it with a microSD card. The Vibe P1m is powered by a 3,900 mAh battery that lasts over two days, while the Aqua Trend’s 3,000m Ah battery lasts more than a day.
Camera: good in daylight
The 13-megapixel camera starts up fast and takes pictures quickly. However, the picture quality is not sharp. The colours look accurate and it can capture a fair amount of detail too when used outdoors. Low-light shots, however, look blurry, though the colours come out well. The 5MP front-facing camera is basic and good for close-up selfies at best. The Vibe P1m’s 8 MP camera is better; its colour and detail reproduction is much better.
Verdict
The Aqua Trend has the looks and delivers a steady performance, but it trails the Lenovo Vibe P1m when it comes to display and software.
