With a faux leather back and faux chrome rim, the phone aims to look good in price-sensitive hands
The Rs 10,000 price point is perhaps the most bustling spot in the smartphone bazaar. It’s a price that is low enough to appeal to a vast number of users, yet high enough for manufacturers to challenge themselves with packing better and more interesting features into phones.
The Galaxy On5 is one of the latest devices in this lucrative range, albeit at the lower end of the band. It is based on a trusted and familiar formula of specifications: a not-so-large-that-it-is-ungainly 5-inch screen with a 720x1280 resolution, a quad core 1.3GHz Samsung Exynos processor, 8GB of internal storage (with 4.3GB available) expandable via microSD card, dual-SIM 4G LTE, all running on Android’s almost-up-to-date Lollipop 5.1. On the memory front, the phone interestingly splices the specifications with not 1GB or 2GB of RAM, but an unconventional 1.5GB.
In the hand, it is clear that premium materials have been excluded. The phone has an all-plastic body with faux chrome frame and that textured faux-leather back cover that Samsung seems to like to much. Button and socket layout is quite conventional: power and volume controls on the right and left with the USB port at the bottom. Unusually though, the headphone socket is on the bottom edge. This is a dual Micro SIM phone, both supporting LTE networks.
As expected with a phone of these specs, I found its response to be middling: while it was reasonably quick with most generic tasks, it did start taking its time responding during especially heavy workloads (firing up a game of Need For Speed No Limits, for example.) Also running several apps together and switching between them tended to perceptibly slow the phone, requiring ending running apps.
Quick Specs
Samsung Galaxy On5
- Network: GSM (850/900/1800/1900)/HSPA/LTE Band 1 (2100), B3 (1800), B5 (850), B8 (900), B20 (800), B40 (2300)
- SIM: Dual SIM, Dual LTE
- Screen: 720x1280 pixels, 5-inch TFT (~288 ppi pixel density)
- OS: Android 5.1 Lollipop
- Key hardware: Quad-core 1.3 GHz Cortex-A7 Exynos 3475 processor with Mali-T720 graphics, 1.5GB RAM, 8GB storage expandable to 128GB via microSD
- Camera: f/2.2 8MP rear, f/2.2 5MP front
- Wireless: Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n, Hotspot, Bluetooth 4.1 A2DP
- Weight: 149 gms
- Battery: 2,600mAH
Price: Rs 8,990
The 8MP rear camera delivered surprisingly good sharpness, although the images tended to be underexposed. There is an exposure compensation setting to counter this though, which is accessible through the sparse ‘Pro’ mode that lets you also change ISO and white balance. Other modes include Panorama, Continuous Shot and Beauty Face--par for the course for phones these days. The front camera does have a feature aimed at selfie addicts--holding up your open palm at the camera triggers a photograph, making it easier than fiddling with the screen or trying to hit the power buttons to capture a shot.
For a lower-mid-range phone, the On5’s TFT screen appeared surprisingly sharp, bright, and with well-defined colors. Even in bright outdoor sunlight there was no issue with readability. Battery life was average, with the phone lasting over the course of a full day of regular use.
This phone ticks several checkboxes at a decent price point. It doesn’t particularly shine at any one thing, but does a decent job at everything, so long as you don’t push it too hard.
What we liked: Sharp and bright screen, compact form factor, approachable pricing
What we didn’t: Plasticy build, lags when running heavy/multiple apps
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