Chinese smartphone maker ZTE Nubia has released a few models in India that have garnered a decent response. The company focuses on its cameras and even at the Mobile World Congress earlier this year in Shanghai, the company’s exhibition space was lined with food, coffee beans and other photo-worthy things — all to test its phone cameras.

The company recently launched the N2 smartphone, boasting a giant 5,000 mAh battery. It’s yet another addition to the burgeoning mid-range segment.

The phone gets its looks on point, looking more expensive than it is. The review unit was a dull golden colour on the back and was quite a presence on tables and desks. The home button is on the front, distinguished by a rather peculiar red circle on it. The power button is on the right and volume rockers on the left, with the double speaker grille and the USB type C port on the bottom of the phone. It gets a 3.5 mm headphone jack on top.

The battery size ensures that the phone isn’t exactly slim, but it does feel nice and chunky to hold without the fear of slipping; although it is quite heavy.

The 5.5-inch display is AMOLED, but the resolution at 720p isn’t exactly top notch, and that shows. Colours on the home screen appear dull and chalky, but during gaming and video playback, there is an improvement.

The phone gets 4 GB of RAM, but don’t be surprised; bigger RAMs are now easily available in mid-range, and even a few budget smartphones. It is powered by a Mediatek octa-core processor and along with that RAM, it isn’t slow and seldom lags. I did experience some heating when putting it through prolonged gaming and camera use. The phone runs Android 6.0 topped with Nubia’s UI and this is a drawback, as competing phones in the segment such as the Moto G5 Plus come with Android Nougat out of the box. There are a few useful preloaded apps such as Supersnap, which lets you record what you're doing on the screen, and Dual Instance that lets you clone apps to use multiple accounts.

There are also a bunch of touch controls that are triggered by swiping and tapping the edges of the screen — you can increase or decrease brightness by moving your fingers up or down on both the edges simultaneously, and switch between apps by swiping from the edge, like you would turn the pages of a book.

For a company that stresses on camera performance, the 13 MP rear shooter on this one is average. Daylight shots turn out well, but under low light, the usual mid-range phone camera constraints start to show. However, it does have fun modes to choose from like clone camera, light painting, and multi-exposure, so you won’t get bored of it too soon. The front 16 MP shooter does the selfie job well.

The 5,000 mAH battery on this one is the best part about the phone. It lasts long even with gaming and multitasking and gets you through the day and some more with ease.

At its price, it adds itself to the phones that can be considered for an average, daily user.

Price: ₹15,999

Pros: Looks, battery, useful apps and touch features

Cons: Heavy, average camera, old Android version, underwhelming display

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