Vivo X5 Max
Rs 32,890
Rating: 4/5
Plus: Slim form factor, camera
Minus: Price, battery
Chinese smartphone vendors such as Gionee, Xiaomi and OnePlus have turned the Indian smartphone market upside down. These players are offering high-end specifications at half the price of their global counterparts. Joining the league is Vivo, with its flagship smartphone X5 Max.
The X5 Max is a razor sharp, sleek device. With the 4.8 mm thin bezel, it pushes behind the Oppo R5, the thinnest smartphone with 4.9 mm waistline. The X5 Max packs in a 5.5-inch display with 1080x1920pixel display with 401 pixels per inch. There is also a 3.5 mm jack on the bezel of this smartphone.
This smartphone doesn't look like a vanilla Android device. It is powered by Funtouch OS 2.0, which is based on Anrdoid KitKat. There isn't any app tray and all the apps are placed on the homescreen itself. Navigating through the phone was easy. And if you don't really get used to the UI, you can always install Nova launcher for simpler user interface. The X5 Max is powered by Qualcomm MSM8939 Snapdragon 615 (quad-core 1.7 GHz Cortex-A53 + quadcore 1.0 GHz Cortex-A53) processor and is paired with 2 GB RAM.
The overall performance of the smartphone seemed pretty decent, but it did slow down a couple of times during out testing period. The phone used to heat up quickly after a short gaming session. It comes with 16 GB onboard storage and supports expandable memory via memory card. With 13 MP camera almost becoming a standard in the mig-segment smartphone, the Vivo X5 Max boasts one too. Surprisingly, the image quality was impressive. The images were sharp and offered true colours.
In the effort of making a thin phone, Vivo Mobile has only added a 2000 mAh battery to this smartphone. Considering the big display and 64-bit octa-core processor, this is a bit too less. If used heavily the phone won't even last a day.
Bag it or junk it:
Too expensive for an relatively unknown brand. Moto X 2nd Generation is a better option
