Hands-on Review
Symphony i95
A lion shares of Symphony's revenue come from feature phones and entry-level smartphones. With more and more people opting for smartphones, Symphony wanted to make sure an array of entry-level devices is out there for first time budget-conscious users.
The feeble build of the phone reeks 'budget phone' throughout the phone. The back cover, although a rather funky colour, can amass dust and smudges easily. After the initial glow fades, the phone looks just like any other entry-level phone. The phone comes boxed with just a wall-charger. This is probably the first phone in the last two years that comes with a removal back. The battery is stored separately in the box. The phone doesn't have any fingerprint scanner but does have the first generation (therefore unsecured) face unlock technology for quick unlocking.
The display of the phone is a 5.45 inch IPS panel with 720 x 1440 resolution. The colour rendition lacks depth and saturation of the colours were a bit high. But that wasn't a deal breaker for us. The touch screen felt responsive and accurate. The viewing angles are good although under the direct sun we had a hard time understanding texts on the screen.
The performance of the phone was moderate. None of the basic apps were bogged down but there was a little stuttering when we juggled between a few apps. The phone is powered by Spreadtrum SC9832E processor with ARM Cortex A53 chipset. The four cores had 1.4 GHz clock-speed which in modern standards is extremely basic. This chipset is mainly used in entry-level devices like the i95. It does what it's supposed to do- running the low-intensity apps smoothly. The 2GB RAM doesn't help either, and so, if you have more than 20 tabs open on your chrome, you are bound to feel some lag.
The camera isn't the strongest part of the phone. In an outdoor environment, the phone's rear camera will provide you photos good enough for small screen viewing. There's almost no image stabilisation so taking photos on the move might be a bit tricky. The front snapper is good enough for video calls.
One of the best parts of the phone is the OS: Android Oreo (8.1). This is probably the first entry phone this year I reviewed coming with Android Oreo. Whatever the phone lacks in performance is compensated with the fluid smooth OS experience. However, there are some Bloatware apps albeit a minimum amount.
The phone comes with a 3000mAh battery. But the low clock speed and low DPI display consumes significantly less battery. We got a full work day coverage with one charge. The battery seemed to drain faster after the first 50%. We couldn't find any specific reason since the load on the phone remained even throughout the day.
SPECS
Display: 5.45" Full Vision HD+ 2.5D IPS 720 x 1440
OS: Android O OS 8.1
CPU: Quad Core 1.4 GHz
GPU: Mali 820
RAM: 2 GB RAM
ROM: 16 GB
Camera: Rear- 13 MP, Front- 8 MP
Battery: 3000 mAh
Price: Tk. 7,990/-
VERDICT
Symphony i95 is a device for someone who has been intending to buy his or her first smartphone after ages of using a feature phone. To us, it's a solid device which will provide you decent performance. Although competition has made way for some competent devices too but under BDT 10K, if you are planning to buy a phone then you can certainly consider this device. We recommend the one with red back cover... it will definitely jazz your mundane lifestyle.