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Another day, and another Chinese smartphone maker releases its latest wares in the country. Just scrolling through online retailers should give you an idea of just how many companies have mushroomed, offering you smartphones in all sizes and prices. But it’s a good thing. With so much competition, companies are pushed to provide more value for money.
iVoomi is one such Chinese smartphone maker, offering budget Android phones, starting at ₹2,799. It recently launched the Me 1 and the Me 1+, seemingly aimed at entry-level smartphone buyers. The Me 1+, which is reviewed here, is the better powered of the lot, with a 2GB RAM and 16GB of internal storage (expandable) as opposed to the Me 1’s 1GB and 8GB.
The first thing that strikes you on unboxing the phone is how light it is, but that changes once you insert the removable 3,000mAh battery. The back panel is plastic, tinted rose gold, and it’s a decent looker. The volume rockers and the power button are on the left side, and this took me a while getting used to, as most phones have them on the right. The bottom bezel houses the back, home, and menu buttons and the top has the earpiece and front camera.
The phone has a 2.5D curved glass display with HD IPS and a pixel density of 1280 x 720, but I found it average, with the icons and the background wallpaper looking chalky. It runs Android 6.0, upgradable to the latest Nougat, according to the company.
The 2GB RAM and quad-core processor ensure a decent performance, until you bring on multitasking and extended gaming; that’s when you notice a lag. I also found the touch quite unresponsive at times and the back button and home button had to be pressed considerably hard to execute those functions.
The 8MP rear camera turns in a decent performance, given the phone’s price, with colours well pronounced and sharp images under well-lit conditions. However, as is the case with budget phones, don’t expect too much at night or under low light. The 5MP selfie shooter does okay with Snapchat selfies and video calling.
The loudspeaker is underwhelming, hardly making itself heard even at full volume, so keep an external audio enhancement handy. But the earpiece is exceptionally loud even at the lowest possible volume.
Battery is where the phone does well. It lasted me well over a day even with regular use of calling and multiple apps.
The Me 1+ makes no pretences about what it is — a budget phone, and for its price, it’s decent enough.
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