Design: Compact and well-built
Display: Small but scratch resistant
The phone’s 4.5-inch display has a screen resolution of 854x480p. Technically this puts it at par with every notable budget phone at this price point. In real-life results this means you won’t get the same level of visual experience that you will get on a Rs.6,000 phone. The icons look pixelated, colours in images and videos look washed out. Games don’t look very impressive either. Also, the screen reflects in sunlight and catches smudges within minutes of use. The display has a layer of Gorilla Glass 3 to protect it against scratches.
Software: Runs the latest Android
Though it supports Now on Tap feature we couldn’t get it to work by pressing on the home button. This feature provides more information on the current app screen. Also, the phone allows users to access to land on select apps from the lock screen itself through gestures.
Intex has also added an emergency rescue feature, which is technically very similar to the panic button feature, which may become a permanent feature on all smartphones from next year. Emergency rescue works by sending messages with the user’s location to contacts identified by the users for emergency. It can be activated by pressing and holding the volume up and down button together for three seconds.
Performance: Handles most tasks well
Driving the phone is MediaTek’s 1.0 GHz MT6735 quad-core processor with 1GB RAM. Thanks to plain Android interface which is usually lighter on resources, the phone was able to run basis day to day tasks smoothly. It even played games such as Temple Run 2 and Smash Hit without any signs of heating up, game crash or sluggishness. The phone struggles with multi-tasking though, especially with 6 to 8 apps running simultaneously. One of advantages of Android M is that automatically closes app that has not been used for some time without actually closing them.
The device offers 8GB internal storage which is expandable with micro SD cards. It has dual SIM slots and they support all major 4G networks available in India. The phone’s 1,800mAh battery can eke out a day’s backup if you don’t stress it too much.
Camera: Poor even in daylight
Verdict
The Intex Cloud Fame 4G is the most affordable Android M smartphone you can buy right now. Its closest rival is InFocus Bingo which also supports 4G and runs Android M. Both smartphone have very similar set of features. If the Cloud Fame 4G is lighter by 20g and has a scratch resistant screen, the Bingo 10 offers slightly better camera and looks a bit funky.
