Zen Amaze Ultrafone 701FHD: Old wine in old bottle

The rough and tough Amaze Ultrafone 701 FHD struggles to amaze

With smartphones capturing the market in India and the rising intensity of competition in the arena, Zen Mobiles has entered the fray with its all new Android smartphone, the Ultrafone Amaze 701 FHD. Though it doesn’t immediately capture attention at the first look, it boasts of features that could make it a decent pick for regular usage.

Display & Capacity

Apart from offering basic features of a smartphone in terms of a powerful 1.5GHz Quad Core Turbo Processor and a super-fast 1GB RAM and a generous 16GB internal memory and a 64GB expandable memory with microSD card, it tends to stand apart with regard to display and strength. The 5-inch full-HD (1080x1920 pixel) IPS One Glass Solution display is impressive and a nice upgrade to the Zen 701 HD with boosted vibrancy and quality. The 2050mAh battery doesn’t add too much weight, though the battery life isn’t exceptional as it draws a lot of power from the running applications. It supports dual-SIM with dual standby which is quite a functional option.

Design

Interestingly, it does not come with a ‘Handle with care’ tag like other smartphones, and looks strong, durable and sturdy with a Magnesium frame around the edges and Corning Gorilla Glass 2. It is easy and light, hence can be held comfortably, unlike other oversized smartphones.  The acrylic back finish is a minus point as it dents the appearance instead by giving it a plastic look. The 701 FHD comes with a see-through smart flip cover, which is multi-functional. Apart from being a small window to the display inside, it allows you to see incoming calls and messages and other activities running on the phone and switch the phone on and off with a flip.

Camera

The new Zen device also tries to woo consumers with an 13-megapixel autofocus rear camera with LED flash with full-HD recording abilities and an 8-megapixel front-facing camera. Though the front camera actually gives nice and sharp images, the rear camera fails to provide the sharpness, clarity and quality it claims of and is not too exciting for 13mp. Images are either too loud or too dull, missing the balance.

Software & features

The interface running on the stock Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean is neat but slightly slow. Features like shake to share and flip to silent are new but limited, as the shake-share is only possible between a smartphone consisting this option. Videos continue to run even on thumbnail mode, and pauses when you look away. There is an annoying buzz sound that emerges from the rear each time the phone is operated, either while touching the icons or running an animation/ application. This vibration seems to be a hitch for the Ultrafone 701 FHD as it fails to attain a certain level of sophistication. Killing applications is also a tedious process, as unlike other smartphones, it does not offer a direct shortcut option to the application manager.

Verdict

With few hits and many misses, the improved Zen Ultrafone Amaze 701 FHD seems slightly over-priced at Rs  17,999, and has many loopholes to compensate for before attaining a premium status in the gizmo market. It may be termed as a strong phone, with good packaging and few good features, but that alone is not enough. It lacks the 'wow' factor since it lets you down by trying too hard to amaze and falling short of all that it promises.

Pros

High-quality 1080 pixel IPS display, Gorilla glass, Strong build, Light and easy to hold, Updated Android OS

Cons

Plastic back, average battery performance, cheap Chinese phone-like look and vibration, below par camera performance, slow user interface, overpriced.

Zen Ultrafone Amaze 701 FHD key specifications

5-inch full-HD (1080x1920) IPS OGS display
1.5 GHz Quad Core Turbo Processor
1GB RAM
Android 4.2.1 Jelly Bean
13-megapixel autofocus rear camera with LED flash
8-megapixel front-facing camera
16GB of inbuilt storage, expandable up to 64GB with microSD card
Dual-SIM (GSM+GSM) with dual standby