This phone is value for money

Itel S42 runs on Android 8.0 and is powered by a 1.4GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 processor and 3 GB RAM.

Months after the successful launch of itel S41, Itel Mobile, the smartphone arm of Hong Kong-based Transsion Holdings in India, has debuted its itel S42 smartphone here. The new device has a judicious mix of good design and decent performing hardware and software. Priced at Rs 8,499, itel S42 offers a full-view sharp display, Android Oreo, an entry-level Snapdragon chipset, decent front and rear cameras, and a 3000mAh battery. Out of the box, the overall design seems to be more or less similar to S41. The front of the device is dominated by a 5.65-inch touchscreen display with a resolution of 720 pixels by 1440 pixels at a PPI of 285 pixels per inch. In actual usage, the display quality is satisfactory with sharp and crisp resolution—icons look sharp and pixels are visible but reading is a bit of a challenge in direct sunlight. It also houses a front camera on the top, while three capacitive touch keys are placed in the bottom.

The power and volume rocker keys are placed on the right edge while the left has space for SIM cards. A 3.5 mm headset jack is on the top edge while the bottom is dedicated to a Micro-USB port and speaker’s grille. The rear panel is home to itel branding along with rear camera, LED flash and fingerprint reader. The smartphone feels sturdy and good to hold. Itel S42 runs on Android 8.0 and is powered by a 1.4GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 processor and 3 GB RAM. The phone packs 16 GB of internal storage that can be expanded up to 128 GB via a microSD card. During the review period, the smartphone handled browsing, reading and non-graphic intensive games quite smoothly. Also, shuffling between different apps and multitasking was easy. It did not stutter or showed any lag.

On the camera front, itel S42 has more to offer. It comes with 13-megapixel rear camera and front camera. Both the cameras are decent and take good pictures in vivid details. Some of the pictures that we clicked in daylight conditions turned out to be sharp with great details but same could not be repeated in lowlight conditions. The itel S42 is a dual SIM (GSM and GSM) smartphone that accepts two Nano-SIM. Connectivity options include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, USB OTG, 3G and 4G. Sensors on the phone include Proximity sensor, Accelerometer and Ambient light sensor. The S42 is backed by a 3000mAh battery which helped the device clock around 12 hours of use. With continuous data usage, the battery could last 6-8 hours. Overall, the itel S42 is a decent entry-level smartphone with rich features, nice camera performance and good battery life. It is value for money.

• Estimated Street Price: Rs 8,499