Karbonn is one of the best Indian smartphone manufacturer companies striving hard to mark its presence in the market. If we look back in past years, Karbonn has introduced good smartphones at budget price to serve Indian consumers but didn’t do well in high-end and mid-range segment market. Karbonn is popular in low-end market because company provides ample of features in just affordable price. Reliability is the main problem of low-end budget phone, by providing so many features in a smartphone at low price puts reliability on a toss. Karbonn has now come up with its new flagship which will also serve low-end segment market. Karbonn A11 Star is upcoming phone and Flipkart has been chosen as hot favorite to market this brand.
Let’s check out what Karbonn promises to offer in price of 4,499 rupees. Yes price of the phone is very surprising but real surprise would be, when this phone proves itself value for money. Karbonn A11 star has good display size, latest Android OS and good specs to handle day to day computing on your smartphone. All we have to dig out is whether this phone has efficient and reliable performance with such dramatic price. Before getting into the test, let’s have a look at the device’s highlights:
- 4.3-inch WVGA displays
- Android 4.4.2 (KitKat)
- Dual SIM support
- 1.2 GHz dual-core processor
- 512MB RAM
- 4GB of internal storage, Expandable with MicroSD Card
- 5-megapixel rear camera with LED flash
- 0.3-megapixel (VGA) front-facing camera
- 3G connectivity.
- Rs. 4499
Design and Packaging:
Major challenge falls in this section as phone’s success depends on the form and factor of the body and design. If build of the phone is attractive it drags loads of users towards itself but with so less price, Karbonn cannot introduce amazing body line-up for its segment. Phone is sculpted in rectangular shape which some how looks alike Nokia Lumia series phone. While handling Karbonn A11 star you will realize that phone is not made up of superior plastic body but any how Karbonn has managed to overcome the design flaws in its flagship. Phone is big as screen of the phone is comparatively bigger to other phones in same price range.
Coming to the face of the phone it is packed with big display of 4.5-inch at the center with noticeable bezel space on the sides. Above the display phone is packed with earpiece, front camera and sensors. Sensor of the phone has not much impact on lighting conditions of environment. To make phone bigger extra space above and below the display is provided, upper part consist of hardware like earpiece and camera etc but below the display space is left out for the branding of the company. Phone does not have any capacitive touch buttons as it is included in the display itself. Back of the phone is average with 5MP camera and flash at the top centre and below flash you can see branding logo of company. Loudspeaker of the phone is placed in bottom right side of phone.
Sides of the phone look very repulsive as it is protruding and renders image of low-end budget phone. Right side is given with power button whereas left side of the phone houses with volume rocker buttons. On the top shelf of the phone there are two slots one for 3.5mm jack for audio enhancement and microUSB slot for charging and data transfer and bottom shelf is kept bare there is nothing other than mic for audio input. Back of the phone is removable and technique of removing back panel is quite similar to Nokia Lumia 620. Overall the design factor of the phone is average compare to premium model phones but all we can say that with respect to the pricing of the phone, Karbonn has done the most to fulfill users need.
Display / Screen:
On paper Karbonn A11 star has good display properties like huge display, better resolution etc but while reviewing the phone you will realize that display of the phone is very weak. Phone has display of 4.3-inch but resolution of the phone is truly disappointing. WVGA resolution with low pixel density is major drawback of the display. Viewing angles and color reproduction of the display rely on resolution and pixel density which is quite low in Karbonn’s new flagship.
Brightness of the phone is to be adjusted manually as sensors are not up to the mark to adapt themselves with the display brightness according to the lighting outside. Under bright light readability of the display is little difficult. Karbonn should have introduced little high resolution display with more pixel density to improve display properties in its flagship.
Camera Quality:
If you are expecting super camera in Karbonn A11 star then you are in wrong impression, though Karbonn tried to set good camera features but finally ended up with disaster. Karbonn A11 star has 5MP camera with manual and autofocus feature which is absent in other flagship with same price. 5MP of Karbonn does not produce super clear images and also does not produce natural color image.
Day light imaging and low-light imaging are not much impressive; noise is traceable in the picture captured by A11 Star. Features like HDR is also present in the camera section but it is very hard to differentiate between HDR and normal captured images. Camera UI is simpler with good settings but when camera lens is not perfect we cannot make use of those settings. Camera experience with this phone is below average.
