By Vivek Singh Chauhan
New Delhi, July 12 (IANS) As if Chinese players were not enough to eat into Indian smartphone players' share, leading Vietnam-based smartphone maker Mobiistar has entered the highly-competitive market.
Mobiistar has brought two budget smartphones -- "XQ Dual" and "CQ" -- to the country.
Priced at Rs 7,999, the "XQ Dual" device comes with 3GB RAM and 32GB internal storage that is expandable up to 128GB.
Can "XQ Dual" make a space in the crowded under-Rs 10,000 market? Let's find out.
On the display front, the 5.5-inch IPS full HD device with an aspect ratio of 16:9 is equipped with 2.5D screen. It comes with a screen resolution of 1920X1080.
The display was bright and readability under direct sunlight was good.
The device has a fingerprint sensor at the back, power button and dual-SIM card slot on the right, volume rocker on the left, a 3.5mm headphone jack on top and USB port at the bottom.
The fingerprint sensor was impressive and unlocked the device quickly. However, the metal finish at the back made the device slippery to use.
In terms of look and design, the device appears outdated with thick bezels.
When it comes to cameras, the "XQ Dual" has a dual camera set-up in the front -- 13MP and 8MP selfie camera with flash -- and a 13MP rear camera.
The secondary camera on the front has a 120-degree wide-angle lens, and both the sensors feature an aperture of f/2.0.
The users can open the camera app by clicking the power button twice, although you need to set that in the setting options.
The front camera set-up appeared to be a good with satisfactory results in daylight conditions and the rear camera was found to be moderate as it failed to capture detail in the low-light conditions.
We found seven levels of "FaceBeauty" mode that help remove blemishes from the face.
"XQ Dual" runs the Octa-core Snapdragon 430 processor. The device comes with a custom user interface (UI) based on the older Android 7.1.
On the software front, the device surprised us with smooth performance as we found little lag while shuffling from one app to another. The 3,000mAh battery also performed reasonably.
What doesn't work.
Design and display are pretty old at a time when most smartphones come with the new 18:9 aspect ratio for more viewing space and a better immersive experience.
As mentioned earlier, the device is quite slippery to use. There is also room for improvement in the camera.
Conclusion: At a price point of 7,999, "XQ Dual" competes with Honor 7A (3GB+32GB) priced at Rs 8,999 and Xiaomi devices. Take a look at other options too before making a choice.
(Vivek Singh Chauhan can be contacted at vivek.c@ians.in)
