THIS festive season there is a strong demand for mid-range Android phones. Users are flocking to buy mobile phones in the R8,000-15,000 range, either for their own use or for gifting them to their near and dear ones. Domestic handset maker Intex Technologies is a strong player in this price segment. Its mobile devices have a sturdy build, are feature-rich and appeal to a lot of people, be it working professionals, college students or even home-bound people.
With 4G picking up pace in the country, Intex Technologies has enriched its 4G portfolio with the launch of its Aqua S7 smartphone. At first look, the new device comes across as a feature-rich, powerful and stylish 4G smartphone. The Marshmallow phone comes with 3 GB RAM, powerful DragonTrail glass, fingerprint sensor and a big battery. All these features are available at a price point of R9,499.
The elegant 4G-enabled Aqua S7 is available in three colours —Champagne, Rose Gold and Dark Blue. It comes with 5-inch HD IPS display supported with a 2.5D curved glass display giving a smoother touch and swipe experie-nce along with a premium and elegant look. The display is well protected with a tough DragonTrail glass; this is good for protection and sturdy usage and company officials inform that it is six times tougher than conventional glass. In terms of body dimensions, the Aqua S7 is 8.7 mm thick and weighs just 150g. It sports a sleek look and design that anyone would flaunt.
TheAqua S7’s 4G network is enriched with the VOLTE feature (Voice Over LTE). This enables users to enjoy crystal clear high quality HD voice calls. In order to test my newly-acquired Reliance Jio 4G SIM, I configured the Aqua S7 and anxiously waited to check it out. Take my word, the voice calls are genuinely crystal clear and the overall performance of the phone (as well as the Jio SIM) is smooth and flawless.
Aqua S7 is powered with 3 GB RAM and a 64-bit Quad Core Mediatek processor, ensuring smooth performance while playing high-end games or watching videos and multitasking, coupled with the latest Android Marshmallow OS 6.0. The smartphone is equipped with the latest bio-metric security-finger print sensor at back panel. The scanner will scan and verify authority, making the smartphone completely secure.
For photography enthusiasts and selfies lovers, Aqua S7 has 13 MP Rear AF camera with single LED flash and 5MP selfie camera. The device comes with multiple navigation features, gesture controls and emergency rescue. The 4G dual-SIM smartphone has a big battery of 3200mAh Li-Poly; (lithium polymer) or, as many call them, lithium-ion polymer batteries. This offers a talk-time up to 22 hours along with a standby time of at least 10 days.
Aqua S7 has an in-built 16 GB ROM with an expandable memory of up to 64 GB. It has Matrabhasha service that enables communication in 21 regional languages including Hindi. Other apps such as FOTA, Intex Service, Follo, Opera Mini, Clean Master, Daily Hunt, etc., are also pre-loaded on the phone.
My takeaways: Design in a mobile phones matters these days and the Aqua S7 delivers on this front. It is a beautiful phone with a great, hand-friendly design. Its display is quite crisp and sharp. You should not have any trouble using this in bright sunlight. The overall performance of the phone is smooth and flawless. It is fast and multitasking is a breeze on the device. Its beautiful screen is ideal for surfing the Web and watching videos. All in all, a good mid-range phone a lot of us want.
