Aqua i7: A good alternative to most 5" smartphones

Intex's most expensive phone ticks quite a few boxes and makes a good impression

Indian smartphone makers have been trying hard to come up with products that could stand up to their fancy foreign counterparts. Intex's Aqua i7 is one such, a good option for someone looking to get away from Samsung, HTC or any other brand.

The first thing one will notice about the i7 is the packaging. It comes in a big box, which also includes accessories like the headset, charger and a flip cover. In an age where packaging isn't given much attention, it's a bit strange to see such elaborate packaging for a phone.

Once you have unwrapped the packaging, you will notice the device is good-looking. Though the i7 looks much like most five-inch smartphones available in the market, there's a touch of elegance to it. It has a matte finish back panel and is easy to use. It is a slim phone and about 143g.

A full HD display, with a resolution of 1,920x1,080 pixels, is certainly one of the stronger points. It's a dual SIM phone, with one micro and one full-size card slot. The screen is extremely bright and colours rich and vibrant.

Even at different viewing angles, the display manages to hold itself. It's a phone which, to our surprise, wasn't a fingerprint magnet.

It runs on the Android 4.2 Jelly Bean OS and is powered by 1.5-GHz quad core processor with 2GB RAM. It comes with 32 GB memory, which is not expandable.

The Aqua i7 comes with a 13-megapixel (MP) rear camera and a five-MP front one. There are multiple modes: HDR, panorama, magic shot and a professional mode. The picture quality is more than decent, but not a standout feature of the phone. The front camera is just about decent and clicks passable images.

The audio output is good and playing videos and games is also a good experience.

Intex, perhaps, wants to position it as a functional phone and it has features like anti-theft, call filters, app-lock feature, etc.

There's a Myscreen app through which you can use multiple functions and it's a good feature. Multi-tasking is extremely effective on the phone.

The one let-down, however, is the 2,000-mAH battery.

On moderate to heavy usage, the phone doesn't last for more than five-six hours; so, the battery performance is a bit disappointing.

In a market where a new five-inch smartphone is launched every fortnight, the i7 is a good option. Priced at Rs 21,999, it is competitively priced and is packed with a lot of features.

If you don't swear by certain brands and are looking to change your phone, the i7 is a good alternative. It is the most expensive Intex phone in the market, and it is fair to say it lives up to its billing.

SPECIFICATIONS
Weight: 143g
Camera: 13-mp rear + 5-mp front camera
Display: 5-inch touchscreen
Storage: 32GB
Ram: 2GB
OS/processor: 1.5-Ghz quad core
 

* Pros: Good design, excellent display quality, quick multitasking

* Cons: Average battery performance, average camera