A stylish Android phone packed with interesting features
It was all getting a little quiet on the domestic handset makers? front, but now Karbonn Mobiles has decided to refresh its not-so-old smartphone line up with a new offering. Its A18 dual SIM Android handset, priced at R12,990, is a new and fresh smartphone vying for buyer attention. But is it offering anything substantial for users? Let us find out.
Graced with fairly good speed, long battery life, decent camera and an updated operating system, A18 is one of the finest smartphones from Karbonn till date. I was quite amazed by its looks and the quality of the device; it surely stands apart from all the other Karbonn handsets. The device has a large 10.9 cm IPS capacitive touch screen display, and such high resolution screens aren?t seen in the Indian market, especially from homegrown brands.
In terms of look and feel, the handset has a slim profile and the metallic grey finish on the device looks amazing. It has a solid, bulky feel with a squarish form that give good grip in palms. Notably, the A18 has a 5 megapixel camera at the back with features like burst mode and face detection and LED flash. On the outside, it has the volume toggles, miniUSB port, power button and a 3.5 mm audio jack. The overall finishing of the device is great and it seems the Karbonn design team has put in a lot of efforts to grab lot of eyeballs.
The phone is based on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich operating system and it comes with 10.9 cm IPS (In Plane Switching) for wide angle viewing. In fact, Ice Cream Sandwich is more the exception rather than the rule on Android devices across the board. The screen has a 800 x 480 resolution.
The A18 runs on a 1 GHz processor and has a 1500 mAh battery, 1.3 megapixel front camera for video calling, 3G (HSPDA-7.2 Mbps), Wi-Fi with Wi-Fi Hotspot, USB tethering, expandable memory up to 32 GB, and sensors like Gravity sensor, proximity sensor, and light sensor. The handset comes with dual SIM capabilities where the first SIM supports 3G and the second SIM supports 2G network.
The connectivity option of this device performed more than what I expected; this 3G device has Bluetooth, USB, and Wi-Fi connectivity so sharing data is smooth and easy. In terms of apps, the A18 comes preloaded with Google Apps like Google Currents, Google Maps, Google Search & Gmail and other Apps such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Karbonn Smart Browser, NexGTv, King Soft Office and PayTM.
SPeCS
* Display: 10.9 cm IPS capacitive touch screen
* Screen resolution: 800 x 480
* Operating system: Android 4.0.3 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
* Processor: 1 GHz ultra fast processor
* Camera: 5 MP HD camera with LED Flash
* Connectivity: 3G, Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n
* Sensor: G-Sensor, Magnetic, Proximity & Light Sensor
Estimated street price: Rs.12,990