Intex has definitely taken the market by storm with its affordable, mass-oriented smartphones. The brand has strategically released a smartphone at almost every usual price point – from budget to mid-range.
Intex VR 5.5, retailing at Rs 5,099, is the domestic technology company’s latest bet to target the steadily-growing virtual reality market. Even after being on a budget, does it make sense to experience the next-gen technology on this device?
Pros:
- The front camera has a selfie flash
- Has a notification silence toggle
- The packaging recycles into a VR box
Cons:
- The phone is quite thick and heavy
- Camera is very average
- Laggy performance
- VR is limited to being a gimmick
What’s Good?
The 4G VoLTE smartphone offers a 5-inch HD screen with a 1.2GHz Quad-Core 64-bit Processor. It runs Android 6.0 Marshmallow. The features are pretty basic, but it comes with a free plastic back-cover and a screen guard too.
The phone has a quick toggle to silence notifications, as also seen on OnePlus range of devices.
In the camera department, there’s little to rave about, except for a nifty addition of selfie flash on the front. The photo quality, though, leaves a lot to be desired.
The Intex Aqua VR 5.5 comes packaged in a box which could be folded and made into a VR headset. Quite clever indeed.
What’s Bad?
Where to start?
The phone is quite thick and feels heavy. The form factor, coupled with the size of the screen is quite cumbersome.
The touch experience in our review unit was not quite smooth, and lagged often. It’s something like you dealt with, in smartphones of 2012. Talking of refinement, the menu has typos, which aggravated its ‘rushed job’ appeal.
The 5 megapixel front, and a similar resolution camera at the back need very good light and a very firm hand to shoot decent pictures.
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The Virtual Reality on the smartphone is quite dizzying. The phone suffers from low resolution – 269 pixels per inch. Decent products in the market push the pixel density over 350 for a ‘good enough’ VR experience. This is good, only for the beginners.
Why Buy It?
If you’re an Intex fan, and want a product for Rs 5,099. If not, why not check out Xiaomi Redmi 3S, or the new Moto E?
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