Leaves a mark

The Creo Mark 1 is a strong gladiator in the smartphone arena

Creo, the newest smartphone-maker, claims to deliver a great experience with its Mark 1. With a promised update every month, Creo claims to deliver a better phone with each upgrade. Though, I was not able to test out the monthly update, I decided to see whether the Mark 1 could hold its own.

The phone looks very stylish but the first thing I noticed was how heavy it was. It is a bit uncomfortable to use and it would need some time to get used to it.

The Mark 1 comes with a 5.5-inch screen with a QHD display. The colours are vibrant and the display is crystal clear.

It houses an octa-core MediaTek Helio X10 processor and 3GB of RAM, which is quite decent. I downloaded the usual RAM-heavy games and tested them out. The phone performed well though it did heat up a bit. But as for lag, there was none. I played Injustice, and the experience was pretty smooth.

It has a 21-megapixel (MP) primary and an 8 MP secondary camera. It also has four different camera modes: Panorama, live photos, 3D and normal mode. Live photo mode is basically a 3-second video. The 3D mode is an interesting one. You can focus on an object and then move the camera around it and the resultant picture will give you a 3D view of the object. I tried clicking a picture of a statue in my house in 3D mode and the output was great.

The Mark 1 runs its custom Fuel OS, which is based on Android Lollipop. The user interface is minimalistic and a delight to use. It has some great features such as Sense, Retriever and Echo. Sense is a search feature which searches keywords across the apps while Echo is a voicemail feature which transfers the call to voicemail if the phone is left unattended for 30 seconds. This can be done manually as well by swiping up to the mic symbol on the call screen. Retriever is a very helpful feature; if your phone is stolen or simply lost, with this feature you can locate it and even remotely erase personal data.

The phone also has gestures linked to apps. When the screen is locked, if you draw a 'C' on the screen, the phone will unlock and take you to the camera app. While drawing a 'V' toggles the torch.

The battery backup of the phone is also impressive. It has a 3,100 mAh battery which lasts for an entire day. I spent an entire day browsing the web and playing Injustice, yet the phone held its own.

It is safe to say that at Rs 19,999, the Creo Mark 1 is a surprise package filled with great goodies. Plus, you have the option of either engraving your name or a customised message on the phone. The Mark 1 definitely gets full marks from me.