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InFocus M370 Review: Standard Budget Smartphone Fare

InFocus M370 Review: Standard Budget Smartphone Fare

Name: InFocus M370 Review: Standard Budget Smartphone Fare
Item: InFocus M370

By Ali Pardiwala | Updated: 10 October 2015 12:52 IST

American projector specialist InFocus is taking its foray into smartphones rather seriously, launching a slew of models at different price points to cater to as many users as possible. The company also announced a partnership with Taiwan-based Foxconn to manufacture phones and TVs in India. With this kind of involvement, InFocus hopes to become a serious player in the rapidly growing Indian smartphone market.

The quickest way to win over buyers and sell in volumes in India is to drop prices. With companies such as Xiaomi, Yu Televentures, Intex and others dominating the budget smartphone market, InFocus will find it hard to gain the attention of the buyer. However, it hopes to leave a mark with the Rs. 5,999 InFocus M370. The smartphone is currently InFocus' lowest priced, and is targeted as a basic yet well-rounded smartphone experience for first-time buyers. Does it have what it takes to compete in the competitive budget segment? We find out in our review.

Look and feel
The InFocus M370 is unlike most phones when it comes to looks, thanks to its shape and build. It's entirely made of plastic, and as a result is extremely light. The front is surrounded by a thin strip of plastic that gives the phone a unique look (at least with our white review unit). The frame itself is black with a matte finish.

The power button is on the right, the volume rocker is on the left, and the USB port and 3.5mm socket are on the bottom. The screen itself has narrow borders with minimal non-screen space on the front. The back of the phone has an interesting texture and pattern, which we rather liked. The speaker grille is tastefully integrated into this pattern, and the entire back panel can be removed to access the SIM slots and battery.

The InFocus M370 has a 5-inch 720x1280 pixel screen, which is pretty much the bare minimum acceptable resolution for any budget phone today. It's a decent screen, capable of getting fairly bright at the highest setting. It's also as sharp as you'd expect from a 5-inch HD screen, and does its job suitably.

Specifications and software
The InFocus M370 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 210 SoC, clocked at 1.1GHz. It also has 1GB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage (of which a measly 4GB is actually available for use) and a 2230mAh battery. Fortunately, the phone supports microSD cards of up to 64GB for storage expansion. Unfortunately, the microSD slot doubles up as the second SIM slot, so you'll have to choose between dual-SIM connectivity and expandable storage. The phone supports Indian 4G networks on the primary SIM slot.

We must note that the InFocus India website states that the device is dual-SIM capable with two Micro-SIM slots. However, the second slot being a hybrid slot actually requires a Nano-SIM card.

On the software front, the phone runs Android 5.1.1 with InFocus' custom InLife UI layered on top. The user interface is neat and inoffensive, although some aspects of it such as the Settings app and the pull-down shortcuts menu might be annoying and non-intuitive for some. There are a few pre-installed apps, but most of these can be uninstalled. The device also supports a handful of high-end audio and video formats, including FLAC and MKV.

There is a pre-installed EZ launcher, which simplifies the interface into the basics. This might be useful for elderly users or people who don't like too much clutter and complication on their smartphones. Additionally, InLife lets you switch between single and dual-layer modes for the standard interface, depending on whether or not you prefer a separate app drawer. It's one of the few interfaces that actually allows this rather than forcing it one way or the other. On the whole, the interface is simple and comfortable enough for practically anyone to use.

The InFocus M370 comes with a preinstalled 'feature' that turns your pictures into personalised stickers for use in various messaging clients. Although InFocus touts this as a signature feature of the M370, a quick search on the Google Play Store revealed that the app in question, which is called Bobble, is free and available for everyone to download. The app essentially turns your selfies into stickers, which you can then send via other apps. We tried it with Facebook Messenger, Hangouts and Gmail, of which only Gmail was able to work with it.

Camera
The InFocus M370 has an 8-megapixel primary camera with flash, and a 2-megapixel secondary camera. This is on par with the camera setups that most devices in this price range offer. Both cameras are capable of recording video at 720p and have plenty of options in terms of filters and manual settings.

The camera app is excellent in some ways, and average in others. There's a desperate shortage of good picture modes (there's no panorama mode), and the settings menu is far too complicated and cluttered. However, this can also be a good thing, as there are plenty of options for manual settings. There are options for slow-motion video and time lapse, as well as HDR, burst shot and a location/weather watermark. While it isn't the best camera app around, it certainly won't be hard to get used to.

The camera itself is below-average. Pictures appear alright at first, but the shots reveal a lack of detail when you zoom in. Additionally, white levels are excessive and oversaturated, while colours appear dull and muted. That said, we're quite alright with the fact that we can't expect fantastic camera performance from a budget smartphone.

(Click to see full-size image)

Performance
The InFocus M370 runs on the Snapdragon 210 SoC, which is currently Qualcomm's entry-level processor for smartphones. In comparison, the cheaper Yu Yunique (Review) and similarly priced Xiaomi Redmi 2 (Review | Pictures) run on the more powerful Snapdragon 410 SoC even with other specifications remaining the same. Naturally, performance on the M370 is below par when compared to the competition, as demonstrated by our benchmark tests.

There were also some heating and performance issues when we tried heavy games such as Angry Birds 2 and Dead Trigger 2. The phone exhibited slow loading times, occasional lag, and a generally sluggish experience. This also happened occasionally with the interface itself, and most functions had a noticeable delay in opening and running.

Battery life is pretty standard, with the phone running for 9 hours, 50 minutes in our video loop test, which translated to about a day of regular use. It seems evident that the M370 is ideal only for beginners or basic users, since power users on a budget can certainly do better.

Verdict
The InFocus M370, like many other budget smartphones in its segment, is standard fare for the most part. Although its looks and build can be considered somewhat unique, this is where the advantages end. The device is underpowered for its price, has a below-average camera, and has other limitations such as the hybrid SIM slot and just 1GB of RAM. Additionally, the custom emoticons and stickers that the company touts as a signature feature can be installed on any Android device through a free app available in the Google Play Store.

That said, the InFocus M370 is not a bad device at all. It's comfortable to use, has a good interface, and will work well for beginners and basic users. It's priced competitively and should be quite a threat to other similarly priced products available today, thanks to its good looks and brand value. The InFocus M370 is on sale exclusively through Snapdeal.

InFocus M370 in pictures

InFocus M370

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS
Variants

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery Life
Camera
Value for Money

Good
Good design
InLife UI is interesting
Competitive pricing

Bad
Below-average cameras
Poor performance

Read detailed InFocus M370 review

Display 5.00-inch

Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 210

Front Camera 2-megapixel

Rear Camera 8-megapixel

RAM 1GB

Storage 8GB

Battery Capacity 2230mAh

OS Android 5.1

Resolution 720x1280 pixels

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Further reading: Android, Budget, InFocus, InFocus M370, InFocus M370 Design, InFocus M370 Features, InFocus M370 Performance, InFocus M370 Price, InFocus M370 Price in India, InFocus M370 Review, InFocus M370 Specifications, Lollipop, M370, mobiles, Smartphone, Snapdeal