BackReview: InFocus Turbo 5 Plus is in a tough battle with Xiaomi Redmi Y1 and Infinix Note 4
InFocus's latest smartphone offers a big screen, a long lasting battery, fingerprint sensor, but the dual camera is a letdown
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American smartphone maker InFocus is taking the battle to Chinese rivals with a new line-up of smartphones priced under Rs10,000 and with features which are still rare at the price point. The Turbo 5 Plus is one such smartphone which offers a premium look, packs in dual cameras and a big battery. It is priced at Rs7,999 and is available on Amazon.in. At that price, it’s competing with the Infinix Note 4 (Rs8,999) and the Xiaomi Redmi Y1 (Rs8,999).
Design: Premium looks, handy to use
The Turbo 5 Plus is not lacking in good looks and comes in midnight black and gold colour options. It has a metal back with slight curve around the edges, so it would snuggle more comfortably in the palm. The metal body also gives it a solid feel. Due to the big screen and large battery, it looks a bit thick (8.9mm) and weighs 174g, yet doesn’t feel hefty or unmanageable.
The front panel includes a 5.5-inch screen with big bezels around and an oval-shaped home button that also serves as the fingerprint sensor. It’s accurate and unlocks the screen instantly. The back panel carries the two cameras, dual flash and the InFocus logo embossed in the middle. Elements on the side panel are evenly spread, so no side spine looks cluttered. The hybrid SIM tray is on the left side, the volume and power key on the opposite side, the 3.5mm jack on top and the micro USB and speaker at the base.
Display: Big but lacks punch
The 5.5-inch display is big enough for reading ebooks, browsing the web and playing games comfortably, but has a screen resolution of just 1,280x720p. This takes some sheen of video playback and games, but when compared to rivals, it doesn’t look inferior at any point. Colours are reproduced well and visibility from odd angles is pretty impressive too.
Software: UI needs improvement
The smartphone runs Android 7.0 with a custom UI on top. It packs in some interesting features but doesn’t look as polished as the MIUI 9. It also comes with a lot of pre-loaded apps. The notable features include the flexibility to switch between the app drawer and no app drawer mode, enhance colour contrast, adjustable size of apps and other on-screen elements. What will disappoint mainstream users more is the absence of the theme store. So you can’t change the look and feel by applying new themes.
Performance: Steady with most tasks, long lasting battery
Powered by MediaTek’s MT6750 octa-core processor with 3GB RAM in tow, the Turbo 5 Plus was able to wade through most day-to-day tasks with ease. It even managed to play games such as PES 2018 and Asphalt Nitro without any lags or signs of overheating on the back. However, it is not very smooth to use and we noticed occasional delays while switching between apps.
Users get 32GB as internal storage and the option to add another 32GB via microSD card. The phone’s biggest attraction is the big 4,850mAh battery, which delivers about two days of backup easily if you don’t stress it too much.
Camera: Two cameras, same old story
The Turbo 5 Plus is one of the most affordable dual camera smartphones. There is a 13-megapixel camera for regular shots and 5-megapixel camera for bokeh shots. The picture quality is a bit of a letdown. Even shots taken in daylight do not look crisp. In close-up shots, the objects under focus also look hazy. The camera also adds a yellow tinge to images. The camera app is basic and has very few modes to play around with.
Verdict
Despite the modest camera, the InFocus Turbo 5 Plus qualifies as one of the top picks in the sub-Rs10,000 segment. The big screen, long lasting battery, steady performance and premium looks make it a good buy. The Infinix Note 4 offers a slightly bigger and sharper 5.7-inch screen, packs in a 4,300mAh battery, is powered by a slightly better MediaTek 6753 octa-core processor, but has a glass back that smudges a lot.
If you are looking for a smartphone with a better camera, go for the Redmi Y1. It also offers an impressive selfie camera, a good-looking 5.5-inch screen, runs on a powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 435 octa-core processor and has a more feature-rich custom UI.
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