TCL 562: Well-performing smartphone that's worth its price (Tech Review)

After launching the affordable Rs 7,999 TCL 560 smartphone with a unique eye-verification feature in India, Chinese global consumer electronics brand TCL Corporation has unveiled another one in the budget category.

The Rs 10,990 TCL 562 smartphone features a 5.5-inch full-HD IPS display, octa-core Helio P10 MT6755M processor, 3GB RAM and runs on Android 6.0 Marshmallow operating system.

The device has 32GB internal memory, 13MP auto-focus rear camera with LED dual tone flash and a 5MP front camera with wide-view angle and houses 2,960mAh battery.

Here is what works for the device.

The curved metallic, diamond-cut design frame is sleek and modern, making the smartphone thinner and lighter and making for a comfortable in-hand fit.

Weighing 150 grams, TCL 562 is lighter than its competitors like InFocus M680, Redmi Note 3 and Honor 5C despite packing a larger 5.5-inch screen.

The fingerprint scanner at the home button unlocks the device within 0.3 seconds, thanks to 360-degree precision.

We also set up biometric protection for few apps and those would not open without the fingerprint, hence added security for your apps. You can set up this feature for up to five apps with five different fingerprints.

For example, if you use Instagram regularly, you can configure any one fingerprint for the site. Every time you unlock the phone with that finger, Instagram will open instantly.

The full-HD IPS display enhances viewing experience and produces bright, sharp colours and is ideal for multimedia consumption and for those looking to create, share and enjoy digital content on the go.

Running on octa-core Helio P10 processor combined with 3GB RAM, the TCL 562 performed with finesse even with more than five apps running in the background.

When playing graphic-intensive games like "Asphalt 8: Airborne", the device did not heat up over extensive usage, defying the current norm where almost all smartphones heat up while performing high-end tasks.

The TCL 562 sports a bigger 13MP rear camera as compared to 8MP rear camera in the TCL 560 and captures good-quality images in bright-light conditions. The 5MP front camera with flash is good for selfie lovers.

The 84.4 degree wide angle does make a difference while taking selfies, adding more scene into the pictures, thereby making the images look more stunning.

The TCL 562 also offers an in-built Kindle app for book lovers.

The battery easily ran for a day-and-a-half under mixed usage of internet surfing, light gaming and video watching. (Here, Redmi Note 3 in the same price range with 4,050mAh battery has an upper hand.)

What does not work.

We found the outdoor visibility of TCL 562 to be low and you need to set the brightness to 80 per cent or higher for a bright and comfortable viewing experience.

Under low-light conditions, the 13MP camera struggled a bit to capture good shots.

Conclusion: The TCL 562 packs a newer Android version and with a balanced configuration, the device is worth your money.

(Anuj Sharma can be contacted at anuj.s@ians.in)

--IANS

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