Smartphones up to 5,000 rubles: tested in public

Mankind has always been tormented by important questions: What is the meaning of everything? Is there life on Mars? Are there normal smartphones for up to 5 thousand rubles? And some of them have already been answered. The meaning of everything? If you believe the film "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", then the only correct answer to the most important question of life, the universe and everything in the world is 42. Mars? Everything is clear here: nothing is and wasn’t there - everyone is filming in Hollywood. Smartphones remain. Well, let's try to answer this question as well ...

Satisfied with “iPhones” and “Galaxy”, we selected “Yulmart” in the online storefive “smart androids” that met three basic requirements: their price should not exceed 5 thousand rubles, no “shovels” - only the golden mean - models with a diagonal of 4.5 inches, and - go for a walk like that! - two SIM cards. Naturally, we chose the most pumped-up models - so that a Wi-Fi with a bluetooth, and two cameras, and more memory ...

As a result, in one of the Yulmart outposts we took:

• Fly IQ4402
• Explay golf
• Micromax a94
• teXet X-navi TM-4672
• Highscreen Alpha Rage

We indicated the main parameters of the selected smartphones at the end of the text - so as not to be distracted from the essence.

We will not discuss the originality of the names - we immediately get down to business. The results of the organoleptic test: the corrugated surface of the Explay Golf is pleasantly felt in the hand and the custom Micromax design pleases the eye. All other smartphones are within normal limits. That is, a remnant form factor plus glossy plastic or soft touch.





Fly and Texet showed pleasant care for the user - they already have a protective film on top of the screens. True, the build quality of the Texet model was the weakest in our test - the cover creaks.



All the same Exlpay and Micromax have distinguished themselves with screens - they have relatively good IPS-matrixes. The rest have LCD displays with a whole bunch of visual artifacts. Yes, the resolution for all five models is 480x854. The pixel density is generally low - 218 dots per inch, but the same Lumia 1320, which we managed to test earlier, this figure is only 30 points higher.



There are no complaints about the operation of communication modules - both SIM cards are configured and switched easily and logically. True, the engineers who designed the Fly distinguished themselves here - they have one slot for a regular SIM card, the second - for the "micro".





By the way, even with two GSM modules, smartphones hold up well - their battery capacity varies from 1600 to 2000 mAh, which on average is enough for a day of more or less active use.



All devices are built on dual-core chips from MediaTek. Exceptions: Highscreen with 4 cores (the same MediaTek) and Micromax on a 4-core chip from Broadcom. RAM for all tested models - only 512 megabytes. Someone calls it bullying, someone is stingy, but, as they say, reality bites, and "state employees" are unnecessary proof of this. However, as practice has shown, these miserable half-gigabytes, in principle, are enough even for a more or less comfortable game in the eighth Asphalt. Built-in memory? Everyone has 4 gigabytes inside, but less than 2 GB are really accessible to the user. MicroSD to help you!



For those who trust benchmarks more than themselves - by the number of "parrots" Micromax won, and Explay Golf closes the top five. It is interesting that Epic Citadel was launched on all smartphones, but it only worked stably on devices from Highscreen and Micromax.



I would like to say something nice about the photo module - after all, there are 5-megapixel main cameras and autofocus in all devices except texet, but ... alas, the presence of the built-in camera in smartphones of this segment is purely nominal.



With the reproduction of sound and video, the state of affairs is somewhat better. All smartphones can be considered "conditionally omnivorous" - which is not supported by the built-in video player, you can play using MX Player. We even mocked a little by turning on 4K video on the devices - the video twitched and slowed down, but it still started.

If you have the makings of an audiophile, if you can determine the MP3 bitrate by sound or distinguish FLAC from AAC, then the only option for living with one of these smartphones is good headphones and work with an equalizer. These tricks will not add quality to the sound, but at least smooth out the impression.

Toward the close of our blitz review - pre-installed applications. None of the smartphones were bypassed: for example, Explay has a whole suite of software from Yandex, an office suite from Kingsoft was installed on Micromax, but Texet, which boasts a pre-installed CityGid navigation program (though, well, with oooh very long start).







In general, smartphones in the price range from 4 to 5 thousand do not grab stars from the sky. Well, you will definitely not find any new-fangled technological whistles-rivulets here. But with the role of a workhorse, they cope well. Be also prepared for the fact that the built-in camera here is more for beauty, and the sound quality is more suitable for enjoying the grindcore than for a symphony orchestra conducted by Yuri Bashmet. There is no clearly pronounced leader among the five smartphones we tested up to 5,000 rubles, but for a combination of factors, we would like to note the device from Micromax.

Promised TTX:

For starters - a set of identical parameters for all smartphones included in the review ...

OS: Android 4.2
screen: 4.5``, 480x854
RAM: 512 MB
memory: 4 GB (available - about 2 GB); microSD (up to 32 GB)
DOS. camera: 5 megapixel
front. camera: 0.3 megapixels (Micromax - 5 megapixels)
3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, FM
2 x SIM

And the nuances of each model ...

Fly IQ4402
4290 rub.
Processor: MediaTek MT6572, 1.3 GHz (2 cores)
Video: Mali-400 MP
Battery: 1750 mAh
Dimensions, weight: 66.5x131.5x9.6 mm, 145 g

Explay Golf
3990 rub.
Processor: MediaTek MT6572, 1.3 GHz (2 cores)
Video: Mali-400 MP
Battery: 1600 mAh
Dimensions, weight: 69x136x11 mm, 152 g

Micromax A94
4990 rub.
Processor: Broadcom BCM23550, 1.2 GHz (4 cores)
Video: VideoCore IV HW
Battery: 1800 mAh
Dimensions, weight: 67.6 x 138.5 x 9.6 mm, 148 g

teXet X-navi TM-4672
4250 rub.
Processor: MediaTek MT6572, 1.2 GHz (2 cores)
Video: Mali-400 MP
Battery: 1600 mAh
Dimensions, weight: 67x136.2x9.3 mm, 149 g

Highscreen Alpha Rage
4990 rub.
Processor: MediaTek MT6589M, 1.2 GHz (4 cores)
Video: PowerVR SGX544
Battery: 2000 mAh
Dimensions, Weight: 67x136x12.4 mm, 145 g

Subscribe to the Geek to the Future channel and don't forget - the future is in our hands!