InFocus Turbo 5 review: All charged up for the comeback

Design



The InFocus Turbo 5 is not a device that is trying to be slim and gorgeous. On the display front, the 5.2 -inch HD screen has great viewing angles both indoor and outdoor. Placing the phone side-by-side with a LeEco smartphone, there is negligible difference. The rear of the smartphone, however, with the InFocus branding etched right underneath the fingerprint scanner makes it an eye-catching device.

The device is well-constructed and feels perfect in the palm -- even for single-handed usage.At the heart of the device is a MediaTek MT6737 Quad-core chipset clocked at 1.25GHz. When it comes to memory management, the phone comes with 3GB RAM and 32GB of in-built storage capacity which can be expanded to another 32GB via MicroSD card. The phone is exclusively available on Amazon.
The primary camera on the Turbo 5 is a 13-megapixel shooter, while a 5-megapixel camera on the front is available for your selfie moments.

However, the piece of hardware that is the InFocus Turbo 5's unique selling point is its battery. All of the above internals are powered by a 4,850 mAh battery pack, which is removable.But, there is a catch. Prying open the back cover is tedious and difficult. The fact that you can't open it without removing the SIM tray doesn’t work in its favour either. The trouble does not end there as yanking open the back cover could also render your fingerprint scanner at the back useless.



Performance



With the MediaTek chipset seen on board, it might be easy to sense that the Turbo 5 does not do well in performance. But that holds true when you use the handset for gaming as we did notice significant lags while playing games, even with lower graphic dependent games like Subway Surfer . If this was the case for a game that requires you to just swipe across the screen, then you can imagine how Asphalt 8 would perform.

Adding to the lag, we did notice that phone began heating up near the camera after 5 to 10 minutes of gaming.The benchmark scores on Antutu were 28453, while on Geekbench the phone scored 550 and 1450 for single and multi-core respectively.
The fingerprint scanner on the back is quick and responsive to unlock the phone, and since the UI has no animations, you are ready to use the phone immediately.

One aspect where the phone really stands out in performance is multitasking between everyday apps. Messaging apps, browsing your social media accounts is a breeze. The UI is not as impressive as the ones found on competing smartphones, but it adds to the fluidity and user experience.
The display has great viewing angles -- both indoor and outdoor. Additionally, you can tune the display for more vivid colours, a feature that the company is learning from flagships like the Samsung Galaxy S8 and LG G6 . The resulting display quality is improved marginally and the difference can’t be spotted easily.With the 4,850 mAh battery, you need not worry about running out of battery so fast. It easily lasted us more than a day of normal usage which included a lot of messaging, web browsing, watching movies and listening to songs.
If you’re someone who enjoys watching videos over the loudspeaker, this device will disappoint you. The speakers are unfortunately located at the back and there is a 100% possibility that the speaker grilles will be covered either when you’re holding it in your hand or placing it on a table.The primary camera performance of the Turbo 5 is not bad considering the budget of this smartphone. Daylight shots are good, and if you’re lucky some of the HDR shots can end up looking like they have filters applied on them. Under low-light conditions, the smartphone tends to give a warmer tone, adding grains to the image when zoomed in.


Verdict

InFocus has finally brought consumers a device that can stand its ground among budget smartphones. The Rs 7,999 price tag is right for a smartphone that gives you the perfect balance of ergonomics and battery life.

InFocus is attempting to make a mark in the Indian smartphone market again, and if you are still sceptical of getting this device then the Redmi 4 or theMotorola E4 are better alternatives at the same price. When looking for a budget smartphone, you ought to make a few compromises and in that sense InFocus is no different to other brands.