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After serving as a Nokia loyalist for several years – I finally shifted base to Karbonn. Started off with the A9 which sold like hot cakes in 2012. Fully satisfied with the performance and developing a sense of trust with Karbonn as a brand / phone manufacturer – I took the obvious next step. I bought the Titanium S5. After reading about the Titanium S1 at its launch and finding the specs somewhat inadequate – I waited and got the S5. Since I’m not a geek – do not expect geek-speak in my review. I may sound like your 10th grader – but I’m fine.
To start off – this phone boasts of a 5 inch IPS qHD screen (960×540) that packs 220 ppi (pixel density). Excuse me if you find me to be a ‘display freak’. My excuse – in a phone what strikes you at the first glance is obviously the display. Viewing angles are great – readability in sunlight is good too. Excellent choice if you love watching movies on the go. [Tip: use MX Player for great movie experience.]
On the left you have the volume rocker and the power button is on the right. It has the 3.5mm stereo jack on top-right and the USB connector (data and charger port) is on top-left. The speaker grille and microphone are both situated at the rear-bottom and front-bottom respectively.
The phone supports 2G (GSM 900 / 1800 – SIM 1 & SIM 2) and 3G (HSDPA 2100). It accommodates 2 mini SIMs of which only slot 1 supports 3G. The primary use – CALLING – works without any stutters. Nice call quality (network permitting). Next up – phone memory. This one has 1GB RAM and 4GB internal memory that you can expand up to 32GB with a micro SD card. This is what supplements the 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 MSM8625 quad-core processor. Back in 2013 – this was the new kid on the block – now you have hexa and octacore processors. Benefit? You can forget lags and start racing through levels of HD games like Asphalt 8 Airborne, Train Simulator (full version), NFS Hot pursuit, Angry Birds Go, Real Racing 3, Fast 6 – The game etc. did I forget to mention that the 32 GB (or 16 maybe) holds your long list of songs and 720p movies.
The phone comes pre-loaded with Android 4.2 and a stock UI. No bells and whistles here. Hence for a first time android user – this phone is a visual treat. The phone also houses an 8 MP camera that is capable of shooting great pics and videos (up to 720p). The stock camera app includes option for setting the exposure – this is a boon while shooting in low-light conditions. Honestly, I did not know what this means until I stumbled upon it the other day.
When it comes to productivity (well this phone is not just for youngsters) – the phone comes preloaded with Kingsoft Office suite that lets you view / edit documents, spreadsheets and presentation. It supports PDF files too.
The phone comes with a 2000mAh battery that last 1 full day with medium to heavy usage. However playing HD games to end drains the battery faster.
Connectivity is attained via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and USB. The phone supports Wi-Fi direct connection with other Karbonn phones (hardware support essential).
All said and done, the Karbonn Titanium S5 pack is all the essential features of a budget smartphone and retails around 10K. I’ll be back with more reviews of phones that I tested recently.
Signing off
A myth.
