Hands on Review
Symphony ZVII (3 GB)
There was a time when people had one single, static telephone that several families used. It came in colours like sickly vomit green, blood red and Ebola infected off-white. And it sat on a corner table for years never to be changed. Mobile phones are like clothing accessories now, changed every week if we could. Symphony as a brand knows how to keep up with that disposable trend churning out one new device after the other.
First impressions:
The Z series phones occupy the premium shelf with a smartly slashed pricing that keeps the devices below the 15k threshold.
First impression of the ZVII gives off the vibe that they have tried to pack as much as possible into the price range. The display is a 5.5 inch with very narrow bezel ensuring the phone doesn't step into the phablet territory. One thing I'm not a fan of is the cross-hatch textured plastic cover on the back, a preference which is subjective. At least it came in a techie pleasing gunmetal gray colour. Build is solid with no creaks and squeaks, perhaps a little too solid. Battery, dual-SIMs and SD cards hide behind that back cover which is tough to remove.
Display:
Turn it on, it boots up quick and the first welcome sight is that display. The FHD 1080p display has 400ppi, sharp enough to render smooth even the smallest text on websites. Usually, after 300ppi it's almost impossible to distinguish the differences. Also, most Symphony phones I used before had an annoying brightness feature that was too bright at night even when lowered completely.
Power and storage:
The power is provided by Cortex-A53 1.3GHz Octa-core chipset and supported by 3GB of RAM. Yep, that last bit is prominently emblazoned on their packaging also. We've run the device through our usual gamut of apps and games and it holds up well to multi-tasking. The MALI-T720 GPU and that leftover memory ensures much quicker loading times for graphically intense games like GT Racing 2. Storage is 16GB standard with 128GB of expandable memory.
Camera:
The camera on the back is a 16MP unit with the front being 5MP. In bright light, the camera is just about average; enough to capture all the surrounding areas without blur. Being a car guy, we often whip out a phone to take a picture of a car to share with fellow petrolheads. I've taken quick snaps in traffic and most things came out well enough to read number plates. Zoom in further and the detail has a bit of extra smoothing that reduces some of the sharpness and gives a bit of a watercolour effect. While this is not preferred in still photos of cars by petrolheads, it's okay for group pictures where facial irregularities are smoothed down. When the light goes down things get slow. Noise creeps in heavily and the softness gets more pronounced.
Software and battery:
The OS is Android 6.0 Marshmallow and in the beginning I said they omitted a few things to make it better. What they did was keep bloatware to a lower count. Comes with just a few pre-installed games and basic Symphony apps. Keeping it clean is what we prefer. Backup from the 3000mAh battery means easy passage from one day to the next from regular usage despite the power hungry screen. I've consistently run this over a week with heavy usage resulting in a full day's support. Games will eat up the power obviously. It scored 37452 on AnTuTu.
Verdict:
Symphony has continually upgraded their devices to get where they are. It's a solid device with an excellent screen to serve all your reading and catching up on who did what on social media. It seemed to be the highlight of the product. The form factor is pleasing and perhaps we will see a metal finished back for their premium line next time. The design borrows heavily from simplicity making sure the appearance is clean, familiar and convenient. The camera isn't stellar but does the job well enough provided you have sufficient light. With enough battery support to last you a full day, this is the most and a bit more you will get for the money.
SPECS:
Display: 5.5 inch FHD IPS (LTPS)
CPU: 1.3 GHz Octa Core (64-bit)
GPU: MALI-720 Mp3
OS: Android Marshmallow 6.0
ROM: 16 GB
RAM: 3 GB
Camera: 16MP+5MP Camera
Battery: 3000 mAh
Connectivity: 4G, 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
Price: Tk. 12,490/-